This picture is me (curly) my sister Teghan (above me) my cousin Tanya (middle) my best bud cousin Ryan (left) and my gorgeous Mom (upper left). I don’t remember a moment with them that didn’t feel celebratory.

As I wrote this blog and came across this picture, I thought it was a perfect reminder to live life celebrating even the smallest of victories as if it’s a Birthday!… ok, maybe not things like brushing your teeth or flushing the toilet, but you know what I mean 😉

If you are someone who has ever tried to form a new health habit, it can be overwhelming and discouraging to only focus on the END GOAL.

Two things that keep the goal from being daunting are

A. Learning to experience the end goal at the beginning (you’ll see) and

B. Celebrating with enthusiasm

We are going to talk about results, process and celebration during habit change…. it will all come full circle with the kid celebration thing.

1. Results: The $67 billion diet industry (I like to stress that as much as possible to highlight how we are sold on giving money away for products and services that… keep us coming back) pitches results like “lose 20 lbs in 20 days” “slim down for summer” and “wow him with your body” etc. Ok, I made that last one up, but you get the point.

In my opinion, the issue is a lack of promoting sustainable health and an influx of basically telling us we are not good enough the way that we are.

Now let’s look at the true results I believe we are all seeking: Feel good in my body, be confident, feel strong, have a positive self image, know that I am doing my best to live a healthy lifestyle…

What’s the difference between these goals and the mechanical goals like “lose 20 lbs”? Well, we can achieve the results we can control from the beginning. Want to feel sexy? Practice feeling sexy now! Want to be happy with your body, practice being happy with your body NOW!

2. Process. Aka- Not overnight. Not quick fix. Day by day, sustainable, Process.

Please understand, I use the word PRACTICE for a reason. It takes patience and commitment, and when we can relax into the fact that we are whole and complete at any given point in time (symptom or not, ‘extra weight’ or not) then we actually begin to create the chemistry in our body for our (symptoms/weight/challenges) to dissolve. We create an environment in which our body can settle into the healthiest version of itself!

3. Celebration. Celebrating the small victories allows us to live in a state of gratitude, as opposed to a state of “not there yet”. As achievers, we can tend to achieve one goal, barely even acknowledge it, and even sweep it under the carpet of “so what now what”. Having goals is awesome! And acknowledging yourself for small accomplishments on a daily basis?… is even MORE AWESOME!

This is me being awesome… yes, that’s the word they call it, and I’m stickin’ to it. #innerslashouterchild lol

My goal was to hit a Deadlift above 300# (the best female crossfit competitors can lift into the 400s) The lift below is actually 285# I believe. So, I didn’t hit my END GOAL here, but I did A. Achieve a true, attainable result which was to have fun lifting and to feel strong. and B….The celebration… you’ll see.

Related posts:

Eating Intuit: Step 4 – REDEFINE PART 2 Who’s At Your Dinner Table? How to Build Healthy Habits x3 – Part 2: Creating Balance (6min video) Making Self-Care Your Priority: What You Can Do