Do you want it bad enough? Well...do you??

Well hello again! It’s been a few days and I’ve missed you. Are you sticking with it? Are you getting discouraged or toooo tireeeddd?

Today I’d like to chat about wanting it bad enough! Have you ever wanted something so bad that it puts you on the verge of tears? If that sounds too extreme; have you ever wanted something so bad that you’d do just about anything to get it?

When it comes to your health and wellness, you should want to do (almost) anything to attain your goal! I say almost because (as some of you know) I’m not a big advocate of weight loss surgery, but that’s another post for another day. What is it going to take for YOU to attain your personal wellness goal(s)? What are your goals? Have you defined them yet? What is/has been holding you back? Are you hiding behind your weight? If so, why?

· Don’t blame genetics.

· Don’t blame the fact that you don’t have time. As I’ve said before, nobody has the time, but if you want it bad enough you will make the time.

· Don’t blame (sorry men), but women, don’t blame it on “that time of the month.”

· Don’t blame it on the kids, your cat, your dog, your fish, whatever it is that you’re currently using as an excuse to either A) not exercise or B) not count your calories/really take a hard look at what you’re consuming!

All of those things are excuses and you need to start really digging deep and instead of coming up with a lame excuse, (sorry but (most) excuses are lame) you need to start thinking about WHY you’re making those excuses.

Hey listen, I’ve had to do it myself. I used excuses all the time, but when I finally decided that enough was enough, excuses went out the window. Now, that’s not to say that I don’t slip up every now and again, but I get right back at it if I slip. The other night, for example, I needed (also read as wanted) something salty, so instead of counting out the crackers I was eating I said “awww the hell with it” and I sat there with the box. I had 3 handfuls and put them away. Brushed my teeth and went to bed. Done. I woke up the next morning, felt guilty, but got right back at counting my calories that day and didn’t let that one set back discourage me.

YOU HAVE TO WANT THIS BAD ENOUGH! If you don’t; you will not succeed in the long term! You may do well for a little while, but you’ll risk falling right back into where you started from. If you find yourself saying, “I don’t need to count calories, I just need to watch my portions.” Okay. Fine. Perfectly fine actually because you are making a conscious effort to cut down your portions. HOWEVER, if you find that when you get on the scale 4 or 5 weeks in and you’re at a stand still, I hate to say it, but just “watching” your portions is not going to be enough. You really need to sit down and count your calories/scrutinize what and how much you are eating. Sometimes people don’t realize what they are truly consuming until they do this extra step.

If you now/then find yourself saying, “I don’t have the patience to write down what I eat or log it into a computer program that does all of the math for me and makes it easier than slicing bread for me to ‘count my calories.’” Well, FIND THE PATIENCE. It wasn’t until I started counting and allowing myself a treat within my calories that I started dropping the weight not just recently, but years ago as well. AND THE ONLY WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT AND KEEP IT OFF IS TO LOSE 1 TO 2 POUNDS PER WEEK. If you’re losing more, that’s great, but don’t get discouraged if the next week it’s 0 pounds lost or 1 pound lost. Slow and steady wins the race. It does get frustrating, but it will come off. Hey listen…it didn’t take a week to put it all on, so it sure as heck isn’t going to take only a week to come off right?! If there was a quick fix out there, everyone would be doing it and we would all be walking around with bikinis and daisy dukes on. Truth is though, it’s not easy and sometimes it’s just not fun.

So again, sometimes it takes you really evaluating yourself. Why do you keep trying “diets” and then you end up failing? Really look into that answer. You must figure this out if you are serious about getting healthy for life. Are you ready to admit what is holding you back? The truth hurts sometimes, but ONLY YOU know the truth about yourself.

1) Do you REALLY want it bad enough? Or is something holding you back? If so, what is it and why?

2) Do you think you’re healthy? Do you know you’re overweight, but you keep saying “welllll I’m ‘healthy’. I don’t have diabetes (yet), my blood pressure is fine (for now), my cholesterol is in tip-top-shape (at my last physical 3 years ago), etc…” Don’t expect that to stay that way forever. What is it going to take for you to change? An actual diagnosis?

I’ve seen it happen more than once my friends. People say exactly what is in #2 above. Not more than a year later WHAM diagnosed with high cholesterol and they “suddenly” need bi-pass surgery. It’s sad because it can be prevented. Being in self-denial is not a good thing. WHY wait until you’re in a johnny on a hospital bed? WHY? Thinking…”well I’ll never get that way”…don’t be so sure. If you’re not making the right food choices or you’re not exercising, don’t be so sure that it will never happen to you. Trust me, I hope it doesn’t, but I hope you take the steps to be SURE it doesn’t instead of just going out on a whim. Just sayin’.

So, what did I have to admit to myself? Well, I’ll just say it. Sometimes I just get LAZY! There. I admit it. Life is busy. Yes.Do I work full time? Yes. Do I have a side photography business? Yes. Do I have an 18 month old independent little boy:)? Yes. Do I have a house to clean? Yes yes and yes I do have all of these blessings. We ALL have our “things” right?! Well, look back at my list that I just gave. I can use any one of those as an excuse to not have the time to exercise or not have the time to eat right or track my calories. You have to make the decision to not be LAZY with your health. Period. Because in the end, that’s what it is. You may not be lazy with the rest of your life, in fact, I know you’re not. Why be lazy with your health?

So, set your goals and before you get to those big goals, set some little ones along the way. Is your goal to lose 50 pounds or even 20 pounds? GREAT! Now, what are you going to do to get there? Train for a 5k road race? Fantastic! I guarantee that when you run and finish that road race, you will feel accomplished and energized and you’ll want to keep going! And that’s what it’s all about…

Here is one of my meal plans from this week:

Breakfast: Coffee with 1 tbs Coffee-mate creamer and 1 packet of sugar (60 calories) along with a Joseph’s tortilla wrap with 1 tbs peanut butter, 1 tbs raspberry jelly and 1 small banana (304 calories)

Snack: Luna nuts over chocolate bar (180 calories)

Lunch: 1 small apple with a boars head American cheese and maple glazed turkey sandwich on Ezekiel bread w/ mustard (396 calories)

Snack: Chobani (delicious) yogurt (140 calories)

Dinner: 5 oz chicken breast with 1 sweet potato roasted and mushrooms (with some ketchup) (395 calories)

Burned calories doing Insanity which continues to be insane and grueling! Total calories for the day: 1475! :)

Here is a great flyer put out by Fallon Community Health Plan about Carbs (they are fuel for your body and you need them!!) http://www.fchp.org/employers/resources/~/media/Files/WellnessFlyers/LowdownLowCarbs.ashx

To answer a question I recently received which (paraphrased) stated “Can I make up my lack of calories one day the next day by eating more than I need for the next day?"...First, more importantly than calories is your health. Eating very little on any given day is simply bad for your internal health. Not only that, but your body will start storing food as fat because you will go into starvation mode. So, bottom line, plan ahead. Don't use not having time to plan your meals as an excuse. I swear, it literally takes ten minutes at night to plan my meals for the next day and I eat every 3 to 4 hours and it works:)

How have you been doing???