10 Tips to Get You Excited About Your Health and Wellness Goals

So yes, there are these star clients that I have that are willing to take all of my recommendations I make and they really change their health and their life quickly. But there are also the people who are more resistant. The ones who want to keep the old habits that are holding them back and also want the transformative change. Having a change in your life and change in how you feel requires you to make real change. It comes down to your level of commitment. You can’t have the transformative change in your health, relationships, or career if you’re still holding on to the habits that counter the positive change. You can’t change your gut health if you keep eating processed foods, you can’t change your stress levels if you stay in a toxic relationship, you can’t change your energy levels if you’re not nourishing yourself properly.

I’ve struggled with it all, from weight issues and anxiety to acne and brain fog. I tried all of the crash diets and intense workouts and all of the searchings on the outside and looking to other people for answers never got me anywhere. You DO have the power to create and maintain a healthy lifestyle that your body wants and find results, strength, and happiness if you can get your motivation behind your goals.

1. It all starts with how you talk to yourself.

For me, I always associated health with weight loss. More importantly, I associated my value with weight loss, which was such a problem. Let me tell you more. I used to spend 2+ hours in the gym, telling myself my body was a problem that needed to be fixed. I would do an hour + of intense cardio + an hour with a trainer doing high impact. That would lead me into the rest of the day with low energy and not enough time to get my work done, leaving me overwhelmed and anxious, and emotionally stress-eating. See how my thoughts and self-talk led to negative actions that led me AWAY from my “goals”? When I actually valued myself and my HEALTH rather than my weight, when I changed how I talked to myself, it all changed.

2. Find movement you actually enjoy.

Riffing off of what I said above, when you’re searching for all of the answers outside of yourself, you’re never going to follow through because you don’t believe in it! If you don’t enjoy your workout, you’re going to dread doing it and it won’t be long before you quit altogether. There is no shortness of options out there. Cycling, Pilates, yoga, swimming, hiking, dancing. What do LOVE? You can try so many seven-day free trials, including mine, before you actually commit! Try a bunch. Start small; it doesn’t mean you have to sign your life away to a gym membership or waste all your money. Turn on a podcast and go for a walk. Find what works for your lifestyle and go with it!

3. Bring your friends and family along for the ride!

There is nothing quite like having someone by your side to provide a little extra encouragement and accountability. Power in numbers, am I right?! I think we all excel at things that are challenging when we’re surrounded by people who have like-minded goals. That’s why I love the WBK community so much and the support that lives within our members and the challenges we create. 

Find yourself a friend or a group who is willing to work with you, go to classes, grocery shop, and come up with fun recipes! The goal is, of course, to create accountability, but also to make it more fun! When I first started to eat healthier, I had my best friend, who was a pro by my side, constantly sending me recipes and new veggies I had never had, never thinking it would stick. Now I love sharing healthy recipes with all my family and friends. The accountability and hours of friendship and community play a big role in my health and wellness.

4. Keep it consistent.

Now that you’re talking to yourself with compassion and you have your friends and family on board, find a way to keep your nourishment, some time in your day for your mental health and movement CONSISTENT. That doesn’t mean it has to be the same amount of time every day. Like if you say, “I’m going to work out for an hour every day,” you’ll eventually let yourself down because sometimes we’re more tired, or things come up in our schedules. But if you say, I’m going to move every day even if it’s just 15 minutes, and some days it will be an hour, then you’ll be much more likely to be able to keep the momentum going. Consistent action created consistent results. If you want to see the results internally and externally, you have to create a flexible routine, or rituals I like to call them, that you can count on.

5. Remember that it ALL makes a difference.

Movement, sleep, a stress-relieving routine, and most importantly, properly nourishing your body are all major factors that play into your overall well-being. You can’t JUST change your workout routine if you’re overly stressed, not sleeping, and eating like crap and expect to see any change.

