Amazing, Wonderful You

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin

How often do you look in the mirror and like what you see? Instead of noticing your perceived imperfections, do you ever look at yourself and see what's really there?

It's a crazy, busy life you lead. Most likely you wear many different hats that entail a lot of responsibilities. You're busy and stressed out a lot of the time. If you're trying to make a change in your life, celebrate the fact that you're even trying. Don't give up when you hit roadblocks.

If you really want to make a true change in your life, start with your perspective. Begin to see yourself in a more positive way. Berating yourself for not being your idea of perfect gets you nowhere. Celebrate you - wonderful you. You do so much every single day - you can make that change. You can reach that goal.

You're so much stronger than you think.

Sharpen Your Focus

School days are here once again. If you're a parent, your time is most likely filled prepping to pack lunches and school supply shopping. Parent or not, because schedules are changing, you may feel yourself rolling out of a relaxed, hang loose summer mode and into more of a focused, fall mind.

Embrace that desire to get more focused. Becoming more focused takes specific changes to improve your life. For example, don't just say "this fall, I'm going to lose weight." Instead try a more specific goal such as walking for 30 minutes, six days a week.

Giving yourself specific guidelines breaks down those giant, seemingly insurmountable ambitions into attainable goals you can actually see yourself accomplishing.

The Power of a Plan

You probably plan many different aspects of your life from home improvements to weekend activities and vacations. You probably even have a plan for each day you spend at home or the office. We all spend a lot of time making plans. But how much time do you spend planning your meals or at least putting some thought into them in advance?

We've all been there.  Picture it: You’re leaving your house in the morning and you know you’re going to be gone all day between work, running the kids to different places and all the errands in between. Do you have your meals planned out? What about those in between mealtimes when you’re stomach is all out barking at you and you know you’re not going to get around to dinner until late late late?

Having a plan is crucial to living a healthy life. Knowing what is on your plate for the day and making sure you’re prepared with healthy, wholesome foods can be the difference between staying healthy and falling victim to what’s available.

Three Keys to Lasting Weight Loss

We know. We sometimes sound like a broken record. But some things are worth repeating (and repeating and repeating). The following three points are what the folks we know who are successful in keeping their weight off do on a REGULAR BASIS.

1. Write Everything Down. Yep, everything. Everything you eat and all the exercises you do (think about wearing a pedometer to help increase activity awareness) and maybe even those moments that make you proud.

2. Exercise. Don’t think of it as having to do 30-, 40- or 60-minute cardio death routines. On those days you just can’t fit in a scheduled workout, you can accrue activity through simple actions such as parking farther away, taking a walk during lunchtime and taking the steps instead of the elevator. The idea is to get moving and keep moving consistently.

3. Find support. It always helps to be surrounded by people who support you, but it’s even better to be with people who are going through something similar. It’s elevating and helpful to find out over and over that you’re not in this alone. Especially during those times when it feels like you are.

Perfectly You

"The thing that is really hard and really amazing is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."

-Anna Quindlen

As we endeavor to achieve a grand goal, we face those inevitable pitfalls. We stumble, get down on ourselves and sometimes lose sight of our goal. A sense of failure moves in. Then we look at others and thoughts like this wander in: If I only had more willpower or if only I were smarter or if only I had more money.

The if onlys creep into our psyches and lead us to believe that we constantly need something we don't have in order to be successful. If you really want to achieve your goals, it's time to say poo poo to the the if onlys. Nobody's perfect. Believe it or not, you too have something that someone else looks at with envy. Yes, you!

The first thing we can do to move past the if onlys, the silly little voices in our heads (because that's all they are) is to be aware of them. Next, recognize that these stumbles are simply bumps in the road. When we see them for what they really are, they become powerless to stand in the way of our goals.