Making Habits Atomic

A friend of mine recently joined Weight Watchers and lost 4 pounds in the first week.  Daaaaang! I thought.  Maybe I should….

But no.  Nope, nope, no.

That’s exactly what I’ve been doing since I started this journey, jumping from raft to raft, trying to find the one that would effortlessly take me upstream, to the magical land of milk and honey (or of bacon and weenies, as the case may be).  

I’ve committed to a year of low-carb, high-fat, and I’m stickin’ to it.  (Aren’t I?)

I’ve goofed on Weight Watchers in the past, but for some people, it seems to work, so they’ve gotta be doing something right.  Yesterday when I was listening to my first audiobook of the year, James Clear’s Atomic Habits, I realized what that was.  

If you haven’t read him, Clear has some really interesting insights on the power of habits.  I first discovered him when my friend Ed shared a few quotes, like “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”

I love that.  I've found the book is engaging and thoughtful, with the right mix of anecdote, history, and research.  It’s also very practical, filled with tips you can apply to making — or breaking — whatever habit you need.

I recognized WW something Clear talks about: tracking.  “It is only through numbers and clear tracking that we have any idea if we are getting better or worse.”  The brilliance of WW is its Points system — a proprietary formula that rates each food based on its calories, fat, protein, and so on.  By boiling all the health advice out there down to one number, they make it easy to track your diet.  And let’s face it, we love to track things.  (After all, look at how Fitbit has turned us all into exercise accountants.)

"That's a lot of steps!"

The other piece is accountability partners.  Clear talks about the power of our social groups in influencing our habits: “It’s friendship and community that embed a new identity and help behaviors last over the long run.” In WW, weekly meetings force members to own up to their progress in the presence of their groupmates.

I’ve seen many benefits from cutting carbs over the last year, but weight loss still eludes me. Might I be able to apply these principles to my own journey with the low-carb diet?  I’ve decided to try.

I’ve got tracking covered through the Cronometer app.  It’s got a huge database and will tally everything from calories to carbs, to fat, to vitamins, and more.  When I use it, I can smake smart decisions about what to (and what not to) eat -- especially in the evening, when willpower is at its lowest.  The trick now is to get back to using it.  For this, I’ll use Clear’s idea of “habit stacking.”  The idea is to make a statement that goes, “Every time I ___(habit you already do), I will then ___(habit you want to do).”  For example, “every time I brush my teeth at night, I will then floss.”  For me, it’s as simple as, “every time I put something in my mouth, I will enter it in the app.”  

The other problem I have is that I’m pretty easy on myself.  I often let things slide on special occasions (such as, a “holiday,” or a "nice dinner out” or, say, a “rainy Wednesday night”).  If I really want to lose weight, I have to not just stick to the plan, but stick to it every week.  

Inspired by Clear’s idea of an “accountability contract,” I’ve enlisted the help of my friend and teammate, Rich.  Rich is the perfect person for this, because he’s kind-hearted, interested in health, and probably the consistent person I know.  But more importantly, he’s the kind of person who don’t take no mess.

So here’s the deal: every Friday from now until April, I have to text Rich with my weigh-in from that day — no excuses, no stories, just the number.  If the number isn’t lower than the previous week, I have to buy him coffee on Monday morning (and endure whatever ribbing he can come up with).  If I fail to text him at all, then I owe him a 5 days’ worth of coffee (and a week’s worth of grief).  

The benefit for him is obvious — free coffee.  The benefit for me is that the next time I’m thinking of having “just a little" dessert, I’ve got a wisecracking, Rich-shaped Jiminy Cricket on my shoulder, watching my every move.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress.  Either way, it’s going to be fun. (Which is another key to making a habit stick: make it fun!). Onward!

Note: The ramblings published on this blog are the opinions of the author alone and shared for entertainment purposes only.  The author is an English major with no medical or scientific background; thus, his words should never be taken as medical advice.  Consult with your doctor or medical professional before undertaking any diet or exercise program.