healthy habits – Page 2 – sassyfitnesschick

Go Big Or Go Home

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Go big or go home. It’s an expression the speaker says to the listener to encourage the listener to be extravagant, to go all the way, and do whatever you are doing to its fullest – and not flake out.

It’s an expression used on many different occasions. Sometimes, it’s in a funny context, other times, it’s thrown down as the challenge it’s meant to be.

I’m kinda wired in that way. If you give dangle the carrot in front of me… I will be going after it.

Example, when I was in a yoga class ( my first to be exact) she neatly showed several ways for a move all designed to be modified for the individuals level of ability.

Then, the final move, was the hardest way to do it. Yeah, you know which one I went for.

Or the fact my first race was a half marathon. I found out later…most people… just start with a 5K.

Go big or go home.

As a competitive person I don’t find this bad. It challenges me, motivates me, makes me not be content sitting where I’m currently at knowing there’s always room to improve, grow, get stronger.

There’s one area that I don’t think it works well. Weight loss.

Yet, it seems to be how people often take it on.

Do or die. I’m gonna lose weight. All or nothing.

Go big or go home. No. Just…. no.

This isn’t a time to apply this approach.

Why? Because I know of no one who dives into altering their food/nutrition and turns into an athletic junky overnight.

Or, if they decided to go all out, they burn out within a week, maybe two.

Unfortunately, what is fed to us today are quick fixes and schemes to convince the average person they can be fit and strong in 12 weeks and all their problems are fixed.

It’s just not true. Well, I mean if you’re working out for 12 weeks I know you’re gonna be stronger, heck you might even be feeling a bit fierce about yourself. But it’s gonna take some time to get to where you’re going. It takes time to build new habits and behaviors in your life.

Slow and steady becomes the game plan that works. I firmly believe doing small things, every day, leads to bigger things.

I know… it’s not glamorous or instant gratification like so many programs offer… but I tell you it will be way more sustainable for you.

Here’s what I mean. People don’t want to be told or hear that small things add up. We are to used to the modern day hocus pocus on weight loss. We’re told small isn’t enough…doesn’t matter or have as much benefit for us.

But what if you began a practice of parking further out at the store to walk a bit more? or taking the stairs instead of elevator? standing more and sitting less? being active outside? Cleaning house or doing more of your own yard work? What if you just looked for ways to move your body more?

Then what if you added in some sensible and sane eating? Practicing moderation and balance while learning to eat healthy and more nutritious foods?

What if each day you slowly, and steadily lived a life that was active, balanced and powered by mostly wholesome foods ( hey, I still like chocolate cake too!)

Because of the huge weight loss industry we are (sadly) wired to think if we don’t have a go big or go home mentality we might as well give up before we start.

Beginning in a slow steady way, allowing your body to lose 1-2 pounds a week is a healthy and long term approach to being successful. It also allows you to build your confidence as you move from day to day being successful in your achievements.

There will be good days, and there will be not so good days.

The point is …pay attention to this boys and girls… continuous forward movement.

As you gain confidence and see that you have everything in you to be successful, you might begin to look at more specific goals for yourself. That’s when you might have to consider what physical activities you need to add to your plate as well as how your nutrition might need to be balanced towards that as well.

On my own health and fitness journey, it has been a constant, forward movement. Sometimes I’ve felt like I’ve taken a huge step all at once, other times, I feel like I’m in a holding pattern.

Right now, I’m excited to be in a new activity that’s pushing me more out of my comfort zone and definitely making me take new and bigger steps. But you see, all of this fits into my personal goals. None of what I’ve done has been accomplished quickly.

It has been small steps, small goals, that quickly became fueled by loftier goals. My athletic goals challenged my nutrition ( it is really hard to be a good athlete and eat garbage) see how it all kind of fits together?

You may have some big goals for yourself athletically. Or you may have big goals for yourself to lose 20 pounds. Maybe it’s to be able to walk up stairs without being winded or chase your kids around without feeling like you’re dying.

No matter what your personal vision is, remember slow and steady is the name of the game.

Save the go big or go home ideal for those crazy things that kinda scare you 😉

Tell me.. have you ever taken the idea of go big or go home with weight loss or fitness? Did that work for you? What thing helped you be most successful?

