A Healthier Me...

I have decided that a lifestyle change is in order for me. The motivation hit me just after my youngest son patted my tummy, then told me I had a belly because I was going to have another baby. What??!!! Do I seriously look pregnant? I know he was saying it to be silly and funny, but it did kinda resonate. Getting fit is something I have been wanting to do for a while now. Nate will be glad to know, later in life, that my final motivation for completely restructuring my physical lifestyle came from him.

I rarely exercise, though I do take my kids on walks and bike rides about once a week. I eat horribly, with no thought of calories, fat or health consciousness whatsoever. It’s hard to diet when you really, really, really enjoy food! But I have decided that the feeling of sluggishness and exhaustion that always seems to stay with me probably have a lot to do with both the lack of exercise and lack of good diet. It’s time for a change!

I laid out a diet and exercise plan this morning, and I am really excited to be starting this new endeavor. I’m no expert in this field, but I do have a few friends who know quite a bit about it, so I ran this by them, and they said it looks pretty good. It’s a good starting place, anyway. I don’t want to go too extreme with it, initially, for fear of setting myself up for failure, which is what I have always seemed to do in the past. Crash diets and starving myself just do not work. Taking out all carbs or all fat or all wheat, etc... those types of diets never work for me either, not in the long run. What I need is a well-balanced, healthful way to eat, and also incorporate into my daily routine some moderate exercise to begin burning fat. I’m hoping this will also lower my blood pressure, and give me a better metabolism. I’m not going to take any diet pills or drink any shakes or buy any pre-packaged diet foods. I’m going to do this the all-natural way. In the end, my goal is just a healthier, more energetic and confident me. I’ll never be super-model perfect, but I can at least be healthy and happy with who I am.

I was told by a good friend who knows a lot about healthy living, that in order to succeed at a lifestyle change, you have to love it. You have to want it, otherwise you won’t be committed to it. So the exercises I plan to do will be ones that I actually enjoy, and the meals that I eat, while healthy, will be made to taste savory and delicious. He also told me that I should not think of this in terms of quitting something, as that creates a feeling of loss; but rather think of it in terms of gaining something positive in my life, i.e.: health, better body image, strength, energy, etc. I need to come to a place where I would rather have those good additions to my life, than have the bad habits that draw me down.

So for starters, drinking wine as often as I do definitely is not good for a person. It’s high in sugars, and alcohol has been proven to be very detrimental to a person’s body. I don’t plan to cut it out completely, but certainly take it down to a much lower level of frequency. I do love my wine, but I love the feeling of being healthy, more.

Additionally, I am going to need to quit smoking. That’s going to be very challenging, as I have smoked for 16 years. The only time I have ever been able to successfully quit is when I became pregnant all three times. I quit cold-turkey those times, because the health of the life within me was more important than my craving. Unfortunately, nothing has ever proven to be motivation enough for me to quit, since those times. And because I am not planning on getting pregnant any time soon (contrary to my son’s jesting conclusion as to the reason for my squishy tummy), I am going to have to find the will-power to quit for different reasons. I’d say my health is a pretty good place to start.

I wrote up a what I call “Monica’s Lifestyle Change Plan” this morning, that includes diet and exercise planning. I also plan to take some pictures and weigh myself, so I can better be able to track my progress. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to self-sabotage, so I am hoping and praying that this time, I have the determination and self-control it’s going to take to become a healthier me. I’m posting all this on my blog, as a way to publicly hold myself accountable. Wish me luck!

As always, I will continue to work on growing and improving my emotional and spiritual health, but I am so excited to now be putting equal amounts of effort into my physical health as well. I’m not sure why I have been neglecting that side of me for so long - I probably need to analyze that - but I am excited and ready for change!