Live Preventatively

Today, I want to talk about the temple that is your body and how to treat it through living preventatively. Preventative living is the only way to live, in my book. Isn't it better to do what's good now, instead of having the treat illnesses and disease down the road when it's too late?

Treat Your Body As The Temple it Is.

Our bodies are temples and they need nourishment and care to function optimally and be healthy. When it comes to health, the foods we put in our mouth are more important than how we move our bodies. Both definitely go hand-in-hand, and you don't want to forego one for the other.

You all know I am a huge proponent of exercise, and yes, it's what I do for a living, yet I also recognize how truly integral diet is in the big picture of optimal health and wellness. And when I say, "diet" I don't mean counting calories and ingesting diet foods. Your diet, and what you eat, is a way of life.

I literally cringe inside when I hear people say, after finishing a workout, "Now I can eat whatever I want." And then they go for the cheeseburger or donuts, or some heart-stopping, processed foods. Exercising is not about getting to eat whatever you want. It's a vehicle used in conjunction with healthy food to keep your body performing at it's best as it ages.

Food is Health, Exercise is Fitness

Look, the way I see it is this; Food is Health, Exercise is Fitness. You need both. It's simple really. Eat good food everyday, move your body every day and health can be yours.

Remember that little (yet extremely powerful) saying from Hippocrates, "Food is Thy Medicine?" Well, I've seen it first hand in my life. When I began to change my diet many years ago and eat healthy, it changed how I felt physically, my energy levels went through the roof and I was sleeping better and had more balanced moods.

It is possible to prevent future health problems through eating a whole food diet, and very possibly reverse some of your current health issues!

How to Incorporate Whole Foods Into Your Diet

I do my best to stay away from any food that comes in a bag, box or can that has more than 4 ingredients. Processed food is frankenfood. It's not real. It's not good for you. And it provides nearly no nutritional value.

Sometimes it's hard to avoid, especially because convenience can be a huge factor when it comes to how we eat, but convenience does not equal health. Most convenience foods contain a lot of chemicals and ingredients that tend to be hard to pronounce and harmful to the body.

I travel extensively and believe me, it can be challenging to stay healthy on the road, but the key to staying healthy is being prepared and eating as many whole, unprocessed foods as possible. This includes veggies, whole grains, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, healthy fats and lean proteins.

The more of these whole foods we put into our body, the better and healthier we will feel. Eating this way will start to bring your body into a more alkaline state which is how our tissues, blood and organs stay healthy.

Alkaline foods are known for helping to reverse disease. Foods like leafy greens and other veggies will help your body to become more and more alkaline. Drinking a green smoothie everyday is a great way to get those awesome, alkaline greens into your life.

When the body becomes over loaded with acid (ie: processed foods, sugar, coffee, meats, dairy) it will become a breeding ground for disease and also exacerbate any current health issues you may have.

Make sure to have a huge leafy green salad every day and pile lots of veggies on your plate.

Live Preventatively

Look, preventative living doesn't have to be hard. It's about educating yourself. As you age, your body will break down more and more, it's a given, so you have a choice about whether you want to help it stay strong and healthy, or add to the aging process by not taking care of it.

Enroll friends or family to help you. Shop at your local farmer's market, and on the perimeter of the grocery store or plant a garden. Start to seek out fun, delicious recipes to incorporate more alkaline, whole foods into your diet. Get creative. Your body will only thank you, and you will feel so much lighter, happier and energetic. Your vitality depends on it!

Staying Motivated

You know, motivation can be tricky. Finding the motivation to exercise is often something I struggle with. Yes, it’s my dirty little secret. Shhh…

Staying motivated is easy for some; they just have the exercise bug and nothing slows them down. For me, I have a conversation daily with the 3-little voices in my head, yes, three. The Angel, the Devil and the Middle Guy.  No, I’m not crazy, and I know you know what I am talking about.

The Angel is my enthusiasm and excitement; he desires to feel good. I only hear him about 21% of the time, unfortunately.

That little red-horned dude, well he tends to be seriously loud at times and tries to talk me out of everything. Not only does he try to talk me out of it, but also makes suggestions that I know will not serve me. No, I do not need a chocolate chip cookie right now, thank you very much.

