The Butterfly Effect
The butterfly effect is a concept within chaos theory mathematics that means a small change in one state of being can be responsible for big differences in another. The term was coined based on the idea that the wind pushed by a butterfly in one part of the world, could be responsible for starting a hurricane somewhere else. As unlikely as that may be, I’ll explain here how true the concept is within the changes I made to my life – each starting with one small push.
If fitness and health is a complete lifestyle change like it was for me, there are certainly going to be struggles with adapting to it. It means taking on new habits which is never easy. But perhaps the hardest part is getting rid of old ones. The more that needs to be changed, the bigger the upheaval that would seemingly be required. But that’s not entirely true. The biggest shake-ups often start from the most basic and smallest changes. Here are a few examples of how I did the hard stuff in the simplest ways. They all come down to making small changes that don’t feel like changes. Each of these had its own butterfly effect on my life.
Eating less sugar . . .
There are many examples of the butterfly effect within my diet, but the first that stands out relates to my craving for sweets. I used to eat candy, cookies, or chocolate throughout the day. Once the floodgates opened, the tone was set. My body had become addicted to sugar, so the routine was not simply for pleasure, it was chemical.
While I began my journey with a focus on fitness and exercise that achieved results, I knew I wouldn’t get as far as I wanted without changing my diet, and my dependence on sugar was key. But I couldn’t give it up cold turkey. I had done that before, and the rebound after tasting that first pint of Ben & Jerry’s again was all my body needed to return to the addiction.
This time, trying to make one change that might last, I simply removed that first sugary snack I had each day. Whether a cookie or piece of chocolate after lunch, it was a small item to give up and had little effect on my physiology. I still had the rest of the day to indulge my cravings, so it didn’t even feel like a change. After that, it was time to try it again with the next sugary snack of the day. Then the next one.
I always intended to make my last indulgence of the day – after dinner – the final one to abandon. I comfortably removed all others over time while still looking forward to my nightly dessert. By the time I reached the point where the nightly sweet was the last to give up, it turned out that my body no longer needed to make that change. My blood sugar was perfect, my weight was ideal, and most importantly, I felt amazing. So, while I thought I would ultimately have to give up that one remaining dessert – which was likely to feel like the biggest change of all – it turned out that it was actually time to not give it up.
Besides making it easier on my body to adjust, the small changes gave me time to understand my body’s reaction. Not only could I evaluate which small changes were positive, but I knew exactly when it was time to not make any more of them. That can’t happen when you go all in from the start.
Eating healthy foods . . .
Giving up sugar was just the start, but I also needed to change just about everything else I ate. My eating lifestyle was unbalanced in many ways including too much pizza, fast-food, chips, carbohydrates, and fat. Small changes were the way to go here too, but those changes were not simply as easy as buying different groceries or ordering differently on a menu.
I associated certain food items with each place I went whether a particular grocery store or restaurant. I was conditioned to buy junk food if I got anything from CVS or Walgreens – especially as they typically keep it right up front. Sure, they have nuts and protein bars buried in there too, but they are surrounded by the junk that I was used to. Similarly, there were always certain restaurants or fast-food places that I went to for my usual cravings. They may have had healthy options too, but they were hard to find when so used to spotting may favorites. Going to these places was filled with associations that were hard to disentangle. So, I started going to different grocery stores or restaurants where I had no routine. I bought the healthy snacks or ordered the right meals, and if I liked it, I now had a new place with new associations. My new locations were no different in terms of what they offered than my old ones, but to me they were. I only knew these new places for the healthy (and enjoyable) food I got, and I developed new associations that stuck. It’s been a while now, and I can now go anywhere again. After making those small changes, my body’s association is with good, healthy food wherever I go. I skip right past the chips and chocolate for nuts, vegetables, and protein wherever I am.
Moving . . .
As I mentioned, my journey started with fitness. I never really had a workout routine before – at least one that stuck – so once again, showing up for it was a break in the other associations I had with those times, whether it was sitting on the couch, eating, or any other sedentary act that was my norm. I mentioned before that my trainer used to tell me to try to “win the week” (workout more days in a week than not, meaning at least four days working out and no more than three days off). While I didn’t usually achieve that win in the beginning, working out one day a week, and then two days, was doing something positive slightly more than I did before. I might have seen four days as unattainable or unrealistic at first, especially given how long it took for me to overcome the soreness, but without knowing it, I was building momentum. In its own way, each week I simply managed to get a workout in was a win at first. It may not have felt like it at the time when I was failing to show up three more times, but it was ultimately the reason why I now workout nearly every day.
It's not easy to stop a locomotive going in the wrong direction. That’s what I was. Sure, there was a lot to change and collectively, that meant a complete overhaul of my life. And while introducing an exercise routine was probably the biggest lifestyle shift in general, even in this space, small changes led to the butterfly effect. The soreness I felt every time out at first became less common over time – even as my workouts became more frequent.
The small changes here also came by way of intensity. At first, I needed to move more. As time went by and I did that, I became a locomotive going in the right direction. Each small push led to huge momentum. The more I did, the more I could do. In 2024, I logged 380 workouts for approximately 372 hours of exercise – both of those being personal records. That didn’t happen because I tried to set a record, it happened because that’s who I had become. It was about the associations I developed. I can’t wake up in the morning without focusing on what that day’s workout will be (once I’ve completed my daily Wordle first). But each time I focus on that workout, it changes. Every workout builds from what came before it, so while moving was the simple target at first, now the targets are moving faster, lifting more, and going harder all around. It's a hurricane that all happened with one small change – showing up for day one. Or maybe two changes -- showing up for day two was probably even more important!
As we each look ahead towards whatever changes we need to make going forward, the lesson here is not to worry about the endgame which might seem like an impossible dream. No dream is impossible, and what might surprise you most of all is that it takes as little as the wind pushed by a butterfly to make it happen!
The Butterfly Effect of small changes over the past 10+ years.
Aaron
Blog note: I’m taking next week off from blogging to stay balanced and focus on other areas.