Wellness Wednesdays with Diana: Your Weekly Dose of Happiness, Nutrition and Fitness Tips
Good Habits Die Hard
There’s a brief two-week period between the start of New Student Orientation and the end of the second week of classes when it’s socially acceptable for freshmen to seat themselves at any table at the dining hall. And so the drill begins. Name, Hometown, Major, and of course the oh-so-clever “What dorm are you living in?” For those of us who lived in Ware College House, we would need about a few minutes to let the irritation from the “Where in Ware?” pun subside before we could proceed with the conversation. One kid approaches our table and it starts all over again.
“What are you thinking of majoring in?”
“Psychology and English,” I respond.
“Oh, psychology? Wanna hear a joke?”
Naïve, sweet, fresh-off-the-Egyptian-boat freshman that I was, I hesitantly answer with “Sure, why not?”
“How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? One, but the light bulb has to want to change.”
Needless to say, we didn’t hit it off. I don’t really know his name nor do I have any recollection of his face. But looking back, I think it was pretty funny, but only because it’s painfully accurate. The change-when-you’re-ready approach is so popular in psychology because it’s been supported time and time again. The light bulb kid thought he was hilarious, but really he just summed up an important principle of self-help: the mental preparedness to change.
Last week, I shared my personal account of finding my way to health, when I was finally ready. This week, I’m sharing a few of the habits I changed in order to lead a healthier lifestyle. We’re talking good habits, we’re talking bad habits, and we’re talking strategies.
I’ve quoted Mindy Lahiri and Liz Lemon enough times to decide to switch it up. I’m throwing it back—I mean really far back—to Aristotle who said, “We are what we repeatedly do.” If you aspire to be a healthy individual, you just have to repeatedly engage in healthy practices. On the psychology of changing habits, psychologist and grit guru Angela Duckworth suggests adopting self-control strategies. My personal favorite is called situation modification.
Situation modification involves changing the external environment in a way that would promote your goals. The best example comes from consumer psychology research conducted at Cornell. Researchers found that secretaries eat significantly less candy when it’s placed in a solid-colored bowl. It seems as though “out of sight, out of mind” is a real phenomenon you can use to your advantage. Think about that the next time you unpack your groceries—put the apples in a transparent container and the potato chips in a dark container on your uppermost shelf. Modify your situation!
Here are some other ways in which you can use situation modification to help yourself achieve your health and fitness goals:
New Habit #1: Don’t order unhealthy food at ungodly hours of the night.
Situation Modification: Log out of your GrubHub account (or Seamless for the New Yorkers out there). Ask your roommate to change your password.
New Habit #2: Stay hydrated. I could write a three-part series on the health benefits of increasing your water consumption.
Situation modification: Carry a Nalgene water bottle around in your backpack.
New Habit #3: Work out three to four times a week.
Situation modification: Find a study spot near the gym. Or recruit a gym buddy with a compatible schedule to encourage you to go at your usual time. According to Professor Duckworth, sometimes even wearing your gym clothes makes you more likely to work out.
New Habit #4: Stop skipping breakfast.
Situation modification: Make some breakfast plans with your friends! For example, I often have my friends over for omelets. You’re not likely to skip the most important meal of the day if four people show up at your door, hungry.
I stand by my belief that you only change your habits when you’re ready, but I also stress the importance of a social support network. Gym buddy, roommate password change, breakfast companion…in three out of the four aforementioned habits, the role your friends play is critical. It’s great to have backup in a world where unhealthy choices are so accessible.
One of my best friends from home lives in Lebanon, but she’s my designated “health sponsor.” Last New Year’s, we resolved to make healthier choices so we’ve kept a transatlantic WhatsApp tradition of texting each other whenever we’re too lazy to go to the gym or when we face greasy versus healthy food dilemmas. While the seven-hour time difference can detract from the efficacy of our approach, it’s still been super helpful having someone to remind me of my goals at my weakest moments.
That’s it for now, Collegiates! You have your work cut out for you, but I wouldn’t be writing this if I didn’t believe in your ability to be the light bulb you’d like to be.
Diana Gonimah is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania from Cairo, Egypt. She is a writer, Features Editor, and Recruiting Chair at the UPenn chapter of Her Campus. She’s passionate about psychology, journalism, creative writing, and helping people in any capacity. Check our website every Wednesday for Diana’s column!