Breathe Magazine

Eating and exercising should be fun and pleasurable, but for most people it is the cause of guilt, confusion and remorse. I firmly believe that information overload from magazines, T.V., and online sources, coupled with lack of basic knowledge of nutrition and fitness, scares people away from doing what they need to do to get healthy. There are so many “tips” and “tricks” and gimmicks of easy ways to eat and lose weight, which leads people to believe that it is difficult, if not impossible, to do on their own with good old fashioned hard work.

We all know the basic principles of a healthy lifestyle: exercise, lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, limit sweets, but yet we keep expanding. Why?

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that there is such a negative connotation attached to food and exercise. Too much food is “bad.” I ate too much food, therefore, I am “bad” and today was a “bad” day. I need to exercise to undo the “bad,” therefore, exercise is my punishment.

Ease up on yourself. Food is fuel for your body to do the things that you love. Food is fuel to get through your workouts, which are an opportunity to improve your life and protect your health, while helping you look good and feel confident. These are great things: great things that should be enjoyed.

Don’t think of your healthy lifestyle as a pass/fail test. It’s a linear road. If you have an off day, you don’t have to start back at the beginning. Make a little mental note of what slipped you up that day, and move on. You’ll never be perfect, I certainly am not, but by focusing on moving on and doing the next right thing, you’ll notice those little slip ups get fewer and farther between- and that’s what success is.