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

Holiday Madness!!!

The Holidays are coming!

Fall is here!  I don’t know about you, but once October gets here, the days and weeks fly by and the holidays are here.  Which means that pretty soon, we’re going to start seeing holiday health advice.  Most of it centered on what not to do or doing things we don’t want to think about doing during the holidays.  Things like watching what we eat.  Ugh--no mac & cheese, no sweet potato pie, no cake, and preparing healthier versions of our favorite dishes.  Things like working out.  Who has time to work out when there are parties and events to attend? On top of the extra hours you work to make extra money for holidays, finish projects, or meet your year-end objectives. 

The holiday season is the time to relax and enjoy life, not the time to restrict or stress yourself out—at least that’s how I see it.  So my advice is to start now.  Start adopting healthy habits now and when the holidays get here, you’ll be less likely to abandon them completely.  You’ll be able to relax and enjoy the holidays without guilt.  And if you start practicing healthy habits now, a funny thing is going to happen.  You will naturally change how you enjoy the holidays without giving it a second thought.  You’ll find that eating less and maintaining your exercise schedule or level of activity will not be as much of a challenge.  By the way, when it comes to eating less it might feel weird at first and you might even force yourself to overeat because it’s what you’re used to doing.  I know because that’s what I did!  But after a while, that feeling will pass and you’ll sail through the holiday season with ease. 

That’s my advice to holiday health--start now! When the holiday season arrives, you’ll keep doing what you’re used to doing.  And hopefully, you’ll enjoy those new healthy habits because it’s so much easier to do what you enjoy versus imposing restrictions on yourself because it’s what you think you should do.  

Shirley