5 Essential Steps to Changing Your Life

Weight loss is merely a side-effect of getting healthy. And getting healthy doesn't mean counting calories, popping a pill or buying workout DVD's off an infomercial.

Just as weight loss is a side-effect of getting healthy, so is improved heart function, reversal of Type II Diabetes, balancing of hormones, reduction or elimination of menstrual problems and menopause. Our bodies are not meant to slowly become diseased and inefficient over time. They are meant to carry us through this life fairly effectively and give out fairly quickly around 100-120 years old.

So we might not know all the specifics of what improved health can do but we all know its a good thing and we'd like to have it but don't really know how (or have the constant motivation) to go about getting it.

That's where I come in! I became overweight somewhere around the 3rd grade. I became obssessed with exercise videos and diets. However, I just kept getting bigger and more miserable. Yeah sure, a couple times I managed to lose a little bit of weight but obviously didn't have the "key" because I would quickly lose interest as soon as the superficial results started to slow. But, after over 25 years of trial and error, I truly feel in my heart that I have ALL of the "key" to permanent weight loss (i.e. permanent life changes that drastically improve health and quality of life). And, here they are:

Note: I just started this segment so I will be elaborating on each of these 5 steps in the upcoming days, as my schedule allows, so please check back!

1. Educate Yourself!!! This one is HUGE! When you learn about your body and what makes it work, you not only have a better understanding of WHAT you need to do but, just as importantly, WHY you need to do it! It is unbelievable what a difference this knowledge can make. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that, without knowledge, there is a very great chance you will fail. Knowledge is Power people!!!!

One very easy & entertaining way to educate yourself is by watching documentaries.

Part of the importance of educating yourself is that this keeps what's important to you in the front of your mind. Another great way to keep it in the front of your mind is looking at/reading motivational material.

2. Get your head right. Before you can even begin to make any kind of change, you have to figure out what is causing you to do the self-destructive things you are doing. Sometimes it's simply lack of knowledge and educating yourself will solve the problem. Sometimes it's much MUCH deeper than that. Whether it be a scar from your childhood, a chaotic, unhappy life or simply a chemical imbalance that is causing depression, you have to identify, acknowledge & fix this/these problems first.

Learn to Let Go of anger and/or the past.

Figure out what you do and do not have control over. Here are my own thoughts on the subject.

3. Exercise

Learn why Exercise is Magic

4. Nutrition

"Eat Food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants" -Michael Pollan

First, learn what foods work best for YOU, not for the Subway guy or me or anyone else. Your body is unique and so are your needs.

Also, if you find yourself constantly hungry and have struggled with your weight for a while now, just consider eliminating wheat from your diet.

One last thing, I encourage everyone to at least learn about Intermittent Fasting and see if it might be fore you!

5. Sleep. I used to stay up half the night convinced that this was my "me time" after my son was born. I would wake up (or, rather, be woken up) the next morning completely miserable and resentful at my son, having just gone to bed a few hours before. When I finally started sleeping through the night, the results absolutely amazed me. So many things that I had never EVER thought to relate to lack of sleep automatically cleared up including: a large part of my depression (not all of it because I had post-partum), extreme hunger, and  problems controlling my temper (and controlling my emotions in general for that matter). Lack of sleep can also cause premature aging and lowered metabolism. We can not "borrow" time from sleep for other things. It WILL catch up with us!