Another Year Comes To An End...

As another year comes to an end I find myself at a new beginning. A new beginning in my journey to living a healthier lifestyle. This is not about an up-coming New Year's resolution; it is about realizing that as I let little habits back into my life, I completely and totally lost control again. Have you ever been in that situation?

I had given up all things chocolate for exactly 2 years; on the anniversary this past summer, while in Savannah, GA, I decided to begin to eat chocolate again. I had been aware that my reason for giving it up in the first place, to cut-out my biggest vice, was being replaced with eating anything and everything but chocolate! Since then, I have again lost control over my cravings for chocolate. I am changing my approach with my nemesis; we will learn to co-exist peacefully in my life. To avoid replacing one crutch with another, I am going to plan to reduce by chocolate intake over time. This is a great approach you can adopt to anything you want to reduce from your "normal diet".

If, for example, I each chocolate every single day (to be honest, during the holidays I have been eating it more than once a day), I will cut it down to no more than once a day for the first month. Then during the second month, I will limit my intake to three times a week or less. The third month, I will only eat it once a week, and finally, the fourth month, I will limit chocolate to no more than twice a month. This slow approach, and not completely eliminating it from my regular intake, will not make me feel deprived but will keep me ever-mindful of how often I am putting chocolate in my mouth.

I was given a Misfit Flash for Christmas. I am so thankful for my wonderfully supportive wife for buying this for me! She also received one from her mom for Christmas and we are all set-up and becoming more conscious of how much we are moving each and every day. I have linked mine to My Fitness Pal to track both my activity and my food intake. I just LOVE the My Fitness Pal (no, I am not being paid to say this!) because it is so easy! You can just scan what you are eating or create and save meals, smoothie recipes, etc,,, It is by far the easiest way to journal your food intake, something, that in the past I have HATED to do!

My focus has also switch more from "making proper choices" to being more mindful of my choices while centering on loving the person who I am today. I have realized that my struggle with weight loss and leading a healthy lifestyle will never become a permanent change in my life until I learn to love and completely accept the person who I am now instead of waiting to love the person I will become when I weigh a certain amount. I must also deal with my emotional reasons for turning to food as a coping mechanism in life. This, I know, means deal with unresolved issues from my past but, unlike before, I will walk through these steps with love for myself instead of judgement, acceptance instead of self-hate. This, I believe, has been the missing link in my journey.

I am excited to begin this new chapter of my journey and invite you to join me. I have several people to thank for this new focus and for being amazing support; My wife, who has always loved me for who I am now, and who has never, ever, noticed my size. Julia Havey, author, life coach, and amazing person who has walked the walk and talks the talk of living a healthy lifestyle. Jen Oliver, my newest cheerleader and coach. The release of her e-book 21 Days to Loving Yourself was the definitive turning point for me after months of sitting on my pity-pot knowing I was back to where I was three years ago and not doing anything to change what I was doing. I am a part of a few support groups online through Facebook and find amazing inspiration, accountability, and encouragement from all of the members.

I encourage you to really dig and find out what it is inside your mind that is holding you back.....holding you back from going further in your journey, or from starting your journey to living a healthier lifestyle. I can promise you that if you clear away all of your excuses, and trust me I am the QUEEN of excuses, you will realize that all of your barriers are mental ones. It is ourselves that hold us back. No money, not enough time, my children come first, too tired, can't get up that early.....trust me I have said all of them. I can now honestly say that they are not real barriers; they are excuses that my mind uses to convince me that I can't do it.

Tell your mind to step aside and get out of your way!!

Make a plan. Over the next few posts I will be sharing my plan. Copy as much as you want of what I plan to do and find other things that work for you.

Small steps and small changes done with self-love and mindfulness - this is my new motto.

What is yours?

In health and love,

Sheri

When Small Steps Turn into BIG Steps

           "If you have taken the first step, you are already half way there." 

Have you ever heard the expression? I don't know who ever started this saying but I'll bet they were talking about changing their lifestyle to be a healthier one! This is hard work! It is easy for everyone, including ourselves, to point out the "don't" and "shouldn't", the "never" and "can't" in our diet and lifestyle. Why is it that everyone points out the negative?! Well I am here to that there is always more positive than negative in any situation; sometimes we just have to search hard to find the positives when the negatives are right there "in our face" so to speak.

A friend shared this on their Facebook page just the other day. Sometimes, just when we need it the most, we come across a picture or a saying that feels like it was put there just for us. On this day, I needed to be reminded what small step originally started me on this journey to a healthier lifestyle. Today I decided it was time to share this one small step with you.

We need to go back to a cold February day in 2012. I was waiting for my medications to be filled at my local Costco pharmacy and I saw this book on the counter. I read the title, "The Vice Busting Diet" by Julia Havey and immediately thought, "Man, have I got vices for YOU to bust!!!!" When the pharmacist came with my scripts I jokingly said to him, "Is this book free!?! There is no price on it!!" To my utter surprise his reply was, "Yes it is free. Please help yourself to it!" Being one to never pass up most things free and one to usually try anything to help me lose weight I thanked him and added the book to the other stuff in my supply bag. And this is where the book stayed; forgotten, buried, and ignored until the end of June.

As I was sorting through and storing my teaching supplies from that school year I came across this book in the bottom of my bag that I did not even recognize at first. After reading the title a few times I remembered how this book came to be here and thought, "well, why not Sheri, might as well try reading this one, nothing else has worked!"

And that, right there, was the smallest of steps in the right direction that ended up being the biggest step of my life! You see as I taught that school year my negative eating habits had gotten out of control; I was a huge closet eater and would pick junk up to eat each and every day on my way to school and even on my way home sometimes. I weighed the most I had in almost 10 years and knew I had to do something but felt like I had tried everything and always failed. I knew if I did not do something I would end up on my same path that ultimately ended my father's life; type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Yeah, remember those scripts I was getting filled? One was for high blood pressure!

I began to read Julia's book and became immediately hooked. For the first time ever I was reading advice from someone "who had walked the walk and now talked the talk!" This lady had lost over 100 pounds over 15 years ago....she knew what she was talking about from personal experience! By the end of the second or third chapter I had question, and so, after reading her invitation for me, the reader, to contact her I sent her an email. I told her a little bit about me and my story and to my complete surprise she emailed me back and asked me to call her!! Can you believe that!?!

Julia ended up coaching me through my first three months following her program. We would speak once a week on the phone and also had contact on Facebook when needed. She still is there for me over a year later; not as often but if I need her to help I know she is only an email away. She checks in with me and asks how I am doing and I am honest in my response. Sometimes it is a GREAT response and other times I admit that I am struggling. She never fails to offer my both advice and positive motivation. I love her for that; she has never, ever, left me feeling anything but positive.

We all need those positive motivators in our lives, especially while on our never-ending journey to be the healthiest person we can become. Julia always reminds me that even if I have had a bad day, week, or yes, a bad month, it is not really bad; bad would be completely reversing all of the positive changes I have made since July 2012. EVERY step is a step forward, even a step that keeps you in the same place you were yesterday. I have had many days and weeks like that over the past year and a bit. But if I kept track on a calendar (which she actually suggested that I do!) I would see how many more good days I have had than bad days!

I hope, that through this post, and my blog in general, I can help motivate and educate others who are on the same journey as myself.  Maybe you are just beginning your journey; well welcome aboard! If you are further along on your journey, I hope you will share your experiences, insights, and yes your struggles on here with me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I look forward to continuing my journey with you!

Sherig