Designing Your Healthy Life - Do You Want It?

For many people, taking control of their lives and health is a challenge that feels beyond their control. However, when you start talking to people who HAVE overcome incredible odds – in their health, in their lives, in their financial situations – you see that it has to do with what people BELIEVE they can accomplish! They see the possibilities, not the limitations.

A great example is in the movie, “The Secret”. A man crashed his airplane and broke just about every bone in his body. Doctors believed that he would never come off the breathing machine, and certainly would never walk again. To make a long story short, this man did everything in his power to prove them wrong and he DID walk out of the hospital on his own! I saw other examples of this when I worked in a county hospital, myself. The power of the human spirit is incredible.

But you have to want it.

There are stories of people overcoming other obstacles that some would say are too great to overcome. Examples include losing large amounts of weight, or working towards a better education and moving out of poverty into wealth. I work with health professionals who dream of starting up their own businesses. Many will stress over spending the money for my services, but this is a dream they really want to accomplish. They have serious doubts in the beginning that they can make it happen, but soon they are living their dreams!

How many times have you heard someone in their 90’s say, “If I had known I would have lived so long, I would have taken better care of myself”? I think I’ve heard this WAY too many times! But we can all take a lesson from this! We CAN be in control of our life and health! You just have to want it, and want it badly enough to do something about it, no matter how hard it is.

I was exercising the other day and worked a little harder than usual, getting ready for a fitness conference in a few months. Of course I want to be as fit as possible for this event, because other fitness professionals from all over the world will be there. I worked one muscle group that I have not worked in a LONG time, and as I felt the burn, I realized that this was something I was willing to push through in order to achieve a goal. You could say I’ve done the same thing with my business: I have been willing to step off the ledge into the unknown to create a dream I believed I could create. Those who are willing to take those risks or feel that burn know what I’m talking about. You have to want it.

Do you want it?

First of all, you have to actually see the life you want. Mentally imagine you are already there, and then, with eyes closed, walk through a day of what it is actually like. Once you have done this, it becomes more real. The next step is to create intentions to make it happen; become proactive!

Taking it one day at a time
Oh, how many times have I heard, ‘but I want to lose it now!’ For weight loss or improved fitness or optimal health, the key is consistency. My nutrition clients fit two categories: Those who are willing to travel the long road towards new habits and beliefs, and those who become discouraged and give up. Guess who the victors are? Changes to health habits do NOT happen overnight! If healthy and balanced eating were that easy, and only had to do with hunger and fullness, we would not be a country with over 60% of our population obese. Even if a person only has gained great amounts of weight because they didn’t exercise and really didn’t know how to eat for health, the road to losing that weight involves time and serious commitment. Old habits must make way for new habits. They must now cook more, make different food choices and different activity choices. It isn’t as easy as ‘going on a diet’ and then going off. It is a life change for the rest of their lives.

Goals and plans
Just as with business, if you want to improve your health, you must determine what that means. Do you want to lose fifty or 100 pounds? Maybe it’s just twenty pounds or five! Regardless of the amount, you must be clear what your goal is. You must then determine how you will accomplish this goal. Some people can do this by themselves. There are many stories of people who just decided one day that things would be different, and they started eating less and stepped outside their door and started exercising! Other people need someone to guide them and be accountable to, who will support their efforts.

No matter what category you are in, if you are reading this and you really want to lose weight, or improve your health or fitness level in some way, just know you really DO have a choice. You can make it happen, or you can continue to feel a victim in life and take no action. Even people who are unable to walk have a choice with their health – not only is the Special Olympics an international event, but even local large marathon events have categories for people with physical limitations. Today there is no excuse for not working towards improving your health. If you really want to.

Making it happen in small bites
So you have decided you really do want to improve your health. But it all seems really overwhelming and you’re not really sure how you can make such big changes! Excuse the pun, but take it in small bites! If you want to improve your eating habits, one effective tool is to write down everything you eat for three days. You’ll be amazed at how enlightening it is. Awareness is the first step: You have to know what you’re doing before you can figure out what you need to change.

Buy a small notepad that you can carry with you everywhere and every time you eat or drink something, write it down. Since it’s just for you, you can write as little or as much detail as you want. You can even write down how you felt, such as ‘hungry’ or ‘full’ or ‘guilty’ or ‘great’. If you want to log it somewhere, there are many online locations where you can do this. Free examples include Fitday.com and mypyramid.gov. At the end of three days, look at it. Most people already know what foods are healthy and which ones are not. If you’re not really sure, contact a registered dietitian (RD) to help you learn how to improve your current eating habits. Many people call themselves experts in nutrition, but the only educated and trained professional who can take the science behind nutrition and help you apply it to YOUR life is an RD.

Once you have looked at your food diary and realized where you could make changes, this next step is extremely important. Pick just ONE change to work on! Maybe that change would be to stop eating the candy bars in the afternoon. Now, the first time you try that, you are STARVING, and all you can think about the rest of the day is that candy bar! So, start snacking on fruit instead. You have not only eliminated a high-calorie, high-fat food from your diet, but now you’ve added a health source of phytochemicals and antioxidants that are good for you! The bottom line is you have eliminated excess calories by this one change! Once this is part of normal life, and no longer an effort, you are ready for a next change. Continue this process, one step at a time. Before you know it, your diet has changed! I will warn you that it won’t always be easy, but you will be working in the right direction.

Finally, let’s look at how you can add exercise to your life. If you decided that tomorrow you will start running, chances are good that you wouldn’t last too long, you’d end up out of breath and the next day places would hurt you didn’t know existed. The only benefit you’ll get from the experience will be from the stories you tell your friends of the silly mistake you made by trying to start an exercise program!

So, start with a walk. And it doesn’t have to be a long walk, either! Just five minutes a day to start will not only get you in the habit of actually doing it, but will help ease you into the activity. In a week or two, add another 5 minutes. Now you are walking 10 minutes a day! Laugh all you want, but a month ago how much were you walking? Health organizations recommend 60 minutes of exercise a day, but you can break that into 10 minute intervals. So, in two weeks you are walking 10 minutes, but time is limited, and you don’t feel you can justify extending it to 15 minutes. So, where else can you start walking another 5 minutes, and then can you turn that second 5 minutes into a second set of 10 minutes? See where I’m going with this? Before you know it, in a few months, you really ARE walking 60 minutes a day! Again, don’t laugh; how much are you walking right now? And you will see the results of this exercise… if you stay consistent and do it daily, and weekly, and monthly, and yearly.

Improved health can be a part of your life. You must take charge and make it happen, though. First you must determine what it is you want to improve, then you must create a plan to make it happen. Your plan must include how you will make these changes a regular and consistent part of your life from now on. Take small steps (and bites) at a time, and then just do it!

But, as I said, you have to want it. Do you want it?

Marjorie Geiser is a nutritionist, registered dietitian, certified personal trainer, life coach, and MBA student. Marjorie has been the owner of a successful small business, MEG Fitness, since 1996, and now helps other professionals start up or grow their own small business through MEG Enterprieses.com. To learn more about the services Margie offers, go to her website at http://www.meg-enterprises.com or email her at margie@meg-enterprises.com.