Feel the Benefits of Your Healthy Efforts

I’m so excited to share a topic I enjoy so much: feeling the benefits of our efforts.

Think about your work for a moment. How do you feel when you get through a task? Let’s say you have a huge deadline approaching. So your unit has been prepping and prepping… and prepping…

The day arrives. The huge presentation is upon you. You all exhale. Success. It’s all over with. But what happens next? Well, there is always the next “thing” to prep for. Maybe it’s quarterly close. Maybe it’s another meeting. Maybe it’s correcting the issues your boss found on your last review. You know the drill. As fast as one thing ends, the next begins.

Life can be like this too. You accomplish one thing… and… what’s next? What do I have to get done now? “Alright, so I’ve washed the kitchen floor… but now I’ve got to get to the laundry…” Life KEEPS on happening! You never get a break!

Let’s relate this to health goals. You run a 5K. You accomplish that goal, but guess what? The next race is a month from now so you’ve got to start training for that. Or are you training for the longer race you have scheduled out next fall? Where am I? What am I doing all of this for?
Ahh… there is the million dollar question! What are you doing all of this for? Do you even remember?
Part of having FUN with your health and well-being is actually feeling the benefits of your efforts. It means taking the time to enjoy what you’re doing. It’s actually noticing your work is paying off.
Here’s an example, an easy one just to paint this picture for us. So you’ve decided to start eating healthier. You no longer eat sugary breakfast foods and have cut out sugar-filled juices in the morning. Instead you drink green smoothies and eat oatmeal for breakfast. Hmm... . Ok. So day after day you’re choosing the healthy choice. But have you even stopped to notice how you feel?

Do you realize that at 10 am (when you used to get so sleepy and irritable at work) you’re still feeling fine? In fact, you have energy throughout your entire day!?! Have you noticed that when you get home from work you don’t crash right onto the couch? You’ve been walking with your kids in the park!?

When you actually notice the benefits of your efforts you are more likely to continue with them. When you feel the good effects of the choices you make- it is easier to make those health-conscious decisions.

Start looking at your own life. If you are doing something because it is healthy- if you have made a health goal- do you realize what it is doing for you? Do you feel the benefits you are getting? When you start to notice the benefits, you have more satisfaction with what you are doing. You have more fun. You are more likely to stick with it!