Getting Healthy-Choose Progress Over Perfection

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I can’t say that I am excelling at any area in my life right now. However, I can say I’m really NOT excelling with taking care of myself.

Although I know what I need to do, I have not put into practice those things that will make me healthier and give me more energy. You know, things like eating whole foods, cutting out sugar, and exercising more.

I have been so discouraged lately because I have once again let my weight get out of control. It’s not just my weight, though. I know I’m not as healthy as I should be. While my energy has been increasing lately, I know it could be better. And, I don’t rest as well as I could at night.

For the last few weeks I have been thinking about what I need to become healthier. I have to say “become healthier” because I don’t think I’ve ever been truly healthy. Even when I weighed 110 pounds in high school and college. I ate all manner of junk food and was blessed to have a high metabolism. Thanks to 18 1/2 years of marriage and 2 kids, I no longer have that high metabolism!

I’ve thought about joining a popular weight loss program, trying a diet that requires you to eat certain foods in specific ways, or participating in a program that provides ready-to-eat meals.

None of those options sound reasonable to me, though. I feel like if I join a program just to lose weight, I may lose the weight but I may not adopt a healthier lifestyle. If I get caught up in the weight loss, I’m going to lose out on the benefit of changing the way I eat and move for life.

I need to make lifestyle changes, not just diet changes. As I said above, I know what I need to do. But the first thing I need to do is realize that progress is more important than perfection. If I focus on just losing weight or obsess over counting calories, I’ll miss out on reaching the goal.

So, in order to pursue progress over perfection, I’ve come up with the following steps I’m going to take to move me closer to a healthier lifestyle:

1. Record what I eat

One of the best strategies I’ve heard, and used before, for losing weight is writing down everything I eat. When I write down what I eat each day, I can see immediately what kinds of foods I’m lacking and where I’m choosing less healthy foods.

Whenever I’ve consistently logged what I ate, I have always lost weight. I use the app called Lose It to log my food. It helps me to keep up with calories and nutrients that I take in.

So, my first step in becoming healthy is to record what I eat.

2. Choose healthier foods

Recording what I eat will be helpful, but if all I’m eating is junk food, I’m not going to see many results. Choosing healthier foods will make all the difference.

I need to be able to make a permanent lifestyle change, so I’m not going to follow some fad diet to lose weight. Incorporating more healthy foods over a period of time is the way I’m going to go.

3. Take vitamins and supplements

Currently I’m using products by Plexus. I’m on my fourth month with them and honestly have not seen a ton of results like others have seen.

If you’re not familiar with Plexus, let me explain. Plexus offers supplements that are supposed to aid in weight loss and promote a healthier body.

I use Slim, BioCleanse, and ProBio 5 to help curb my appetite and cleanse my digestive system. Even though I’ve seen no weight loss and no loss in inches, I have seen an uptick of energy and a definite decrease in my desire for sweets.

I believe if I keep taking these supplements I will eventually lose the weight. Since being on Plexus, I’ve had very few diet sodas and there are some foods I can no longer eat because they hurt my stomach or just don’t taste good to me.

4. Exercise on a consistent basis

I don’t have a ton of time to set aside to exercise. So, because I want to participate in more distance races, I’m going to start walking more.

Ideally I’d like to walk 4-5 days a week, but progress for me will be starting with 2-3 and working up to more days.

Also, I know strength training is important. Again, because I don’t have much time to exercise, i bought some workout DVDs that last only 10 minutes. I can find 10 minutes a day to get stronger.

My #1 goal is to get healthy. The by-product of that will be weight loss. So, my weight loss goal is to lose 40-50 pounds. I’m not sure what a realistic goal weight is for me. Losing 50 pounds will put me at my pre-pregnancy weight 17 years ago.

If you’re trying to pursue a healthier lifestyle I encourage you to start small and pursue progress over perfection. Celebrate each small win…those times when you choose an apple over a cookie or when you choose to go for a walk instead of surfing the web for an hour.

I know it’s possible to be healthy. It just takes time, determination, and patience to get there.