This January has me thinking about where I was on my health journey one year ago, in January of 2018.
One year ago in January I began my consistent journey of exercising regularly, eating healthy foods, and taking care of myself through exercise and what I put into my body.
I’ve been there, my friend. Trying diet after diet, exercise program after exercise program, and failing and feeling hopeless every time, because it never seemed to stick with me. It became like an endless cycle of eating healthy for one week, then giving up and going back to junk food. Then I tried the whole “fasting” thing where I skip two meals, eat the third, and (shocker) that didn’t work either.
I’ve tried it all.
And have gotten frustrated every.time.
Until one year ago. When I finally adopted this healthy way of life into an actual lifestyle, instead of just a two week diet that did more harm than it did good to my body.
And I’m looking back one year later, so proud. Proud of myself for sticking with it, and LOVING this way of living more and more every day. There is no other way that I would rather live.
So I’m here to give you my secret today, friend. Because I know the struggle. I KNOW how easy it is to just give up. I know that we all want to be healthy and we shouldn’t deprive ourselves of looking the way we’ve always wanted to look. Of feeling the way we’re supposed to feel.
So here’s my secret:
Don’t dive in.
That was my #1 mistake I made all those years.
I went full into that diet cutting everything bad out cold turkey, and all it resulted in every time was binge eating and discouragement.
So, start out small and slow.
I began my journey in September of 2017. I started out exercising in a class consistently two days per week. And that’s all I did for awhile.
After doing that for so long, I became addicted to the way it made me feel. Energized, excited, accepting of myself, and happy + healthy.
So I slowly began incorporating exercise in a third day per week, then a fourth, and a fifth, and sixth over time.
And over time, in exercising I began WANTING to eat healthy. It wasn’t because some program was forcing me to or because someone was telling me to. It was because I wanted to be healthier, more energetic, and happier.
So flash forward to one year later, and I consistently eat clean, I exercise typically six days per week, I can do more pushups than probably a good number of men out there, and I run 5k’s weekly.
I’m not saying any of this to say “hey, look at me, look at what I can do.”
I’m saying those things so you can see how far I went in just a year’s time.
And my friend, SO CAN YOU.
Over time.
But you know what you need to begin with? Self love. Self acceptance. And giving yourself grace and patience.
My friend, if you think you’re going to get healthy in a week’s time, then you will never ever reach those goals of yours. Start small. Create small goals for yourself that you can slowly start achieving, and ones that are realistic.
You’re far more likely to reach your big end goal, if you have small goals within that big dream of yours.
So start small. Start slow. And rediscover who you are capable of being, and how many years of your life you will add on by making small lifestyle changes that in the end, make the biggest difference.
You are capable my friend. I am here to tell you that much. And I believe SO much in you. Let’s do this thing together! Let’s rediscover this beautiful life, through living our best lives.
xoxo
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