Day 21: Being A Healthier Author

We’ve formed a habit. Congratulations!

My week has been a bit off and let me share why.

Moving is never fun. Part of this process is getting into a routine and sticking to it. A move throws all our routines out the window but luckily is quite active in its own way. So, today let’s talk about acceptance of what we can do.

Something that causes a lot of us to slip back into our old habits is that we feel like we’ve let ourselves down. That we miss a goal and somehow the negative feelings that come along with it allow us to say it’s easier to stop here. This is the interesting part about getting to the twenty-one-day mark and creating a habit out of activity and healthy choices. Suddenly, that has been our normal for so long that we see an uptick in our mental attitude.

Speaking from personal experience and that’s the only place any of us can speak from. I have battled depression for a good portion of my life. Being active is a huge aide to me, and I think it can help anyone. Moving and being active releases serotonin and endorphins into our bodies which are closely tied to feeling good. Serotonin is a mood stabilizer and endorphins help to reduce stress. This combination is fantastic, and I think; if it helps me, then it can probably help us all.

So back to acceptance. We’ve touched on this in the past, and I want to hit it again. If we could only get 4000 steps in yesterday because life got real. Let’s celebrate that. Don’t look at it and believe we’ve missed our 8000 steps. Look at it and exclaim, “Even on a bad day I still was more active than I used to be.” Wake up today and start with a blank slate. Reset if we can and try to hit your goals today. Everyday isn’t going to be perfect and if we can accept that and let the bad days go, we will be mentally better for it.

Next week I will talk about mental health more, because now that we are in a habit, we should be making sure we are healthy elsewhere too.