Changing to Healthy Habits-- "Turkey" vs. "Weaner"

Everyone has a different attitude or system when they look at making changes or improvements. 

What’s your style?

Turkey vs. Weiner

When it comes to diet and exercise, or changing habits—are you a “turkey” or a “weaner”? I coined these terms because of the difference between the way my husband and I approach a challenge to change our habits or up our game.

I describe myself as a “turkey”. I find it easier and somewhat more effective for me to go “cold turkey” or “all-in” when it comes to changing my diet or re-vamping my fitness routine. On the other hand, when I try to motivate my husband he says he needs to be weaned, or slowly moved from the old habits to the new. As with most things in life there are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches.

As a turkey, it is easier for me to stick to a plan (to a certain point) by not allowing anything to sneak in past the boundaries of the set rules. However, it is also a simple mistake to expect perfection. With a rigid set of guidelines or high expectations there is too little room for human error or slip-up. It is very easy with this all-or-nothing approach to feel like a failure and give up if you do not stick exactly to the plan with no leeway for an extra bite or a missed workout. This can also easily lead to a self-sabotage. Sometimes it means “Oh well—I messed up, I might as well abandon the whole thing and start again” (later, after I allow myself a little more fun) and then go overboard in the other direction and lose all sense of control. I have a friend I will say is a turkey like myself. She dives in to the deep end with a very restrictive routine, loses weight quickly, but the restrictions are unrealistic and she finds herself quickly gaining weight back because she can't support that routine with real-life situations.

The flaw in the “weaner’s” system is that if you take too long to wean yourself off of the unhealthy habits, or into a healthy routine, it may take too long to see any progress. Even smaller goals take too long to reach. This can easily tend to set the “weaner” up for discouragement. This is personally why I favor the turkey approach, you can at least be more easily motivated by reaching small goals sooner. If you are the tortoise racing the hare, sometimes the finish line can seem so far away that you can lose momentum and get discouraged. You can get to the point where the task looks too big, the goal too far away or unreachable.

Where do you fit in? What’s your style?

So what is the best approach? The best approach is the one that works for you. If you tend to be a “turkey” you may want to lighten up. Allow yourself some slip-ups, plan for a once-in-awhile deviation from the path. Plan for an 80/20 system where you don’t have to be 100% on . Don’t let a slight change be the beginning of a slide downhill. If you have “weaner” tendencies, try kicking it up a notch—put a little kick in your step. Make a plan. Don’t wait for things to happen, make them happen.

How about trying the human approach? As you can see, the way you approach your goals depends on your personality.  The best method is the one that works for you. It is the one in which you define your specific, measurable goals and make a plan that you can follow and reach those goals in a reasonable time. Breaking a large goal into smaller short-term goals is an easier road for both a turkey and a weaner to travel. Making a plan that allows you an occasional treat or a scheduled rest day, as well as rewards along the way (probably not best to have food as a reward here; something more like a new book, CD, small bangle, movie with a friend or partner) will help keep you on track.

Choose YOUR way to be 

HEALTHY AND HAPPY! 

Let me know how it goes...

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