Episode 18: Getting Healthy isn't Sexy - Unleash the Big Impact of Small Health Changes

GETTING HEALTHY ISN'T SEXY .. 

BUT ... 

Imagine transforming your health, not through quick fixes or unrealistic programs, but through gradual, consistent changes that you can sustain over time. Intrigued? Well, today's episode promises to arm you with the essential tools and insights you need to embark on this journey towards lasting health improvement. Starting with the importance of understanding your health 'why' to setting achievable health goals, we'll discuss how small changes can lead to a big impact over time. 

As the saying goes, slow and steady wins the race, and it's no different when it comes to health. In this episode, I'm championing the 'Slow Fix' approach which emphasizes the effectiveness of gradual steps over quick fixes. I'll share practical tips on how to set movement, nutrition, sleep, and stress management goals - these seemingly small changes can create habits, boost self-confidence, and lead you to your health goals. It may take time, but with patience and grit, the progress you make could be life-changing. So, grab your headphones, get comfy, and let's journey together towards better health.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:13

Hey, hey, hey guys, it's Kathy, your host of the Fun Over 40 podcast. I'm super excited for you to be here, as we have some real talk Happening today about getting healthy. So many of you listening right now Probably have some sort of health related goal. I mean, I don't think I talked to any woman out there that doesn't have some sort of goal that's related to her health. It might be nutrition based or movement based Ie exercise, just in case I threw you with that one. It might be related to improving your blood work or your weight. It might have something to do with Managing stress better. You might want to improve the quality or the amount of your sleep. The amount would probably improve the quality, or vice versa. Or maybe you don't even know what your goal is.

Speaker 1: 2:10

You know you're getting older, because we all are little note there and you don't feel great. You know that you should take better care of yourself, but you're not even sure, like where do I start? And I get this because I used to say, like you go into a bookstore and there's like five million books about diet or exercise or whatever the topic might be diet and exercise. We'll just leave it at that and it is super confusing, like, where do I go from here? Right, but now I might say that if you look on TikTok or you look on Instagram or any other social media or Google, just the internet in general there is so much information out there and, understandably, you don't even know which way to turn. You know you don't feel great, but you're not even sure what to do. Maybe you've even tried some quick fixes in the past. You know something extreme, an extreme diet or an extreme exercise routine, and maybe it worked for a time, but then when you stopped, you lost those results that you got, whatever they might have been. So here is the super hard truth about getting healthy again, whatever that means for you. It is not sexy, it's not fast. It takes work and effort and grit and determination and a whole lot of patience.

Speaker 1: 3:32

You know we see these before and after pictures, these transformation pictures, and those can be really deceiving. Yes, are they true? Maybe, probably. But you know what did the person look like that? They were not they using some kind of like special lighting. You know, had they even eaten yet that morning? So they might, where they might have had a little bloat just from having breakfast God forbid. So I know those can be the ones that I feel like are most truthful, which these are out there now and I really appreciate them or like the before and after pictures that you see like over many months, or even a year, or two or three months, or so Many months or even a year or longer, because that's how long it takes PS. So this is you, if you genuinely want to make lifestyle changes that not only move you towards your health goals. But here is the kicker and here is what I want for you. Keep you there, right.

Speaker 1: 4:37

Like I've always said, to me, it's just this cruel joke to work so hard to reach a health goal only to lose it. For example, let's say you fall an extreme diet and exercise plan to lose 50 pounds. Then you start eating quote unquote air quotes here normal again and the weight comes back on, oftentimes plus more. So it's just cruel that now you have that picture in your head of what you look like 50 pounds lighter and you also have that feel like you know how you felt 50 pounds lighter, but you're not there anymore. So to me that's just like being super unkind to ourselves. It's just this cruel joke. So this brings me back to, like the whole point of the episode.

Speaker 1: 5:24

Getting healthy isn't sexy, and I should probably say getting healthy and staying healthy isn't sexy. It is slow, it is deliberate. It is making choices every day that are not the quote easy choice. Although little, little bit of excitement and optimism here, they will become the easy choice as you continue to choose them day after day. Okay, so it's not like your every day is gonna be a struggle for the rest of your life, right? This is the whole idea of creating habits. It's modifying your environment to support your goals, right? Like we put a bowl of fruit on the counter versus a bag of potato chips and guess what? Research shows we're more likely to grab fruit and eat fruit. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. We put our healthy foods that we've chopped up fruits and vegetables, whatever that might be in clear containers in the refrigerator and put them at eye level and we're more likely to eat them. So that's what I mean when I say modifying your environment to support your goals. It's making new habits that feel so, so, so hard at first, until they become just ingrained in you and they become part of just who you are and they are just what you do.

