No Sweat

No Sweat

by Michelle Segar
Released June 2015
Publisher(s): AMACOM
ISBN: 9780814434864

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Book description

Selected as the #1 book in diet/exercise for 2015 by USA Best Book Awards.

We start out with the best intentions. We're going to exercise more and get in shape! Then five days a week at the gym turns into two... then becomes none. We hit the snooze button and skip the morning run.

We really do want to be healthy and fit, but we're over whelmed and overextended—and exercise feels like another chore to complete. Is it any wonder we don't stick with it? Behavior expert Michelle Segar has devoted her career to the science of motivation. In No Sweat, she reveals that while "better health" or "weight loss" sound like strong incentives, human beings are hardwired to choose immediate gratification over delayed benefits. In other words, we're not going to exercise unless it makes us happy right now.

So what's the solution? To achieve lasting fitness, we have to change our minds—before we can change our bodies. In No Sweat, Segar shows us how. Translating twenty years of research on exercise and motivation into a simple four-point program, she helps readers broaden their definition of exercise, find pleasure in physical activity, and discover realistic ways to fit it into their lives. Activities we enjoy, we repeat—making this evidence-based system more sustainable in the long run than a regimen of intense workouts. Even if we don't sweat, we really benefit.

The success of the clients Segar has coached testifies to the power of her program. Their stories punctuate the book, entertaining and emboldening readers to break the cycle of exercise failure once and for all. Complete with worksheets, tips, and techniques, getting in shape has never been so easy—or so much fun.

Instructors can find the No Sweat Teaching and Discussion Guideon Michelle Segar’s Website: www.michellesegar.com/get-resources/

