Living Healthy and Living Well

While I never really exercised once I left college and had never eaten well, maintaining my weight was never an issue. In my mid 30’s though, I reached a place where I could no longer simply maintain my weight for the first-time and I actually started to gain weight.

Over the years I’ve worked hard (with the help of Katie) to learn and live a different lifestyle. I want to share with you what I’ve learned over the years.

Food

• What you put in your body matters. Because of that we’ve change these things about our eating habits.

• Please know before we move forward that we do all of this within reason. We still eat some of these things in moderation.

  • We seldom eat fried foods and I LOVE fried foods. Okra, chicken, cheese, bacon, fries, pickles, fish, etc. and I love all of it with gravy. I grew up in a family where gravy was a beverage. We had it with everything and it was GREAT!!!

  • We stopped drinking soda, coke, Dr. Pepper. We drink primarily water, coffee and lots of Arbonne FIZZ Sticks.

  • We gave up sweets. Don’t get me wrong I still eat dessert, but I no longer have ice-cream every night or something sweet at every meal.

  • Portion sizes. Katie and I share or split when we go out. We’re careful about how much we eat. We don’t have to eat as much as society tells us. We tend to eat what they put in front of us, but we really don’t need that much food.

  • We took all the chips, cookies, and processed foods out of our house. I still miss Cheeto’s but we just don’t buy them. 

Activity

• You cannot achieve health by being sedentary. You have to move. You have to be active.

  • Walk, run, exercise at some level

    • You can walk, everyone can walk. Even if it’s just 30 minutes a day. Count your steps. Walk a mile. MOVE!!!!

    • I often hear these words, “I’m too busy.”

      • That’s not true. No one is that busy!!!!

        • Find a secondary action while you walk

          • Pray, listen to pod-cast, chat with a friend, listen to music. For me music, podcast or the community aspect makes working out much better.

  • Be consistent

    • You can’t do this every once in a while. You have to be faithful. Develop a routine and stick with it. You will find very quickly that there are enormous advantages to working out in some form.

Today

These simple steps have grown into significant things for me. I now spend an hour at the CrossFit gym 5-6 days a week. It has become one of my favorite hours of each day. I know that CrossFit isn’t for everyone but everyone needs to find some form of exercise.

As well, Katie and I began a journey with Arbonne’s 30 day to Health Living that has been incredibly positive for us. It is a program that allows you to eat as much as you want as long as you eat the right things. You don’t have to count points, macros, or weigh items. You simply eat the right foods. This is critically important to good health. Too many people starve themselves and just keep eating in very unhealthy ways. You may lose weight doing that but you’ll never be healthy.

The results for us have been amazing. Today I’m in the best shape of my life. We’ve had family and friends who have lost tons of weight, and count a long list of lives that have been radically changed through Arbonne’s 30 days to Healthy Living and a simple form of exercise. It can be done. You can do it. Don’t wait to lose the weight. If you need a program, encourager, friend, suggestions, or coach, feel free to reach out. Your health matters.