Interview: Breaking the habit of a lifetime

January is always the month where new fitness regimes, healthy eating plans and desire for a change in lifestyle are at their highest, in the spirit of all things New Year’s Resolution-y.

January also sees packed gyms, much to the annoyance of all-weather gym goers, and supermarket trolleys filled with fruit and veg, all in readiness for “the new you”!

“Detox” and “Eat Clean” become the biggest buzzwords of the moment and more often than not I find myself wishing I had patented the phrase “This is going to be my year!” as I would be a very rich man by now!

It’s difficult to find any worldwide statistics for resolution making and keeping but a report published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology (January 2014) and conducted by people at the University of Scranton shows that 45% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions, which could be quite a reasonable assumption to use for the rest of the world’s population simply by glancing at all of the self-motivating posts that clutter our Facebook timelines from January 1^st onwards.

But now the cold wind has blown February our way, how many people are still actively en route to achieving their goals or accomplishing their targets?!

That same University of Scranton report reveals that only 8% of those American’s that do make resolutions end up sticking to them!

It’s not just our friends across the pond that can’t keep to their resolutions though. It’s well known that the hardest thing to do is turn a desire for a change in lifestyle in to a lifestyle change…even without any statistics to back it up, most of us know what it’s like to have the greatest of intentions after a festive season of over eating and relaxation, only to see them wheedle away as January rolls on and life kicks in!

So why don’t we stick to them? And more importantly how can we turn these statistics around?

Many people believe that repeating something for 21-30 days helps make it become a habit.

Surely if it’s just 21 days of effort out of the 365 days in a year then we would all be much better at keeping up with our resolutions? And that’s where the myth gets busted…for if it was that easy, then surely people doing the Dry January challenge would never drink again (where as we all know that the majority were counting down to their first sip of the amber nectar!) or people giving anything up for lent would give whatever they chose up for life!
Habit forming is something that has to be worked at, as neatly explained in this 2013 article on the Forbes.com website.

I decided to speak to someone more qualified than me to get a professional perspective on how we could try to keep ourselves motivated all year round and turn resolutions in to habits…

Matt Pardy is a qualified Advanced Personal Trainer and full time Fireman with nearly 10 years’ experience in the personal training industry and last year launched his PPT - Pardy’s Personal Training site on Facebook, where he actively encourages users to ask questions, provides fitness regimes and personalised nutrition plans as well as posting motivational content to help keep spirits high and minds focused.

JustDrewOnIt: Hey Matt!

Matt Pardy: Hey mate, thanks for having me down here at the JDOI headquarters!

JDOI: So, be honest, do you make resolutions and if so, how good are you at keeping them?

MP: I used to! They were things like “I will not” do this and that.  These resolutions were never kept, I mean, how can you start the year with a negative statement??  Now my resolutions are I WILL or I will TRY to! These seem to work better for me. 

JDOI: Why do you think it is then that so many of us can’t seem to find the commitment to make these lifestyle changes?

MP: Personally, I think partly because our lives are busier than ever and the cost of living has sky rocketed.  Also, it has some sort of fear factor; ' I will not eat junk food' 'I’m not drinking for a month'.  Obviously it’s not all health related but you need to want something or to do something more than you've ever wanted it, in order to achieve it. 

JDOI: I imagine you see lost resolutions every day, what do you use to keep you motivated?

MP:  Well this is just a follow on from the last Q.  My thought process is a little different.  Every corner I turn, if there’s a roadblock, I think to myself “now am I an old school mini cooper or am I a battering ram style tank”.  It’s up to me to break down the barriers, which, I’ve often created myself. Haha! Obviously at the steering wheel of the tank is a highly educated and sophisticated brain. I'll let you into a little secret though; have your readers find ERIC THOMAS on YouTube.  This guy is a motivational genius and proof that you can do anything.

JDOI: OK, thanks for the heads up, we’ll check him out. So is there anything you can recommend for us to do to give us a fighting chance at forming new habits?

