Isn’t it crazy how bad habits, even when kept at bay for a long time, come back? I imagine a knock at the door, opening it and saying “Hello bad habit, welcome back!” Often times one bad habit leads to another. I see this all the time with exercise and clean eating. I’m not sure which one comes first but either a lack of exercise causes a decrease in motivation to eat well, or not eating healthily leads to inactivity. This becomes a snowball effect which is “a situation in which something increases in size or 
importance at a faster and faster rate” (Cambridge Dictionary). The good news is, the snowball effect can work for you.
A year ago, a new client, “Margot”, came to see me. Margot was in her mid-sixties and not in the best shape. In fact, she wanted me to train her in order to build up her leg muscles so that she could eventually have her knee(s) replaced. Margot was unconditioned. I wasn’t sure how we would get through the first session but we did. Slowly but surely, Margot started making some progress. As she got stronger, she started to do more activities on her own. Her walks around the block with her dog grew longer; her short stints of swimming at her local pool increased. The more she did on her own, the stronger she became, and the more she was able to do with me. All of this exercise and movement motivated Margot to eat healthier. She started paying more attention to her diet and began cooking. She lost weight, felt more energetic and this allowed her to become even more active. A year later, we are both stunned at what she can do. There is no talk of a knee replacement. While I understand physiologically what is happening to her body, I still find her transformation to be nothing short of miraculous. Often times, in our sessions, we giggle when she is able to do yet another more challenging exercise.
In Margot’s case, the snowball effect is at work in the most positive way. I can visualize the snowball traveling down a hill, getting bigger and gaining momentum. It’s all so glorious when it’s working for you.
If you’re stuck in a rut, have no fear. Focus on one small change and stick to it. That small change can lead to another, and then another and before you know it, you, too, might find yourself in a wondrous snowball effect!
helmet. I don’t remember much about the fall but my husband, who was with me, told me that I screamed, fell, paused for a moment, and then stood up. I was walking around in such a way that he thought I could get back on the bike. I couldn’t. I was very banged up, confused (had a mild concussion) and had 2 broken ribs on my right side. Once he fully understood my state, he called an ambulance.
lifestyle choices. As a trainer, I went back to school to study nutrition so I could counsel my clients in the most comprehensive way. Having said this, I do think sometimes we need to NOT link them together. As I mentioned in previous blogs, I see the pattern of people cleaning up their eating and once they do, they start exercising. However, when the diet slips, the exercise vanishes, too. I say, UNLINK THEM! Exercise needs to be the constant. It needs to happen in good eating phases and in bad. In times of ease and in times of stress. When the weather is good and when the weather is bad. When you’re in the mood for it, or when you’re not.
what happens when you exercise: you feel better. You have more energy, your mood is improved, your body feels less stiff, you are less stressed, you sleep better and you feel alive! Many people actually start eating a lot cleaner once they start moving. Even though we know exercise makes us feel wonderful, many people struggle with being consistent. It’s almost as if the chalk board, full of positive exercise attributes, gets erased and amnesia sets in immediately. The result is having 
resolutions and I have 2 suggestions that we all need to be doing.