Jan 23, 2018 5 min read

The Observer-Reporter Biggest Winner team started their fitness and weight-loss journey with plenty of help and support from the trainers and staff at the Washington Health System Wilfred R. Cameron Wellness Center. Six members competing as couples make up this year’s team.

Support, mental focus and the right frame of mind are crucial to success when embarking on a fitness regimen. But, how can participants – and anyone wanting to get in better shape – focus, stick to goals and resolutions, stay on track and maintain willpower?

“Many people start out with a wellness program, or any change for that matter, filled with motivation and resolve, only to drift back to old habits in a short period of time,” explained Barbara Ivanko, a licensed clinical social worker, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) teacher and yoga instructor. “Then they feel badly about themselves for lacking willpower. I do not think this is a lack of willpower but rather a reflection of how hard-wired our brains are into longstanding ways of thinking and behaving.”

She explained that old way of thinking, in regard to self-image, physical activity and eating habits, has created well-worn neurological pathways in the brain. Science has shown that these pathways can be changed, but it’s not easy, and it takes time and practice.

“The social support of a team approach is helpful,” said Ivanko, “and so is accepting and celebrating the whole process – the success, plateaus and especially the inevitable slips and backslides along the way – with an attitude of friendliness toward ourselves.”

She added that self-defeating thoughts come naturally to most, and those unfriendly self messages can really throw a person off track – especially if they have feelings of shame about their size and physical condition.

Stress can be a barrier

Everyone experiences stress, and not managing it properly can take a toll on health, not to mention derailing a healthy diet.

Ivanko teaches MBSR sessions at Cameron Wellness Center but also has a day job as a health care executive, which can be stressful. She recommends meditation and mindfulness practices to help relieve stress. These practices can bring awareness of thoughts and increase the ability to think and respond in new ways.

“Everyone can relate to the experience of worry and regret,” she said. “Unlike animals and our caveman ancestors, we are safe, fed and sheltered almost all the time. That means that almost all of our stress comes from the way we think about our circumstances at any given moment. Those thoughts about what might go wrong, what a jerk so-and-so is and what we are going to say when we tell someone off create the exact same response in our bodies that real life-or-death threats activate.”

Ivanko said this has a devastating impact on our bodies, especially the cardiac and gastrointestinal systems.

How can mindfulness and meditation help?

“Self-awareness and command over our thoughts allow us to pause before automatically reaching for the chips after a hard day or upsetting conversation and makes room for a different choice,” she explained. “That choice can be thinking differently about the situation, coping in a healthy way or simply accepting the fact that you are validly angry, sad or frustrated at this time.”

The old advice of counting to ten before saying something when upset can also help with sticking to a healthy eating routine. Taking that moment to realize the cause of distress can lead to making healthier food choices, which can lead to progress.

Meditation, mindfulness practices and yoga all involve paying attention, without judgment, to what is happening in the present moment.

“By doing this, we get the mind out of its habit of memories, plans and stories,” said Ivanko.

Meditation can be challenging at first, and people often don’t know how to get started.

“People often say they can’t meditate, they have too many things on their minds,” Ivanko said. “That is true of everyone; the busy mind is universal.”

Though learning to meditate can be hard work, the good news is that it can be done anytime and anywhere, and just 10 minutes a day is a great start

For those who want guidance, the eight-week MBSR course offered at the wellness center was developed in the 1970s at the University of Massachusetts by psychologist Jon Kabat-Zinn.

“Decades of research since has shown that participating in the course helps with a variety of difficulties, such as depression, anxiety, migraines, stress, pain and insomnia,” said Ivanko.

The course meets weekly for two hours of instruction, discussion and group practice with mindfulness homework in between.

Exercise is

a secret weapon

Meditation can help relieve stress, but exercise is also a secret weapon for physical, mental and emotional health.

“It exhilarates and relaxes and reduces the level of stress hormones,” Ivanko said.

Exercise releases endorphins, which are the body’s natural mood elevators. Ivanko said exertion also provides a sense of power and vigor. Those who exercise gain self-confidence and strength and see body-shape changes.

“The encouragement of exercise buddies is an added plus, and this socialization also relieves stress,” said Ivanko. “The benefits are so vast that it is amazing that more people don’t exercise regularly. The key is to make it a habit.”

Ivanko’s words of advice to the Biggest Winner contestants, and to all who want to be more healthy: Don’t be so hard on yourself.

“Be kind to yourself, patient with yourself and train yourself to ignore the inner critic,” she said. “If we can just dust off all the self-doubt, amazing things can happen.”