Thursday, January 23, 2014

Five Steps To Help You Start Over

We have just begun a new year and most people have made goals they want to accomplish during 2014. When a new year comes in it seems like it's a good time to "start over" and begin to do something different or new. One of the most recognized goals people have is to get healthy and lose weight. I want to share with you 5 steps that I am implementing on my journey to living healthy; I hope these steps can help you on yours also.

The first step is making a choice. You have to choose to start this journey. This is important because by making a choice you recognize this journey will have ups and downs but you have decided to work through those. This step is more of an intentional way to have a positive mindset during the process.

The second step is to make a plan. Planning helps you to have specifics available that will help you to stay on track. By having a plan it can help to stop some of the "unknowns" from happening. I want to put a warning here. Please don't get stuck in the planning phase. It has happened to me; I planned and planned and didn't "do" (take action).

The third step is to start implementing your plan. You may start off with small steps but it is a step in the right direction. A small step could be to buy more vegetables and stop drinking soda. When implementing your plan be careful not to start off with unrealistic goals because you may over stretch yourself and get overwhelmed; this could possibly cause you to give up.

The fourth step is to find a system that will help you track your progress. One of the purposes of tracking your progress is so you can see and recognized your changes which will help keep you motivated on continuing your journey. Some of the systems you can use to help track your progress are My Fitness Pal, Weight Watchers, Spark People, your doctor, a weight loss clinic, etc..... Warning: Sometimes when you accomplish these goals you will want to reward yourself. I would not recommend you reward yourself with food. If your trying to stop overeating rewarding yourself with food can become a habit of eating every time something good happens.

The fifth step is very important; get an accountability partner or coach. During a portion of my journey I had a couple of friends I was accountable to but sometimes a friend can be very restrictive or too lenient. Unless you are led to be answerable to that person you may have to look outside your immediate circle of friends because sometimes friends or family may not understand your struggles. Now please don't get me wrong you NEED friends and family support during this process but they may not be the best accountability coach.

A bonus step is to find (seek) resources that will help you on your journey; be proactive! You can find these resources either online, through your circle of friends (relationships), or by another avenue. But remember your journey is your journey. No one can do it for you but if you need help please ask for it! Sharon

Additional Info:
 
You can follow this blog by e-mail so when new entries are posted you be notified. 

I will be continually updating this blog in January so please be patient with me during this process.

Any questions or concerns you have can be e-mailed to healthylivinginsideout@gmail.com; I most likely will change this in the future but for now send all inquiries here. 

Please feel free to comment on posts but if you are disrespectful or out of order you will be blocked from making comments on this blog.

Thanks again,  Sharon

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Updates - People weight loss journeys that was featured in the newsletter.

I just wanted to make a quick post regarding the people who were featured in 2013 newsletters.  I will be posting updates to their journeys during the months they were featured.  So in February, March, and April be ready to see those updates on Catrina, Nicole, and myself.
Thanks, Sharon

Additional Info:

You can follow this blog by e-mail so when new entries are posted you be notified. 

I will be continually updating this blog in January so please be patient with me during this process.

Any questions or concerns you have can be e-mailed to healthylivinginsideout@gmail.com; I most likely will change this in the future but for now send all inquiries here. 

Please feel free to comment on posts but if you are disrespectful or out of order you will be blocked from making comments on this blog.

Thanks again,  Sharon


Saturday, January 11, 2014

Welcome to the Living Healthy Inside and Out blog!

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my blog! People that personal know me may have come to this site because of the newsletter I write. For those who don't know me I need to give you a little history on how this blog got started.

Year 2012 - I was working a job where I rotate shifts every month and my off days fluctuate. ( I am currently still working that job) I was not in the best of health and I knew that something needed to change. All around me there were people going through all kinds of health problems. It got to a boiling point in December 2012; I was at the point where I needed to do SOMETHING, for myself as well as other people. So I started a healthy living newsletter; now just image a overweight person starting a healthy newsletter! [I will elaborate more on this topic in another post]. I shared this idea with my friend and we prayed about it; with hesitation I started the newsletter. In the beginning it was only for my co-workers but then it grew to other people outside of work who wanted to read it. The name of the newsletter was the "Healthy Living Newsletter".  I was excited about the newsletter, I had my best friend to help me write some of the articles. It was to come out every month, with challenges, prizes, and etc...... Well by the end of the May issue I was so overwhelmed, frustrated, not accountable in my weight loss journey, and so many other emotions that I just stopped the newsletter.

I ended up taking the summer off from doing the newsletter, now this was without explaining anything to the readers about what was going on. By August I begin to regroup and remember why the newsletter was started in the first place. I knew I wanted to start the newsletter back up but I also knew there had to be some changes made. I started making plans for the newsletter and where I wanted it to go. One of the changes was to only publish the newsletter 4 times a year. I wrote a Fall edition newsletter which went out in October 2013, the newsletter apologize to my readers and explained that some changes were in store for the next year. It was basically the same format but a particular article I wrote was a little different from normal. When I started writing this article it was about the benefits of walking but the Holy Spirit led me in a different direction!  The article was called "Succeed or Fail? It's All Up To My Attitude!". Since that newsletter I have felt God leading me in a different direction of what He wanted the newsletter to say.

So January 2014 started getting closer and closer, I still hadn't wrote the next newsletter. I had written the potential outline for the newsletter and what changes I plan to make, but I had not written any of the articles yet!  In December 2013 God started giving me "nuggets" to write about. I noticed the more time I spent with Him the more He put on my heart what needed to be said. All of the topics He put on my heart were not just about food and exercise, but they are about living healthy inside and out! I started feeling a little frustrated again with the newsletter process when I took my concerns to God the word blog came to mind. Now I always knew I would start a blog eventually but I didn't know that it would possibly take the place of the newsletter. Part of the reasoning behind this was because when God puts something on my heart to share I need to share it and waiting 3 months to tell people was too long! So the Living Healthy Inside and Out blog was started! [I will write a later post with more details about the significance of the blog's name] I am hoping you continue with me on this journey. I know this is a change from the newsletter that was previously presented but it is what is needed. I am not without fault so please be forgiving when mistakes happen. I do not have weight loss success yet but I am working toward that goal. This blog will share what God has put on my heart as well as other things that will happen on my journey to living healthy inside & out.

Sharon

Additional Info:

You can follow this blog by e-mail so when new entries are posted you be notified. 

I will be continually updating this blog in January so please be patient with me during this process.

Any questions or concerns you have can be e-mailed to healthylivinginsideout@gmail.com; I most likely will change this in the future but for now send all inquiries here. 

Please feel free to comment on posts but if you are disrespectful or out of order you will be blocked from making comments on this blog.

Thanks again,  Sharon

Monday, January 6, 2014

Living Healthy Inside & Out.....The Beginning Stages

Hi everyone,

I am currently in the stages of setting up this blog. This blog will be about my journey (struggles and triumphs), helpful food tips & tricks, living healthy, mental challenges during the journey (example: self pity ~vs~ humility), and more. I will be posting more details on why the name of this blog is living healthy inside & out. Be prepared for encouragement which hopefully will inspire you to make changes on living healthy inside and out.

Sharon