"I will eat healthier" or "I will walk more" are general affirmations you may make to yourself regularly but don’t achieve because they are too general. "I will bring a fruit to work with me everyday" or "I will park five blocks from my office and walk" are more specific actions that are relatively easy to commit to accomplishing. Include specific actions in your goals that lead to a healthier lifestyle change.
Living a healthier lifestyle and losing excess pounds take effort. The Mississippi in Motion program guides that effort with scientifically proven principles that will lead you to your desired goal. Even if your goal is not weight loss but wanting to have more energy, or fitting into your clothes better, or reducing your risk for heart disease, this program furnishes you with the specifics of making health a reality.
It may help to take a look at how those pounds got there in the first place. Did you know it takes 3500 extra calories to gain a pound? So to lose a pound, you need to reduce 3500 calories or burn 3500 calories or a combination of the two. Sound impossible? Not really. Consider this: If you want to lose a pound a week, divide 3500 calories by 7 days. That’s only 500 calories a day!
What specific things could you do to accomplish a daily 500-calorie reduction? Do you need to eat better, exercise more, or take a healthy lunch to work with you? You can make your goals more specific to reflect your greater goal. “I want to reduce my calorie intake by 250 (skip the fries and hold the mayo) and increase my calorie burning by 250 calories (a brisk walk after lunch) in order to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week.
Name some specific things you are comfortable with changing/modifying to reach your goal:
