Stop Digging and get started

“The first step to getting out of the hole is to stop digging.” When I first heard this quote from”It takes what it takes” by Trevor Moawad, it had a profound impact on me. First of all, this book is amazing and should definitely be on your reading list. So how did I apply this principle into my new healthy lifestyle.

First and foremost, I immediately stopped drinking calories. No more mochas or lattes, sodas, or Gatorade. I confess, I do use one tablespoon of creamer each day in my coffee, but that is it. I had to find good alternatives. While water is always the best choice, unsweetened teas, carbonated sparkling water are great options as well. Other drinks that I limit to once per week, are zero calorie Vitamin waters or a diet soda. While these aren’t great options, they still work as long as it’s not a part of your daily diet.

Secondly, I took all the unhealthy snack foods, like chips, cookies, etc. that were in my house and got rid of them. My wonderful wife is a good team player and keeps all her junk food in a place that I don’t see it. Out of sight, out of mind. I replaced my snack options with good healthy options. I got a nice fruit bowl that I keep on the kitchen table to help train my mind to grab a quick healthy snack. As you fine tune your diet, you can try different snacks that will help meet your goals. I will do another blog later on all the different good snack food options that I keep in the house.

Lastly, it made me look at how I was spending my leisure activity time. I spent a lot of time watching tv to unwind at the end of the day. I would spend an easy 40 minutes a day puffing on cigarettes to cope with stress. Yes, I was extremely unhealthy to the point where I had to hold my breath in order to tie my shoes.

Did I make all these changes at once. Nope. You start with one change, then move onto the next. It took 8 months before I put on a patch to quit smoking. The name of the game, is to make small simple changes and together they will have a compounding effect on your life. This isn’t really a diet, but a whole new lifestyle change and way of looking at food and activity. You don’t have to have it all figured out to get started. The important part is to stop digging and to get started.