After thinking long and hard about what works for me when it comes to keeping a healthier life, I realised that one of the things I needed to change was my approach.

As much as I always told myself that every start was my step towards a healthier life, I never considered the step itself to be part of the life. The diet to get to the better life, right? Well, that’s wrong. And it’s finally gotten through to my squishy brain.

You see, I started meal replacements combined with cutting down sweets and carbs along with cutting down portion sizes and adding in exercise. While this sounds like heaps, it’s actually not. I’m taking it tippy toe style, and it’s making a difference.

You see, when you see the changes you make as lifestyle changes (forever changes) rather than temporary (diet) changes, things look a lot better.

When you make it a lifestyle progression:

*A ‘screw up’ isn’t that bad because it’s a blip on the radar that’s going to be going for years to come.
*A ‘screw up’ becomes an opportunity to do things better next time because a lifestyle doesn’t have the pass/fail mentality that a diet does.
*Small losses are not ‘I’m just glad I didn’t gain’, they become incredibly awesome. When you’re on a diet you want to lose weight fast because, underneath it all, there is a ‘how much longer do I have to do this’ feeling. When it’s your lifestyle, it’ll be forever, so any loss is simply a positive.
*When you’re planning for a better lifestyle, you learn to find what works rather than what will get you through.

It’s taken me a long time to finally get to the point where I can view the healthy changes I’m making as forever changes. I’m still a little new to the concept and am finding my footing so I don’t a) slip back into diet mentality or b) use it as an excuse to indulge.

Even though I’ve lost a small amount so far, I know this is the way to go. Not just because I’ve lost weight but because my mood hasn’t been this good for a long time.

Slowly but surely.