What Motivates You?

What Motivates You?

   I read an excerpt from a book recently that said, when talking about starting their clean eating program  "It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Birthing a baby is hard. Losing a parent is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard." At first I agreed wholeheartedly with this statement, eating healthy and giving up junk food isn't hard, just do it. But then I started thinking about it, mulling this statement over in my mind and realized something. We are all different. There is not one person is this world who is the same. There are hundreds of thousands of people who have never had to battle cancer. Hundreds of thousands of people who have never birthed a child (and I'm pretty sure no man has EVER birthed a child). I have had clients covered in tattoos who tell me my medium static pressure on a specific trigger point (knot) is too much pressure. I've had male clients who had to turn side ways through the door because of their enormous muscles, tell me they just want a relaxation massage and don't want it to hurt now so it will feel good later. I've also had tiny female clients who tell me no pressure is too much pressure. Everyone is different and what's easy for one person may be EXTREMELY difficult for another person.

   

  But this shouldn't give you permission to give up and not try. If you have a goal in mind look at yourself in the mirror on day one and tell yourself 'today I'm going to start (insert goal here)'. If your goal is to run a mile, start by going on a fast paced walk on a flat surface, walk as far as you can. Then the next day take it one step further. The following day walk for five minutes then run for one minute. And continue like this until you reach your goal. A great app to help you train for a 5k (or just to help you move) is C25K. It tells you when to start running and when to stop and each week you increase your running time until eventually you are running three and a half miles without stopping.

  Or what if your goal is weight loss? Something I have been struggling with since I was 15 (I'm 28 now). It isn't easy. I didn't gain this weight over night so I can't expect to lose it over night. And I fall off the wagon a lot. The one time in my adult life when I was happy with my weight was about seven years ago. I was at a very low point in my life. I had just got out of a very toxic relationship and couldn't deal with the fact that I had been cheated on. I couldn't wrap my brain around it. I was stressed to the max and simply couldn't eat. I wasn't starving myself on purpose but the stress was so intense that eating made me feel sick. I ended up losing a lot of weight. I was over weight before I got pregnant with my daughter and ended up gaining fifty pounds during my pregnancy, so I probably lost about 60+ pounds durning that difficult time. I weighed about 120 at 5'5 which is actually a good weight for my height and build. But was I healthy? Not even a little bit. When I got over all those emotions my bad eating habits came back to, well, make me fat again. And I'm not afraid to use that "f" word. I gained it all back! 

  A few years later I remarried and got pregnant with our son right away. I was overweight before I got pregnant and gained about 40 pounds with this pregnancy. I have managed to lose the baby weight fairly quickly, but now I'm stuck with the pre-baby weight that is giving me a HARD time. So what is the point of this story (or rambling)? The point is I have acknowledged that it is difficult and in acknowledging it I am determined to do what I can to be healthy, and be a good example for my eight-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son. 

  So how do you make something like bad eating habits less difficult? Honestly I'm still trying to figure that out. Going back to the book I was talking about at the beginning, while I don't agree with their statement, I do agree with their science. Sugar, honey, aspartame, Splenda, Xylitol, Stevia, Erythritol, are all addictive. And when something is addictive you want more. We all know sugar, aspartame, and Splenda in themselves can have a negative impact on our health. But what about Sugar Alcohols? Let's focus in on Xylitol for just a second. This is taken from an Wikipedia article: Xylitol is used as a diabetic sweetener which is roughly as sweet as sucrose with 33% fewer calories. Unlike other natural or synthetic sweeteners, xylitol is actively beneficial for dental health by reducing caries to a third in regular use and helpful to remineralization.[3] Multiple studies utilizing electron microscopy have indicated that xylitol is effective in inducing remineralization of deeper layers of demineralized enamel.

  Sounds healthy to me! But when we want something sweet what do we usually do? I personally love chocolate, cookies, cake ect, and two coffee shops that shall remain nameless (boy do I love my fancy foo foo coffee). And if we bake things at home then we have a whole sheet of cookies to eat!  Is that really beneficial? What else are in those cookies? Just because it's sugar free doesn't mean it's calorie free (for those counting calories) or carb free (for those counting carbs). And because sweets (whether they are made with sugar or Xylitol) are addictive, it usually creates a craving for more than just one. That's where we get in trouble. 

  So what should we do? How do we get through this difficult hurdle of addiction? Go back to that mirror, look at yourself and say "Today I am not going to have anything sweet, today I am going to eat good healthy food that will give me the proper energy I need to get through my day" it's only for today right? Do that every morning, you may be surprised by the results. But what if you cheat (we all do it). Acknowledge your cheat and move on. Are you going to allow one cheat to ruin your whole week? Your whole month? Your whole year?! What if you tripped while you were out walking? Are you going to just lay there on the ground and let the world pass you by because you're afraid you may trip again if you stand up and start walking? This is so important because so many people give up way to easily just because it's hard. And the problem is they don't first acknowledge that it IS hard, and when they start to feel how difficult it is, they give up. We live in a society of entitlement, where so many people and especially the younger generation want and expect instant gratification. But that isn't reality. And there is NO WAY my children are going to grow up thinking they can get what they want when they want it. You have to WORK for what you want and you have to keep working to get the results. You find what healthy eating plan works for you and you tell yourself EVERY DAY this what I'm going to do today. Or if your goal is to work out more you tell yourself I'm going to run today, or jog, or walk, and you go one step further every day.

  I used to post articles about healthy eating on Facebook and I was judged a lot by different people because I'm overweight and maybe they didn't feel that I had the right to post articles about health because I don't look like the epitome of health. I've moved on from that, but realized that maybe Facebook wasn't the appropriate place to post those articles. I told my sister about it and this is what she had to say, and I felt went really well with this article: 

  She said 'People will always judge, even on our blog....Weight has nothing to do with health. I've read academic studies which debunk the weight = health connection. In fact, it's more unhealthy to fluctuate, i.e. diet. However if your weight stays steady while consistently exercising and eating mostly healthy, that's your healthy...aim for more personal goals than weight loss, like your race (Warrior Dash here I come)! What a perfect goal! Or making more tasty well-balanced meals, or increasing functional strength. Those are goals which, once attained, keep you going back for more. The number on the scale...its arbitrary for one, but it's also finite, you can't keep losing, so what do you do for motivation when you've reached that goal? There is nothing. Keep your goals performance based and you'll always have something new to reach for. And don't listen to the judgies who want an excuse for themselves. They have bigger problems than you if they're out to bring you down. You can't help people like that.' 

  I just thought those words fitted so perfectly with this article on motivation. She's right, once the "weight" is gone what will you do? What will you have to work for? Will you just go back to the way it was before and gain it all back like I did when I lost over 60 pounds? That wouldn't be healthy and this is about your health, fitness, and wellness. We can't be perfect but we don't have to suffer unnecessarily either. And if, like me, you have children to take care of, you want to set the very best example for them. I know I can't be a good parent if I'm constantly sick from all the bad food I enjoy in a moment of temptation. And I certainly don't want my children to be constantly sick either. 

  Also don't be afraid to do your own research. Doctor's don't have very much training in nutrition and nutrition along with exercise is what keeps us healthy. 

One final thought to reiterate because it's so important; yes it's going to be hard but don't give up. Working hard gives us more satisfaction in the end because we know what we had to go through to achieve our goal!

Me working HARD for it. (Yes I know they're only 10 pound weights but we all have to start somewhere)