Put Your Health and Weight Loss on Autopilot

In our last episode we found out that you need your autopilot brain to help you run things-- especially when you add getting healthy and losing weight to an already busy, complicated life.

And that programming your autopilot brain for health and weight loss is pretty simple—add the good habits and delete the bad ones.

Now here’s where things can get confusing…

What health and weight loss habits do you need to program to run on autopilot?

 

There’s A Lot of Noise Out There

There’s a lot of noise out there about how to get healthy and lose weight.

Do you need to go low carb, low fat, plant-based, keto, or paleo?

You’ll be surprised to learn it’s not as complicated as you’ve been lead to believe.

Here’s what really matters when it comes to your health and weight loss…

The 80/20 Rule

You’ve probably heard of the 80/20 Rule before.  It’s called The Pareto Principle. The Pareto Principle states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your behaviors.  

Most people have heard that when it comes to weight loss it’s 80% what you eat and 20% exercise.

In my experience as a dietitian coach, I actually see that 80% of the health and weight loss results come from making sure that you have THREE HABIT SYSTEMS down.

These three habit systems make up most of your Healthy Habit Path.

We can get fancy developing personalized habits within each system, but basically we can sum them up as:

1. Healthy Food System: Eat delicious, less processed healthy foods most of the time. These foods are energy-creating, non-addictive foods.

2. Daily Activity System: Be active for at least 30 minutes everyday.

3. Recovery System: Recover by sleeping 7 to 8 hours per night and managing your stress.

 

Get the Basics Down First

Of course with all three systems, there are layers and ways to structure habits just for you. You can get more specific as time goes on figuring out your Healthy Habit Path.

But remember, these are the basics that will give you 80% of your results.

When starting out, try these habits first, then work on the other 20% later. 

So how can you start programming these three habit systems in the Autopilot part of your brain?

Sometimes all you need is a simple hack to get the basics of eating, moving, and recovery down.

Here's my three favorite simple hacks to get you started…

  

Jumpstart Your Health and Weight Loss with These 3 Powerful Habits

Simple Food System—

For a simple way to eat healthy and lose weight use my healthy eating dinner plate. 

Most people have vegetables, protein, and a starch on their dinner plate already. Using a meal template means that you're just going to change the proportions of those foods on the plate. 

Lots of times, my clients don't even have to change what they're eating-- just the proportions. 

Eat 1/2 plate vegetables, 1/4 plate protein, and 1/4 plate carbohydrates.    

Losing weight and getting healthy doesn't have to take complicated math like calories, macros, or points. You don’t have to spend 10 minutes per meal entering each food item and amount into MyFitnessPal or other apps.

All you have to do is use your plate.

Setting up your plate like this will automatically lower your calories, lower your carbs, increase your protein, and increase your fiber without having to weigh, measure, or calculate.

Looking at your plate and figuring out proportions is something that your Autopilot part of your brain can easily handle.

Set up your plate like this, and you may not even need to get fancier than that.

Active Everyday System —

Can we make exercise complicated?  

Of course! But, when you're starting off, there are three things you should know about exercise--start small, be active each day, and do something you actually like to do (for more on this, check out this blog post). 

Start small.  If you start too big, you may hurt yourself, you'll get very sore, and you'll have to use too much willpower.  This could doom your exercise program the very first week. 

Doing something daily trumps occasional marathon workouts.  And how do you get yourself to exercise daily?  You make it easy and enjoyable.

Most people enjoy walking.  Start with 5-10 minutes of walking if you're just starting out. 

Or try this... A lot of my clients like to do the New York Times 7 Minute Workout as a first step to being active and doing strength training.  They like the 7 Minute Workout because they don’t need to change their clothes, they can do it at home, they can have their kids join in, they don’t need equipment, it works their whole body, and they can use an app. 

Find a time when you could do it each day and start small.  Some people like to do the 7 minute workout right before they get in the shower or while watching TV at night.

 

Recovery System—

In our age of distraction and chronic stress, you need a plan to recover from stress and to get enough sleep. 

Sleep is not a luxury. It's a need.  Along with food, water, and oxygen, we will die without it. 

Getting less than 7 hours of sleep can have disastrous effects on your hormones and weight. You'll have more energy and willpower to reach your goals if you have a full night of sleep. Aim to get 7-8 hours a night.

Here's a simple trick that can transform your life.

Set a bedtime—for you. 

We count down the minutes until it's bedtime for our kids, but as adults, most of us just wait to go to bed until we get bored or tired.

Sometimes it doesn't occur to us to go to bed until a couple of hours later than we should have.

You'll be amazed at how setting an alarm to go to bed makes such a huge difference in your health and weight loss.

 

Be a Scientist

Once you've made these three habit changes, be sure to "Be a Scientist."  

Most of my clients have 3-5 major habit changes to get healthy and lose weight. In order to make new habits that count, you need to take a close look at what is really happening in your life.  

The Autopilot part of your brain is in charge of what you’re eating, when you’re moving, and when you’re sleeping. 

Because it’s your subconscious, you aren’t fully aware of what’s going on. So, start noticing it. Then, track it and review your results.

If you realize what is happening when you eat right, move more, and recover better, then you can do more of that. 

If you realize what causes a bad day, you can stop doing that.

 

The Other 20% of Your Habits

Remember these three habit systems--simple food system, daily activity system, and recovery system. These will help you get 80% of your results in health and weight loss.

The other 20% of your health and weight loss habits might include things like adding supplements, eating lower sodium foods, and adding more soluble fiber. These depend on your body and any chronic conditions you have.

The trickier your health and weight loss are— the more you’ll want a dietitian coach to help you with this part of your habit plan.  

The Hard Part is Actually Doing It

A small percentage of people can work on these three habit systems all on their own, and they’ll get healthy and lose all the weight they want.

Most people plateau or get stuck after a while, or they aren’t even sure how to start. That's where a dietitian coach can help.

A dietitian coach can help you personalize your Autopilot habits, so they work for you.  And most importantly, we can help you figure out how to do your habits in your crazy, busy life.

Everyone could use some personalization, guidance, support, and accountability.  

 

Ready for Take-off? 

Are you ready to put your health and weight loss on Autopilot?  

Be sure to check out episode #5, to get ready for take-off.

 Until next time,