S – Seek a new relationship with food and your body.
Let us stop defining ourselves by our body shape or weight. We are more than what the scale tells us! We need a new standard of measurement to value ourselves. You are amazing as you are now, regardless of your body size! Start believing you are amazing and you will get the life and body you desire. Where the mind goes, the body will follow!
Starting today let’s start value food for its amazing potential and life-giving properties, and stop seeing it as a source of of negativity and stress. Consider adding more fruits, vegetables and other plant-based foods to your diet. This will make an unbelievable positive difference in the way we feel, look and think.
I – Investigate why you make the food and lifestyle choices you make
Most of us know what we need to do to lose weight, and become fit and healthy. But if we know it, why aren’t we doing it? Answer: We get in our own way. We allow ourselves to make excuses and choices that devalue our own worth and drive us further away from our goals. Understanding why we eat is just as important (if not more) than what we eat!
M – Move your body!!
Exercise is a treat for our bodies, not a way to get rid of calories and punish ourselves for making “bad” choices. Yes, exercise burns calories, which helps with weight loss but it also improves brain function and mental health, boosts happiness, increases energy, decreases stress, and prevents disease (diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, dementia…just to name a few). So Move it!
P –Persevere. Make small, sustainable changes, and then continue to improve and progress.
If we want to make long lasting changes we need to adopt a lifestyle that lasts. Start with baby steps; maybe think of a way to add an additional fruit or vegetable into your diet or day or 2 of exercise. Then, continue making these positive changes until you reach your goals. Believe you will get there!
L – Learn mindfulness. Tune in to your hunger and body.
Mindfulness is defined as the “quality or state of being conscious or aware of something”. Many of us have lost the ability to understand our feelings regarding food, hunger and body awareness. Emotional eating is one of the biggest hurdles we must overcome to achieve a lasting diet change. Emotions can influence our eating, and we often don’t even realize it. These emotions can be stress, happiness, habit, loneliest and even boredom. Have you ever eaten a full bag of chips and not even realized it? I know, I have! Evaluate your eating throughout the day. Keeping a daily food diary to record to your meals, snacks and beverages, along with your thoughts and feelings is a powerful tool to investigate your relationship with food.
E – Eat for life, love and the pursuit of wholeness!
I LOVE food! I love eating it, cooking it and enjoying it with the people I love. Just because you are making diet changes doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy what you are eating. Changes will take some adjustment, but you need to enjoy what you are eating! There are so many food and recipe possibilities out there, so keep an open mind and try new things!
Have your cake and eat it too! “Normal eating” is one where you occasionally eat “bad” foods and “splurge”. Moderation and overall positive choices are the keys to long-term success. As long as you make good choices 85% of the time, you will be sitting pretty (literally)!
We can learn to make new eating, cooking, and physical activity choices…and this happens one good decision at a time! Create the momentum today; it will change your life! I believe in you!!
I want to hear from you! In the comments below, tell your lifestyle goals and what changes you want to make!
