Is it possible?

Is it possible to be Fit & Healthy without being skinny/thin/lean/tight?  In one word - ABSOLUTELY!

I look at myself and I know I am more fit and healthier than I have been in many years - maybe ever.  I love that about myself.  I am strong, I have endurance, I possess the strength to do things I couldn't do 2 years ago.  But - I am not skinny.  I have curves - and some parts are more curvy than others.  I am okay with that!  It took me a very, VERY long time to be okay with that.  And, I will confess, I still have days where I am not 100% okay with that because I would like to lose some fat and tone up several areas.  I would like feel less jiggle when I am working out.  But, I do my best not to let those thoughts get me down.  I have learned that when I focus on these feelings of dissatisfaction, I tend to feel overwhelmed and frustrated, which then leads to overeating, making poor food decisions, and skipping workouts.  Funny how that happens - you'd think it might make me work harder and make better choices, but, well...that's just the way my brain works.

I've learned that focusing on the positive, leaning on friends for support, pulling motivation and inspiration from wherever I can (pictures, articles, Facebook posts, blogs, quotes, etc) has helped me to remain in the positive and work towards staying away from the negative.

For those of you who are not yet where you want to be physically - or in terms of your nutrition - and if you feel badly about that sometimes, then consider this.  Stop for a moment.  Look back to last year or the year before.  Compare how you are feeling now to how you felt then.  Do you have more energy?  Are you stronger?  Were you able to stop using any medications (cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, aspirin, headache medication, etc)?  Are you making better choices when you go out to eat or when in the grocery store?  Do you read product labels to try and avoid things like High Fructose Corn Syrup or Saturated Fats?

If you said yes to any of those questions above, then tell yourself that you have made great strides since you started making these changes.  Pat yourself on the back.  Send me a message and I will tell you how awesome you are doing.  Give yourself credit for how far you have already come - as opposed to looking off too far in the distance at what you are still trying to attain.

Sometimes we need to remember to celebrate our successes instead of feeling frustrated with what we ultimately want.  This is a journey - it's always a journey - and many times, there's no destination.  There's just a check-in point, with another leg of the race to complete.  Celebrate your successes!!

This post today is as much for me as it is for anyone else who needs a reminder that once we start taking small steps towards a healthier lifestyle, we can look back and KNOW that we are more Fit & Healthy than we were at some point in the past.  We have overcome a hurdle (or several).  Even if there's still a long road ahead of us...we'll keep heading in that direction, because what good will come of us turning back?