Adopting a healthier lifestyle is not a passive process
Health is made not found.
I was not born loving to exercise and eat peppers. I did not find my motivation and strategies for success on the side of the road. I created a “recipe for success” that works for ME, and believe me, creating my recipe was hard work. Now, the hard work was and is worth it — nothing is more important than health — but creating and maintaining healthier habits takes some degree of WORK. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying (to themselves or you) or trying to sell you a product.
Stop buying into the myth that healthy people are just “born with healthy habits.” That belief is simply an excuse to self-sabotage — to say, “Oh well … not my destiny to be fit. If I had it easy like X person, I would be fit too.”
Health is an ongoing and active process. As my mom always told me, “Life is about creating solutions not excuses”; learn coping mechanisms, find (or create) ways to motivate yourself to eat well and exercise, and discover your own health triggers, etc. You are an adult. “Own” your health choices. Not happy? Figure out what is standing in your way. Had an unhealthy meal? Figure out why. Did you let yourself get too hungry? Were you sad? Mad?
Never allow yourself to be someone who finds a “problem for every solution.” Become aware of your habits, goals, triggers, etc — with awareness brings choice. Once aware of your habits, decide on appropriate next steps. Use every experience as a learning opportunity; when you fall off your health horse say “great, this is a chance to learn about myself.”
Main take-away: I created my recipe. You can too. Become aware of your habits. Learn who you are and tailor your fitness plan to your unique realities. Own your health choices. Actively create the fitter and happier future self you KNOW you can be.
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