https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/
Better Health Let’s Do This
That’s all well and good but is it just as easy as that. Well actually it’s not!!
New years eve’s resolution always fails by the end of January or even start at all.
Our Body and Mind are designed to create balance and equilibrium; It’s called Homeostasis. Homeostasis helps our bodies maintain metabolism, temperature, weight and other functions for survival. When we do things out of the ordinary or exert ourselves that leads to stretched muscles or heart rate or lose water as a result of sweating the body and brain has to start thinking what to do next to rebalance the body.
We go crazy rather than a slow build up
Running for a bus without building up the activity results in the body doing something out of the norm. Humans also tend to go crazy when learning something new; crash diets, going to the gym and doing a 2 hour work out and then coming home exhausted, the body is going into shock. Literally the body is saying what the hec are you doing!! And will then spend the next 48 hours adjusting and modifying the body in order to rebalance things.
If we have been sweating and lost fluid or stamina then not only is the body affected but the brain will be affected as well.
The same applies to food habits. Our bodies are designed to take in calories and food stuff on a regular basis. The majority of humans have eating habits each week which again our body expects and creates a habit from. We have all been abroad and eaten things we are not accustomed to and a few hours later we spend hours rushing back and forth to the toilet. If we start a new diet, we will find it upsets the equilibrium of the body and the body will work hard to convince you to change course and get back to normal.
Humans are creatures of habit
As creatures of habit, we often have difficulty fitting new changes into our routines, no matter how good they are for us, because we tend to do the things that make us feel good, secure and comfortable. Even when we are motivated and make reasonable efforts to change, why is it that we are still so resistant to changing our behaviour, even when these changes are healthy or beneficial to us?
The body and mind create habits and psychosomatic behaviour that we like and get used to. Any major quick changes to this behaviour will have an impact and the body resists it. More so if we get muscle pain or back pain as a result of physical exercise or get a bad stomach ache because we had a radical change in food intake then we don’t need to be that convinced to stop doing it.
Its all in our brain, that’s the thing that stops me doing what I want to
Humans are complex creatures as the brain has developed since caveman times but we still are hard wired to do some things; fight and flight, reproduction, etc. Our body creates habits good or bad and once established can take a huge amount of physical and mental energy and will power to change behaviour.
If we know smoking can kill us or give us horrid diseases why do 15% of the UK population still smoke; – Habit!!
Most people will know how hard it is to stop doing something that they like or are addicted to. It requires that thing called will power or should we call it emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is about taking control of the mind and the brain and telling it what to do rather than the other way around.
Getting a fit brain is the same as getting a fit body.
Getting your brain fit and doing what you want is exactly the same as physical fitness. We often see people losing several stones or Kilos in weight and start to take control over their bodies by creating new fitness habits. Alongside these changes often comes food habit changes and a change in diet to support the physical habit change. Taking control over habits is vitally important if we want to make a difference.
Lack of work Life balance is often the key to bad habit-forming activities.
Lets all be realistic, in this hectic work driven world we live in we get home having probably been out of the house 10 to 12 hours and are not ready to hit the gym we want to grab and I mean grab something to eat and chill. After an hour our guilt kicks in and we say; I really need to do some exercise, or should I drink a glass of wine instead!! I know which is the least line of resistant and the most appetising. That’s fine are all need to do it but we must resist to every night and treat this activity to only 3 days a week. Therefore, we have 4 to do something different.
So, creating a new habit requires great thinking and determination and an understanding about what is happening inside our bodies;
For example; we make a decision to work out, this thought is the responsibility of a separate area of the brain known as the neocortex, which controls conscious decision-making in the brain. Our conscious actions require much more effort. If we want to overcome a lack of enthusiasm and other barriers that are getting in the way of our desire to do something, frequent exercise and conscious action planning are involved in making an exercise habit permanent.
So, what’s the answer; well it’s all down to the type of person you are.
Well the NHS has launched its let’s get fit programme which is brilliant but it should also provide guidance on what type of person you are and how easy you find it to change. If you struggle with brain power or will power then no matter how much marketing is deployed you will always come up with reasons why not. So a person need to invest time understanding themselves physically and mentally.
Who am I? why am I doing this? How do I normally deal with change? How successful have I been in making a change in my life before?
If you can answer these simple questions then you can understand more about becoming healthier.
Always start slow and remember gradual change with food and exercise. Don’t unbalance yourself internally or you will cause your brain to counterbalance your activities.
If we understand ourselves better then are able to take control, both mentally and physically.
If we want to get fit then we need to take a good look in the mirror and do a bit of analysis before we start;
What do I want to do?
How should I start?
I know if I start crazy, I will give up so I need to build up slowly and stick to the work pattern
What barriers will stop me achieving this change?
Once I have identified what barrier there are, how can I put mitigating actions in place to stop the barriers.
How often should I review the plan?
Good Luck to everyone and if you liked this article please read out FitnessDrive and ChangeDrive.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/free-fitness-ideas/
