How to start creating the new you…

Do you know you need to exercise but keep telling yourself you’ll start on Monday coming?   You know that really you should be doing something every day and should be a few kilos lighter. You know you should be using your gym membership more than you do. You know your body is not at its best simply because you are not moving it or fueling it as best you can.

Sounds familiar… welcome to the club of “So you know!!”.
Deep down you also know you are truly so much more than that.  What’s more, don’t you owe it to yourself and your family to be the best person you can possibly be?  Healthy, happy within yourself, a positive inspiration to those around you, disease free and able to play and move with your family.  You don’t have time to? No… You actually don’t have time not to.  
The biggest fault most people fall into, when coming out o a rut of no exercise and unhealthy living, is they start too big.  They try and commit to an unrealistic training and dietary regime that will last only few weeks, if that.   They find it all too hard to maintain and have a negative experience.  Before they know it, it has fallen wayside and they have slipped back into their bad habits and unhealthy lifestyle feeling like they have failed in their attempt once again.  Starting small and taking “baby steps” is one of the keys to maintenance I give my clients in creating long-term lifestyle changes.
Start by making one to two positive lifestyle changes per week.  Write you goals down and your motivating factors behind achieving the goals.  Now go and stick them on your fridge.  For example, I want to loose 5 kg as I will feel more confident and better within myself or I want to be able to run 3 km so I can play at the park with my kids for half an hour without getting out of breath or I want to lower my risk of diabetes and heart disease so I can live a healthy disease free life.
Your next step is to work out how you are going to bring these positive changes into your life.  This may start by getting out for a walk or moving once in the first week and perhaps one alcohol free day during the week.  If you eat out every night, try perhaps having at least 2 home cooked dinners this week.  Maybe instead of meeting your friend for coffee and cake, commit to going for a walk or yoga class instead.
A great way to find motivation is by finding a friend who you can use to motivate each other.  More often then not, you will not let your friend down if you have committed to meeting them for a walk or workout.  Ironically, it is much easier for us to let ourselves down by not meeting our own weekly goal…shouldn’t we be the most important person in our lives????  If we are not happy within ourselves, how can we create happiness around us?
There are going to be a few hiccups on your journey to becoming the new you.   You will fall off track of your goals at times; don’t use these moments as an excuse to slip back into bad old habits.  Remember why you want to achieve your goals at this point and how great you will feel when you do.  Remind yourself of how well you have done to come this far already.  Starting the change is often one of the hardest obstacles to overcome, you have achieved this already.  Don’t beat yourself up for falling off track of your goals, no one is perfect.  The key is to get back on track and work out what caused you to slip and how when you are in that same situation again you can better deal with it to stay on track towards your positive lifestyle change to create the best you your family and you want and deserve you to be!!