Embarking on a body transformation journey can be challenging, but understanding the science behind habit formation can be a game-changer. The habit loop, a concept popularised by charles duhigg in his book “the power of habit”, provides valuable insights into how habits are formed and how we can use this knowledge to achieve our weight loss goals. By understanding the habit loop and taking intentional steps, we can create lasting habits that support a healthy lifestyle.
The habit loop consists of three components: the cue, the routine and the reward. These elements work together to create habits, which can either help or hinder our body transformation efforts.
The first step in the habit loop is the cue, which triggers the start of the habit. Cues can be external, such as time of day, environment, or social situations, or internal, like emotional states or physical sensations. Understanding the cues that trigger unhealthy eating is crucial for weight loss.
*A common cue for poor health habits is watching TV. It’s not only a sedentary activity but it also triggers other unhealthy habits such as snacking on foods that are high calorie dense with little to no nutritional benefit.
For example, if you find yourself snacking mindlessly while watching TV in the evenings, the cue could be sitting in front of the television. By identifying and acknowledging these cues, you can gain insight into the habits you want to change and break the cycle.
The routine is the behaviour or action that follows the cue. In the context of body transformation, this can include unhealthy eating patterns, lack of exercise, or other detrimental behaviours. Breaking these routines involves consciously choosing healthier alternatives
*A bowl of fresh fruit with yogurt and protein powder is a great alternative snack to more calorie dense options. Be careful snacking on nuts as they are high calorie dense.
Instead of mindlessly snacking on unhealthy food during TV time, you can create a new routine. For instance, prepare a bowl of fresh fruits or vegetables as a nutritious alternative, or engage in light exercise during commercial breaks. Replacing the routine directly linked to unhealthy habits helps to modify our behaviour and move towards our body transformation goals
The final element of the habit loop is the reward, which reinforces the behaviour and motivates us to repeat it in the future. It’s crucial to identify the underlying reward we seek from our eating habits. Often, unhealthy food can provide temporary satisfaction or comfort.
*Eating together as a family, at the dinner table, with shared healthy meals has shown to have enormous health benefits that go beyond your body transformation goals.
To align our habits with our body transformation goals, we need to find healthier rewards. For example, instead of indulging in a sugary treat after a long day, reward yourself with a relaxing bath , reading a book, or spending quality time with loved ones. These alternative rewards can create positive associations and encourage the formation of healthier habits.
1. Identify Your Triggers: Take note of the cues that lead to unhealthy habits. This self-awareness helps you become more mindful of your eating patterns and enables you to interrupt the habit loop.
2. Create New Routines: Replace unhealthy routines with healthier alternatives. Plan and prepare nutritious meals and snacks in advance to avoid impulsively reaching for unhealthy options. Incorporate regular physical activity into your daily routine to support your body transformation efforts and overall well being.
3. Cultivate Healthy Rewards: Find alternative, non-food rewards that provide the same level of fulfilment. Treat yourself to a massage, buy yourself something you’ve been wanting, or practice relaxation techniques to reward yourself for sticking to your new health plan.
It is important to tie your efforts to an intangible emotional feeling that is more powerful than the momentary feelings that govern most of our decisions. The feelings associated with success must come from an internal source and not be externally driven, otherwise your endeavours will most likely fail at some stage. This will relate to the Be-Do-Have model which we will cover later in this article
*Joining fitness centres and small group sessions is a great way to be part of a like-minded community to achieve your health and fitness goals.
4.Seek Support: Share your health and fitness goals with family, friends, or your local fitness centre. Having a supportive network can provide encouragement, accountability, and motivation throughout your journey.
5. Persistence and Consistently: Building new habits takes time and effort. Stay persistent, even if you encounter setbacks along the way. Be consistent with your new routines and allow these habits to become ingrained in your daily life.
Understanding the habit loop and its application to weight loss can empower you to make lasting changes and improve your overall well-being. By identifying cues, replacing unhealthy routines, and finding healthier rewards, you can rewire your habits and move closer to the health, vitality, and body shape that you so desire. Remember, successful body transformation is not just about quick fixes, but about building sustainable habits that support a lifelong journey towards a healthier you.
To achieve lasting and meaningful changes in our physical well-being, it is vital to align our beliefs, actions and desired outcomes. The Be-Do-Have model provides a powerful framework for navigating the process of body transformation, allowing us to tap into our personal power and create the body we envision.
To achieve our desired physical transformation we must first focus on our mindset and our beliefs (internal transformation), the ‘BE’ part, and then take consistent, purposeful action, the ‘DO’ part, that aligns with who we want to be. For example, if you are caught in a situation where you are not sure what decision to make you can just think to yourself; “what would a healthy person do in this situation?” or “what would the healthiest version of me do in this situation?”. This type of thought process allows us to embody an identity that then brings about the desired outcome of our health and fitness goals
The mistake a lot of people make is that they focus on ‘the getting’ first without putting in the work on themselves internally. This results in the person going round in circles with their results, leading to things like yo-yo dieting, and eventually getting so frustrated that they simply give up and develop a belief that there is something wrong with them (identity). I call this spiralling down as this person’s decision making process is now fixed towards this identity and affects all areas of the Pyramid of Change.
