Most of the time, your thoughts fuel an action but your mind can also follow where your body leads. We need to choose our actions, not our feelings. Motion creates emotion. When we don’t feel mentally driven, going through the motions starts the momentum. Each and every action is followed by thoughts. This can get us going into our desired direction and helps train the mind to what thoughts we want to have. Initially, our thoughts can be different from what we want our actions to be.

For example, when we need to work out but don’t feel like it, choosing to still exercise turns our bodily reflexes on to know what to do. If we wait for our “thinking part of the mind” to want to exercise, we may wait forever. So, how do we motivate ourselves to work out? Like Nike says,  just do it! This is how we develop self-motivation–by doing what we don’t feel like doing. Therefore, let your body lead when your mind isn’t cooperating!

A thought leads to a feeling; the feeling leads to an action; and action leads to a result. T, F, A, R. Results (R) again leads to a thought! So yes, it’s a loop! However, thoughts can also be generated as a result of an action; therefore, acting first and thinking second can help us get started on whatever the goal is. Our thoughts can be very different from the expressions and actions we want to accomplish. Thoughts can create an inspiration in us and push us to express or act, but when we actually start acting in the nick of the action … our reflexes take over.

The mind/body relationship theory is a time-tested concept. What affects the body can affect the mind, and vice-versa. When we have self-destructive and negative thoughts and negative internal conflict, it results in unhealthy lifestyle actions. Conversely, when we take positive actions, our thoughts in turn create a healthy lifestyle for us.

Today’s food & workout recap:

• Breakfast: 2 eggs 1/2 cup of oatmeal, 1/2 cup of blueberries  (298 cals)
• Exercise: One-hour Upper body Zoom fitness class (burned approx. 200 cals)
• Lunch: 6 oz. Salmon, 1 cup broccoli, 4 Tbsp guacamole, Lavender Kombucha (564 cals)
• Snack: Protein Cookie, 6 pieces of celery, 4 Tbsp artichoke dip (390 cals)
• Dinner: Kirkland Protein bar, 5 oz. red wine (315 cals)

Total food calories for today: 1,567 = (115g, 30% Carbohydrates) (81g, 49% Fat) (77g, 21% Protein)

I need to practice the actions of eating less and working out more. As the end of my initial 50-day challenge gets closer, I have to put in some extra work and let my mind catch up. The remaining weeks I will be adding much more cardio whether I feel like it or not! We can do this!