Start Somewhere!
Right about now is when most of us start to fritter away our best intentions brought about by our New Years resolutions. We dedicate the new year to weight loss, increased exercise, decreased stress, and a positive attitude.
Most of us lose interest in these efforts fairly quickly or we never really make the initial effort to begin with. Often, these best intentions don't reappear until the next new year.
If you fall into this category, don't despair; you're NOT alone! We are all very, very busy: we work, we go to school, we raise kids, we run errands, attend meetings, pay bills, and support our communities. We have very little time and by the end of the day we are very tired... and we're certainly not made of money!
However, it becomes more and more difficult getting through our busy days if we don't take a minimum amount of time each day to improve our physical and mental health. Make no mistake about it: paying attention to our mental and physical wellness is as important as breathing, getting up in the morning, and paying taxes.
So let's talk about how we can accomplish some simple but vitally important wellness goals:
#1. START SOMEWHERE
If you haven't exercised for a while, just start somewhere. Stand up and sit down 10 times. Slowly walk three times up and down a flight of stairs. Get up and walk around during commercials. Do a few toe touches, back bends and knee bends just a couple minutes before you go to bed and when you wake up.
More simple ideas:
Park a little farther away. Take a few more steps everyday. Take a little walk after dinner. If it's cold, dark, or rainy...no problem; turn the TV on and walk in place for a few minutes. I have a patient that eats dinner, then watches Wheel of Fortune. While watching, she walks in place and takes a sit-down break during commercials. The main idea... JUST MOVE MORE!
#2. THE WEIGHT GAME
Weight loss is almost completely a function of one concept: Calorie Control. You cannot lose weight until you decrease your calorie intake. Start somewhere: Take bread out of your diet. Decrease or eliminate all soda (diet or otherwise). Drink water and plenty of it- (Rule of Thumb: drink half your body weight in ounces per day). Try less helpings per meal. Try to avoid eating food from boxes or packaging. Most importantly: Keep a food journal and write down every morsel of food. Check it every night. You'll be surprised by how much you actually eat. These are just simple steps to get you started on a more meaningful weight loss program.
#3. THINK HAPPY. BE HAPPY.
Think happy thoughts: try to go to bed and wake up with as many happy and positive feelings you can. In fact, before bed, steal a note page from your food journal and write down 3 things you were grateful for that day. Remind yourself, amongst the chaos of the day, your spilled coffee, the sick kiddos, of three tiny little items that you have to be thankful for. They can be that even though you were stuck in traffic for 35 minutes, you avoided an accident or maybe you did your hair for the first time this week, no matter how big or small, allowing yourself time to reflect on the good is proven to help create a more positive outlook in your mind. And if stress is a problem, start to identify those stressors in you life and plan on getting a handle on them, and quickly. Stress is a notorious contributor of weight gain.
Now that you've started somewhere, start to formulate a PLAN...a plan you can stick with and a plan that works with your lifestyle. Contact your chiropractor or personal trainer and start putting together a formal plan of action and stick to it! If time is a problem or if money is a problem, don't worry. All you need is a piece of paper, a floor, a yoga mat, an exercise ball and a little determination.
So in order to experience the elation of better wellness:
Start Somewhere!
Start Now!
Keep it Simple!
Keep it Cheap!
Keep a Journal!
Keep Moving!
Keep a plan and stick to it!
Call you Chiropractor or Personal Trainer for help and/or support!
At Anderson Bauman Chiropractic, we spend most of our days putting together wellness plans for our patients. And we can do it for you too. Call us today. It's fun! It's easy! It works!
And if all else fails remember,
Start Somewhere!
