Champion of Change: Consistency

It is so nice to not need to detox this week. Since I was more or less on my plan over the holidays I only had about two days when I really felt like I just wanted to drink water and detox my system from sugar overload. And today, on the first Monday in January, I feel great. I lost weight (I know, crazy!) over the holidays, stayed active, and don't feel like I need to eat raw spinach and soup for a week to undo any nutritional damage. Nice!  Very nice!


And how did I do it? I was consistent. I ran almost every day, I logged each single bite of holiday goodies that I ate, and I drank gallons of water. I stuck to my plan! And trust me, I feel very indulged. I never thought I would say it, but I am actually tired of chocolate. LOL


Consistency is how goals sneak up on you. When you make being healthy an actual lifestyle, you end up on the first Monday in January feeling pretty darn good and realizing it wasn't that hard.


Consistency doesn't mean the same thing every day, it just means doing something towards your goal every day. 


Consistency doesn't mean being perfect every day, but it does mean making a mindful effort towards accomplishing your health goals. Every day.


I've been very consistent with using the word consistency in this blog because I want you to remember it today. :)  It's one of the first of my four Champions of Change.  Getting it is easy: just make goals that you can do on a consistent basis.  You want to know the best diet for you? The one you will follow forever. The best workout to blast fat? The one that you'll do every day.  When you execute on your plan every day, consistently, you'll see success.


There are a lot of ads and gimmicks out there right now promising that you can change your body without changing your life.  You can't. You have to make permanent lifestyle changes if you want a permanently changed life.  


Luckily, you can totally do that. Permanent isn't permanent if you can't do it every day. What can you consistently change?  Change it!

New Year Resolution Guide: Love it or leave it!

Pssst...come here! I have a secret!  I have a sure-fire way to ensure that your 2011 fitness goals become reality.  Are you ready?

QUIT THINKING ABOUT THEM AND DO THEM.

Ah, easier said than done, right?  I know, I know. But I do have one tip that really will make a huge difference in your odds: being positive.  One of the most powerful things you can do for your wellness is to surround yourself with positive influences, people, thinking, music...you get it!  It's no secret - positive thinking breeds positive actions. It's amazing how much just smiling when you're feeling down can change your entire attitude.

But here's the thing - what if everything isn't positive? What if everything sucks? What if your family doesn't support you or you have to work all the time at a job you hate or you feel like all of that positive mumbo-jumbo is just a mask over legitimate things that legitmately suck?

In my opinion, you have two choices: love it or leave it.  I've done both. I've changed what I can change, and I've left what I can't. That doesn't mean I always love everything or its always my way or the highway. It just means that I decide to love it (accept it / focus on the positive about it / choose my battles) or leave it (change it / ignore it / toss it). 

So what if your family doesn't support your fitness goals? What if they don't think you can do it? Does that mean you toss your family? Not completely, of course, but you might have to "toss" the specific interactions with family members that degrade your goals.  If your family doesn't encourage you to exercise or eat well, find a group of people who do and talk to your family about other things.  When they see you accomplishing your goals, they'll come around. Don't let their temporary negative attitude hamper your progress.

Not everything can be loved, and not everything can be changed. And, positive thinking is not an excuse for ignoring actual problems.  But in my experience, when I've ditched the negative energy, people, places, and actions and replaced them with positive influences, I've absolutely soared towards success.  As you go through your day, make a mental list of behavior influences were positive versus negative. Then, decide which ones you can change and which ones you're going to leave in 2010.

I'm POSITIVE you can do it! :)

New Year Resolution Guide: Plan to be successful

One of my 2011 goals (a resolution if you will) is to get faster as a runner. I am doing a half marathon in February and want to do it in 2:10, faster than my 2:18 time from last October. That means I need to run an average of a 10-minute mile. Should be pretty easy, right? I average about 10:15 minutes per mile so I just need to pick it up a bit.


Then I want to get comfortably into a 9:30 mile. And finally I want to complete a half marathon in less than two hours. When I can do that, I'll consider training for a full distance marathon.


That's my SMART goal for running this year: consistently run a 9:30 mile by training for distance events and steadily increasing my speed at each event until I complete a half marathon in less than 2 hours.


Okay, so....I need a plan. "Pick it up a bit," as a training tool only works for about two blocks.  Luckily, my husband got me a Garmin for Christmas so when I've been running, I strap that puppy on and monitor my speed as I run. I learned Sunday that when I start daydreaming, I slow down to about 10:45.  When I snap out of it, 9:45 is easy. And when I'm at 9:26 I feel amazing. But I can't maintain it - that's where the conditioning part comes in. It should be an interesting process.


Here's your New Year's Resolution homework for today - make a plan. Set a goal, make a plan. Dissect your goal into the action steps you need to take - or get other people to take - to see it come to life. Write benchmarks on a calendar so you can visualize when things need to happen. Spend some time visualizing what obstacles may crop up and how you'll deal with them. Write it down, make a plan, and do at least one action from that plan right away.


2011 is going to be a great year!  You can plan on it. :)

New Year Resolution Guide: Just say no to gimmicks!

Happy New Year!  Well, almost. How about: Happy New Year Resolution Week!

The Christmas paper doesn't even make it into the fireplace before the weightloss  commercials start playing on television.  Even as I type this, I've heard "skinny jeans" and "little black dress," coming from the tube.  And as we sit surrounded by temptation and every creature comfort that we can buy, we figure that's the solution - on Monday, I'll join up and then it will all be taken care of.

Weight loss programs like Weight Watchers, NutriSystem, and Jenny Craig are great for teaching you the fundamentals and getting you into a healthy routine of portion control, being mindful of your eating, and accountability. Thousands of people have had great success with these programs, and if you put in the effort to learn what they're actually teaching you instead of robotically following the instructions, you can walk away with some great hands-on experience for weight maintenance that will serve you well. What I want you to beware of are the gimmicks - the pills, powders, "energy drinks," magnetic bracelets, supplements, and other scams out there that promise quick weight loss with no change to your lifestyle. 

If weight loss is a goal for 2011, sit down and have a heart to heart with yourself about what you're prepared to do to make that happen. You absolutely CAN do it on your own with some creative thinking and hard work. And if you choose to enroll in a commercial program to get started or get to your goal, ask yourself:

1. Is this program something I can do forever? Hint: you can't drink SlimFast forever.
2. Does this program give or teach me anything I don't already know?
3. What does this program offer that I can't get anywhere else?

If it isn't based in permanent lifestyle changes (balanced nutrition and exercise, not shakes), accountability, and real data, think again. And if it seems too good to be true...

well...

keep shopping. I'll have lots of info in the coming week on how to get started losing weight and being holistically healthy, so stay close.  In the meantime, go get a head start and exercise!

Good day!