The example provided above is a shift in identity that then penetrates the rest of the pyramid. They have identified as somebody wrong, believing they are a victim of metabolic circumstance and not ever being able to lose weight. Be = Identity, Values and Beliefs. Do = Skills, Knowledge, and Behaviours. To “be a healthy person” shifts your values and beliefs to do the necessary behaviours and create an environment for success. In the midst of that process is developing the skills and knowledge required for success (do), which are sought after as a result of the shift in values and beliefs (be)
By creating an environment for success, you will be able to consistently apply the behaviours that reap the rewards and allow you to have the health, fitness, energy levels and body shape of your ultimate dreams! Circling back to The Habit Loop, the reward centres in the brain (dopamine response) then entices you to want more of these feelings that exercise and healthy eating provide you. Starting a spiralling up (rather than a spiralling down) so to speak, of your health and fitness results.
When asked the question, ‘what do you think is the most difficult part of the pyramid of change?’, I would take a guess that many people would say Skills and Knowledge is the hardest part. “Just tell me what to do” is what many people I have consulted with have demanded. Unfortunately, I can almost instantly tell this person is likely to fail because they are focused on the solution from an external point of view. Nonetheless, even when given an exact blueprint on what to do, most people will still not achieve results and or their results are short lived (think The Biggest Loser, 6 and 8 Week Challenges and Online Training courses). For the pyramid of change to take effect we first need to focus on shifting our identity which ironically is the most difficult part of the process (which is why most people avoid this and seek quick fixes alternatively). So how do we shift our identity? Here is my four step process to become the person to create the body of your dreams!
Step 1: Let go of your old identity.
The current body shape, weight, poor health habits, people you associate with, home and work environments, these are all examples of the things that make up your current identity which determine the values and beliefs of your decision making. As you can see, shifting your identity takes more than just “I don’t want to be fat anymore”. You will need to ask yourself; “What are some of the limiting beliefs that are holding me back from improving my
health and body shape?” and “If I continue to hold this belief, what are the consequences in a year, 5 years, 10 years from now?”. Associating the consequences with your limiting beliefs should incur a painful emotion that drives you away from holding these limiting beliefs.
Step 2: Create or identify a purpose for becoming this person.
Our identity is tied to our purpose. To consistently make decisions and persist with the effort required to shift your identity, your purpose must be internally driven and come from a place of love and abundance. If your purpose is driven externally by envy or lack, you will ‘sabotage’ your results in the long run.
Step 3: Associate yourself with whom you want to become.
A man was crab fishing for the first time on a pier where just a few metres further up, was an experienced crab fisherman seemingly catching crabs by the minute. While this experienced fisherman had his back turned to the bucket with his collection of caught crabs, one of the crabs decided to make a getaway. “Excuse me sir, I believe one of your crabs is trying to climb out of the bucket” said the first timer. “Watch what happens next!” said the experienced crab fisherman. The rogue crab is then pulled back into the bucket by all the other crabs keeping the crab grounded for dinner later
that evening. There is a saying that you are like the 5 people that you spend the most time with. In basically every example of every person you or I would know, this seems dead-on accurate. This is where part 4 of utilising The Habit Loop is: to be part of a community of like-minded people who share your goals and identify with the person you want to become. Yes, you will need to discern your close relationships and how they are affecting your health and fitness. There are some people in your life that you may need to limit the amount of time you spend with them while there will be others that you may need to exclude from your life altogether. This may seem harsh but is a necessary part of growth. To shed your old identity, you will need to make difficult decisions (which is ‘too cut’) to allow room to grow into the person you wish to become.
*Joining fitness centres and small group sessions is a great way to be part of a like-minded community to achieve your health and fitness goals.
4.Seek Support: Share your health and fitness goals with family, friends, or your local fitness centre. Having a supportive network can provide encouragement, accountability, and motivation throughout your journey.
5. Persistence and Consistently: Building new habits takes time and effort. Stay persistent, even if you encounter setbacks along the way. Be consistent with your new routines and allow these habits to become ingrained in your daily life.
At Elite Body Fitness, the most common theory behind the success of our clients is being part of the culture and the community that has been established by our members. Being part of an environment of relatable, like-minded people, who succeed in increasing their fitness and strength, improve their body composition and establish a regular exercise routine, reinforces the new identity that achieves these same incredible results.
Step 4: Imagine yourself already as the person you want to become.
This in fact happens each time you ask yourself the question “What would the healthiest version of me do?”. Because each time you ask this question you need to think about that very person you want to become while simultaneously answering the question. Really embody the feeling of being this person each time you ask the question to yourself. You can use visualization techniques and/or have a photo of what you want to look like on a dream board. The more clear you are on what you want, the more power you will have to achieve the outcome. By the completion of this four step process, you will confidently circle back to The Habit Loop with the inspiration create a set of habits that will lead you to an incredible, jaw dropping result that is now simply part of who you are, meaning you will be able to maintain this new found vitality, health and physique for the rest of your life. To be part of a thriving community that will support you all the way with your health and fitness goals and let go of the old frustrations of the past for good, you contact one of our coaches on 0455 401 944 to begin your transformation journey.
For more great information, tips and tricks for your body transformation journey you can also visit our website at www.ebfit.com.au or email us at admin@ebfit.com.au
Yours in health,
Matt Townsend
Certified Metabolic Nutritionist
Matt Townsend is the managing director of Elite Body Fitness Burwood and Elite Body Fitness Programs. With more than 15 years industry experience, Matt has helped transform the lives of hundreds of people from all walks of life including professional athletes, military personnel and every day, busy mums and dads. His results include National Body Transformation Challenge Winners and dozens of weight loss clients with more double figure weight loss results.
He has completed many certification courses, working directly with world renowned experts in the industry, to continue to bring the latest in research and results into the doors of Elite Body Fitness for the benefit of our wonderful community members
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