The All Or Nothing Approach

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So as I eagerly shared with you in my last post, I have jumped more into the world of cycling with the purchase of my first professional cycling bike ( I wanted to sleep with it after I brought it home. Put it outside?? haha)

In the week that I’ve had it we’ve been getting acquainted with one another. I have to take a little time to do that.

Being on a new bike is like buying a new car.

You simply have to spend some time with it to see how it responds, and how it handles under you. You learn how much you can push it and how fast you can stop when you do push it. You learn how fast you can go on curves 😉

Actually, I’m being good and haven’t really pushed the speed a lot yet.

There is also time for your body to adjust to the differences as well. Being on a bike that is sized and adjusted to my body, obviously positions me very differently from my other bike that I had adjusted as much as possible for my arms and legs.

Therefore, I’m feeling it in different ways after a ride. As much as I’ve wanted to take off and go ….for miles…. in this week I’ve kept the rides short… usually between 8-10 miles. It gives me enough time to settle in and adjust but not so much that I’m uncomfortable later.

It’s hard mentally knowing what I can do, but keeping it in check to allow myself time to adapt to the changes with the new bike. If I jumped in and took off on my usual route which hits somewhere between 20-25 miles…. I might not be feeling so great the next day and left feeling like I wanted to do nothing because I hurt.

I cannot take an all or nothing approach to conditioning myself for new athletic adventures.

To continue strong in my training means being practical to my approach in training if I want to make consistent progress.

Yet… so often when I’m talking with people about health and weight loss there is an “all or nothing” approach to it.

I must give up everything to be successful. No fun. Nothing good. Lots of exercise. Rice cakes and celery sticks, here I come.

I will just eat whatever. Exercise doesn’t matter so much. I’m ok the way I am. I’ll get to it…someday… maybe… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do it.

An all or nothing approach to weight loss and fitness never works either.

In fact, it’s designed to fail.

For instance, things that make me cringe. You’ve seen those “30 Day Challenges”? You know, something like get up to 3,000 squats by the end of the month or a zillion pushups?

Ok, I might be slightly exaggerating but the effects would be the same. If you crawled off the sofa and just started pushing your body hard with activities it wasn’t used to, well, most likely by day 2 you’re gonna be so sore you’ll be using that challenge chart to start a fire.

Maybe you just decide you’re going to go start running and try a few miles.. and you haven’t even done walking miles yet. It could be anything.

When you just throw yourself into it with no preparation, your body will let you know it’s not happy about it.

You had that crazy moment of going after it “all” approach… and now you are paying for it… which is when you decide the “nothing” approach is probably better.

What a vicious cycle! No wonder so many give up frustrated and discouraged with the process and quit.

What if, you built a plan, that was gradual, consistent and sustainable? A plan that allowed your body to adapt to the changes you were putting it through?

Much like I cannot just get up and run a marathon without months of training or do a really long ride on a brand new bike without some adjustment, you cannot just jump in to extremes and expect long term success.

Beginning with a few days a week, alternating days with low intensity exercise will allow your body to adapt and prevent extreme soreness with will sideline you. Each week you can add a little more to what you do.

Learning to slowly make daily dietary changes will keep you from feeling deprived and then later binging because you’ve restricted yourself so much. A slow steady approach adding in new healthier choices, cutting back on not so healthy choices, learning to eat enough to satisfy your appetite, but not to much, as well as learning to eat when you’re truly hungry are all positive habits to building nutritional success.

Implementing these things gradually and consistently will take away the “all or nothing” approach, which will lead you to permanent and long term success.

Tell me… have you done that in your quest to lose weight or develop an exercise regime? Have you taken on an all or nothing approach? Did that work?

Snacks, Treats, And Weight Loss

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Peanut M&M’s. French fries. Homemade chocolate cake. BBQ potato chips. Homemade sugar cookies with powdered sugar frosting. Apple pie. Sweettarts.

Kinda sounds like a menu for PMS, doesn’t it ?

Actually, those are some of my most favorite treats.

I remember sharing in a Facebook post one time about my craving and subsequent consumption of some Peanut M&M’s and someone commented they were so happy I was “normal” and that I had shared that. Meaning I didn’t live off of a steady diet of nothing but veggies and nuts 😉

Yes, I’m a fit woman, and yes, I still enjoy treats.

