By Sofia Rydin-Gray, Ph.D.
Director of Health Psychology, Duke Diet and Fitness Center
Your body has helped you deliver fast and strong plays for years, but a healthy mind will deliver a long and healthy life. Whether you’re transitioning from being an active athlete to life as a retired athlete or sitting out this season because of an injury, staying healthy may be the biggest and most important game of your life.
The transition from being an active player to a retired athlete, or dealing with injury, can be extremely difficult. Not only does the transition affect your self-image, but when the intense physical training decreases and your caloric intake stays the same, you may be faced with having to shed the pounds. Moreover, without the regular structure around eating, working out, and playing games, you may find yourself with too much time on your hands. You may find it difficult to establish healthy habits and goals on your own, without having the coach or trainer giving you directions. The challenges to getting on track with our health and gaining weight are many – temptations to eat are everywhere and if we don’t pay attention, we’re eating when we’re not hungry and we quickly put on weight and feel lethargic. Not exactly your optimal self.
At the Duke Diet and Fitness Center we have helped active and retired athletes regain their focus on their health and get in the game of life. By providing structure around eating and exercising and setting realistic goals, we have seen many athletes develop and implement a healthy lifestyle at home. The same way you trained to be in optimal shape for each game, you need to train your mind to make healthy choices in life.
Here are some key points for healthy lifestyle change:
- Create a Positive Vision: Identify what a healthy lifestyle looks like for you, and make sure you focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want. Incorporate as many aspects of life as you can (health, family, spirituality, career, enjoyment), and be creative with this process. Revisit this image regularly as this will become your life compass towards health.
- Structure and Goals: Once you have a future vision for a healthy lifestyle, it is time to decide on the next steps. Without structure and goals, we tend to procrastinate and our choices with food and physical activity may suffer. Begin by setting small, achievable goals, such as getting up around the same time each morning, having a healthy breakfast, or exercising with a friend.
- Persistence: Weight loss and optimal health don’t occur overnight, and neither did you become a professional athlete overnight. When you’re making any changes in your life, motivation will probably wax and wane, depending on your mood. Persistence is the ability to produce action regardless of your motivation. When you consistently take action, you will see results, and these results become your motivation to keep going.
- Monitoring and Resources: When you make lifestyle changes you need all the support you can get. It is crucial to monitor your progress towards your health goals, and there are many tools to help you. Our DFC clients use apps, such as Fitbit or Nike+, to track activity, sleep patterns, caloric intake, and to enlist social support.