3 Simple Steps

I've always been mighty impressed at how Tricia from Endurance Isn't Only Physical transformed herself from "big and beautiful" to just simply "beautiful." Likewise, I've always been slightly in awe of the wonderful way she has of getting right to the heart of things on her blog.

However, the thing that makes me madder than Mary Kate Olsen in an all you can eat buffet about Tricia is that she wised up while she was still a young woman. When I was her age, I was still miles and miles away from getting it, not realizing that every stroke I was swimming out to see was one I'd have to dog-paddle back from.

Seeing as how I've been suffering from a pretty severe case of the Spring Sillies, I asked Tricia to stop by and serious this space up a little for me. She came through with this terrific guest post...


I spend a lot of time writing and talking about living healthy. In fact, I lay up at night trying to come up with ways to convey to people my passion. So a few weeks ago I wrote what I considered to be a pretty profound post. Here is what I had to say:

Everything I believe about healthy living can be summed up in three simple steps: 




1. Eat good food,



2. Eat it in appropriate portions,



3. And move your body. 




Ok, maybe that's not the most original thing you've ever heard but it does truly get to the root of how I try to live. The problem with that post was that I followed it up with a picture of my ridiculously adorable 6 month old nephew, smiling the most heart melting smile ever.

And people totally missed the message.
I know you're now expecting me to include that picture, but I refuse to make the same mistake twice. Don't post cute baby pictures if you are trying to say something serious. Lesson learned.

Instead, I'd like to try something different.
If I showed you this picture:

And then this one:



And told you those were only taken a year apart....would I get your attention?

I thought so. Those two pictures are the proof behind those 3 simple things. When I started my journey January 5th of last year I honestly didn't know what to expect. I had been obese my entire adult life, I had tried everything from pills to fad diets to starvation. And nothing worked. So when I hit upon the idea that I would "eat less and move more" it really seemed more like a cliché than a valid way to live. But I vowed to give it a try. AND IT WORKED.

So how do you implement those steps? I realized early on in the process that I was dreading the decision of what to eat, I felt like I was doomed to fail. I had to make a huge shift mentally to focus on the positive. So now I look at each meal as an opportunity to SUCCEED. And I look at each meal separately. If I eat junk at one meal, that doesn’t mean I’ve “ruined” the whole day and can use it as an excuse to eat junk again. The next meal is another opportunity to eat well, and I make sure I take that opportunity and put it to good use. I use this same concept for the “move your body” part of my plan. Just take it one step, one healthy choice at a time. Those small steps add up to great things. (125 pounds lost counts as “great things”, right?)

And remember:

In the long run it doesn’t matter if you make a few bad decisions; what’s more important is making a lot of GOOD decisions.

What steps will you take to be healthy?