Goals. Resolutions. Plans. Ideas.
Where are you with yours a few weeks into the New Year ? Are you one of the many who has determined that weight loss and fitness will be what you finally achieve this year?
Sadly, many will start with the best intentions but quickly give up when their plans are a bit lofty and to restrictive, determining it’s to hard and give up.
Please don’t quit. Isn’t it more productive to have small forward movement than none ?
When I chat with people I often hear some… denial ? About how they eat ,what they eat, and how much they eat.
Trust me, it’s easy to disillusion yourself. Or there is some joking about it… about not eating well…. as if poor eating is a fun game.
Can I say this ? If you’re serious about weight loss, you need to be serious about what you eat.
Kinda just let that breathe over you for a second.
What kind of body have you built? What kind of body do you want to build ? And I don’t mean like… building a competition body or anything like that… although if that’s what you want you need to set goals to get there.
I mean do you want to lose some fat? Do you want to build muscle? Strengthen your cardio system to be able to do daily tasks without getting out of breath ? Do you want energy to keep up with your family and do things with them ? To achieve those goals means getting serious about what goes in your mouth, and how much of it.
Getting serious means taking a hard look at your eating habits and patterns. A study of your eating habits as it were. What triggers you to eat when you aren’t hungry? What foods do you reach for ? Do you know how to stop once your hunger has been satisfied or do you keep eating because it’s there or it tastes good ?
How do you nourish your body ? Is it with junk type foods? High fat? Sugar? Alcohol ? Fast food ? Over eating?
Or is it with healthy, colorful, flavorful life giving food to build you up in the best way possible ? Foods that will give you energy and vitality?
Listen, you won’t just snap into changes overnight. You will struggle and rebel against changes you want to make, know you need to make, it won’t come easy.
But…. you are more than capable of doing it.
One day, one moment at a time.
I guess it might sound pretty basic but if you’re gonna make changes you need to assess what you’ve got to do to start making that happen.
May I suggest a long heart to heart with yourself ?
Look at how you eat, when, how much etc. if it’s not a meal time look at snacking or eating when you aren’t truly hungry.
What or how do you feel that makes you reach for food ?
What foods do you reach for ?
In a day, write out foods that are healthy, good for you foods and then the “other” foods. Make a list… which list is longer at the end of the day. You might track this for several days. Make sure you also add in all sugary drinks, alcohol etc
Determine ( on the not so great category) where you can begin to make small gradual changes. For instance, if you’re a big soda drinker and have maybe 3? a day you might try cutting it back to two for a week, then down to one until you’re weaned off or save them for really special treats. Although by that time you might find them to be to sweet for you once your body has adjusted to not having them.
In the healthy section look at how you can continue to improve and build on healthier foods.
Where can you add more veggies ? Choose a healthier snack? Pass on vending machine “treats” ?
To move forward you must be serious with yourself on your eating. Understand your food triggers.
Take a critical look at the foods you eat. Can you make healthier substitutions for some things ?
Asking yourself some hard questions and making small gradual changes will begin to move you forward on your health and fitness journey.
sassyfitnesschick 