Are you ready to ditch the hard-core fitness challenges and discover a more attainable, sustainable approach to well-being?
Aaron will be taking you on a journey through my experiences in the health and wellness industry, revealing how my approach to fitness has evolved over the years.
Once a proponent of 300 minutes of cardio per week and stringent food logging, my perspective has now shifted towards High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and shorter, purposeful workouts for fat loss and long-term success. I’ll candidly share why certain challenges, like 3 for 31, may not always lead to long-term habit formation. We'll also explore why popular challenges such as 75 Hard or a 14-day slimdown can be enticing, offering immediate rewards like increased energy and improved mood, but may not necessarily translate into enduring habits.
Instead, I propose that setting achievable goals can be a more effective strategy for long-term lifestyle changes. We'll discuss the importance of having a direction-setting goal to stay motivated and how to create a supportive environment for accountability. So come along, and let's discover together how small, incremental changes, rather than short-term, intense challenges, can lead to lasting results in our journey toward health and wellness.
Are you ready to ditch the hard-core fitness challenges and discover a more attainable, sustainable approach to well-being?
Aaron will be taking you on a journey through my experiences in the health and wellness industry, revealing how my approach to fitness has evolved over the years.
Once a proponent of 300 minutes of cardio per week and stringent food logging, my perspective has now shifted towards High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and shorter, purposeful workouts for fat loss and long-term success. I’ll candidly share why certain challenges, like 3 for 31, may not always lead to long-term habit formation. We'll also explore why popular challenges such as 75 Hard or a 14-day slimdown can be enticing, offering immediate rewards like increased energy and improved mood, but may not necessarily translate into enduring habits.
Instead, I propose that setting achievable goals can be a more effective strategy for long-term lifestyle changes. We'll discuss the importance of having a direction-setting goal to stay motivated and how to create a supportive environment for accountability. So come along, and let's discover together how small, incremental changes, rather than short-term, intense challenges, can lead to lasting results in our journey toward health and wellness.
Welcome to the MindBody Project podcast. After over a decade in the health and wellness industry, erin realized that our bodies change only short-term unless our mindset changes. for long-term success, both our mind and body are forever linked. We are continually building up new ideas and tearing down old ones in our construction zone we call our mind. After this podcast is over, make sure you give it a like and a share and please subscribe and review this podcast. I would now like to introduce you to your host, the man connecting your mind and body to create a limitless life, erin Zegler.
Aaron :Welcome back to the MindBody Project. Thanks for taking the time to join me today. Well, 16 years in the health and wellness industry and I'm still learning new lessons, still learning new things about people in general and things that can do better, things that I have not done the best at, and better ways to motivate and encourage and create lifestyle changes. So back in the day, probably 10 years ago, i bet we'd have challenges. I'd have challenges with my clients And we'd have these challenges and they'd have to log food and do so much cardio And they used to do five hours. I think it was five hours. It was 300 minutes of cardio a week along with food logging. That was a challenge. You had to log all your cardio. That you did. It had to be 300 minutes, five hours And then along that's with strength training it's separate from that and then logging the food And I had clients be successful and lose weight.
Aaron :Different things And as time went on and things changed, do different research studies found out that really and that was long, steady state cardio at the time and no research comes out that hit training, high intensity interval training, is better. It's better for fat loss just because your metabolism is increased for up to 24 hours following a hit workout. 20 to 30 minutes of a hit workout can be more beneficial, even with less calories burned during the event, long term to lose weight. But 10 years ago I was like, you know, we've got to be 300 minutes of cardio, we've got to log all this food, all this kind of stuff, and so as I go along, i find there's better ways to do things. You know, you don't have to spend hours in the gym. You can be in the gym in an hour a day and get your cardio and strength in and be very healthy, have the body you want. If it's dialed in, it's focused, it's an intentional, you can make a lot of progress in that time. And you know, even knowing all that, i still get wrapped up in things, and maybe you've heard of 3 for 31,. I've talked about on. I actually did a show about it. I'm finished up.