I think that’s one of the things that’s really important when you start working on losing weight and getting into a healthier lifestyle… that you don’t set yourself up for deprivation and serious restriction from all things you love.

Now hold on… I’m not saying freely indulge in treats whenever…it’s about learning balance.

I think that’s what allowed me to be successful in my weight loss journey. Well, there’s a few things but this specific one we’re talking about today is treats.. things we love… and things by darn, we wanna have when the mood hits us.

As I developed my own plan to successfully lose weight one thing I mentally determined was that nothing was “forbidden”, “bad” or “off limits”.

Now you might be thinking… “whoa… like then you’d go off the deep end and eat everything!”

No. ‘Cause I’m not dumb.

But it did remove ( for me) all power of food. If nothing was forbidden, it had no tempting power. It knew all food was available (IF) I wanted something.

It was important to me that I could still enjoy celebrations and those things that make life…enjoyable. I wasn’t going to be one of those poor people at a family gathering looking miserable in a corner not having what everyone else was because I was “dieting”.

No way.

So I began my slow journey. Some nights, I desperately wanted something chocolate. I found a few Hershey Kisses, savored, met that need but didn’t sink the work of my day.

If there was a birthday party I allowed myself a small piece of cake. If I didn’t want the cake, I took some ice cream. Sometimes, a little of both.

If I wanted a burger and fries, I had them.

Mind you, this wasn’t often, but when I did want it I had it.

My mental mantra looking at foods, especially treats, was “does this support my health and fitness goals?”

I learned to find balance on my journey to get leaner.

I also learned to be super selective about what I would put in my mouth. As in… “Do I REALLY love this? Or is something that doesn’t do so much for me?”

Learning to really assess what’s important to you is a huge step to controlling the random “treats” you might consume.

For me it works like this…

Things I can pass up and/or don’t tempt me:

Store bought sheet cakes with that greasy frosting.

Pretty much any store bought cookie.

Cakes made with a mix.

Cokes.

Almost anything sold in a gas station.

Things that are totally worthy of eating:

My homemade three layer chocolate cake

Ice cream with nuts.

Amazing sugar cookies I make during the holidays that have butter and cream cheese in the dough.

Homemade cinnamon rolls.

French fries.

Obviously, there are other things on both lists. What I want you to begin to do is really think about your own list of “things not worth eating” and “things worth eating”. When you begin to get really selective about what matters to you, and what doesn’t, you are making forward progress.

Not everything out there needs consumption. And really, if you totally don’t love it, why eat it ? Don’t mindless shove whatever is around in your mouth… especially if it’s something not so important.

Those treats, whether they are things we eat or drink can wreak havoc on our attempts to lose weight. Being aware is crucial to your success. It’s entirely easy to go through a day and think you really don’t have that many “extras”. But if you’re having trouble making the scale move, a serious assessment of those other foods will help see where the weak places are in your day and week.

Writing down all extra snacks and food will give a look at your snacking habits. This isn’t to beat you up or make you feel bad, but to help you gain awareness of where extra calories come in that are hindering your weight loss progress.

Have a handful of chips? Write it down. Glass of wine? Yep, write it down. A couple Reeses Peanut Butter cups? Creamer in your coffee? Sugar?

Write everything.

You’ve got it. No matter how big or small, write it down. Do it for 2 weeks. Be honest. This is all about awareness.

At the end you might be able to see habits or patterns you need to work on. Then, you can begin to also have your list of “worthy to eat snacks” and ” not so worthy to eat snacks”

Doing this, and getting real with yourself in this area will have positive long term benefits for your health and fitness journey.

And you’ll find you really can have your cake and eat it too 😉

Have you made intentional choices on being picky with your favorite snacks or treats? How has that effected your weight loss?

Committed Or Just Interested ?

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Habits.

I talk a lot about habits mainly because in the context of successful weight loss and making a lifestyle change, developing new ones to replace negative ones are key to a permanent change.

Habits are often ingrained in us from a life time, whether they are good or bad. When it comes to our eating behaviors and exercise a firm hand often has to be taken to those habits if we want to move into more positive choices.

WHY is it so hard? That topic comes up often with people I talk with and most recently with my client.

