All It Takes Is Baby Steps

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People always tell me that I am good at reading others. Its a knack I have, I guess. Call it woman’s intuition, call it vibes, call it what you will, but most of the time I am pretty good at knowing what people are thinking. So let me take a crack at reading you… and I get extra credit if I am right, because I can’t even see you.

You’ve been wanting to start living a healthy lifestyle for some time now. Its always a thought in the back of your mind. You constantly find yourself saying, “I need to start getting healthy. No more excuses, I’ve got to just do it.” You tell yourself that you are going to start a diet and exercise program, but usually something comes up and your big intentions get undermined. You read lots of great information online (cough… on this blog… cough) and you think, “Ohh, I can do that” and “What a great idea!” or “Oh great recipe”, etc but then those ideas and that inspiration get tossed to the wayside when “life” intervenes. On top of that, sometimes you get all amped up to get started, but then D-day comes, and you get scared and talk yourself out of it by saying things like, “I don’t know how to do this, were do I even start? I don’t have any clue how to be fit and healthy, I am not cut out for this”.

How am I doing so far?

Well you are not going to put off wellness anymore. Today is the day you begin taking baby steps. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed and freaked out by healthy eating and exercise. Don’t create this all or nothing mentality and think that when you can’t give 100%, you want to just quit. This, my friend, is called setting yourself up for failure. No matter what level you are at – beginner, intermediate, or advanced – you can consistently be taking steps to improve yourself. Each week, strive to change one thing for the better. Master that change, and then next week, add another.

Here is a list of some examples of ways that you can start taking those baby steps.

1. Change out the high fructose corn syrup laden soda for diet soda, or better yet green tea or water!
2. Speaking of water, be sure you are properly hydrated.
3. When baking, use whole wheat flour, flax meal, and/or oat bran instead of white flour.
4. After dinner, instead of watching TV, go for a walk with a buddy.
5. Use 96/4 ground sirloin instead of ground beef.
6. Purchase a heart rate monitor (HRM) and use it to gauge how hard you push yourself during workouts. For example, if you see that you are slacking (i.e. you are burning less calories during this workout over last…push harder!)
7. Use a food scale rather than measuring cups to measure calorie dense foods.
8. Bring your lunch to work rather than going out.
9. Focus on counting every calorie you consume, including veggies, Splenda, and other “no calorie” type foods.
10. Get up and move around more throughout the day – take more walks to the bathroom at work, and while you are in there, do a set of jumping jacks (just make sure to check under the stalls for feet first).
11. Take the stairs rather than the elevator.
12. Park at the back of the parking lot or even walk to work if you can.
13. Track your sodium intake – (on average) women should shoot for 2500 mg, men shoot for 3500 mg per day.
14. EAT. BREAKFAST. And be sure that it is a balanced ratio of protein, carbs, and fat.
15. Up your weights during strength training.
16. Try out a new exercise – one that you might be afraid of or think you “can’t” do. Yes I am talking to you ladies who are afraid of the squat rack.
17. Start incorporating a self myofascial release routine into your training program.
18. Rather than a “cheat day” start incorporating re-feed meals, i.e. one on Saturday, one of Sunday.
19. Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night.
20. Try out one new healthy recipe.

You don’t have to be the June Cleaver of fitness and nutrition in order to live a life of wellness, you just have to START and then continue to build on that start. Once you begin, the rest is history. Things just become habits, you do them without thinking. And your life begins to change for the better.

Have you taken any baby steps lately or have any other suggestions? This is just the tip of the iceberg really. I know you are thinking of at least one thing not on the list. Share it with us below in the comments! It would be wonderful to hear your thoughts as well.

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