Small, positive changes

To change your life, either for better or worse, is a gradual undertaking. It doesn’t go to pot all at once and it doesn’t fix itself all at once. It is more about making small positive (or negative) changes that over time accumulate and grow and make an impact. So that’s what I’ve been focusing on, making small, positive changes.

After the madness of Christmas had died down, I refocused my mind on the changes I wanted to implement and set about ways in which I would do so. Like I said in my last post I wanted to “get out of my head and out of my bed” . I started with the latter, my safe haven. I got up every morning and set myself up downstairs and that is where I stayed until bedtime, besides going out of course. From there, I noticed more of what needed to be done around the house and got on top of that.

Then I looked at my eating. Instead of overloading on cheese and carbs for every meal, I started by cleaning up my lunch. A simple Chicken Salad with carrot sticks and hummus on the side. I have had that pretty much every day for the last 3 weeks give or take 1 or 2 meals, what can I say, I’m a creature of habit. That one step, however, then led to me cleaning up what I was eating for tea (dinner). THEN, I stumbled upon intermittent fasting and the benefits of leaving larger gaps between meals in order to combat insulin resistance and aid fat burning. Since I was not much of a breakfast person anyway I switched to a 16/8 routine with the first meal at the start of the 8 hours, around midday, and the second meal at the end with about 5 hours no snacking in between.  

This alongside walking every day has meant I have lost 5 pounds so far this month (I lost quite a bit of weight in the lead up to Christmas due to a diet change so this is good, steady progress). As a result, I am starting to regain confidence, I am starting to see the body I used to know and love (somewhat) and it reminded me of who I was then and still am now. I’m also finding I have so much more energy, I can literally feel the difference in my body and how it responds.

I’ve also managed to overcome my anxiety yet again and have started going back to Church. Another small step but it has given me such a boost and has reminded me God is on my side. Within two days of praying within the Church for guidance my eyes were opened even further to the negative patterns that were in play in my life that needed addressing. Albeit a coincidence for those who aren’t religious, though the videos I stumbled upon were very Christianity orientated to add to the coincidence.

I also walked into and around my local town without fear of who I might see and the horror on their faces when they enquire “What are you up to these days?” and I give them the honest answer. I actually bumped into someone I knew who asked that very question and it wasn’t hard or scary to answer – what was I so afraid of?

Therefore, what starts as a small change, can actually begin to snowball into a much bigger change. Just like planting a seed in good soil can take root and grow into something far greater. So, what small positive changes could you implement in your life to change it for the better?

“While it may seem small, the ripple effects of small things is extraordinary” Matt Bevin