How do you lay a foundation for a healthy life?

Over the years, I’ve made numerous l attempts to lose weight and what I’ve come to accept is that my success lies within my habits.  If I want to change the direction of my life or reach a particular goal, I need to let go of the habits that are keeping me from reaching my goals and adopt habits that will move me closer to my goals.

Looking at this idea from a health, fitness, and weight loss perspective, when I look back on those attempts to lose weight I realize that I was trying to do too much, change too many habits at once.  Part of the reason for that was that I never fully realized how many habits I would have to change in order to meet one goal.  Let me give you an example. 

I would decide to eat healthier.  Seems simple enough, right?  On the surface, it appears that eating healthier is just one habit.  But eating healthier involved the following:

·         Eating different foods                                                                                              

·         Shopping at a different grocery store than the one I was used to

·         Changing the amount of food I ate

·         Counting calories

·         Removing specific foods from my diet

See what I mean?  Adopting one “simple” habit really meant changing or adopting at least six different habits.  Whew!  That’s a lot to change, a lot of new habits to change all at once.  After a while, it’s a lot to keep up with.  I would have some success, but eventually I would fall back to my old habits. 

So that’s got me thinking a lot lately about the habits I need to establish in designing a healthy lifestyle.  I asked myself, “What can I do that will help me lose weight while at the same time support my health? What basic things can I do that serve as a foundation for the healthy life I’m creating for myself? What can I do that will not be a drain on my time or my wallet, will not disrupt my life, and be easy to implement?”  My thought process was that these habits would serve as a foundation and that I can build from there.  I was also thinking that if I went off the rails, I’d have a simple starting to point to go back to. 

So, I know you dying to know---what are they?  I like to think of them as the “five healthy habits I can live with” and I believe they will be instrumental in helping me to design a healthy life that I love and enjoy.  And they are:

·         Drink plenty of water

·         When I’m hungry, eat

·         When I full or not hungry, don’t eat

·          Move more---add more physical activity in the course of daily living

·         Get the sleep I need

I’m going to dig into each of these habits individually in separate posts and explain why and how I settled on them.  In the meantime, I want you to think about them and ask yourself:

·         Am I drinking plenty of water? 

·         Do I have a habit of over eating?

·         Do I purposely skip meals even when I’m hungry?

·         How active am I during the day?  Am I spending more time sitting than moving?

·         Am I getting enough sleep?

Again, I’ll explain in later posts why I believe these habits are a good starting point in designing a healthy lifestyle and how I think they can be very instrumental in helping you to reach your goals, and me as well.   But in the meantime, think on them and let me know your first impressions of them. 

Antoinette

Have you learned from the past?

The New Year is practically here and I’m pretty sure there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of women (men too) counting down the days until the 1^st (or the first Monday after the 1^st) to begin their new fitness and/or eating programs.  I was the same way for years and years and years.

If this is not your first rodeo, and your efforts did not lead you to the success you were anticipating, then let me ask you this:  Is the plan you are about to implement this time around the same as the one before? 

I ask because for years, my plan was always the same:  eat better and exercise 5 days a week.  Eating better usually meant cutting out or cutting back on sweets and/or try some new eating plan.  Exercising could mean going to the gym 5 days a week or using the new exercise program I bought or received for Christmas.  Seems simple enough, right?  That’s what I’d think too so I’d be really confused and disappointed in myself when two months later, my plan was out the window.  And you know what I’d do?  I would try one or two attempts to get back to my plan; give up; spend the rest of the year trying to not to gain too much weight; and start over on January 1^st of the next year.  Does that sound familiar? 

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I started asking myself, “Why hasn’t this plan worked?”  The answers to that question (and there were many) helped me to see the internal and external obstacles I was encountering each time I started a new plan (which was really the same plan over and over).  This was not easy and it didn’t happen overnight but I can say finally that I’m finally able design a wellness plan that I can actually follow through on. 

So before the New Year arrives, take some time to think about why the previous plans did not work.  Was it the food, was it your schedule, was the food too expensive, did you dislike the workout program you started, etc?  Keep digging and once you have your answers, compare the plan you’re about to start to the previous plans.  Will you run into any of the same obstacles?  If you will, great!  You’ve discovered it in advance and you can make adjustments now. 

I want to know if this helped you.  Reach out to me on Twitter: @HustleFitOnline, or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dancepartythrive/. 

Thanks and good luck!

Antoinette

Have you found a workout that you love?

Can I tell you something? I absolutely love, love, love to line dance! I started back in July of 2008 and I had no idea at the time that I would love it so much. It has become my major mode of exercise. The really cool thing about line dancing is the social element. There are parties and weekend long events that take place all over the country. And it's amazing to be a part of hundreds, even thousands, of people all dancing in concert with one another.

If you've been having trouble sticking to an exercise program, try line dancing! If you are a member of dancepartythrive.com, I've got some awesome line dance workout videos you can try.  It’s the perfect solution if there are no classes in your area or you want extra practice. If line dancing isn't your thing, try it anyway--you never know, I sure didn’t know I would love it so much!  I don't expect everyone to love it like I do but my point is, try something new.  Stop trying to stick to an exercise program that you haven't been able to stick to in years.  It could be you're having trouble sticking to that workout because you don't like it.  And guess what? That's ok! Go out and explore and keep exploring until you find an activity that you truly enjoy and would do if health, weight loss, and fitness were not a consideration. Good luck!!

Antoinette

P.S. I found a video of myself at the first line dance weekend event I attended, courtesy of I AM Kenny J Productions.  I found it on YouTube, but the song was removed due to licensing issues.  The song playing is The One by Mary J. Blige but more importantly, check out the looks on everyone's faces.  they are so into it!