Getting Started with diet and health

HEALTHY REVOLUTION...GETTING STARTED

I get people asking me all the time what I did in order to change my habits and lose all the excess weight I did.

If they're looking for advice they can follow at home for themselves, they generally don't like the answer:
*It was a lot of hard work
* There are no easy answers or quick fixes
*You'll have to change almost everything in your life.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves!

Anything worth doing is worth doing well, and it's also going to carry a certain amount of difficulty. And it's really not as dire as all that.

I began my nearly 2 year journey to improved health (which I am still on and excited about today) after I hit an emotional brick wall with health problems.

I had allowed my physical problems to escalate to a point that my life was endangered (more on that later,) and I no longer had health care providers to rely on.

I was alone, defeated, angry, and scared out of my mind. And then in my breakdown, a tremendous realization occurred to me.

I am responsible for my own well being in every respect.

That might seem ridiculously simplistic and evident, but it was a newsflash to me! I had done what I had been trained to do in this country; not worry about my health until there was a problem, and then try and 'fix' the existing problem.

I had also listened to the voices of people who would tell me I was not important enough to be cared for because of my income level, my mental difficulties, and my sexual identity. But the time had come to stop listening to others and start being bold and decisive in my approach to caring for self.

I was interested in the cause and effect of what was going into my body and what the consequent problems were. I became aware that mood and energy and stomach and tiredness are all related to what substances I put into my body. (As well as what thoughts I put in my mind, the people I surround myself with, etc.)

But it starts small. I found that concentrating on specific little changes, incrementally, allows me time to adjusted to the psychological aversion to change and get acclimated.

This way a lifestyle change is more likely to stick and not become just another passing fad. If you whelm yourself and your body and your brain with all the changes at once, you'll likely burn out. On the other hand, if you are changing diet and lifestyle as a result of impending health crises, then sudden change will definitely have the most impact.

It is slow going. The two weeks it took me to ween off of sugar seemed like years!

The first month or drastic changes where I lost NO weight at all were extremely difficult to stay focused and dedicated. The very slow weight loss at first was unrewarding and frustrating.

You have to remember what you're working for.

You have to keep a vision of where you want to be.

You have to remember that you are doing this for your own benefit, NOT as a punishment or to deny yourself something.

You have to be in the right place mentally in order for this to work.

Loving yourself and wanting to be your own heroic defender has to be part of the plan.
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