Aaron :Last July we did 3 for 31 with my clients and my Texas community. It was three miles a day for 31 days. You could walk or run it, but had be done all together. I actually shared the lessons I learned during 3 for 31. And so, as it rolled around July again, i started thinking about doing 3 for 31 again And as it got closer, i'm not that, oh man, i just I'm not ready to do that, i'm not ready to put in the time.
Aaron :And then I started thinking about over the year and all those that started 3 for 31 and really less than half that signed up and started saying, hey, i want to do 3 for 31 in July last year, less than half actually finished it And so, and then of those throughout the year really didn't keep up, you know, because it really didn't keep up the running or the walking that they were doing, you know, took a day off here and there and then took off two or three days here and there. And so as I look back at that and I thought about over the year, i thought now my goal was to get them to start changing some habits, start doing regular exercise, start being thinking about whether it's walking, running, whatever it is, start doing on a regular basis. And so I thought you know this, you know we'll go extreme, we'll go hard at it for 31 days and surely that will encourage, inspire, get the habit going, habit rolling. We all hear 21 days to form a habit. It's not true. On average it takes about 100 days to form a habit. So we were only about a third way there to form a habit. So I thought about you know, maybe it's not an effective plan If we go hard for 31 days. We do three miles and then everybody starts to I'm gonna take a few days off, man, that was every day. I'm just kind of tired. I'm gonna take a couple of days off And that starts to grow into more days. And so we've all heard of 75 Hard. That's another extreme where you do for 75 days, i think it's. you do 45 minutes of a workout in the morning and then 45 minutes later in the day, but one of them have to be outside, they have to drink so much water, maybe read, do some other stuff, but again for 75 days. That's what I would call extreme, just like three for 31 was extreme.
Aaron :And I, rollin' into July, i thought you know, i just don't wanna do that again this year because I really want people to have a healthy lifestyle, to make some lifestyle changes, and because I tell people all the time if you come to me and you're looking for quick weight loss and you're looking for quick getting shape, i'm not your person, i'm not your guy, i'm not your personal trainer. I want to change your lifestyle, change your habits for long term success, because we can do it quick. But you can go right back to where you were before. So why don't we take the time? because you've been this way, for I mean, if you're 50, you've been this way for the last 40 years, so why not spend the next two, a couple years changing it forever, so you don't keep yo-yo on back and forth? So I always encourage baby steps, lifestyle changes, choices, habits, instead of the extreme.
Aaron :And again, this was just last year. I thought this. You know, as I said, 16 years, i'm still learning. So I decided to do something different this year. This year we're going to do a challenge for change, for I kind of did a challenge with my small group training class and it was love yourself. And so they got to choose. You know how many days a week they worked out and half of those had to be in class, but they got to choose their challenge. And so we're doing the same thing.
Aaron :Similar for July is a challenge, challenge to change. So the participants will come up with their own challenge. What do I want to do? It can be exercise, diet, it can be some other personal habits, something they want to change in the coming future. For me, i'm still struggling with getting all my reading done, so for me it's going to be 20 minutes of reading daily, and that's, for someone that's a reader, doesn't sound like a much. If somebody said I'm going to work out 30 minutes a day for 31 days, i'd be like, well, i'd do that anyhow. But it's all individual to what do we want to see improvement in? And then, so, yes, are we still there for 31 days? Yes, but the participant gets to choose what they want to change, and it's really about consistency. And then we're going to have a follow up in August, which is we're going to still do that same thing that that participant chose to do, but we might do it three or four days on average for the month. So now we've reduced it, We're still doing the same thing, we're just not doing it every day. So now we have kind of a plan as we taper off, kind of like training for a half marathon. You know, at the last week, last couple of weeks, you have a taper, so you taper down your mileage for that big race day, And so that's kind of the idea is we're going to 31 days, we're going to do our goal Not crazy, it's not outrageous, but it's going to push us a little bit And that's what we want. We want to push a little bit Where a lot of these hard core challenges um, three for 31,.