In discussing her week and some of the difficulties she had her response was “I know what to do in my head, why do I go back and do what I know I shouldn’t do?”

Oh indeed. Why do any of us ? Why are we pulled back into a poor choice when we ( intellectually) know better and have even been doing better with more positive habits, yet, in a moment, we seemingly skip right back to what we know.

Why? Because it’s comfortable and familiar to us. Because it’s easy, it requires no effort to bounce back to the old and familiar. And once there, it can almost be a sandpit to crawl out of again and begin our forward progress. The key thing is to crawl out and keep moving forward, not give up and allow ourselves to be sucked back into the negative habits we seek to change.

I can say that because there are times I can still do the same things. I understand what that’s like. I do get those struggles.

To change negative habits requires a willingness to commit to the journey. To own it. To allow ourselves not to make excuses to go back to old ways. Yeah, we will slip, but there must be a determination and ownership to want that change and not stay where we are.

I read this today and it’s just so true. I’ve never thought of it quite like this, but it’s true.

Are you “interested” in a healthy lifestyle? Or “committed” to having a healthy lifestyle ?

Yeah. Just think about that for a moment.

When you’re interested in doing something you only do it when it’s convenient.

When you’re committed to something you accept no excuses, only results. You follow your established rules and get it done.

The difference between interested and committed is a big jump to permanent success.

If you approach weight loss and your health journey in the light of when it’s comfortably convenient, you can see where you will encounter constant setbacks.

You must make a commitment that takes you beyond just being “interested.”

Committed means being willing to be honest with yourself, where you are and addressing what needs to be done.

It means not justifying reasons why you allow yourself to keep eating or drinking things that don’t contribute or lead to your goals

It means not finding other things that are “more important” to do than purposeful exercise. Or coming up with reasons to not do it.

I’m NOT saying you’re going to take it and get it immediately. You won’t.

Habits take time to change. If you have a lifetime of doing the same things, they won’t change over night. It will require a consistent commitment to making it happen. That means in good days and bad days you keep going with the intention of improvement.

Those habits you’ve developed of going through a drive thru for fast food? or buying coke and candy at a gas station? Or eating seconds even when you aren’t hungry? Or procrastinating on getting some exercise in? Or watching tv with a bag of chips or whatever treat ? Spending that hour or more in front of the tv or computer?

You’ve trained yourself to do those things and you can train yourself to do new things. Really.

I recently went on a road trip. It’s about 4 hours of driving. I usually take a little bag with a few healthy snacks and some bottled water. As I was grabbing the water I saw a carton of blackberries that I decided to toss in too.

A couple hours down the road I was nibbling those and washing them down with water. This isn’t how I used to do trips. I might make a run in to a convenience store for some chips or candy. It’s been a work in progress that my thinking is different now… I made a commitment to wanting to live healthier and that has carried through in lots of areas of my life.

I just don’t want to do that anymore. I feel better about myself making good choices.

This has taken time.. and a reshaping of negative habits for improved ones…. and a commitment to being the strongest and healthiest I can be.

If you get with it and stay with it each day you will make progress. Understand tough times will come and you will feel discouraged. Hang in there and stay strong.

Commit to the process, don’t just be interested in it.

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Have you truly committed to wanting to live a healthier lifestyle through activity and good nutrition? Or are you interested in the idea of it ?

Small Steps And New Habits

weeks of fitness

Habit:

a usual way of behaving : something that a person does often in a regular and repeated way.

Hello beautiful people!

Habits. If there’s one thing I’ve talked a lot about is habits. Overall it could safely be said our life is driven by habits… things we do in regular, predictable ways. We eat, shower, go to sleep at a set time and wake up most likely the same way. You may have regular ways you get dressed and prepare for your day or how you take your coffee.

In a soothing way our habits can be a comfortable and normal part of our life.

We can also have negative habits in our lives that we want to get rid of. These obviously, vary individual but we would all likely agree that negative habits are best replaced by something more positive.

When it comes down to eating or exercise I frequently hear from people that these are things they “want to do” or “get better at doing”.

What they are essentially saying is they want to build some new positive habits into their life.

That… is often easier said than done.

Usually what happens is that the person decides it’s an all or nothing approach and dives right in.

