I don’t think that there is a single person in the world who always wants to exercise and always wants to eat healthy. Sometimes daily life, daily stress and everything else can make us feel unmotivated or too tired to make time for exercise.
Believe me when I say that I’ve also felt a little of this these days and lately it’s been happening a little more than usual. So I’ve found a few tricks that work really well to help keep me motivated and on track with my fitness goals! This is also one of the reasons that I’m so excited about my upcoming challenge group, the Make It Happen Challenge! This will be the perfect way to stay on track during busy days and upcoming holiday meals!
For me exercise is one of my solutions for more energy, better moods, feeling better, being more relaxed and keeping my heart and muscles healthy.
Let me share my top tips to keep or find your workout mojo!
1. Don’t think about the struggle or how hard it is during the workout. Just think about how good you’ll feel when you’re finished.
2. Take action – just get up and get moving!
3. Decide that you will do at least 5 minutes, then at the 5 minute mark re-evaluate how you feel. More than likely you’ll keep going and finish the workout!
4. Start the day in your workout clothes or change into them as soon as you get home.
5. Create a playlist that motivates you and gets you going.
6. Take screen shots of motivational images with your phone or tablet and use these images to keep you going. Print some of these pictures and hang them up too.
7. Find exercise that you enjoy doing and that keeps you excited. Variety is sometimes good!
8. Invest in a new gadget that motivates you to move. It’s fun to track steps and monitor heart rate.
9. Buy some cute workout clothes! When we feel cute, we feel better.
10. Write down your workouts on the calendar just like an appointment & keep your appointment!
11. Get a partner (or partners!) to keep you motivated and encouraged even on the days you don’t feel like exercise.
I’m sure you guys guessed it already, but tip number 11 is one of my favorites! And one of the reasons that I became a Coach! Supporting others and encouraging others while they support and encourage me makes all of our health journeys that much easier!
I had made plans today to share my meal plan for this week along with a new recipe…but something more important has been pressing on my heart.
Sometimes the truth stings a little. And sometimes it takes a little tough love from family to finally make me say that enough is enough. And it’s time for me to share what truths are currently giving me a sting.
You guys know me, you all know that I’ve been a pharmacist for over 9 years. I’m responsible for ensuring that I help my patients be as healthy as possible. I’m also a pharmacy team leader responsible for the day to day work flow and metrics of a retail pharmacy while ensuring that my technicians are being supported. I also became a health and wellness coach a little over 2 years ago to help support and encourage others on their health journey by sharing my own journey “out loud” on social media.
These 2 roles, the pharmacist role and the health coach role, give me the opportunity to share health tips, health topics, exercise tips, my favorite workouts and anything else that I think might be helpful to you all. And I do. I share all of these tips along with lots of motivational quotes.
Here’s the stinging truth…the truth that I’m struggling with now…everything that I stand for should be front and center in my own life.
I have not been taking some of my own advice to heart, nor have I been following some of my own advice.
I try my hardest to stay positive, see the best in each situation and keep moving forward. Some days this is a real struggle.
I’ll start with the things that I DO follow – I eat healthy and clean at least 80% of the time and I exercise at least 6 days per week. I’ve got these 2 habits down! I also read or listen to some type of personal development each day. I’m also plugged into a challenge group that I host each month for daily support with my health and fitness journey.
Here’s where I get a little off track. I’m just going to lay it all out there, get it off my chest then tell you guys what my next steps are.
- I don’t sleep enough at all during the week.
- I don’t eat enough at all during the days that I work because my store is crazy busy - literally all of the time.
- I don’t manage my stress well at all. I’m the type of person that internalizes everything. I try to sort through, cope with and deal with everything on my own.
- I worry too much about what others think of me as a person, what my boss thinks of my work performance, what you all think of my Coaching adventure, what my customers think of me as a pharmacist, and on and on.
- I’m overwhelmed with my job and work required. So much to the point that I’m unhealthy because of the stress that I’ve allowed to build over the last two years.
- I don’t always have energy.
- I don’t always enjoy my day.
- I’m not always optimistic.
