Recently, I asked the following question on the
B.N. Shape Clothing Facebook page (if you haven’t LIKED it yet, you're missing out! LIKE IT NOW!):
In your opinion, what is
the best strategy to convince an inactive, stubborn, unhealthy eater to eat
better and exercise? To what lengths would or should you go to convince them to
make a change?
After reading through the responses, I think
everyone hit on some great points. But I
wanted to follow up with my thoughts.
When trying to convince someone to live a healthier lifestyle, I think
your approach depends on that person’s “readiness” to enter that
lifestyle. Follow me for a bit…
To me, there are 3 levels of healthy readiness that an unhealthy person may have. They may be:
1. The ‘So-ready’
2. The ‘Kinda-Ready’
3. The ‘Not-Ready’
For each type of ‘ready’, you should take a different
approach to bring them toward a healthier life.
Let’s dig in.
THE SO-READY
The So-Ready is extremely self-motivated to B.N. Shape, but
are just in need of some guidance and education on proper nutrition and
training techniques. Once they are
provided with these tools, they dive into changing their workouts and eating
habits to produce the change they’re looking for. Therefore, it’s so much easier to
motivate/encourage/train/help this person.
You can be much more aggressive, creating challenging and intense
workouts, because the So-Ready is not afraid to meet the challenge if it will
help them meet their goal. You can
suggest or mandate certain dietary changes, because the So-Ready is willing to
do whatever it improve their physique and overall health. Within weeks, you will see drastic changes in
their physique and health. With the
So-Ready, it becomes cruise control eventually.
However, it’s a bit more complicated with the next two levels.
THE KINDA-READY
I think most people fall into this category before
attempting a transformation. A
Kinda-Ready has unsuccessfully tried multiple weight loss ‘diets’, which may
cause some apprehension toward any diet and training strategy you present to
them. These temporary failures may have
caused them to say “I guess I just can’t”, giving them a reason to knowingly indulge
in unhealthy habits. They will be
hesitant to begin full-fledged, clean eating and exercising 5-6 days per
week. So your best strategy is to try to
slowly break down the wall of frustration and apprehension that they have built
over time. Aggression is not the answer,
as that will only push them further into their unhealthy habits. Their change will not happen quickly, so be
in it for the long haul. Here are some
potential first steps:
1. Encourage a little more fruit/veggie intake with their meals
(don’t worry about removing the unhealthy stuff yet, take baby steps first, the
rest will come later).
2. Suggest some healthy substitutes in some of their meals
(including drinks).
3. Do they have a favorite sport or activity? Maybe volunteer to do that with them
4. MAKE IT FUN! Make it a competition, make a bet, create a
contest in your home or office! (i.e. –
if you drink this much water, I will do 100 burpees…you’re the healthy one, if
you want them to ‘suffer’ by being healthier, then be willing to also ‘suffer’
by getting in an extra workout, they will love to see it).
There are plenty of other ideas, these are just some off of
the top of my head. But the goal, is to
make them believe that THEY CAN! So MOTIVATION is also very important! Always provide positive, encouraging words...ZERO negativity! With
these small steps, they can eventually become a So-Ready.
THE NOT-READY
We all know this person.
This is the guy or gal that REFUSES to listen to anything you say about
eating healthy, no matter how right you are.
They are completely stuck in their ways, and if you bring up anything
about making a change, they will pretty much become enraged! With this individual, there isn’t much you
can do. Think about it, trying to get
them to eat healthy is just like trying to get a healthy person to eat
unhealthy. IT’S NOT HAPPENING! So, all you can do is set the example that
you hope they might become. Enjoy your
healthy lifestyle and pray that they will realize what they are doing to
themselves. It is ultimately up to them
to make a change, all you can do is be there for them if and when that happens.
In the event that they become a Kinda-Ready or a So-Ready, you will be the FIRST
PERSON that they call. The only hope is
that they are not in a hospital bed when the change occurs. We’re all very
passionate about this lifestyle, but sometimes we have to let people see the
light on their own. So don’t try to
force them to the light…BE THE LIGHT!
Hopefully, they’ll open their eyes.
Dr. Dozie
"I don't live to eat...I eat to live!!"
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