How To Get LONG-TERM Results: The Importance of Habit Creation
We're all about breaking unhealthy habits and creating healthy habits here at Body Shape Fitness!
So we can get you to become the best version of yourself possible!
This post explains how habits are created and how we can finally get the healthy habit to stick for you and get you the body you've always wanted.
The 4 stages to creating a habit
1) Cue
2) Craving
3) Response
4) Reward
1. The Cue
The "cue" triggers your brain to initiate a behavior.
E.g. seeing someone at the beach with the body you would love to have... or stepping on the scales and not seeing the number you would like to see... or being told by the doctor that you need to work on your health etc... (there's endless amount of personal cues!)
2. The Craving
"Cravings" are the motivational force behind every habit.
So you've seen the woman on the beach with the body you want or the scales with the higher number than expected (the cue). Now you crave the same body or the lower number on the scales. So we need to create the healthy habit to get you there!
What you crave is not the habit itself but the change in state it delivers.
E.g. You do not crave smoking a cigarette, you crave the feeling of relief it provides. You are not motivated by brushing your teeth but rather by the feeling of a clean mouth and whiter teeth.
E.g. you don't crave doing exercise, you possibly crave one of the following things; the euphoric feeling, the slimmer/more toned/stronger/healthier/lighter body you will achieve, the stress relief, the break from normal life, being social with other people, the self confidence as a result of the self improvement... plus loads of other benefits/reasons!
3. The Response
The "response" is the actual habit you perform.
E.g. doing the exercise, eating healthier, drinking more water etc, to get this result are after.
If the difficultly of this stage outweighs your motivation, you will stop and habit won't be created.
4. The Reward
The "reward" is the end goal of every habit.
This satisfies the craving.
E.g. you saw a slimmer body (cue), you wanted a slimmer body (craving), you worked for the slimmer body (response) and you got the slimmer body (reward).
Satisfaction! ^^^
However, rewards not only satisfy us but they teach us!
If the reward was as good as or better than expected, then it has taught you which actions are worth remembering in the future. (e.g. our programme!!!)
If the reward failed to satisfy you and was disappointing, then you know not to repeat those action. (e.g. rabbit food diets, or a lot of other programmes out there that promise the world but fail to deliver).
I.e. the standard of the reward helps distinguish useful actions from useless ones.
Why does habit creation sometimes fail and people don't get long-term results?
If a behavior is insufficient in any of the four stages, it will not become a habit.
Eliminate the cue and your habit will never start.
Reduce the craving and you won’t experience enough motivation to act.
Make the response difficult and you won’t be able to do it or keep it up.
And if the reward fails to satisfy your desire, then you’ll have no reason to do it again in the future.
Without the first three steps, a behavior will not occur.
Without all four, a behavior will not be repeated.
What should I do next?
Here at Body Shape Fitness, we know what is required in order to get our clients incredible, long-term and sustainable results.
Which is why we not only get the habits to not only form but stay with you forever!
The cue and craving is your personal reason for reaching out to us.
Once you're with us, we help with the response to get you the reward.
We make sure you are ENJOYING and LOVING the exercise so you want to continue with it!
We make sure you are ENJOYING and LOVING the nutrition, we don't put you on a 'diet', it's flexible nutrition allowing you to eat whatever you want and teaching you how to do so and still get the reward/result you're after!
We then make sure WE GET YOU THE RESULT/REWARD YOU ARE CRAVING!
Because you've enjoyed the response/process and you've got the reward/results you were after...
THE HEALTHY HABIT STICKS!
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