The Lasting Impact of Small Changes
Eat Healthy Be Active is not just a 6-week journey; rather it is a start to a lifelong journey with health. I write journey because health is not the destination. A destination implies that there is an end and once you reach that end, the work is done. Health is not some tangible place though. The definition of health changes with age, medical and living conditions and is relative to your current lifestyle; among other things. Living healthy means understanding the needs of your body at any given time and ensuring your lifestyle supports those needs.
The goal of Eat Healthy Be Active is to give you the information needed so that you are able to make small, meaningful changes to your daily lifestyle. These changes create attainable successes to keep you going on your journey. When a person does not succeed or cannot measure their success, it is easy to give up. Having goals such as: increase fruits and vegetables by making half of your plate fruits and vegetables helps participants feel successful through simple changes. Furthermore, having information such as: it takes 10 days to develop a taste for something assists participants with keeping with the changes even if they are not easy at first. Knowing what to expect in terms of a realistic timeline sets you up for success because your expectations are not too high.
The setup of the program is 1 hour group sessions with individual check-ins weekly. I found this setup to be integral to my success. I had the ability to share my experiences and struggles with the group and hear theirs as well. We shared ideas and recipes to encourage one another to succeed and we celebrated each other’s successes. The individual check-ins helped me to troubleshoot any personal struggles I may have outside of the group and create an action plan customized to my lifestyle.
Throughout my 6-weeks I will honestly say I didn’t have any major changes on the scale. Weight loss (or gain) is not the goal of the program though! Rather they happen naturally when you begin to eat healthier and get active as needed by your body. What I did have though was a change in my body that I have been chasing for years. I have IBS and GERD (basically my digestive tract doesn’t like to eat much). I eat too fast or slow, too much or too little, too frequently or too infrequently and I can get an attack; and this doesn’t even bring into account the types of food that set attacks off. It’s a lot to manage and something I try not to troubleshoot too often. So beginning this program I was beyond hesitant. What I found though is that most of my symptoms from these conditions are almost nonexistent now. I am currently living better than I have in years because I am eating better.
Other changes that I have noticed include having more energy in the day. I no longer depend on caffeine and sugar bursts. In fact, I rarely drink coffee anymore and leave it as a treat on the weekends; if I remember to brew a cup! I allow myself a sweet treat at night but it’s a small piece of chocolate, or even just fruit. I find myself craving things that are naturally sweet like a bowl of berries over processed candies. I am not saying I don’t have those, but I have noticed that I don’t jump to the candy bowl first anymore. Also, without drastic weight loss, my clothes are all a bit looser. All of these things have happened with no huge amount of effort on my part. It was small changes working together over 6-weeks.
I am excited to continue with the changes and implement new ones. I am working on increasing my physical activity. My children are the biggest catalyst behind my want to change to a healthier lifestyle and I want to be able to model that lifestyle for them. I want to not just watch them play and explore from the sidelines but to be active alongside them. I want them to see me being active and eating healthy because I like to and want to. Modeling these changes for my family has begun to open them up to changes and together we are all becoming healthier.
Are you ready to make small changes that lead to a healthier lifestyle long-term? There’s no excuse to wait when Eat Healthy Be Active provides a simple program with fantastic results: