Motivational Spillover
Aug 24, 2020You know when you have a streak of being on TOP of your workouts, other things tend to come along with it?
Like, Suddenly you have more *motivation* to eat healthier too?
Turns out - this a real thing.
It even has a name: 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿
How often you exercise can predict how much you exercise (Teixeira et al., 2009)
But as with many associations between variables, there are some important mediators to consider.
In plain English - it’s not simply that exercise leads to healthier eating, but that exercise can increase OTHER THINGS like self determination and intrinsic motivation...
👆And those other things, are related to healthier, more controlled, and less emotional eating behaviors (according to this study)
K what does this mean for you?
1️⃣ You should exercise 😉
Exercise to the point where it feels more like part of your life several days per week.
The more consistent you are with it over time, the more it will breed the good stuff — like self determination and intrinsic motivation.
Which can then make it easier for you to keep up healthy eating behaviors.
2️⃣ Work to cultivate more self determination and intrinsic motivation
(I’ve got lots of previous posts on this! Also a major topic in the HMCC program)
This good stuff will help you with that #healthylifestyle rather than the “falling off and getting back” on game
3️⃣ Work on your mindset
^ No one is surprised with this one lol
It should be empowering to know that ONE health behavior can motivate you to pursue others, and ultimately make this whole lifestyle thing easier for you.
🚫Instead of: “why do I have to workout AND eat healthy?!” 😩
✅Reframe to: “wow being consist with my workouts will make it easier to keep up with other healthy things too?? Awesome!” 🤩