MP:  Stop telling your friends “i wish I had this, I wish I had that”! BE the person who in 4weeks or 4months is able to say “Hey, I have this AND that”.  You don’t have time for the gym? Go to bed an hour earlier and wake up 2hours early! Gyms open at 6am!!! Can’t afford the gym? Buy rubber bands and some indoor equipment or simply do exercises that don’t need equipment.  Want to eat healthy or go on holiday but can’t afford it?  Look at ways of saving; a bag of apples is cheaper than a pizza or even a multipack of crisps.  Walk to the shop, don’t drive.  You drink every weekend? Cut it back to once or twice.  That’s at least £60 saved if you cut binge drinking to twice a month!  I’m asking people, seriously, how bad do you want this??  No job and your looking after your kids all day, take a night class or online course, I’m sure the government can help you if you’re looking to help yourself.  You could even volunteer, I have a friend who hit rock bottom, started volunteering at a charity shop, they put him through various courses and after 5 years he’s  now an area manager for a major supermarket. 

JDOI: Two of the biggest New Year’s resolutions made each year involve improving health and diet. What changes can we make in things like our shopping trolleys or daily eating patterns to help make the transition easier?

MP: The Iceland’s and Aldi’s, or “cheaper” places of this world are all as good as the bigger places.  Supermarket own brands aren’t cheap and nasty, foods food.  The majority of my veg is frozen apart from potatoes and carrots.  A bag of frozen spinach lasts me a week, a fresh bag lasts a day or 2. So I’m saving money and it’s always there when I’m hungry.  All sugary brands and quick snack foods are colourful in their packaging; why not fill your trolley with colourful fruits and veg.  Replace the colas with waters.  OR promise yourself to try a new food or new recipe a week.

As for eating patterns, eat regularly, even as a firefighter I try to eat 5-6 times a day.  I prepare the night before, a tub of chopped raw carrots, some dried fruit, a protein shake.  That’s 3 possible snacks. So with breakfast, dinner and tea, that’s 6 times you've eaten! Best of all, no biscuits!

JDOI: Some people are put off by the thought of gyms or simply can’t afford them, is there anything that can be done at home to help encourage us to keep up with these resolutions?

MP: Stretchy bands man!!! Haha! These things are brilliant, back when I was training in Rome, sleeping on the floor of relative’s houses, me and my brother used a bicycle inner tube to train with.

Most of us have stairs, even if you live in a block of flats that you’re sharing the stairs in the communal hallway. Walk up and down them for 10mintues, that’s your cardio done.  I often post gym free routines on my Facebook page. Circuits of star jumps, burpees, squat thrusts, sit ups and press ups. Do 20 reps of each 5 times, with a 1 minute break in between sets and you have yourself a workout!

Also, have something to motivate yourself, I went up to a 36 waist trouser over Christmas, that was insane for me! I’ve always been a 32; let me tell you, I’m not 36 inches around the waist now!Do you want to be able to play with your kids when you’re older? Do you want to be around when they are older? This is all encouragement to maximise results. 

If one week you slip up with your resolution, take a look at why, and take 5 or 10min to evaluate then get back on track as soon as you can.  We are all human, if you’re not making mistakes or slipping up, then you’re not trying!

Ask yourself, what's the difference between ordinary and extraordinary?  That little EXTRA!

JDOI: Love that mantra…I may have to print that out! So with all that in mind and if the 21-30 day myth has been busted, how should we look to make a desired outcome in to a reality?
MP: For me the 21-30 days idea is simply repetition. You may say it’s the same as habit forming but they say if u do something 18 times or more then you have it ingrained, like learning an action or a skill. So if you’re eating healthy for 30 days then its ingrained, maybe as a habit if you’re not keen on it but if its 30 days into a goal you’ve set then its ingrained in a learning sense! You’ve taught yourself to do something a certain way. It becomes a way of life.
Also, you could have a young man born into a wealthy billionaire family that gets up every day and goes to work. He works 70 hours a week, saves hard, studies hard. He doesn’t have to. He could easily live off the family wealth if he wanted and have an easy life but he doesn’t. He has DRIVE, AMBITION! He wants what his family has but for his self!!! He wants to earn it; He wants to be it. Instead of being a billionaire’s son, he wants to be that billionaire!!! Just take a moment to think that over people.