Exercise? They take on to much to soon and hurt…so they quit determining it’s not worth it…it’s to hard.. they got to sweaty….they’re breathing hard with a pounding heart… don’t see any results.. (results take time and consistency people)
Food ? They immediately go on a drastic and restrictive eating plan that leaves them hungry, moody, and wanting to eat everything they now believe they are not “supposed ” to eat. Ultimately, they just give in, hungry and feeling deprived and go back to old ways determining it’s to hard and nothing is happening anyway.

New habits take time to build. They require a determination to take it one small step at a time and a desire to keep building on it each and every day.

It requires a tenaciousness to keep on even when we might not feel like we nailed it for that day to get up and keep moving forward.

You see small things we do will become habits. …which will lead to bigger things.

We just don’t view small things as mattering so much… we look for the big, grand, instant fix and it’s just not really like that in the context of health, fitness and an overall lifestyle change.

In that context, slow, small and steady win the long term race..

What if instead of drastically altering your diet you just started focusing on one thing you wanted to change?

Soda drinker? Maybe you want to try to replace one or two a day with water instead.

Fast food junkie who can’t pass a drive thru? why not plan and pack a few healthy things in your car if you just can’t make it home to get something to eat ( hint: you really won’t starve to death before you get home. I’ve applied this theory many times now 😉

Over eat at meals? learn to eat slower, take a little less, learn to really taste and savor what you are eating. Learn to stop when you are comfortably satisfied… and that might mean you leave food on your plate.

Sugar junkie? learn to be selective of the sweets you eat. Try to wean yourself a little at a time.

Not a big veggie or fruit eater? Work to add one or two new ones a week. In time try to increase your daily intake.

Exercise… if you’re moving from the couch to outside taking it easy in the beginning is your number one priority. You don’t want to get to enthusiastic and then hurt the next day so you can’t hardly move around.

The key is to find the thing you enjoy and gradually, skillfully work into it. Your body requires time to adapt and adjust to the new demands being put on it.

Good news… your body is an amazing instrument that can adapt and change and get stronger! You just need to pace yourself accordingly to let your body do what it’s made to do.

Set small, realistic goals for yourself in the beginning. As you give yourself time to adjust to physical demands, you can then slowly add a little more to your exercise regime.

Be patient with yourself. Changes in your body do take time. Your cardiovascular strength as well as your muscular strength need consistent work but it will come.

I was in the store yesterday looking through magazines when the lady stocking them asked me what I was looking for. I told her I was after one called “Strong” but didn’t know if the new copy was out yet.

She looked at my bare arms and said… “well, you look really strong!”

And now days, I guess I do, but that has been a slow and steady process. I wanted to tell her several years ago my arms were just…arms… with no visible muscles at all. No definition, no cuts, no nothing. Just chubby looking, undefined arms.

I didn’t get “strong” over night.

You know what it was? Small things I did that led to regular habits in my life. Habits of exercise and eating better. Habits of moving my body longer and farther. Habits of learning to lift heavier things not just to get muscles, but to kick butt in daily life.

Those small things lead ultimately to bigger changes in me.

Weight loss. Better lab numbers. Smaller clothes. More energy. Better mental clarity. Confidence and empowerment. Better nutrition. Healthy looking body.

None of it happened overnight. All of it was built on the simple truth that I just did consistent small things that lead to new positive habits.

Do I have bad days? you bet I do. Have I learned by now that I just need to keep on with small steps, always moving forward? Absolutely.

So, my suggestion for you, if you’re wanting to make changes, to get into a healthy lifestyle.. one that’s permanent…

Focus on small changes at a time. It will be more lasting, easier to accomplish and not leave you feeling deprived, exhausted, starving or wanting to throw in the towel.

And remember, it’s not instant gratification, you’re in it for life. Be patient and don’t give up on yourself.

Have you struggled getting started on a healthy lifestyle path? What has hindered you? Do you think the idea of small things to build new positive habits is something you can easily do or is more attainable?

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Food Management

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Food. Amazing, delicious, tasty, life sustaining food. We wouldn’t get to far without it, would we? Food is essential for life and when we eat properly it gives us energy and keeps us healthy and well.

We also have exclusive control over the foods we put in our bodies and how much of it we consume.

This is one area in life that we have power over. We have power over the choices we make, how much we take in ( or how little if it swings to an eating disorder) what kinds of foods we choose to eat etc.

