CREATE YOUR FUTURE
In this installment from EMPOWERED, we’re going to turn this around in your favor. If you feel like you have to exercise and eat in ways which you don’t enjoy, you’ll eventually quit and miss all of the benefits of movement and healthy eating. That’s why it is time to create your meaning and set yourself on the course of perfect health.
A Big, Important Step
Before we explore the aspects of movement and eating you enjoy and use that to build the future you desire, we have an important step. This is something you cannot skip, because you need to make space for the new beliefs you choose.While this may seem more symbolic than powerful at first glance, try it. You owe it to yourself and it will make the next step even more fun.
The strong, personal reasons you are creating will inspire and sustain your healthier thoughts and actions, but what about the residue from your past influences? What are the limiting thoughts and feelings you have held about yourself? Which expectations of others have undermined you? Spend 5 minutes right now and write everything out. You’re not blaming, you’re taking out the mental garbage.
When you’re finished dumping all of the expectations, fears, lies and old beliefs onto the page, stand up, tear up the paper and announce aloud:
I am free and move forward in my own light. I choose the thoughts and actions which serve my purpose and joy. I lovingly release my past and stand in my power now.
How do you feel? Stay in this moment and let the enormity of your declaration sink into your body, mind and soul. You are the one to choose how you care for yourself. You deserve to feel healthy and alive. You are free.
Create Your Health
It is time to build on your clean, strong foundation. There are three things which happen when you reframe the way in which you eat and exercise. First, you change from external to internal meaning. Second, you make choices from autonomous strength, rather than following the dictates of others. Third, your motivation becomes positive and not negative.
This next step is fun, and you get to be really positive. The following personal inventory is designed to help you get past the “shoulds,” fears, habits and people pleasing in your choices. There are no right or wrong answers and you don’t have to be a personal trainer or a dietician to know what works for you. Trust yourself. Remember, you know what constitutes healthy living for you.
Pull out your paper and a pen. Remember, write freely and fully give yourself over to what you love. You (yes, you!) choose how to care for yourself through movement you enjoy and good-for-you-food you like.
1. What kind of movement do I most enjoy?
Anything at all applies here, as long as it involves moving your body. You are not trying to impress anyone, so be totally honest. Walking your dog, serious air guitar, gardening, playing with your kids and laser tag are all count.
2. Which healthy foods do I most enjoy?
Even if you don’t know a macronutrient from a meringue, you have some idea of healthy foods you like. This isn’t a nutrition course, but, as I stressed in my book and course Enjoy Every Bite, resist the urge to label foods good or bad. Simply remember that fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and lean proteins are more beneficial to your health than candy bars, pastries and fried foods. Of course, you know that already.
3. Who are the people I respect because of their good health?
Feel free to list anyone you can think of, including celebrities, but this is more impactful if it is someone you know. It is even more helpful if you have spent time with the person to understand how they think, talk, move and eat.
4. What are my strengths and how can I use them to enhance my healthy behavior?
Give yourself credit for all of your strengths and the many ways in which you excel. Include everything from your upbeat attitude to your focus, a talent for organization, your persistence and more.
5. If I was in perfect health, how would I move, how would I feel and what would I do?
Really let yourself go! Close your eyes and get a vivid, bright picture of yourself as the healthy, vibrant person you are. Now, let the good feelings fill you with excitement. Stay there, let it infuse your body and your intention.
Assume the Feeling
That felt good, didn’t it? Visualize and feel yourself in this state of energetic well-being every day for five minutes. When you assume the feeling of living as a vibrant and healthy person, your thoughts and actions serve to reinforce this experience. No one can do this for you. You are anchoring your motivation in your personal and deeply felt internal choices. Feeling the excitement of your vitality is the basis of creating it in your life.