Walking in Balance

I was blessed with one of the biggest lessons I learned on this wellness journey during my first week. In looking at the ultimate goals of physical activity for the program I was on, I needed to reach 2,000 calories burned. Being an over-achiever AND an idealist, when asked what my custom goal would be for the week, I said, "I will work on getting 2,000 calories burned by physical activity." My coach, Melissa, said, "Let's make that something that is really attainable and easy for your first week." In other words, she lovingly said, "Pump ya brakes, girl."She understood this principle well. Here's how it works: I was a total couch potato, who got winded walking in a grocery store. If I set my goal too high, I would get easily stressed, overwhelmed, would fail, feel like a failure, then go off plan. This cycle was actually something I had experienced countless times and had never been aware of in this way. That's me, 1 year ago, holding the...

One of the first lessons I learned on the wellness journey, is that success in wellness does not just happen. This seems to be common sense, but I found it was not at all how I functioned when it came to wellness, food, and exercise. Before this journey, I would rarely pack my lunch and if I did, it was a little haphazard what I would put in my lunch bag. I did not plan for physical exercise. I really thought that it would just be natural - go for a walk when you get a break from work, etc. The problem is that we do not get breaks at work where we would choose to incorporate something very new into our schedule...unless we plan. Planning became the key to success in several ways. I would enter workout times, even taking walks into my phone calendar. Sometimes I would put in several options in one day (e.g., a class at the gym, and a workout time at home) in case one of those did not work out. I also would plan out, the day before, my food for the next day. I would pack m...