HABIT.
Seriously though. It's been proven time and time again that good healthy habits stick around once you've created such habits.
For me, the road is not always sunshine, flowers and rainbows. I have my moments of self doubt and laziness. We are all prone to it. But because of the healthy habits I instilled in myself, it is ten times easier to return to my healthy habits rather than sticking with the nasty old habits.
The key component in the equation is YOU. You must be the one to push yourself to creating these habits. Start off with something small, say a daily water intake challenge. Then move on to healthy food habits and then daily exercise and so on. There's a myth it takes 21 days to create a good healthy habit. I'd love to think this is true, it is a great starting point, or goal if you will, if you are one accustomed to not sticking to goals. However, it takes a life of commitment to your goals to keep those healthy habits. They do not instinctually hang around after 21 days with no effort on your part.
However, lets say you start with that 21 day goal. And each day you strive to improve a little more and a little more and you gain all this momentum towards living a healthy lifestyle. What do you think the result is going to be? You see improvements in yourself, your nutrition, and your life in general and you are going to want to continue to push forward and see how much more you can improve.
I personally began my journey by creating an exercise habit. It sucked, there were days I wanted to give up, but I stuck with it. There were days I skipped, but I stuck with it. Over time the habit became a ritual that I cannot give up. I now cannot go longer than two days without a workout or I feel like I'm going insane. It's a fabulous outlet for stress relief, endorphins will do that you know. What you have to do is think, what do you want long term? Do you want to get healthy and live for your children and significant other? Do you want to feel like nothing in this world is impossible or that there's nothing you can't do? Or do you want to be unhappy and constantly wishing you had what others have? If you want it... make it happen. Don't wish for it, don't wait for it, don't want for it. DO IT!
I being a "tunnel visionary" can only focus on one aspect of this lifestyle at a time. By that I mean I could not go all out with exercise and nutrition from the get go. I was so overwhelmed and distraught that it left me overly discouraged. That's where I found it easier to break down each aspect and focus on one thing until I had that mastered and then move on to the next.
First was fitness, I started with walking, moved up to slow jogging, then to running. After I had that down I started really focusing on my nutrition. I spend more than enough time on the internet researching nutrition basics, facts, myths, to form my own conclusions as to what is going to work for me and my family. Every situation is different and there is no one right way to do things. It's a matter of personal choice, but the bottom line that any form of nutrition has in common...clean eating. It has taken me more than a year to get to where I feel I've found that "happy place" with my nutrition plan. And even though I'm comfortable with it, I'm still seeing things that need adjusted as my body progresses. After feeling I had a solid grip on my nutrition I added in rowing, cycling and finally weight training. It's been a long journey, but it's one that I will say I have no regrets. It's a complete evolution. Things are constantly going to creep up, and you're going to have to make sound decisions and adjust what is necessary to keep the momentum going. The most important thing is to remember, everyone gets discouraged from time to time, even the most elite of athletes. Just remember you are human, when you stumble and fall, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get going again.
As for my focus on weight training, this pic speaks volumes. I may not be the most ripped person out there, far from it actually, but I seriously feel bad ass when I'm dripping sweat and lifting some heavy weight. It's definitely one of my favorite places to be. You'd be amazed what a little adrenaline, and stinky sweat can do for you. Watch out... it's habit forming.
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