When I see someone who hasn’t shown themself the love they deserve and has let their health go, I want to grab and hug them and yell “You are worth it!!!!!” Each and every human on this planet deserves to have a healthy and full life, and for most of us, it is right there for the taking! If you are capable, meaning you live in a country that allows you the choice, you are physically free and capable to walk around and be healthy without limits, but you AREN’T choosing that…Think of the people on the planet who would give anything to have that kind of control over their future. When are you going to put yourself first and make your number one priority your health? There has never been a better time than right now. Redefine yourself and tell yourself straight out: “This is who I am now.”

No more stories and excuses and timelines that have an if..when, or a when…then. Decide right now. I have said this before but it bears repeating: The only way to do something hard is to DECIDE. That’s it. Decide right now that you are crossing the line and you are doing it.

Please don’t negotiate with yourself and say that you are “really going to try.” You are already giving yourself an out. Your language of how you define change is crucial. You are doing this.

When you love yourself enough to make health your top priority, then all of the other things in your life that aren’t going so well will start to fall in line. Once you work on getting yourself healthy, the energy follows, the self esteem follows, the self love follows, the relationships follow, the ambition follows. The overall joy and zest for life will follow. Fix your health FIRST and it makes the rest so much easier. It is perfectly ok to decide that this will be your top priority and to let a few other things take a back burner. It is completely worth the investment in yourself to put your full attention on a health reset.

 

Ok, are you with me? Are you ready? If not, probably best to close out of this post and read no further. If so, brace yourself- It’s time to kickstart your life for the better!

LOOK OUT! Here comes some tough love. Here are the steps toward better health to take right now. Tell yourself in no uncertain terms that YOU DON’T DO THESE THINGS ANYMORE. It’s time to redefine yourself for the better.

I DO NOT:

1. Smoke
2. Drink alcohol excessively, or at all.
3. Eat processed foods
4. Eat meat and dairy
5. Think vegetables are gross
6. Lay around all day
7. Watch too much tv

SMOKING

I am quite sure that I don’t have to explain this one. The number one best thing you can do for your health is to never smoke another cigarette or e-cig (or whatever those robot puffers are called) again. Please don’t give me the “easier said than done!” or any other excuses. I was a smoker for too many years. I speak from experience. It is ignorant and selfish to those who love you to compromise your health in this way. YOU KNOW ITS BAD! Decide right now to live longer, set a positive example, and love yourself enough to quit. NOW. Just stop buying them, immediately.

ALCOHOL

For some of us, no alcohol is the best option. Even if you are okay having a few, then take a beat, and pause for a health reset. Take a few weeks or a month off, just for your health. Please don’t fool yourself that you are actually improving your health with resveratrol and that red wine is beneficial. It does have some healthy ingredients in it, however, the ill effects of the alcohol itself far outweigh the benefits. Eat grapes. Blueberries, raspberries, pomegranates. Don’t sell me your “drink to your health” BS. Also, don’t kid yourself that drinking relaxes you, and that the stress relief benefits outweigh the damage done. Alcohol is a depressant, might make you feel good momentarily, but actually disrupts healthy emotional well being. It will not help your state of mind in the long run, but you actually know this already.

If you want to have a few drinks a week responsibly, that is fine with me. But please don’t waste your breath telling me or anyone else that it’s good for you, you know dang well it isn’t. Enjoy a few guilt free, and realize and acknowledge that you have to counter the ill effects with healthy living. Do not drink yourself into a state of unhealth, and make hangovers a regular part of your life. It is horribly damaging to your body, and will shorten your lifespan.

If you want to drink to your health, drink water. Brew tea. Drink coconut water instead of sports drinks. Ditch soda! Don’t drink “diet” anything, ever. If you are one of those people that says “I actually hate the taste of water.” That is your story that you have made up for yourself, and I am calling you out. It is necessary for life and the human body craves it daily. Do not allow these negative thoughts and beliefs to ruin your health. The next time you are about to say that, restate it. “I love water, my body loves it. It feels so good to be hydrated!” You can actually rewire your brain and reinvent your belief system.

PROCESSED FOODS

Goodbye junk food. Chips, cookies, ice cream, comfort crap. Anything made with white flour, preservatives, ingredients you don’t recognize, a shelf life that makes no sense. These comfort foods are like a horrible boyfriend that lies and cheats, even though he looks so sexy on a motorcycle, wearing no helmet. They’re a devil with a blue dress on.

It may seem unbelievable, but when you stack up a junk food craving next to fresh fruit, you will be amazed at how much more satisfying and delicious the fruit actually is. Try it. Eat a cookie, and then eat an apple. The apple will win, honest. Load up your counters with bowls of apples, oranges, bananas, mangoes, pineapples. Cut up larger fruits as soon as you get home so they are ready for snacking.

Keep cut veggies and hummus handy. (Not chips!) Carrot sticks (I like to cut them fresh from big carrots instead of buying baby carrots) are so crunchy and satisfying! And celery that’s been trimmed and filled with Peanut butter is a super satisfying snack. You just have to prep in advance so when you get those munchies, your snacks are ready and waiting!

