A Conversation in New Beginnings!

As I sat at my Aunt's home on Thanksgiving, a group of us watched the kids flip and flop on the floor, wrestling about.  One of my cousins asked me a question and it led into a wonderful conversation and what I believe to be a new beginning for her.  This is a recap of what we discussed:

Cousin-
"Hey Mindy.  I have this nasty belly fat and I need you to give me some ab exercises so I can get rid of it."

Mindy-
"Ok.  Tell me more about what exercises you already do (giving me more time to process a good response!)"

She then told me a bit about her usual gym routine and how working her abs were in the mix.

Mindy-
"Well, I'll be really honest with you.  You can't spot reduce on the body.  It just doesn't work like that.  Have you heard the phrase, 'Abs are made in the kitchen?'  Since we're cousins and have some of the same genetics, I can tell you that reducing the size of my midsection has always been the result of my diet.  If I wanted any progress in that area, I had to focus on cleaning up what I ate.

Cousin-
"Are you serious?  I've never heard that before."

Mindy-
"Tell me more about your habits.  Do you drink water?  How often do you have sugar?  What's something you do on a daily basis?"

Cousin-
"Well, I love sugar and I love sweet teas.  I quit pop and I quit smoking in the past, but I usually have 1-2 medium sweet teas from McD's or White Castle daily.  I also drink a lot of juice or Kool Aid at night and I never drink water.  But I have no idea how many calories I'm taking in from all that.  I can't even imagine!"

My thoughts....BINGO!  I just found the golden ticket to the beginning of her new lifestyle!

Mindy-
"Beverage calories are some of the biggest contributors to obesity and being overweight.  Those are empty calories with little to no protein, tons of carbs and no fiber.  It offers your body back nothing in exchange for the high calorie deposit it's leaving you.  Let me get my MyFitnessPal app and see how many calories you're drinking."

As we sit and add it up, we realize she's taking in roughly 2500 calories a week in just sweet tea calories alone.  Just sweet tea!  There's no addition of the juice and Kool Aid calories she's ingesting in that number.

Mindy-
"So we know that 3500 calories equals a pound.  If you were to cut the sweet tea back or completely out of your diet, in a week and a half, you'd lose a pound just from NOT drinking it!"

Her jaw dropped!

Mindy-
"The best advice I can offer is for you to know what your habits are.  Take this next week and journal everything you're drinking.  If you can track your food as well, then great.  You can't change what you don't acknowledge and it's important you are aware of your habits before you start to change them.  Knowledge is power."

Cousin-
"I'm tired of being tired.  I want to be in my size 5/6 pants again and I'm an 11/12.  I'm not happy and something's got to change."

Mindy-
"What it takes to get to change is for you to be sick and tired of being sick and tired and you have to want to make the change.  No one else can do it for you.  Coupled with your new awareness of your habits, you're at a point of launching into positive changes."

Cousin-
"How long will it take for me to see results?"

Mindy-
"You'll start to notice a difference in two weeks.  You'll for sure see a difference in three to six weeks and by 12 weeks, you'll be a whole new person.  Just stick with it!"

Had I just given her a few ab exercises for the gym, she'd be on a whole different (idle) journey.  It's so much more than just giving advice.  It's about diving into that person's habits and making a doable plan on what works for them.  I loved every minute of this conversation.  A problem identified.  The awareness of a bad habit.  The desire for change.  The course of the plan and an action ready to launch.  The ball's in her court and I'm the cheerleader on the sidelines in her game.  Can't wait to see how this all pans out!