I was going to write a stormy post on
the mercury findings in High Fructose Corn Syrup, but this morning I had an exam in my Nutrition Education class, and my mind is too full with nutritional theory jargon. The word that keeps sticking out in my mind is "barrier" and in this context it is the perception of the barriers that keep us from following through on healthy nutrition and diet related behaviors.
A barrier stands strong, sending the message that although we may know something is good for us, or that it will make us feel better, it is too hard or difficult to follow through so we may feel discouraged. I can preach to you all day long that vegetables are good for you and reduce your risk for chronic disease in the future, but if you perceive a barrier to the act of including the vegetables in your diet (maybe you don't have the confidence to cook them, maybe you think they are expensive, maybe you think your family won't like them) chances are you won't.
This blog is my soapbox where I stand up and basically regurgitate my knowledge and experiences with you, but I don't always share my difficulties. I struggle with body images, with finding the time to cook, with food guilt when I feel like I haven't been the best little nutrition student that I can be, but luckily over time these struggles or self doubts have gotten less frequent as my perceived barriers to making the changes I want are much much smaller. I know that I can do something, it's just a matter of doing it.
So I want to propose an exercise to you. I just did it for myself and it's interesting to see what comes up.
Take out a piece of paper and think of some change you have been thinking about making, but you haven't yet. Maybe it's cooking at home more often, maybe it's eating more greens, maybe it's exercising more, whatever it is just write it down.
Once you have it, think about why this change has been in your mind or what it's importance is to you. In other words,
what are the benefits you hope to see with this change? Weight loss, overall health, more energy, etc? Put everything down that comes to mind.
Now list your barriers, or why you haven't made this change. What holds you back, time, money, stress, lack of confidence, lack of skill etc? Again, put everything down that comes to your mind, even if you feel silly. No one else will see this.
Take a look at your barriers.
These are the roadblocks that you want to target. Next to the barriers write down what would need to change in your life in order for this barrier to be perceived as less important. It could be as simple as changing your workouts to the morning instead of after work if you are too tired in the evenings, or it could be more complex like finding a resource to help you learn how to cook, how to shop, maybe consulting with a dietitian or personal trainer. Now take your simplest barrier and the corresponding remedy and
make a commitment to yourself to work on that for the next few weeks or months, however long it takes for its perceived strength to diminish. Maybe your simplest barrier to filling your house with healthy food is that when you go to the grocery store, you are hungry and have no shopping lists so you wander aimlessly throwing immediate gratification items like chips into your basket. So, for the next few weeks make sure you go to the store right after a meal with a plan of attack in terms of what you plan on buying. Once you have done this a few times and you are comfortable with it, move on to the next barrier.
Remember that these positive changes are going to be lifelong habits, and for this to occur we need to take small steps. Some barriers require more effort than others, but as the list of why you can't do something begins to decrease the few left on the page may not feel so daunting.
Please feel free to email me at
caitlin_leff@yahoo.com or comment with ANY questions at all. Maybe I can help guide you through some of your barriers!
This blog is my soapbox where I stand up and basically regurgitate my knowledge and experiences with you, but I don't always share my difficulties. I struggle with body images, with finding the time to cook, with food guilt when I feel like I haven't been the best little nutrition student that I can be, but luckily over time these struggles or self doubts have gotten less frequent as my perceived barriers to making the changes I want are much much smaller. I know that I can do something, it's just a matter of doing it.
So I want to propose an exercise to you. I just did it for myself and it's interesting to see what comes up. Take out a piece of paper and think of some change you have been thinking about making, but you haven't yet. Maybe it's cooking at home more often, maybe it's eating more greens, maybe it's exercising more, whatever it is just write it down.
Once you have it, think about why this change has been in your mind or what it's importance is to you. In other words, what are the benefits you hope to see with this change? Weight loss, overall health, more energy, etc? Put everything down that comes to mind.
Now list your barriers, or why you haven't made this change. What holds you back, time, money, stress, lack of confidence, lack of skill etc? Again, put everything down that comes to your mind, even if you feel silly. No one else will see this.
Take a look at your barriers. These are the roadblocks that you want to target. Next to the barriers write down what would need to change in your life in order for this barrier to be perceived as less important. It could be as simple as changing your workouts to the morning instead of after work if you are too tired in the evenings, or it could be more complex like finding a resource to help you learn how to cook, how to shop, maybe consulting with a dietitian or personal trainer. Now take your simplest barrier and the corresponding remedy and make a commitment to yourself to work on that for the next few weeks or months, however long it takes for its perceived strength to diminish. Maybe your simplest barrier to filling your house with healthy food is that when you go to the grocery store, you are hungry and have no shopping lists so you wander aimlessly throwing immediate gratification items like chips into your basket. So, for the next few weeks make sure you go to the store right after a meal with a plan of attack in terms of what you plan on buying. Once you have done this a few times and you are comfortable with it, move on to the next barrier.
Remember that these positive changes are going to be lifelong habits, and for this to occur we need to take small steps. Some barriers require more effort than others, but as the list of why you can't do something begins to decrease the few left on the page may not feel so daunting.
Please feel free to email me at caitlin_leff@yahoo.com or comment with ANY questions at all. Maybe I can help guide you through some of your barriers!