Motivational Monday

 Welcome to my Motivational Monday.  Let’s face it, life is difficult and it can be easy to give up on things.  Not only do we need motivation to get through difficult tasks, but everyday life.  Some people never run out of motivation, some have a hard time finding any.  How do you get motivation to do anything?

The ability to stay motivated allows you to achieve success in whatever you do.  Gaining motivation is about the push of changing habits and breaking through fears.  Motivation is about consistency in achieving your goals.

There are many great steps to staying motivated, including a few of my favorites:

-Cutting out distractions

-Getting you body moving, either with running, stretching, or anything to get your blood pumping

-Setting goals

-And of course, my favorite, drinking coffee for a nice little caffeine jolt.

Another important part of daily motivation is how you start your day.  So, let’s talk about breakfast!  Breakfast is controversial; it’s either hated or loved, and unfortunately it usually consist of sugary cereals or some other quick sugary pastry (mmm donuts). 

Breakfast is thought to start your day with the proper energy to keep you motivated, kick starting your metabolism, and keep focused.  Some may think eating breakfast doesn’t matter, but starting off your day full of energy, you can’t go wrong. We are breakfast people in our house and it definitely gets our day started off right.   

So what’s a proper breakfast look like? A balanced breakfast includes a combination of fats, proteins, and carbs.  This is far from the regular old sugar encapsulated toaster pastry.  We’re talking a breakfast full of balance to help you fuel your body and achieve your daily goals.  There are some great breakfast ideas all over the internet.  A few of our go-to's are toast and avocados with fruit, peanut butter waffles (a favorite at our house), pre-made breakfast sandwiches, or overnight oats.

 

Hopefully this you give you to motivation you need for a great week.  I would love to hear other stories on how you kick-start your motivation on Monday’s!

 

Image Credit: Flickr

Your Opportunity

Image Credit: Pixabay

There is a room with many doors.  Which do you open? Is it the yellow door that calls you, or a less conspicuous one?  There are many choices.

Life is full of doors.  Everyday you open the door is your choice.  Our choices reflect our actions, our lives, our food we eat.  The opportunities that we are given in life are a matter of choices, particularly when if comes to our lifestyles.  Do we drink water or soda? Do we choose to sleep 5 hours or 8?  Do we choose McDonald’s or to make a meal?  These choices are all opportunities to be a better version of yourself. 

As a society, we are busy.  It's extremely easy to stop and get fast food after baseball or soccer practice, especially when you little boy looks at you with puppy-dog eyes in hopes of a happy meal. 

Our choices we make are not about making the right decision all the time.  They are not about being perfect.  Choices are the opportunities to make a fairly good decision most of the time.  This involves progression.  It’s not about perfection.  If you make a mistake, take note and correct it next time. 

Some successes need to start slow.  Try healthy substitutions of some of your favorite foods to stay on track with healthy eating.  Try to cut out the sugary drinks with infused water.  Try cooking with your kids at home instead of going thru a drive thru with these easy recipes.  Word of advice: don't make too many healthy substitutions in one recipe, you'll end up with flavorless, crumbly muffins that the birds won't even eat!

Food choices can be overwhelming.  Improper information, labeling, information overload can all affect how we make our choices.  The choice for the overwhelming choice is simple.  The simplicity of healthy food is just that; for example, two main food groups are so simple yet overlooked:  fruits and vegetables.

Next time you have a food choice to make, remember its an opportunity for a healthy and simple choice.

Any thoughts on other healthy choices we can make?  I know it is not always easy to make the healthy choice, but it's the changes we make  that allow us to be the healthiest person we can be.