Staying With It
With Andrew Pipe

This excerpt from Reader’s Digest’s best-selling book, 30 Minutes a Day to a Healthy Heart, offers practical tips on how to maintain a heart-health program

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Reaching your heart-health goals—be it losing weight or lowering your cholesterol—is exciting. You’ll feel, and likely look, better. Sooner or later, though, the new you will become the status quo. When the first thrill of accomplishment fades and the compliments become fewer, then the real work begins. Half of all people who embark on healthy lifestyle changes start drifting back to their old ways within six months. But if you get past that point, you’ll have a habit for life. Below are 13 ways to stay motivated once you have healthier lifestyle in place:

1. Wear your heart on your sleeve…or your finger: Literally. Wear a heart-shaped ring or find some other visual trigger to remind you of why you’re doing what you’re doing. Wear a pendant or pin up a note, such as “I want to see my granddaughter graduate from medical school.”

2. Create a fan club: Tell your family and friends that these changes are not easy for you and that you’d love their support and encouragement. Better still, ask them to join you in some of your healthy new habits — company makes exercise and eating properly more fun.

3. Ask for help: Sometimes, the way you handle small obstacles can make the difference between lasting the course and veering off it. If you always make lunch for your partner and he likes fattening foods you can’t resist, ask him to make it himself. If piles of dishes prevent you from taking your evening walk, delegate this chore to your children.

4. Track your progress: Keeping a daily log of your healthy activities helps reinforce your commitment.

5. Encourage yourself: Think of all the difficult things you’ve done in your life and say, “If I could do that, I can do this.”

6. Set small daily goals: Losing 18 kg and controlling your blood pressure are good goals, but they won’t happen overnight. Setting easily achievable goals, such as ensuring you drink two glasses of water before noon, will keep you in a “can do” frame of mind.

7. Think “I’ll just…”: When your motivation is at rock-bottom, count on “I’ll just” thinking. That is, “I’ll just do my arm curls” or “I’ll just get the blackberries out of the freezer.” Once you take a step in the right direction, your momentum will pick up and pull your motivation along with it.

8. Give yourself credit: We have a tendency to dismiss the little things we do well, but all those little things are at the core of healthy living. Praise yourself every time you make a heart-healthy choice.

9. Plan for difficult times: Decide now that when you see your waistline expanding or your blood pressure starting to rise, you’ll get back on track as soon as you can.

10. Stop, think, act: Before you light that cigarette or eat that second slice of chocolate cake, stop and think about why you’re doing something you know is bad for your heart. Think what else you could do, drink or eat that might make you feel almost as good, then do that.

11. List the pros and cons: If you ever seriously consider giving up, write down the pros and cons of your decision. This will help to remind you why you started in the first place and the consequences of turning back.

12. Find emotional outlets. Let’s be honest: We may eat unhealthy food because we’re bored, frustrated, anxious or angry. Find other outlets for these emotions, such as exercising or keeping a diary, or confront them directly.