Shelley A. Sonnenberg

Remember that old expression, “You are what you eat?” Well, whoever came up with that was actually onto something. Now obviously a person does not turn into either an apple or a piece of pizza just because they eat a lot of them, but our good health or lack of it is greatly determined by what we eat, how we exercise and whether or not we drink enough water and get enough sleep. In fact, I think we need a new slogan for good health:

You are what you do!

My mother and I both go to the same doctor and we really appreciate every piece of advice she has given us over the years. Mom just saw her a few days ago and afterword she mentioned to me an especially helpful thing our doctor had told her:

The doctor told my mother that the key to exercise is consistency and that she would be better off doing a little bit of exercise every day than doing a whole lot of exercise on random days when she was in the mood. I actually already knew this, but it was good to be reminded of this helpful fact. Of course, if you have the strength and the time to do a whole lot of exercise on a daily basis that can be a good thing too!

Recently, when I was in the process of losing 159 pounds over a fourteen month period I set aside time to do my fitness walking every single day regardless of the weather, what was on TV, or whether or not it was a holiday and I have to say, that method really worked. I also committed myself to only eating food that was both tasty and good for me and following that plan faithfully really helped me shrink! Another thing my program included was the use of some all natural weight-loss and nutrition products, which did me the most good when I took them daily. Consistency counts!

I have told my whole weight-loss story along with a step by step explanation of the program I created, in my upcoming book, No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 pounds without Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups or Surgery and How You Can Too! This book will be available from Amazon.com and other stores in late summer or early fall of 2015. I wrote it to be both entertaining and helpful and I hope all my readers really enjoy it.

Of course, if you want to be consistent about reaching any goal you set for yourself, whether it be reaching a certain weight, writing a book, learning a new language or taking the steps toward a whole new career, you need to really believe in both yourself and the importance of what you are doing so much that you give it top priority! It’s also smart to select a path toward your goals that allow you to enjoy your journey. For example, as you can tell from the title of my book, I don’t like salads very much, so I did not want to go on a long term weight-loss program that required me to eat them every day. Fortunately, I was able to work up a menu that featured a wide variety of healthy foods I did like and that made it a lot easier to stay on track. I still eat those foods today to help me maintain my weight and I am happy to do so.

I also decided to make fitness walking my primary way to exercise, because I really do love it. However, if that doesn’t sound like fun to you than pick something else such as swimming, Zumba or daily tennis with your best friend. Just make sure it’s something you love so much that you are willing to move heaven and earth to find time to do it and I guarantee you will do it consistently no matter what!

To sum it up, the path to anywhere is made up of faithfully taking little steps every day until you find yourself at the finish line, so make sure the daily steps you are taking today are on the path that will lead to your dreams coming true.