I was so excited to see on the Instagram Poll I published recently that a lot of you were interested in content related to changing your habits and staying healthy! I haven’t turned into Jillian Michael’s over night LOL, but I have been trying my hardest to change how I approach my health and I would love to help you start doing this as well,
Start with Small Goals
Want to become more active? Or maybe your jeans are fitting a little tighter than you’d like them to? Whatever the reason is for you wanting to change your habits make sure you start with small, achievable goals so you are constantly feeling encouraged and excited to achieve them.
According to healthline.com, it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit. As you can see, habit forming and changing doesn’t happen overnight but if you start little by little, you’ll start seeing that the small changes turn into big ones.
I decided to start eating healthier because I gained 5 pounds in the first 2 months of quarantine. The anxiety (and boredom) had me ordering lots of takeout, as well as drinking copious amounts of wine. I was feeling sluggish and my clothes did not fit as they used to. My first goal was to drop those extra 5 pounds and see if I could maintain it.
4 weeks later, I was down to my pre-quarantine weight!
Find An Accountability Partner
If you live with a man, unless he’s a health nut, you know how they usually can eat anything they want and not gain weight as fast as women do. My boyfriend has the best metabolism (kinda hate him for it at times) and loves to eat good food. I knew that in order for me to be successful at changing my habits, he needed to be on board with the idea as well. Otherwise, he’d be tempting me with ordering pizza and baking his famous chocolate chip cookies late at night!
We both have been following a meal plan and eat more veggies that we used to thanks to how affordable produce is on Imperfect Foods (click here for $10 off your first order and I’ll also get $10 off my next order). It wasn’t easy at first, of course it’s always tempting to reach for the pasta or a grilled cheese, but once you train your body to eat better, your body will love nourishing foods more than it loves cheesy carbs!
You need to find someone who will either commit do doing something with you or who will hold you accountable and encourage you to keep going after your goals. This can be a friend, significant other, your mom or you can even find Facebook groups where people motivate each other!
Document Your Befores
I am a very visual person and I like to see my progress on paper (in this case on an app). A big part of staying motivated to changing your habits is seeing yourself achieve the different milestones you wanted to reach throughout your journey. Whether it’s taking photos, measuring yourself, using a piece of clothing that doesn’t fit like you want it to or keeping track of your weight, seeing your progress will continue to push you along the way!
I measure my progress and track my befores via a digital scale that connects to an app. It measures my weight, body fat %, skeletal muscle, and more. I highly recommend it! It’s affordable (only $24.99 on Amazon), easy to use and multiple people in one household can use it.
Realize that your Weight isn’t Everything
This might sound contradictory, seeing as I just recommended a scale but really, stop obsessing over your weight! I wish I would have realized this sooner in life! A year ago, I started working out with a trainer with the goal of losing weight, little did I know is that I would increase in weight because I was gaining muscle. I was looking fit and feeling more confident, but I was still stuck on how many pounds I weighed.
Your weight varies throughout the day; it can vary based on how much water you’ve been drinking; it’ll go up depending how much liquid you’re retaining, and if you just focus on that number you’ll miss the real progress! I love the scale I bought is because I get to see my fat percentage going down, my skeletal muscle going up and I don’t have to just look at the number of pounds I’ve lost.
Another reason why weight isn’t everything is because weight looks different on every single body, so stop comparing yourself to someone with your ideal weight, instead focus on getting healthier and feeling better inside and out.
Celebrate Your Progress
I am currently following a meal plan and trying to stick to it as much as I can. A few days ago, I met with my dietician and although I had only lost a little less than a pound, I had lost plenty of inches! She was very encouraging and reassured me I had made real progress that needed to be celebrated.
That weekend, I treated myself to my favorite: Pinot Noir and pizza!
When you make progress, you celebrate because you’ve worked so hard for it.
I hope this posts has inspired you to committing to changing your habits. Being healthy can be fun (it’s not all lettuce and tea)! Your body, mind and soul will thank you for taking a step in the right direction, especially as you start approaching your 30s.
xo
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