If you like me are extremely passionate and dedicated to the actualization of your dreams, then you owe it to yourself to see them through. Wake up every day remembering that time is ticking, and every day you waste not taking steps towards your goal is another day you’ve proven to them how dispensable your goals are. Many people will think you’re absurd, or dreamy for having this incredible passion. They will always try to steer you from the goal you had in mind. Attaining all that you want is the constant drive and the right man will love you in your splendour for being the business woman you are.

This is dedicated to us, who stay up countless nights tasting the finish line. Who spend every hour of the day thinking of what we can do to get closer. Those of us who can’t imagine our future without it.

I like this lesson because it definitely applies to fitness. You are in control of your fitness outcomes – plain and simple. If you hire a personal trainer, they’re there to give you guidance on how to workout. They’re not responsible to get you out of bed in the morning and into the gym. If you hire a nutritionist, they can show you how to eat clean. They’re not there grocery shopping with you on the weekends while you throw a tub of Haagen dazs into your cart (it’s so tempting when it’s on sale!).

It’s all about our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task that, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome – William James

No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change – Barbara De Angelis

And so do you. Find out what makes you tick and set those goals so you can reach them. Depend on yourself to make a health or fitness change in your life and stick to your own guns.

We all want to save but we also want to have fun. The choice between how much to save and what to cut out seems to be one with no happy medium in sight.  When dealing with clients facing this issue, I always tell them that this decision starts off with clearly setting present and future goals.

Before we decide what we can and can’t do without, we need to create a list of goals we truly want. This allows us to see the insignificant things we’re spending time and money on and remove them without regret; our goal is more important. After establishing our goals, a monthly budget that clearly highlights our fixed and variable expenses is needed. After writing down the expenses, look back at the goals and then back at the variable expenses (those expenses that aren’t consistent and change monthly). These expenses can either be reduced or completely removed depending on how badly and quickly you want to achieve your goals. Then the decision of how much to pay yourself comes into play.

Rule of thumb is you should pay yourself 10% of your monthly income. If 10% isn’t feasible, I recommend starting with 5%. The key is to get started. Do not wait until you can save 10%, as the catch up game is a lot harder at $0. After deciding the value you’d like to pay yourself, make sure that you PAC it and forget it, meaning pre-authorize that amount to automatically come out of your account on a monthly bases. Add this amount as a fixed cost to your monthly budget. When you start this savings plan, you’ll see how in a short period of time, you’ve successfully “paid yourself first” and steps closer to your financial goals.

Don’t wait and get started now. I’d recommend doing a budget for at least 3 consecutive months to get a better look at your spending habits. This will show you who you’re making rich instead of yourself. One coffee a day for 30 days at Tim Hortons is $40/month, $480/year…think about it!

Overall, the decision of what to spend and what to save really lies with the desire to achieve your goals. Set yourself free from debt and worry by paying yourself first and reaping the rewards

Late Night Snack Cravings:

If I’ve had my last meal of the day and I’m still hungry I have 2 techniques I use to avoid late night snack cravings:
Make yourself a small pot of tea. Get yourself a cute teapot that makes at least 2 cups of tea and sip on something sweet or savory depending on your cravings. My favourite is Jessie’s Tea from David’s Tea.
Have a protein shake. My favourite late night shake is the chocolate flavoured protein for women by Bodylogix. I mix one scoop with unsweetened chocolate almond milk, a spoonful of almond butter and a little cinnamon. I throw it in my magic bullet and get a frothy treat to hold me over.

3:00 p.m. Brick Wall:

I eat every 2-3 hours so I don’t usually hit the 3:00 p.m. brick wall, but if you’re not eating 3 meals a day with 2 snacks in between then the 3:00 p.m. brick wall may be something you’re all too familiar with. I watch co-worker after co-worker wander over to the vending machine near my desk and watch chips and chocolate bars tumble to eager hands.

Easy Fix: Pack Your Lunch and 2 Snacks for the 9-5 p.m. work day

Healthy Snack Options: Apples and Almond Butter, Greek Yogurt & Berries, Ezekiel Bread & Almond Butter, Homemade Granola & Greek Yogurt, etc

Let me know what tricks you use to avoid food cravings. Just don’t tell me it’s chewing gum!!

Thank you Alicia Keys for empowering women. On our tough days, all it takes is this song on full blast and we’re good to go. True? Not always… Frustration is a part of life. When you’re striving to be the best you, it’s quite often normal to get frustrated and down on yourself from time to time. But it’s what we do with our frustration to challenge ourselves that really counts.

When starting your fitness journey, or even well into a healthy lifestyle adoption, it’s important to set specific and measurable goals so that you don’t get discouraged through the process. And it’s a process, a journey that requires your full undertaking. Changing your health and fitness is not a quick fix. You may hit roadblocks. If you view nutrition as a diet vs. adopting clean eating then you’ll stumble. If you think you just need to hit the gym hard a month before your beach vacation then I’m afraid your fitness journey may be cut short before you even get going. When adopting a healthy you, there may be an enthusiastic start or an AHA moment (but there is no end date. There are accomplishments that are celebrated along the way but your “fitness” is a lifestyle to embrace vs. jumping on a platform and getting a gold medal.

