We live in a culture and society that is anti-health. With an abundance of food thats high-kilojoule but low in nutrients, it’s not hard to find yourself stuck in a rut of feeling bloated, sluggish, unmotivated, overweight and unhappy.
It’s abundantly clear from both research and personal experience that a healthy lifestyle of wholesome food and regular exercise results in increased energy, improved mood and mental state, a greater sense of well-being, improved concentration and productively throughout the day, a stronger immune system and a body that looks and feels great.
What needs to happen for you to get back in control?
You are the master of your own future and its you and only you that can make the changes you need to make to get the health, vitality and body that you’ve always wanted.
Before you can ‘have’ the body that you’ve always wanted or the health you so desire, you have to get your head in a position to receive it. Get your head in the game, so to speak, so you’re 110% ready to change your life and then not look back.
If you are not at the point of ‘enough is enough’, then perhaps you’re not ready for change. You’ve got to be so ‘sick and tired’ of your current lifestyle and behaviours that you’re prepared to muster up the strength, motivation and desire to change and become a better version of yourself.
Change. It’s a word that most of us dislike.
Change is uncomfortable, unknown and uncertain. Most of us sub-consciously stop change as a way of protecting ourselves from things that we’re unsure of. This can be both a blessing and a curse. When it comes to making lifestyle changes to improve our health, this fear of change leads us to behaviors such as self-sabotage or giving up on our goals.
I’m reminded of that old saying: “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” The truth is, most of us would rather live with our old habits, no matter how bad they make us feel or how frustrated we are, because they are familiar.
You might hate the fact that you can’t do the things you want to do because your weight or health is holding you back, but at least your body is predictable, you know it’s weaknesses, you know it’s strengths…. This is why ‘enough is enough’ is a great place to get to in your head. Rather than channeling your disappointment about letting yourself go or putting on weight into self loathing or criticism, let it spur you to change. Refocus your energy away from being unhappy with your body towards taking steps to improving it. Frustration is a fantastic motivator, if you allow it to be.
In order for change to truly occur in your life you must officially say goodbye to one behaviour and welcome the new one with open arms. People are not successful in their weight loss journey because they never truly say goodbye to certain habits. Maybe you like to have a biscuit or 4 with your evening cup of tea. Perhaps it’s your glass of wine after work, or a nightly bowl of ice-cream. We all have certain habits that are holding us back. We have become overweight or inactive because these certain behaviours have led us there.
So… if we want successful weight loss or a fitter body, we have to say goodbye to the habits that are contradictory to our goals.
Something about our daily lives needs to be consistently different if we want to attain the things that we don’t yet have. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I know that my attempts in the past to lose weight or improve my fitness have involved a good deal of insanity on my part. Lots of good intentions, but very little permanent change.
The main thing to remember about change is that once you make the decision and start to act, it’s often 2 steps forward 1 step back. This is very normal.
Old habits die hard, and new habits take time to build so don’t ever give up on yourself! Make your changes small and easier to manage. You’ll get there as long as you keep giving it a shot!
If you’ve had enough and decided that this is your year to kick your old habits, then please ‘like’, share or comment on this post. Let us know! We want to hear about your journey and help you in any way we can! Happy New Year!
