Monday Health & Wellness: Get Healthy Challenge

Image by daveynin

Wow, so, here we are!  It’s 2012, and we’re on a brand new site.  If you’re reading via RSS or email, it’s worth the click through to see the new site design.  It is totally different.  I mean entirely and completely.  Hopefully it’s also a lot easier to navigate!  There are some broken images and other small casualties of the move, and we’re working as fast as we can to fix those.  It’s been a huge undertaking.  As far as we know, all the content is working, and all the links are functional.  It’s mostly the extra features and images we’re working at still.  So, the experience may not be as pretty as it will be when we’re done, but you should still be able to get all the information that you need.

Time to Get Healthy

I know, it’s practically cliche…to talk about getting healthy in the new year.  Doesn’t almost everyone vow that this is the year they’re going to get healthy, get in shape, and get their life together?  Well, the truth is that most people won’t.  And the reason they won’t is because they make grandiose, non-specific goals; or because they set out to make huge and immediate changes that are just too much to stick to.  That’s useless all the way around because it sets you up to fail.

We’re not going to do that.

I can’t just not address this though, seeing as I feel inspired and motivated to write about it (and do it) and because this blog is about health, wellness, and real food.  That’s huge!

What I’m going to do instead is enable you to meet your (small, manageable) goals.  Are you ready?

Health Is Not Just Weight and Image

We are not talking about ‘getting healthy’ as in “lose weight and get in shape.”  There’s that.  But there’s also happiness, interpersonal relationships, your finances, time management, and various other challenges.  We’re going to look at ‘wellness’ as balancing the entire person, not just at the number of the scale or the image in the mirror.  No, you can’t be healthy unless you work on the whole package.

If that sounds even harder than just losing weight, it’s not.  That’s because these are all interrelated.  How are you supposed to have time to eat right and exercise anyway, if you are not doing so well with time management?  How can you afford healthy food if your finances are a mess?  How can you be happy if you’re stressed about your marriage or friendships (or lack thereof)?  So you see, it’s important to look at the big picture!

The Big Picture

Where is your life right now?  Where would you like it to be a year from now?

Last year, we paid off all our debt (except our mortgage).  We began investing for retirement and our kids’ college.  We’re feeling pretty financially fit, all in all.   What we’d like to do is keep investing and pay significant amounts down on our mortgage, in hopes of moving towards a farm property!  This is an area in which we’re setting goals, but I feel like we’re mainly on the right track.  In what areas of your life do you feel like you’re basically on the right track?

In contrast, I am terrible at time management.  I’m constantly trying to do too much at once, and so a lot doesn’t get done.  Nothing gets the amount of attention it really needs.  I get frustrated because stuff doesn’t get done and I try harder — sometimes to the detriment of other projects!  I’m also what you might call a “workaholic” — I don’t know how to put it down and turn it off!  I envy those who know what their limits are and when to set work aside for other things.  This is an area I’ll be working a lot on this year.  In what areas of your life do you feel like you could use a lot of work?

I’ll be sitting down soon and looking at a lot of these areas to see how I can get them all to work together more smoothly.  I’ll be trying to limit my time working, while maximizing what I get done while I do work.  I’ll be spending more time with my family.  I’ll be spending more time being active and being even more cautious about preparing healthy food (and tackling some new real food projects!).  In fact, over the next few weeks, I’ll be inviting you into my kitchen to watch and, if you like, try along with me as I tackle new projects.  I know I’ll be trying out kefir and sourdough for sure.  (I’ve done both a few times already…and failed.  My goal is to do these successfully and consistently this year.)

In this vein, I’ll be sharing my specific resolutions and goals with you on Wednesday.  Be sure to come back to see that, and bring your own goals and resolutions too!

How to Make Healthy Goals

We don’t know how to get healthy unless we know where to start.  Here are some tips and hints:

1. Write it down — You need to be able to refer back to your goals frequently, and writing them down helps.
2. Start with an overarching goal — This is something like “Eat more vegetables.”  It’s more specific than “eat better” but not too specific.
3. Get a plan of action– Here’s where you get really specific about how you will achieve your goal. “Include one new vegetable on the meal plan each week” would be a good example of how to achieve the goal from step #2.
4. Refer back to your goals often — Goals may change over time, either because you’ve accomplished them and are ready to move to the next step, or because they’re no longer feasible with your life circumstances.  Go back and read, remind yourself, and adjust as needed.
5. Have an accountability partner — You need someone to keep you accountable when you’re feeling tempted to stop.  This person should be your cheerleader with your goals and possibly have similar ones (so you can root for each other).

Healthy Reading

• Low-Fat Diets are Not Healthy
• Does Calorie Counting Matter in Weight Loss?
• Diet for Adrenal Health
• Optimal Gut Health
• Daily Attitude
• Following God’s Plan
• Disrespect for Children

The latter few posts are just for an attitude check, which is important too.

Where are you struggling?  Where are you doing well?  Are you ready to “get healthy?”