I came across a book recently by Jeff Olson, “The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness”. It resonated with me as a health fitness professional because I’ve preached for years that’s it’s the small baby steps in behaviors that will bring about the most success. Most people are searching for the big changes quickly with radical diets and killer style workouts. I’ve seen the roller coaster – yo yo rides that so many people fall prey to. It’s both frustrating to watch and maddening to realize who really profits from these sensationalized packaged programs. This isn’t to say that some good comes out of these but long term research shows that most people gain back the weight and lose the fitness habits.

Why is this so? Is it possible that we justify making poor choices because in the back of our mind we reserve the right and the thought that tomorrow or next week we will do that big sensational grandiose program to detox and offset that poor choice that we make today? We have some sort of invisible scale imagined in our minds that measures the degree of bad choices and we will counteract those with the same degree of good choices. In reality the big grandiose program fails to deliver lifestyle changes that bring long term results. The consequences of this kind of thinking is that we stay stuck and never reach our goal because we don’t really want to give up those poor habits and choices. We also don’t believe that the 1 extra glass of water or the daily 5 minute walk will really make a difference. These choices are so seemingly minuscule in terms of payoff so we discount the benefit all together and elect to forgo them. Eventually we reach a breaking point where we’re completely fed up with ourselves and jump on the grandiose program for a short season with quick success. Unfortunately the success is short term because it’s so strict,  so strenuous and so over the top in regimented structure that it feels like torture to continue with that for life right? Wouldn’t it be easier to make small choices every day that over time are compounded and result in success? If you study people that are fit and healthy, these people make regular small choices everyday that don’t seem that big of a deal but once again over the course of time this translates into overall success with weight loss and fitness. I wish for all people to find the courage to try a different approach to their health & fitness journey. Trust that this will work in due time. Vibrant health is NOT a secret that forever eludes your grasp and you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg in order to be enlightened. Much of the health hype is a 1st class marketing effort to convince you that you aren’t enlightened therefore you need to purchase XYZ. Just start doing that one right thing today

Some examples of small choices you can make.

  • Say no thank you when offered a taste of this or that. BLT’s add up (bites, licks, tastes)
  • Order water with lemons vs the sugar laced beverage
  • Pick 1 day a week to meal prep
  • Replace rice with cauliflower rice or quinoa
  • Do 20 squats while brushing your teeth. You’re brushing anyways several times a day, might as well pass the time away with squats
  • Insure smaller serving sizes by using smaller plate ware
  • Walk around the block every morning for 5 minutes
  • Do 2 stretches every morning before getting out of bed
  • Get up and walk around for 1 minute every hour if you’re trapped behind a desk
  • Park the car at the farthest point in the parking lot
  • Take the stairs vs the elevator
  • Eat one piece of fruit daily