My middle guy, well he’s just a plain old bore. But, he is the voice of consistency and the one I hear the most. He is pragmatic and matter-of-fact. He helps me figure out how the most pleasant way to get through something I am not that into doing, like working out when I could be watching HBO.

Luckily my middle guy and my angel are in cahoots together and can override that devily little guy, but I gotta tell you, it’s not easy. What I have found is that the key to staying motivated is to have a plan and be consistent.

So, here are some of my tricks I have discovered along the way to help you stay on track, even when there are a million obstacles pulling you and the devil voice is shouting in your ear.

1.    Make a plan – having a plan keeps you accountable.

2.    Make variety part of that plan – variety keeps your interested and goes a long way toward motivating you to do what you need to do.

3.    Focus on the rewards – what rewards will you receive from staying motivated and consistent?

4.    Engage in gradualism – Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps; you get the idea

5.    Make OPIE your best friend

a.    One Project at a Time – Pick one thing to start with and go for it

b.    Partition that Project – break your project off into bite-sized pieces

c.     Ignore Your Screw Ups – You will mess up, but this is not an excuse to quit. Own it and move on.

d.    Evaluate your Project – check in periodically and make sure this project is still working for you. If not, switch directions

Staying motivated may not always be easy, but if you follow these little tricks you will definitely have a better experience than if you wing it.

Remember, no one is perfect and if you’re striving for perfection, you are guaranteed to fall short. The important thing is to move forward anyway, even if it’s ugly, wonky or a little slower than you think it could be. Just get it done.  No excuses.

Are you Hiding or Seeking?

In my book, The Big Picture I talk about Hiders and Seekers as part of Law 8, Get Real.

I believe that there are two kinds of people in this world, the kind that avoid and blame while burying their head in the sand, and the kind that take responsibility, live from self-awareness and are willing to confront and acknowledge challenges.

People that respond in a positive, open way and are honest with themselves are in the Seeker category. The people, who react with fear, hate and don't want to face their own problems are usually the Hiders.

Now, I don't like to categorize people this way, as it seems so generalized, but in my experience, if you are not taking responsibility for your life and your behavior, then you are a victim of your circumstances, and that's usually not a good place to be.

Hiders, react. They spew venom, play victim or go into the woe-is-me attitude. They feel like the world is against them and they have no control over anything, even themselves. Hiders are afraid of change and don't like to try new things.

If you are someone who is fit and healthy and likes to take good care of yourself, then most likely you are on the Seeker side of the coin. Seekers take stock of their lives and are continually seeing how they can be a better version of themselves. They keep it real, if you know what I mean?

I have worked with many Hiders in my lifetimes. Usually they are overweight, out of shape and looking for every excuse in the book as to why they can't eat healthy or workout. They will say they've tried everything, and nothing works. They feel unlucky and out of control. But the truth is, they are not being truthful to me, and most importantly themselves. They skip workouts, eat foods that aren't good for them and they don't put in the time or keep themselves accountable. Their internal forces are failing them.

Look, I know life is complex and there are many things to manage and handle, but that doesn't mean you let it all go. The best way to manage life when it feels too much is to break it down in manageable pieces. Take responsibility and get real.

Even though it may be complex, it doesn't have to be complicated. Do you want to react to external forces with push-back and anger, or do you want to respond with grace and ease? The best way to do this is to have a plan. External forces will always be there, they will come at you no-matter-what.

So how do you successfully walk that tightrope without getting knocked off?  You make decisions from your internal compass, in the moment, that are in alignment with your plan. Your internal forces are paramount. They are everything.

So, how are you currently dealing with what life is throwing at you? Are you screaming at your kids when they get on your nerves? Do you shut down and give your partner the silent treatment after a bad day at work? Are you playing victim to a decision someone else made that affects you? If so, then you need to make a change. This way of reacting to life is stressful and will kill you.

Remember your Big Picture, and your plan will keep you in alignment with yourself and your responses to situations. By changing how you react to what life offers, you can become someone who chooses what to accept and creates they life you want to lead. It just takes practice in learning to recognize the things that don't matter so you can LET THEM GO.

Now get out there and try that on for size. Take a deep breath first.

#FuelUp Friday Fascinating Facts

1.    If you boil beetroot in water, and then massage the water into your scalp each night, it works as an effective cure for dandruff. - Move over Head and Shoulders!

