The Size of Your Heart and The Size of Your Pants

February 24, 2017January 31, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood5 Comments

~Ditch The Diet~

I truly believe that God wants us to feel and be at our physical best! Although, this isn’t His primary concern, he can use us no matter what our health or physical condition.

2 Corinthians 12:10 “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

His main concern is with our spiritual well-being and ability to glorify Him.

Body size, shape, and weight, and outward appearance are over-emphasized in our society. These things are often the focus of our thoughts and energy at the expense of our inward character.

I Samuel 16:7 “for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

God looks on the heart | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

God is less concerned with the size of our pants and more concerned with the size of our hearts. He wants us to desire to please Him. He is less concerned with how long we live on this earth but is more concerned with how prepared we are for our eternal life.

God wants our hearts.

God wants your heart | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

In 1 Corinthians 6:19–20, Paul tells us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. In that case, we should take care of our bodies and keep them as healthy as we possibly can.

Knowing that unhealthy eating habits can lead to multiple health problems, including back and knee pain, cardiovascular complications, kidney issues and diabetes, we should make healthy choices regarding our food, drink, and exercise.

Jesus teaches to seek a balance between the physical and the spiritual. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4.

A strong, healthy body helps us better serve God, in the end bringing glory and honor to Him.

God truly wants us to keep our focus on Him. He gave us our body to be used to bring glory to him, not for us to be obsessing about weight gain, weight loss, or food and drink.

If we are not careful these things can easily become idols in our lives.

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I would love for you to follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all three.

Ditch The Diet for Healthy Habits

Tomorrow Is a New Day

February 17, 2017January 31, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood4 Comments

~Ditch the Diet~

Every Sunday is the start of a new week and a new opportunity to make a new healthy habit! While you don’t have to wait until the beginning of a new week, month or year to start a new habit, it is always good to have a place to start….

tomorrow is a new day | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Don’t try to rebuild your eating habits all at once. Make small manageable changes one at a time, master that change before moving on to the next one.

Unhealthy habits weren’t formed overnight. They also cannot expect to be changed all at once either.

Keep in mind that you do NOT have to give up everything you love in order to be healthy. Balance is what we are striving for.

Maybe you drink a lot of soda or sugary drinks. Start with decreasing your soda consumption by one glass each day and replacing it with a glass of water. By the end of a week or two, you will have broken yourself of an unhealthy habit replacing it with a healthy one.

Maybe you don’t drink soda, but every day you drink a several cups of coffees with extra cream and extra sugar. You do not have to give up coffee, just start decreasing the amount of cream and/or sugar you use a little at a time each day. By the end of a week or two, you will have retrained yourself to enjoy your coffee in a healthier way.

black coffee | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Ok, so maybe you don’t drink soda or coffee…but you also don’t eat breakfast.

Breakfast is an important way to start the day! Try to eat within one hour of waking. Start light to get yourself used to the new habit of eating in the morning. Studies show that starting the day by eating breakfast helps decrease overeating later on in the day.

Breakfast of Champions | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Avoid buying trigger foods that you know cause you to lose control and overeat. I love chocolate chip cookies! I cannot resist a homemade chocolate chip cookie no matter how strong my resolve, add in some M&M’s and it is all over for me! Therefore, I do not bake cookies. I also love ice cream, especially dulce de leche from Haagen Dazs! I know what my triggers are and don’t set myself up to fail.

Getting started is as simple as beginning to apply healthy habits to your life one at a time. One day at a time, one choice at a time, and one tip at a time.

Making changes easier to apply will make you more likely to keep these healthy habits as part of your lifestyle.

One year from today, you may just find that you have lost excess weight, kept it off and didn’t have to go on a terrible diet to do so.

I would love for you to follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all three.

Ditch The Diet for Healthy Habits

Set Realistic Goals and Write Them Down

February 10, 2017January 31, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood2 Comments

~Ditch The Diet~

If you are going to make the change from unhealthy habits to healthier ones, one of the first things that needs to happen is goal setting!

