About this time last year, I read “Atomic Habits” by James Clear (which I highly recommend) to learn more about how to help our clients create and lock in habits that ultimately will get them where they want to go. Of the many amazing insights within the book, the one with the highest level of confirmation bias was the importance of curating an environment that has low resistance and high accountability toward creating and maintaining good habits or stopping bad habits. As someone who believes consistency wins in the long haul, and with little self-control when it comes to junk food, I’ve subscribed to this for a long time. But it doesn’t stop there. Your environment includes not only the things you surround yourself with, but the people as well. So, if you are looking to change your health and fitness-related habits, here are my go-to tips:

1. COMMUNITY IS KEY
I start here because it has the most profound effect on accountability. Joining a community of like-minded people searching for similar results is the number one way to hold yourself accountable and make new habits concrete. In fact, it only takes one solid training or accountability buddy to exponentially improve compliance toward starting or stopping a habit. Let other positive people into your weight loss journey, or seek out a training group of folks in the sport you are interested in. For a city considered “unhealthy” by outsiders, we have many options for groups of different people all looking to stay healthy and fit through the lens of different activities. In my experience, the more seasoned people in a group will welcome you in and speed up your learning curve. So swallow your pride, stuff down the fear of being a newbie for a minute, and make a connection that might change your life forever.

2. INVEST IN EQUIPMENT
This is the key to lowering the resistance of getting in a workout. Yes, gyms have more options, and if your gym is also your community, go there! But when that alarm goes off, and you know you have a 15-minute drive there and back on top of working out, that is an easy time-based excuse. Or if the weather is terrible, it’s another excuse to miss a workout. If you have all the equipment you need in your home, there are few excuses for breaking your good exercise habit.

3. GET THE JUNK OUT OF THE HOUSE
If the only options you have for food are healthier ones, how can you mess it up? Personally, this is my only hope for not eating super-processed junk food because if it comes through the door, it’s going out through my stomach. And before you say, “But I have kids,” so do I. Your kids don’t need to eat junk either, and before you know it, they’ll stop asking for it. What it boils down to is daily consumption versus expenditure, and if you are looking to lose or maintain weight, it’s much much harder to do eating food that is designed to make you overeat. Can one eat that stuff in moderation and be okay? Yes, absolutely. But until you eat healthier more often than you don’t, it’s best not to be tempted with your cheater stash of snacks. So next time you hit the grocery store, stick to the outside loop, load up on whole foods, and enjoy.

4. HAVE A PLAN
Another big source of resistance for people is simply not knowing what to do. That might be the activity, what to do for the week, or what they should do that day. People waste so much time and energy trying to figure out what they want to or should be doing, they tell themselves they don’t have time for exercise. Or decision fatigue sets in, and you end up doing nothing because of analysis paralysis. Deciding what to do when you walk through the door is not a plan. This is where a coach becomes invaluable. They can write you a custom plan to follow to the T based on your life scenario, experience, and present fitness levels. You just have to do the work. You’d be amazed at how much time you get back not having to think about it, research it, analyze your data, etc. Creating plans is 70% of what BPC does day in and day out. Regardless, having any plan is better than having no plan at all. Get something in front of you for the next week, month, or longer, and you will be much more likely to achieve those big goals!

Dale Sanford is the co-founder of BPC Performance, Inc. and has been coaching individuals and athletes all over the world since 2009. You can catch up with Dale @bpcperformance on IG, or listen to the Coaches on Couches Podcast. If you’d like to start your health or sports performance journey with BPC, visit Buildpeakcompete.com

By Dale Sanford, Performance Coach