2.    In the United States, lettuce is the second most popular fresh vegetable. -  Beetroot must be first!

3.    The word vegetable has no scientific definition, so it’s still acceptable to call a tomato a vegetable. -  Phew!

4. Theaverage person eats eight pounds of grapes each year. -Too bad there isn't grape flavored kale

5.     There are more than 10,000 varieties of tomatoes. - But don't worry, they won't be offended if you call them vegetables.

Recommit, Realign & Re-Focus

It's about this time every year where gym reports show that attendance decreases dramatically from the start of the New Year. Now is the time to put your energy toward recommitting and refocusing on your Big Picture.

I know it's easy to let life get in the way of things and to lose steam with regards to the goals you set for yourself. That's why it's important to continually check in on where you stand with your goals and how focused you are.

Are you giving up too easily? Are you letting other things take priority over your health and wellness? Have you lost your focus?
 

How to Re-Focus

Here are some ways to help you get back on track so you can recommit, realign and refocus before time gets away and you find yourself in a mad rush to get in shape for Summer.

1.    Go back to your original New Year Goals and either recommit to them, or alter them so that they are more realistic, do-able and FUN. The biggest reason for failure is that we often set lofty goals that are not specific, realistic or measurable.

2.    Look at your weekly calendar and schedule in your workouts for the remainder of the month.

3.    Be sure you are getting enough sleep and integrating a bedtime ritual each evening. For example, go to bed and wake up at the same time every day and commit to not using electronics at least 1 hour before you slumber.

4.    Reassess your social commitments and family commitments. See where you can ask for help, and where you can start to say No (see last week’s blog on The Power Of No.)

5.    Ask yourself these 3 questions, answer honestly and then adjust:

a.    Am I making progress? 

b.    Am I fulfilled?

c.     Am I still loving it?

Look, the bottom line when it comes to goals, is that if you don’t love what you are doing, then you won’t follow through. There’s a difference between doing something you don’t want to do because it achieves a higher goal, and doing something you don’t want to do when there is no good reason to do it in the first place.

Leave It If You Have To

I’m a big fan of, “If you don’t love it and it doesn’t serve your purpose, then leave it.” Life is way to short to be filled with unnecessary burdens, have-tos and shoulds. Taking on challenges is great, but if you’re adding stress to your life, you better make sure the endgame is worth it. If the light at the end of your “tunnel” isn’t filled with rainbows and sunshine that you can reach within a reasonable, measurable and defined time frame, then maybe it’s time to get out of the tunnel.

Doing things we don’t love that make us unhappy or anxious takes a huge hit on our health and well-being. I can’t think of a single thing that justifies living in a state of stress and unhappiness indefinitely.

So, take time to reevaluate where you are and then follow the steps provided here so you can recommit, realign and refocus. I promise it will be worth it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below on how you are going to refocus and realign your efforts to reach your goals.

#FuelUp Friday Fascinating Facts

1.    Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. 

- I think my dog has Arachibutyrophobia.

2.    In South Africa, termites and ants are often roasted and eaten by the handful, like popcorn.

-Now there’s a healthy treat to eat at the movie theater!

3.    Every time you lick a stamp, you consume 1/10 of a calorie.

-I have to start paying bills online.

4.    Honeybee workers must visit 2 million flowers to make one pound of honey.

-And you thought P90X was hard!

5.    The fear of vegetables is called Lachanophobia.

-I wonder if they’re also afraid of peanut butter.

The Power of No

No. It’s a little word. And one that has a lot of power.

I see many people’s lives get out of balance because they are not able to practice using that little word. It can even be a struggle for me at times.

Look, we are of no use to anyone if our lives are completely out of balance. Saying no is something that can help you have more balance in your life.

If you are someone that is always on the go, on the move and going from point A to B without taking a breath, this teeny word will be of great use to you.

Often times people don’t say no because they don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings, or look like a party-pooper. And then that person ends up feeling resentful, and run-down.

I know that women in general can struggle with this, especially because women are natural caretakers (Go ladies !)

Balancing Life with No

It’s super important to have balance in your life, and to find a happy medium between your Yin and Yang energy. I am someone who is very Yang-centric; always moving my body, always on the go, traveling and going from here to there. I enjoy this because my purpose is connected to moving, finding solutions and taking action. It works for me because I am so passionate about it.

