Lessons I've learned...

After a month of my new lifestyle change (yes I said lifestyle change, not diet) I have managed to lose 2 inches from my waist and 9 pounds! In this last month there are a few things I have learned.

1. It really is a lifestyle change. When you first start, it feels like a diet, a dirty word that all women hate. It feels like deprivation, it feels crappy. But you quickly discover that results are only possible when you live it day in and day out, which means it has to become a lifestyle, even on vacation, even on holidays. You have to be committed to changing your life style, not just changing your food for a little bit till you lose what you want to lose.

A diet is fairly commitment free, we start them knowing in the back of our mind they won't last long, and knowing we can give up at any point. But a life style change takes commitment. It means you are making a choice about your whole life, not just a few weeks.

Diet's allow for cheating, life style changes do not. If you are making life changes, honest changes you want to live by, you don't have much desire to cheat. Dieting always leaves room for a little cheating because you don't actually want to be on a diet.

You have to really want to change your life not just your body shape.

2. You have to work out, a lot. This too is part of your life style change. You have to be willing to be active as much as you can. It's hard with work and kids, but you have to commit to it. You start by adding a work out routine, and then you find other ways to add activity into your life. Park as far away from the store entrance as possible, walk to your favorite coffee shop to get your latte, walk to the park with your kids, play outdoors with your kids, go hiking etc. The possibilities are endless!

3. After  few weeks, you won't want the bad food. I mean you might a little, but the bad foods will actually make you feel bad. You will see very quickly how much better your body operates on healthy foods, and see how sick and gross you feel with the fatty foods, and you will want to avoid them.

4. This is the most important. You have to really want this. You have to decide this is important and you are not giving up. If you are not committed, you will fail. Its all about how you think. You control yourself, what you eat, what you think, what you do. Your thoughts play a huge role in what you do. You talk yourself in and out of things. Your mind is what gives up in the end. You have the strength to keep going, but you have to change your mind.You have to keep yourself motivated. No one can want it for you. You have to want this.