First steps to a healthier, more visible YOU - by Sandra Peut

                 

This month’s theme is all about making ourselves more “visible”. 

Sadly, when we’re not feeling – or looking – our best, this becomes so much harder.

Life is all about small choices – “baby-steps” – that add up to the larger reality that is our lives. Our health and fitness needs to be visible in our life to us personally. We need to see it and own it.

Can I encourage you right now to stop a moment, sit down with a pen and a piece of paper, and briefly reflect about your eating and physical activity choices over the past few days or weeks? 

1) Are you happy with your eating choices? (Remember, you don’t have to eat super-healthily all the time, just MOST of the time. An occasional treat makes life interesting J.)

2) Do you eat to nourish your body, choosing fresh fruits and vegetables; wholegrain breads, cereals, pasta, and rice; low-fat dairy products, and lean meats? (No ice-cream is not a food group ;)) Or do you find yourself grabbing whatever is quick and easy as you rush through the busyness of life?

3)Think about your emotions as you have been eating recently.  When you ate that sweet chocolate or dessert was it as a special treat, or because you were feeling sad, lonely, or bored? Were you actually hungry each time you ate, or did you eat just because it was “lunch-time”?

4) What about physical activity: do you park your car closest to the shops or your workplace? Or are you happier to park further away and enjoy the extra walk? Do you view physical activity as an opportunity (e.g. taking the stairs instead of the elevator), or an inconvenience or chore?

Reflecting on WHY we do things can tell us volumes about our motivations and emotions, and helps us work out strategies to bring positive changes to our lives. So this week it is time to find out what you are really eating and how much exercise you are really doing?

We've all heard the saying, “knowledge is power”, so commit to keeping a food and exercise diary. 

This is as simple as each day, jotting down in a notebook what you eat and drink, and minutes of exercise completed.  You can download one from: http://www.personal-nutrition-guide.com/food-diary-template.html

After a few days you will visibly see areas that are great, areas that may need a little reining in, and areas where it might be decision time to commit to a more healthy you.

In the coming months, we are going to look at simple ways you can gradually start to improve your health and fitness (hey we know your busy so we are going to make it easy and do it together).

Remember, the longest journey – to looking and feeling fabulous – starts with a single step! Take that step and make your health and fitness visible in your life.

Sandra Peut keeps busy juggling her varied roles as a wife, mother (to four children aged 6 and under!), nutritionist and health promotion officer in women's health, and writer. Blue Freedom, a romantic thriller and her first novel, is due to be published by Rose and Crown Books later this year.

For more info, visit http://www.sandrapeut.com/

Her first romantic thriller Blue Freedom