Why our brain doesn’t like baby steps, and darn, why they work

Happy New Year!

As a recovering perfectionist, a past-extreme dieter, a seeker to find something outside myself to make me feel better, and consistently being impatient with myself, I want to share the importance of baby steps for your mental, emotional and physical health.

We have reptilian brains and a complex psyche of emotional needs. Basically, our brain is in a tug of war for safety and trying to create new healthy habits every day.

The basal ganglia brainstem of our brain is referred to as the reptilian or primal brain, as this structure is in control of our innate and automatic, self-preserving behavior patterns, which ensure our survival and safety.

Think of your limbic system as your very own built-in alarm system that will go off whenever it perceives a threat or potentially painful situation.

It plays an important role in “defending” and keeping you safe and in your comfort zone. This is why we ‘think’ we need to do extreme actions, but our mind is trying to keep us safe in our comfort or discomfort zone.

Your amygdala scans your environment regularly to keep you safe from harm either from past programming or future threats.

When you experience a negative emotion, its response is to sound the alarm to alert your hypothalamus, which causes a cascade of hormones from your brain through your entire body.

This is why our brain does NOT like to take baby steps or small actions.

1. They seem insufficient, and not hard enough.
2. They feel beneath us, and too easy.
3. They can stir up fear, and self-doubt and make us want to quit.
4. They can feel like they are going down the wrong path.
5. Don’t give us the immediate satisfaction and results that we desire.

Why baby steps work as we train our brain to feel more safe and secure:

1. They create clear, accessible intentions.
2. They help you manifest change within and outside of you.
3. They attract the right people, places, and opportunities to lead you to the NEXT step.
4. Help you gain confidence, and strengthen your beliefs in yourself.
5. You ACTUALLY enjoy the journey versus being so hard on yourself for not doing enough.

You can shift your brain chemistry by slowing down, taking deep breaths, and refocusing your thoughts. These steps allow your brain’s frontal lobes to take over for the irrational amygdala. When this happens, you have control over your responses, and you won’t be left feeling regret or embarrassment at your behavior or food choices. 

I created Nourish YOUniversity to help us do just this with food, our body image, and feelings of fear around our health.

We Reveal, Unravel and take those SIMPLE baby steps every day vs. living a life filled with stress, not-enoughness and cortisol.

I will be hosting two LIVE webinars in January of 2023 to support you in NOT signing up for another extreme, radical program, that may leave you feeling depleted and frustrated.

And if want more details about Nourish YOUniversity before the end of the year, please set up a time for us to chat!

with abundant nourishment,

Heather Fleming, C.C.N. ​Conscious. Compassion. Nutrition.