I’m in the process of getting my Personal Training Certification. During training we learned a simple way to plan SMART goals for our clients. Here is a straight forward example of a weight loss goal.

Specific: I want to lose 10lbs
Measurable: Starting Weight – 10lbs = Goal Achieved on a Scale
Action Oriented: I will weight train 4 days a week and do cardio 4-5 days a week
Realistic: I can lose up to 2lbs a week
Timed: Therefore I plan to lose 10 lbs in 5 weeks

If your goal is weight loss, or muscle tone, or more energy to take on the day, take 5 minutes now to write out a SMART goal on a post-it note and go place it on your bathroom mirror to inspire you morning and night during toothbrush time. I double-dog-dare you to achieve it this year.

Leave your smart goal in the comments section below to inspire me as well and that way we can also keep each other accountable.

Whether or not you make resolutions, the New Year is a great reminder of where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going. Whatever goals you’ve set, the ultimate task is to make your everyday experiences brighter so you can be a better person. At the very center of our life experience is our health and the parts we control: nutrition and physical activity.  Make sure to check out Robyn, our fitness guru, for exercise tips and advice.

Health and, ultimately, nutrition is an important foundation of our entire existence; we all need to eat to survive. But, not surprisingly, something as simple as eating and getting the proper nutrition has become very difficult now-a-days.  What we put in our mouth not only affects our overall physical, mental, and emotional state, what we eat also significantly contributes to our personal identity. This is why food resolutions are rarely sustained. For real change to take hold in our daily food rituals they need to be workable; how realistic is it to completely cut out all junk food? More importantly, why should you have to?

In order to get out of whatever proverbial cage we find ourselves in, why not start small and work our way up? I prefer to think of the New Year as a refresher, a time to feel energized to keep building what is already in place. I am not here to tell you what your 2011 nutrition goals should be; food certainly does not follow the ‘one size fits all’ rule. We live our lives so differently from our girlfriends next door that nutrition advice is highly variable. However, there are some things to keep in mind as you work towards a healthier you.

See the bigger picture!
Food and nutrition, just like the rest of your life, is too complex to reduce down to the bare bones. Regardless of what your nutrition goals are for this year, it’s important to see how they fit into your bigger picture.  This is particularly difficult with the constant overload of nutritional information. This information can seem complicated and often contradictory. Ask a professional, especially if you are living with a chronic illness, what nutritional goals are best for you. Discuss it with your primary health care professional or speak to a Registered Dietitian or a credible nutritionist. In Ontario, call 1-877-510-5102 during business hours to ask an RD any nutrition-related questions. Or feel free to send me any of your questions.
Once you have the proper information it’s very important to think about how the changes fit into your schedule (stay tuned for tips!). If you love your Keg steak, vegetarianism might not be the best goal for you this year. On the flip side, you have to be willing to bend. If you have a long list of goals, stick to one for now and then ramp it up. As women, we tend to have so much going on that it is hard to make changes stick.  Make sure any changes you decide to make are positive, realistic and sustainable.

Healthy eating is a process
When you think about your nutrition goals, having a nutrition plan in place is what will take you there. Your goal might be to lose those 10 pounds, but with different ways to do it, some options are better than others for different people.
For most of us, when we make drastic resolution we can easily lose sight of the bigger picture. Try to enjoy the process rather than jumping off the deep-end.  Canada’s food guide is a great place to start. If you want to eat more vegetables, pledge to try something new a few times a week. Cooking your own meals is another important part of the process. Grab a friend, a healthy recipe, a glass of wine, and cook until your freezer is fully stocked! Instead of having greasy take-out for lunch every day, bring a healthy lunch at least three times a week. You’ll save up the money to buy that darling dress you’ve been eyeing. Set small goals for yourself and those bigger goals will be attainable.

Don’t forget to enjoy!
We tend to look at food based on its nutritional content: how many calories and how much fat? What types of antioxidants am I getting? No doubt, this information is important for our health. But don’t renounce food as the pleasurable experience it is meant to be; we must enjoy! Fun for me is cooking with my girlfriends, a bottle(s) of wine and sitting down to enjoy every bite. Food always tastes much better accompanied by an experience. Ultimately, nutrition is about trying to strike that fine balance. All work and no play isn’t fun for anyone. If you’ve been eating great all week, reward yourself! Have a piece of that incredible chocolate cheesecake with whipped cream, and don’t think twice about it. After all, we’re women with needs! Life without some indulgences? Not for me.

Tell me, what are your nutrition goals for this year? What challenges do you face when it comes to diet and nutrition? What support do you have in your life to help you meet your goals? I’d love to hear about them.  Either way, I’m sending you a pat on the back for taking the steps toward controlling your nutrition and your health. With a little hard work, you’ll get there. Keep it up!

Joy
eatwell@brokenheeldiaries.com
Affirmyourlife.blogspot.com