Right now I’m thinking (and DOING!) a lot for my health.
It’s a big focus for me, and even though I’m fairly healthy, I’m not as healthy as I would like, so I’m changing that now.
I realize that it’s a complete lifestyle change, and I’m willing to be someone who is consciously choosing to think about her health on a daily (sometimes minute-to-minute!) basis.
Whoah, who has time for that? Thinking about your health THAT much?!
Let me explain how it works when you TRULY want to make lasting change.
To create lasting change means changing your current habits (sometimes bad ones), that are preventing you from getting what you want.
For instance, if you want to change your health, you have to start becoming extremely aware of what you’re putting in your body, you have to think about the times of day you’re eating, how much sleep you’re getting, how much water you’re consuming, plus fitness, stress factors, and a whole ton of other things.
It’s a LOT to think about and change!
No wonder many of us aren’t healthy. Ain’t nobody got time for that!
But… if you CHOOSE to make time for it, all those things that you need to do, will become much easier.
Because it’s not about HOW to lose weight or get healthy, it’s about WHO you need to be to lose weight and get healthy.
Have I lost you there?
I hope not, because this is the most important part of the process and it will help you get to your goals faster than any fitness program or new diet.
Once you DECIDE that you’re going to make a lifestyle change and you commit to it, it’s then that your brain wakes up and thinks: Okay, but how? I need to buy the gym membership, shop organically, watch my water intake, etc. But this momentum can wear off when you become overwhelmed with all the new things you need to do.
I encourage people to instead train themselves to not worry about the HOW, but to consistently remind themselves on a daily (minute-to-minute basis), WHO they need to be to become this new healthy person.
Essentially, I coach them to become that new person.
It means you don’t need to focus on all the small details of the plan, but you need to focus on one thing – you being this brand new person who cares about their health.
When you become that new person, you will automatically do the things you need to do.
And instead of falling off the wagon when you forget to eat properly, or you stop going to the gym (or getting your sweat on however that may be!), it’s just a matter of waking up daily and reminding yourself who you need to be to become that healthy person!!
WHO DO YOU NEED TO BE IF YOU WERE ALREADY IN THE BEST SHAPE OF YOUR LIFE?
I would be someone who writes down what they eat and how often.
I would be someone who exercises every day.
I would be someone who understands macros. (And if you don’t I highly recommend this website here.)
I would be someone who preps my meals or has a vegan meal delivery service. (My favourite is Green Zebra Kitchen!)
I would be someone who gets 20 minutes of sunshine a day.
Etc.
And if you’re not sure who you need to be, then do a little bit of research on people who are already there.
Step into their shoes for awhile.
Become that person who has those good habits.
Now the reason you need to focus on who you need to be on a minute-to-minute basis in the beginning, is because new HABITS take time to stick. (And we’re only human, so we tend to revert back to our old bad habits.)
When you were little you were taught by your parents to brush your teeth. In the beginning they would brush your teeth for you. Then they would watch you brush your teeth to make sure you were doing it right. Then they would remind you to brush your teeth before bed. And eventually you would brush your teeth all by yourself. Whoo Hoo! New habit formed!
Now that may sound obvious, but this is the same for any new identity you create.
If you want to become someone who is healthy and fit, then you need to shed who you’re currently being and step into the person who has completely different habits than you.
If you’re not ready to become this new person, and you’re doing it for other reasons, then you may fall off the wagon, because you’ll likely go back to what was comfortable to you (aka your comfort zone). You’ll also go back to your previous habits and who you were being before.
Once I made the decision to be this new healthy person, not only did I create new habits, but I also stopped allowing things into my orbit (so to speak) that would disrupt my new way of being and thinking.
For instance, my birthday was last weekend and my dad and his girlfriend Joan offered to take me out for breakfast at this great breakfast place, but I knew that it wouldn’t have many options for me because I don’t eat meat or eggs. I would probably end up eating pancakes or waffles and syrup, and I didn’t want to do that on a day when I could eat whatever (heck it’s my birthday!)
So I said to them, I know this is a pain in the butt, but can we go to a breakfast place with vegan options, so that I can have scrambled tofu instead of eggs, or black beans for protein instead of pancakes.
Luckily there was a place in-between where we both live (Thrive Organic Kitchen & Café), which we could go to. Everyone enjoyed it and it felt great to honour my desires of who I choose to be.
Now, I want to point out that I’m extremely blessed to live in Canada, with the amount of choice and opportunity we have here, and it pains my heart that not everyone in the world can live this way.
It’s like I have the angel and devil on my shoulder, with the devil saying, on go on Meghan, you’re so privileged where you live, of course you can choose a vegan restaurant over a regular breakfast place, if others could be so lucky to even eat at all.
And then the angel saying, your job is not to make yourself feel bad about these choices, but to live as best as you can, so that hopefully you can enrich the life of others, and give back to others as well.
And that’s why even though sometimes there’s a load of guilt that comes to me when I think about what I’m writing about and whether or not it’s useful to even say, I want to help at least a few people shift their mindsets to become the people they know they’re meant to be.
So I’ll let the angel come through on this one, because I truly believe that if more of us stepped into that higher version of ourselves, then there will be a lot more world changing that we can collectively do.