5 rules for being healthier

I’m design-hacking my life (Part 3)

I have this constant battle with myself: while I’m still in possession of my relatively speedy metabolism, shouldn’t I make the most of it by eating whatever and whenever and however much I want? Or does that mean I should try to get into the best shape of my life, now, because it is definitely not going to get any easier as I get older to get those six-pack abs?

Right now, the long-term planning side of me is winning—so here are some of the tactics I’ve used to make being healthier easier, and even fun for me. Coming from someone who’s been pretty inactive and blasé about her diet her whole life, hopefully these are helpful!

Part 3 of a series on life hacks: being healthier. See part 1 on being more productive, part 2 on being more focused and disciplined, and part 4 on what I know about being happy.

1—I found healthy food I like.

I used to be really reluctant to eat healthy because I thought eating healthy meant only eating salads, and I hated salads. At least the ones that I had tried up until that point. Then it occurred to me that I could make my own —and only put foods that I liked in there. And while this means the “salads” I make will never be found on a restaurant menu, anywhere (I pair greens with hot meats like sweet and sour pork ribs and roast pork and Chinese sausages…), I’m happy to report that I now crave salad, and not just my own, to the point of choosing them over chicken nuggets and burgers… most of the time. Progress.

2—I don’t go to the gym.

Along the same lines, when I first embarked on my attempt to build an exercising habit, I mistakenly thought that meant I had to go to the gym. But treadmills and weights are not for me—at least not on an almost daily basis, long term. By trying to do things I didn’t naturally enjoy, I was just making something that was already difficult even harder. Instead, I found forms of exercise that I did like: Zumba classes, outdoors running, workout videos at home. There are tons of ways to be active outside of going to the gym.

Pick your poison.

3—I pre-pay for classes that expire.

I currently have around 20 Zumba classes that I must use up by June, which translates to roughly one or two classes per week. For some reason, paying for a gym membership did not have the same effect, although the thinking is similar (if I’m putting up money for it, that means I will be more motivated to go, right?) Except the gym can always be pushed back to tomorrow.

So I think the key was paying for something that expires. Set a time bomb.

4—I pre-commit, out loud.

The two studios where I take Zumba text message me on the mornings of the days there is a class to ask if I am going to make it. It’s like having a gym buddy that happily goes to the gym pretty much every single day. Kinda awesome. I lose the class if I don’t cancel at least two hours before, so I almost always end up going if I’ve agreed to that morning.

On days I don’t have time to go to class though, I pre-commit a workout out loud to other people. Which brings me to possibly the biggest reason I’ve been finding being active to be easier and more fun…

5—I am part of an awesome accountability group.

I’m in a group of 14 friends all of whom have committed to weekly workout goals. We send out proof via photos, with every missed day resulting in a penalty that goes towards paying for a group hotpot dinner. When this started, I knew that the monetary fine and photo check-ins would be more or less effective at getting me to stick to a regular workout schedule. But I didn’t anticipate that I would start to believe that not only is a 5-minute plank doable, it is totally normal.

And the reason I think this matters is because the first step toward doing anything is believing that you are capable of doing it, right? This is the basis of the premise that you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Your friends calibrate what’s normal for you. We just finished our ninth week. 6 a.m. morning workouts? Now normal. Half-marathons? Normal. 6-minute miles? Normal.

Not that I can do any of those things myself. But there’s gotta be something to be said for the ‘yet’ I mentally appended to that last sentence.

Do you have any healthy eating or workout tips of your own? Let me know!☺

As a part of my endeavor to rediscover my first love — writing — I’m writing one thing every week, for a year. If you enjoyed this, please click “Recommend” below, say hi on Twitter, or come find me on Instagram! I’d love to hear from you. ☺

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