It's the little things

I'm guessing you've all figured out that I'm not offering a pill, or extract of some exotic South American berry, that will magically dissolve all your excess fat whilst fattening up my bank account with your hard earned cash. (and all this while we sit together on the couch and eat cake)!

It's the little things….

I'm only offering the benefit of my experience and some common sense, and hopefully some inspiration and encouragement.  Your effort is what it will take to make my journey something that works for you.

But I am hoping you are all trying to build a little more physical activity into your life. I'm hoping you are finding ways to make it fun for you, or at least enjoyable enough to sustain it. If it's 10 minutes a day more than you were doing before then that's exciting. If it's 45 minutes a day, then great.

I am hoping you are exploring ways to increase the inclusion of 'anytime foods' in your meals and decreasing the extent that 'sometimes carbs' dominate your meal plans and snacks. If you have done that I'm thrilled for you…. if you have taken the whole plan on board, then fabulous.

The important thing is that you keep sight of the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that this whole healthy living thing needs to be a lifestyle change not a flash in the pan. And this is why I keep encouraging you with little changes, even though in the long term big changes might be what you need.

For those of you wanting to improve your fitness, any level of activity that is an increase on what you were doing before will improve your health through increased fitness.

The same with moving towards a healthier eating plan. Any improvement in your eating plan is a move towards improved health through better eating. 

Me having fun with fitness
(yes, I know, I'm a total dag)
Bike it to Ballidu 2014

So if your goal is better health any increase in activity or improvement in eating is a good thing. But the improvement in your health will only go as far as the improvement in your fitness and better eating. The further you head in that direction the greater the health benefit.

For those of you who have read 'making the change to healthier living - is it worth it' you will have read about my considerable weight loss resulting from my own personal 'healthy eating and fitness journey' and you will have understood that this considerable weight loss was an important part of improving my health.

You'll have figured out that I'm not big on dieting. I don't believe in losing weight to be skinny and feel like a better clothes horse. But I also know that carrying extra weight, particularly around your 'middle' (chest, tummy, back) is not a good plan.

All that body fat around your middle has accumulated around vital body organs that are trying to work at keeping you healthy. And that fat is making it harder for them to do their job, and is putting them under pressure that could potentially do them harm…. and when we damage our organs we are damaging our selves. 

So if losing a bit of weight makes you healthier, removes some of that fat around your middle, takes some of the pressure off your vital body organs…. then I'm all for that. 

I also know that having lost a lot of that unhealthy weight myself I am not only a lot healthier, I feel a lot better in myself and I feel a lot better about myself…. and I sure do enjoy being able to walk into a shop and just buy myself clothes without having to agonise about finding something to fit.

Healthier eating doesn't have to be complicated
Tuna salad on the run

So whilst I don't like diets. I'm not against healthy weight loss.

I've talked about the big picture - 'the modified food intake plan' and I've talked about my 45minutes strenuous exercise per day, the combination of these two being how I lost my 30 kilograms over 14 months. But I've also said its not essential to do it all at once. Great if you do, but not essential.

You see, if this is not a lifestyle change for you then any effort you make will just be for short term gain. And all your effort will be for nought if in two years you are ten kilograms heavier than you were before and spending more time on the couch than ever before.

So if you have started… just with the little things, or full on… then I am very excited for you.  Or if you had already started but have just felt encouraged by my enthusiasm …. then I am pleased as well.

But, if you are still just reading and thinking, then don't be put off. Keep at that reading and thinking till you find your own enthusiasm, then run with it.

Where ever you are at, if you can get a handle on the little things, eventually those little things will come together in the bigger picture, and one day you will wake up and find that you have been happily and successfully traveling you own personal health adventure.

And that will be what makes my Cycle Mumma blog worthwhile.