As I’ve worked with my client one thing I’m really excited about for her is seeing how she’s understanding that she has control over foods and the choices she makes. She is learning that just because it’s “there” doesn’t mean she has to eat it. She is learning to think and be selective about her food choices… meaning she’s thinking… “is this something I REALLY like? Is it worth it to eat it?” and if she can’t answer yes, she leaves it alone.

I’m really proud of her efforts in having to deal with so many parties and cooking foods and treats for them and still managing to have the scale slowly move backwards.

I love how she’s allowed herself certain treats and then taken time to savor and enjoy them. She has also made smart moves by simply tossing things in the trash she knew would be temptations.

It’s ok to do that. I’m always blown away when people say things like… ” I got rid of it by eating it all” or they feel they need to eat a lot because it won’t be there again.

Listen… there will always be tasty foods…things that we enjoy…. a lot. You don’t have to be the trash can to dispose of it.

Learning to think about what we eat is a huge step to building new habits and a healthy lifestyle.

Do you ever stop and think about how much mindless eating you might do? And really, yours truly has been there too. By that I mean food that we just put in our mouths without thought or hunger…. it’s just something to do… mindless.

Eating “just” to eat is a not so positive habit many of us have, but one that can be reshaped with some practice.

So a few tips…..

Be aware of what you’re doing. There are times I find that I have wandered into the kitchen …trolling… and fully knowing I’m not hungry. If you find yourself there and you don’t really need food… leave.

Don’t think you have to eat the last of something to “get rid” of it. There is a trash can, use it. Better yet, don’t fall into that mentality of thinking you’re doing yourself a favor by polishing off the last half of the ice cream.

Allow yourself treats but become extremely selective about what you eat. Not all foods are created equal nor are they often that great. Learn to leave behind things that just aren’t worth the calories.

If you are at a buffet or party select only the items you really enjoy. If something isn’t that great, don’t feel bad to leave it behind.

Know that each time you make a positive choice, it will set you up for future good moves. It’s empowering when you realize you can make intentional food choices that can leave you satisfied and in control.

Tell me, do you have any food management strategies you use to help you eat intentionally?

Tips For A Healthier You

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Hello beautiful people of the world =)

As I shared in a previous post, I’m working with a client. A big part of what we’re doing is looking at habits and learning, or re-learning them some of them in regards to behaviors with eating and food.

She is learning the importance of getting meals at balanced times through the day, learning to listen to her body’s natural signals for being hungry ( as well as when it’s comfortably satisfied) avoiding snacking between meals, and focusing on more whole foods.

Whole foods meaning 5 ingredients or less or as close to their natural state as possible. We aren’t being crazy about it, just making it more of a focus.

These are all pretty big things to “re-learn” when you might not be used to eating normally or maybe just grabbing food randomly through the day. Many people have forgotten or don’t listen to their bodies natural hunger and satisfied signals so these things have to be intentionally practiced.

This week we are taking a look at snacks or extra foods in our day that might be hindering weight loss. My client will be charting pretty much every bit of everything, including any drinks with sugar, alcohol, or anything with caloric value.

She wants to see the scale continue to drop and I want that for her too.

I have her also considering what she is eating at meals. Sometimes stopping with just a little left on your plate is enough to cause more calorie deficit in your day.

And of course, exercise. If you want to get rid of fat, cardio is your friend. Yeah, I know most people hate it.

You sweat. Your heart beats fast. It hurts. It’s uncomfortable. It’s the place you realize that you really are horribly out of shape… which is why it’s so easy to quit… ’cause you don’t like all that.

Don’t quit. Even if you have to work your way up till you can do a full 30 minutes to an hour… you’ll be getting stronger in the process.

Ok… so some tips or suggestions for you … they can be almost painless… and you can drop a few pounds in the process.

Practice eating balanced meals 3-4 times a day ( 4 if you’re more physically active or athletic) eat enough to comfortably satisfy your hunger.

Try not to snack between meals. (when you eat adequately at meals you will find the need to do that will diminish)

Learn to listen to your bodies natural hunger and satisfied signals. Allow yourself to become truly hungry 30 minutes or so before your next meal.

