Small Steps to Health

We are exercising, eating healthy, and loosing weight. Then all of a suddenly, something happens — maybe an injury, a family member got sick, or we have to put in massive overtime at work for weeks at a time. Our nicely balance lifestyle is thrown out of control. We know this scenario all too well. That is why some of us gain back the weight in our weight loss attempts in the past. When things get out of control, the first thing to go is our commitment to ourselves.

The key to success in situations like this is to recognize the developing pattern early enough so that you can implement strategies to cope with it.

Whenever you are in the midst of a life crisis, you need to give yourself a break. Instead of exercising five days a week, just squeeze in what you can. The goal is to be mindful of falling back into your old habits. You want to nip your old habits in the bud as soon as you recognize it. When I got into my car accident two years ago, I spent a lot of my time at home eating ice cream and feeling miserable. I was mad at the lady for hitting my vehicle and I was mad at my body for limiting the daily movements that I used to take for granted.

Until the crisis passes, set a goal to either maintain your weight or keep your weight gain under 5 pounds. It is easier to loose 5 pounds when the crisis passes than to try to loose 10 pounds or more. It took 1.5 months before I finally realize that eating ice cream out of the container on a daily basis is not going to help me feel better. It is not going to take away the fact that my back and hips hurts when I have to walk for 15 minutes. Of course, by the time I finally came to that realization, I had already put on 8 pounds. At least I stopped at soon as I recognize my returning bad habit of using ice cream to cope with stress.

Make time to get support from a friend, a family member, health professional, your church, or even the internet. There is nothing more disheartening than being alone in a life crisis. You cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel when you enclose yourself in your misery. You are not alone unless you choose to be. I am still thankful that I had my husband, then boyfriend, with me as I was going through the difficult rehab period after the car accident. I was at a new city and my family was miles away. I had difficulty shuffling to the bathroom, never mind grocery shopping. It was a life crisis for him as well as me.

Hold on to fundamental behaviors in your healthier lifestyle and return to them as soon as the crisis passes. Life always has a way of keeping us on our toes, just knowing what to do can sometimes give us the advantage to overcome it. Stick around and read some of the other entries to this blog to get more ideas of fundamental behaviors that can contribute to a healthier lifestyle.

Until next time and thanks for stopping by.