Where do I start?? The amount of times I have asked myself this question, and how many times just starting has changed my life. Will your reading this blog that's a start. What got you here? Maybe you just finished your first self-help book, mine was the four agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. Still one of my favorites. Maybe you have a pile of self-help books next to your bed that you started and never finished. Or maybe you just finished the most amazing podcast all about FILL IN THE BLANK, fasting, Keto, or even the carnivore diet and your sold this is for you. But where do you start?
Here. Right Here!
You need to start small. No matter what goal it is. Start with baby steps. It would be so hard to go from a North American diet to a Vegan diet. Or go from eating 3 meals plus 3 snacks a day to fasting for 48 hours. Start small, your goal could be either one of these things, but first lets break them up into smaller habits.
Here is why New Years resolutions don't usually work, we put out there that we are going to loose 10 pounds and start a meditation practice. Amazing right? You may start off really strong. Your going to the gym 3 times a week and your waking up early to get that meditation in. And than one day your tired and your turn off that alarm clock and hit that snooze button. The following week because your tired you skip the gym twice and only make it once. You continue this pattern until it is middle of February your right back to the same habits you had in December. You had the best intentions but you didn't have support and it maybe was too much all at once.
Let's talk about tips to keep you on track.
Grab a friend, one that wants to achieve the same or similar goal as you. This way you can meet at the gym or text each other in the morning before your meditation practice. Keep each other accountable for your goals. Key to goals is accountability. And start small. Have your big goal and break it down into smaller goals that are easier to achieve each week.
Let's take the loosing 10 pound as our goal, realistic weight loose is 1 pound a week. Our goal for week 1 is to loose 1 pound. What habits do you need to loose 1 pound a week? Exercise and nutrition. If your already going to the gym 3 times a week, stay with that, maybe it is more what your eating. So the new goal could be continue going to the gym and add new goal, eating from a smaller plate. It's a small achievable goal. This will help you notice your portion size. Maybe you were taking too much food, this will allow you to noticing if you get fuller sooner than you though. There is about a 10-20 minute delay between starting to eat and when your stomach gets full. If your first portion doesn't fill you up go back for seconds no worries, but it gives you the time for the stomach to catch up with your mouth.
After week 1 and it's old hat eating from a smaller plate, you add eating a garden salad with your favorite salad dressing before dinner, mmmmm mine is a toss up between Taste Buddies, Velvet Glory or Little creek Okanagan caesar. Eating greens will help you get your veggie intake up and will leave you feeling fuller because of the fiber. Guess what this isn't even taking anything away it is actually adding to our meal. WIN WIN!!
Make sure you are continually checking in friend, I suggest daily check ins, sharing whatever is coming up, sharing the wins and failures. They are there to support you not judge. If your continually failing at a goal you set you can revisit that goal and revise it, change it or make it smaller. If your goal was to go to the gym 3 times a week after work and it just isn't happening, your making it once a week but that is it. Ok that's revise the goal, new goal going to the gym once a week after work and adding 2 at home workouts one in the morning and one after the kids go to bed. See which one fits your life better. Keep revisiting and revise the goal until it's easy. Never seeing it as a failure but as a learning lesson. Maybe you thought you could never be a morning workout person, but the days you started in the morning you had more energy and didn't crash at 3pm like the days you went to the gym after work. Lesson learnt!! You are a morning person.
The question was where do I start?
Start right here, right now.
Start by picking your goal.
Finding support and accountability.
Make small habits that will get you to that bigger goal.
Make it fun.
You got this!!
Tanya
