How To Tell If Your Healthy Lifestyle Program Is Working
Gyms, health clubs, doctor’s offices and weight loss clinics — plus books, blogs, videos, magazines and more! — offer lots of healthy lifestyle programs that make big promises. Eat this, not that. Do this, not that. And all will be well!
Yet lasting results are about more than the numbers on a tape measure, a scale, or a summary of lab results from your doctor.
The real question is whether the approach you’re taking is helping you build skills and know-how for a lifetime of healthy, happy, vital living — so you can do what matters most to you, without limitation. Skills and know-how that help you restore your positive mindset and can adapt to you, as your life changes over time.
Consider these questions:
Is the program based on my objectives for healthy living? If you want to be able to chase your kids around the yard and you don’t care much about working out a gym, your program shouldn’t focus on gym-based exercises — unless that’s a step that’s required to be able to chase your kids!
If you’re anxious about a family history of heart health, is your program focused on improving your lab results and cardiovascular health and not just tracking what you eat?
When a program is based on your goals, you’re likelier to stick with it and it’s likelier to be successful.
Do I feel listened to? Your health coach should consistently invite and explore your thoughts about yourself, your health and wellbeing, your goals today and your longer-term life goals, the program and your relationship, and how you feel things are progressing.
This ensures that your program is personalized to your specific requirements — whether that means special food recommendations, a unique set of physical activity goals, extra attention to stress management or something else.
Does my program adapt when things change? Everyone is different. Your health coach should be able to quickly pivot, to proactively change strategy and tools when an approach doesn’t appear to be helping you. You’re making the toughest change – to a healthy lifestyle. You shouldn’t have to turn yourself into a completely different person just to make your coach successful!
Are new habits starting to come naturally? New habits don’t happen overnight. However, you ought to see progress towards establishing that new habit fairly quickly. It may be just the early stages of that new habit — say, cutting down by one cigarette a day vs completely stopping smoking — and that’s OK. Perhaps you’re remembering to practice a new routine some days — say, taking a healthy portable snack to work — but other days you forget. That’s OK too. But if the new habits you’re trying to work on just aren’t clicking at all, or feel incredibly burdensome, that’s a red flag to discuss with your coach.
Do I feel rewarded… or punished? If you dread checking in at your healthy lifestyle program, that’s a sign that something’s not right. Are you feeling judged by the program leader? That’s definitely not cool. Are you feeling overwhelmed? Perhaps cutting big goals down into bite-size chunks would help. Milestones should be achievable and reinforce a sense of progress that makes you eager and excited about shooting for the next one. The bottom line is that the right program for you will give you a sense of energy and empowerment, not dread or guilt.
Could I keep doing this for the rest of my life? The right approach gives you skills and nurtures capabilities that will serve you well throughout your life. Years from now, you’ll look back on this journey as a turning point, when you took charge and turned your life around. Can you see yourself moving each day closer to that time and place, eager to greet the sun, full of vitality, embracing the possibilities? You’re in the right place!