Speaker 1: 6:55

After I eat lunch, I take a 10 minute walk. That's just what I do. I don't have to force myself to do it. I don't have to think about it. I'm not gonna whine about it. I'm not gonna think of 50 different reasons that I shouldn't do it or can't do it. It's just what I do. I eat and then I walk the end.

Speaker 1: 7:15

It's reminding yourself every time you make that new, harder choice why you're doing this. That's always a great first step. What is your why? And then, once you think of what it is, ask yourself why? What's my first step? Why am I doing this? Because I want to lose 50 pounds. Why do I want to lose 50 pounds? Because I feel awful. Why do I feel awful? Because my blood work is bad. I have high blood sugar, high A1C numbers. You know that kind of thing. Really dig deep into your why. And then I would say, put it on a post-it note and stick it all over your house and your wallet, wherever. You're gonna see it on your computer, on your bathroom mirror.

Speaker 1: 8:04

Just remind yourself of your why, not to beat yourself up, but when you're struggling to make those choices and create those habits, initially reminding yourself of your why it is putting yourself at the top of your priority list, because nobody can get healthy for you and you cannot buy good health. And as I have gotten older and recently had some health stuff come up, I am reminded of how important good health is and how really, as we age, if we're not healthy, we have nothing. We don't have anything. You can have all the money in the world, but if you don't have your health, you can enjoy it. So what good is it? So where do I begin? You might be thinking like. This is great motivational. Thank you, coach Kathy, love it. But where to begin? You might ask If you have a movement goal instead of shoot.

Speaker 1: 9:13

So I'm giving you some tangible tips here. If you have a movement goal, instead of shooting for going to the gym five days per week, if you're not going at all, now, shoot for walking in your neighborhood 10 minutes three times a week. Number two if you have a nutrition goal, instead of cutting out an entire food group like carbohydrates or fats, shoot for adding a fruit or vegetable to every meal and snack. Number three if you have a sleep goal, instead of trying to go to sleep an hour earlier than you are right now, shoot for turning off the TV an hour earlier and just starting your bedtime routine, you know, just moving in that direction Wash your face, brush your teeth, set out your clothes for the next day or whatever, you know, whatever you do before bed. If you have some sort of stress management goal, this is number four.

Speaker 1: 10:12

Instead of trying to get to a yoga class three times a week, which just might not be realistic for you, try five minutes of eyes closed, deep breathing, once a day, just once a day. So see how each of these are still moving you towards your overall goal, but they are much, much smaller and more doable. How do these little baby steps get me to my end goal, though you might be wondering, coach Kathy, how are these, how is you know, five minutes of deep breathing once a day going to help? They create habits, they teach you that you will do what you say you're going to do, and that makes you more confident in yourself and you trust yourself more. And that is like a snowball that we can now build on to add more habits to, or just add on to that habit, so that you're eventually going to meet your goal. And I want you to hear this it might take you a year or even longer.

Speaker 1: 11:24

But what is the alternative? The alternative is to keep trying extreme measures, failing, feeling super crappy about yourself and in the end you end up in the same exact place or, worse, you could even damage your health more. But it's like this sort of just think of a circle or a cycle just over and over. I mean, how many of you have the exactly the same New Year's goal every year? So yeah, it's not sexy, but if you are genuinely ready to make changes, I'm going to challenge you to look at it from a long term point of view. The point is not to just reach your goal, but to stay there, for these new habits to become part of who you are, part of your identity.

Speaker 1: 12:14

I just walk after lunch. That's just what I do. It's who I am. I walk, I'm a walker. So now you do them without even thinking and your health is improved and, the most important part, it stays improved as you age, as you get older, you're getting more healthy because now you're doing these healthy habits all the time on repeat, because it's who you are.

Speaker 1: 12:35

So you can tell I'm a little impassioned about this, a little excited, but everybody wants the quick fix. I get it. It's appealing and none of us want to be uncomfortable. But if you are uncomfortable every day because of poor health and poor health habits and you want to change it, I challenge you to let go of the quick fix. I challenge you to embrace the slow fix, the baby steps. Embrace that.

Speaker 1: 13:07

It's not sexy, it's not exciting. It's going to take some grit and some patience. It's going to be two steps forward and one step back, but a year from now, you will not recognize yourself. I challenge you to think of it that way and I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Does it give you hope? Does it intrigue you? Does it frustrate you? Please shoot me a DM on Instagram and let me know. I'd love to chat with you about it, hear your thoughts, help you, but I'm super passionate about this because it really is the only way to move forward and I want each of you to move forward and to better help as you age, one day at a time. Alright, everybody, have a great day.