Freeze ripe bananas, and blend them with almond milk, cocoa powder and peanut butter. Chocolate shake of your dreams! You can have it all. Stop buying the crap, and load yourself up with yummy fresh whole foods, I PROMISE you they will satisfy! Not only is a juicy orange or crisp apple delicious, and juicy, but it is full of nutrients your body wants and needs which is why you go into munchie mode to begin with. And you can eat as much as you want, no limits!

MEAT AND DAIRY

Not healthy. Full of cholesterol, full of sodium, and most of it is full of hormones and antibiotics. They are the reason for our obesity epidemic, our heart health epidemic and so many more problems facing first world countries. Animal protein is not ideal for consumption, period. All of the amino acids which are the building blocks for protein, are contained in plants. They are easier to digest since they are ready to assemble and do not have to be broken down before they can be reassembled. Digesting meat and dairy is very taxing on our body, causes acidity, inflammation, and has been the biggest disservice sold to us by the food industry in history. 60% of Americans are intolerant to dairy, so we sell them medication to counter the ill effects. Cheese is the largest contributor of fat in the American diet. That is what you see walking around the malls and the theme parks. Walking blocks of cheese.

Give yourself the benefit of the doubt, even if you’re a skeptic, and go animal free for a month. Let me know how you feel. Let me know how much weight you lose and how much energy you have. Then you can go back to eating what you want and notice the difference it makes in how you feel.

VEGETABLES

Time to rewrite your brain again. Vegetables are the most varied items of food on the planet. It is simply impossible for humans to be averse to the healthiest and most diverse foods around that are full of what we need to live. Not liking vegetables, or anything, is conditioned. We decide what we like and don’t like, and then it becomes who we are, a part of our story. It’s like saying you don’t like colors.

The number of people who turn up their nose and say vegetables are gross astounds me. I have heard parents say aloud to their children “You don’t have to eat anything green, sweetie, it’s gross.” The idea that vegetables are gross has been programmed. An entire category of food that comes in a million combinations of shapes, sizes, textures and colors cannot all be bad. There is simply something for everyone. It is where all our fiber comes from. Fruits and Veggies. the only source of fiber is plants. Want to lose weight? Up your fiber intake! (Please not with a supplement- you need the nutrients that come with the whole plant!)

Hit the grocery and start choosing vegetable items you think you might like. A minimum of five things, every week. (That’s a really bare minimum!) Do not for one second let your pessimistic inner voice say “Ew!” That is absolute childish nonsense, and the new you won’t put up with it. Grow up and eat your veggies! NOW you are a healthy person. You love vegetables. You can’t wait to try to steam an artichoke. Make some edamame. Find the magic of sautéed zucchini and squash on an open faced sandwich with hummus. Figure out what the South thinks is so great about collards. Be brave, dear new health adventurer. You might not like everything you try at first, so try everything! You’ll fall in love with more things than things you you discover you don’t like.

SEDENTARY LIFE

Oh ho ho. Goodbye the you of yesterday! This very day, you now are motivated to move. Want to watch tv? OK, but first, you have to put in minute of exercise for every minute you want to watch. So earn your tv, then turn it off and read a book or listen to a podcast. Doesn’t matter if you don’t belong to a gym. Take a walk outside. Or a run. Turn up the music and dance at home. Watch workout videos for free on you tube. Try yoga, try Zumba, try a HIIT workout. Don’t give up. Do the best you can, even if you feel like a mess at first, just keep moving. If you can’t keep up with the video, just keep moving and watch. Make it a goal that one day, you will keep up. “That’s gonna be me in two months.” Celebrate what you can do now, and celebrate that you kept going, even if it wasn’t at their speed. You should see me try to work out right now at 8 months pregnant, you’ll feel alot better!

TV

Currently, it is the season of Netflix and Hulu and Prime. It is very easy to get sucked into a comfort cocoon. Do not fall victim! Set yourself some guidelines. Block off certain hours of day where tv is not allowed. Don’t allow tv at all if you haven’t moved yet that day. Replace the tv habit with music, and get your body moving. Listen to books and podcasts on a walk and learn some things. It keeps you walking when you want to hear the end of a good story or hear the words of an inspiring guest.

Rewrite yourself. This is who you are now. Look back over all of these habit changes. What kind of person engages in certain activities and what type of person engages in others? What type of person are you? Whatever your state of health is in the moment, you can stand up and say right now, “I am a healthy person. I make healthy choices. I don’t eat that. I workout every day.” And then live your truth!

DECIDE right this instant, “I am worth it. I matter. I deserve ultimate health.” and then tell yourself who you are going forward. Don’t be wishy washy about it. Don’t go in like you’re gonna dip a toe. Nuhuh. You my friend, are a cannonballer.

Let’s go cannonball the mother out of our health! It’s NOW or it’s NEVER! You can do this, and I’ve got your back.

Here is my challenge to you: Declare publicly your commitment to change. This will create accountability and keep you on track. Instead of a timed weight loss goal, set an activities I will do goal. It’s the activities that create the change, so checking off that you are moving daily and not smoking, etc.. will give you the results without feeling discouraged when the number doesn’t match the day for which you set it. It is OK to have a weight goal, but FOCUS on the ACTIVITY the will get you there.

Now get out there, and live your best life, ready, set, GO!

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Aloha,

Britt, Your Kickin’ Vegan