The hardest part of reclaiming your metabolic health isn’t just changing your lifestyle.
It’s about maintaining your healthy lifestyle choices — even if loved ones aren’t supportive of your changes.
The statistics are shocking, if not disheartening. Only half of Americans report having someone to turn to for support some or all of the time. The statistics look different depending on gender: Only 21% of men and 41% of women receive emotional support from friends each week.
Adopting new habits can be difficult, of course, but the real obstacles to success are those people who stand in your path.
This is why I firmly believe:
You cannot restore your metabolic health alone
Let me be clear: the only person who can change your metabolic health is you.
But the chances of succeeding on this journey alone are very slim at best.
Just take a look at New Year’s Resolutions: as many as 88% of people give up in the first two weeks. And yet, studies show active or extended support can boost the success rate of New Year’s goals to nearly 60%.
It’s clear you need some ‘cheerleaders’ in your life if you want to maintain your metabolic health. However, not everyone in your network is naturally a cheerleader — and some people in your inner circle may unconsciously sabotage your goals.
Identifying and resisting external sabotage
In a study performed in 2017, a whopping 100% of participants said their family or friends consciously (or subconsciously) sabotaged their health efforts.
Changing your lifestyle can make other people uncomfortable, especially when it calls their personal habits into question.
And as we know, navigating self-sabotage is hard enough — the added pressure of interpersonal challenges certainly won’t help.
I want you to keep an eye out for the subtler signs of sabotage:
- Offering to cook ‘healthy food’ for you. Unfortunately, many people have different opinions about what ‘healthy’ means — and a gluten-free cake with sugar and seed oil is likely not going to help your cravings. The solution here is to approach with kindness: be up-front and honest about what will work for your diet. Remember: offense is taken, not given. You can still be kind and thankful while holding your ground.
- Being critical, discouraging, or disparaging of your goals. Dismissive or discouraging comments aren’t necessarily overt. A spouse may tell you the gym is ‘too expensive,’ or a parent tells you ‘that’s not a healthy way to lose weight.’ Even if you’re making the best decision for you, saboteurs in your life could discourage you into inaction. The best way to prevent this is to provide education about what you’re doing and why. It not only reinforces your decisions and actions, but it helps well-meaning family members better understand your journey.
- Following ‘old programming.’ Old habits die hard, especially when they’re shared. Maybe you and your partner visited the buffet every weekend, or you and your coworkers went drinking every Friday. Ending these habits is likely to cause friction, which puts your relationship under pressure. Thankfully, a simpler way to change out ‘old programming’ is to take an additive/substitutional approach. Instead of saying, “I can’t do that,” try saying, “I can’t do that, but I can do this.” Finding new habits and experiences together can maintain your relationship while establishing boundaries.
Of course, I realize interpersonal relationships aren’t always this cut and dry. You’re likely to encounter much more complex situations, and for that reason, I recommend getting professional support.
Depending on your preferences, this could be a doctor or a metabolic health coach. It could also be a metabolic health community that shares in your health goals.
Where to find a metabolic health community near you
Studies show people with a strong sense of community belonging are 3.21 times healthier than those with weaker senses of belonging.
The good news is, ‘community belonging’ is often easy to find.
In an era of virtual connectedness, you can find community through:
- Online forums. Platforms like Reddit and WebMD’s Facebook communities offer lightning-fast connections with people around the world. Subgroups such as r/LowCarb, r/Keto, and r/Carnivore can keep you accountable and encourage you to stay on the ‘straight and narrow.’
- Local community meet-ups. Meetup.com is a great place to find niche groups, especially if you’re in a busier metro. If you don’t have many options in your area, you may want to consider starting your own health meetup. You could opt for in-person attendance, virtual meet-ups, or whatever else suits your fancy. Don’t be afraid to float the question to your network: you might be surprised how many people express interest.
- Health apps. If you’re a fan of tracking macros (or just like to stay connected via phone), it might make sense to tap into a health app such as MyHealthMate, the MyFitnessPal community, or the aptly-named Community Health App.
Keep in mind not everyone in these communities will share your beliefs about restoring metabolic health. If you’re looking for communities exclusively covering metabolic health, following me on X is a great place to start.
I’ve also opened the doors to my private metabolic health community, Heart Health Hub, a few weeks ago. Our online group is growing fast — within 24 hours of the first post, we maxed out our Zoom capacity.
Getting started in a health-minded community
If most of your family and friends support your health goals, count yourself as one of the lucky ones. Many people don’t have this deep well of support, and I wish you the best on your health restoration journey.
If you’re one of those people who are struggling to find support, please understand you are not alone. There are hundreds of people — myself included — who want nothing more than to cheer you across the finish line.
I invite you to join my Heart Health Hub and meet dozens of people who are engaged in a health journey just like yours. Each membership comes with unlimited community access, metabolic coaches, monthly AMAs, and an all-access pass to my online courses.