Remember, as a little kid, asking “why” about everything? Why do I have to make my bed? Why do I have to eat my vegetables? Why do I have to go to school? Or maybe you are a parent and you have to take deep breaths because the “why’s” never stop. It is exhausting and you resort to the answer, “Because I said so”! Kids have an innate ability to question everything without the fear of looking stupid because “everybody already knows that”. There is no question too big or too small and “why” is a natural part of their vocabulary.
When did we stop asking “why”?
In the health and fitness world many people use coaches, trainers, dietitians and physical and occupational therapists to guide them on their journey. They listen to what the professionals tell them to do and are motivated to follow their suggestions because they trust that the pros know what works and what is good for them. They don’t need to know why it works. They are happy accepting the implied “because” and don’t need more than that. That approach doesn’t work for everyone. For some people, knowing that something will help is not enough motivation to keep them working on it. They want more information and to know why something works. Once they understand the reasons why, they are motivated to continue.
Sleep
Most of you have heard that people should get 8 hours of sleep at night. That is a nice goal, but it is often hard to achieve. You may have better motivation to get that shut eye if I tell you why you need it. The correct amount of sleep strengthens the immune system, reduces stress, improves memory, lowers blood pressure, helps to maintain a healthy weight and can put you in a better mood. Knowing that should help motivate you.
Download these informative posters about sleep and paste them up where you can see them for extra motivation.
https://www.healthaccountabilitycoach.com/book-free-resources
The power of sleep
Sleeping early benefits
10 ways sleep affects your body
Why you need sleep
Tips to beat insomnia
Exercise
Fear of doing an exercise wrong, can be enough of a barrier to stop doing the exercises all together! Another barrier can be not understanding what an exercise is doing for us, so why bother. It is difficult to be motivated to do an exercise that appears to have nothing to do with the area we want to work on. Breaking it down to the details can help us to see why we need to do things a certain way and help us to see what we are fighting for and judge our progress.
Food
Eat the rainbow
Here is a review of what our food provides for us. When you hear dietitians tell you to eat the color of the rainbow, here is WHY:
Red Foods: Good for your heart and blood health. They support joint function.
Orange Foods: Help prevent cancer and reduce the risk of heart disease.
Yellow Foods: Are good for your skin, heart, eyes. They improve digestion and your immune system.
Green Foods: Reduce risk of certain cancers like colon cancer, bladder cancer and breast cancer. They are good for your bones, as well as detoxing the body and strengthening your immune system.
Blue and Purple foods: Support the immune system, help with mineral absorption and can improve your memory and brain function, improve skin and even help prevent wrinkles.
White foods: Support immunity and the circulatory system. They can also reduce the risk of cancer, and support healthy bones (got Milk
