If you want to enter, engage and experience the life you were created for you must develop personal care.
It was the spring of 2015 and I was in the midst of some evaluation in my life. I realized during this exercise that I had not been taking care of my physical self. I had gained weight, I had not kept good rhythms in my sleep life, and though I ice fished, it was not enough physical activity.
Seven months later I have been consistently going to the gym and watching more of what I eat. Personally, there were three tough steps I had to take to redevelop the habit of physical activity.
1. Eating
I love to eat and I can eat a lot. I eat when I am stressed. I eat in times of celebration. I eat when I am bored. However, I had to get my physical eating under control. The next seven months were a challenge, but there were two things that were helpful to me:
A. I gave myself a cheat day. My cheat day was Friday. My reason for is this was that Friday was family night and so I loosened up on what I ate that day.
B. I have been using the app “myfitnesspal” to help track what I eat. It is not perfect, but it started to help me track what I eat. Slowly I would make changes.
Seven months later I still struggle with this but have become more aware of what I eat and am making better choices. I do not think this battle will go away, but controlling my food and not being controlled by it must stay at the for front in order for me to embrace, enter and engage the life God has created me to live.
2. Time
I remember sitting in a coaching setting and being asked “do you want to do it?” “Yes” was my answer. “Then how will you make it happen?” “ I need to schedule it.”
If I was not going to block off time, then I really did not want to make it happen. The truth was I had to work around work and family. I had a conversation with my wife about how I could make it happen in our life. I still struggle with taking charge of my time as each week comes with new challenges. I have had to learn to be flexible , to have a plan, and to be creative. At the same time though, I need to remind myself not to worry about what I have missed, and instead push ahead and stay on track the next day.
3. Mental
This is the hardest one in many ways. The crazy thing is after I go to the gym I feel so good. Sometimes though, I believe the lie that other things are more important. There are, however, some things that may be just as important. I have learned that if I do not take care of myself, I cannot be all that God created me to be.
I have had to remember the why factor in this process many times. For me, there are a few why elements. Two of them are:
a. To feel better about myself and deal with stress.
b. It helps me to improve the quality of my work.
I have had to give myself permission to go to the gym. I have to say no to other things so that I can go to the gym. I have to give grace to myself when I missed the schedule and not give up but pick up at where I should be in the moment.
I am not sure where you are at or if you can relate to one of these struggles I have. However, taking care of your physical self is a crucial element of your life.
If you want to enter, engage and experience the life you were created for you must develop personal care. Seven months later I am doing better and I celebrate that. I still have areas I would like to improve on and I keep on that journey one step at a time.
What about you? What are your struggles? Any tips?
What are the habits you need to develop to better take care of yourself?