Changing your perception, setting realistic goals essential for cementing healthy habits
Making decisions can be tough. Just as tough, though less talked about, is sticking to a choice once it’s been made— especially when it comes to changing our habits. Clinical psychology suggests it doesn’t have to be this way. Cognitive behavioural therapy, an approach to treating mental illness developed by Albert Ellis and others in the 20th century, has been adapted in recent years to help people overcome mental hurdles in areas like giving up smoking or making time for exercise. It’s a burgeoning and promising endeavour. Participants of the YMCA’s Community Health Challenge had a taste of it last month, when Lynne Honey, a professor of psychology at MacEwan University, led a free workshop, presented by Holos Productivity, on dealing with stress when making lifestyle changes. “Actually, fitness is a good analogy for this,” Honey says. “When you start lifting weights, you don’t bench 200 on your first day. You start benching the bar, then you add smaller plates and gradually work up. “Same thing with resilience. You don’t start off being a resilient person. You have to work up to it.” The first step, Honey says, is to pay attention to how you explain the world to yourself. “For example: a student gets a grade they don’t like,” she says. “How do they explain this to themselves? Do they say it’s because they didn’t study, or it’s because the prof hates them?” Once you’ve identified your “explanatory style,” as Honey describes it, you can consider whether it’s helping or hurting you. Seeing a world where your actions play a big role in what happens to you instead of one where you’re helpless to change undesired outcomes is the first step towards positive change, she says. Changing your ‘explanatory style’ doesn’t happen overnight, and changing longheld habits takes even longer. Formal writing and reflection exercises can be helpful here, Honey adds. One such exercise begins by writing down something you think you cannot do—for instance, ‘I couldn’t possibly climb a mountain’—then listing all the reasons why this is the case: you have asthma, you’re afraid you’d get lost, and so on. Then, you write specific, detailed things you could do to overcome those obstacles: you could train, you could bring your asthma inhaler, you could hire a guide, and so on. “This makes my goal no longer seem unachievable,” Honey says. “I can still decide that I don’t want to. But now it’s my choice. It’s not something that I’m prevented from doing because I’m incapable.” Another technique Honey suggests is to set intrinsic, personal goals. “Sometimes we look at other people and think, ‘I’m not as good as that person and I’m going to quit,’” she says. “Quite often, these are illusions. “We often think we perceive the world accurately. We think we know that that person has an easier time than we do, but if you don’t talk to them, you won’t know that. “Set personal goals and stick to your own program. Don’t try to run someone else’s race.” Like most people, many of the YMCA Community Health Challenge participants have bounced off various exercise programs and diets over the years. Yet some have also found success by applying these principals. Andi Eng is a passionate runner, fitness enthusiast and challenge participant. She plans to run her first ultramarathon this year. Yet she does not look like a typical long-distance running junkie. “I’m five feet tall. I’m very stocky. I’m probably never going to be one those skinny people,” she says. For years, Eng exercised and dieted to change the way she looked. Eighteen months ago, she realized going to all that trouble to please other people was not worth it. Now, she sets internal goals and focuses on improving her performance more than her appearance. “I want to prove that the scale and your size has nothing to do with how healthy you are and how you feel,” Eng says. Exercise has also helped Eng overcome her own challenges. Mental illness runs in her family, and she was diagnosed with depression while in graduate school at the University of Alberta. “I was really suffering emotionally and mentally,” she says. “The one thing I always knew made me feel better was doing something active. With the OK from her doctor, Eng uses exercise as a way to help treat depression. This has ignited a love affair with running and helped her think about ‘success’ in a different way. “It’s so much more satisfying to no longer be worried about the scale, my size or my weight,” she says. “I don’t care about what my body looks like. I care about what it can do.” The YMCA will be holding more free community workshops at the Don Wheaton Family YMCA. The next one, on learning how to exercise when you have physical limitations, will take place Feb. 21 from 6-7 p.m. Free 3-hour parking and child minding will be available. For more information, visit northernalberta.ymca.ca/challenge.