Only for many of us, it feels unusually hard right now.
Shockingly so, perhaps.
Yes, stress, overwhelm, and depression may all be contributing factors.
But there’s also a good chance something else happened:
We know: That sounds like a plot twist from Westworld.
Stick with us, though, because it’s about to make a lot of sense.
In this article, we’ll show you why your broken system is making it harder to:
More importantly, we’ll help you build a new health and fitness system—one that’s better designed for your (or your client’s) current situation.
But only when you’re ready. Because it’s also okay to grieve for what you’ve lost before even considering taking steps to move forward.
This article will be here when you need it.
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In fact, you probably use systems to organize just about every part of your life.
Systems help us prioritize what to do and when to do it—so we can complete the actions efficiently and effectively.
Take grocery shopping.
We all do it our own way, but most of us have a method—such as planning meals, compiling a list, shopping on a certain day, clipping coupons, or navigating the aisles in a specific order.
And that structured step-by-step process? It ensures we don’t run out of essential items when we need them. Like, say, toilet paper.
Before COVID-19 turned our lives upside down, these systems helped many of us fit workouts and nutritious meals into incredibly busy schedules.
Then everything changed.
As a result, our systems were disrupted.
And that’s causing many of us to struggle to maintain certain actions.
Like exercise.
Like meal prep.
Like sleep hygiene.
Like any semblance of productivity.
Take one of my clients. We’ll call her Jane.
She once had a fitness system that involved a series of steps.
That system worked for her. It got her from home to the gym, without creating a series of “Nah, I don’t need to work out today” moments.
Until:
Now, she actually has more time to exercise.
But she’s not doing it.
Instead, she’s binge-watching Tiger King and Ozark.
Plus, she’s plowing through the gallon of ice cream that didn’t used to be in her kitchen freezer.
And she’s feeling frustrated.
If this all sounds painfully familiar, know this: You’re not the problem. But your system probably is—because it’s no longer working.
It’s pretty easy to understand the importance of a system during “normal life.” But it may be even more important now, for three reasons.
These times are stressful, especially if we’re worrying about the unknowns:
Most people know that stress fires up the emotional fight-flight-freeze part of the brain. But it also simultaneously shuts down the thinking-planning-decision-making prefrontal cortex.
All that makes it harder to keep our priorities front of mind. Instead, our emotion-driven reflexes take over. (This doesn’t usually turn out well.)
It can also just make us feel drained.
Without a system in place, we’re nudged in a direction we don’t want to go.
Think of your prefrontal cortex—your decision-making command center—as the weakest muscle in your body.
The more decisions you make, the more fatigued this part of the brain becomes—making each successive decision a little bit harder.
And you’re probably making more decisions these days than you realize.
After a certain number of decisions, your prefrontal cortex fatigues.
Rather than carefully weighing short-term desires against longer-term priorities, the brain spits out, “I don’t know… whatever.”
And once that happens, short-term desires win.
An anchor habit is something you do every day—without thinking about it.
For example, brushing your teeth is probably an anchor habit.
For many people, it’s the first step in a bedtime routine. And when they don’t brush their teeth, it feels wrong to go to bed, as if something is missing.
Before the pandemic, many of us had several anchor habits that functioned like the first domino in a series. Once that one domino tipped over, many other dominoes fell right after it, without much effort or thinking.
Let’s say someone—we’ll call him Gary—set his alarm for 6 a.m. every day (the first domino).
He got out of bed and…
But now? There’s no work or school to go to, so Gary’s not setting his alarm. And without that first domino, his journaling? It’s also not happening.
Now his entire routine is disrupted.
These questions can help you repair old systems and create new ones.
Over the past few weeks, many people have been pondering deep questions.
One of them: Does any of this still matter?
Although that question sounds fatalistic, it’s an important one to consider.
For example, the extra five pounds that used to seriously bug you? They might not seem like a biggie right now.
But maybe other things have moved way up the list, like connecting with loved ones or doing everything possible to avoid getting sick.
So take a moment to consider: What are your priorities?
In other words, what’s most important to you? What’s dropped in importance? And what’s so low on the list it’s not worth putting effort into at all?
Also worth mulling: Do your current actions line up with those priorities? In other words, are you putting effort into what you feel is most important?
If everything lines up: Rock on. You’re doing great.
If not, let’s take a look at what was once working for you (your old system) to see if there’s anything we can use there.
