Starting each day with Daily Intentions can help you reach your long term goals

I am a HUGE believer in setting goals.  Goals are our roadmap that clarifies who we want to be and how we want to feel.  But sometimes goals can be overwhelming and cause us to be frustrated.

Have you ever had an event on your calendar, and you think, “I have 6 months to fit into that dress”, and I know I can do it!  You might even purchase a few books on dieting or buy a gym membership and you have set yourself a goal for your upcoming event.

And then what happens?  I know because I have done this more times than I can count.

The days go by, and then the weeks, and then the months…and here we are a few days from the big event and beating ourselves up for once again failing.

What happened?

There are so many directions that we can go in answering that question and so many reasons that we can give ourselves as to how we just let other things take the place of what we thought we wanted to happen, but today I want to talk to you about intentions, and specifically DAILY intentions.

Daily intentions are different than our short term and long term goals and they are also different than a to-do list. 

Daily intentions are you simply focusing your attention on getting through your day making conscious decisions. ONE. DAY. AT. A. TIME.

Daily intentions empower you and make you realize YOU are in complete control.  Does this mean that everything is going to go exactly as you planned every day and you are going to always have perfect days? No, of course not, but if we begin each day with a focus, we will have a much better chance of being successful. Each successful day, each good decision will add up and before you know it you will be on your journey to reach those long-term goals... AND to fit into that dress for your event!

Setting a daily intention will give you focus, clarify your behavior and help you realize that your goals are possible and not just dreams.

Be careful to realize that your Daily Intentions are not necessarily a to-do list, or a gratitude journal, but rather a hybrid mix of both. The problem with ‘to-do’ lists is that if we do not finish everything on the list it can cause us to feel anxious. Often thinking about and making our lists can be exhausting or overwhelming when we think of all the work ahead of us. We can also go through our day so task oriented that we fail to even notice all that is going on around us.

Here are four tips to help keep you on track and feel successful.

1. Recognize the tasks that you have ahead of you for the day and be realistic.

2. Prioritize your tasks. Acknowledge a few items that you know you want to feel successful about completing. This can be as simple as how you will take time to enjoy your meals or the friends or coworkers that you will see that day, or it can be how you want to feel after tackling and completing a huge project that is on your mind.

3. Keep your daily list simple and end with your intention to how you will approach your day, such as, “I will show acts of kindness throughout my day to others and to myself,” or ‘Today I will allow love and joy to fill my day and I will be positive and forgiving.” Try to change your intention every day so you don’t become so use to it it is no longer effective.

4. Pick a certain time of day and place that you make your list so that it becomes a habit.

Is food guilt sabotaging your weight loss goals?

Have you ever said this? “I was so bad this weekend…” and then follow up with a list of foods you indulged in?  Or maybe you have said “I need to workout EVERY DAY this week to make up for my bad weekend of eating.” 

I am guilty of BOTH!  

We are used to thinking of food choices as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ and there seems to be an increasing long  list of foods we feel is forbidden. 

Why do we feel like we must apologize or feel guilty for enjoying certain foods?  We have trained our brains to believe that is if we can eat the right amount of the right foods we will have the ideal shape and the ideal life to go with it…but if we eat the forbidden foods we will forever be unhealthy and weak and destined to deal with our shame.

Years of dieting and thinking if we want to lose weight we can’t eat that…and we must eat this…has caused many of us to have an unhealthy relationship with food.

Here are ten tips to help you break the habit, eat without guilt, stop labeling foods as good or bad, and maybe even help you reach your goals!

1.       After a meal or snack, pay attention to how you feel. Without judging yourself, ask yourself if you like the way you feel. Did you indulge too much, or do you feel comfortably satisfied?  Stop and appreciate how food makes you feel.  Pay attention to your satiety signals.

2.       Eat intuitively. If you are hungry at 11 AM, pay attention to your body and eat your lunch. You do not have to follow mealtime rules.  

3.       Notice your language and stop yourself from calling your choices ‘good’ or ‘bad’  - for example instead of saying “I know I should get a salad, but I am going to be bad and get this burger” , say “I am really hungry for a burger so I am going to fill my craving and really enjoy my meal.”

4.       Eat mindfully. Take your time and savor every bite.  It is okay to be the last one at the table still eating, and it is also okay to feel full and not ‘clean your plate’. It is not a race.  You have permission to eat anything you want. YOU are in control. The rule to remember is that you should enjoy every single bite.

5.       Avoid ‘beating yourself up’ or punishing yourself for indulging in a meal that you think may have been too indulgent.  Try not to think that due to your weekend partying you must spend extra hours at the gym. If this is something that you genuinely enjoy that is different, but to treat your workouts as punishment for your food choice will ultimately end up creating a negative cycle. If you DO NOT accomplish your gym goals for the week, you have that much more to feel badly about.

6.       Remember the 80/20 rule and allow indulgences within your week and even within every day! The all or nothing rule and being overly strict will usually end with you feeling deprived.  Normal eating should be flexible. Even if you do have a dessert or meal that you know is not the best for your weight loss goals, remind yourself that you do not usually eat like this and just move on! Enjoy all foods in moderation.  Realize that life happens and it is okay to have a piece of birthday cake at your friends party! Telling yourself you cannot have something usually makes you want it even more!

7.       Acknowledge how you are feeling without judgement and be kind to yourself. Just as you would not berate someone you loved for eating an extra dessert, you should not berate yourself. Have compassion for yourself.  Remind yourself that you are worthy regardless if you ate a piece of pie or an apple.  The foods you choose to eat do not dictate your worth.  