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. List of Figures
  6. Preface
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. A Note to Health and Wellness Professionals
  9. Chapter 1. It’s Not About the Sweat
    1. The Health and Fitness Message Isn’t Working
    2. Doing What You Enjoy Is a Better Motivator for Exercising—and It Works
    3. An Individualized Program That Changes Lives
    4. Your MAPS and How to Use Them
    5. It’s Your Move
    6. The Takeaways
  10. Part I. Meaning
    1. Chapter 2. Escaping the Vicious Cycle of Failure
      1. What Does Exercise Mean to You?
      2. The Vicious Cycle of Failure
      3. Why We Choose the Wrong Reasons for Exercising
      4. Escaping Your Personal Vicious Cycle of Failure
      5. Do You Just Need More Willpower?
      6. The Takeaways
    2. Chapter 3. Motivation from the Inside Out
      1. Our Past Experience with Exercise Builds Our Meanings
      2. Self-Determination Theory Supports the Benefits of Owning Our Choices
      3. Take Ownership of Your Exercise
      4. Framing Is Everything: The “Work or Fun” Study
      5. The Why: The Foundation of Sustainable Behavior Change
      6. How Our Whys Influence Even How Much We Eat
      7. Muddying the Waters: More Motives Are Not More Motivating
      8. The Takeaways
  11. Part II. Awareness
    1. Chapter 4. Exorcising Exercise
      1. Body Shaping and Weight Loss Whys Guide Us to Work Out in Ways We Don’t Like
      2. To Feel or Not to Feel?: Feelings Trump Function
      3. High-Intensity Exercise Feels Bad to a Lot of Folks
      4. Ignoring Your Body Undermines Your Goals
      5. How Autonomy Can Change Your Experience
      6. The Relationship Between Enjoying Exercise and Losing and Maintaining Weight
      7. Illuminating Invisible Chains
      8. How to Exorcise Exercise
      9. The Takeaways
    2. Chapter 5. Count Everything and Choose to Move!
      1. What “Counts” Is Different from What You Think
      2. The Misunderstood Ten-Minute Rule
      3. Sitting May Be Bad for Your Health
      4. To Sweat or Not to Sweat?
      5. Moving Away from the Medical Model of Exercise
      6. Everything Counts: A Better Message to Motivate More Movement
      7. Understanding That “Everything Counts” Is a Bridge to Consistency
      8. It All Adds Up
      9. A Treasure Hunt: Discovering Hidden Opportunities to Move
      10. The Takeaways
    3. Chapter 6. From a Chore to a Gift
      1. Reframing: From the Wrong Why to the Right Why
      2. Many Right Whys: Regular Physical Activity Is an Elixir of Life
      3. Why Isn’t “To Be Healthy” a Right Why?
      4. Reward Substitution Is a Very Strategic Move
      5. The Successful Cycle of Motivation
      6. Listen to Your Body’s Messages and Do What You Like
      7. Wanting and Liking: The Neuroscience of Reward
      8. Men and Women Might Benefit from Different Experiences
      9. “Gift” Yourself with Movement Any and Every Way You Can
      10. Let the Games Begin!: Discovering the Gifts of Movement in Your Life
      11. Could Walking Be Your Way?
      12. The Takeaways
  12. Part III. Permission
    1. Chapter 7. Permission to Prioritize Self-Care
      1. Does Your Mindset Have Your Best Interests in Mind?
      2. Caretakeritis Is Not Good for Anyone’s Health
      3. Are You Paying Attention to Your Body’s Distress Signals?
      4. Seeing Through the “I Don’t Have Time” Smoke Screen
      5. Your Daily Self-Care Needs
      6. Give Yourself Permission to Stop Following Shoulds
      7. Your Brain Can Change, and So Can Your Mindset
      8. Permission Is the Gateway to Prioritizing Your Self-Care
      9. If You’re Not Ready, Pretend You Are
      10. The Takeaways
    2. Chapter 8. What Sustains Us, We Sustain
      1. You Are the Energy Center of Your Life
      2. The Amazing Paradox of Self-Care: Giving to Yourself Means Giving More to Others
      3. Alchemy: The Gift of Physical Movement Becomes Essential Fuel for What Matters Most
      4. The Sustainable Cycle of Self-Care
      5. What Sustains Us, We Sustain
      6. Positive Emotions Help Us Build Better Lives
      7. What Do I Need Right Now?
      8. The Conundrum: Which Self-Care Activity Do You Choose?
      9. The Takeaways
  13. Part IV. Strategy
    1. Chapter 9. Six Big Ideas for Lifelong Sustainability
      1. Big Idea #1: Use Learning Goals to Get Intrinsic Motivation, Persistence, and Resilience
      2. Big Idea #2: Begin with the End in Mind
      3. Big Idea #3: Use Sustainable Self-Care as an Essential Strategy for Well-Being
      4. Big Idea #4: Integrate One New Behavior at a Time
      5. Big Idea #5: Strengthen the Core—Build Consistency Before Quantity
      6. Big Idea #6: Bring Your Learning to Life
      7. The Takeaways
    2. Chapter 10. Sustainability Training
      1. Negotiating the Reality of Our Complex and Busy Lives
      2. The Lynchpin of Sustainability: Self-Regulation and Negotiation
      3. Sustainability Training for Life
      4. Become a Skilled Self-Care Negotiator
      5. Make a Self-Care Negotiation Plan
      6. Phase 1: Planning and Previewing
      7. Phase 2: Negotiation in Action
      8. Phase 3: Nonjudgmental Evaluation and Recalibration
      9. The Takeaways
  14. Epilogue: Changing Your Beliefs, Changing Your Behavior, Changing Your Life
    1. Stephanie’s Story: MAPS in Real Life
    2. The Learning Process Never Ends
    3. Your Journey Continues
  15. Endnotes
  16. Index
  17. About the Author
  18. Free Sample Chapter From Stress Less. Achieve More. By Aimee Bernstein

Product information

  • Title: No Sweat
  • Author(s): Michelle Segar
  • Release date: June 2015
  • Publisher(s): AMACOM
  • ISBN: 9780814434864