New Year, New Life

Along with everyone else, I am trying to incorporate new changes into my life for a healthier spirit, mind and body. At first I was going to give up alcohol, bread, all refined sugar and anything with fat in it. As I began to deny myself the first week of my newfound life, I started to feel miserable. I was craving many of those things I was used to eating. Thank God I talked to the fitness director at one of my yoga teaching venues. She told me to give up one thing at a time or I would most definitely feel miserable. So...instead of incorporating too many changes at once, I decided to cut out alcohol and refined sugar the month of January. I allow myself some dark chocolate covered almonds when I have the urge to eat something decadent. I don't really have a hard time giving up sweets because my craving is more in the bread and cheese line, but it does help to really put a halt on most sugar because as we know, it is void of any nutrition and stores as fat.

The point of giving something up is that you begin to lose your craving for it, so you will start to eat/drink less of that thing. After a month or so, it just doesn't taste as good as you thought it did. At the same time, it helps to increase your physical activity and drink more water so your body can shed some of the pounds you are planning to lose.

I love stories about people who have lost weight. They are inspiring to me. It's all about your will and discipline, but it is very beneficial to have someone supporting you emotionally while you're attempting to make changes. Here's a story about one lad who lost over 127 pounds just by cutting back, moving more and making the necessary changes for dropping weight. He doesn't even look like the same person now. I think once you see results from your lifestyle change, you are motivated to keep it up because you just feel better and life gets more fun.

If you are trying to lose weight, I want to encourage you to incorporate small, reasonable changes that you can stick with. For me, I can give up the alcohol as long as I can have a sandwich when I'm hungry. Your body needs to feel satisfied before you can forget about food and wine for a while. And remember, you are not alone! There are many of us out there who want to improve our health and we all do it best one baby step at a time.

Blessings to you for great health and good luck with all your 2010 goals!