Getting Started

Getting started and making a commitment to lead a healthier lifestyle was the hardest part for me. I had tried many times before and obviously did not succeed. There were many reasons why I had not succeeded before. One reason was that I was not ready. I was not ready mentally to make the commitment to lead a healthier lifestyle. I had a lot of thoughts about myself that were very negative. I had to learn to let those negative thoughts go and focus on the positive thing sin my life. There were many positive things in my life to focus on but I really did not see them. I let the negative "get in the way".

It is important to remember that there is something positive in every situation. We may not see it right away but it is there so remember to look for it. Learning from our mistakes is a positive thing and overcoming adversity is a positive thing. Hard times lead us to learn more about ourselves and grow as a person. I must say that that is one thing that I have REALLY changed about myself. I try to focus on the positive and see my glass as half full.

One reason that I did not succeed before is because I was not going into it with the right intentions. I was not doing it for me. I was doing it for some other reason. I let go of 25 lbs for my wedding and then I put it right back on plus more after the wedding. I would walk and eat better because my family wanted me to, not because I wanted to and of course I did not stick to it. If you can't do it for yourself, who can you do it for? You are the most important person in your life. If you don't take care of yourself, there will come a time when you can't take care of those that mean the world to you.

If you are wanting to make the changes in your life to let go of weight or lead a healthier lifestyle but have not started, ask yourself who you are doing this for? Hopefully, the answer is yourself...but it truly has to be for you. You need to believe that you are doing it for you. You are capable of doing it and you are worth it! Think of all the benefits that you will gain from being healthier. You will have more energy to do the things you love to do.

Make sure to let go of the things that are holding you back. Let go of the fear of failure. If you are afraid that you may not succeed, so you don't try...you have failed before you even started. Tell yourself that you are going to succeed. That is what I did. I told everyone else too. Two months into my journey, I told my mother that Goodlife Fitness should use me in a commercial because I was going to do it! She believed me because I believed in myself.

Make sure you have a support system for those days that you are struggling. Support systems are very important when you are struggling and to help you celebrate your triumphs. My support system is huge. My support system consists of my husband, son, parents, sister, nephews, grandparents, aunts & uncles, friends, co-workers and everyone that reads my blog. When I am tempted to eat something like carrot cake, I think about you reading myblog and how you would feel if I ate it. I don't want to let any of you down and that helps me make the right decision. So you reading my blog is helping me in a huge way. So let me know that you are reading and what you like/dislike about what I am writing about. If I can help you in anyway, please let me know what I can do.

I stared really slowly. I changed my diet first and then added exercise. I will tell you more about how I changed my diet and activity level in the next few weeks. I will coordinate my blog posts with my stories in The Casket. I have so much more to say...so stay tuned!

So start letting go of everything that is holding you back and get on the road to leading a healthy and happy life!