Читать книгу Peak Nutrition - Maria Hines - Страница 31

3

MOTIVATION

IT TAKES MOTIVATION FOR MOUNTAIN athletes to achieve their lofty goals, but motivation doesn’t come easily every day. The days you don’t have much motivation are the hardest, and if you can overcome those days and continue pushing forward, you’ll come out better and stronger on the other side. Motivation keeps many outdoor athletes going. It’s what drives them. That’s why it is so important to figure out why you are training and to set meaningful goals.

Many mountain athletes have time-sensitive goals—an ascent of a mountain, an upcoming race, a seasonal endurance event. Goals like these are examples of external, or extrinsic motivation, meaning that it comes from outside of yourself. These extrinsic, “dreaming-big” goals are great for powering through seasons, spurring energy and motivation to accomplish them. But they also have a downside: they’re not sustainable and can eventually lead to burnout.

A more sustainable way of approaching and creating goals is with internal motivation. Also known as intrinsic motivation, it comes from inside you. With intrinsic motivation, you don’t need punishments or rewards to get to the goal. Instead, your focus is on the process of achieving the goal—the way it makes you feel and how it makes you who you are. Intrinsic motivation is why outdoor athletes love being outside, doing incredible things in nature. Feeling the chill on your skin and being empowered by what you are accomplishing are your motivation. These feelings remind you each day why you do what you do. You need both types of motivation to reach a goal. And you also need to create the right habits (see chapter 2 for tips on creating and sustaining a habit). This chapter covers falling off the wagon, bad habits and how to break them, the power of failure, and why creating rituals might be your key to success.

FALLING OFF THE WAGON

When you fall off the wagon, remember to have self-compassion. It’s easy to criticize yourself, but it’s not constructive. Criticism doesn’t help you move forward. If you feel like you’ve failed, ask yourself, Am I going to give up? If the answer is no, then failure is just another step toward success. Collect your failures. However, when you feel agitated, mad, or bad, take note of your internal thoughts. That is the first step toward changing those negative thoughts—becoming aware of the process. Then you can start to change it.

Mercedes: For example, I have struggled a lot with self-destructive thoughts over the past few years, and I finally did something about it. I completed the self-esteem pack in the Headspace meditation app. I highly recommend this or similar meditation guidance if you struggle with negative thoughts and want to change your internal dialogue (see the Resources section for more information). Sometimes things do suck for a while. For you to change, you may have to hit rock bottom before you end up wanting to change.

BREAKING BAD HABITS

If you’ve lost motivation and need to break a bad habit, it’s important to understand what patterns have become linked together to form the habit. Mercedes: For example, I had a habit of eating “red-light” foods after work. To change this behavior, I had to break a chain of patterns. I learned through close observation that I would eat junk food only when I was on the couch watching TV. So I first changed the food I ate, because I still had this feeling of wanting to snack on something. I ate carrots and bananas instead. Then I basically stopped watching TV right after work. Instead, I would sit on the couch with my dog and a cup of mushroom hot cocoa and enjoy that instead. If I am going to watch a show, I need to wait until I have had a meal and am 80 percent full. This process of figuring out my triggers has helped a lot! It doesn’t mean I don’t do it ever, but I don’t snack on red-light foods nearly as much now.

THE POWER OF INTENTIONALITY AND THE VALUE OF FAILING

Setting intentions around goals helps you focus on what you really want, make improvements that are very specific, and improve overall awareness. For example, if you know that your climbing footwork needs improvement, when you get to your next training session, instead of saying “I will work on my footwork,” set a specific intention about the footwork. Try something like, “I will be silent and precise with my feet every time I place my foot on a hold.” This is very specific and intentional. And, if you fail, you can correct it and know where the failure stemmed from.

RED-LIGHT FOODS

This system of categorizing all your foods using a stoplight metaphor, from red to green, is used by Weight Watchers and Precision Nutrition and a whole book has been written about it. Create a list for yourself, and try to figure out what situations trigger you to eat red-light foods. Can you design a system to avoid them on a more regular basis? What situations trigger you to eat greenlight foods? Do more of those! You don’t have to be perfect—just better.

Red = “stop and think.” These are foods that you can’t seem to stop eating. Hand-to-mouth frequency and speed are high. Mercedes: For me, these are Chicago-style popcorn (caramel and cheddar mix), pasta, milk chocolate anything—the list goes on.

