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They say that today is the first day of the rest of your life! Starting now, let's take our health and wellness
into our own hands, and create an individual program to help you reach your weight loss goals. Weight loss is only part
of the overall picture. What we want to create is not only a slim you, but a healthy you. Many of the fad diets
may help you to shed weight quickly, but they will not produce the lifelong changes necessary to help you keep the weight
off for the long term. This program will help you to make small lifestyle changes which will help you to lose weight
slow but steady, and feel better along the way! We will not be counting calories or denying ourselves. This does
not work! We will be replacing unhealthy habits with healthy ones. So that you don't get discouraged, I have included
a box below for you to sign up for a daily bit of encouragement. Please take the time to sign up!
So...here we go...
WEEK ONE
This week we want to focus on getting our mind ready to change with our bodies. We will make some
small changes and secure some items to help us along our wellness journey!
1. Purchase a notebook or journal- Studies have shown that when we keep track of
what we eat and how we feel, we are better able to change our habits. This journal should be set up in whatever way
you feel will best serve you. I have what I call a fitness and wellness journal. It holds much information including
a section called "my perfect day". I also vent to this journal, discuss business ideas and frustrations. This
journal holds a great deal of information about me, much not pertaining to my weight or wellness, but helpful in my journey!
At first, I would like you to track everything you are putting in your mouth, including quantity, time and
feelings that led you to eat. You don't necessarily need to change your eating habits at this point, but you might find
that you do just because you are writing it down! I would also like you to define some goals you have for your journey.
This does not mean "I want to lose 75 lbs and wear a size 6", this means, some initial goals, such as "I would like to lose
5 lbs and be able to walk 1 mile." Make small commitments to yourself!
2. Find 10 minutes in your day for aerobic activity- If you have not exercised for
sometime, start slowly with a 10 minute walk, bike ride or game of basketball with your kids. Start seeking out activities
that you enjoy so that you will build your arsenal of fitness activities as the weeks go by. You don't have to do the
same thing everyday, you just need to do SOMETHING everyday. Go to your local thrift shop and find some exercise videos
that look interesting. I always find a bunch of them there, and they are cheap! Leslie Sansone has an excellent
series called "Walk Away the Pounds". If you would like Yoga videos, please email me and I will send you a list of videos I have available for $5.00 each (plus shipping).
If you have been exercising, either add 10 minutes to your daily workout, or add intensity to the workout
you already do (if you are already at 60 minutes....). Many times, our body will become accustomed to our fitness routine,
and we will hit the unfortunate plateau! This is when we will need to "change things up". If you are already a
daily exerciser, another way to kick it up a bit is to change your workout every couple of days. Go for a walk one day,
bike ride another, do an aerobics video, take a yoga class, go for a swim...you get the idea! It keeps things interesting
and we don't get bored if we mix it up!
3. Add one vegetable or fruit daily instead of another food- For example, if midmorning,
you are famished and head for the vending machine in your office, take a banana or orange to work with you instead.
Or if your evening snack consists of nachos with cheese sauce, replace it with cauliflower, broccoli and carrots dipped in
salsa (trust me...it's good!)
4. Purchase a multi-vitamin supplement- Our diets are never perfect, so we need
to make sure we fill in the gaps. I take a variety of supplements, which we will talk about as time goes on, but the
most important one, and one that everyone should take is a good multi vitamin. Please visit Nature's Sunshine and go through the health analyzer! It will help you to determine what products you might want to consider.
Please email me if you have questions or would like help.
5. Weigh Yourself....- Weigh yourself, and write it in your journal. Now,
don't weigh yourself again for ONE WEEK!! You will find that with even the small changes above, you will notice a difference.
ALSO, don't focus solely on your weight, but on how your clothes fit and how you feel....Those things are really more important
than your weight anyway....
Ok, so this is all we want to do week one! Make gradual changes for a lifetime of healthy habits....
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