I’m going to guess we’ve all seen this or heard this somewhere before: 
I think I’m starting to realize that the path to any goal, success or otherwise, is NEVER a straight line. For me, that goal is body acceptance and my path has been all over the map. Continue reading
Stop looking for one thing to lose weight and be healthier. There is no one thing.
No one diet.
No one exercise.
No one magic pill.
No one superfood.
No one philosophy.
No one anything.
The path to being healthier is not a straight and narrow path. In fact, it’s rarely just one path at all. There will be twists and turns, changes and modifications, things your body needs now but won’t in a year, and there is never an end point.
That’s right. This doesn’t end. I don’t tell you this to discourage you but to let you know that making the decision to be healthier is an ongoing process, day in and day out. You get to wake up each morning and make a choice. Are your actions going to further your healthy goals or not? You’re not a horrible person if they don’t nor have you failed. You just made a decision in the moment and now you get to move on.
Losing weight and your health are going to be a series and combination of things that will ultimately bring you to where you need to be.
You’ll experiment with different ways to eat and adjust to what you need.
You’ll try a bunch of different exercises and workouts and fine tune what works for you.
You’ll sample lots of different foods and see what your body wants and uses.
You’ll start making up your OWN healthy life and figure out what it means to be the best version of you.
And it will change and grow and develop over time and that’s good! We all change and grow and develop. I’m not the same person I was in high school (thank goodness) and I hope twenty years from now I won’t be the same person I am today. Why should you expect what you do to keep yourself healthy to stay the same?
So stop looking for the ONE thing because it isn’t there and you don’t need it. All you need is what works for you and what makes you shine from within and feel the best you can.
Have
you ever faced a situation where you KNOW that you have to change something in order to get where you want to be, but you just can’t muster up the willpower to make the change?
Sure you do.
I would say that most of the time when you are faced with a problem or something that you need to overcome, you have a fairly good idea what needs to be done to address those issues. But there is a factor of fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of being uncomfortable, fear of a different routine, fear of a million different things.
Or maybe there is a factor of laziness. Knowing that the change you need to make takes a lot of work and you just don’t want to put in the hours or manpower.
Perhaps there is a factor of the impossible. There is no way you can make the change because to you it is utterly impossible. You can’t see a way around it, so why even try?
I’ve been there plenty of times. I’ve been afraid of making a change, don’t want to make a change, and felt like change is absolutely impossible. I’ve been stubborn and stuck to my trusty routine and done nothing. And you know what that got me?
Nowhere.
Sure, change is painful, difficult, and scary. But change also is wonderful, enlivening, and moves you forward. If you want to be or do something different, if you want to reach your goals, you’re going to have to change. My high school band director used to tell us all the time, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” That has always stuck with me.
So how do you change when you don’t want to? Here are a few things that I do when I know that I need to change but it isn’t coming easy.
Figure out why
Why don’t I want to change? Once I know the motive for staying where I am, then I can come up with a plan to counteract that motive. Most often for me, it’s the fact that I’ve become comfortable with where I am.
Make a list of ideas
I love lists. They keep me organized, help to see what I still have to do and what I’ve already finished. Once you’ve figured out your why, make a list of a few things that you can do to change your habits or routine to start moving in a different direction.
Choose one
Pick one thing to work on, just one. You don’t have to take on the whole list. That can be a little daunting. Choose a small change that you can make and work on that until it becomes your new habit, then move on to the next thing on your list.
Don’t beat yourself up
You’re going to fail at some point. That sounds harsh, but it’s completely realistic and totally alright. We all fail and if we were perfect, life wouldn’t be any fun at all. The important thing to remember when you do fail is to not beat yourself up. You are trying and that is the most you can ask of yourself. Trying and failing is better than never doing anything at all. Pick yourself up and get right back at it.
Taking that first step and admitting that you have to change is a difficult one. It can take you awhile to get to that point, but the important thing is that you get to that point. Writing this post is just as much for me as it is for you. Sometimes I need a little push in the right direction to start making the changes in my life that I know will lead me to my goals.
Yup, change is scary and trust me I resist it as much as the next person. But when it comes to my health and happiness as well as yours, isn’t being a little scared yet still taking that leap of faith worth it in the end?
I think so.
The idea of routines has been on my mind this week. You know from previous posts that I am a creature of habit. I like having a routine and doing certain things at certain times. I feel more in control of my day when I have a set out plan for what is going to happen. It also keeps me organized and on track to have a schedule to adhere to.
