Easy and quick fixes rarely work. And the reason they don’t has something to do with you and your mind playing games with each other. Fast fixes are tempting. You are being promised almost instant weight loss or strength gains, bigger muscles, new skills and so on. But the truth is, the things you can gain fast are also the ones to be lost just as quickly.

Why fast fixes won’t work?

• Fast fixes are often extreme and therefore cannot last as a lifestyle
• Your body adapts slowly to a change
• You can mess up your metabolism or even hormonal function with extreme methods like diets and training programs
• You can get injured just because your body is not adapted to the instant and extreme change

Start small

The better way of doing things is to start small and build up to a new habit or a healthier lifestyle. When starting small, you should not focus on what was yesterday versus today. Instead think today versus a month ago. And if you have been able to stick to your plan that long, another month will not be a problem. Then the next two months will be just the same as the two before them. Then the next half year. See where I am getting here?

But how, you may ask. What does it mean? For a person, who is not moving enough, the first step could be adding activities in the midst of the everyday life. Taking stairs, walking between places, standing instead of sitting and so on. And once it becomes a habit, concider buying a gym card or starting another hobby.

For someone eating fast food all the time the first step could be learning to cook. Cooking four meals once a week is pretty easy and can take less than thirty minutes. That would be a place to start. Then add another day of cooking or more pre-cooked meals but not necessarily both. Stick to one for two weeks and then add the other. You will be making progression for a long time and before you know it, you have come quite far from where you started. Furthermore, cooking yourself is not only healthier but also cheaper than eating fast food.

You make the decisions

On the mental side, you must learn to control the way you look at things. In the latter case example, you should not be thinking that there would be such and such food choices taken away from you, that you can not be eating all the mouth-watering foods you used to eat. Instead, think about choosing the right thing for yourself. You are free to do as you please and you choose the way that makes you a healthier human being. You should not necessarily do something because you can but weight the possibilities each choice brings with it.

Don’t settle for anything but what you deserve. Also don’t sell yourself short. You deserve as much as you let yourself. So, when thinking what you want to achieve, think it through, make the right choices and keep making the right choices until making them becomes a second nature. Then everything will be as if it was automatic and you are ready for even more.