The Power of The Small Increments
Before I got my degree in nutrition, I got my degree in exercise physiology and worked as a fitness trainer. One of my clients was 83 years old and needed nuclear power. In addition to the various basic exercises, I started them on the board.
Yes, a board. She could only hold the board for 10 seconds. No problem, I thought, I can work with this. And every time we used the correct position - a board, not an A-frame.
That week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, she made the 10 second plank. For the next week, she did a 12 second plank every 3 days. She then hosted a 14 second whiteboard on Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
We kept this 2 second increase for many weeks - after a while I increased it to 3 seconds. I'm happy to report that my 83-year-old client sat on the board for 2 minutes 45 seconds - in the correct position.
What can you take away?
Small steps work. When I told people this story, many said, "I hate boards."
Ok, whoever you are, you don't hate the 10-second bar. There is nothing to hate; It will end in 10 seconds.
What you hate doing is doing the board for 90 seconds when you have enough strength and stamina for just 45 seconds. The 3 second increase graph works for any duration.
And what does this have to do with food?
Small steps also apply to changing your eating habits. If you can't stand the thought of making food changes, start with something small. Add protein to your breakfast. Eat an egg with a regular bagel.
Keep doing this until you feel normal. Usual. Easily. Then add something else.
If you hate vegetables, make a fantastic looking lunch sandwich and top with a handful of bagged organic salad.
For a morning smoothie, add a handful of spinach to the recipe. In each example, do this until you feel light. Make them your new habits.
Then move on to the next step when you're ready.
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