A few weeks or even DAYS into new healthy habits might have you getting discouraged or start craving your favorite treat. It’s okay to mess up and not be 100% strict with your diets or workouts, in fact I encourage you not to be 100% perfect with it because it will drive you crazy!
Outfit by: Brooke Taylor’s Yoga
A “bad” meal doesn’t define you and skipping a work out or 2 doesn’t mean everything you have worked for is all of a sudden going to disappear. How you chose to respond to the difficult situations is a true reflection of where you’re at with all this stuff and whether or not your heart and mind are healthy, which is what’s most important.
Keep your chin up and keep moving forward.
- Write your goals down. You know me, I’m huge on goal setting. Figure out what exactly it is you want to do and then write it down on a sticky note. Be specific with your goals and give them measurable deadlines. Make multiple sticky notes and put them in places where you will see them every day to serve as reminders to keep pressing toward your goals. As soon as you accomplish them, make a new sticky note and keep going up. You are much more likely to achieve your dreams if you write them down.
- Give your pantry a cleanse. It’s so easy for me to eat healthy and stay on track when there’s no “bad” food around, but the second there’s a girl scout cookie box in my pantry it’s like this switch that goes off in my brain that makes me want to eat the whole thing right then! Help yourself and get rid of all the foods you don’t want to be eating right now! Give them to the neighbors, throw them away, get them out! You’ll torture yourself if you just sit there and look at them. I used to worry that I would never be able to eat those foods again or they would be gone, but come on, we live in America. I don’t think there will ever be a shortage of good or (“bad”) food and even if they don’t make a certain thing anymore, I’m sure there will be something equally as fattening and delicious. 🙂
- Allow yourself a freebie. Sometimes I think I’ll be really awesome and not eat sugar for some ridiculous amount of time, but I almost always end up having a night where I go crazy and eat way more sugar than I ever would on a normal day. Cue the tears, and me beating myself up for feeling like I’ve ruined everything and all my health goals have been thrown out the window. That’s so exhausting and I don’t do that anymore. It’s so much better (and way more fun) to actually schedule in free meals and treats to your meal plan or diet. I call them free meals because I don’t think you’re cheating at all. This stuff is hard work and you deserve to enjoy food and celebrate your progress. Your free meals are your mini celebrations. Think of it as the part of the plan where you invest in your mental health.
- Get a friend on board. Having a partner or buddy to go through this with you is not only a great way to stay encouraged but they can also hold you accountable! If you can’t find a friend, I’ll be yours! Let’s do this together!
- Love yourself. This sounds so cheesy, but so true. I firmly believe over 75% of this is grounded in your self esteem and figuring out how to love your body. You should love your body equally where you start, where you are now and where you finish. Your appearance does not define you and there’s no reason to compare yourself to someone else because they are on a completely different journey than you and you have no idea what struggles they have. Practice loving yourself when things don’t go as planned. Love yourself after you have a free meal. Love yourself when your workout wasn’t as good as you had hoped. You are so much more than food exercises.
Remember, it’s not so much as important how you start, but how you finish. YOU CAN DO THIS! I believe in you!
Love always,
Nicole #DoStuff #LoveYourself
Outfit by: Brooke Taylor’s Yoga
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