THE CHALLENGE

I have taken on a huge challenge this year in 2013. I’m making it my year. As many of you know 2012 was a year of transitions and change, and as a result a year of reflection and goal setting. There were changes of jobs, houses, countries, cultures and well the list could go on. After a year of transtition and accomplishing quite a bit I’m making 2013 my year. I’ve decided to create a lifestyle change for myself and my family. I realized, health wise, that up until 2012, my lifestyle hasn’t been the healthiest, though I have tried being on a multitude of waves of healthy lifestyle tracks, tried diets and have finally realized that if I continued this rollercoaster of facades I would also continue to be overweight, not have energy for my children and cut my life short.

Quite frankly.. I wanna be around for a while, have a lot of things I want to do and want to enjoy it with my kids and family. So here it is Lifestyle Change 101. I promised myself that this was my year, and for all who know me well I don’t often yell it out there but have silent goals that I want to meet, and eventually do. Well this is one that I’ve never been able to accomplish on my own, so I’m saying it out loud to keep me motivated, accountable, to look for support and I’m going to achieve this one and maybe inspire someone else to do the same.

So to begin I joined the USANA  RESET Challenge: Destination Transformation. A 90 day, life transforming challenge, which starts with a 5 day reset kit to RESET your insulin levels, take away carb cravings and cleanse the body. It then leads into the transform phase, which allows you a little more flexibility in what you’re eating as long as you stick to a Low Glycemic Diet. So what the heck is that, you ask? Well it’s quite different then the See-Food Pick a Diet I was on before. That’s right I would see food, pick at it all day long and not realize how much I was eating.

Now I’m 3 weeks in and have been inspired. I dreamed of being on the treadmill last night and woke up with a huge desire to go to the gym. The other day as I was on the treadmill a thought snuck into the back of my mind, running a 5K wouldn’t be that disastrous if I trained. Trust me these are not thoughts that ever occurred to me before, and snuggling under a blanket with something to drink, a snack and a good movie were always a higher priority then ever going to the gym. Not now, of course balance is necessary but I’m so intrinsically motivated – it’s not a diet this time, it’s a lifestyle change. Though the 90 days will end, the “diet” doesn’t because I will have learned new habits that will continue.

What’s the best part?  There’s no counting calorie, there’s no wondering what I will eat, there’s not the burden of doing a clean sweep to my fridge. It’s been so simple…