Change Your Mindset

A lot of the time people's first thought when they decide to get "healthy" is to lose weight. They will try fat burners, low calorie frozen dinners, 30 day food restrictions, 100 calorie snack packs and cardio upon cardio.

What they forget is that these easy, quick fixes don't last. I promise you they don't last. Sure, you can eat these frozen dinners, get on the treadmill for 2 hours a day and pop some fat burners. You may lose 10 lbs. But more than likely you are also going to lose energy, muscle, your sanity, happiness and enjoyment for life. Your every day life becomes full of calorie counting, stressing about food and not going to family functions because there's no food to eat that's "healthy". You do this for a week, maybe a couple months, until you crash and burn. You develop a crappy relationship with food, your body and your self-esteem. Sound familiar? Don't worry you're not alone, I use to be there too. When I tell people you CAN get to your healthy weight, enjoy food, not count calories, not stress about getting your workout in and love who you are, they say that sounds great but I could never do that. Guess what, YOU can. Never in a million years did I believe I would ever be where I am today. I have a background of crash dieting, binging, being overweight, fluctuating, hating myself and treating my body poorly. The things that changed my life around was my mindset. This is how I did it.

1. Change your perspective - Stop saying you could never eat vegetables or you could never cut out steak. Stop thinking solely of the number on the scale and start thinking about your health. Think about changing your family's health and the future generations. Think about preventing cancer and other lifestyle diseases. Don't wait until your on your death bed to treat your body right. Do it before it's too late!
2. Think Lifestyle not Dieting - On a diet you have to be perfect. Your either 100% in or your 100% out. That's black and white thinking. When your focusing on Lifestyle, you focus on that balance. Treating yourself every now and than, but fueling your body with healthy and whole foods most of the time. If you indulge in some cake or something else less nutritious it doesn't mean you fail or have to start over, it means your human and your normal. I actually want you to indulge every now and than, that's what makes a lifestyle.... a lifestyle!
3. Move because it makes you feel good. - Again, when we are not focused on losing weight we can focus on making our body happy and feel good. Your body loves to move! Try to get 30 minutes a day whether its yoga, kick boxing, walking, running or kayaking. Get moving for the right reasons!
4. Take care of yourself internally - This is what I found to be the most important. I call this wellness. Its being kind to yourself. It's getting those negative thoughts out of your head and finally calling a truce with your body. Its learning to appreciate your arms, legs, stomach, freckles, gray hair and scars. Its loving who you are and not bashing yourself.

Try these mindset changes and see how they effect you!
-Hanna

---