Healthy thoughts, healthy body.

I can't tell you how important it is for you to understand and appreciate the concept of "healthy thoughts lead to a healthy body". If you think positively about yourself and your body, you will be more apt to take care of it: you will exercise on a daily basis and you will nourish your body with the food it needs for optimal health. You will also be less apt to "let yourself go" as some would put it if you are truly in touch with your body, your feelings, and the way you feel about yourself and your body.

Alongside this, exercise and eating healthy will impact your thoughts. When people exercise they have a feeling of accomplishment, happiness, and a feeling of absolute euphoria. Have you ever worked out so hard that you got to that place where you honestly said to yourself "this feels awesome". If yes, good for you...and you obviously get what I mean. If no, get yourself to that point...it's truly a breaking point. Once you get to that place in your mind and body, nothing seems too hard or unreachable. And that is just absolutely amazing.

OR like most will admit to, they feel that way AFTER they have worked out, which is great as well.

Allow yourself to do positive things to your body. You don't have to eat like a pig...you don't have to be a lump on the couch...you don't have to go out on all night drinking binges with your best friends every weekend...YOU make the choice to take care of yourself. YOU make the choice to think positively of yourself and your body.

Give yourself a reason to be proud of who you are and how you carry yourself.

I promise that if you feed yourself healthy food (remember 75% of the time works for me) and give your body the chance to move (aka exercise/activity) you WILL feel BETTER about yourself and about your body.

What better gift can you give yourself?

I can't think of anything better than that. Giving yourself that gift will snowball into other good things happening in your life. The sky is truly the limit. GO live your best life and make the choice to think healthy thoughts and have a healthy body.

:)

Cait

PS I haven't received any questions or comments lately and it makes me sad! Come on now people...any holiday weight gainers freaking out right now? Anyone feeling like a blimp?! Anyone have some new tips on how to maintain a healthy positive attitude about yourself? Talk to me about it!

It's what you do 75% of the time that matters.

Hey all. Merry Christmas Eve. It's been a while since I've written a post!

Today I want to talk about the mere fact that your health is dependent upon what you do the majority of the time....I like to use 75%. That 25% matters very little...that 25% could be you going out to dinner and eating whatever you'd like 1-2x a month...it could be you taking a "day off" of heavy cardio/lifting 1 day a week. It could be you doing a half ass workout 1-3x a month because you don't want to take a day off but you are just mentally not into working out. It could be you indulging in a cookie or two at the office a day or two throughout the holidays. Whatever that 25% means to you.

Let's put into perspective that other 75%. That 75% is what you do the majority of the time. Ask yourself: Am I moving 75% of the day? Am I sitting 75% of the day? Am I eating healthy meals and snacks for the majority of the time? Am I taking time out for myself to keep myself happy and energized 75% of the time? Am I slacking off and feeding my body crappy food and not exercising 75% of the time?

You figure out what you do 75% of the time and then you take the 75% and you modify it...make it a better 75%. Then after you work on the positive....then look at what you are doing the other 25% of the time and make small changes there. Remember: It's about what you do the majority of the time.

If you never eat crappy food, but a couple days during the holidays you indulge...don't kill yourself over it. Just increase your workouts a little and get over it. Unless you eat 3,500 calories of extra food over those couple days, you shouldn't gain weight....however, if you do gain weight, it's probably because you are eating unhealthy 75% of the time during the holidays, and healthy 25%. Just switch it back. No big deal.

SO for example: Last night I went out with some friends to have a couple drinks. I LOVED every sip. Did I drink 5 of them? NO, I drank 2. Did I eat a huge meal after because I already "ruined" the day? No, I ate some small healthy snacks after I got home. Did I go home and tell myself that I needed to go kill myself at the gym today? No. So what did I do? I went home, drank a bunch of water, ate some healthy snacks and got lots of good rest. Then I woke up today, went running with my friend (5 miles), and then when I got home I said to myself "I'm not tired and I know I am going to be doing a lot of sitting today due to homework and church, SO I am going to just walk on the treadmill while I watch the Dr.Oz show". It was an easy way to add in some activity while still enjoying the show I was going to sit and watch anyways. Today I am going to try to be sitting only 25% of my day and up standing or moving the other 75%.

I challenge you to try to to the same!

Everyday try to find ways to be moving 75% of the day. It doesn't matter if you exercise for an hour if you are sitting/laying down for the 75% of your day. I'm not saying that exercising for an hour isn't good enough *it is* but what I am saying is that doesn't mean that you should be fine with sitting the rest of it. You shouldn't exclude yourself from those 10,000 steps that all of us should be getting a day.

Try these tips:

1) Move your legs while you are at your desk or doing hw in my case. People who figit or tap their feet burn more calories per day and also have a lower BMI than those who don't. Keep that in mind!

2) Try standing up while on the phone...walk around a little bit while you are on the phone at work or at home.

3) Try to find ways to get more activity into your day...walk the stairs, park further away, get up to talk to coworkers, get up and take a short walk every 45 min to an hour.

4) GO for a walk in the morning, at lunch, and right after work.

5) Eat standing up. Like breakfast, we don't need to be sitting. Lunch is usually on the go anyways, and dinner...let yourself sit with your family but know that the more activity you get after dinner, the less energy you will be storing *as fat*. *As long as you are paying attention to the fact that you are eating, it's okay to be standing up, as long as you don't overeat at meals*.

SO the take home message. Eat healthy and get moving 75% of the time. The other 25% you can work on once you get that 75% down.

Working on the positive first will not only get you moving in the right direction *no pun intended* but it will also allow you to see the positive things you are doing for you and your health. We tend to only focus on our bad habits. Let's focus on the good habits and expand on those! :)

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays.

Caitlin