3 Babysteps in Health & Fitness

Being healthy is super important. That statement doesn't shock anyone. We all know it to be true. However, for many people, it is easier said than done. Especially since a huge part of being healthy entails keeping our bodies active. 

There are so many people out there that LOVE going to the gym and it totally shows! It may be difficult for some of those people to understand why it is so hard for others to make this adjustment, but I think we can all agree that most of us wish we looked a bit more like this, as far as fitness goes:

image courtesy of Google ;)

I will not make excuses for those of us that don't put in any effort at all (I am usually one of those people), but I do understand how hard making the change can be. I am not a fit person. I used to be, and I LOVED it. I enjoyed working out, looking at my awesome abs, my amazing legs, and I even had a nice rump. I loved the strength I had. Although, now...it is a different story. I am not obese by any stretch of the imagination, but I am considered overweight. I think many men/women fall under this category. It also has to do with being happy and comfortable in my own skin. While I am pretty healthy in my current state, I would like to be more fit, have more energy, and wear all the cute clothes I used to (not skanky...cute). I have no good excuse for not making it a priority, and I refuse to try and make one. I will, however, share a bit about my story, what things I need to work on, how I plan to start putting forth the effort, and hopefully some people out there will join me. Come on! It should be fun! 

Let me start off by telling you some of my struggles. It is super important that you know what your own personal struggles are (whatever they may be). Mine are TIME, SUGAR, and PORTION SIZE.

TIME-I am no where near as busy as other people may be, but I do have 4 small children in my home. Most of my nights are sleepless. I also sew for my children or for other people in the evening and at night so I can make a few extra bucks, and that makes it hard for me get out early in the morning. If anyone else is a parent, they know that lack of sleep makes for an easily irritated parent (no bueno). Some people will suggest a gym that has a daycare. That would be great if I could afford a gym like that. I DO have a membership to my local Curves, and I enjoy going (when I do). My friend just so happens to own the Curves here and so I was told about this amazing deal that she had in an effort to get more young adults in the door. I wish I went every morning, but I don't. A great week would be making it out there 3 times. Pretty sad... Hey, I am being completely honest in order to better myself and possibly help someone else like me.

SUGAR-I am not proud to say this, but I enjoy sugar...a lot. It is something that I have everyday in some shape or form. I'm not addicted to sodas. I don't have to have chocolate. Nonetheless, I will have it. Maybe I will bake something sweet that day. Perhaps, I need a tall glass of Kool-Aid (yeah, I said that) or lemonade at night when the kids go to bed. Do I know how bad it is to drink your calories or to consume so much sugar? Absolutely! Does it stop me? No. I have also been known to dip a spoon in peanut butter and chocolate or Nutella. After I have satisfied my craving, I regret it. It is my drug of choice...my addiction.

PORTION SIZE-I am well aware of proper portion sizes. How? I have had to see a nutritionist/dietician on a few occasions. When I am eating something I love, I engorge myself. There are even occasions where my stomach hurts from eating so much. I don't do this very often, but it happens more often than it should. And it shouldn't happen at all.

Whew, that was depressing. Let's move on to the pros, or perhaps, how I can try to change all that. 

Let's start backwards, easiest first:

PORTION SIZE-I KNOW that I can make this change fairly easily. Luckily, I have done it before (hence the nutritionist), so I already know what a difference this can make. For anyone who needs to work on this, you will probably THINK you are still hungry all the time. Your brain (or tummy) is playing a little trick on you. Eat the proper portion and wait about 20 min. Chances are, you won't really feel the need to go back for more. Will you WANT to, because it is super delicious? Probably, but that isn't necessarily hunger and that is where your will power needs to kick in. The goal is to not mindlessly eat just because there is food in front of you or just because you have nothing better to do at the moment. After only a few days, your body gets used to eating the right portion size and you won't desire to eat so much...until you go back to your old ways. It is one of the quickest changes my body has ever had. Many people lose weight after a few weeks, just by making this ONE change. I have. So try cutting your portion size down a bit. If you are like me, I have to basically cut mine in half. Seem like I'm about to become anorexic? Hardly. I tend to eat more than my husband at times (who eats more than most men I know), then go back for more about an hour or two later. If you just need a little bit of help in that area, maybe you can invest in one of these:

You can get this one from Amazon HERE

SUGAR-This one isn't as bad as it may seem as well. Well, if you are one of those people who are "all or nothing," than maybe it will be challenging. I have friends who work better that way. I, do not. I don't want to completely cut sugar out of my life. If I want to have a few cookies or a slice of cake every once in awhile, I want to be able to do that without feeling guilty. 

That said, I love fruit. If you are a fruit lover, this change will probably be easier than you think. I have started making smoothies. Not the super healthy green smoothies (I'm working my way up to that), but yummy, delicious, naturally sweet fruit smoothies. I usually get a sugar craving in between meals. So in the past, I have made a smoothie and drank a little bit throughout the day. Yes, I know, most people have them for breakfast or lunch, but this is what works for me. I want something sweet and I can have it. It is only much healthier. After a few days of doing this, I find that my desire to have chocolate and other sweets is a lot less. My go-to for breakfast is a healthy cereal (properly portioned) and maybe a bit of fruit or nuts. Making a simple breakfast change works wonders for me.

Now for the hardest one:

TIME-This is a real struggle for me. So I am gonna take VERY small baby steps in order to create a habit for myself. You may not have to be this slow to change, but it is by far my biggest struggle. I don't make the time to be more active. Do I sit on my bottom all day? No, but I can make more of an effort each day until it is just second nature. Then, I can expand to make even MORE of an effort until I reach a goal of setting aside the time to either go out and work out or work out at home. 

Here is MY plan: Go to Curves at LEAST 3 times a week. For the first little bit, I will probably only go the 3 times, but I plan on working up to every weekday. I also want to work on problem areas at home by using those nifty 30 Day Challenges. Will these Challenges solve all my problems? No, but it will give me a great head start. Plus, they are quick and help build strength. Anyone can take a few minutes out of their day to work on one of these challenges. You can do one challenge at a time or you can pick several and make a whole workout out of it. Here are some of my favorites that I am dying to try.

The idea is to do what you KNOW you can/will stick to. I will probably try one of these while I am going to Curves. I don't think I will be able to stick to more than one right now. They have a ton more to look through and try on their Pinterest page. Check it out and decide what area you want to work on first.

It doesn't seem like much, but people need to remember that SOMETHING is always better than nothing and no one can be healthy through inactivity. I wanted to make this blog post in order to keep myself more accountable. Hopefully, I can make a post about where I am every week or two. One thing everyone should do is keep measurements of yourself. Sometimes the pounds won't come off, but inches will. Here is an example of the things you should be measuring:

I can't speak for everyone else, but I am not in a race to lose weight. I don't want to "diet." I want to make better choices for myself that will stay with me forever. I want to always be able to keep up with my kids (and then some). I want to look in the mirror and LOVE what I see. Some things I said will not work for some people, and that is fine. Get from it what you can and do what is best for you. You know what your struggles/strengths are. Whether you need to take baby steps like me, or prefer jumping in head first, all I can say is "do the best you can do." If you do, then you won't have any regrets. You probably won't run a record breaking marathon and some of us may always be a few pounds shy of our goal weight, but NOTHING that you will have done will be a waste of time. It will all be worth it. The calf raises you did while you were blending your smoothie or the squats you did while you scrolling through facebook on your phone...all of it is worth it. And all of it is a step closer.