It may not work well for someone else who needs a little more Yin in their life and doesn’t do well with constant movement and being on the go. You have to know your own personal energy balance and then put your focus there.

The balance between saying yes and no is an important component in this. I had a tremendous lack of balance in that sense when I was younger. I used to say NO all the time and mostly because I was not ready for the opportunities that were coming at me. Fear dictated this lack of balance for me.

You may find that you say yes more often than you want because you are worried about what someone else thinks or letting someone down, as I mentioned above. You need to know when to draw the line. If you are saying yes to things that leave you feeling resentful and you end up missing out on important things in your life, like your morning workout or time you scheduled in to take care of yourself, then it’s time to reevaluate.

Avoid Burnout

Bottom line, you don’t want to burn the candle at both ends and end up being a people pleaser who feels over extended and maxed out. It’s important to take care of yourself first and foremost because this is how other people in our life get the best of us.

So, the lesson here is this: Don’t say no when it comes from fear or laziness, therefore ruining your opportunities to say yes. Do say no when it comes from a need to take care of yourself, therefore increasing your opportunities to say yes.

Saying yes needs to be authentic and not forced. Saying no is the same. So start practicing that balance and checking in with yourself before you give any answer. Let your intuition be your guide.

#FuelUp Friday Fascinating Facts

1. Buying vanilla in its pure form can be a bit expensive. But, the imitation vanilla contains an ingredient called castoreum, which is produced from the secretion in a beaver's anal gland. Wait for it…Yep. Beaver butt goop. I am definitely going to spring for the real stuff from now on!

2. Pumpkin flowers are edible. …And good news, they don’t come from rodent butt.

3. Alliumphobia is the fear of garlic.  What do you call a fear of beaver butt goop?

4. In 2001, there were more than 300 banana-related accidents in Britain, most involving people slipping on skins. And you thought that only happened in cartoons.

5. A cluster of bananas is called a hand and consists of 10 to 20 bananas, which are known as fingers.  I hear there are a lot of “hand” and “finger” accidents in Britain.

Recover, Recharge + Rock It!

If you are an avid exerciser, and I know you are, one of the most important things you can do for your body is to allow recovery and recharge time. Taking time to let your body recover helps prevent injuries, burn out and induces healing.

In this life of go-go-go, it can be hard to find time to chill-out, relax and get enough sleep. But, not doing these things is a recipe for body and soul deterioration. Balancing your up-time with quality downtime is essential for your well-being on every level.

Sleep to Recharge

Getting enough sleep on a regular basis, not just on the weekends, is super important forstellar health and recovery. When you are asleep, your body heals. It’s hard at work repairing and recharging. Studies have shown that healthy sleep habits actually ‘reboot’ your brain, making room for new knowledge. I see sleep as a key to a successful life, which includes your fitness, your health, your relationships and your career.

It’s imperative to have a bedtime routine to wind down from your day and to get at least 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Your bedroom is a place for sleeping, not working or watching TV. Turning your bedroom into a sanctuary will help you to have quality sleep and recovery time. Turn your electronics off at least an hour before bed, or better yet remove them from your room all-together. Yes, you can live without your cell phone by your bedside table, I promise.

Focus on engaging in a calming activity before bed such as reading, doing crossword puzzles, journaling, light stretching or meditating. This will help your brain to slow down, which in-turn will help to increase productivity as well as induce deeper, more quality snooze time.

Lack of Sleep Sucks

Lack of sleep depletes important hormones in the body, which are responsible for regulating hunger. Did you ever notice that when you don’t sleep, that you crave sugar and carbs? Your lack of zzz’s reduces insulin sensitivity and inhibits your body’s ability to break down carbs properly, so you store them as fat instead of burning them.

Studies have also shown that lack of sleep is a pre-cursor for disease and illness. Your immune system becomes depleted leaving you susceptible to colds and other illnesses. Lack of sleep does not help you to stay on top of life, and The Big Picture.

Active Recovery

When I talk about recovery, I don’t want you lying around like a sloth eating Cheetos and drinking beer. Recovery is all about engaging in things to support your body in recovering. Sleep is a great start.

