Obesity, Small Changes and the Power of Ones
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The concept behind the Power of Ones is very straight forward. Do little things repeatedly…and they add up to big things…in our case, pounds lost, hundreds of them. While I would love to take credit for such a brainstorm, the only thing I can accept acknowledgement is the catchy Power of Ones phrase. In fact, this concept of doing little things has been around since the dawn of human kind.
In the May/June addition of ACSM’s journal (American College of Sports Medicine) ,
Nutritionist and Exercise Physiologist, Dr. Stella Lucia Volpe, writes about ways to help individuals adhere to exercise programs and changes in diet. She stresses that big changes are hard to implement and even harder to maintain…and instead, finding evidence in the research, that smaller bouts of intense exercise are easier to accomplish and have possibly better health benefits. Additionally, making a small change in diet…cutting back instead of cutting out, can be maintained…an example she uses is eating ice cream out of a coffee cup instead of a bowl. Sure, maybe you go back a couple of times in the beginning, but research shows that over time, you will eat less.
What does this mean for us? For those of you that have been practicing the Power of Ones in your life, you are seeing the results. No, not the huge lottery winning results that we all love to read about…instead, the losing 100 pounds of weight results. One of my readers, OM (to protect his privacy) has lost over 50 pounds since April…a steady, and safe 1-2 pounds per week. And this while living dorm style with 6 other overeaters and non-movers! It can be done and he is proof. SR has gone down 3 sizes and in her words “hasn’t been this small in years.” These two people are examples of applying the basics, over and over. It is easier to do, and more successful in the end.
Another interesting article in the ACSM journal is on the social undermining phenomenon for eating and exercising. In short, it demonstrates that those closest to us are often the ones that give us the most resistance to changes in our eating and moving. Statements like, “you would rather work out than be with me” or “just one bite, I made it just for you” can put a lot of pressure on us to stray from our focus of eating and moving better. AND – to be clear, our loved ones are usually not trying to hurt us or derail us in any way…but the results can be the same…a missed movement session or 1,3,10 extra bites that effect our goals. Finally…in this same article, the authors stress that those individuals that have support systems in place…friends that they move with, or talk about eating strategies, or trainers or coaches to discuss their challenges with are 60% more successful!
So find friends/coaches/trainers to help you…and chose small changes to make big and PERMANENT differences in your life.