Unrealistic expectations

Today I was reading a blog post about unrealistic expectations and it got me thinking about my own health expectations. I will admit that if I see a magazine with an article about losing 5 LBS IN 5 DAYS, I snatch it up, read it and am always disappointed . It's all things I have tried or things I am not willing to do ( eat only 1200 calories per day while working out for 2 hrs a day). So why do I keep buying the magazines and buying into it? Well, because I am a busy professional, who, like most people, wants results now without putting in the time and effort! I tend to set goals such as " lose x number of pounds by certain date " or even buy clothes that are too small with the goal of fitting into them by time the season changes. How many times has that happened? Zero. 

I need to focus on long term goals such as improved energy,stamina and health . With those things will come weight loss and changes in your body and these changes will last and become lifelong,because they are not a quick fix, but instead a way of life. That is my goal- to make healthy decisions for my body a way of life.

Some recent unrealistic expectations of mine (and some more realistic versions of them):

1." I need to be a certain weight, and I wont be happy until I am"-instead, I need to think" I want to feel good and look good to myself and the numbers on the scale mean nothing"

2. " I need to do a hard workup for at least one hour everyday to see results"-instead, " i need to MOVE everyday and find exercise/fitness activites that I actually enjoy"-even if I just take a nice walk in the evening, it is moving my body. It is so hard to stay motivated and stick with a workup program if you feel you HAVE to do it, especially if you do not like it. Of course you have to work hard to see results, but work hard at something that you LIKE!

3. "I need to do yoga 3 times per week (or any other specific number)"-instead, " I need to increase the amount of yoga I do/try and practice as much as I can"-again, when I put a number to something and I do not amek that goal, I get discouraged. Life is busy, some weeks more so than others. Instead of specifics numbers, do the best you can and (hopefully) it will become routine.

4. " I cannot eat any gluten, dairy, sweets, fast food, pop, etc"-I need to eat whole, natural foods that nourish my body, and it is ok to indulge every once in awhile-I have tried eliminating foods completely from my diet and have found that sugar seems to be my biggest problem (and biggest weakness!). instead of saying that I cannot have something, I think it is better to learn to eat whole unprocessed foods and if you occassionally indulge in something that is not, it is ok!

Changing your thinking about health and wellness can take some time, but like most things, give it 15 days and it will become habit. that is my goal!

LOVE this photo!

{Be Active}Biking

I... Can't...Move.  Yesterday I completed my first major bike ride-14 mile Nightowl Classic through St. Paul. Now, I have not been on a bike in about 2 yrs, so this was pretty ambitious of me, esp considering that I had done a C2 yoga vinyasa flow class followed by 45 mins Realryder spinning class. While there were definetly some struggles ( climbing the hills in St.Paul) I think overall I did good considering my lack of experience. I would love to get into biking more, since it is a great form of exercise and transportation! The St.Paul classic is coming up in Sept, I may have to sign up for it!

Today I plan on doing some gentle yoga, going for a walk, movie, little shopping, and preparing some healthy meals for the week. Sounds like a good Sunday to me!

{Be Holistic} Taking charge of my health

This summer has been the summer of me "taking charge of my health". I have been stressed, fatigued, bloated, digestion issues and headaches lately and figured that I wanted to do something about it. I have also found that despite working out and eating fairly healthy, I was unable to move the scale and reduce my abdominal fat (not that there is alot, but enough to bother me!). I was convinced for ahwile that it was my thyroid, but those tests have all been normal (although maybe out of the "functional" range). I decided that I wanted to learn more about holistic health and nutritions role in health, and what better way to do that than to make an appt with a health counselor?! I have been seeing a functional nutritionist (Katie Jasper -she is awesome, go see her!) for the past few months and have learned alot of about health and stress. One of the things that I did when I first started to "take charge of my health" was do a detox that was prescribed by the nutritionist. This involved eliminating gluten, dairy, sugar, caffeine and alcohol for 2 weeks and adding supplements that support the gut and detox process. After the detox was over I felt great-no more headaches, fatigue or abdominal symptoms and had much more energy than usual. Than-stressed kicked in big time at work and I fell off my healthy bandwagon. I began eating sugar again like it was going out of style and no exercise. I felt terrible and that made my stress worse. It was just snowballing. I know what to do for my health and I have the tools, I just need to DO IT! So after a nice relaxing week away from work and stress, I am back on my Detox, starting to do yoga/running daily and will restart Insanity once my detox is over. I am also taking some supplements to help support my stress and anxiety, and am awaiting the results of my adrenal stress panel to look for adrenal fatigue (my symptoms-fatigue, AM fatigue despite getting enough sleep, abdominal fat that is hard to get rid of, stress/anxiety, etc).
Stay tuned for more updates!