Are you willing to do what's necessary for true change?
According to Autumn Calabrese, trainer from Beachbody.com, 70% of people that start an exercise routine, never complete it! I have many BEACHBODY exercise videos in my collection. I have been guilty of not completing a workout program. I’ve also been guilty of quitting exercise after I’ve dedicated myself to an 8 week program. I love exercising but it can be last on the list of priorities when there are a bunch of other things I need to do.
Recently I have decided to make a lifestyle change. My goal isn’t to just make changes for the next 8 weeks but rather for a lifetime. I was motivated to purchase Hammer and Chisel from BEACHBODY because I was needing to do something different. My Chiropractic adjustments wouldn’t hold. It was getting harder for my mid back to get adjusted and I was living with chronic pain. Sadly, most of us need pain to be motivated to make necessary changes to our lives.
In Autumn’s BEACHBODY videos, she says many motivational things to keep you going when it gets really hard to continue. One things Autumn says is, “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” Another one of my favorites is, “If you want something you’ve never had, you’ll have to do something you’ve never done.”
We truly need to start looking at healthy habits as a journey, not a destination. Being out of chronic pain was my motivation, but now that I am 5 weeks into Hammer and Chisel, should I quit since my mid back pain is gone and I’m holding my adjustments better? Being out of pain is great, but what about increasing endurance and strength, having more energy and sleeping better and being a better Mom as a result of the work I’m doing? There is so much more to life than being pain free. That just scratches the service of a life worth living. Concerning yourself with pain only puts you on a rollercoaster you will never get off: Do something different to get you out of pain. Stop what got you there. Have a flare-up that motivates you to start taking care of yourself again, but just enough to get you out of pain. Quit when you’re feeling better. . . And on and on it goes. As we age, the flare-ups last longer and the results we want take longer. We start to think what we are doing is no longer working so we jump to some other modality seeking answers. But the truth is many people don’t want to keep doing the work that got them the initial results and they often quit too soon before long term change can happen. Many of us never give ourselves the chance to experience true change to the body.
According to Lally’s study; “On average, it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact. And how long it takes a new habit to form can vary widely depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances. In Lally's study, it took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit.” (https://jamesclear.com/new-habit)
Let’s put this in perspective. Muscles regenerate in 4 months. Bones regenerate in 9 months and the brain and nervous system regenerates every 14 months. Our care plan is based on how long it takes a (weight baring) sprained joint to heal: 12-16 weeks. The repetition of 3 times a week is based on science that shows how former muscle patterns pull the bones back out of alignment during the first 12-16 weeks. To make longer change to the muscles, you need to be exercising and getting adjusted regularly for 4 months. To make changes to the structure the muscles pull on, you need to be exercising and getting adjusted regularly for 9 months. Do you want longer lasting change to the neurological system? You need to be getting adjusted regularly for over 14 months.
If I, Dr. Helena, after 28 year of Chiropractic care, decide to stop getting adjusted and stop exercising, my results will start to reverse in as little as 7-14 days.
It is truly impossible to work out once and wake up with 6-pack abs. It is also impossible to get adjusted once and reverse a lifetime of trauma. If you want long lasting change, then you need to do the work for a lifetime. From my personal experience, you will never get the results you want if you keep quitting on yourself. Your health is your responsibility. In truth, doing the work to strive towards health is an amazing journey. One I’ve been on for many years. One I’m still seeking to improve! I’m constantly striving to be a better me; for my practice members, my kids, for my husband and also for me. We all have an opportunity to take care of ourselves every day. Make your days the best they can be. Choose wisely. Choose health!