A new motto for a new healthy lifestyle

Above: Feeling sweaty but fabulous after a great strength training class. Below: More content in the skin I'm in.

I had a revelation this week. It was: Find what works for you. 

I think it's this revelation that is going to take this from being a "three month challenge" to a "permanent lifestyle change." 

I was reading a mommy blog last week and the writer was being hard on herself, saying she didn't look the way she looked before she had her baby. She said she hates the gym and she feels like she is stuck inside all day with the baby and was feeling isolated. I responded to her blog post and, though my actual response was longer, it's basically boiled down to two basic concepts: "find what works for you" and "go play outside".

I think as moms we can be really hard on ourselves. Our bodies and minds have been changed in a significant way and there is this new little person who takes up our entire waking and sleeping thought. To her, and other moms of little ones, I say this:

You don't need to go to the gym three (or more) times a week to be healthy. Put baby in a carrier or a stroller and take nice long walks during the day. Head to the park and work out on the playground equipment. Find a set of steps, park the stroller at the bottom and run up and down the steps making faces and playing peek-a-boo with your baby to keep them entertained and engaged. See if your husband can watch the baby for an hour or so in the evening once a week and get out of the house for a yoga, zumba or other exercise classes — giving yourself the opportunity to decompress for an hour, interact with other adults and return feeling mentally and physically recharged is important.

"You can do it!" I cheered to her... and do you know what? You can and I can too! We just need to find what works for us. 

I realized while writing my response to the mommy blogger that I haven't stepped foot on an elliptical machine or treadmill in about a month. I wasn't noticing much of a change in my body from my time at the gym. However my body loves power walking and yoga so I've been going for walks twice a week, taking yoga once a week and I found a new strength training class which I absolutely adore once a week. I also picked up some zumba DVD's for those days where I just can't get out for a walk or a class. 

I think it's these realizations that have have taken this from a fleeting goal to a new, healthy, way of life for me. These are the mottos in which I am living my new healthy life:

• Go play outside
• Find what works for you

The second motto also fits in really well with eating habits — but more about that next week.

How about you? Do you feel like you are living a healthy life or do you still have some work to do? What are your mottos for living a healthy lifestyle? I'd love to hear from you. Tweet me at @sewcreativeblog.