Gina Heart Lifestyle

A Healthy Resolution

• By Gina Heart
• December 31, 2013
• 1 Comment

A new and beautiful year is upon us and you’ve made yet another New Year’s Resolution. 2014 will be different, you promised yourself. Do you even remember last year’s resolution? According to a recent study from the University of Scranton noted in Forbes Magazine,

only 8% of people succeed in completing their New Year’s Resolution.

It’s a sad percentage, but I’m here to make sure you’re on the winning team when it comes to your health and fitness goals this year.

  So your goal is to lose X amount of weight, or develop a workout routine (that you’ll actually stick to) or just eat healthier in general. Whatever it may be, you know it won’t be easy. But here’s the secret: make it easy.

Often, forcing yourself to wake up early to hit the elliptical will sooner or later make you want to…well, hit the elliptical. But remember the time when you went to that dance cardio class and loved it, only to go back for more? Or went for an afternoon jog outside only to fall in love with the sunset view? That moment when you start to enjoy the perks of why you made a resolution to improve your health and happiness – those moments are your tickets to success.

Any lifestyle goal calls for a lifestyle change, and we all know that it doesn’t happen overnight, or even sometimes over a few months (but who gets sick of sunsets?). It’s like learning a new language. You add a new vocabulary word each day, and soon enough going to the gym on a regular basis will be as easy as chatting with the taxi driver in Italian, capisce?

Now it’s time to set yourself up for more happy moments. No more staring at that Oreo feeling bad for yourself, only to come back, shove it in your mouth, and feel even worse. Here are some tips to becoming fluent in fitness or hungry for healthy.

Start with What You Love

• Don’t like running? Don’t do it. Don’t like kale? Don’t eat it. Begin with foods and activities that interest you. Maybe you’ve always wanted to try a yoga class or cook your own quinoa – start there. Be curious and enjoy yourself. Easy enough right?

Food Facelift

• Give yourself a week, rather than a day to undergo a pantry makeover. Sometimes allowing yourself time to slowly part from your Wheat Thins (which don’t have much wheat and don’t make you thin) can be an easier and less painful way to breakup with junk food. They never treated you well from the first date and you know it.

Get in the Mood

• Make yourself a playlist that inspires you to be active or reminds you of a movie montage where the main character (you) runs, sweats, cooks, struggles, and fights to your well-deserved success. Mine looks something like Jennifer Beals in Flashdance, leg warmers included. Play your mix as often as you can (let’s say every morning when you wake up) to remind you of your exciting journey. And if you don’t know where to begin, I always start with “Eye of the Tiger.”

Flaunt What Your Mama Gave You – Mother Earth, I mean.

• Change out that candy bowl for a fruit bowl, and those energy bars for hard-boiled eggs. Nature has every form of sugar, protein and anything else your body needs. Put everything unhealthy out of sight and when you’re hungry, that apple will look oh so delicious.

 Go Shopping! Yes, I give you permission. 

•  Who says your pantry is the only thing that gets a make over? Invest in some new gym gear that encourages you to hit the gym or run past all your neighbors’ houses. Feeling confident can boost adrenaline, thereby helping you push through the toughest I-want-to-give-up part of your workout. Remember, if you feel great, then you look great.

 Strong Weak Ties

•  Your family and friends are the people you spend the most time with and know you best. But these people also share your lifestyle habits and may not be your source of motivation; they may even question your new habits. Befriend new people who live the lifestyle you want. Maybe someone who cooks healthy recipes on a regular basis or someone who has a strict workout schedule that you can match your own to. When I befriended a yoga instructor, I realized that going to class every other day wasn’t crazy or burdensome, it just something we both did– like brushing your teeth, simple!

The Skinny on Social Media

• Utilize the growing trend of social media to your advantage. Follow Twitter personalities and Instagramers who offer free advice and inspiration such as @foodbabe @Fit_Motivator or me at @GinaHeartLife! Check out this article on how you can build your own social media platform for even more success.

Google It

• Your smart phone laying on the dinner table can be utilized to spark healthy conversation and change the way you look at food. This tip was a life changer for me. Pick any ingredient in your meal and search

“benefits of _____.”

• Let’s try, say… fennel. Turns out fennel is high in fiber which helps ease digestion and eliminate bad LDL cholesterol. It also contains potassium and vitamin C, which increases brain function and boosts your immune system. Now you’ll forever look at fennel for all its goodness and doesn’t it sound delicious? Let the person across from you Google “benefits of Oreo cookies,” and you’ll learn even more – gross.

You ARE the Success Story

• It wasn’t until I started blogging and tweeting about healthy living that my lifestyle really changed. I had to truly believe and understand kale was a super food before I suggested it to others. Talk about all the positives of your healthy transformation and you can be an inspiration to others starting today. When I started teaching my family how to read food labels, they began to do the same and even warned me before I put something in my shopping cart. The more you share, the more you set yourself up for communal happy success.

So here’s to a New Year filled with sweat, sunsets, fennel, and some 80’s dance music. And feel free to reach out to me as your weak tie (ginaheartlifestyle@gmail.com), I’m always open for more inspiration. Let’s raise a wheat grass shot and cheers to making 2014 the year you conquer that resolution!

Best of Luck!

Love, Gina Heart <3