Often times when you embark on a health journey and start to see incredible results, you want to share what you’ve learned with someone you care about. You know that changes to their diet and lifestyle would really help them in their situation and you’ve told them that, but they still just won’t budge. So how can you motivate your loved ones to be healthy?
In today’s article, you’ll learn the exact process needed to motivate someone to take their health into their own hands. Let’s dive in.
Before you try to motivate someone to be healthy
Before you even get into motivating someone else to be healthy, you need to be fully committed yourself. You need to be committed to your own health and well-being and show you are taking it seriously. No cheat days, no complaining, and no excuses. If you aren’t being healthy yourself, there is no way you can motivate someone else to be healthy. You’ll look like a hypocrite and you’ll lose credibility.
It’s like a parent trying to give advice to their child in a sport they don’t really play. The kid is going to get very annoyed and not even listen to a word they have to say.
If you want to motivate someone to be healthy, you need to first make sure that you are on top of your own health. Once you have that down, then you can start to encourage others to make improvements in their health.
Motivate your loved ones to be healthy Step #1: Be a good example
The best way to motivate a loved one to make changes to their diet and lifestyle is to show just how powerful those changes have been in your own life. You really don’t even have to say anything specific; let your own results do all of the talking.
When you go out to eat, always make the healthy choice. On occasions where you cook at home, keep the plate colorful and full of delicious and nutritious whole foods. When tempted with an unhealthy option, show that it has no power over you. As you live your own healthy life, those around you will notice. They will notice the subtle changes and it will start to affect them. They might even feel left out and start doing things to impress you like, “look I ordered the salad.. see I’m healthy!”
Be a guiding presence for your loved ones. Lead them by being a fabulous example of great health and by coming from a place of love. Keep any judgments or criticisms to yourself and allow them the space to be on their own journey. If being a good example isn’t enough, move on to step 2.
Motivate your loved ones to be healthy Step #2: Discuss reasons
Most people think they can’t be healthy because it’s too hard. It’s too hard to eat the right way all the time, it’s too hard to exercise, and it’s too hard to force themselves to eat bad tasting foods.
There are two big shifts that need to occur to motivate someone to be healthy. First, you need to affirm that they are correct, being healthy is difficult. It’s like all worthwhile things in life – it takes consistency and effort. Second, by being a good example, you need to show that eating clean and exercising can be both delicious and fun. Let’s address the fact that being healthy is difficult…
Being healthy isn’t as difficult when you know why you are doing it
Being healthy is difficult. Cleaning up your diet and changing your lifestyle is a time-consuming and often grueling process. Your loved ones habits have been shaping their life and health for years upon years; making a change to those solidified habits is going to be incredibly difficult.
To be quite frank, the only way you can actually motivate your loved ones to be healthy is for them to actually want to do it. You need to discuss their reasons and the important of living a healthy lifestyle. Your loved ones need to have a strong emotional reason(s) of why they want to be healthy or all of your efforts simply won’t work.
Most people have these stories in their heads about the way the world works (or is supposed to work) and anything that challenges those narratives will get dismissed. That’s why if you were to tell an alcoholic that they need help, they’ll tell you that they are perfectly fine. It’s not until they reach rock bottom that they realize they need help.
The only way to avoid rock bottom in the first place is to help that person become aware and know why making a change is important.
Finding your loved ones “why”
Share with your loved ones research backed studies, testimonials, spontaneous remissions, your own progress, everything you can find to start creating an awareness of the possible benefits to living a healthier life. Talk with them about their main concerns with their current life, and how being healthier could possibly help them.
Focus on creating awareness and finding emotionally charged reasons. If you can get that person to say, “I should be healthy because of ____, _____, and ____.” then you’re well on your way to motivating that loved one to be healthy.
Being healthy is both delicious and fun
Now let’s address the second shift: helping your loved ones realize eating healthy can be delicious and exercising can be fun and relaxing. Everyone always thinks that healthy foods are tasteless, unappealing, and flat out gross. That belief could not be further from the truth. While it is true that most unhealthy foods are “delicious”, those are actually just chemical addictions created by food scientists to keep you coming back for more.
Real, whole foods can produce the best tasting meals on the whole planet. I know it, you probably know it, and all of the people with healthy diets know it. It simply takes a pallet shift to get there. Once your loved ones start adding in more and more real foods, their bodies will crave the sugars and processed foods less and less. Once the chemicals from unhealthy foods are gone, our bodies know exactly what they want and they start to crave the healthy foods. It’s quite the phenomenon!