This past week I have been nowhere near my normal routine and you know what? I haven’t fallen apart. The days have moved on as they always do and time has gone by just like normal and I am still here and haven’t gone to pieces. In fact I have doing some great and inspired work. It might not seem like a huge thing to you, but to a control freak like me this is nothing short of a miracle.
There have been times where things have not gone according to my “plan” and I have completely lost it. Adam can attest to my horrible attitude when something out of the blue comes my way. I almost turn into a small child having a temper tantrum. I would always marvel at my husband’s ability to take everything that comes at him in stride. He knows that there are certain things that he can’t change and rather than let it ruin his whole day and turn him into a moody teenager, he works around it and figures out a new plan.
And I think that attitude is starting to rub off on me.
As time goes on I am learning that I am in no way in control of the things around me. Sure, I can have a routine and some semblance of order, but there will always be curve balls. Life in general is one big curveball. Letting my life come to a screeching halt whenever something goes awry is no way to live. In fact it isn’t living at all. I want to be able to say that I enjoyed life, that I was able to adapt and deal with any hardships that came my way. I don’t want to look back and see that I pouted my life away or flew to pieces because something happened that I had no control over in the first place.
In light of this revelation (that only took 27 years for me to even begin to figure out) I want to try and step out of my comfort zone a little more. I want to try things that aren’t in my routine. Let my schedule be more of a loose guideline than a strict plan I have to follow or lose all hope. I’m betting that amazing things will come my way and I will be able to seize them much better than if I had stuck to my rigid plan.
What about you? Are there things in your life that you can let go of? Are there changes you can make to your routine that might allow you to experience something new and amazing? If something has been holding you back or you have been waiting for a nudge, consider this it. Try something new, step out of your comfort zone, forget the plan for a little while.
I promise you that you won’t fall apart and you might even grow just a little bit.
On the surface, motivation seems to be a simple concept. It is a drive that pushes us towards our goals. It’s good to have motivation. People want it and look for it in many places. There are motivational speakers, videos, books, podcasts, sayings, and workshops. Some blame the lack of motivation for not achieving what they want and some have such an overabundance of it that they want to spread it around to others.
I think motivation is a little more complicated than a simple drive that propels us to what we want.
There are many different kinds of motivation. There is the motivation to get started, to keep going, and even the motivation to stop when we need to. I think this is what can frustrate people when they want to become healthier. They think that all motivation is the same and they look at others who seem to have an endless supply and don’t realize that those people have to work just as hard to be motivated towards their goals.
I can tell you from personal experience that the reasons I am motivated to stay healthy today are vastly different than the reasons I was motivated to start years ago. It’s also a lot of work (and yes, even after all this time it’s still work) for me to stay motivated to keep pushing towards my goals. There are days where I don’t want to workout at all. I think about the run I have planned or the weights I have to lift, and I feel like staying in bed or watching TV instead. There are times when I just want to eat a whole cake by myself instead of the healthy meal that I have planned. I used to worry that those feelings and lack of motivation were a bad thing. I thought that I was giving up or failing and I felt guilty. I tried to shove those feelings aside and convince myself that I was constantly motivated and constantly being healthy.
Over the years I’ve learned that those feelings are just fine and in fact they’re normal.
I’m a human being and I am going to lack motivation at some points in my life. Motivation isn’t in an endless supply for anyone. Even those people who seem to have it day in and day out struggle to keep it going. There are going to be days when being healthy is the last thing on your mind, where working out is going to be at the bottom of your list, and getting whatever food you may find in your belly will be the top priority.
Don’t feel guilty like I did about that.
Motivation is meant to be renewed every day. It is meant to be strengthened as you go along. It’s normal for it to fade every once in awhile and it’s ok for you to have to work to get it back. That’s what makes you a human. I used to feel like everyone in my life would judge me if they knew how I felt on those days that I had zero motivation to do anything healthy. I was suppose to be an example of good health. I put myself on display through this blog and my actions and I didn’t want to let anyone down. I’ve learned that pretending to be perfect is a bigger let down to people than showing them I’m just like everyone else.
I have my good and bad days just like you have your good and bad days. The fact that I pick myself back up and get back at it is what defines me more than my occasional lack of motivation.
If you’re feeling like you’re a failure because you haven’t been as motivated lately, or haven’t had any motivation at all, stop. You’re a human and you are doing the best you can. You get start fresh every single day, so start today and strengthen your motivation for you and your health.
Life Healthfully Lived 