findinghealth

A few weeks ago I got a binder that I decided to use to print out my favorite recipes from the internet. I have a bad habit of bookmarking and saving all over the place and then losing track of everything.

“you cannot ‘find’ motivation, you must create it!” - yoga-body 

50 Ways to Stay Motivated for Weight LossHow to Stay Motivated to Exercise 12 Ways to Get Motivated Staying Motivated to Lose Weight More Articles about Motivation

Take it One Day at a Time Don’t worry about tomorrow, focus on today. Focus on eating right for today, make it your goal for the day, and repeat it tomorrow, and the day after that and the day after that. 

Surround Yourself with Positivity “Change your thoughts, and you change your world”, it’s really true. Think you can, and you can do anything. Think positive, breathe positive, live positive, be positive as much as possible. Focus on the solution, rather than the problem. Surround yourself with good people, good food (food that’s good for you), and good thoughts. Create a Dream Board Bring your dreams to life. Look at them every day. Never lose sight of what you want. Fill it with your favourite quotes and pictures to inspire you. 

How to Make a Dream Board Digital Dream Board Create a Dream Board

Visualize Accomplishing your Goals If your goal is to lose weight, create a mental picture of yourself having already achieved it. What will you look like, feel like, and move like when you have accomplished that goal? Living as if you are already there makes realizing your vision something you focus on daily. 

Make Realistic Goals Ask yourself what you want. What do you want from life? Who do you want to be? Where do you want to be? And make realistic goals. Now that doesn’t mean you can’t have your dream body, it just means realizing that it won’t happened overnight. Make S.M.A.R.T goals. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, & Time-bound goals. 

SMART Criteria Example of SMART goal

Reward Yourself, Be Kind to Yourself & Recognize your Progress When you know you have been good to your body, treat yourself! Find a reward that inspires you- a new pair of sneakers or workout outfit, a new music CD for your walk or pamper your feet with a pedicure for all of your efforts. Give yourself a hug once in awhile! Train hard, eat right, sleep well, but once a week, allow yourself an indulgence. Enjoy your favorite dessert, get a massage, or simply take some time for yourself to relax. It’s Okay to Cheat! Once in a while, cheating will keep you on track! Planning a cheat, whether it’s a snack, a meal, a weekend or a week vacation, can make all the difference in the world. Allowing yourself a little “controlled” wiggle room, you can avoid falling off the wagon. And once your “cheat” is done, go right back to your plan. Forget about the Scale  Focus on how you’re life is changing, on how you feel. Focus on how you’ve changed. Focus on the inches lost, the muscle gained. Focus on how much better you’re becoming and how much you’re gaining. Alternatively, weigh yourself once a week, or even once a month. Measure your entire body monthly as well. Take one picture of yourself daily in the same outfit for the duration of your journey. 

Eat breakfast every day

Recognize that positive change rarely happens overnight

Accept the fuck-ups, but try not to let them happen again

There is a song to remedy every situation on the planet

Appreciate the people in your life

Look for the good in everything

Try new things and try them often

Treat yourself as well as you treat others

Our Tips: How to Eat More Vegetables

I think eating vegetables is something that’s really hard for a lot of people, myself included. Over the last few months I’ve tried figuring out how to change that, why it was happening, and how to make myself actually follow through on my goal of eating more on vegetables. 

Since then, I’ve found myself feeling so good just by eating a little better every day. It’s not so much about trying to lose weight or anything, it just makes me feel like I have better concentration & focus, I get less headaches and stomachaches, and that I have more energy overall. Here are a few tips that I’ve found helped me a lot in increasing the number of vegetables I’m eating now.

Start with vegetables

Okay, that title sounds ridiculous, but this is all about mindset. When thinking up what to make for dinner, first figure out what vegetable(s) you’re in the mood for. Then bring in the spices & herbs, then lastly hearty elements like starches, grains or pasta. Instead of making vegetables an afterthought, make it the main focus. For example, rather than say “I want pasta tonight” I can say “I want seared asparagus & broccoli, and I can put peas & lots of garlic with that. Then I’ll make a quick sauce and toss it all with some pasta.” By focusing first on vegetables, you’ll end up eating more.

Go with what you know 

If you’ve never tried or liked beets, romanesco, bok choy, or kale, don’t feel guilty by skipping over it at the grocery store. Start with celery, carrots, cucumber, and spinach if you’re more comfortable with it. By over-stretching our comfort zones, sometimes it causes us to not want to deal with it at all, which leads to ordering out and buying junk food for every meal. When you’re ready for it, move forward, but until then, learn to make the most of the basics.

It doesn’t have to be fresh! 

Frozen vegetables are just as good as fresh, in almost all cases, and especially in the winter. The best part is that they last longer than fresh, so you can always keep some around. And when they’re around, they’re much more likely to be eaten. Don’t go for “the best quality organic fresh vegetables” standard of “perfection.” Start where you are, make the best of what’s available.

Ramp up

Instead of eating salads for every meal, I’ve found that a better way to create lasting change is to build up to it. Start with just adding a little veg into your usual meals - then increase the amount of veg on your plate a little more each day. This was essential for me to drink green smoothies, for example - at first an all-greens-smoothie was gross, but by altering the ratio of fruit and vegetable each day, now most of my smoothies are vegetables, with just a small amount of sweetener. (Still working on it!)

Start small 

I used to make salads without doing much prep work, so all the pieces were huge and hard to eat. This made me hate salads, especially tougher greens. But now, I’ve learned to love chopped salads. I break down all the vegetables into small bits, including the greens, and it makes it so much easier (and tastier!) to eat. The way you prepare & incorporate ingredients makes such a huge difference. If you hate or just aren’t interested in something, break it down. I used to hate mushrooms - so I chopped them down and put them in stews, soups, and in burgers. As time went on, I grew to love mushrooms and now can eat them in mass amounts.

Try a different preparation 

By trying different cooking techniques, vegetables totally transform themselves in terms of taste and texture. Thin-slicing or roasting tomatoes tastes so much better to me than cold, watery refrigerated chunks of tomato that a lot of restaurants serve. Going back to mushrooms, for example, I still don’t really like raw mushrooms. I didn’t really like them steamed, either, for a long time. But I love them pan-seared or roasted, which sparked my love for them. Some vegetables work better with certain techniques, so don’t banish any veg from your house after one bad experience.

Create positive experiences, let go of bad ones 

When talking about experiences, mindset and environment have a lot to do with how we feel about food, whether it’s a certain ingredient, a style of cooking, or a certain preparation. I can’t tell you how many bad iceberg salads I’ve had throughout my life, or how many overcooked, soggy, flavorless vegetable sides. But that doesn’t mean those ingredients are inherently bad. Try to create positive correlations with cooking and exploring different kinds of food - cook with friends, put on your favorite music, eat outside on a beautiful day. Most importantly, don’t get hung up on trying to create a “perfect” meal. Especially at the beginning, its easy to get discouraged - just go slow and be kind to yourself. In the end, you’ll find that cooking with plenty of vegetables is rewarding and really tasty.