Ah the New Year, when everyone is focused on losing weight and getting in shape. At some point last year it really clicked for me that I failed year after year on pursuing this myself because my mind was not in the right space.
While it may work for some people I don’t thrive off of negative talk. For years I bought into the mindset that food is bad and burning calories is good. While it might be a good initial motivator I find this mindset exhausting. I’m tired of a society that pushes a fear of food and praises self deprivation. I’ve lost count of the headaches I’ve given myself, the times I’ve felt lightheaded or gone to bed early just to spend less time awake and hungry. If losing weight is supposed to make one feel great than why for so many years has the pursuit of it made me feel miserable?
Over the past few month’s I’ve become more aware of what makes my body feel good and what doesn’t. I’ve learned that while I’m not going to be afraid of a piece of bread eating too much of it doesn’t make me feel great either. I absolutely love the taste of a fresh coke hitting my tastebuds but more than one can and I spend the rest of the day feeling bloated and gross.
We need food to survive and while I’n not advocating for eating cake every single day I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with enjoying a slice of cake from time to time either. Instead of obsessing over calories I’m focused on finding ways to make healthy food more enjoyable and eating things I love but aren’t so great for me in moderation. We’ve discovered that we prefer roasted veggies to steamed ones and have enjoyed trying new recipes instead of relying on eating out four to five nights a week.
When it comes to fitness, instead of telling myself working out is something I have to do I’m finding ways to move my body that makes me excited I get to do it. I’m finding joy in taking a mid day break to walk the dogs and get some sunshine and fresh air. I’m rediscovering my love for yoga and how good I feel after a good deep stretch. Last fall we took up hiking and I find reaching a destination to be much more rewarding than seeing a calorie burn count on the treadmill ever was.
One of the most impactful ways I’m focusing of overall wellness this year is keeping up with the simple things like getting enough sleep and drinking plenty of water. I’ve learned over the years the hard way that not getting enough of either will make me feel awful no matter how many vegetables I eat or miles I run.
Will this change in mindset cause a change in my weight? Maybe, maybe not. I honestly don’t care. I’m over pursuing thinness like it’s the holy grail. Would I like to lose some weight? Yes, but I’m not putting my life on hold for it. I’ve seen how stress causes more harm than junk food on my body’s well being so If nothing else I think letting go of the stress over the scale is the best thing I’ve done for my body in years.
Of course since fashion is my focus here let’s talk about my outfit. Since I’ve been spending more time at home this past year I’ve pretty much been living in workout attire, even when I haven’t been working out. I recently grabbed the outfit in this post from JCPenny and I was really impressed how far my budget stretched! I was able to get this fleece lined pull over, leggings, memory foam sneakers, water bottle and a smart watch for under $200!
Shop my outfit here – comes in straight and plus sizes.
I am using the itouch wearable air 3 smartwatch. It has a lot of the functions of more expensive smart watches for only $60. I picked this one because it measures sleep and oxygen concentration but it also has a heart monitor, several sports modes, and connects to your phone for msg alerts as well as camera and music controls.
I hope you found this post helpful and have the right mindset to crush your goals in 2021!