AddieMae’s Health Journey

Do you have a dream for 2024! Let’s turn it into a PLAN! Let’s do it together and make it a REALITY!❤️

#2024

Is your health improving everyday?

Working in my LifeBook tonight and I found these questions to be so important. There is a whole section about how “not sick” isn’t the same as healthy. For so long I figured even though I was extremely overweight I wasn’t “sick” therefore I had more time. But everyday my habits and choices were leading me closer and closer toward sickness.

I’m so glad that I’m finally taking steps to improve my health everyday. This journey started out as a weight loss journey in August, but it has become about so much more.

If you’re like me (and literally millions of other people) today you started, restarted, or recommitted yourself to healthier choices.

You may be feeling proud of your accomplishments today.

You may be feeling disappointed in your lack of self-discipline.

Or you may just be exhausted because changing your life is hard! 🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️

Tonight I’m taking a few minutes to unwind with some sleepy time tea and a long bath.

How did today go for you and how are you taking care of yourself tonight?

Family has always been a priority for my husband and me. A few months ago, we were blessed enough to buy a house two doors down from his parents. Today we walked down the street to have a traditional New Year’s meal.

How do I stay on plan and enjoy dinner with my fam?

1. I took my food scale with me so I could measure the appropriate portions.

2. I loaded my plate with my protein (pork chops, for health) and my greens (turnip greens, for wealth), my Roasted Garlic Mashed Potato fueling waffled with one Laughing Cow cheese wedge (1 condiment), and one bite of black eyed peas (for luck). While peas are not listed in our vegetables, I chose to enjoy a single bite.

3. I took my water jug with me to be sure I’d stay hydrated.

4. My in-laws are a huge part of my support system and asked me what I would and would not eat at our meal today.

I can make all the best plans in the world. But without an environment designed to help me be successful, my journey will be even more difficult. I can’t express how much my family helps me and supports me on my journey.

So, you have big goals for 2024? Me too!!

This year I’m really prioritizing my health - physical health, mental health, all of it. I’ve come to realize that my health is one of my most important assets. With it, I can be actively engaged as a mother, a wife, a friend, or in any of my other many roles. Without it, however, I’m extremely limited.

If you have big health goals this year, let me know! I would love to support you in your goals - community is one of the characteristics of people who actually stick to their resolutions and achieve their goals. So, let’s be in community for each other.

#2024

Secrets from an Exercise Specialist:

"JUST START"

When it comes to setting health goals you want to conquer, whether it's losing weight, toning up, eating healthy, or getting more sleep, the new year always feels like the perfect opportunity to set that goal and finally make it a reality!

But January 1st isn't always the fresh-start, key to success that society has built it up to be. While there are countless studies about goal-setting, none suggest that waiting until January 1st is actually beneficial. So, why wait? Why not start that goal RIGHT NOW?

Here are some reasons to start working towards your goals today!

1. You won't make more work for yourself.
Waiting until January can actually set you back, making it harder to achieve your fitness goals. Telling yourself you're going to start working on your goals in January is a "diet starts on Monday" approach, subconsciously giving you an excuse to eat more and focus less on movement throughout the holiday season. It's no secret that the holidays are a challenging time when it comes to eating healthy, and waiting until the start of the new year can result in giving yourself a free pass that you just don't need. Yes, you can still have structure and enjoy yourself!

If you start building healthy habits now, you'll have strategies in place and you can stop bad habits from pushing you farther away from your goals. Thus, making healthy choices will be that much easier come the new year!

2. Let's be honest, You might just be procrastinating.
Procrastination is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to achieving any kind of goal. Yet we all insist on waiting until January to completely reinvent ourselves. Waiting until the start of the new year to tackle a resolution is the very definition of procrastination and it puts you on a sure path to a shaky start. By starting today, you can put an end to procrastination and the stress that comes with it.

3. Who doesn't like a head start?
By making changes now, you will create new habits before the new year begins. So instead of struggling to reinvent your entire life-sleeping habits, diet, fitness routine, etc.-all in January, pick one habit that's the MOST important, and easiest to implement, and start it now! Stick with it, and by the end of January, you'll have one habit locked in, feel more productive, and be that much more prepared to tackle the next goal or resolution you want to work on.

4. Starting now keeps it all about you.
Although accountability can be key to sticking with a goal, you're much more likely to achieve one if it reflects your personal values and interests, rather than one built around social pressures and expectations. When you set goals for the new year, ask yourself if those goals are in alignment with your personal values, or if you're setting them because of societal expectations? Deciding to start now instead of waiting until January 1st is another way to make sure your resolution is all about you. Starting now screams "this matters to me" versus "I'm doing this right now just like everyone else in the world because that's what you're supposed to do."

Get in touch with your personal needs NOW and decide what you want to change or adapt in your life. This could be fitness-related, work, or family-related. But it's better to start thinking about these things now rather than procrastinating.

Today I hit 200% of my move goal! 8 hours of cleaning and decorating my Christmas trees will do that! Plus having a dance party while I steam mop the entire house - gotta love those Christmas jams!

My favorite way to end the day… eating my final fueling while I snuggle in bed watching a movie with my favorite people.

After a stomach bug has completely ransacked our house this week, I’m starting out this morning back on plan. I’ll be honest, when I’m sick my go-to is to allow myself ONE meal off plan that is carb filled, chosen 100% based on what I think I want and can keep down, and usually just before a long nap. That was yesterday. So today, right back on plan and starting strong with a grilled cheese and my EAAs. I’ve been really trying to put down some water too because I’m so dehydrated, so adding the EAAs today will help with the loss of electrolytes while I was sick the last couple of days.

Posting this for . Today I was pretty active. Since my job primarily requires me to sit at my computer, I’ve implemented a new habit which gives me up and moving a LOT more than I used to.

Any guesses what it is?

Hint: 👟