What I Did to Begin My Healthy Lifestyle Regimen

Purpose, motivation, hard work, and tenacity---this is what it takes to build and maintain a healthy lifestyle regimen

I have always been health-conscious after listening to my mom, watching what she ate, the struggles she had trying to lose weight with nuggets of misinformation, and seeing many of my loved ones succumb to death before age 60, due to unhealthy lifestyle choices and habits.

Although, I’ve never had a weight problem, I’ve always been neat and petite just like my dad—even as I grew older, weight became easier to gain, but harder for me to lose and maintain. But, for my stature, the extra pounds always landed in the right places—as some would say, I “carried or wore my weight well.”

In my 30’s and early 40’s, I remember my mom telling me as a young girl, even before puberty, “you should always take care of yourself—don’t let yourself go.” Actually, those words of wisdom were “loaded” with multiple messages, and they’ve always stuck with me.

I had an older sister (deceased before 60) who was tall and absolutely beautiful. Over time, as life came at her, she began to make unhealthy choices and adopt bad lifestyle habits. One of those habits was eating in every form—overeating— comfort eating—snacking—drinking sweet juices and pop.

It was inevitable that she had gained weight. The sad part was that she never lost it—it was one of those instances where “she let herself go.” The phrase was so used around my house growing up, that for me, the phrase became synonymous with gaining weight.

Although this cautionary tale had a negative outcome for my sister, I’ve always used it to my advantage—I’ve refused to “let myself go” and decided early-on to adopt a healthy lifestyle, but, not without challenges and hard work.

I’m still a work in progress, but so far, this is where I am and what I’ve done to stay the course…

• I had to change my mindset and ask myself why?—determine my purpose for a healthy lifestyle change

• I had to think about my true motivation—I didn’t want to end-up like my sister—she kinda scared me straight

I also wanted longevity, with 25% being genetics, and 75% being lifestyle choices—to me, that’s a freebie! Why wouldn’t I take advantage of that chance to live longer, or at least the length of my natural life?

• I put in the work—as the cliche goes, “no pain, no gain”

• I began a “30 x 5 exercise program”—30 minutes a day, 5 days per week (a phrase I’ve coined for my workout program) Monday, Wednesday, and Friday-–aerobic/cardio | Tuesday and Thursday—strength training

• I firmed-up my meal planning and adopted healthier eating

• I’ve stayed the course—I’ve been going strong and consistent since 2019—at first, it was a challenge, then it became a habit, now, it is a lifestyle.

YOU CAN DO IT TOO!