Progress not perfection

Reflect, define, act. These are 3 keys to better health & happiness that are vital to reaching your goals so you look and feel awesome. I’ll be discussing how to use these keys over the next few weeks with you. Today we’ll explore the first key: reflect.

What’s working for you
Holidays often bring us clarity of our greatest health obstacles as they are a time that many of us experience additional stress (travel, family dynamics, high expectations, dietary temptation). As you read on, consider this: every obstacle has a solution and you don’t need to keep hitting your head against a wall or feeling stuck and unhappy in your body. Progress begins with reflecting on what is and what isn’t working for you.
While it’s fresh in your mind, how did you support yourself over the holiday season? To make this really easy, let’s look at the 4 basic areas of self-care.
Food-what particular foods and meals worked well for you (satisfied your hunger for 3 or more hours and reduced your cravings)?
Rest-how did you ensure you got enough sleep (7-8 hours each night somewhere between 9pm-8am)?
Movement-which ways did you move your body that felt good? Which types of movements made you feel like you were getting stronger, especially your challenge areas (for example, core, flexibility, physical endurance, or strength)?
Managing stress-how did you lower your worry, frustration or overwhelm? Did you have some tool that you could use every day whenever you felt these emotions bubble up that was helpful?

Your answers reflect your current tool box. These are the tools you are using to make progress toward your health goal(s). If you are making the progress you desire, then your tool box is perfect for you. If not, you may need to add some specialty tools. Let’s keep going!

What’s not working for you
Over the last 6 weeks, what did you stop doing or do in excess…do any of these ring a bell? Did you stop working out, overeat or eat foods that push you further from your goals, not take time for yourself, eat or drink to numb out? Taking a moment to reflect on your successes as well as your “pitfalls” is how you make progress. Making progress is what keeps you motivated and has been repeatedly shown in studies to lead to greater happiness. It’s when you feel like your effort doesn’t make a difference in how you look or feel that you feel helpless.

So now that you’ve reflected on which self-care tools are working for you and which aren’t, pay attention this week to using the best tools in your tool box (eating those foods that are most satisfying to you, getting enough sleep, etc). Next week, we’ll dive into the next key and define what you deeply desire for yourself and your greatest asset: your health.
Until then, I’m wishing you a very Happy New Year!
~Rebecca

P.S. Here is your personal invitation to unlock your Healthy, Wealthy & Slim self!
Starting soon, you can join me and 21 other experts as we share life changing information with you! It’s a FREE video interview summit called HEALTHY, WEALTHY and SLIM!! This event is designed to support you to build and sustain an INCREDIBLE life helping yourself and others achieve ULTIMATE health and weight loss success! Grab your spot now!