We’ve all been there.
We begin a new diet plan or exercise routine with great enthusiasm, and we’re going along at a fantastic clip, and then “life happens!” Distractions happen. Unexpected added costs happen. Depression around the restrictions happens.
We’re thrown off course, and we get derailed from the original plan. Our enthusiasm we started out with has faded to a faint commitment that we’re fast giving up on. And many times, the typical response to these derailments tends to be: throwing our hands up in the air, and “giving up” on the plan.
Guilt sets in, we grow frustrated from “failing” once again, and we’re less likely to try another plan again down the road. And we start eating everything and anything again, deflated from the “try” we just miserably flopped in.
What if we changed this scenario?
What if we never picked up another diet plan or program again, and refused to turn to those as an answer to our weight struggles or health issues?
What if we changed our mindset and realized that to truly see long-term success and lasting changes, that we would have to work on changing our lifestyle choices, one at a time?
What if we looked realistically at our past tries at “dieting” and realized that none of them were long-term solutions to behavioral hangups and habits we’ve spent a lifetime creating.
No, we need a different way.
If we changed the way we do this…
I believe it would be a revolution of precious people finally freed from someone else’s boxed-up, template plan of action for them.
It would be people tuning into their own God-given intuition around His foods versus man’s foods and their body’s own reaction to each of them.
It would be a turning point where empowered, educated people would decide FOR THEMSELVES what they need to do in small, daily, realistic steps to create lifestyles of wholeness and happy eating and fullness in food choices.
It would be entire families affected in a positive way by mom’s (or dad’s or Grandpa’s or Grandma’s or...) determination to get off the diet/quick fix/fad bandwagon and begin changing their thoughts, their choices and their health outlook - one day, one change - at a time.
If you can relate to this and you are ready to get off the dieting Merry Go Round…
Here’s 3 steps to get you started...for you to get your FRESH START!
DECIDE
That the quick fix of a diet plan or fad product is no longer an option for you. That you will take a new road for your weight loss and health goals from now on. The “high road” of making healthy DAILY LIFESTYLE CHOICES that will often feel difficult, even lonely. That you won’t turn back to the “old way” of shortcuts, extreme restrictions or quick-fix solutions even if you grow frustrated or feel stuck at times. That you will view your healthy living as a JOURNEY you are on, not a DESTINATION to arrive at.
Decide to stop using “numbers” to measure your success (sizes, pounds, calories, etc) but that you’ll measure success by looking at your own behaviors and decisions instead. That you’ll count it a success when you drink more water, eat more FRESH foods, move your body more, instead of just “losing weight” or “dropping sizes.”
Determine that you’ll give yourself GRACE for the entirety of the journey, not just for today. Decide that this is the new way for you, and no quick result promised from someone else can sway your decision to make healthy, wholesome choices everyday for lasting wellness.
DESIGN…
…your lifestyle to be based around your needs, your tastes, and your intuitive guidance that God divinely put inside you to lead you to healthy choices through built-in signals and thoughts. Choose foods that nourish your body, are fun to taste and experience, and fulfill you - but are whole, fibrous, good-for-you foods that God created for sustenance.
…your life to fit in the necessary active movement your body needs to work correctly, remove waste, build muscle and shed unwanted extra weight. Find exercise that doesn’t feel like another chore, but instead, feels fulfilling and energizing and even fun. Find something to do everyday that you look forward to and want to actually do.
…your lifestyle to find time for rest and relaxation. For self-care that is refreshing and fills you back up. Make time to sleep, nap, rest. It takes retraining your mind, many times, if you’ve been on a go-go-go pattern for some time. Your body needs for you to create time for it to rest.
…the daily habits and thoughts that will support your health for a lifetime. Drinking water, adding in supplements, exercising, eating well, detoxifying your environment and body, de-stressing, rest...these are all necessary for your health. Necessary for the long-term. But you’ll have to intentionally design the time and structure to support them.
DECLARE
To yourself, to God, to others - that this is the NEW WAY you live your life.
Put up a vision board, journal your intentions, start adding accountability to your journey (like a support group, a workout buddy or a health coach.)
Pray over your efforts, your determination, your commitment. Ask God to help you stick with your commitment when the going gets rough (spoiler alert: it always does at some point.)
DECLARE that you will pursue God’s best for you (Matthew 7:7) in the foods you choose to enjoy, the movement you choose to prioritize and the thoughts you choose to embrace and focus on!
DECLARE that God has a purpose for your life (Jeremiah 29:11) and it will take a healthy body and mind to fulfill it.
DECLARE that you will live and not die (Psalm 118:17) and that your daily habits and choices will support this promise.
Isn’t this an exciting beginning to your new mentality and way of living?
These are just the first 3 simple steps to your FRESH Start - there’s much more to step into once you begin seeking the answers to your healthiest life.
We want to support you in your healthy-living journey - be sure to keep checking this blog for helpful posts, our Facebook page for daily inspiration and tips - and you can always reach out to us here.
Won’t you join us?
You’ll gain lifelong healthy living support from me (Coach Bess) and a gracious atmosphere of warmth with your peers around this journey you are on! YOU ARE NOT ALONE in wanting to pursue God’s way to get healthy for LIFE ...it’s time for your FRESH Start!