THE HOLIDAYS CAN BE HARD, BUT ARE YOU MAKING IT HARDER?
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New year’s. This can be a tough time of year to keep your health and fitness commitments. But it should be the easiest time to keep your health and fitness commitments. So then, why do so many give up and quit around the Holidays only to “restart” again at New Year’s? Well, maybe they are overcomplicating it. Eating well and exercise don’t need to be difficult. They shouldn’t be frustrating or oppressive. You should feel freedom and flexibility with your choices!
Are you frustrated with where you are at? Do you feel like you are failing at every corner and unable to keep up? Trust me when I say you will feel better about winning with one small choice than you will if you make no choices at all.
DECIDE WHAT YOU ARE READY TO GIVE UP, NOT JUST FOR THE YEAR, BUT FOREVER
Living a healthy life doesn’t include dieting. It includes sustainable change. Sustainable change that is made over time, not in one night. My journey has been over the past 10 years. I didn’t flip a switch and suddenly become a health guru. Over the years I made little changes that built up into something big. Yes, I’ve messed up along the way, but I’ve learned from my mistakes, and I’ve changed. This is what it is about. Learning, growing, and changing. It has been hard, but it has gotten easier.
Deciding what needs to change is the first step. Prioritizing your health needs to be at the top of your list. Because once you prioritize YOUR health, you also prioritize your family’s health. And ultimately, isn’t that what matters most? Don’t you care for your health so that you can care for others? I know I do. My main motivator is my husband and my son. They are what keeps me motivated. If you are single or maybe don’t have kids, surely you have someone in your life that cares for you, or that you care for. Don’t you want to set an example for them?
MAKE A LIST AND SAY GOODBYE
The best thing you can do before your next Holiday party, before the next family dinner, and definitely before the New Year is to make a list of what you are willing to let go of. I’m talking about things that are not getting you healthier or fitter. Things that you know make you feel like crap and keep you buried in a hole of discouragement. Like an addict says goodbye to his drug of choice, you have to say goodbye to a bad habit and replace it with a better one. Maybe you stop drinking a Coke at lunch and you have a diet coke instead. Instead of toast in the morning, you have eggs. When you stop at a restaurant, you order the grilled chicken instead of the fried chicken. This doesn’t have to be complicated. I promise you will be proud of yourself once you conquer one small change. It will make you want to conquer another one and another one and another one.
