Sorry for the hiatus, I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching recently and I decided I really wanted to do this blog right. I promise you only quality content from here on out, I hope that one day my story can help inspire someone and I’m going to take it seriously. (but not too seriously, promise!)

I think that the most important thing you could ever do to get healthy and lose weight it to stop dieting and start focusing on changing your lifestyle. It’s about what you put into your body every day, and how well you treat your body and mind.

I think one of the best ways to start to try and change your life without overcomplicating things is to create rules or mantras for yourself. When faced with temptation, or anything set to derail your progress, just apply your rules and take decision out of the equation. I like to keep my rules simple and easy to remember, so here’s how I always try to live my life…

1. I don’t consume High Fructose Corn Syrup. I think we all know that HFCS is bad for us, but until earlier this year when it was finally explained to me how our body reacts to fructose, I made the commitment to cut it out for good. I was raised on soda, and it was my final battle to get fully committed to the paleo diet to cut out traditional soda (diet soda freaks me out, so I’ve avoided that for a while). This also eliminates most commercial baked goods, and I’ve also made it a personal goal to only eat baked goods that are homemade. I love to bake, and there are some amazing bakers in my family, so I know better than to think I can cut them out all together all the time.
2. I only purchase ethically treated meat. There was a period during the end of my college career when I actually went vegetarian because I couldn’t control where my meat came from. I try to only give my body what it expects (real food), so I ask the same of my meat providers. Grass fed cows have high omega-3 levels, and my father-in-law’s truly free range chickens lay eggs with the richest yolks I’ve ever seen. I fully believe that we vote with our dollars and even my Martin’s grocery store in the middle of nowhere carries organic/grass-fed meats and a whole host of organic veggies and the variety grows every month. You have the ability to make these foods available in your area by making requests and avoiding the conventional options when you can to make it happen for you and your family.
3. I trust my body to do amazing things. This is my rule for rock climbing. I know I could be an amazing rock climber if I just got out of my own way. This is probably my biggest challenge, as I constantly doubt that I can stand my body up on a tiny hold or lift that weight during training. My husband and I encourage each other to go that extra mile when climbing by our shared mantra of “Just one more try” and it’s amazing what you can accomplish with just one more try.
4. I trust my body to tell me when to stop. I don’t believe in pushing through the pain. Pain is your body’s way of telling you that you’ve done something wrong, and I don’t think that’s something to be taken lightly. I also listen to my body to tell me when I’ve eaten something that doesn’t agree with me, even if it’s a natural, whole food. I recently discovered that my stomach doesn’t handle cashews all that well, and have grudgingly eliminated them from my diet.
5. I read every day. I have been a bookworm ever since I was little. I’m a bit of a book snob and refuse to buy a Kindle, but I believe that you should never stop learning. Whether it’s a textbook for my class, or my leisure book of the moment, I try to get at least half an hour in every day.
6. I meditate every day. If you can’t get your stress under control it’s nearly impossible for your body to let go of the weight because it doesn’t know the difference between “Oh no I’m being chased by a bear” life-threatening stress and “Office politics are really annoying” modern-day stress. Just about every fitness expert I’ve ever heard talk about stress emphasizes the need to slow down and take even 5 minutes to spend in quiet. Don’t worry about trying not to think about anything, just don’t judge yourself for what you’re thinking about. And that brings me to my final rule…
7. I talk to myself like I would talk to a friend. We all have a tendency to beat ourselves up over every little bump in the road, and it’s not doing anyone any favors. If your friend told you that they just went through a really stressful day and ate a whole pint of ice cream, you wouldn’t berate them over it, you would let them talk it out and try to help them figure out what to do better next time, so why wouldn’t you do the same for yourself? I think that if I can become my own champion, I will see huge returns.

So that’s how I guide my life, what is one rule you try to implement every day to make your life better? If you have your own list posted up, please share your link in the comments so I can come check it out!