Try This Process Next Time You Feel Stuck In Your Health Journey

What’s one health goal you’ve set for this year?

Whatever that goal is, how are you doing in the journey to get there?

Are you making progress?

Are you feeling stuck?

Oftentimes, we can be doing all the right things on our health journey, and yet, we still find ourselves stuck in a spot we can’t overcome. Usually, this comes from a rigid mindset that tells us we can only operate a certain way, without any flexibility.

That’s where we, and all those other one-size-fits-all health programs, are wrong!

Flexibility is crucial if we want to truly understand our own unique bodies and find the health practices that work specifically for us.

This is where the AIM process comes in.

AIM (Assess, Investigate, Modify) can change the way that we look at our health journey and make executing a plan simple.

Here’s how…

 

Assess

The first part of this AIM process is to assess. Assessment in this sense is simply checking in on yourself based on the goal that you have set.

This is a critical first step in truly understanding how our bodies work and being able to recognize patterns in our physical, mental, and spiritual health. Through simple questions, we can assess how we are doing in our journey toward a new health goal and help inform the next two parts of this process.

To help understand let’s use nutrition as an example:

Let’s say our goal is to reduce inflammation, bloating, and tiredness by cleaning up our eating habits.

Our system would consist of removing inflammatory foods like excess sugar, fried or processed food, and alcohol. We’d also map out our meal timing, content, and quantity. For example, maybe we do 3 meals a day that include clean protein, veggies, and a small portion of healthy fat.

Here’s where Assess comes into play…

At the end of each week, ask yourself if this new system is working for you?

A good place to start is to check in with your body’s key biofeedback markers. Things like how are you sleeping, what’s your stress level, how hungry are you, do you have cravings, what’s your mood and energy like?

Let’s say based on these questions you realize you’ve been white-knuckling it through the night and waking up feeling tired and restless. By the end of the day, your energy levels are tanked and the most you can do is make it back to your bed.

This could be a result of the new system you’ve set in place! But here’s how we work through it. 

 

Investigate 

Understanding comes from investigating and the only way that we come to better understand our bodies is through the exact same process.

Once we’ve asked the questions and assessed where we are at the next step is to investigate why. We already have identified what is going on, now we need to have a clear explanation as to the reason for it happening.

In our nutrition example, we might first start with asking basic questions about what we are eating throughout the day.

Is it possible that we’re not eating enough food at all three meals? Are we even eating all three meals?

Are we hungry between breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner? Or only late in the evening?

Are we eating enough clean protein? Are we filling up with plenty of veggies and fiber?

Come further investigating, we might find that we are eating our last meal at 5 and not going to bed until midnight. In turn, our body is trying to regulate our blood sugar, but simply can’t due to a lack of nutrient-dense calories. As a result, we are waking up completely drained and void of energy.

But there’s hope! Let’s talk about the last step…

 

Modify 

Now that we’ve assessed and investigated, it’s time to make modifications. Modifications are a pillar of my health coaching process, as they are perfect opportunities for us to recognize that something doesn’t work, and then make a change to improve.

Continuing with our nutrition example, here’s how we would apply a modification to our problem of waking up with no energy due to a lack of nutrient-dense calories.

Step#1 – Increase protein and veggies at each meal by ¼. 

Step #2 – Implement a bedtime snack 1 hour before bed that is less than 300 calories and includes protein, along with a small amount of healthy fat and carbohydrates.

An example would be a piece of whole-grain toast with 1 tablespoon of almond butter. 

When modifying, it’s very important to make small shifts (one or two at a time) and give ample time (1 week at least) before assessing again. Remember, consistency is important with trying out a modification—we must make sure to give our bodies enough time to respond to the new protocol.

Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to finding what will work best long-term. Don’t be afraid to take time in developing these shifts.

If after a week we feel like we’ve solved the issue uncovered during your assessment, awesome, keep going with this new practice! If not, jump back into the AIM loop, reassess, investigate a bit more and try a different modification.

 

Put your AIM Process into action today! 

There you have it, a simple process that can help you step back and take a 30,000 ft view of the goal that you’ve set for your health, and make a plan that works for you.

Remember, this process works with consistency. Work to pick one small thing that you can do to grow and use the AIM Process to track progress and make improvements as you continue along the journey.

And if you’re curious about how I use the AIM Process with my health and wellness clients, drop me a line right here to chat!