“No more diet games. I just want to FEEL better!”
This is the comment I hear most often in conversation with moms who are trying to make changes in their health or overall lifestyle. My first advice? Start by starting.
What if you started by STOPPING the obsession about weight loss, STOPPING attempts to “have it all” and just thought about your wellness as a whole? What can we actually do to FEEL better? Once we FEEL well so many of the other areas start to fall into place.
We’re now well into the new year. Statistically, most of our vague resolutions have failed. We’ve stopped and returned back to the comfortable place we know of habit. A common resolution is to “lose weight”. Our issue with weight and our poor habits are generally connected to our mind and emotions (perhaps even more than how we were raised or our genetics).
We eat when we’re happy.
We eat when we’re sad.
We eat when we gather.
We eat when we’re bored.
We are busy and choose empty calories, fast food or caffeine because we think that will give us the boost.
How You Feel Matters!
Instead of focusing on weight loss, working out, or looking perfect, let’s change the conversation into a mindful one of whole wellness and how you FEEL after the choices you make:
- What do FEEL like after eating certain foods?
- What do you FEEL like when you are inactive? How about after some exercise?
- What do you FEEL like after a glass of wine? What happens if that turns into four or five glasses?
- How do you FEEL after watching a comedy versus a crime drama?
- How do you FEEL when you spend time with certain people?
- How do you FEEL after you read, listen to a podcast, or attend a church?
- How do you FEEL when you clean up the kitchen counter?
Think about who or what is helping you to FEEL that you are in a state of whole wellness. All of those things are your choices and yours alone, and every single one of them has an effect on your wellness. You decide what you put in your body, what makes up your physical surroundings, how you move, and with whom you spend time. Only you know how each of those make you FEEL.
Better Whole Health
Each one of the “little” choices throughout the day really can add up. What it adds up to is better whole health: mental, physical, and spiritual health. That’s holistic health. When we are making small choices that support our whole self FEELING well, we literally begin to shift into true lifestyle change and THAT is what we need. We need it more than any resolution. One of my personal mantras is “Start by Starting” or “Just One Thing”. Once I start with one of those, it snowballs into better things from that moment.
So start right now. What is one thing you can do right now that will make you FEEL well? Get a drink of water. Call a friend to catch up. Take a minute to sit and breathe or stand up and move around a bit, maybe reach the arms up over your head and stretch. Find some food that will fuel you. It takes only a moment to choose, and moments can change the game. Win this one!
This article is super helpful and was a great reminder on how to incorporate wellness with a mindset shift. I love the idea of taking action now to start feeling better!