Not ready? Do it anyway!

"Next month I'm going to start my juice cleanse. I'm just not ready yet."

"I want to lose weight but I'm not ready to give up my social life to diet."

"I'll get to the gym after the holidays.  I'm just not in the right state of mind this month."

I've even heard "I can't go to the gym until I lose weight." 

BOOM! This is written on the wall at Liquid Art House in Boston.

I hear the "I'm not ready" excuse ALL the time especially when it comes to changing lifelong habits. It's tough, I get it!  Back in the day I would psych myself up to start my newest fad diet almost monthly. The Sunday before my diet started I would eat pretty much everything I craved knowing that I'd have to deprive myself and be miserable for months. I'd have anxiety the entire week before and beat myself up for not being the size and weight I wanted.  This was me getting "ready" and probably driving my friends crazy as I stressed about food. These diets lasted for maybe a week. Unfortunately the negative body image and hours on the elliptical seemed to last forever without any results. I had it all wrong even though I thought I was ready. 

Here's what I wish someone would have told me: Taking care of your body is not a death sentence.  Break it down into smaller pieces, your next meal, make a healthy choice.  Your next snack, grab a piece of fruit.  Tonight, go to that class at the gym you've been wanting to try.  Take it meal by meal, day by day. That way it doesn't seem like an overwhelming task.  You're just making this next choice a good one.  Turns out you ARE ready. 

A healthy lifestyle doesn't have an end date. It's for the rest of your life. Not ready for the rest of your life?  That doesn't even make sense ok?  This doesn't mean you can't have ice cream or a hamburger ever again, life is all about balance after all.  If the majority of your meals are greens, proteins, and grains and you are feeling good then you can enjoy those occasional "treats" without feeling any guilt or beating yourself up.  Food guilt is worth an entire post. Ugh what a waste of an emotion.  Anyway...

Stay focused on your goal and keep it positive.  Before you go to bed think about all of the good things you did for your body that day.  Set goals and reward yourself when you reach them.  Food is not a reward fyi.  Buy a new outfit, get a massage or maybe new gym sneakers.  

SO TRUE!!! From @wearesoulsparks...find them on instagram after you finish reading my post of course. 

Here's a little story...a couple weeks ago I received an email at about 9pm on Wednesday night saying there was a photographer available the next day for updated professional pics at the studio I was teaching at.  I was NOT ready.  It had only been 4 months since Marlowe was born so my body was not "photo shoot ready", I hadn't washed my hair in 6 days (common practice for me but again not great for pics. I'm gross I know.), my nails were a mess and I didn't have a cute new outfit to wear.  Also Thursdays are a busy teaching day and I knew hair, nails, shopping was NOT going to happen.  Again...not ready. 

BUT I wanted new pics and thought what the hell, worst case scenario I don't like them.  The old me never would have done it.  I would have been petrified that people would judge my soft tummy and look at me like "who does she think she is".  Cut to real life where nobody would think like that and if they do they can go f themselves.  

Long story short, I did the shoot and even though I wasn't "ready" I'm so happy I did.  It's a moment in time where I can look back and think how proud I am of my body for not only carrying/birthing a baby but also being strong an allowing me to go back to teaching after 6 weeks. I have reached my pre-pregnancy weight (thanks to nutritious meals and exercise) and so what I don't have six pack abs....I made a human! Hair, nails, and makeup? All far from perfect (more like chipped, dirty and minimal) but we got it done!  Shout out to Nick Cosky the photog for beautiful shots and making me feel like I actually had my sh*t together. You're the best!

Basically, if you have something that's calling you...a healthier lifestyle, a new job, a dance class your dying to take etc etc go for it. Start now even if you're not ready.

xo