Secrets of Success

Start walking every day.

I would procrastinate about walking every morning. Now I just do it before I do anything else in the morning and it is done!

Old School European mentality

When my husband would come home from a hard day's work, I had that old school European mentality to feed him to his heart's content, and I'd be right there beside him eating the same amount! UNTIL we got his blood tests results! I thought I was taking care of my love by preparing healthy foods. What I didn't realize was the portion sizes were killing us. Now I am measuring and/or weighing everything on a scale to make sure we dont go over one serving, as well as checking our nutrition stats.

Running with my Great Niece

Trying to keep up with and not go too fast with my three year old niece

Mind games

Make sure your mind is in the right place before you start. If you aren't really ready, all your efforts won't matter. Also, take a before photo of yourself and put it somewhere prominent. That is the best motivation!

eating

eating smaller meals more frequently

Brushing teeth right after eating

After I have something to eat, I brush my teeth right away. That way after having a minty, clean mouth, I don't want to mess it up with anything like chocolate, or a salty snack. It just won't taste the same. And why brush your teeth if you're just going to eat something else, right? That also gives me time to get over the craving I have right after a meal, for something sweet to... 'top it off'.

get dressed

get up in the mornings and get dressed down to the shoes. it is so easy to just lie around and waste the day if I stay in pj. and harder to get motivated to do anything if I still have to get dressed. get dressed before I leave my bedroom and I am ready to move around that day/

Have a support system

Once I was more involved with Sparkpeople, I picked up on more motivation by reading stories and interacting with other members. Some of my worst days became my best because of my Spark friends!!

Prepare to Start

Start by preparation. Clean out the 'bad' food, read the Getting Started secrets, pinpoint your stumbling blocks and form a strategy to deal with them. Read articles on nutrition, fitness, wellness and motivation. Find common ground teams to join. Don't whine about what you need to do - face it head on and enjoy the journey. It is a wonderful one!

Small steps are still steps forward.

Take it one day, or even one meal at a time. And start small. Maybe you add one additional serving of fruit or veggies per day. Maybe you start exercising in 10 minute increments. I found that once I hit a monthly number of fitness minutes, I want to match that or increase it by say 100 minutes the next month.