Gaining the support of our family and friends can make the journey towards our health goals smooth. Once we are clear about our goals, we need to make people around us understand that we have set them and that we wish to change our lifestyle and work towards the accomplishment of the same. Sometimes people react to our plans with disbelief and sometimes even make fun of us. This could stop us from taking ourselves seriously and we may be demotivated from pursuing our goals. Since we need family support we have to put it to them in such a way that they back us in our efforts rather than mock us for them.
So how do we gain their help and approval? Here are some tips:
- The Goal Should be Realistic: Everyone likes to be the ideal weight, but whether we can achieve it or not depends on our current physical condition. An obese person cannot become slim overnight. A person who has always been sedentary cannot walk five kilometers a day all of a sudden. Creating such goals and talking about them to others would definitely make us a laughing stock and we would be discouraged rather than encouraged. A realistic goal, however, will win the approval of your family and friends and it would also be achievable for you. Once you select a sensible goal, you will find that your health improves and that your family shares your pride in your little success.
- Write it Down: Anything put on a piece of paper instills a sense of purpose and confidence in us. It is also easy to show our family clearly what plan we are going to adopt. Above all, it serves as a reminder that we are going to behave differently from that point of time in order to improve our health. Sticking the paper with your goal written on it, on your work desk or the refrigerator, would be a visual prompt that would make it easy for you to follow your action plan. This visual aid is also a reminder to the family that you have made a healthy choice.
- No Need for Guilt: Although many families have a number of obese members in them, they have very little awareness of the importance of fitness and good health. Often only one family member makes the decision to improve his health, and therefore, he may worry that he is leaving the other members out of his plan. Rather than feeling guilty, he should be proud that he is the first person in his family to set health goals and it is not a selfish decision because we can only set goals for ourselves and not for others. In fact, he becomes a role model for his family members to emulate. They would observe the improvement in his health and would set goals for themselves. In fact, all family members whether they are obese or not, should have a health goal. Even those members of the family who seem to burn up all the calories they consume and don't put on weight, may not be as strong and fit as they seem to be. As one person goes on working on his fitness goals, the benefits would become obvious to his family members and they would start working towards optimum health too.
- Make Casual Hints: If your family members and friends are not open to fitness plans, you can introduce the topic to them slowly and casually. Bring up the idea of exercise or change in diet during a conversation and talk about the small changes you plan to make. You can take small steps in the direction of change by purchasing healthy groceries that are low fat and probiotic. You can also avoid buying sweets and refuse to eat sweets by saying you have had enough already.
- Be Confident: Just because you are an adult doesn't mean that you can't change. Shyness and embarrassment at acting different from the group should not demotivate you and divert you from your goal. Saying no to junk food at parties and family get togethers may appear odd at first, but your confident approach to making healthy choices would bear rich dividends.
- Need for an Action Plan: A goal is incomplete without an action plan. If you are not good at writing a clear action plan, you can take the help of a friend or your spouse who understands your need for health goals. Discuss with them and formulate the steps to reach your goal. This associate will not only further your plans, but will also join you in explaining your plans to your family.
- Be Serious: Only if you are serious, will friends and family take you seriously. If you are easily dissuaded from your goals by friends to eat out a lot and gorge on junk food, or if you sleep till late in the morning rather than go for a walk or a game of badminton, people around you are not going to motivate you or support you.
It is possible to gather the support of your friends and family members if we show the right attitude to healthy living and the new approach to life. Once the benefits of healthy choices become apparent the family members too, are convinced of such choices.