I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’m sharing all of these far from perfect things. There are a few things that I know for sure. A few things that I’ve decided are holding me back and keeping me stuck. Striving for perfection is a horrible way to live, worrying to the point of exhaustion is a horrible way to live, being fearful of failing is a horrible way to live and being stressed to the max without doing anything about it is a horrible way to live.
Sharing my story and sharing my struggles will help me heal. If I tell you all about what I’m going through, this will make me do something about it all.
By sharing this story, I also know that there’s one person who’s feeling this same way right now and going through at least one of these struggles and would love to know that they aren’t alone.
You’re not alone.
Now I’ll share with you my game plan. I’m a thinker and planner.
I’m the first person to say, if you’re not happy, make some changes. But this is another piece of my own advice that I’m not following.
So - now – it’s time – changes will be made – across the board in every area of my life.
This is where I’ll share my tips with you guys. (These are the tips that I’m reminding myself of each day)
1. Reconnect to your why
2. Recommit to your goals
3. Recommit to your health and happiness
4. Just make it happen
Today I’ve spent time reflecting on why I became a pharmacist and why I became a health and wellness coach. I’ve reconnected to my why. I’ve recommitted to my health, myself and my success. I’ve recommitted to taking steps each day to be the healthiest and happiest I’ve ever been. I’m taking back control. I’m also one who jumps in all the way, so I’ll be tackling a few of my issues all at once – my environment, my sleep habits and my stress control.
The next step will be taking care of the overwhelm that I’m feeling in my environment at work and at home. Our physical environments have such an effect on our calmness, our creativity and our stress levels. Cleaning out, reorganizing and minimizing are much needed in both areas. I spend almost as much time at work as I do at home, so I’m going to be sure that both environments are as calm as possible.
I’m also going to begin taking my daily sleep habits more seriously. I know darn well that sleep is one of the most important parts of being healthy, but I don’t know why I can’t get myself on track. I’m beginning tonight and will work myself up to at least 7 hours of sleep.
Now, on to my stress control plan. This is going to be the most difficult of all for me to actually stick to. I’m going to schedule into each day at least 30 minutes to sit and read in quiet. This will be the perfect time for me to actually finish a complete personal development book! I’m going to begin taking time to do more of what I enjoy – researching health topics to share with you all, spending time with my family, spending time with Burney because he’s one of the most entertaining people I know, crafting a little, shooting more and practicing my skills teaching PiYo.
I’ve shared this with you all because I know that I’m not alone in these feelings of overwhelm, frustration and stalling out. And now that I’ve said this all out loud to you, I’m accountable to my own promises.
This journey back to myself won’t be easy. But getting back to myself is all that will help me solve these feelings. Taking back control of my life and my physical and emotional health must be a priority.
We each must make ourselves a priority.
Busy, stressful, hectic days at the pharmacy always remind me how much simple nutrition changes that I made a few years ago have helped my energy levels. As a pharmacist, I work 12 hour shifts and it is VERY common for me to not have lunch until at least 3:00 in the afternoon with no breaks during the day. This work schedule motivates me to eat as healthy as I can each day so that I can have as much energy as possible and feel better throughout the day.
A few years ago, I lived (when I say lived, I literally mean lived) off of low fat, non-fat and sugar free junk. And I remember think that I was eating “healthy” foods because we’re always told on the package and in advertising that it’s healthy and good for us. But I never felt good. I would crave the sugary and salty foods. My days at work were spent snacking on processed “health” food that caused me to have a huge sugar high, then crash shortly afterwards. This of course, led to a vicious cycle of snacking on processed foods throughout the day so that I would have barely enough energy to make it a few more hours before I had to snack again for another sugar rush. What I didn’t know then was that these processed foods were so far from healthy!
I remember the night that I finally decided my health and energy were too important and that enough was enough. I knew then that I should FEEL better and have more energy because I was only in my early 30’s! A few years ago, I committed to learning about foods, processed foods and how I could help myself more. This is when I committed to limiting processed foods and committed to eating clean foods as least 80% (usually 90%) of the time.
Now, let’s talk for a minute about processed foods.
What are processed foods?