Take some time to take all of these areas of your life into account. How can you improve in each area? Are you sleeping 8 hours? Are you drinking enough water? How about taking time for stillness? Are you moving where you can - taking the stairs instead of the elevator? Having a smoothie with fresh fruit instead of a donut and coffee that are going to spike your blood sugar and crash your adrenals? There are so many small, easy changes you can make in your everyday decisions that will have a major impact. Think of just three things you can commit to this week!

6. What’s on your plate? A huge part of feeling good in your body, in fact, 80% with weight and digestion and energy, comes down to what you’re eating. Are you fueling yourself properly?

I like to do three full meals to keep my blood sugar stable because I find that all-day grazing is awful for my energy levels, and it’s not great for your waistline either - there’s research to back it. Having three real meals that incorporate whole foods and lots of plants helps me keep my blood sugar balanced, my energy strong, and my weight pretty much unchanging.

Knowing this, I like to make veggies and rice, and beans at the beginning of the week, so making healthy meals with all of the proper macros is readily available and easy to do with my busy schedule. You want as many nutrients as possible and more plants mean you’re feeding the good bacteria in your gut!

7. Be realistic with your goals.

It’s time to get to know your body and what you’re dealing with. If you’re feeling low energy, or like you can’t lose weight or like your skin won’t clear up, maybe there’s something deeper you need to get to the root cause of? I know there was for me. There are a ton of lab tests you can run with your doctor to see what’s going on, and I give you all of my recs based on your symptoms in the WBK course.

While knowing your hormones values is important to understand what movement and diet are right for you, you can also tap into your intuition for this. When I was doing all of that high-intensity workout stuff 2 X / day, my body was holding on to weight. As soon as I stepped onto my mat, lowered the impact and my stress, my body started responding SO MUCH DIFFERENTLY than it ever did throughout my years of running on a treadmill to burn calories. I started seeing definitions in muscles and leaning out in areas I never thought I could tighten up. I was stronger both mentally and physically. What habits can you let go of to create space for the new ones?

8. Let go of the comparison.

What I tell my clients time and time again is that we are all made differently. And that’s beautiful!!  Know yourself for who YOU are, what YOUR goals are, and compare yourself only with YOURSELF. I said it before and I’ll say it again, all the answers are within you, don’t search outside yourself for who you should be.

Comparison is the thief of joy. If you find yourself feeling like crap when you look at your Instagram, maybe it’s time to delete certain accounts that make you feel that way and find more that are more body positive or reinforce the goals you’re trying to meet!

You have to identify your goals first and then stay in your own lane. You can break them down, so they’re specific, measurable, realistic, and have a time date to them. Know where your resistance might come up so you can get through it.

9. Listen to your body.

Your body will tell you what it needs, so as you move through this journey, take the time to listen to it. I have learned SO much about awareness through my meditation practice, where I used to just push my body through everything. Every single day is going to be different. That means what you need and how your body feels will be too.

Some days you’re more stressed, or your workout harder, or you’re at the end of your cycle and need rest. The next, you might feel super energized, be craving a salad, and feel like you can take on the world. You might crave fruit, or you might need protein. It’s all ok. It’s balance. Your body craves things for a reason. So listen to it. Don’t sweat the small stuff. If you follow the 80/20 rule and are consistent 80% of the time, be gracious and give your body what it needs.

10.  Let go of the all-or-nothing mindset.

You’ve got to give yourself flexibility and grace. You’re in this for the long haul! It’s not a cleanse or a one-week thing. See your progress through your little wins and even if you take two steps forward and one step back, that’s still progress and you should celebrate it!

If you set a big goal, know it will take a couple of setbacks before you get there. If you’re going to try something new, you’re not going to be an expert right away. Get back up when you fall, it’s not always going to be rainbows and sunshine, but when you offer yourself compassion in the tough moments, you’ll absolutely be able to make this a lifestyle.

I hope this helps you to get behind YOUR wellness goals. When you come from a place of love, anything is possible. Rather than punishing yourself to “get skinny,” celebrate your victories on the path to getting HEALTHY, no matter how big or small.

X

Kelley