The first step to making healthy happen.

'Change your thoughts and you change your world' ~ Norman Vincent Peale 

I'm lit up and inspired when people around me feel stronger, happier and healthier.  When they’re kicking their health goals into their field of dreams and becoming better versions of themselves.   Lucky for me I get to see it most days with my clients.

However getting there isn’t easy.  It takes effort.  Modern 'food' is so far removed from real food so of course its hard - really hard!  Have you ever thought about what we call 'food' today and what we ate just 100 years ago?  No wonder chronic disease surrounds us.  Changing habits in our modern environment can be overwhelming with the mountainous volumes of information that’s out there and we have no idea of whats right or wrong and where to start or what to do next?!

Then the tried and tested excuses can creep in, ‘I don’t have time’, ‘when the kids are older’, 'Shopping, kids, family commitments', ‘I’m too old’! ‘I’m too overweight’, ‘I don’t have the energy’, ‘tomorrow’!   The familiar list goes on.   It’s so much easier to give in.

So HOW do we take action and move on out of the rut, the muddle, to bring our health alive?

I think this can help…

We take control of our mind.

We decide.

We take action.

We begin.

And… slowly we start to feel better and we want more of it.  Keep going, small gains,  consistency.  And then someone we haven't seen for a while says 'WOW - you look great'! ... and you know.

‘We’ being ‘you’ ...  There is nobody else or any thing else that can make us fit, healthy, happy or strong.  Nobody.  Only we (you) can do that.

We have competing priorities for our time and our energy.  It does start with ONE thing though i.e. our mind.

Are you in control of your mind or is your mind in control of you?

Where do your priorities lie?

Family and children are our priorities, there is no doubt.  Putting ourselves first is hard, especially with young children.  Yet ... when WE aren't happy, healthy and firing on all cylinders, how can our children or our family be?  And by putting ourselves last on the to-do list, is this the behaviour we want to role model to our children?

So let’s say you’re in control of your mind and you decide to put yourself first, you want to get fit, get healthy, happier, kickstart our energy, our eating habits etc.   Then it's important to think about what type of action we want to take.

1.  Incremental action?  New choices that are introduced gradually, step x step OR

2.  Massive, dramatic, all at once, leave no prisoners type of action?

This week I’ve casually researched buddies, colleagues and clients to find out if there’s one type that’s more popular than the other - or not.

The consensus … it depends e.g;

• what else we’re juggling in our lives e.g. moving house, changing schools, hours of work, having a baby, big life events etc.
• our mindset.  how much time we believe we can dedicate to our wellbeing?  Do we really believe it’s possible to change?  Etc.
• how ‘urgent’ it is to be healthier?
• how easy or difficult it may seem to make new choices especially around food.
• the age of our children and so much more.

All that said, when we WANT to elevate our wellbeing, it becomes a priority, no matter what … we put our MIND to it and change happens.  We take responsibility.  We take action.  We get amazing results, for everyone around us.

And it usually feels great just starting e.g.

• A green smoothie can taste delicious (especially with mango, berries or coconut water)!
• Upgrade coffee for a turmeric latte or green matcha tea.
• Upgrade toast and bread for a good quality gluten free (GF) one or go completely GF.
• Exercise can be a 15 minute walk at the beach with a swim at the end, a walk around the block or a high intensity interval training session.
• Mindfulness might be 5 minutes sitting in the sunshine appreciating the day or an hour-long meditation.
• Managing stress can be 1 minute of diaphragmatic breathing each day, listening to your favourite music or a well deserved 4 week holiday!

Start with whatever is enjoyable and works.

I work with people either one on one or in groups online such as my cleanse or replenish programs.  My one on one programs involve incremental change, new choices introduced step x step (most of the time and depending on individual requirements).  Whereas my online group programs involve massive, dramatic, all at once action.

Even though the approaches are different and cater for all requirements, both approaches have one thing in common, my clients have made the decision to take responsibility for their health.  It’s the first and most important step.

It's a mind shift.   Make your wellbeing your lifestyle.

What one, simple action can you take to elevate your wellbeing today?  

kate@katebarnes.com.au