Try to eat more whole foods ( meaning less stuff out of a box, bag etc)

Be aware of your snacking. To find weak places in your day/week be vigilant and write down everything so you can see where you’re hindering your progress.

Move your body more! Not only is it good for you physically, it’s good for your mental clarity as well.

Learning to listen to your own body and having awareness of how and what you eat are huge steps towards losing weight and getting into a lifestyle change 🙂

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The Sacrifice Of Self Caring

I was chattering away at hubby over breakfast on Sunday talking fast and excitedly as I’m prone to do when I’m really passionate about something.

He made careful work of his breakfast while I was shooting things off at him wondering when on EARTH the waitress might wander back and bring me more coffee….for real.

What passionate thing was I engaging him in ?

Something that has gotten closer to my heart more and more in the past couple years.

Health. Fitness. Wellness. Being empowered and strong… and more importantly… wanting it for others… to help them achieve that.

Here you thought I was gonna say running… didn’t you ? Well, you know I’m passionate about that, but we’ll save that for another blog 😉

I am passionate about people “getting” it. When they figure out there’s no magic pill or secret formula, shake, drink or potion. When they get off the crazy carousel diet wagon. When they understand they can do things in a sane and sensible way and lose weight and still have a life….

When they find the balance that works for them that’s sustainable and allows them success.

I freaking love that.

But what I was particularly going on about with hubby was this…

I was reflecting on how people give up, give in, and walk away from the very thing they want to accomplish.

They quit. As if quitting is going to get them closer to their goals they have set for themselves. Why do so many quit? Give up? Throw in the proverbial towel ?

I’ll tell you. (uh… did I mention this might be a rather hard hitting post? )

Losing weight and getting fit requires A LOT of sacrifice. It requires a level of discipline that can make people uncomfortable. It means getting out of your comfy comfort zone. And honestly, it’s more than some want to give, and they quit.

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I saw a meme on Facebook recently that said “There are only two options: Make progress, or make excuses.”

If we are to be successful in our pursuit of being healthy, fit and strong, we need to focus on slow, steady, and constant progress.

The other option is where people make excuses and quit. There’s always a reason “why” they aren’t being successful or a reason why they can’t eat better or exercise or ate half a tray of brownies.

I’ve worked with some people who I (think) expected that somehow I’d lose the weight for them, or be along to slap food out of their hands.

It doesn’t work like that. It does come down to this….

You’ve got to determine you want it bad enough…for you. Not for your bf/gf, husband, wife, or anyone else… it’s got to be for you. And no one can do it …for you.

And then… then comes the hard part… because to do this…to get on the wagon and get moving… requires that sacrifice I was talking about.

Self care requires sacrifice.

Sacrificing old ways, old beliefs.

Sacrificing ways of eating, things that you do eat, how you eat, and how much of it you eat.

Sacrificing time to get out and get your body moving in purposeful exercise on a daily basis. Sacrificing your comfort for discomfort that comes with exerting your body in new ways.

Sacrificing your sense of “entitlement” that you should be able to have or eat certain foods in the amounts you want.

Sacrificing old habits for new ones.

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It’s not easy boys and girls. I’d be lying if I said changing ingrained eating habits you’ve had for years and training your body to like exercise ( and look forward to it!) is easy.

On my journey I’ve had good days and bad days. Days I didn’t WANT to exercise and couldn’t imagine a day that it would be so ingrained in me that I couldn’t imagine NOT doing it. I’ve had days where I knew I ate more than I needed or ate when I knew I wasn’t truly hungry. I just shook it off and kept moving forward. In time, the bad days became less, as my new habits settled into place.

Remember what I said about so many quitting the process….you must take some not so good days on your journey along with the ones that make you feel on top of the world… and keep moving forward.

But… it’s so worth the effort invested… the sacrifice you will make. So worth your time to take care of your body…. which contributes to all of your overall health ( mental and spiritual too) and no, it’s not selfish. ( we’ll talk more on that in another post)

Which brings me back to my passion… to help others get it.. to encourage them that those daily sacrifices they make will in time add up and it really will get easier and become much more of a habit to do than something they have to “make” themselves do.

Maybe you’ve sidelined yourself more times than you can count. Perhaps you’ve given up after a few weeks declaring it was just “to hard” or “nothing is happening”. You’ve allowed self-defeating talk to rule you and your choices.

