When you hear someone say, "I am going to get healthy.". What is your gut reaction? Is it A - "Have fun giving up all the good stuff, that'll be tough." or B - "That's so awesome, you're going to feel so much better."?

I have found that most people choose either A or B, depending on their own personal experience with healthy living. There aren't many who are indifferent to the subject. They've either tried and failed, therefore giving them a negative perspective on the whole process, or they've had success and want the same for others. In fact, nutrition, exercise and dietary theories can spark some pretty heated debate.

Team A, let's dive into why you feel this way. Team B, come along for the ride, it'll give you a great perspective from which to empathize with your friends. What is your history with weight loss and exercise? Were you a child who struggled all the way through? Or were you a relatively healthy child who then gained weight in adulthood, either through lifestyle or childbearing? If those experiences were peppered with frustration over other's opinions of you, or being left out and teased, every time you think about weight loss or gain, you're going to instantly feel those negative emotions again. If it's been a lifelong battle, you likely have thought patterns circling through your mind like, 

- "I've always had to deal with being fat."

-"I will never look like ___"

-"This is just how my body is."

-"My whole family is just big boned."

-"I've tried everything, nothing works for me."

Sound familiar? If so, please know that you're not alone and it's not just your body that is not cooperating. Please also know that you absolutely have the power to get healthy. The problem is not in your body, it's in your mind. We need to shift your mindset to one that believes it is not only possible, but actually not even that hard for you to change your physical health. The way you think about the process is everything!

So now let's talk about Team B and why they're so excited to hear that someone else is choosing to be healthy too. This group has "done it". They have achieved success in some aspect of their health and it was likely a challenge. They too could have struggled their entire lives and then they did the most important thing, they made a decision, a commitment to change. They were able to shift their mindset into the space where they believed they could absolutely do what they set out to do. The game is over right there! Your mind is so powerful, it's a freight train and it's going full steam ahead into whichever thoughts you allow. 

So what's the takeaway? Regardless of how you got here, you have the power to change your future body, mind and health. You're in charge of every thought going through your mind. If you are able to shift those thoughts into believing that change is possible, success is possible, that you are capable of creating success, it's as good as done. Now don't mistake that for meaning you won't have to put the work in, or that it'll be piece of cake. Change is hard, it's just not as hard as you think. You're going to have to get real with yourself and then get to work. Being healthy is an amazing place, it's not a prison full of restrictions. It's a place of freedom! Freedom to do, go, feel and be wherever and whomever you choose. Go get that healthier you!!