Don’t Go Work Out.

Welcome Holiday Season!

Come on delicious turkey. Ham. Pies. Your aunt’s bomb-diggity sweet potato casserole. Gravy. Potatoes. Cookies. Cakes. Pies – did I mention pies yet?

You know it’s here. Time to get our eats on! Pull out the maternity pants and leggings to make room for the extra eating. Don’t lie you know your holiday outfits revolve around stretchy materials! It’s alright, mine do too!

But let’s get real. We are going to indulge and come January 1 we are going to write that New Year’s Resolution to get back in the gym to work out and “drop that holiday weight” “drop the baby weight” or “drop that pant size.” Something happened when we had that baby {or more!} to our bodies and we are sick of feeling the way that we do.

Yet, January 10th comes, it’s too hard and we stop. So stop this cycle. Don’t Go Work OUT, GO set some realistic, measurable, obtainable GOALS.

We didn’t set ourselves up for success. We thought, I’ll go to the gym every day and get in those skinny pants from high school. How can you start preparing now so that come 1/10/15 you aren’t back on the couch watching Downtown Abbey finishing off the half gallon {but let’s be real it’s only like 1/3 gallon} ice cream…

1. Figure out your WHY.

Sure it’d feel great to rock those skinny jeans, but I promise you when you hear that chocolate chip cookie screaming your name at 10:30pm on Friday night that WILL NOT keep you from chowing down. Therefore you need to connect to WHY I want to get fit. Think about the five senses. How you will feel, what you will look like, what your confidence level will be like, how will your husband react to you, how will you feel going shopping. For us visual folks, we need a constant visual reminder of sweet abs, cut arms, and some swanky clothes that we’d look killer in if we had the body we desire. Before moving on to other steps figure out your WHY.

2. Set GOALS.

This is NOT “I want to fit in those skinny jeans” and pray it happens. You need to break that goal down. When do you want to fit  in those jeans? Say 5 months from now. Say you need to lose 20 pounds to get into them. That means you need to consistently lose 4 pounds a month in order to hit your goal. That means 1 pound a week. Completely doable!

3. Determine HOW

. So momma, how are you going to do it? You know you have to drop 1 pound a week, so what changes do you need to make in order to do it. What I have experienced most in my journey is I set unrealistic and unobtainable HOWS. Like I’m going to work out every day for one hour and I’m going to squeeze in an extra work out 3 times a week while also ONLY eating vegetables. That screams FAIL. Promise me you will not say “I will go to the gym every day” {unless you are IN that habit!}. Start with working out 3 times a week and get really consistent at that. Then you can increase. Take a good look at your diet and remove processed food, refined sugars, just “crap” {don’t even act like you don’t know what I’m talking about and PLEASE throw away the “natural Cheetos” unless you can find me a Cheeto plant that produces Cheetos}.

4. Dream IT into REALITY.

Think about your goal. Say your goal out-loud. Speak positive confessions, like “I will lose 20 pounds. I’m worth it. I’m beautiful.” Positive confessions are powerful. I love speaking Biblical truths as well such as “There is a plan and purpose for my life” “God created me for GOOD not evil” “I’m more valuable than rubies and gold!”

5. DO NOT GIVE UP!

I believe that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to! Go achieve your dreams!