Set realistic goals and write them down. Just like I said in a previous post, Rome wasn’t built in a day! Unhealthy habits weren’t formed overnight and cannot be expected to change all at once either.

While it is a great idea to have a larger end goal in mind, having smaller more attainable goals will make the changes more permanent.

Remember, we are not talking about a diet with an end date, we are talking about making a healthy lifestyle change.

Write down your goals to have as a reference for later on! You will be able to keep yourself more accountable if you have written proof of what you want to accomplish.

Here are some examples of attainable smaller goals as well as long-term goals.

Smaller: “This week, I will exchange one glass of soda (or insert sugary drink of your choice) with one glass of water every day. Slowly increasing my daily water consumption.”
Long term: “In 6 months I will have lower cholesterol.”
Smaller: “I will go to bed 15 minutes earlier than usual every night this week.”
Longer: “I will be more rested and have increased energy during the day to get things accomplished.”
Smaller: “I will be active for 15-20 minutes 3 days a week.”
Long term: “I will have more energy during the day and sleep better at night.”

Set realistic goals and write them down. Get ready to start implementing your goals.

Hey, I’d love it if you would come follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Ditch The Diet for Healthy Habits

You Are What You Eat and Think

February 3, 2017January 31, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood2 Comments

~Ditch The Diet~

We’ve all heard the saying, “You are what you eat.” and while that is so true, let’s take it one more step…

“You are what you think!”

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Mental health is one of the most important parts of weight loss and living a healthy lifestyle.

While losing weight and living a healthy life is a physical thing, it is not really all about the physical challenge that we make it out to be. It is totally a mental thing.

You have to constantly keep your thoughts focused. Here are some things to keep in mind when trying to exchange your bad habits with good healthier ones:

1. Make your goals realistic!

You will be more likely to succeed if your goals are actually attainable. Set mini goals with a larger end goal in mind.

Instead of a blanket statement of “I need to lose 45 pounds” set a goal of “I will be more active and make healthy food choices for today.”

One healthy choice at a time, one day at a time is a lot easier to achieve than an overwhelming goal of 45 pounds. Once you reach that goal set a new one.

2 Chronicles 15:7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.

for your work shall be rewarded | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

2. Stay positive!

Focus on the positive aspects of your body, instead of all the things that you dislike about it.

Maybe you have love handles, a muffin top, or chubby thighs… but you might also have long legs, strong arms, beautiful hair, a friendly smile, or pretty eyes.

stay positive | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Remember we were made in the image of God. And God has called that creation “good.”

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

3. Change the way you think about food and exercise!

Don’t tell yourself “I CAN”T”

“I can’t eat that because I want to lose weight.”
“I can’t eat any of the foods that I love because I am eating healthy now.”
“I can’t wake up early to exercise!”
“I can’t find the time to eat right and exercise because I am way too busy!”

Instead, think “I can!”

“I can enjoy all these delicious foods that are good for me.”
“I can feel good about the food I am putting into my body.”
“I can say no to the unhealthy foods that are going to prevent me from reaching my goals.”
“I can make time for the things that are important to me.”
“I can do one more lap..rep..minute..interval”

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

i can do all things | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

4. Pray and ask God to help you!

Isaiah 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Colossians 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength | lookingjoligood.wordpress.com

Aren’t you glad that we don’t have to rely just on our own willpower!

Psalm 107:9 For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.

I hope that you found this to be helpful!

You can find other posts like this one by clicking HERE

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Hey, I’d love it if you would come follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Ditch The Diet for Healthy Habits · Health/ Fitness

Ditch the Diet #1

January 27, 2017January 30, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood2 Comments

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting a series called Ditch the Diet! These posts will be about tips and tricks and things that have helped me to be successful at living a healthy life without having to be a slave to a diet.

When you think about going on a diet, it usually implies a starting and an ending point, right?

