Lifestyle Changes

Most of us go through lifestyle changes to reach a healthier life. Check a little bit of my evolution and the changes I myself went through.

In 2014, I wrote 2 Wellness Wednesdays blogs: Rolling Like a Boss! and Runner Socks. I like this hashtag very much because many times we get so involved in the huge amount of activities and appointments we assign to ourselves, that we forget our well-being.

[Tweet “Check my lifestyle changes through out the years. #progress #healthylifestyle”]

When I read that Maureen and Rina were starting a link-up on the topic (unfortunately, they are not hosting the linkup anymore, but I HIGHLY recommend that you visit their amazing blogs anyways), I simply had to join it! And the topic I chose was ‘Lifestyle Changes I Will Commit Myself Into’.

If you browse my blog entries throughout the years, you will see that my lifestyle change did not happen like magic. The same way that I did not go to bed fit and woke up overweighted, getting in shape again and maintaining it has been a long and slow process.

Progress pictures 2012

In 2010, I finally realized that things were off about me, but it was only after I took my very first ‘progress’ pictures that I was confronted with how “bad” the situation was. Believe me, it was a painful surprise.

With time passing, I restarted working out and joined different groups and participated in various activities. The reasons why I moved from one to another went from timing to switching of focus. More recently, I have started doing CrossFit. I wanted to do it for awhile already, but I was too scare to face a box. All those incredibly strong women… What would I do among them? Thanks to my doing an internship at CrossFit Aalst, I was able to join the fun and all I can say is that it is even better than I had ever pictured.

Poor pink leggings after burpees. But we love CrossFit anyways.

Along with training in general, I was confronted with a brain tumor in 2012. If I was still unsure about the importance of living a healthier life, things got clear to me once and for all. I could not make that thing disappear, but I could improve my life quality by making wiser choices from that moment on. And so did I.

For 2015, I want to continue learning about ways to improve my overall health and physical condition. I want to remain in shape and keep on improving my physique and performance. I am slowly adapting Paleo as diet principle. I am also working with Alex Pauwels to put together realistic and sustainable mean plans that I can adapt according to my needs, but that will not take me away from ‘planet Earth’. Avoiding gluten and lactose are also on my list.

[Tweet “Small changes in your lifestyle can bring great results later on. #healthylifestyle #wellness”]

I still do not have a date of when I will be going through surgery, neither I know how long the recovery process will take*. Still, I am keeping myself active, looking forward ways to build a strong body so that I will be able to get back to the gym again, my muscle memory will still be there. In no order of preference, I want to continue with CrossFit, get back to swimming, bike every now and then and get my feet on the gym again. I know it will take time and planning, but it is possible. I am sure it is!

Wellness is about health inside out. – Image source: WeHeartIt

Have you recently implemented lifestyle changes that contributed to an improvement of your life’s quality? Or do you plan on doing some? What are they?

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