Have you ever tried to change a bad habit?
Smoking, drinking, weight loss, diet, relationships, foul mouth, speeding, drug addiction, over use of technology, hairspray, eye liner, or bangs!?!?
It’s not the easiest thing to do. It takes a whole lot of stamina and determination sprinkled with spoon fulls of CHANGE!
Often times, we go for the gusto in a hurry.
Do you shoot out of the starting gates ultra fast? Are you a first off the blocks type?
If so, grab a chair and listen up for a few minutes.
There is no arguing that energetic behavior is crucial when starting a new chapter, venture or goal. There is a particular endorphin rush one encounters at the beginning. A certain focus, eye on the prize, mentality and lots of hope. This isn’t a bad thing.
But like the beloved story of the tortoise and the hare….there lies a truth to the slow and steady. Because…when one is coming from a deep-rooted habitual pattern they often trade it for another bad pattern way too fast.
This is where today’s lessons begins.
Doing ALL of the things at once, at the very beginning of a new FITness journey often leads to overwhelming burn out.
The effort is on point, but it’s all too much too soon.
It takes time build FITmentum. Rome wasn’t built-in a day and neither were the rolls around your waist.
A humongous mistake is vowing to change EVERYTHING in your life on the pronto. All things must change RIGHT NOW is just too much. Especially if you have a family or a room mate. The last thing you need is for everyone around you to be equally stressed out.
It’s important to compartmentalized so you can coddle the new beginning you’ve just birthed.
You don’t have to reinvent your whole self in 24 hours just because you decided to lose 30 pounds. It’s just fat. It will come off!
You have permission to slow down.
Let house work slide during the “I’m a priority” phase. For heavens sake, don’t try to prepare an organic meal every night either. You’re family will send you to the looney bin. This would be a horrible time to lace up and hit the road for a 5 mile trek. You’re not ready yet. And believe me, whatever you do…DO NOT even entertain the idea of GREEN juice or juicing in general. It’s not TIME YET! This would be a cataclysmic bad idea that would send you right back into the arms of ice cream.
Portion control. Mr. Chicken Fry goes about this the old school way. His grand daddy taught him a secret and it’s not such a bad idea. At almost every meal, Mr. Chicken Fry leaves behind a bite or two. He rarley cleans his plate. This is a great precursor to avoid being overwhelmed. Try leaving two or three bites on the plate. Don’t go back for seconds. Small, slow steady steps. Later you will grow and learn how to confidentaly order a healthy meal at any restaurant in the world.
Don’t over commit. Yes, you must get active. Exercise is inevitable. You have to burn the fat some way some how. If you haven’t EVER tried SPIN, aka a spin class, stationary bike class, DO NOT pay up front for 30 days of unlimited sessions. Most places like Barre 3, and core Power Yoga offer free first time sessions or in some cases a FREE week. Take advantage of exploring new ways to exercise. If you hate yoga, don’t do it…but also, don’t knock it until you try it.
Class pass is perfect for the person on the FITness prowl. It’s a new cool concept. Class Pass allows folks to explore different FITness venues in a particular area code. Basically the user pays per class without the hassle of long-term commitments. Bye overwhelming pressure to decide what will work best standing vunderable in front of too many FITness freaks! Class Pass is a really cool plan for the frequent traveler. Simply plug-in a zip code and see what FITness options are offered. Kick boxing, Pilates, weigh training, cardio and more.
FIT tip: It’s a fact, lifting weights burns fat! I’m a proponent of personal or group training sessions.
Chances are you are NOT a workout person. YET!!!! If you truly hate mornings, then by all means workout in the afternoon or evening. If you know that you will poop out because you’re BEAT at the end of the day…wake up earlier. Scheduling time for exercise is a part of weight loss…but not at the expense it sends you into a tizzy tail spin.
Movement. Exercise organically de-compresses and alleviates stress. In the interim one is creating calorie burn. Usually, about week three, the results of the routine movement is beginning to surface. Clothes get loose. muscles are sore and the scale is moving. Here is where the magic happens. Now it’s time to dial in the diet.
Now it’s not just imaginary. Who’s ready to celebrate with a grilled chicken breast, steamed veggies and brown rice? Keep it simple and basic. No need to color outside the lines just yet. No pressure to juice, bled smoothies and or dive into paleo vs vegan receipes. A low carb, high protein menu is PLENTY. Later, once there is more traction, you can research the BAR WARS.
When the evidence becomes real so does the next meal. No one wants to mess up all of the hard work lunging and squatting. After 6-10 weeks the routine will seem less harsh. Now you can go grocery shopping for protein shakes, quinoa and KALE. Heck you might even have the right mindset for a farmers market.
Breath deep. Find a pace and stick with it. Soon, what was once and overwhelming 30 pounds is now only 15 pounds. The tortise is tuff. She’s got a hard shell. Sure she goes inside sometime and takes a nap. That’s ok. You can and will cross the finish line.
Don’t go so fast that you over do it hon. Longevity is what you’re looking for. View this as the long haul new lifstyle not a quick fix.
Love, lift and be fit.
Angi