8.       Realize that your health and weight loss journey is about much more than the food you eat. When it comes down to it, food guilt is a habit just as are other factors that affect our overall health such as our sleep, stress levels, and self-care.  

9.       Remind yourself that you are learning as you go, and it is okay to not be perfect.

10.   Start to view food as fuel for your body and look for nutrient rich foods that will make your feel good, but remember it is essential to also enjoy foods that treat our senses and our taste buds.  Respect your body and trust yourself. Weight loss is a process and life is about balance. Enjoy the journey.

Do you have a plan?

Chances are you would never go on a vacation or a trip without making a plan?
We cannot expect to get where we are going and have a successful trip without planning. ✅
✈️We check flights and book hotels, we decide what we will do when we get to our destination,🏖⛵️🚴‍♂️⛳️
We think about taking care of our work, mail and pets 👨‍💼📫🐱🐾 and of course we pack for our trip, maybe even checking the weather to decide what to bring👙🩳👔🎒 💼
Our health and wellness journeys should be NO different than planning a trip! Without the proper planning we will have setbacks and roadblocks and and have trouble reaching our destinations. 🤷🏼‍♀️
Setting goals and positive routines will lead you to success! 🏆🥇

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

Often when trying a new workout such as SPINNING, ZUMBA, weight training, or any other workout, often once we become a little uncomfortable, we back down rather than push through it.  We need to realize it is okay to be a little uncomfortable.  Exciting things will happen if we can push through our comfort zones!

We will never see changes if we don’t make changes. We will never reach our goals without stepping out of our comfort zones and challenging ourselves. 

Tips to help you step out of your comfort zone!

Finding a fitness family and working out with a group of likeminded people will help you challenge your limits. WOOOHOOO! Let me help you find your tribe of people to push you out of your comfort zone!

Try different workouts.  Challenge your body to new classes.  Make an appointment with a personal trainer. Mixing things up is SO important!

Don’t let life get in the way of your workout!  Your fitness should be a priority

Allow yourself to be less than perfect.  Don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself or get laughed at….just laugh along! One of the biggest things that holds us back from trying new things is the fear of what others will think.  I’ve talked to many of you who are reluctant to try classes for fear of not keeping up, or looking like a fool.  No one is judging you except YOU! 

Know that the worst that can happen is that you might fail. The fact that you tried is an accomplishment to be proud of! I DO want to suggest though, when trying a new class…you MUST give it at LEAST 4 times before you make up your mind that you like it.  Try different instructors too!

Don’t ever let your fear of being uncomfortable get in the way.  A little discomfort is okay. Soon you will get stronger and then your comfort levels will change and you will have new challenges to conquer!

The POWER of Persistence

The POWER of Persistence

Whatever your goal might be fat loss, muscle building, better health…nothing will make you see progress like determination and persistence.

PERSISTENCE is basically your desire to push through anything that comes your way.  Basically you have your mind set on your goal and it doesn’t matter what life dishes out to you, nothing is going to stand in your way.

Often if there is a roadblock, instead of overcoming, we might get upset and let it tear us down.  One life event might cause us to fall completely off track and derail our goals significantly.   If you have persistence, you will instead let those roadblocks build you up and make you stronger.

How to keep going when the going gets tough….

Focus on any and ALL progress you are making.  This is a perfect example of how important your fitness assessments are. Your weight may not have changed, but you may have lost inches, body fat %, gained strength in your pushups and sit ups, or built endurance and knocked time off your mile. Perhaps you have given up your before bedtime snack…or you’ve started bringing a healthy lunch to work instead of eating out.  Regardless of how small, acknowledge your success.  You must believe that you have the ability to achieve.

Do not ever get caught up in the negatives of any situation.  Each time you make a mistake, or you don’t reach a goal you had in your mind, you feel like a failure and this will decrease your persistence.

Don’t think about next month, or next year…focus on one day at a time. Make good decisions EVERY day.  If you have a bad day…move on and do better the next day.

ALWAYS look on the bright side of everything. You will be amazed at how this can help you with your persistence and determination.

Find a Workout That You Love

If you are finding that you are in a struggle to get to the gym and get your workouts in this is my advice to you: 

Find a workout that you love. 

1. Just GET DRESSED. Just putting on your clothes with the intention of even a light workout can be enough to get you moving to do more.  (If you only muster up 20 minutes…that’s okay… some days you really do need a light workout!) If you work, always have your workout clothes in your gym bag, in your car. 

2. NEVER do anything that feels like torture. If you've always hated running, you don't have to do it. Try making a goal of walking for twenty minutes a day instead if you like doing that.

3. Try new workouts that you've never done before. Take a dance, yoga, or Pilates class and see if you've found a new passion.

4. Mix it up. If you don't mind running but don't want to do it three times a week, you can run one day, do yoga another day, and swim on a third day. This will keep your body and mind active and won't make you feel bored through a workout.

5. Don't overdo it.    Let your body rest if you're tired and you'll enjoy your "on days" even more. You need to learn to listen to your body.  You are not in a race, you are developing habits that will stay with you for the rest of your life.  You are developing habits that will make you healthier and happier.  Your fitness level is a huge part of who you are and affects not only you but your loved ones as well.  Take it seriously and take the time to find something you enjoy! It really is that important!

Find a workout that you love...results WILL follow!

NEVER beat yourself up for a short workout, or a recovery workout on a day that you aren't feeling 100%.  That's okay!  Be proud of yourself for ANY amount of work you achieve!  

 Contact me if you are having trouble finding your groove!  I am here to help you!