Come closer and I will tell you something…. are you ready ?

You don’t have to stay in that place. You have everything in you to be successful and achieve your goals.

Yes, sacrifice and struggle will be involved. Yes, there are times it will not be easy.

Don’t quit… you’ll never arrive if you do.

In the end though, you’ll see, it was all worth it.

The Habit Of Eating

In yesterdays blog I talked about will power vs. habits and their role in weight loss and building a healthy lifestyle pattern.

One habit we all have in common and I’d dare say we all enjoy, is eating.

Food is good. Food is also the source of fuel for our bodies to perform daily tasks and live life. Food is meant to be enjoyed and savored!

There are lots of things to eat, and hopefully, you are making choices to eat healthy and nutritious foods the majority of the time.

In the ways of developing habits I’m sure most of us have habits of eating at scheduled times during the day to keep our energy level up.

We have an amazing God given built in system that tells us when we need food.

Ever get that grumbly, growly, tummy ? That’s the signal you need to eat. Once we’ve eaten enough to be (comfortably) satisfied we stop…or we should.

Unfortunately, many can go to either extremes with this. Either the hunger signals are constantly and frequently ignored which can lead to possible eating disorders, or one can eat often and frequently enough to not even remember what natural hunger signals feel like.

I know when I do long runs, my appetite can sometimes hit the roof and I feel like I can’t get it in fast enough. It feels good when it hits bottom!

Why? Because I’m genuinely, truly, hungry. I always joke food tastes so amazing when you are really hungry.

What I want to ask is this… do you eat when you are really truly, hungry? Or do you eat as a habit ? Because it’s a scheduled meal time?

We do need to schedule and eat adequate meals, but we also need to learn when enough is enough to take care of our hunger but not send us into that “I ate to much” feeling. Balance is what we’re seeking, balance in meeting our needs, but not over doing it.

Get this… you don’t have to eat if you aren’t hungry. Or if it’s a scheduled meal time and you aren’t hungry.

However, if you get balanced, adequate meals in your day you should be experiencing those natural signals before your next meal. Allow yourself to understand, feel, and act on those signals.

Developing a habit to eat, when hungry, and stop when your hunger is comfortably satisfied is a big step towards losing weight and moving into healthy lifestyle patterns.

Is this easy for you to do ? Or will you need some practice to make it a habit ?

I Don’t Feel Like Working Out

Happy Weekend boys and girls =)

I shared this on my Facebook page yesterday and decided that maybe you, my 1.5 readers in blog world, might occasionally suffer with this problem too.

And the problem is? You get hit with the “I don’t feel like doing my workout” bug …. the following is how it went down….

Workout done. Soooo…..what’s new you think? You’re always working out…big deal.
Flat out… I didn’t feel like it…at all.

A restless night, up earlier than usual to get kid to first day of work, and a creepy, yucky morning had all the makings of me wanting to crawl in clothes two times to big, get a huge cup of coffee and watch mindless morning tv.

I think it’s important you know I have occasional times where I wrestle with wanting to make excuses to not get my fitness time in. I don’t always feel like being the Energizer Bunny.

Given todays weather I had decided it was strength training day. Then the ancient cd player I use out in my “gym” decided it didn’t want to spin discs which almost seemed FURTHER confirmation maybe I should be lazy…but no…

’cause now I was just …mad…. and that is definitely fire to move me.

Fine … I’ll take it in the house where I can use my Ipod.

Give me 30 minutes, my body, 35 lb weights and I will kill it. Add the fire of being super annoyed already…. hello sweat fest and a good ( fast) solid body workout.

And it’s done. There are ( occasional and appropriate times) where a workout just might not happen…. it’s life.

I gave up years ago making excuses to…. just…not do it… based on random feelings. Sometimes your mental muscle has to kick in and take over your body and determine you are going to go get the job done.

When I feel an excuse coming on it’s even more compelling for me to push through it and make it happen.

I know I will feel better afterwards mentally and physically. And I do. I feel amazing and am so grateful I did do it.

So will you. Don’t let excuses hamper you from positive forward movement.

If you have made exercise a habit in your life, do you have times you wrestle with doing a workout? How do you talk yourself through it? How do you feel when you’re done ?