So the time is here my fabulous friends. We rang in the New Year and it’s time to exclaim “New Year-New Me!!” YAAAAYYYYYY! Or in Laments terms, time to go to the gym and throw every naughty food out of the cupboards filling my cup up with a green leafy shake. Um Yeah-No. Yuck.
Like my mother-in-law would say ‘No Bueno Reina!” or “No Good princess.” I agree with Mami Soto completely. It is not a good idea. Not ove bit. It’s a membership you forced yourself to buy along with all these “low fat” “sugar free” items. They were outrageously overpriced. We literally follow through with this charade for, I don’t know… .5 seconds. 1…2…3…4…5…ok where’s my glass of wine now? You see where I’m going with this?
Although I want you to make light of this article and laugh; I do want you to take “you” seriously. You need to take your health seriously. In the end, it really isn’t all about the perfect shape (mind you, we all think we never will have it) but actually it is about being healthy inside-and-out. The mind is a dangerous place and can keep you in a dark world that no one should be in.
We fill our heads with unreachable goals; or maybe not un-reachable, but not something you can achieve overnight. I always push folks to find little things to alter in their life, where they can slowly see changes. No one will restrain themselves forever from things they enjoy-nor should they. I know I talked a lot about moderation in last month’s article so you could enjoy those holiday meals and I want to continue this mind set as you go on with your day-to-day life.
I choose to limit my carbs. I fill my husband and my plates at dinner with the right portion of meat with vegetables but that’s just me or what works for us. I love bread but I ultimately avoid it but when we go out to dinner-I eat all the bread I want and I will eat anything off that menu because I work hard all week eating light and exercising regularly. In return I reward myself with a nice meal once or twice a week. No harm-no foul.
What I want you to focus on is one thing. The first week of the New Year find one little thing that you can do better or slightly change. For example- Let’s say you go to your favorite coffee shop every day and get your “Carmel Frappe Macchiato with whipped cream.” In your head, it’s one lousy coffee-what’s the harm. When actually its 500 calories of harm where you could’ve had a massive breakfast that you probably could not finish eating with that amount of calories. Am I telling you that you will never be able to have that Carmel Frappe thing ever again? No, but why don’t you limit it to a treat. A Friday treat? And the other days getting just a regular cup of Joe.
By cutting out only that specialty coffee every day, you could lose 5lbs. Without changing anything else in your life. To me- that is huge!! So then every week you find something else you can do to better your lifestyle. Adding a walk every night with your dogs after dinner to burn off some of your meal and some of that dog’s energy!
I told a girlfriend of mine recently who is struggling with anxiety to stretch before bed to calm her mind. Learning breathing exercises to help ease her anxious tendencies. Anything helps. Not that she had to run a thousand miles on a treadmill. Just changing a few things and adjusting to your own designed modifications.
After a while- you will see changes. A pair of pants are a little looser or that dress fits just right when before it was a little tight for your liking. You are always going to look on social media and see the girl or guy who is a complete gym freak who lives and dies protein shakes and dumbbells but most people aren’t like that so you need to really look past that. So I don’t want anyone to get down on themselves for not being that person. Don’t get me wrong- going to the gym is great but eating healthy most of the time and just being active is more important.
I believe in you! I know you can be better without giving up on all the things you like. I believe you can make one change. A New Year, a new way of thinking about your body. Not this impossible mountain you will never reach but that you are only a few steps away from being better. That doesn’t sound so hard does it?
WRITTEN BY TRACY ECHEVERRI
