The pandemic has upended the world in countless ways, including altering the habits that anchor our daily lives. During lockdown, many of us fell off the exercise train, ate too much junk food, drank too much alcohol … or all of the above. According to an American Psychological Association survey, 61 percent of U.S. adults reported undesired changes in their weight during the health crisis.
But the world is opening up once again, and we need to get back to the healthy habits that have fallen by the wayside. That’s where Barbra Jo Batterman, a local “reset coach,” comes in (aresetcoach.com). Batterman discovered her new calling during the pandemic, when she found herself with a lot of time on her hands. A makeup artist for 45 years, she has always connected with people who sit in her chair, sometimes acting as a kind of therapist. It wasn’t a huge leap to realize that a lot of people struggled during the pandemic and needed someone to help them navigate challenging times.
“I help my clients change their small habits, which in turn changes their mindset,” Batterman says. “I’m a believer in small baby steps, not the big gung ho, let’s go, it’s January 2. Not that method.”
When Batterman takes on a client, she starts by having them fill out a questionnaire to see where they want to go and what they want to accomplish.
“I help them come up with a plan for something that’s doable. So if they haven’t been exercising, I get them on a system where, ‘OK, let’s start with a 10-minute walk each day. Is that doable?’ And then I check in with them, because it’s all about accountability,” Batterman says.
“We see how they’re adjusting. If they go, ‘Well this is easy; I can do more than that.’ [I say,] ‘OK, let’s not push it. Let’s stay with the 10 minutes and slowly move to 12 minutes a day, or 15 minutes, or let’s add maybe some stretching.’ So that’s how I’ve been dealing with it, and that’s been working very well, because they build confidence in themselves.”
Studies show the three most impacted habits during the pandemic were sleep, exercise and nutrition, and of those, Batterman says she gets most of her requests for resetting diet habits. That’s understandable: A lot of people found themselves working from home while also helping their kids with homeschooling. The stress of a contagious disease, coupled with economic insecurity for those who lost their jobs, has caused many to use food as a coping mechanism.
Batterman says clients need about three months to see a difference in their habit building or resetting. The biggest advantage with using a coach, in addition to having someone to whom you’re directly accountable, is the idea that if you’re paying for something, you’ll want to follow through on it. And depending on Batterman clients’ preferences or what she thinks might work best for their schedules, accountability check-ins can range from a daily text or a weekend missive. For those with FitBits or smartwatches, she can also follow their progress and encourage their hard work.
Batterman finds that positive reinforcement provides better results than tough love. “With my clients, especially the ones that know me well, I’ll be firm enough to say, ‘What’s up? Let’s get back on track.’ They don’t feel like they have to make up a story to me like maybe they would to themselves. When you sign up with me, it’s like, this is what you do, you’re ready to make a change. So [my job is to give them] positive feedback,” she says.
3 Tips
Location, location, location.
“Change the location of the food in the refrigerator,” Batterman suggests. “At eye level, you want things like vegetables and fruits instead of leftover cake or cookies.” That way, when you open the refrigerator, your tendency will be to reach for the healthier stuff.
Read all about it.
Batterman recommends a couple of books that look at habit-building in a new light: Atomic Habits by James Clear and Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck. “What I love about these books is that they give you another way to look at your habits and say, ‘OK, I’m not alone here, and I’m not gonna beat myself up over this.”
One positive thing.
“Find something you love about yourself and keep that thought in your mind,” Batterman says. “Because when you feel better about yourself, and you look at yourself, whether it’s your smile that you love or your hair or your eyebrows, it’s a really good way to start your day.”
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