Here are some other ways you can help your body recover after a hard workout, or if you have an injury:

Foam Rolling: As you know if you’ve done P90X2, I’m a huge fan of foam rolling. In fact, I incorporate it into my routine almost daily.

Massage: Getting a massage is a great way to support the body in it’s own natural healing process. And it's great relaxation time away from electronics, to-do lists and the pressures of life.

Light Stretching or yoga: If you’ve done a hardcore workout and feel sore, the best thing to do is stretch those tight muscles. Not doing anything will make them worse because the lactic acid will just continue to build up and create more tightness and pain.

Supplements: Some supplements are great to help the body repair and rebuild. Beachbody’s recovery drink is awesome to mix up right after a workout to give the muscles the glycogen they need. Magnesium is also great for helping the muscles relax and to relieve cramping.

Epsom Salt Bath: Taking a bath in Epsom salts will help your stiff muscles soften and melt. The magnesium and sulfate is absorbed directly into the skin helping the muscles to relax and your nervous system will be soothed as well, so there are numerous benefits to doing this.

If you really want to rock your workouts and have a body that works with you, instead of against you, as well as reducing the risk for injury, engaging in any of these suggestions will help that.

I’d love to hear what your sleep routine is. Let me know on my Facebook Page.

Are You Flexible?

Flexibility is something we can all use in this life, and I don’t mean being a super-pretzel with the ability to touch your nose to your toes.

When I talk about flexibility, what I am touching on is this; how flexible are you with the events that happen in your life? Especially the ones you don’t expect or the ones that cause pain and suffering.

Overcoming Adversity

If you’ve read The Big Picture, you know I share some gnarly stories about people overcoming major obstacles in the face of adversity. Flexibility is what helped them. Choosing to look at or deal with a certain situation in a flexible way provided growth, healing and forward movement.

It’s easy to go through life with our rock-solid beliefs and specifics systems in place, but that doesn’t always allow for growth and learning now does it? What if some unknown monkey wrench was thrown your way, how would you handle it?

I ask this because I have seen small things derail people, and I have seen others make a massive pitcher of lemonade out of a mountain of lemons. Flexibility is the key here.

How Flexible Are You?

How do you look at life? Are you open to seeing or learning something new? Do you view the world with curiosity or do you stick to your stodgy old beliefs because they work? Can you have beginners mind? Can you be a scientist in your life and experiment with different ways of handling the things that get thrown at you?

These are all awesome things to think about. Being flexible will allow you to seek out new tools that could support you in a time of trauma or uncertainty. Or, it could support you in opening your eyes to new ways of relating to a certain situation.

Look, we all know the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. FAIL! You can’t ever solve a problem with the same mindset that created it. You need to open your mind to a new way of looking at things and find meaning in that.

How I Became More Flexible

One way that I started to become more flexible in my life, was to open my mind to things I had never done before, like Yoga. Now, I bring yoga up, because it’s the one P90X DVD that people seem to avoid the most, yet brings the most benefit.

What yoga has done for me, is not only make me more flexible in my body, but in my mind as well. Yoga has provided a foundation for me to learn how to look at things differently. It’s nothing like lifting weights, which I am so damn good at (har har). It takes a different focus, a different mindset, and it takes being open to moving your body in ways you may never have thought possible.

Although, I must say this, yoga IS the foundation of my fitness that helps to keep my body injury free. I would never have known this if I didn’t have a flexible enough mind to walk into a yoga class in the first place. And I have to say, it’s HARD!

Whether you do yoga or not, I encourage you to start practicing more flexibility in your life and see how that serves you, specifically if you’ve been consistently struggling in certain areas.

All it takes is bending...just a little.

Meditation: Horton Style!

Meditation. Most people run for the hills when they hear the word. Or they think “I could NEVER meditate because only hippies do that”, or “I can’t sit still for that long and get my mind to shut off", or "It’s too religious for me.”

I get it. I used to feel the same way. Meditation is a secular (non-religious) practice that has been around for over 5,000 years. You don’t have to be a Buddhist, a yogi or religious to do it. But what it can do is add more balance, calmness and peace of mind to your life.

Life is busy. You are busy. We are all busy. Careers, significant others, electronics, working out, eating healthy, long list of to-dos; it’s a wonder we ever have time for anything these days. We are a stressed out society and sicker than ever.
 

Why Meditate?

