In order to be healthy, we must make a conscious decision. Being healthy will not happen if you don’t take ownership of your health.
We often think that signing up for a program or hiring a trainer is the solution to our health and fitness struggles.
While both are wonderful tools to help you reach your goals – YOU still have to take ownership of your health and do the work.
You still have to prepare healthy meals even when you are busy, go for a walk or run even when it is cold outside, and do the push-ups while your family watches tv.
If you find yourself blaming the diet or coach or other external circumstances for your failures, you are not taking responsibility to figure problems out on your own.
Just like we cannot rely on other people and things to make us happy, we cannot rely on other people or things to reach goals for us. You must take ownership of your own health.
How to take ownership of your health:
- Remember that you have choices.
- You get to choose when you exercise and for how long you exercise.
- You decide whether you are going to exercise at home or at a gym, inside or outside.
- You pick what kind of exercise you do. Do you like working out in a large group, small group, or on your own?
- You get to decide what you want to work on.
- You choose what to eat or not eat.
- You set your schedule (for the most part).
- Remember WHY you want to be healthy.
- To play with your kids or grandkids
- To be able to complete a walk to see something special
- To increase your breathing capacity
- To lose weight
- To get stronger
- To maintain independence
- You have the power to monitor your exertion
- If you need to go slower, slow down
- If you need to push more, do it
- Trust yourself and listen to your body and what it needs
- Take breaks and rest as needed
- Be realistic
- Don’t try to do it all. Pick something you want to focus on whether exercise, food, rest, or water intake. Pick one and start there.
- Know that setbacks will happen and decide beforehand what you will do when they occur.
- Quitting things cold-turkey is hard. Be gentle and give yourself some grace. Remind yourself why you’ve created the goal or boundary.
Having a program that works for you and guides you in how to do that hard work can be a big help. If YOU want to do the work, comment below with an 💪 emoji. You got this!
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