We all have a dream. A dream of a better body, a better or different life, a dream job, dream partner, dream family, you feel me. Just as we all dream we all question whether we have what it takes to get what you have been desiring and dreaming of.

Then we hear that voice of doubt that springs up and tells us that we can’t do it or we are worthy of achieving that goal.

It’s our ego, our ego wants us to stay stuck! This is when you need to dig deep and tap into your fears and find the courage to overcome be doing things differently. Be comfortable being a beginner and learn to roll with the ups and downs of trying anything new.

On Tuesday, October 10th, I talked about how to deal with adversity, how to start feel comfortable and confident doing new things and learn how to be willing to go on the journey and stay when things get tough. Replay Show Notes

The post You Have A Healthy Person Inside Of You appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

The truth is that it’s okay to have a bad day, a day that doesn’t fulfill all of your daily needs. Most times our other meals during that week will have the nutrients that we are missing. Now..if you continue to miss certain nutrients there can be problems. Eating well helps you to have:

• Stronger Immune System
• More Energy
• Longer Life

Now a days most people want to just take a pill/supplement. I’m not one of those real food zealots. I do see the advantages of vitamins, supplements and/or meal replacements shakes and bars. On those occasions when you can’t eat a traditional meal.

One of the best ways I know how to make sure you are getting all that you need is to do a little menu planning. Menu planning is exactly what it sounds like. You create a plan for what you’re going to eat during the week, including your meals and snacks. Now no eye rolling. I know that some of you have tried to do this in the past and may have thought it took too much time. Hated what you cooked and then tossed it. Or maybe you never have and or never took the time to learn how. If you are willing in just 5 days I could show you that healthy meal planning can save them time and money, provide you with the nutrients that you need to lose weight.

Jack Lalane said it best nutrition is queen. The better the food you take in the better your physique results. So meal planning becomes an important piece of the puzzle. If you don’t have a plan for what you’re going to eat, you may end up grabbing whatever is fastest and most readily available.

This often means you’re consuming processed food or junk food. It’s a missed opportunity to get at least some nutrients into your system.

Meal planning is simply deciding in advance what you’re going to have to eat. In most cases people plan several days’ worth of meals and snacks. It makes shopping, cooking and preparing food, and eating, a much simpler and healthier process.

Here are eight steps to make meal planning fun and easy.

#1 Decide how often you can shop.

I shop every Saturday. I keep a running list through the week so that I’m running blindly going through the store. My goal is to get in and out of the store in less than 30 minutes. .

#2 Plan for snacks too.

Here is where most people slide in their healthy lifestyle. Making sure you have some healthy nibbles around will keep you from making unhealthy choices.

#3 Make it tasty.

Everyone thinks eating healthy has to be boring and bland. Not at all, add different herbs and spices make it and interesting as possible.

#4 Identify recipe sources.

I sit down every Saturday and go through Pinterest to find great new recipes. I also have a ton of great cookbooks that I go through too.

#5 Create a system.

Create systems to organize and plan. Sit down at your table and make a full meal plan before you shop. Add ingredients from each recipe to your shopping list so you go to the store knowing exactly what you need to buy.

#6 Have contingency plans.

It always makes sense to have some backup food. You might not have leftovers that you expected from last night’s dinner and now you have nothing for lunch. If you have some backups then you’re ready to go.

#7 Make ahead.

We all can get “crazy busy” from time to time. The best way to handle this is to have make-ahead recipes. You can make on the weekend, freeze, and thaw and heat for dinner. When I travel and don’t want my husband living off pizza and Chinese food I make a bunch of easy to heat and eat meals. I’m also a sucker for the crockpot toss everything together in the morning and come home to delicious dinner.

#8 Try something new.

It’s easy to get into a meal planning rut. Meatless Monday, taco Tuesday, noodles on Wednesday and so on. While that does provide a framework to make planning easier, it can also start to feel limiting. Try to include one new recipe each week. You want to feel excited about your food.

Meal planning can take some getting used to. It requires you to create a few new lifestyle habits. However, once you’ve gotten into the swing of things, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it. For me meal planning is the only way to make sure that each meal is nutritious and delicious. Plus I don’t have to do any thinking during the week. I can just go in the fridge and have something simple and easy to eat.