If you want to have some balance in all your busy-ness, you have to make the time to take some action toward that balance, and meditating is an action, even though it’s a non-action, action. You get the gist.

There are tons of studies out there preaching the positive benefits of meditation. A lot of pro sports teams use it for focus, it’s being brought into prisons and schools, and it’s becoming more utilized in a day and age where we need the tools to learn to slow down a bit. Studies show it is known to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke or death by 48% in people who have coronary heart disease. That’s massive.

Check out my man, LeBron zoning out during a game.

It helps to engage our para-sympathetic nervous system, which helps to keep our stress at bay and controls our cortisol levels, which can wreak havoc in our bodies when we are stressed out, not sleeping enough, drinking too much coffee, meeting deadlines, etc.

Meditation Can Be Simple

I’m no pro at meditating, but what I have discovered is a simple way to do it that works for me. I consider myself a recreational meditator. You have to find what works for you. There are tons of awesome teachers and classes available, but if that feels too overwhelming, then I say start small.

Here’s How I Meditate:

·      I set aside 10-15 minutes (you can use a timer if you’d like)

·      I find a seat somewhere that is quiet (I love the bench in my backyard because it overlooks the Santa Monica Mountains – Spectacular!)

·      I close my eyes and start to focus on my breath by noticing it coming in and out of my nose (now, my thoughts are coming and going, and I know that, but instead of getting caught up in them, I just bring my attention back to my breath).

·      And, that’s it. Simple enough?
 

It’s a good start. Even if you never feel your mind slow down, you are still engaging your para-sympathetic nervous system, and over time, with practice, your mind will start to quiet down. Sometimes I even have great moments of clarity or creative ideas come to me while meditating. If that happens, I write them down immediately after my meditation is done.

So, give it a try. Set a goal to start at 5 minutes, 2-3 times per day. And you may find that you start to notice little changes in how you go through your day. A little calmer, a little more balanced, a little more grounded.

You won’t know until you do. Namaste.

New Year, Now What?

Most people feel inspired and motivated as they move into the New Year. A new year is like a new beginning, a time to start fresh, or even start over. It’s a chance to reset and reflect. Excitement is high and inspiration courses through our veins with a promise of bigger, better, bolder, stronger.

It’s easy to get caught up in setting multiple goals for yourself. I’m sure you have many, and that’s all good. I have my own, for sure. The important thing to have is FOCUS; focus on the Bigger Picture and what you want to experience as you go through this next year. How you want your life to look and feel.

Where Focus Goes, Energy Grows

Now I am definitely someone who does my best to stay present and live in the moment, because that’s where the real magic happens. And I also know how easy it is to lose focus by pining for some future goal or event.  It’s easy to put all your eggs in one proverbial basket for some down-the-road ambition.

Be Intentional & Set Realistic Expectations

Being intentional in your life will help you to achieve your goals, and being realistic when setting them is keyas well. If you look at your life and all the plates you have spinning in the air, is it realistic to gain 20 pounds of muscle this year, or lose 50 pounds of extra weight? Is it realistic to set a goal to travel the world, when you don’t have the time or the means?

As I expressed in my last blog, A Big Bold 2016 it’s important to set small, measurable steps for yourself so that you can feel like a success and not a failure. You want to gain ground, not lose it. Feeling like a failure is the surest way to get you to stop doing anything. How many times have you given up your streak of healthy eating because you ate a whole bag of chocolate chip cookies, or the like, and felt that once again you let yourself down?

Don't Give Up

You know what I say to that? Get right back on the horse. Look at where you veered, and pay attention to the behaviors that led you there. Revisit your Biggest Why and get back to basics. Just because you noshed over a dozen cookies doesn’t mean that you don’t move forward. You do. And, it’s equally important to look at where these behaviors stem from and what your motivation is behind them. Sometimes our inner saboteurs will get the best of us, but the bottom line is YOU have a CHOICE, and YOU are the ONLY ONE who can CONTROL what you put in your mouth and how you move your body.

Celebrate!

So, as you continue forward into this shiny New Year of 2016, how will you be sure that you feel empowered and motivated to continue on the path toward your meaningful goals? I encourage you to take it one tiny step at a time, and celebrate your small wins, no matter how wee they are. This will keep you feeling encouraged, inspired and on track.

Go get em!