To help your loved one come to this epiphany, cook for them at home and show that every meal you make is both appealing to the eye and absolutely delicious.
Now, in terms of exercising being fun, you can explain that exercise doesn’t mean spending an hour in the gym everyday. Exercise can be as simple or difficult as you want it to be. Going for a walk in nature is refreshing, calming, and a form of exercise. Yoga is an energizing practice and a form of exercise. Playing outside with the kids is fun and a form of exercise. It’s all about moving the body more, not big scheduled exercises.
Keep this information in mind when trying to come up with a response to “but healthy food doesn’t taste good and I hate exercise!”
Motivate your loved ones to be healthy Step #3: Invite them to join you
One of the best ways to motivate your loved ones to start being healthy is to invite them to join you for low-effort activities. Invite them to go on short walks or hikes with you, or to do a yoga class, or go for a bike-ride around town. Don’t ask them to do an intense workout though. Invite them to the things that are easy and that they are most likely to say “yes!” to.
The best way to start any new habit, diet, or lifestyle is to take little, tiny, baby steps. It’s to take the easiest possible step that moves you or someone else closer to their goal, even if it’s so small that it seems insignificant. Over time, little, tiny, baby steps turn into full blown habits
As your loved ones start to get more involved by doing these things, they’ll probably start to notice improvements in their health. When they do, make sure you offer compliments and enthusiasm for the effort they are putting in. Don’t take any credit – after all, it is them doing the work. You’re just there for guidance and support as they go on their own healthy journey.
Motivate your loved ones to be healthy Step #4: Offer them guidance
Whenever your loved ones ask questions or want to learn more, give them a real answer. Don’t just tell them to do things your way. Let them figure out what works for them and do their own research so they know why they are doing it.
Be there to support, encourage, and keep your loved ones accountable as they begin their health journey. Just by showing up everyday, you’ll serve as a reminder for them to do the right things and make healthy choices. Amplify their progress and celebrate their wins with them. As they begin to notice results, they’ll generate more and more motivation for themselves.
It may be helpful to prepare resources for your loved ones to provide extra learning. Make them a health binder to record their progress, send them links to research articles, make them a simple exercise plan. The trick to motivate your loved ones to be healthy is to make it as easy as possible for them. By having everything they need to know and use at the ready, the chances they follow through greatly increase.
I just listened to a podcast episode from Humans2.0 by Mark Metry, and the guest mentioned the idea of mom-like support. Moms are always commenting, sharing, up-to-date, and the biggest supporters of their children’s pursuits. You need to be like that with your loved ones to motivate them to be healthy; use the science of mom-ology to make your loved ones feel accomplished and proud of going on their health journey.
Take it a step further
By following the steps outlined above, you’ll definitely be able to create the motivation to be healthy in your loved ones. Once you’ve gotten the ball rolling, you may even want to take it a step further.
Discuss foods in the house
If you live in the same household as the loved one you’re encouraging to be healthier, you may find it helpful to sit down and have a discussion about food expectations in the house. Talk about what foods you should and shouldn’t purchase and why (you can even check out my pantry clean out checklist by signing up for my newsletter). Make sure everyone is on the same page. You can even set a family intention or mission statement to bring back those important reasons from before. By discussing food expectations in the home and reminding your loved ones why it’s important, they’ll be much more likely to stick with their healthy habit changes.
Introduce more advanced workouts and diets
Taking little, tiny, baby steps is the best way to get someone, including yourself, started with a new health habit. Sometimes though, a big push can also be helpful. After helping your loved ones get their health on track, start to introduce more advanced workouts and be a little stricter on the foods they eat. You obviously cannot enforce anything upon them (unless you are a parent), but suggest the idea and provide them with everything they need to know. Let them make the decision for themselves if they feel ready for it.
Wrap-Up
Trying to force your healthy lifestyle upon your loved ones is never the answer. Often, it will end up backfiring, hurt the relationship, and even make that person completely closed to the idea of changing their diet and lifestyle. All you really need to do is offer your guiding presence. Be a good example, invite them to join in with you, help them become knowledgeable, and let them decide what’s going to work best for them.
Let me know what you think in the comments!
