Just Checking In - Some Motivating Tips if You Haven't Gotten Started Yet

Did you have a plan to lose weight and get fit this year? Have you started it yet? Perhaps you started it and have already stopped it. Well, I'm checking in on you to help keep you motivated. Spring is coming and for many people that means more outdoor exercise time and showing more skin. I know you don't want to go through another spring and summer season feeling bad about the way you look or that you didn't follow through with your goal to get in shape. That's why I'm here to help reroute you back on track with a little encouragement.

How about just getting outside and walking around your neighborhood for starters. Just put one foot in front of the other and do it. You will feel so much better because you are taking a step in the right direction. Our bodies simply love to walk. While you're at it, take a look around. Get to know the weather; how the sky looks on a sunny day, or when it's about to rain. Listen to the birds; they will tell you what's coming, spring, or a thunderstorm. Make walking a daily habit. Buy a reflector vest and walk in the evening instead of reaching for a box of cookies. Once your confidence builds and your fitness level increases, think about joining a gym or perhaps buying some dumbbells. Joining a gym is great because you are sharing your desire to be fit with others. All of you in there are there to take care of yourselves and look and feel healthier. It's about making small changes to your habits and creating new habits. Swap foods. If you are used to having a donut or muffin for breakfast, have a bowl of high fiber cereal instead and a piece of fruit. Shrink your portions. I find using a small plate instead of a large 10" dinner plate is very helpful. You can't put as much food on it as you can a large plate. Cut out the junk food. Reach for healthy snacks. Fruits, veggies, yogurt, nuts (in moderation of course). Keep some ready-made foods that you prepared ahead of time in the fridge to eat and snack on when you come home and you're hungry so you don't reach for junk food to quell your hunger. It takes a little planning ahead, but it's better to eat your own prepared salad with cut up chicken breast, than to grab a sandwich from the deli. Make your diet and your health your priority.

Have children,I do,and I know that you can't always find time for yourself when you are always caring for others. You have to make time. Hire a sitter if you have to so you can get to the gym. That can be your "me" time and you will feel wonderful and better able to cope with the demands of family life. Exercise is not just good for your body, but also for your mind and stress levels. It helps keep your hormones in check so they don't overtake your emotions and it helps keep your appetite preferred to healthier foods.

So, if you haven't yet started on your journey, no worries, start now! This minute! Today! There is no time like the present. Don't look backward and regret what you haven't done, but look forward to the wonderful promise of the new "you". You can "make it happen."

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