Aaron :Uh, 75 hard there's all sorts of different ones out there that um push really hard. They're extreme challenges, um, and where you have change during those, you bet you will. You will see some change, but we'll be lasting. The minority will carry that on, the majority will not Um. So so why is that? What's? what's, what's the draw to a hard core challenge? You know it has a duration.
Aaron :Okay, i can do this for 75 days. I can do this for 31 days. I can do this 14 day slim down. I can do it for 14 days. I said I can't eat a bite for 14 days, but it's 14 days, i can do it. It has a duration. It has a specific target Um, three miles for 31 days, 75 hard. You got to work out 45 minutes here, 45 minutes there. Drink your water, read, do these things. Got to do that Um, slim down for 14 days. I don't even know if that's a plan. But you know, i, um, you know I'm only eating 500 calories for 14 days. It's a slim down every day for 500 calories.
Aaron :Um, and there's some clear sense of purpose.
Aaron :I want to get my miles in. I want to, um, do this extreme thing. Um, i think beach bodies used to have one as a 21 day fix, or something like that. Um, for you know, again, it's 21 days. You're going to do this, this and this. It's a. It has your set duration, has specific target and it has a clear sense of purpose. And and you know also they, they also offer immediate reward.
Aaron :You have increased energy because, man, i'm doing this. Uh, i mean, you're improved mood, because you're telling everybody oh, man, i'm doing this, i'm doing three for 31. Man, you just ran them out, i'm doing three for 31. You're all energized about it, your mood's good about it. You have a sense of pride when you're, when you're oh, i hit my three miles. Oh well, man, i'm just, i'm at 90 miles already. We just got two days left. I mean, so it has a draw for that because and it does, i mean it will. But what happens is those Day 30, day 40, what about? I know, you know the the 3, 4, 31. It was challenging. You know it was. Yeah, this is, this is fun, this is good. Seven days into it's like man, that's a lot of work, you know, for me I also said that you know I'm gonna go ahead, i'm gonna run my three miles for 31 days. So, whoo, that's a lot of work. That's getting up earlier, that's missing out on some of my workouts, that's missing out on some things. So it all maybe start increased energy and mood and meeting those goals, but then it kind of started Not having all that energy and mood And also has a limited time frame, don't we all know, wait, i gotta do this for life.
Aaron :I Can't do that for life. A lot when I have clients that'll come and say you know, i need to lose X amount of weight or I need to get And dress for this event, maybe it's a wedding, maybe it's, you know, a family reunion, maybe it's a class reunion, it's, you know, whatever it may be, i need to. You know, i need to Get, get where I want by here so I can do whatever you tell me to. So with that limited time frame, it creates a sense of urgency and focus. Okay, i can do that.
Aaron :But what happens when that Time has now gone? Oh, i can relax a little bit, i can take it easy. I don't have to work so hard, i can be a little more delineate on my food. It's gonna be okay if I skip the gym. Today We start to get that and, and you know, you know, a hardcore challenge also says you know, it's an all or nothing mentality. You know, so we're going maximum effort for that amount of time.
Aaron :So what happens when we stop it? It's like, oh man, i'll have to do that. I think it makes so good and So so why does that? why do those challenges and again, they're great challenges, they work, you can get some real success out of and have some real progress in them. But Now it, why don't they create lasting habits? Why not? It's because What happens after? huh, i'm done with three for 31. Now What do I do? and so, taking that of Okay, this didn't last one, or my participants did three for 31 last year.
Aaron :What was missing? I didn't have a follow-up. I had I. Well, i did have a follow-up. It was due a mile, i think, for every day of August maybe. So it was a reduction, but still was again every day. So it needs to be whatever same thing.
Aaron :That Challenge you in July needs to carry out a reduced rate in August. So what's September? October? You know, september might keep it the same still, may be three days or four days a week, and Then October I'm gonna, you know, i'm gonna continue that.