The word diet has such negative feelings that go along with it. We immediately start thinking about all the deprivation, suffering, cravings, and hunger that are associated with dieting.

A strict plan will probably not get you where you want to be, and if it does, you probably won’t be able to stick to it long term. Keep in mind that this is not a quick fix approach. It will require time and patience. (Some people have a medical reason that they definitely have to be on a strict diet: colitis, Crohn’s, diabetes, celiac disease, kidney disease, food allergies.)

Most diets include lists of what you can and cannot eat. Most diets want you to change years of habits overnight setting you up to fail from the start. With all those cards stacked against you from the beginning, of course, it is overwhelming! It also requires an enormous amount of discipline.

Losing weight and being healthy are so much more than just choosing a “diet plan” and following it.

Think to yourself, why do you do the things that you do? Most everything we do is because of habit. Even what and when we eat is usually based on habits. Habits are hard to change!

Instead of changing everything at once, I am suggesting that you change one small habit at a time. Instead of struggling all week to deny yourself and ending up being upset with yourself for any failings, think about making one small manageable change a week. Focus on that one change and once it feels easy and natural move on to the next change.

Changing old habits for new healthier ones one at a time. Over time, you are more likely to feel healthier, lose weight and keep it off for good.

Getting started is as simple as beginning to apply healthy habits to your life one at a time. One day at a time, one choice at a time, and one tip at a time. Making small changes easy will make you more likely to add these healthy habits into your life making them part of your lifestyle.

One year from today, you may just find that you have lost excess weight, kept it off and didn’t have to go on a diet to do so.

I would love for you to follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on all three. I would also love to follow you on Instagram and Twitter as well, so let me know your username in the comment section below!

Ditch The Diet for Healthy Habits · Health/ Fitness

Top Ways to Ditch Dieting For Good

January 13, 2017January 31, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGood4 Comments

It’s Not About Dieting It’s About A Healthy Lifestyle

1) Find healthy foods you love:

Since I have changed my eating habits I have found so many foods that I thought I hated but I actually now love. Eggplant, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Roasted cauliflower, Baked Kale chips, Sweet potatoes, Mushrooms just to name a few. These are all things that I never would have eaten 18 months ago, yet they are now part of my every day diet…I still hate cooked peppers, I don’t think that will ever change.

2) Get a routine:

Make it easier on yourself to make better choices. Have your fridge stocked with fresh fruits and veggies. Set regular meal times and don’t let yourself graze or snack. Keep yourself accountable with a food and fitness journal. Make a plan and stick to it! It is not about perfection it is about consistency.

3) Do exercises you enjoy:

I don’t like to run. So you know what, I don’t do it! There are sooooo many other way to get in a great cardio workout without having to pound the pavement. The more time I have spent doing different types of physical actives, the more I have discovered the things that I love and things that I don’t enjoy.

I hate lunges, but I love squats. I hate pushups but I love doing plank. I love jumping jacks and cardio kick boxing. I really enjoy lifting weights and strengthen training. Find what you enjoy and do it!

4) Always have a goal:

The scale is not the only place to have goals. There are so many other ways to stay motived and push yourself. Recently I have been pushing myself to increase my reps as well as up the weights. It is so satisfying to reach a goal and set a new one!

5) Indulge:

You know I love sweets! If you are going to a special event, like a birthday party or a friends BBQ, let yourself indulge within reason. Denying yourself can lead to unwanted binges. Instead try to be strict with your diet leading up to the event. Do not, I repeat DO NOT make yourself feel guilty about it later on. Occasionally enjoying a sweet treat or special meal is an absolutely necessary part of a feasible healthy lifestyle. This is a lifestyle we are ditching the “diet.”

6) Don’t focus on denial:

How true is it that all you want is what you can’t have! If you want a french fry, have a fry or two. You don’t need to eat an entire large fry, but a fry or two might be just the thing to keep you from derailing your entire healthy plan.

Remember, It’s Not About Dieting It’s About Lifestyle!

