IN THIS ISSUE:
Movement is Medicine: A Lifelong Journey of Body Image and Fitness
Q and A with Jillian Riegle and Gianna Green
If you’re like me, the new semester is a time to think about how to improve on the previous semesters and to set goals. Some people gravitate naturally towards routines and habits that support goals. Most of us, however—and I certainly fall into this category—truly want better habits, but we find it difficult to sustain positive change. That’s why gyms are crowded in January and empty by March.
Forming good habits—and by that, I mean routinized behaviors that improve our overall well-being—requires both strategic behavior design and careful cultivation. Here are some steps that have helped me.
Start with your ultimate end goal in mind! Too often we pick new habits that facilitate someone else’s ideal. A habit worth adopting will improve your happiness, health, or some other element that factors into well-being. Before you select, identify where your well-being seems deficient. For example, are you overstressed? Chronically disorganized? Is this contributing to your unhappiness?
If so, that’s a great place to start! Brainstorm new behaviors that might decrease stress or improve your organization. Then cross out the ones that won’t work for you or that won’t really achieve your objective.Start your habit small and let it grow. If you’re trying to build in daily exercise as a way of battling stress, start with a 7-minute workout on your phone or even a minute of vigorous cardio. Here’s why: If you start with dramatic change, sustaining that change requires tremendous willpower every single day. Truth: willpower and motivation for most of us varies from day-to-day. Take motivation and willpower out of the initial equation by building the small habit first. Then, let your motivation grow as you achieve success.
Attach your new habit to a constant in your life. Often our best intentions fail because we forget the intentions. One way to combat this is to attach the new behavior to something we never forget. For example, I would love to take a multivitamin regularly, but the only way I ever remember is if my husband gives them to me. (I don’t think that counts as a habit.) Recently I decided to link my multivitamin to my morning cup of coffee, which is something I NEVER forget. So, as soon as I pour that cup of coffee and put the coffee back on the burner, I get out my vitamins and take them.
Celebrate your successes immediately. Positivity reinforces habit change. Find a way to make yourself feel good about the changes you’re starting to make. It can be as small as a thumbs up in the mirror or hearing your favorite teacher or mentor’s voice in your head saying, “Great job.” You’ll be far more likely to repeat a behavior that makes you feel good.
Don’t allow habits to become an end in themselves. At times I’ve become so attached to habits that they actually get in the way of my well-being. I love making my bed before I leave my house in the morning—so much so that if I run out of time to get it done, I’ll either do it anyway and risk being late or I’ll feel cranky all day. That’s counterproductive. Have flexibility and give yourself grace when life gets in the way of your routines.
Want to learn more? I highly recommend Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything by BJ Fogg, PhD. He explores these ideas and more in greater depth. Good luck and happy habit formation!
Q: What are some of your favorite uses for social media?
Jillian | I love using social media to share beautiful things that inspire me, lessons God has taught me, & images which provoke wonder or creativity. I’ve also found it can be a great way to connect with people around the world who share the same values or interests.
Gianna | As the social media manager for the College, I use social media a lot for work, so one of my favorite uses of social media is helping to share the mission of the College with millions of people each month. Outside of work, some of my other favorite uses include lurking around, seeing what my friends are up to on Facebook, following my favorite artists and creators on Instagram, and occasionally- pretending I’m funny on Twitter.
Q: How do you use social media for your benefit without letting it get out of control?
Jillian | One thing that’s been helpful is to schedule social media posts a week or so in advance. This helps me to focus on being more intentional with what I’m posting and be sure that I’m sharing posts for the right reasons. Another thing that’s beneficial for me is only following accounts and friends that inspire, reveal truth, or spark joy in some way. I’ve found that social media use can become toxic when comparison and conflicting values are involved, so by narrowing down the content that I’m seeing, it can remain a positive creative outlet .
I think a good measure of “healthy” social media use is how it impacts other parts of your daily life. For me, if it encourages me to leave screen time with a desire to to pray more, create art, try a new hobby, or praise God for his work-- then it’s still a healthy use. If I find myself being discouraged by it or feel more complacent, then I know it’s time to change how I’m using it.
Gianna | Social media is an algorithm-based tool. Use that to your advantage—don’t let it take advantage of you. Engage with content you like (cute pictures of animals, funny memes, beautiful travel destinations). That way, the platform knows what you like to see and will show you more of it! Their goal is to keep you on the platform as long as possible so they’re going to try to serve you what you like to see. But it’s only a computer. Lingering on posts that are unhealthy for you will send the wrong signals. As hard as it might be, scroll right past the things that make you upset. Seek out beauty instead! I love finding new and exciting recipes on social, sharing in my friends joys, and of course, I can’t resist a funny meme or video (I’m only human) but that means I can also get sucked into that eyes-glazed-over endless scroll until I finally look up and see I’ve thrown hours of my life away. A habit I started in college was taking breaks from studying or writing papers for brain break. Even now, doing a little scroll-stroll on Instagram will give me a little boost in creativity and solve whatever puzzle I’m working on. The hardest part about setting these limits is keeping them. Use external tools like an obnoxious alarm or an app/extension that shuts off your social media streams. Set a limit and stick with it!
Q: Have you ever put limits on the way you use social media?
Jillian | Yes! Last Lent I gave up using all forms of social media and benefited immensely from that time of fasting. By the end of Lent, I realized that often while waiting, I had a bad habit of turning to social media and mindlessly scrolling through to pass time. I decided to cut it out completely until I could use it again with purpose. To this day, if I find myself tempted to waste time or procrastinate things I need to get done with it, I will fast from social media usage until I know I can use it mindfully.
Gianna | When I first took my job, social media consumed my life. I was so worried I would miss something if I wasn’t constantly connected and that was wildly unhealthy. To solve that problem, I set a limit and taught myself to stop checking work social medias outside of work hours, (word of advice to those who want to go into social media management/PR after college: Turn it off!) The idea of setting limits is also applicable to your own social media use. If you find yourself aimlessly scrolling with your eyes glazed over, not actively engaging with anything, it’s definitely time to put the phone down and do something actually engaging. I also try not to look at my phone at all before going to bed. Studies show that looking at social media before bed can be detrimental to your sleep. Even though the consequences are serious, this is the hardest habit for me to kick. So instead of watching just one more funny video, I send my mom my nightly ‘Goodnight!’ text, put my phone down, pick up a book or my Bible, and allow myself to wind down for the night.
Q: How is social media used differently in college vs out of college?
Jillian | I think during college I would use social media to kill time and would only post randomly. Out of college, I use social media less but am more deliberate with what I’m posting and why.
Gianna | In College, I definitely used social media for vanity. It can be hard on the heart to compare yourself to others on social—whether they’re influencers or your own friends. Social media is a window into other people’s worlds, but the nature of the platforms allow us all to hide the reality of our situations. More often than not, people are putting their best, most filtered foot forward and your audience sees a beautiful rose-colored world when in reality, well, it’s not the reality. When people get discouraged about social media, I try to remind them to see the beauty in it. After college, your friends grow up and get great jobs, start new lives, move beautiful places. rejoice with them! Life after college is also challenging. Pray with them when they need support. Remember that social media is a tool. Use it to find inspiration, community, networking opportunities, and most of all, joy and humor. Social media can be frivolous. Don’t forget to laugh at it and yourself every once in a while.