Yellow = “caution.” These are the foods you can potentially stop yourself from overeating. Mercedes: For me, these are regular popcorn, apricots, dates, rice, yogurt, cheese, potatoes.

Green = “safe to go.” These are foods you feel confident eating because you won’t overindulge, so you won’t feel guilty. Mercedes: For me, these are mostly vegetables and fruits, lean proteins, and nuts.

PEAK PROFILE

STEPH DAVIS

WHAT IS YOUR GO-TO PERFORMANCE/ENERGY FOOD AND WHY?

Medjool dates: I buy them in bulk from my local health food store. They are easy to keep everywhere (in a pack lid, car, cupboard), are nutrient and calorie rich, and have a low glycemic index. Dates are great for baking, too.

BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO GETTING GOOD NUTRITION? ANY EASY SOLUTIONS?

I make most of my own food because I love cooking and primarily eat whole foods. A lot of that started because it was such a challenge to find food that doesn’t have added sugar; I started making soy milk several years ago because I got tired of buying “plain soy milk” only to discover it had added sweetener. It turns out that it’s also very easy to make other staples like hummus, falafel, salsa, kimchi, and protein bites for much less money than it costs to buy them premade.

WHAT IS YOUR BEST EATING HABIT? YOUR WORST?

I’ve started drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning, before any tea or anything else. It reminds me to focus on hydration all day. Worst habit: I’m usually not hungry first thing in the morning; I need to go hike or something before I want to eat, so sometimes I don’t do a great job of eating breakfast.

HAS YOUR APPROACH TO FOOD, IN RELATION TO PERFORMANCE, CHANGED OVER TIME?

I’m not celiac, but I notice that if I eat a lot of things made with wheat flour, I don’t feel great. I especially avoid it before bed.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOOD INDULGENCE AT THE END OF THE DAY?

I’m not much of an indulger. I think being on a plant-based, whole-foods, low-sugar diet for so long (18 years) has made it so I don’t really have food cravings (except for things like brussels sprouts).

LIGHTNING ROUND: DOGS OR CATS? VAN, SUV, OR TRUCK? DOWN OR FLEECE?

Both. Van. Fleece.

Steph Davis is a plant-based climber and BASE jumper. She lives in Moab, Utah, with her husband, Ian, dog, Cajun, and two cats, Lana and Mao.

Intentionality requires slowing down, being curious, and giving thought or feeling to the process. If you apply this tinkering mindset to your learning, you will see failure as a valuable part of learning and improving. In Zen Buddhism, the term shoshin means “beginner’s mind,” referring to the quality of being open and eager to learn without discrimination. Often as beginners, we are more open to possibilities and have no preconceived notions about what we are doing. As we become more expert, we hold prejudices in our minds and become self-critical, making failure a bad thing. Adopting the beginner’s mind, we can welcome failure no matter what stage of learning we are at. Apply this to your climbing, or to your long outdoor pursuits, and see how it can change your perspective, your awareness, and the value of what you love to do.

CREATE RITUALS AND A GOAL CHECK-IN

In addition to practicing how to be 1 percent better each day, you can make a list of all the things you want to improve that will help you get closer to your goals. Choose one for the day and make one tiny positive change. It can be super helpful to write down your goals and values. To bolster your motivation and ensure consistency, it’s beneficial to create daily rituals. For example:

•Morning ritual. First thing in the morning, review your stated goals and values. Write down your habit or your 1 percent change for the day.

•Evening ritual. Take a look at what you wrote in the morning, then reflect on how well your behaviors matched your habits, values, and goals. Revise and adjust your habits and goals if your behaviors did not match—maybe your goals were unrealistic? Come up with a plan for the next day that you will review again in the morning.

“Care for your own lantern so that others may benefit from its light.” —Zen saying

Devise a goal check-in when things get tough in your efforts to create and form a new habit, or when you wander off your path. This is a great little exercise to do when you are faced with potential failure or decision-making. Before making any decisions that feel impulsive, give yourself a moment to reflect. Sometimes the urge to do something will fade. Ask yourself: What do I want right now? What do I ultimately want? Am I willing to sacrifice my values and goals for what I want right now? Could I wait a little while? See the Resources section at the back of the book for a great reading list on habit building and motivation.