Have hard boundaries.
This works for food intake. I have a hard rule of “no calories until noon”. It’s easy to resist temptation . . . to have a banana, a protein bar, cream in my coffee, whatever.
This has been my rule for several months now, and except for days when I travel, it has worked well. (When I have to be at the airport at 5:00 a.m., well, I am going to adapt to external conditions. Then I get back on track the next day.)
This helps with weight maintenance, but the real benefit is not physical.
I have proven to myself that I can stick to a self-imposed rule, not cheat, and not make excuses for myself. Now I can bring this strength to bear on other things I want to change.
That’s the payoff. I am a man who can live according to his principles, in small ways and big.
I did this with Diet Coke. I used to drink about 4 or 5 a day at work. Now, none. The refrigerator at work is stocked with Pellegrino. We have one of those nice water things with a five gallon bottle on top that gives chilled tasty water. I drink coffee (black) and water at work, nothing else. The rule was simple to understand, and it worked. This change happened in about 9 months ago. There are still Diet Cokes in the refrigerator. I don’t drink them.
Next frontier: the snack cabinet at work. The easy rule here is “No bags of chips. Anything else is fine.” I don’t like chips all that much, but I was gobbling down three or four bags a day. Because the rule is easy to follow and I have plenty of other options if I want a snack, I have succeeded here, and will continue to succeed. The Cheetos are safe.
What’s the action plan here?
- Pick a simple, clear rule. “No calories before noon” is easy to understand. It’s 11:59 a.m. or it’s 12:01 p.m. There’s no room for me to debate myself and bullshit myself into why it’s OK to eat before noon. The clock tells me, and I obey.
- Pick something that is absurdly easy to achieve. I can resist Cheetos because I don’t like them all that much. I give myself permission to have those candy bars that masquerade as healthy protein bars, even though I know it’s bullshit and they aren’t healthy at all.
- Ideally, pick a habit that removes something from your life. Via negativa. Removing Cheetos from my life is easier than adding kale to my life. I would have to shop for kale, prepare it, learn to (ugh) like it, etc. Trying to install a kale habit will not work (at the moment at least).
- Make it easy to get it done fast. I’m on The Tens for exercise right now. It only takes a few minutes. Ten pull-ups, ten push-ups, ten squats (usually holding something that weighs about 10 pounds). I abandoned the 10,000 steps a day for now. That’s it. I feel it a tiny bit of oomph in my muscles, and I feel like a warrior in my mind.
- See the habit build, day by day. Congratulate yourself on it frequently. Multiple times a day. (I am congratulating myself on my achievements right now).
- Resist adding new habits too frequently. That makes your life busier, more complicated. There are more things to remember, more things to do.
Hat-tip to Sebastian Marshall for the idea of hard boundaries. Hat-tip to Tiny Habits for the idea of starting small, simple, and achievable.