Take a moment to think about how your daily life looked pre-pandemic.
What were you doing consistently to stay healthy? Were you…
What systems once helped make it easier for you to do all of that?
For example, to make vegetables happen, did you….
And what order did all of that happen?
Certain steps may seem trivial. But don’t discount them. They might be a critical domino.
While the example above may not match one of your processes, you can use this approach to troubleshoot any helpful routine, habit, or behavior that’s been disrupted.
For example, in the past, maybe you kept certain foods out of the house because you knew you’d eat them.
But then, as your life completely changed, you might have gotten what personal trainer and Precision Nutrition Level 2 coach Jhonatan Ramirez calls a “snowstorm mentality.”
“During a storm, we tend to stay home and indulge,” says Ramirez, who runs the online coaching business Beyond Gym Selfies.
The sight of empty shelves triggered several of Ramirez’s clients to toss all sorts of things in their carts that they didn’t normally buy: chips, cookies, ice cream, cupcakes, brownie mix, crackers, crescent rolls.
And once those foods were in their kitchens, his clients started reporting issues with “eating too much.”
If you can relate, you might decide to re-evaluate what you’re putting on your grocery list. (You can do this by identifying your “red light” foods and implementing a kitchen makeover system. Learn how here.)
Now that you’re aware of your old system, you’re ready to think about which parts of that system you want to re-prioritize, what parts you no longer need, and what new habits you might want to add.
How might your old system help you…
For example, maybe you should still:
Some tasks may not be worth the effort or even make sense anymore.
Maybe you suddenly don’t care as much about the body comp goal you set for summer. So you quit weighing and measuring your food.
Or perhaps you stop using your workout journal because the details seem pretty meaningless right now.
If you simply don’t have the capacity for something, it’s okay to release your grip on it.
You might also need to shift more attention to another area of your health.
For example, take a look at the “deep health” graphic below. Even though healthy nutrition and lifestyle behaviors are often associated with physical health, the reality is this: All the areas of deep health are interconnected.
Suppose you’re lonely and feel disconnected from others (see: relational health). You might eat or drink more to comfort yourself, which negatively affects your physical health. And that might lead to feelings of anxiety or anger, which challenges your emotional health.
So in this case, taking more time to connect with the people you care about (even if remotely) might mean less time for other actions. But ultimately, it could provide a bigger benefit to your overall health.
To better understand how to use the deep health wheel to figure out where you should focus, check out this deep dive into deep health.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, your need to go to work or shuttle kids to school probably served a reliable anchor that organized your entire day. Now, without that anchor, you may need a new one.
To find one, think about your day from beginning to end.
What would make staying active, eating nutritious foods, restful sleep, and other priorities easier and more automatic? Consider your:
Jhonatan Ramirez first turned to time blocking during a hectic time of his life. In addition to managing a gym and coaching clients online, he was also studying for his Precision Nutrition Level 2 certification.
To stay on track, he blocked out time to study, work, read, journal, exercise, and even eat lunch.
End result: He got more done and spent less time on things that weren’t important to him.
And while the time-blocking technique’s upside is pretty clear for busy people, this method can be just as helpful—perhaps more so—when you have lots of free time, he says.
“It’s even more important right now because I wake up with a purpose,” he says.
Ever feel dissatisfied on a day off when you get nothing done? ‘Where did the time go?’ you might think. Well, that’s what can happen on any day that’s not structured. Thus, time-blocking.
To try it, create a schedule for your whole day, starting from the moment you wake to the moment you go to sleep.
Include everything you want to get done, even meals and especially personal time. Read: It’s not all about getting work done; it’s about making use of your time in a way that makes you feel good at the end of the day.
For inspiration, check out one of Ramirez’s time-blocked schedules below (no technology needed).
The only way to know for sure whether your new system will work?
Try it.
Give it seven days. See what happens. After seven days, reassess.
Ask yourself: “How’s that working for you?”
This can help you determine if you need to make an adjustment.
If it worked great, keep it up. If it didn’t work, see what you can learn.
Make a few changes and test again.
Besides helping you get back on track and be more consistent, the structure and familiarity of a routine can help you feel more grounded.
This weird, scary, unprecedented time will eventually come to an end.
When it does, your new practice of building and testing systems will help you transition back to work and other old “normals” much more smoothly.
And wouldn’t that be a welcome change?
The post Is your health and fitness routine broken? What to do when staying in shape feels harder than ever. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.
Source: Health1