If This is Temporary, Don't Bother!

Ninth:  Put your plan into action.  There is no use waiting until Monday to start at 90 or 10 day or 28 day 'Return to Section X' agenda; on Monday you will still be 90 or 10 or 28 days from your goal (Monday is 5 days away!).  Begin now!  Even better, invite someone to do it with you~  two years ago I called my sister-in-law and asked her to work out with me for 28 days.  Every other day I choose the workout, she chose the rest.  We were utilizing Wii Boxing, Just Sweat, some salsa dance video on Netflix, the Nike Trainer app on the iPhone, yoga; the workouts were rarely the same, they were always fun, and we were accountable to each other.  Why 28 days?  It takes about 21 days for something to become a habit, so if you can commit to a number larger than 21, working out just might stick.

Tenth:  Change your vocabulary.  If you look at this like a 'diet', you will not find change.  If this is a temporary road, don't bother.  If you've picked an exercise or a goal you know is unachievable, you will not succeed.  Whether you like it or not, you are already on a diet.  Healthy or unhealthy, nutritious or chemically flavored, the food you put into your body is your diet.  Your actions, attitudes and decisions are what determine the state of your affairs, your health and your ambitions; don't cloud this decision with ridiculous terms like 'diet', 'fat', 'difficult', 'can't', and 'rabbit food'.  Changing your health is about changing your choices, not temporarily cleaning out your refrigerator and donning a new pair of sneaks.

Eleventh:  Embrace the size you are!  This may sound counter productive and strange, I know, but accepting who you are right now may alleviate the pressures you may put on yourself tomorrow.  Change is slow.  Food works slowly.  Exercise works, but over time.  Pharmaceuticals make us believe weight-loss should be immediate and results are guaranteed, but the truth is change, in any form, is a gradual process that takes commitment and flexibility.   There will be set backs, there will be plateaus, there will be aches and pains, it will be difficult, it will take time.  In the meantime, be who you are and look forward to the changes that are coming.

Twelfth:  Buy a water bottle.  If you already have one, fill it up.  Keep it with you every time you sit down to a real, delicious meal.  Take it with you when you work out.  It will come in very handy when you need to wash in a vitamin.  And, after all of the gunk that is hanging around inside of your body starts finding its way out of your body, remember to wash your hands.  I'm off to go out into the world of 'summer vacation!'  See you all here tomorrow~

Anna~