If I am going to be completely honest, I am sure that you are getting an overload from everyone in the health and fitness industry about setting your New Year’s resolution goals.
I know.
I have been in the industry, and for years, I have been front in center telling you how I am going to help you shed those stubborn pounds this year, once and for all.
This year, things have changed. Yes, I am a nutrition specialist and a fitness instructor. But something inside of me has changed. Something deep down in my soul. This has not happened over night. This was and is a progression of change. I am your biggest cheerleader on your path to health, but this year, I am taking you on a different road to get there.
We all know what we should be eating and what we should be doing. So then, why are we not doing it? Why do 44% of Americans’ New Year’s resolutions have something to do with weight and exercise?
Here is why.
We are not dealing with our insides. We are so focused on changing how we look with a “New Year, New You” approach that we are not dealing with what is going inside of our bodies — not just physically, but emotionally and mentally. We are not dealing with the real issues, and we are putting a band aid on the problem in changing our eating habits and adding a new exercise routine for a few weeks — or maybe even months.
I would love to give you an easy remedy to help you lose the weight, once and for all, but I would not be telling you anything you likely already don’t know.
You know if you eat healthy and exercise, the weight will come off, right? What you might not know though is that your body will believe what your mind tells it. If you tell yourself that you can’t, you won’t. If you tell yourself you always will deal with eating emotionally, you will. If you tell yourself working out is not your thing, it won’t be. If you keep saying things are not ever going to change for you, they never will.
Your thoughts have power — so much power that you probably don’t and maybe will never understand it. That is, until you want to understand. If you want to change, you will. If you want to live healthier, you can. If you believe it, you can do it. If you want to feel happiness more than sadness, you will. It starts within.
You don’t need a new you or a new year to start living your most authentic life. You need to change your mindset, and you need to change it today.
You are going to be uncomfortable. You are going to want to go back to living in the fear you are creating for yourself because you know the fear. Your known fear is more comfortable to you than living in the unknown of stepping out of your comfort zone.
Imagine, though, what one small step out of the comfort zone could possibly do for you. Imagine waking up excited for the day. Imagine not having to think about food so much. Imagine not having to stress about exercise. Imagine a life where you’re completely and totally content as to where you are and what you are doing. Can you see it? Can you feel it? Can you believe it?
It takes practice to start living with the freedom of letting go of fear. It takes a lot of discipline, but it can be done. With small steps each day in the right direction, anything is possible.
Today, you must first believe in yourself. You must tell yourself you can do it. You will do it. You are worth it. You must learn to release any negative thoughts that are holding you back.
You have to control the words, the people and the situations that you let in your heart. If they are not serving you, you must let go. You can honor hurt, but don’t sit in it. Feel it, then release it.
By letting go and becoming more content with who you are inside, you will stop seeking happiness in the next diet or workout fad that might cross your feed this month.
“Be light, see light” are the words that I want you to start with this month. When bad thoughts creep in, redirect yourself to “be light, see light,” and you slowly will notice those negative words or thoughts will have less and less power over you before, one day, vanishing and leaving room for the good that you deserve in your life.
We rise by lifting others. Cheers!
Addie Graffin is a freelance columnist and blogger based in Platteville, Wis. Read more at www.HealthyHairdresserAddie.com.