Aaron :And then you start to see that it forms a habit. My goal is that I read for 20 minutes Every day in July. I keep it up for three to four days a week in August and I go. You know, i'm really getting through my book list that I wanted to. I'm gonna keep doing that because it makes me feel better. And that's when the last thing have it really, we really connects. When it's not about I have to do this, I want to do this or I get to do this. When we start out it's I have to do this, i have to exercise for x, y and z. And then you start realizing Man, i just feel better, i have some better energy, i Sleep better, we have all these positive. You know, i just feel better. And that's when the switch happens, when we start to get that feeling where it's connected to our emotion.
Aaron :And then another challenge why, you know why the challenges don't last, is because we return to a less rigid routine. It's just more like ah, it's, you know, you know three for 31. There was no, there's no, you couldn't miss a day. You missed a day, you were out. There's no makeup, nothing like that. Whereas when we have a less rigid routine, it's like, ah, what am I miss a day? It's not going to be the end of the world, and That's true. But then that day turns into two to three to now, a week to now. It's been a month since we got on the treadmill because we burned ourselves out on three for 31. Um, and then, you know, we often return to our less active behaviors.
Aaron :Again, i'm good if I just walk 10 minutes on the treadmill. I feel pretty good about that. Or it's okay if I just read five minutes. And aren't we good about talking ourselves into things? Well, you're okay not to read today. Tomorrow you just read an extra three pages. Then tomorrow rolls around. Man I am, i got to read that plus three more pages. I don't have time today. So now you might be 10, 12 pages, 15 pages behind in three days when you start to read against like I'm so far behind. My plan said this and I'm already behind. So now I'm not even going to read, i'm just going to, and that's what's happened to me.
Aaron :You know, my goal was a book a month and we're six months about to hit July in July And I've read two two books in six months. My plan was to I mean, i had a good plan right down each book I was going to write each month, but I stopped there. I didn't write. I didn't figure okay, i need to.
Aaron :Okay, this beginning of the month this is how long you know because I like to listen to it on audibles and read it in the book, because it just helps me concentrate on the material better. I don't my mind doesn't squirrel as much or doesn't go willy nilly as I like to say. So I do both, so I can easily look at the audible time and go okay, let me budget that time this month. How many days a week do I need to read to make sure I hit my goal? I didn't do that. So my goal is that's something I want to change. So that's why in July I'm reading 20 minutes a day. It's going to make me say, okay, how far along am I going to get. Then In August I'm going to continue that another 20 minutes, but 34 times a week.
Aaron :Okay, now I'm kind of on a routine, i'm kind of getting this habit. I kind of enjoy it. I'm learning a lot, i'm enjoying it. And then we move on and keep it. A habit, you know, and sometimes you know when we hit those goals short term, you know we hit that three for 31 and 31 days. It kind of makes us sometimes feel I did good, i got 96 miles. 96 miles, that's pretty good, i'm pretty good with that.
Aaron :And we start to get complacent, like, yeah, i did good. And then our drives to sustain that level of physical activity starts to go down, it starts to get reduced because we go man, i did good, man, you're just so good, you deserve a break. And then we just get complacent. And when we get complacent, what happens? our drive goes away. What. What happens when we lose 10 pounds? Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good, i can go ahead and have that candy bar. Yeah, i can go ahead and have that second helping, what? what starts to happen. We get, we get complacent, we get comfortable, and then what happens? it starts to creep back on. Yeah, i don't have to be nice to this person today, because I've been nice to a lot of people and I've been nice to him a lot.
Aaron :And we start to get complacent with not being nice all the time, not being so kind all the time, and Then we start to go back to our old behaviors Of being grumpy, of being, you know, not a fun person to be around, not being kind. We start going back to that And, and you know, with these challenges and why they don't last, because, just like three for 31, i didn't have a great plan for for the people when they finished. I didn't. I just thought that they're gonna keep going. Why wouldn't you? you just knocked out 96 miles. You committed to three miles a day for 31 days. If you're walking or running could be anywhere from 25 minutes To an hour, you just crushed that. Why would you stop? It never dawned on me really to have a continuation plan, and that's and that's a lot. A lot of times, when we finish something like that, we don't have a plan To continue. What's our next plan? It may not be as extreme, but what are we going to next?
