The Future...

The timing is perfect for this quote.  Especially with a clean new year stretching out ahead of us.

If you want to build the future of your dreams, you have to fake it till you make it every single day. You have to be the person you want to become. So, if you want to be a slim and healthy person full of confidence and joy, you have to take steps daily to reach your goals.

So here we are facing a brand-new year. First of all, we want to do some dreaming. We want to imagine our ideal day one year from now.

Write a letter to yourself describing what your life will look like by the end of the year. Really get into it. Create a picture of the healthy active body that you want. (But make it realistic and age appropriate.)

Imagine what activities you’ll be able to take part in. Imagine what clothes your will be wearing. Imagine the positive healthy people you have attracted into your life.

Okay, now that you know what you want in the future. Let’s figure out what you need to do in the present.

Ask yourself...
- What can I do every day to get the healthy slim body that I want?
- What do slim and healthy people do every day to remain slim and healthy?

You have a full year of actions to do every day to improve your body. So make the actions full of small but powerful changes. Stop thinking in a ‘diet mindset’ with starvation diets and punishing workout routines. You are not a participant on the Biggest Loser.

These small changes in lifestyle work like water on stone. Over time and consistency you will have permanent and sustainable weight loss. You will have the happiness and the confidence your life may be currently lacking.

To create a slim, fit body, you need to establish healthy habits you can do every day. By using a Daily Activities Target sheet. You can make sure you are on track to your goals every day by checking them off.

You will also be able to monitor when your target is unrealistic for you.

For example, you decide that walking an hour per day would get you to your goal faster. But then you start avoiding doing any exercise. You start making excuses to avoid it. An hour just seems too long. It is unsustainable.

Okay, so it’s time to adjust. Take it down to 10 or 15 minutes every day. Before long, with consistency, your walks will get longer naturally. Be kind to yourself but also realistic.

When it comes to food. Make sure you eat your:
·         2 pounds of non-starchy vegetables,
·         1 pound of fresh fruit and
·         at least 1 pound of starches every day.
But some people can’t tolerate eating their food without salt or sugar. Without it, they will develop an all or nothing mentality. They will go totally off the rails with their clean eating plan.

So, know yourself. If you can’t tolerate your oatmeal without a teaspoon of brown sugar, then add the sugar. Or you can’t bear to eat your chili or savory dish without salt. Prepare the recipe without salt and add a little salt to the surface of the food at the table. Or if you can not imagine starting your day without your plain black coffee, have your cup of coffee.

Eventually all these healthy dietary changes will improve your health and bodily functions. Then when you are ready, you can remove the sugar, salt and caffeine. But only when you feel confident you can get rid of them.

You may say to yourself…but it is not perfect. Our goal is not perfection but progress. This way of eating even at 80% perfection is so much better for your health and waistline than the way you used to eat. So, understand your own personal non-negotiables. And then work within that framework to give you the best possible results.

So, if your future depends on what you do in the present, incorporate these small changes every day. Your future will be so much brighter. A year goes by in a blink. Don’t you want to face 2024 looking and feeling so much better than now?

Here’s wishing you a healthy and happy 2023.

You can print off the Target Activities Sheet for free on my website. Here is the link: Free Templates

But better still, get my new 16-week BREAK THE CYCLE WORKBOOK. Which, of course, also has the Target Activities Check sheet at the beginning of every week. Here are the links for Amazon.
USA:  https://amzn.to/3PXhuvB
Canada:  https://amzn.to/3WII6m8
UK: https://amzn.to/3vlbBPr