The short answer – they aren’t really food at all – simple as that! Processed foods are anything that have been altered from their natural state. Boxed, packaged, frozen “meals”, basically the foods in the middle of the grocery stores. And many times, processed foods have been processed so much that they are hardly food at all! That’s a bit scary, right?!?
How are they made?
Companies use chemicals AND heat to process the foods.
By the time they are finished with processing most of the processed foods…nutrients are basically gone and what was once food is no longer nutritious or healthy.
THEN after the processing, they add flavorings, sweeteners, chemicals, etc to make the stuff taste like food!
When we eat processed foods, our bodies aren’t getting any nutrition from what we’ve eaten --- then we crave MORE and more.
As a country, we’re undernourished and overfed!
-- Undernourished because of the lack of nutrients in processed foods
-- Overfed - we’re so often feeling hungry and craving more food because we’ve not absorbed any nutrition from the processed foods that we’ve eaten.
After learning all of these things – I was even more committed to limiting processed foods at least 80% of the time. For me, living 100% unprocessed is unreasonable, so I’m happy and feel great with my commitment to eat clean 80%-90% of the time.
NOW, let me share with you a list that I refer to often to remind myself WHY I committed to limiting processed foods.
This list tells exactly what processed foods will do to our bodies! And this list will probably motivate you as well to make a few changes.
1. Processed foods are highly addictive. Our bodies process these “fake” foods differently and the foods cause an excess production of the brain chemical dopamine. Dopamine causes you to feel pleasure which in turn causes you to crave and want more junk foods.
2. Processed foods contain phosphates that can destroy organs & bones. Phosphates are additives used to improve taste, texture and shelf life.
3. Fresh foods are actually cheaper than processed foods.
4. Processed foods cause chronic inflammation. Studies continue to show that refined sugars, processed flours, vegetable oils and many other ingredients cause inflammation. Inflammation is a natural process of the body and is the immune systems solution to protect areas that are injured. Chronic ingestion of processed foods leads to overstimulation of the immune system, chronic inflammation and damage to healthy tissues.
5. Processed foods ruin digestion. Because they have been stripped of their natural fibers, enzymes, vitamins and other nutrients, they will cause harm in the digestive system. Processed foods throw our internal ecosystem off balance and deplete the good bacteria in our gut.
6. Processed foods destroy your mind. Studies have linked chronic consumption of processed foods with brain “fog”, difficulty concentrating and difficulty thinking normally. Nutrient-dense whole foods can help level out your moods, sustain energy levels and leave you feeling more calm.
7. Processed foods are loaded with genetically-modified organisms.
8. Processed foods are loaded with pesticides. Even breakfast cereals have been shown to have pesticide chemicals.
9. Processed foods are not actually food. Your body will still be hungry and will gain NO nutrients from the processed foods.
10. Processed foods are loaded with sugars or artificial sweeteners to help the taste of the product. Once food has been processed and all the actual food, nutrients & fat removed, there isn’t much flavor left – so companies have to add sweeteners back in to help the food be more palatable.
How does all of this change my energy levels??
By nourishing my body with actual nutrients from fresh foods and healthy proteins, I’m supplying my body with food that it can digest and use for constant, steady energy throughout the day. I’m helping to keep my blood sugar levels steady by always combining a healthy complex carbohydrate with a lean protein with each meal or snack to give me quick energy and then a lasting energy supply so that my blood sugar stays steady. I’m also ensuring that I’m supplying my body with the nutrients, vitamins, minerals and enzymes that it requires by drinking Shakeology each day. This clean, whole food nutritional supplement gives me all the vitamins, minerals, superfoods, enzymes and probiotics that I need to thrive and feel my best each day.
This is what I know for sure.
We all require healthy nutrition. Processed foods do not supply our bodies with healthy nutrition. Processed foods cause so much more harm than good. Dieting is hard and usually unhealthy.
I struggled for TOO MANY YEARS with my weight and awful energy levels. And I’ve finally found a balance that works for me and helps me feel my best.
As a pharmacist, each day I see exactly the side effects when nutrition and exercise are not priorities. Talk about daily motivation!
As a health and wellness Coach, I have the privilege of sharing my journey and knowledge to encourage and inspire you to live your healthiest!
