It’s rather inspiring to hear about everyday people with real lives making a difference and getting closer to their dream bodies. So when I saw this post by Traci talking about “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” of her recent ‘Healthier Lifestyle’ goals I had to tell you about it.

She voices her thoughts in 22 points that sum up her experience since starting what she calls “The Big D” on Valentie’s Day.

It definitely touches with how many women feel, one poster said:

“I think you put into words what so many of us moms feel every day.”

And another one said…

“Good for you-for voicing what most women think and for having a healthier life style.”

I’d suggest taking a moment to check it out (surely let me know if it does touch base with you’re experience so far).

But first, I’d like to run through 3 concepts that Traci explained briefly…

1. Healthy Food Feels Better:

   Traci says, “I have discovered healthy snacks that I love and actually, truly do prefer over the crap I was eating nonstop before.”Surely there’s no one nutrition menu that fits all, so it helps to experiment and find out what fires your taste buds and nourishes your body.

   One week, I’m trying Sprouts… next week it’s Baby Carrots… then it’s Asparagus (all this in an attempt to add some flavor to my lunch).

   Yet here’s the big one…

   When most people think of ‘healthy food’ they usually assume it’s boring and doesn’t feel right. This is especially true if they’re big on takeout.

   But, if you give it a chance… and replace just one meal or snack with a healthy choice… and keep at if for 2 weeks… you’re body’s natural tendencies will shift in remarkable ways.

   Here’s an example, replace Pepsi/Coke with water or lemon juice for 2 weeks.

   After that, Pepsi won’t taste the same. In fact, after doing this years ago I remember how awful it tasted… it shocked my system and I wasn’t so hung up on it anymore (or as Traci puts it “the burn that I thought I lived for was decidely less than thrilling and the taste was bleh”).

   Another example could be having raisins instead of cookies or sweets. This can really fill up your sugar craving in a good way.

   Have you experienced something like this before?

   (I’m not talking about perfection here, just a simple shift in perspective and realizing how we’re so hung up on many food choices which aren’t necessarily as good as we’d like to think).

2. Next, in point 3 Traci talks about the ‘taken for granted nutrient’…Water:
   
   “And speaking of the water consumption, I think I am fully hydrated for the first time in my whole life.”

   Sounds obvious?

   Sounds simple to do?

   Then, how come I see way too many people skipping this simple concept everyday!

   I hope you’re having plenty of water.

   I won’t try to entice you by listing all kinds of benefits here… just try this for a week and tell me how different you feel: Don’t wait until you feel thirsty (you’re already dehydrated when you feel thirsty!)… try to have a glass of water every 2 hours or so.

   It’s not a race to drink up 13 glasses of water a day, make it a gradual shift… and, soon enough, you’ll find yourself drinking water without waiting to be thirsty.

   Here’s 2 more points worth keeping in mind:

   • Your ‘thirst mechanism’ becomes less sensitive if you’re not getting enough water.
   • It’s said that even MILD dehydration can slow down your metabolism as much as 3% (on the flip side, water can actually help suppress your appetite)
3. “I’ve really started thinking and feeling that it’s much too early in my life to feel frumpy and tired, which I have for the last five or so years.”

   I guess this one’s big because way too many magazines focus on the aesthetics of exercising and eating well.

   That’s not fair, there’s a major difference in the way you feel… your energy level, how you perform everyday tasks even your confidence level shoots up as you get a healthy dose of exercise and great nutrition.So go for it and feel your best.

Listen, I just went through 3 items of the 22 that Traci covers in her blog post.

It’s worth taking a minute to check it out here.

M. Jamal

P.S. Another interesting comment by Traci:

“In high school I thought I was one of the “big” girls. I wore big clothes because I couldn’t look the way I was supposed to in the stylish clothes. I’ve since realized that I was curvy. Big difference. I have boobs and a butt. That is not going to change.”

That’s the core idea behind my report “What’s Your Body Type And How To Train To Get That Shapely Physique”. So if you haven’t downloaded your free copy already you can do that in less than a minute by going here.

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