(6/2022) Many things go together to improve your health, help you lose weight, keep your joints moving without pain but I think the most important is Motivation. It is easy to get excited about a new diet that promises you will lose weight fast and easy but it is something different to stay on that diet for the time needed to achieve your goal. What makes starting and doing the diet for the first couple weeks is the anticipation of seeing the numbers go down on the scale and being able to button those jeans you love but couldn't wear for the past year. What keeps you on the diet for the rest of the time you need to be get to the number on the scale you want and to keep being able to button those jeans and even getting into other clothes is the motivation you find to stick with it. That's where the true change comes and why you are able to keep the weight off. Getting weight off may not be what you need. You may need to improve joint movement to decrease pain. You may want to add muscle to improve your metabolism. Whatever you want to do to improve your physical, mental or emotional health can be helped with positive thinking and continual motivation.

Motivation can be different for each person but you want to find what will work for you. Short term motivation is a great way to get started, long term motivation is what will keep you going and the one that will improve your health and life. When I talk about long term I don't mean making the goal so big that it will take you months or years to reach it. Start with small steps and once you reach the first goal make another one. I hear so many success stories where people say, when I reached the first five pounds gone I added walking another 15 minutes for the next week. Then, after successfully incorporating that into their routine for a week or so they added losing the next 5 pounds. Reaching small goals adds up to big improvements in health and very big feelings of success and personal pride.

Setting specific goals and how to reach them is also important if you really want to be able to lose weight or get healthy or whatever you are looking for. It's like when the doctor tells you to lose weight but doesn't give you any ideas or help knowing how to get started or what to do. Decide what you want to achieve and then do some research on how to get started. Decide if you will start with exercise or watching your food intake and what kind of food you eat. You know what kind of person you are. Do you need to start with one change and once you have that in your routine you can add another. Maybe you are the type of person that has to start full force and be strict with yourself. Maybe you are not sure what kind of routine you need to start. That's where talking to friends and family and doing a little research on what types of programs are out there. Whatever way you choose to do, the important thing is just to get started. Sometimes deciding and getting started is the hardest part. That's where the motivation comes in. Do this for yourself! Ask others to help you be accountable if that's something that will keep you on track. You may be surprised how you could be helping others by asking them to help you. You may just be their motivation.

Positive thinking is the most powerful thing we can do for ourselves. I have been working with someone who has changed my thinking and life in a very positive way. She has taught me to always look for the good and the positive in everything. I will admit, sometimes it is not easy and I have to think about it for a little while but there is always something. Don't beat yourself up if those negative thoughts still come to you, just try to have them less and less and hopefully they will be replaced by positive ones more and more. If we tell ourselves something is going to go wrong or something is bad then we start to believe it. I didn't realize how even small thoughts or words like "I'm worried sick" can impact how we feel and our overall health if we keep thinking that way. Losing weight is a positive and healthy thing. Thinking about it can be daunting and thinking about how to do it can be even harder but thinking about the final outcome is a very positive pleasure.

Positive thinking can help us in so many ways. People have found new employment by believing in themselves and portraying that at an interview. If you go into that interview with the idea that you are not going to get the job then chances are you may not because the boss saw too. Of course, I don't mean be overly boastful and say you can do anything just be honest and be willing to work hard to learn what you don't know. If you go into an interview with a positive attitude and show the person you are enthusiastic about the company and show you are willing and interested in learning that may just be what they are looking for. Positive thinking will always have a better outcome than being negative and down on things. Even if you don't get the outcome you hoped for you will have that experience and knowledge going forward to the next adventure. Never give up and as I always say Keep Moving!