Today is the official midway point of 2020. I pulled out my 2020 vision board. Hilarious! What a year for me to decide to do my first vision board. I made my family members do one, I even had client-friends over to my house for us all to create one together. So funny, really.
I am such a planner. I always have been. I feel such great joy when I think I know exactly how something will happen. I have always meticulously planned our family vacations, including time for spontaneity. I am the person that makes dinner reservations weeks in advance. I know some people whose minds live more in the past, that is just not my personal mode of avoiding the present.
2020 has been such a reminder that my plans are not always very useful.
How does this apply to weight loss?
I love and encourage my weight loss clients to plan their food ahead of time, especially treats & exceptions. I know that this is the way to retrain the part of the brain that acts on urges and cravings. But, I have learned that what we do when our plans go to hell is just as important, or possibly more important.
When things go astray, we lean on habits that we have established through repetition of thoughts, feelings and actions that have become part of who we are.
I want us to focus on developing permanent behaviors that hold up and continue under all circumstances. These are created by making small, consistent changes, that we take on consciously, until they become part of who we are.
If you want to start improving your health, think about committing to some small actions for July.
- Add 1 or 2 servings of vegetables to what you eat each day?
- Pull out your Fitbit, set a doable goal for steps each day and walk?
My plans for the second half of the year will be consistent, small actions that lead me toward my goals. My hope is that the small actions will change me as a person, not just what I am doing. Want to join me?
Okay 2020-part 2, bring it on!
Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
