ONE SMALL CHANGE A WEEK

The last entry I wrote I thought I had saved it to draft but it looks like I sent instead.  Thanks for all the thoughtful comments I real appreciate it. 

About two weeks ago when I was feeling blah and frustrated I went to amazon.ca to see if there was any books I could purchase about meal plans or healthy weight loss.  I came across a book that Chris Powell wrote.  I am a big fan of The Extreme Weight loss Show and I follow both him and his wife on Instragram.   The book is called "Choose More, Lose more for Life" he co-wrote it with his wife Heidi.   I have read a couple of chapters so far and I am really enjoying it.   There are three main parts to the book, nutrition and his eating plan, exercise and transformation (building your self esteem)  I am going to work towards following the eating plan.  But my main focus write now is on small baby steps and goals to build up my self esteem and self worth.   Lets be honest,  I know what to do to eat properly and I have been working out for years.   My main problem is letting my emotions get the best of me and having zero self worth.

In one of the chapters he talks about "the power of keeping promises"  all of us including me say things like "I will never eat sugar again"  "I am going to workout an hour a day, everyday"  "I will start my diet on Monday" and the list goes on. and then we break the promise to ourselves feel guilty, shameful.  Chris believes it is better to start out small whether it's to workout for 5 minutes a day for a week.  Or having a serving of vegetables but making sure you keep the promise.  This he believes will built your self worth and make you feel better about yourself.  And you just build from there week after week.

 I started off with having a serving of vegetables everyday. I am good at eating protein, healthy fats, fruit and low fat dairy but sadly vegetables was not a propriety  in my diet.  (well at least not everyday.)  I started this last Saturday and have had at least one serving a day some days even four servings.    

 

Chris has a list of 100 small goals to accomplish.  There are three categories, Food Promises, Body Promises and Mind Promises.  Some I have already incorporated into my healthy lifestyle for example :

 

1. Choose skim milk over whole milk.

 

Rob and I buy 1 percent or 2 percent lactose free milk.  I rarely drink it.  Instead I use unsweetened almond milk in my smoothies in the morning

 

2. Leave cream and sugar out of my coffee.

 

I don't drink coffee so that's not a problem ;)

 

3. Eat breakfast every morning.

 

For over a year now I have been doing this usually it's a protein shake on its own or with some eggs whites and toast.

 

4. Switch from white bread to brown bread. 

 

Rob and I have been doing this for years.

 

5.  Avoid refined white pasta. 

 

I have been eating either rice pasta or whole wheat pasta.

 

6. Get up from my desk and walk around for five minute a day.

 

I am a waitress so that's not a problem.  At work I usually walk 12000 to 18000 steps a day.

 

7. Do my own housework instead of hiring it out.

 

I wish!!!  Rob and I do our own house work.

 

8. Exercise for five minutes a day. 

 

I like to exercise and to this a lot. 

 

9.  Join an exercise group or gym.

 

I have been a member of gym for over 5 years now.

 

10. sign up for a community or charity walk/race.

 

I have 10 races under my belt to date.

 

I am off to a good start.  There is 100 and 10 are already part of my lifestyle. 

 

 

I will keep you posted about the book when I finished it. 

 

This week I started going back to the gym.   I haven't been going consistently for the past two months.   So far this week I  have been 4 times.  I decided to go for 30 minutes a day to get back in the habit again.   For the next six weeks I am running one day and weight lifting the next.  Taking Saturday off as rest day and practicing yoga on Sundays.   Even if the scale is not budging exercise is something good for my body and for my mind.  

 

Next week for my mini goal is to focus on, Eating protein at every meal.

 

Thanks for reading!  What small changes have you made in your life to make you healthier?