Think you’re too lazy to eat right? You’ve got that wrong!

It’s not that you’re too lazy to eat right. It’s that healthy eating is hard – and for lots of reasons that have nothing to do with your character.

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Could it be that all the lazy people of the world came to me to help them improve their health?

“I didn’t meal prep this week because I was too lazy.”

“I’m too lazy to cook, so I usually pick up something on my way home – even though I know I shouldn’t.”

“I don’t exercise much because I’m too lazy.”

“I would have done fill-in-the-blank if I weren’t so lazy.”

If I took their admissions of laziness as truth, I’d think I attracted only lazy clients – the sort of people who lay on the couch all afternoon with the TV on in the background and empty pizza boxes on the floor.

And yet, these same people powerwash their houses and schlep their kids from gymnastics to Little League practice and off to the math tutor. They hold down demanding jobs and pay their bills on time. They exercise the dogs, volunteer in the community, and remember to call Dad on his birthday.

They don’t sound like lazy people to me.

So why did the vegetables rot in the back of the fridge instead of getting prepped for a week of lunch bowls? Why is the gym membership going unused, and why did they fail to keep on walking when the donut tray whispered an enticing hello as they walked by the office kitchen?

If it’s not laziness, what is it?

Maybe calling yourself lazy is part of the problem.

Yes, I mean that. We all behave in ways that match our internal dialogue, so if you say you eat poorly because you’re too lazy to eat right, you’re locking yourself into bad habits.

The reason you haven’t met your goals …

you have obstacles:

• your goals aren’t meaningful to you
• you’re confused about your first step
• your task is too big or overwhelming
• you expect perfection, so you don’t even try
• you’re afraid of failing
• you rely on willpower instead of skill-power
• you don’t have enough help

6 ways to get unstuck, stop feeling lazy and start making progress

Your solutions depend on your obstacles. These 6 strategies will kick you into action.

1. Get clear on your motivation

If your goal is to eat healthfully or exercise regularly, you must be motivated, right?

Probably. But you might not be clear on your motivation. Take a few minutes now and again later today or tomorrow to list your reasons to eat healthfully, lose weight, control your cholesterol, dial down your blood sugar, or be a daily exerciser. Include all of your reasons. The physical reasons like having more energy or reversing prediabetes and the emotional reasons like feeling proud or being a good role model to your kids or partner.

Don’t underestimate the power of emotion, and learn how to summon up emotion to hack your healthy habits.

Consciously discount external reasons like “the doctor told me to lose weight” or “my mom keeps shaming me for the way I eat.” Pressure, ridicule, and shame might get you started on a short-term plan to quiet the harsh voices, but you can’t stay with a program based on negative emotions.

Motivation goes 2 ways

Next, look at why you’re motivated not to move forward. We often overlook the reasons we want to stay the same. Examine the costs of each change. For example, you’re motivated to work out because you want to reverse prediabetes and have more energy. But you’re motivated not to work out because sweating means you’ll have to wash your hair and you’ll have less time to do chores around the house.

Maybe, you’re worried that healthy eating means no more baking sugar cookies or brownies with your grandkids. Ouch, that would hurt. (FYI: it doesn’t mean that, but that’s an article for another day).

2. Break it down and be specific

If your goal is to eat better, you’re facing a mighty big goal and a vague one to boot.

Write down 5 to 10 specific things that “eating better” means to you. Perhaps:

• eat a salad with dinner
• snack on fruit, not sweets
• create lunches and dinners with the plate method
• sit down for breakfast instead of grabbing any ole thing
• limit chips to 1 ounce
• measure your wine when you drink
• switch to lowfat yogurt

Pick one or two from your list, plan all the steps to carry them out, and get to it.

Let’s say your goal is to eat a salad with dinner. What are the steps?

1. decide the type of salads you want
2. plan the ingredients
3. buy the ingredients
4. prepare the salad
5. Enjoy!

When your new behaviors feel comfortable, pick one or two more from your list.

3. Start even smaller

Easy is success’s best friend.

It’s not setting huge goals, speaking disparagingly to yourself, or making things complicated that will get you from here to there. Easy is the way.

Though it sounds counterintuitive, sometimes motivation comes after getting started, not before. So just get started.

What’s the easiest way  – not the best way – to get a salad with dinner?

Buy bagged salad and plop a handful on your plate each night at dinner.

☑️ DONE

Related: Want to focus more on the positive. Create an affirmation or grab one of my favorites.

4. Make it fun

If meal prepping is one of your goals, but you’d rather eat worms than get stuck in front of the oven on a Sunday afternoon, invite a friend to join you. I’ve done this on Zoom with my daughters, and it’s loads of fun.

Or bundle dull tasks with things you love. Listen to a podcast or blast the Beatles while you cook. Listen to the newest spy thriller while walking or working out on the elliptical. I do so love a good audiobook.

5. Get help

Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. There’s basically nothing we do in life that we do alone.

Go back up to #1, get clear on your motivation. Take a good look at the list of reasons not to change. These are the things to ask for help with.

~ If taking a Zumba class means you’ll be late picking up your kids, ask a friend to swing by the school or start a carpool.

~ If eating healthfully means hours in the kitchen, ask your health-minded friends for tips. And check out healthy convenience foods (remember: easy is your best friend).

~ If you struggle to say no thanks when your spouse offers you ice cream in front of the TV, ask them not to offer you sweets.

6. Drop the negative self-talk

This one is bigger than you think! That’s why I wrote about negative thoughts ruining your diet and making you miserable, which includes a worksheet.

You must start from a place of kindness and compassion. No more calling yourself lazy or saying you’re a diet failure.

Instead of this: “I have to go to the gym today because I’m a blimp.”

Say this: “I choose to exercise because it’s good for my body and mind.”

Or say this: “I choose to skip the gym today because I have extra work and little time.”

If you practice a kindness mentality, it will become your autopilot. You’ll feel less desperate and shame and more in control. Plus, those healthy habits you’re developing sink it better when you nudge yourself with a carrot instead of whacking yourself with a stick.

Repeat after me:

“I am not lazy. And now I’ll think about a plan to move forward.”