“Taking Baby Steps”

Years ago there was a movie w/ Bill Murray called “What About Bob” where he was a patient of a psychologist played by Richard Dreyfuss.

Bob was an obsessive compulsive character and extremely dependent on his analyst. This doctor had written a book about taking baby steps in order to try to get past one's fears and taught Bob this technique. So if Bob was nervous about going into elevators he’d say “Baby steps to the elevator” etc…

Basically, it’s about taking on one thing at a time so you won’t be overwhelmed.

“Okay Scott, (you may be thinking) this is a fitness blog, not a movie review board, where are you going with this?”

Well, to me it’s ALL about Baby Steps, whether it’s in learning a new way to deal with one's phobias, like good old Bob, or learning a new way to deal with issues of fitness and weight loss.

Probably the biggest reason most people don’t succeed at their attempts to make a physical transformation is because they get so overwhelmed with the size of the process they can't even begin.

But all it takes is tackling one day at a time, one meal at a time, and one rep of each exercise at a time,. Those small victories really add up, much in the way a series of consistent baby steps will eventually get you to your destination if you are walking somewhere.

But the key is that they are “baby” steps, not leaps and bounds. Therefore you need to be prepared for the fact that it’ll take you longer, not forever, just longer. The good news is that you’ll get there, probably be less exhausted in the end, and still have energy to keep going!

Surely there are MANY methods out there promising rapid transformations, some even work.... sort of.

I say "sort of", because they are usually extremely difficult programs built on nutritional deprivation and extremely intense fitness programs which are miserable to endure.

Even when these types of programs yield sucessful results, they usually end up being short term fixes and most folks end up back where they started, feeling even more beaten down than before.

I’ve sadly witnessed this extremely unfortunate scenario with friends and family over and over again. In fact, it’s what made me want to become a personal trainer, to try and help people find a better way!

If you are willing to take a more long-term approach, making small incremental changes (i.e. "baby steps") chances are much better that you’ll actually learn a new way of day to day living on all fronts.

You will have a much greater chance of looking back a year later, not only having maintained, but continuing to improve your level of fitness.

Ultimately it all begins with your mindset, which is the foundation of all our actions, both positive and/or negative. The technical term for what we want to accomplish is "behavior modification".

It takes time and a sincere inner desire to undo old habits and make long lasting changes. However, I know from personal experience, it's absolutely achievable if you just take on one small thing at a time and build from one small success to the next, i.e. "baby steps." :)


Here's some examples of how to start using the "baby steps" approach:

1. Lets say tonight you go out to dinner and decide you absolutely want some dessert. Rather than either eating the whole thing or trying to "will yourself" not to have any, start by “sharing” it instead of eating the whole thing. So you can literally have your cake and eat it. :)
Eventually you'll get to the point where you can "pass" on the dessert most of the time and just have it once in a while.

2. Likewise, if it’s a huge meal, try sharing it with someone or only eat half of it and bring the other half home to enjoy another day. Even if you just eat half of it and just leave it at the restaurant, it's NOT a waste. It's so much more of a waste to eat it and have it turn into bodyfat, which is truly a waste of your energy and health.

3. Try parking your car a few spaces further away from the store than usual. Over time just park a little further away. You don't eventually want to park in the next county, but just enough that you feel invigorated.

4. If you’re watching T.V., “march in place” or “step “side to side” for a few minutes every once in a while (and try at all costs to avoid eating while watching T.V. or reading).

5. If you drink a lot of soda (even "diet" soda), begin by substituting water for one of those sodas each day. These liquid calories add up in a BIG way and even those that are "low calorie" are still training you to be addicted to a constant intake of artificial sweetners which are really unhealthy!

Believe it or not, even drinking a lot of natural fruit juices adds a lot of calories that will have a long term negative impact on your body in terms of body fat. So try to avoid drinking unnecessary calories. If you love fruit juice, try to cut it with water, a little more each time, so that you can cut down the caloric intake and simple carbs.

This small sample may seem like insignificant steps.

You might be thinking "How is THAT going to make any difference, I've got X number of pounds to lose!!!!, but they are a way to begin the process of long term change.

This process is also very empowering because you learn that it’s not that hard to do things differently than you have before!

Each day, just make another small change (but don’t discard the previous changes), they will add up and give you life changing results in the end. Before you know it you’ll have “baby stepped” your way to a new life!

2009 Scott Fishkind Time4You Fitness


Please visit my website at http://www.time4youfitness.com/