Aaron :I always have to have throughout the year, always have to have goals with a lot of times their physical goals. Because I can get lazy and complacent. I can be the laziest person. I can sit and watch TV and I love it, so I have to have goals that get me up to. What does this run need to accomplish today? What does this walk need to accomplish today? What does this time in the gym need to accomplish today? What is the food I'm eating today need to accomplish? What's my goal? because for me, that I need that to keep driving me, to keep driving me forward. I need those. And so there all for me, there always has to be, after I finish, a challenge for myself. Or you know what's the next thing? What's the next thing? just like started this year Before my birthday, 48 miles by 48. That's geared me up for my big two-year of To be obesity over the next few years. That's a big goal. So for me, that's a long-term goal.
Aaron :So every month for me, you know how am I going to keep up with that? How am I gonna And how am I gonna keep that focus? How am I gonna keep that in mind? So for me, it's I'm gonna do something different every month and maybe I'm gonna alter my food. I have some different workout ideas. You know, this month will be this type of workout, the next month be this type, be this type of cardio. It'd be all kinds of different things, but it's gonna keep my body guessing, but it's also gonna keep me engaged in it. Wow, man, what's this month? and I already know when I get done this month. Oh, i got this coming up this month. That's gonna be good. And so there's a plan along the way and We really want to.
Aaron :You know, hardcore challenges, again, they're not bad, but they're not. They don't help it last, they don't help those make those changes We need to. They're good. They're good to kind of get us boom, get us a, some energy, some motivation, some boom. But no, that we got to have a plan falling Because we want to focus on the long-term lifestyle change With the gradual progress and the ongoing support.
Aaron :Because aren't challenges we? you know, and I'm guilty of that last year for three, for thirty one, i gave them all the support every day, texting Hey, you know how you doing, you know, did you get it? What issues you have. Man, i'm so proud of you. What happened? the next month? They get all that ongoing support. They didn't get that, man, you're still doing good. Keep it up. You know, you know, don't, don't let this fizzle out and get that. That's me. I dropped the ball. That's what I'm saying. In 16 years, i'm still learning. I'm still learning what, what people need, what, how to encourage and motivate and Create those long-term lifestyle changes By creating.
Aaron :You know, man, we're gonna hit with a challenge, but let's have a follow-up plan and the challenge is good. I'm not saying it's bad, that sometimes it can get you going, but know that when it's done you need to have a follow-up plan And it needs to be a challenge that is going to spur you on to something you want to do. That's why, for July, given the participants in my challenge the option to choose their challenge, whatever area of life they want to work on, work on it, knowing that you want to become a habit, you want to change, and then have an hour, have a plan, as a trainer and a coach, to how we're going to follow that up three to four days a week. Then we're going to be working on a plan for September. How are we going to keep that going? And I'd really like to keep this just be the start of the change. So by the end of the year.
Aaron :I started that back in July and five minutes later, six months later, i'm still doing that. Man, that was really good. I don't want to look back and go, man, i did that for 31 days. That was cool, but, man, i'm not doing it anymore. I don't want that. I want them.
Aaron :I want me to have a lifestyle change, to be a person that reads on a weekly basis and can get through a book in a month. You want to think it's that hard, but to somebody who reads, it's not that hard. But I want to be that ongoing support And I'd love to be that ongoing support for you. You can head over to erendeglercom and find out how you can connect with me via daily text, via email, one of my coaching programs on personal training, whether it's online or in person, there's options for us to connect and for you to, for me to help you with that ongoing support of what you need, what you want, and help you stay focused to make those long-term lifestyle changes through gradual progress. Hey, thanks for visiting with me a little bit today. I was telling my wife can you come every night for a go to bed? It's bombin' the night Double A out.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to today's podcast. If you would like to connect with Aaron, you can do so by going to erendeglercom or find him on social media as erendegler on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Once again, we greatly appreciate you tuning in. If you've enjoyed the show, please feel free to rate, subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. We greatly appreciate that effort and we'll catch you in the next episode of the Mind Body Project podcast.