by Roland Denzel

Write More, Longer, and Better with A Healthy Writer Theme

“I’m going to write a book this year.”

“I’m going to lose weight!”

Yeah, right…

Whether it’s writing or health, most people’s goals and resolutions are destined to fail. Most are too broad and unfocused, and rarely motivate beyond a few weeks. “Write a novel” or “lose twenty pounds” sound good on paper, but there are so many days between today and that goal, and so many things that can happen, that the opportunity to get sidetracked is simply too great.

How many novels haven’t you written? How many times haven’t you lost twenty pounds?

Worse, how many times has a writing goal gotten in the way of your health goals?

Speaking for myself… lots! The mental struggle to pause my writing to hit the gym, take the time to make lunch instead of eating out, or even take a walk is real

I’m a writer and a health coach. I’m a firm believer that the healthier you are, the more words you’ll be able to write, the more years you’ll be able to do it, and the better your work will be. Good health doesn’t guarantee words on the page, but I guarantee you that poor health leads to less writing!

Choose your 90 Day Health Theme

Health goals like “lose weight” aren’t necessarily bad, just not action oriented enough. When a week or two goes by without weight loss, many put the diet on hold, then never come back to it. A resolution to get healthy by running a marathon, on the other hand, is far too specific. A lot can get in the way of your marathon training, and illness, injury, or lack of time can mean the end to your attempt at ‘better health.’

Rather than tether yourself to a goal that’s so easily derailed, put yourself on a track for success by choosing a health theme, instead.

A theme isn’t just a single purpose goal, and it doesn’t require you to stick purely to your original approach to your goals. If you make a misstep, get sick, or need to also focus on something else important for a while, your theme is still there for you, guiding your choices and motivating you to move forward. Your theme sets your tone, and along with the goals that guided it, helps you develop a plan that carries you on to the end.

I’ve found that starting with a theme for a three month period brings more focused results than setting a theme for a whole year. It gives you four periods to work with and fine-tune as your year progresses. People are also more willing to start a quarter a few weeks in, while a theme for a whole year feels like it has to start on January 1st. Waiting to start is a missed opportunity, and no one has time for that.

The most powerful changes one can make for health are often the simplest. The evidence is clear that people who cook their own food, eat at home more often, spend more time moving, and generally eat right are slimmer, trimmer, and healthier. Choosing a goal for your 90 Day Health Theme should be something that leads to better health, but isn’t an action in and of itself.

90 Day Health Theme Examples:

• Rediscover Home Cooking
• Sleep, Rest, Recover
• Happy Gut, Healthy Gut
• Peace & Meditation
• Natural Movement Matters

Action oriented

Choose a 90 Day Theme with important benefits to you, then pick an Action that drives your theme. Make it ridiculously doable, so you can and will do it. Motivation, after all, is built on feelings of accomplishment and success!

Here are some good Action examples for your 1st week, based on the 90 Day Theme examples, above:

• Batch cook enough for three meals
• Get 7+ hours of sleep on three nights
• Have a cup of bone broth every day
• Meditate with the free Headspace App three times
• Walk after meals once per day

Sound too easy?

Good, it should be! After a week of success, bump it up.

• Batch cook for three meals AND make two simple dinners from fresh, local produce
• Get 7+ hours of sleep on five nights instead of three
• Have a cup of bone broth every day AND cut out gluten for thirty days
• Meditate with Headspace five days in a row
• Walk after meals once per day AND get up and walk five minutes every thirty minutes of writing
• Every few weeks, tweak your Actions to make them more effective or add something new.

Before long, you’ll see progress, feel successful, and be motivated to keep going. Rock your first 90 days, then your second, then the year!

What is your 90 Day Health Theme? What Action will you start today?

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Roland Denzel is a weight loss coach whose first client was himself! Overweight his first 35 years, he lost over one hundred pounds in 2003, and has kept if off ever since. Along the way, Roland developed a passion for health, fitness, and nutrition that’s not only kept him slim and healthy, but allowed him to help others just like himself through his writing and coaching.

Roland is an IKFF trained kettlebell coach, a personal trainer, and a sports nutrition and weight loss coach through Precision Nutrition. He and his wife, Galina, have a health coaching practice, serving local and online clients, in Orange County, California. They write and podcast regularly at EatWellMoveWell.com, and have coauthored six books together, including The Real Food Reset, Man on Top, and their latest, Eat Well, Move Well, Live Well – 52 Ways to Feel Better in a Week.