Did you flip the page on your calendar yet? Welcome back Monday and hello August! If you’ve been following me on social media and here on my blog, you know that I have a theme each month. August is all about making your health and happiness a priority. Sometimes we get so caught up in our manic lifestyles that we forget how important it is to take care of ourselves. Before you know it you start feeling like a hostage in your own body. Stress and fatigue take over and you’re packing on the pounds! You catch every stinking cold and virus that comes along, you suffer from things like brain fog, chronic pain and inflammation, and you just feel out-of-control! Your declining health can be like a runaway train, and if you don’t slow down and control it, you can find yourself facing a future filled with chronic health problems. Flipping that page today is the perfect excuse to get motivated and set some new goals to make your overall wellness a priority before you encounter a major health crisis.
1. Get motivated!
If someone said to you “I’ll give you $1,000,000 if you lose 15 pounds in the next 30 days,” would you do it? You bet you would! Is that what you’re waiting for? Would that be enough to motivate you to get control of your health? What if someone said to you “If you lose 15 pounds you’ll live 10 years longer and get to spend 10 more years with your kids. You’ll look and feel younger. You’ll be able tot live life to it’s fullest at a very old age.” Would you be as motivated? In your heart you know the answer should be yes, but when we’re not emotionally charged, it’s easy to take our health for granted. Don’t wait for that crisis to happen to motivate you to change. Whether your goal is to lose weight, get fit, manage a health condition or recover from an addiction or personal struggle; the first few steps are never easy. That mental breakthrough – deciding you want to change more than you want to stay the same – is one big, fiery dragon to slay!
2. Find your reason why
Forget about the unnecessary clutter in your life and get to the real reason you want to change. Don’t get caught up in the numbers on the scale or on your jeans size, get to something more powerful, more emotional. It’s that deep, emotional need that will drive you to show up every day and not fail. Write it down or find some kind of visual to remind yourself why you want to change and put it where you will see it each and every day. If you do this, soon your thoughts will shape your behavior and you actions and you will be soaring towards success!
3. Set realistic goals
This is not a race. Sometimes it the small, seemingly insignificant victories that will have a huge impact on your success. For example, let’s say that you drink one Coke each day. A 20 oz bottle of Coke contains 16 teaspoons of sugar. Replacing that one soda each day with water or unsweetened iced tea might not seem like it is making a difference at first, but it could cause you to lose up to 30 pounds in a year! Even without exercising one bit! So why not give it a try? What’s your junk food addiction? Try replacing that 1 item with a healthier choice and watch how your body reacts. After 4 weeks you will no longer miss it. After 8 weeks you will notice a difference and after 12 weeks everyone around you will notice. So start with baby steps and build on that by forming a new healthy habit each week. Before you know it your changes will become a way of life and you will look and feel better than ever!
4. Focus on progress, not perfection
Find ways to measure your success other than the numbers on the scale or the miles you’ve run. Look for victories in how you feel. Do you have more energy? Are you sleeping better? Can you think more clearly? There are so many benefits to improving your health besides just losing weight or completing a marathon. When you commit to good nutrition and fitness it might take a while to see the physical transformation, but along the way you will you will have lots of small victories to build on. If you get off track a little once in a while, just begin again. Don’t let a setback ruin what you’ve worked so hard to accomplish. A bad day doesn’t equal a bad life.
5. Challenge yourself
You do not depreciate. You increase in value with age. Your body can accomplish anything your mind tells it to. So why not invest in yourself, challenge yourself and transform yourself into the best version of you possible. If you’re ready to make a commitment to your health and happiness, but you’re not sure where to start, an online fitness and nutrition accountability group might be the answer you are looking for. here’s what’s coming up in August:
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