After a few weeks you won’t even have to think about these changes. Making a lifestyle change is worth the time and hard work it takes. Long lasting results are so much more satisfying than short ended quick results from a fad diet.

You and your health and wellness are worth it!

If you want to read more about the benefits of lifestyle vs dieting check out my flab to fab post about Balance.

Ditch The Diet for Healthy Habits · Health/ Fitness

6 Ways to Ditch Dieting For Good

August 26, 2016January 31, 2017 LauraJoli LookingJoliGoodLeave a comment

It’s Not About Dieting It’s About a Healthy Lifestyle

1)Find healthy foods you love: Since I have changed my eating habits I have found so many foods that I thought I hated, but I actually now love. Eggplant, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Roasted cauliflower, Baked Kale chips, Sweet potatoes, Mushrooms. (I still hate cooked peppers, don’t think that will ever change.) These are all things that I never would have eaten 18 months ago, yet they are now part of my every day diet.

2)Get a routine: Make it easier on yourself to make better choices. Have your fridge stocked with fresh fruits and veggies. Set regular meal times and don’t let yourself graze and snack. Keep yourself accountable with a food and fitness journal. Make a plan and stick to it! It is not about perfection it is about consistency.

3)Do exercises you enjoy: I don’t like to run. So you know what, I don’t do it. There are sooooo many other way to get in a great cardio workout without having to pound the pavement. The more time I have spent doing different types of physical actives I have discovered things that I love and things that I don’t enjoy: I hate lunges, but I love squats. I hate pushups but I love plank ups. I love to lift weights and strengthen my muscles. Find what you enjoy and do it!

4)Always have a goal: The scale is not the only place to have goals. There are so many other ways to stay motived and push yourself. Recently I have been pushing myself to increase my reps as well as my weights. It is so satisfying to reach a goal and set a new one!

5)Indulge: You know I love sweets! If you know you are going to a birthday party or a friends BBQ let yourself indulge within reason. Denying yourself can lead to unwanted binges. Instead be strict with your diet leading up to the time before the indulgence. And do not, I repeat DO NOT make yourself feel guilty about it later on. Occasionally enjoying a sweet treat or special meal is an absolutely necessary part of a feasible healthy lifestyle plan. This leads me into my next point…

6)Don’t focus on denial: How true is it that all you want is what you can’t have! If you want a french fry, have a fry or two, you don’t need to eat an entire large fry, but a fry or two might be just the thing to keep you from derailing your entire healthy plan.

After a few weeks you won’t even have to think about these changes. Making a lifestyle change is worth the time and hard work it takes. Remember, It’s Not About Dieting It’s About Lifestyle! Long lasting results are so much more satisfying than short ended quick results from a fad diet. You and your health and wellness are worth it!

If you want to read more about the benefits of lifestyle vs dieting check out my flab to fab post about Balance.

I would love for you to follow me on Instagram and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good on both.

Looking Joli Good

Kindness is beautiful!

Category: Ditch The Diet for Healthy Habits

The Size of Your Heart and The Size of Your Pants

~Ditch The Diet~

God wants our hearts.

Tomorrow Is a New Day

~Ditch the Diet~

Set Realistic Goals and Write Them Down

~Ditch The Diet~

You Are What You Eat and Think

~Ditch The Diet~

“You are what you think!”

Ditch the Diet #1

Top Ways to Ditch Dieting For Good

It’s Not About Dieting It’s About A Healthy Lifestyle

Remember, It’s Not About Dieting It’s About Lifestyle!

You and your health and wellness are worth it!

6 Ways to Ditch Dieting For Good

~Ditch The Diet~

God wants our hearts.

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~Ditch the Diet~

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~Ditch The Diet~

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~Ditch The Diet~

“You are what you think!”

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It’s Not About Dieting It’s About A Healthy Lifestyle

Remember, It’s Not About Dieting It’s About Lifestyle!

You and your health and wellness are worth it!

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