I am inspired every time I hear Lara Casey say that while you have to be intentional about goals, there is nothing special about January 1^st. You can start at anytime to accomplish your goals. For us, that goal and start date was June 2^nd, 2013.

Our healthy lifestyle change was a beast. We did not know we were so far out of shape and looking back I am just thankful we got up one day and started our journey to make a change!

I hate that we were so overweight, but honestly we grew so much as individuals and in our faith that I think it was a blessing and not a curse that we had to work hard to overcome the addiction of food that was a part of our lives. Honestly, I hate even going back through old pictures on my computer where we had taken photos of what we ate. They typically looked like this:

Yeah that is a chocolate chip cookie from a drive thru that was filled with icing. Yuck!

We challenged ourselves at the beginning (560+ days ago) to workout for 20 minutes three days a week. After two weeks of not missing a day, we started a streak that is still going today. It was important to celebrate wins both early, and at milestones. We celebrated at first with weekly non-food prizes. Things like a new fitness book, a pedicure, or a day pass at a local gym. These prizes gave us motivation to keep running.

We incorporate active rest days that include lighter activity, but we do some type of exercise every single day. We love varying our routine and it includes swimming, running, walking, hiking, stadium runs, and weight lifting. You could say we are training for a triathlon with the variety we have incorporated into our routine.

Success doesn’t happen over night. You must keep pushing and appreciate where you are, how far you have come (big or small progress) and celebrate that success. Knowing that I put on the weight over the course of many years and that it was not going to just fall off was a big mind shift. I got discouraged at first when I had only lost a couple of pounds in the first two weeks. We stuck with it though and soon the weight came off pretty steadily. We trusted the process and didn’t let little slip-ups derail our overall success. It was important to celebrate wins both early, and at milestones.

So where do you begin? Start small because your strength and endurance will build up. Start with a walk around the block or even head to the swimming pool to get in a little water jogging. Whatever it is you choose to do, just get started because ultimately you will get leaner, stronger, and healthier. Simply fill out the form below and we will send over a printable that you can print to remind yourself of the goals you are setting today!