Create a Fit Lifestyle Manifesto
Take the time to look at your relationship with food and fitness. Do you do negative self-talk when you are confronted with food (especially food that you love)? Does the very mention of exercise get you down? It’s time to cast off a sedentary lifestyle and embrace food choices that nourish you and increase your longevity. Positively reaffirm your life and make a commitment to joy and healthy living.
Create a Fit Lifestyle Manifesto™. The sample below is the one I created for myself. There may be items on this list that you will want to incorporate into your own list, or your list may mimic mine. You list can be as long or as short as you like. This tool may be especially helpful if you are at the point where you are thinking about making changes, but haven’t yet made that commitment. Writing down your lifestyle priorities may be the nudge that you need. As you are moving towards a more healthy, active lifestyle refer to your manifesto periodically to gage your progress. Keep it handy. Integrating positive life affirming phrases into your normal way of thinking will go a long way to improving your physical and mental health.
MY FIT LIFESTYLE MANIFESTO™
1. I will respect myself and make choices that honor my goals.
2. I will measure my fitness success in terms of my level of physical activity, not by the size of my clothing.
3. I will treat all activity as an accomplishment - doing something is better than doing nothing.
4. I will not characterize myself as good or bad when describing what I am eating.
5. I am allowed to enjoy what I eat.
6. I will slow down my eating and concentrate on tasting and savoring what I eat.
7. I will listen to my body and eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full.
8. I will not use the word DIET. Dieting implies deprivation and a temporary state of being.
9. I will not look at a food that I like and say, “I can’t have that,” (unless allergies prevent my eating it).
10. I will not be swayed by the ridiculous, erroneous claims of the diet industry.
11. I will not compare myself to women in fashion magazines, nor hold myself to that standard for what is beautiful.
12. I will look in the mirror and say (out loud!) at least two nice things to myself every day.
13. I will not keep more than two sizes of clothes in my closet.
14. I will increase my level of physical activity (eventually engaging in a heart pumping activity five days per week).
15. I can turn down food that doesn’t nourish or please me with a polite, “No thank you.”
16. I will throw out my scale because the number on the scale is not a true measure of my health and fitness. (or…I will keep my scale in the trunk of my car - out of site.)
17. (If I cannot throw out my scale), I will not weigh myself more than once every six months.
18. I will drink at least ½ gallon of fresh water each day. (8, 8 oz. glasses of water)
19. I will consume 5 fruits and vegetables per day and choose whole grain products whenever possible.
20. I will find something to laugh at every day, even if it’s my own foolishness.