The post Want Better Results’ — Change Your Food! appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

I don’t know about you, but I’m AWESOME at coming up with excuses. I can justify ANYTHING. Am I alone”  The excuses I build in my mind all seem logical and even very rational. I was really good yesterday so I deserve to have a cookie today; I’m swapped at lunch so I’ll go to the gym after work, I’ll be more effective than; it’s so and so’s birthday, going away party etc I can’t blow off drinks it would be rude. And so on. We forget that even though our reasoning has some logic to it, it’s not GOOD logic and it doesn’t lead us to our dreams. So how do we get ourselves to act on our goals’

Tony Robbins says we are trying to avoid pain and/or gain pleasure. Now when starting down the path to a healthy life there will be more pain than pleasure  at times and you may want to stop.

This is where the  reward and consequence dynamic comes into play. A good friend of mine talked to me about this and how psychologist use this as a way to create behavior modification.

Sadly, some us respond better to consequences than we do to rewards.  Consequences force your brain to look for ways to solve your problems and keep your promises with the energy it would normally use to justify making excuses. Consequences you make for yourself need to be annoying but not physically painful. Here are examples of consequences.

• If you stay up past your bed time you need to sleep on the floor
• You miss a workout, you leave $10 somewhere for a stranger to find
• Don’t pack a healthy lunch, no cellphone for the day
• Skip Zumba class, no social media for the day
• No watching TV

Are you picking up with I’m putting down”  We are quick to blow off a promise we make to ourselves, but if there is a consequence associated with we may less likely to do it. The best way to burn in a consequence is to share it with someone who can help hold you to your word. There is an app out there called Gym Pact. The cash helps you to stay on track.

Now let’s put the shoe on the other foot. Pleasure. Think of it like that vacation you look forward to or getting together with your really good friends or a big hug from your kids. Okay so you get pleasure. Pleasure taps into your creative brain causing you to imagine what if, dreaming of the possibility. Here are some examples of pleasure.

• You go to the gym  3-4 days/week you get an hour massage
• You bring a healthy lunch to work  3 days and you get Mani/pedi
• You workout and eat right for a month Nice night out

My husband and I challenged each other to see how many workouts we could get in during the year. Each time we workout for more than 30 minutes we put a dollar in the jar. We reach 100 workouts we go out to dinner.

You get the idea, anything that makes you happy.

So, what you do you respond to — consequences or rewards’

What consequence/pleasure will you assign to yourself to ensure you start taking action from this point forward’

This blog post was inspired by Oscar Health Insurance.

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Choosing Something You Love Tweet this
If you choose a form of exercise that you love, you will not think of it as a form of torture or something that you are being forced to do.  Instead, you can look forward to the event and put even more effort into it.

A great example is if you love to dance.  Find out about classes in your area and commit to going each week.  It doesn’t really matter what form of dance you choose.  The most important factor is that you are getting involved in an activity where you are burning off calories.

If you are going from a completely sedentary lifestyle and you start attending two or three dance sessions per week, you will notice a difference in your health and energy levels in no time at all.  The weight will fall off slowly but surely.
Try your best to pick dances that require a little effort on your part.  Something that will get your heart beating a little faster is perfect. This means that your body will be actively burning off energy.

If you are a little shy about venturing out in public, you can still get your exercise done through dance. There are plenty of dance and fitness DVDs that you can choose from. You can order a set of DVDs, which are graded at different levels, so they are suitable for absolute beginners as well as people who have danced before.

Set a date on your weekly schedule to put the DVD on and dance along with the instructors.  Xbox, Wii and Playstation all have dance videos you can use as well.

These are all great options if you like the idea of dancing but can’t find suitable dance classes in your area. These are also excellent if you do not want to or can not leave home at the moment.

Choose an Exercise You Can Get Used To
Sometimes you have to face the fact that exercise might not be fun but it is good for you. If this is the case for you, then pick something and do it for a short space of time. For example, make up your mind to go for a short walk. Go for just ten minutes. Do this 2 or 3 times in the week. Then increase the time to 15 minute sessions.  Over the next few weeks, start to increase the time that you are out until you are walking for at least 40 minutes each time.

What you are trying to do is to create a habit.  The more you can get used to doing something, the easier it will be to carry on doing it.  To get a better workout, you can add hand weights to your walk or you can increase your speed.

Instead of walking, you could try this with cycling or jogging or going to the gym.  If you can get used to a regular routine, you will be able to see the benefits after a while.

Hook up with a friend. When you find something you like invite a friend, this way it becomes an appointment and you are less likely to skip it.

Do you have any other suggestions for how a beginner can get started’

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