Don’t stop believin’! No, I’m not talking about becoming a “Glee” Club. I’m talking about how your club can help members stick with their healthy eating program. As club professionals, one of our many important functions is to provide support and motivation to our clients.
A recent study out of Texas A & M University found that upbeat, forward-looking feelings like hopefulness led to better dietary choices, while positive emotions like happiness weren’t necessarily conducive to self-control. The conclusion was that the more future-focused positive emotions were leading people to consume less.
Happy times are often celebrated with parties, and along with that, comes food and beverages. For many people who are trying to change their eating behavior, happy times can be equated with overindulgence. We have all had the experience or know someone else who has of eating when we are happy. Some people eat when they are sad. Either way, emotional cues can certainly push someone to lose control.
So what this study is saying is that hopefulness as in looking forward to the effects of present behavior on the future is a better predictor of success in taking off and maintaining weight loss. I believe that for many people, if they take the time to think about it, it is important to have a vision of how they would like to look and what they would like to be able to do. It becomes a very powerful incentive.
It would be an awesome task to ask a member to see a direct link between what they are doing now and how they hope it will impact their future. If people believe that they are a victim of their genetics, then they won’t be very hopeful of a better outcome. However, knowing that only 3 to 5 percent of diseases are related to genes and 80 percent of today’s diseases are related to diet and lifestyle provides a lot of motivation and hope.
How can you in your club help members stay focused on the future of their health? One way is to reassure them that slips and other lapses are not fatal flaws. They are a normal part of the process of changing behavior and not an indication of failure or inadequacies. People who do well on any program learn that it’s not what you do when you fall off the wagon but how well you cope with getting back on it.
I love the idea of coaching people to look beyond the present and focus on creating a desirable future. They “can’t stop thinking about tomorrow”, and we won’t let them.
Judith Samuels, M.A. is a certified nutrition and wellness consultant and master personal trainer at Sport&Health Clubs in the Washington D.C. Metro Area. She can be reached via e-mail at judi@judisamuels.com.
