Transitioning to healthier habits

I found it easier to transition to healthier eating after I began tracking what I ate. It seems simple enough, but it takes effort to encorperate something new into your routine. Tracking my intake and exercise each day really put my habits into perspective and make it easier to be more conscious about what I ate and how often I was active.

I use an application to track my food/fitness, I find it easier. The app I use is My Fitness Pal (http://www.myfitnesspal.com). You can access it on your smartphone, iPad, laptop or desktop. A small journal could just as easily be used, but an online app does more than simple track intake. I like that the app inputs your personal data, including your goals, and can give you a time frame at which your goal can be completed by.

If you want to incorporate a change into your lifestyle you must commit time to yourself to make it happen. State your goals, find your motivation and begin taking the steps to a healthier lifestyle. Change doesn't happen over night, it's something you must work at. 

Above all, love yourself.

Simple Ways To Be Positive

I guarantee you that those people who seem constantly happy-go-lucky also have their down-and-out moments as well; being positive is something we can choose and work to maintain. There is no quick fix for being positive, it is all about taking things one at a time and slowly working at changing your attitude when stressful or negative things creep up in life. I have compiled a brief list of things that one can do to try to cultivate a more positive outlook.

• Do the little things that make you happy.
• Don't have time? Well then make time. Try to incorporate more little things into your daily life that make you happy. The little things really do make the world of difference.

• Make time to breathe deeply and reflect. 
• Think about the things in your life that you're thankful for or feel lucky to have/experience. A good time for this is either first thing in the morning or in the evening before bed; a time when you know you'll have a little bit of time to yourself.

• Don't compare yourself to others.
• If you already find yourself doing this, stop it! Your life is just that, yours. We all go about living at our own pace and in our style. What works for some doesn't always work for others. Not to mention, your life is being lived in the way you are choosing to do so, if you are unsatisfied then take steps to alter your life so that you will be satisfied.

• Believe in yourself.
• If you don't already believe in yourself then start working on it. Having confidence in yourself and your capabilities is part of being positive. 

• Above all, choose to not to partake in negativity.
• Partaking in negativity only perpetuates negativity. This pertains to gossip, harboring negative feelings and other things of the like. Just let it go and try to focus on positive topics.

(photo from http://www.etsy.com/listing/159868793/a-positive-life)