Hi there! My name is Shana Moore. I’m 30 years old, 5’3’’, and have had a long history of obesity, once tipping the scale at 250lbs! Fast forward to today (100 lbs lighter), I’m very proud of my accomplishments due to my learned dedication towards health and fitness. Becoming healthy has changed every aspect of my life. I feel so much better (mentally, spiritually, and physically), am much happier, and have become passionate about sharing my journey mainly through Instagram and Youtube. By doing so, I truly wish for others to achieve and maintain good health and wellness too.
I’m happy to partner with Daily Harvest Express to offer my 5 tips for staying healthy throughout the year:
- Be Mindful of your Mindset – I could write a novel on this tip alone but I’ll try to keep it brief. Actually, I’ll steal the quote from Henry Ford to sum it up: “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right”. Our minds are so powerful! I don’t have enough words to express the importance of developing a healthy mindset. Out of all the diets I’ve tried in my life, I’ve learned that none of them worked because ultimately, I didn’t work. Once I started to pay attention to my internal dialogue and retrain it to be kinder towards myself, I was finally able to succeed. Furthermore, for example, once I changed my goal from “working out to lose weight” to “working out because it’s good for me”, my obsession with the scale ceased, and so did all the negative self-talk triggered by the number it displayed. Soon, I started to practice small healthy habits for the sake of practicing small healthy habits until they all added up to the person you see today.
- Eat Real Food – I personally follow a whole foods plant-based (wfpb) lifestyle. This means that I try to consume mostly unprocessed, un-packaged meals. This also means that I’ve learned to become quite the chef and have mastered time-saving techniques to help make eating wholesome easy. Services like Daily Harvest Express’s farm box is a tremendous help here, as I now hardly ever visit a grocery store. With their help, I eat fresh, seasonal, local, organic produce most days of the week and have finally found my healthy weight by doing so. No, I don’t diet, count calories, or track what I eat at all! While I choose to consume a 100% plant-based diet, I don’t pressure others to do the same. However, I do encourage others to incorporate more wfpb meals into their lives.
- Make Fitness Fun – I used to HATE working out. The thought of mindlessly putting in miles on the treadmill was anything but motivating. Even though you will find me in the gym on most days, I’ve made it a point to make fitness fun via the use of mobile apps, services and wearable tech gear. But fun fitness doesn’t have to be an expense either. I also enjoy discovering new trails to walk my dogs and getting outdoors with friends amongst the many hiking paths San Diego has to offer.
- Carry a Water Bottle – We all have heard how important staying hydrated is for us. Water to our bodies is like oil to a car. We must have it to operate smoothly and efficiently. However, it’s way too easy to get caught up in our daily activities and forget to drink water. I’ve found that physically carrying around a reusable water bottle helps! The mere sight of it alone reminds me to take a sip every so often, and one sip is better than none! If you find water boring, try infusing your water with the fresh fruits or veggies from your Daily Harvest Express farm box!
- Don’t give up – Realize that being healthy is all about making one decision at a time. Start slow and pace yourself as if you’re running a marathon, not a sprint. If you fall down during the race, just pick yourself back up and keep going. Crawl if you have to, but always keep moving towards your goals of practicing healthy habits! There were many times where I literally gave up after “cheating” on my diet plan with a slice of cake, or after stepping on the scale and not seeing results quick enough. Not only did I give up on myself, but queue the flood of negative self-talk and feelings of failure too. Perhaps using a race analogy isn’t quite appropriate though because honestly, there is no finish line! Whatever healthy habits you decide to adopt this year, they’re meant to be life-long. So, take the pressure off from trying to fit into size x by a certain day! Instead, take it one day at a time with one decision at a time. One day all your small decisions will add up for you to reap the amazing benefits, and maintain lasting results! You’ve got this!