Anyone seen my mojo?

Yes a strange picture for this post. 

We all experience times where we feel like we can conquer the world, and other times like we are the world's doormat. So how do you keep the positive momentum going? With New Year's just two weeks away everyone will be feeling the push to make some changes in 2011, and sadly come February most will slide back into old habits. Here are some tricks I use to get and keep the ball rolling.

Workouts
1. Schedule two rest days per week! If you know you are going to get Tuesday and Friday to relax it makes going to the gym on the other days a bit easier.

2. Pace yourself! Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will your dream ass. Have a plan, stick to it and prepare yourself for at least six weeks before you start seeing changes in the mirror.

3. If you feel like you are in a rut, can't run one more mile on the treadmill, then don't! Try something different, get on the stationary bike, take a class, go outside for a run. Mixing it up will not only help with mental fatigue but will also challenge your body.

Nutrition
1. Pick one thing a week to adjust in your diet! Week one: no soda, week two: no fried foods etc...trying to go from an unhealthy fat laden diet to an all natural organic healthy diet at once is setting yourself up for failure. Take it one step at a time...you had to learn how to walk before you could run, switch to eating whole wheat pasta before trying to make a quinoa black bean loaf with a side of celery root purée (I made that up I have no idea what that is or how to make it).

2. Have dessert, its not going to kill you.  If you want to have a brownie every once in awhile, go ahead! If 90% of your meals are healthy and nutritious having a treat once or twice a week is not a problem. Better yet account for them in your daily calories and no harm will be done to your weight loss program.

3. Eat 5 - 10 servings of fruits and veggies a day...I know it sounds hard but its not and your body will thank you. When you eat healthier you want to behave in a healthier manner. It's pretty easy to eat a cheese burger and lay on the couch, eat a delicious fruit salad and you'll have energy to spare.

Life
1. Remember you? That fun chick from college who could tell the best dirty jokes and dance up a storm when Springsteen came on the radio? Find her! Take some time to just hang out with your girlfriends, gossip, have a glass of wine. You don't have to be Wonder Mom, Super Wife, Ideal Employee 24/7 just go and BE!

2. My favorite line from "Living Your Yoga" by Judith Lasater is "Things are moving at the speed in which they should be." I try to think of this when I am becoming impatient waiting in line, or its taking me longer to finish a task than I thought it would. The trick is to relax, is it really going to matter in the grand scheme of things that it took you 45 minutes to cook dinner rather than the 30 you were planning for? Probably not. We are so focused on seconds and minutes in our society that we often forget that there are 86,400 seconds in a day, if you lose a thousand seconds waiting in line its not that big a deal. Breath, things are moving at the speed in which they should be.

3. If you have a family member or a friend who is a negative energy...let them go. You don't have to have wonderful relationships with everyone. Sometimes friendships run their course, let it go, if it was meant to be it will come back around. Don't stress about it, there is no major confrontation required just pull back. Your time and energy are valuable, focus it on the people who you enjoy.

You only get one ride on this merry-go-round, enjoy it, be your best self, smile. (stepping off my soap box)