JDOI: So what you’re saying is it doesn’t matter if you have one pound or one billion pound to your name, it’s the desire, drive and ambition within you that will help you get you to where you want to be?

MP: Exactly! I mean who can you honestly blame? It’s easy to say that you got held back, you had no support etc. My brother left home in the middle of the night, joined the foreign legion and spent 5 years there before beginning a career in France and then teaching English in Spain! He’s slept in cars, bushes and hostels and won’t let anything stop him. He’s not a millionaire but I’ve not heard one complaint of how hard things are. Like LL Cool J once said, “Stop saying you want a six pack whilst staring in the mirror with cake in your mouth”. I can’t stress this enough, to reach your goals; academic, health, wealth, you really need to want to succeed more than anything. Most people want to party more than they want success yet complain every day on Facebook how rubbish they feel about life etc.
Sorry to go on but I’m passionate about helping people go from forgotten to phenomenal!

JDOI: Wow, very motivational stuff there and an inspiring place to leave on! Thank you for coming down Matt and for your encouraging words! Best of luck with your resolutions this year!

MP: Don’t mention it, after all, you were my very first gym partner so you’re partly to blame for me being me, haha! I’ll try my best and keep you updated. If anyone needs advice they know where to find me. I can help with nutrition and all sorts of programs. Plus day to day motivation if needed.
Remember we can’t go from 1st to 5th gear, let’s drive through the gears, break down barriers and roar through the finish line to success. Once there let’s go even further and even better. Don’t rest after achieving your first success… keep going!

It doesn’t take a genius or a psychic to work out that not only have Matt and I known each other for a long time but his drive and commitment couldn’t quite rub off on me back when we first ventured in to our local gym. That should have been my first clue about how good I would become at keeping full year resolutions!

But as you’ve seen, resolutions don’t have to be drastic or negative.

They can be little incremental changes that make the greatest impact and they should always be for the positive.
It’s often how you approach them that can lead to whether they will be achieved or not!
Nor do they have to be made just at the turn of the year. The desire to change or improve can come any day or night of the year.
It’s making sure that this change is the thing that will have the greatest impact on your life and that the desired outcome is the thing that you want more than anything.

I know what you’re thinking…”How can you, someone who confesses to never maintaining resolutions or committing to them, preach to us about the benefits of making resolutions?”

Well this is me making that change! Surrounding myself with a proactive “can-do” attitude and just giving things a try.

This isn’t me preaching either; it is simply aimed to pay forward the motivation that has been provided to me and show that you are not alone in this!

It won’t be easy. And not everything will work or pay off but as Matt says above “If you’re not making mistakes…then you’re not trying”! Well I would add that if you’re not making mistakes then what can you learn from and move forward with?!

This is why I’ve switched it up this year. Setting myself #RandomTasks really helps to break things down. It will encourage me to achieve some and there will be others that it doesn’t…but at least I am wanting to continually try! This is a big step forward for me and even if it brings only a few positive changes in my lifestyle or activities then that’s a few more than without them!

At the end of it there is no steadfast approach to achieving your goals; No magic potion to take to become more driven; No quick fix or easy solution.

The only thing we can be certain of (without getting philosophical) is that the years will come and go and millions of people will continue to focus their efforts on making (and potentially breaking) resolutions.

But what if?! What if the resolution that you break this year is how you normally make resolutions?

Now that January is out of the way you no longer have to count yourself as following the crowd, so it’s the perfect time to take those 5 minutes to evaluate exactly what it is you truly want and work out how you are going to get there!

And whether it works for you or not…at least you tried!

Disclaimer: Please bear in mind that any health, fitness or dietary changes should always be done with the consultation of your doctor as balanced diets and fitness levels will vary for everyone and care should always be taken when attempting any form of physical exercise, whether it be at home or in a controlled environment.