One of the first decisions you have to make when you embark on the journey to better health is “who do you tell”? For some people, keeping their goals private is of utmost importance. They don’t want people all up in their business. For others, like me, we gather strength and support from the people around us.
I work in an office with 100+ people, but work closely with a team of about 10. I’m not the only one who is trying to make better food and exercise choices right now. It’s the second week of January and New Year’s Resolutions are in full swing. Even if, or maybe especially if, I was the only one on this journey, it would be important to me to tell the people around me. I get a lot of support from co-workers checking in on my progress, murmuring understanding on days that I’m struggling and a lot of comraderie from sharing stories, recipes and ideas. I directly work with 2 guys that eat out EVERYDAY for lunch. Before Christmas I was easily sucked into joining them more often than I should. I started out justifying it to myself that I needed the mental health break from the office and that I would just get a drink and enjoy the social aspect of lunch out. That quickly turned into me ordering lunch and even desert most days. Not good.
If I didn’t tell people that I was working on better eating, they wouldn’t know not to offer me all the junk food they bring in, or might think me a snob when I don’t share their birthday cakes or start to wonder why I suddenly stopped going out for lunch with them.
Outside of the office I share with friends and family too. This is not a journey I can do alone, and it’s also more than just a diet, or a short term thing. If I’m going to make this a lifelong way of living a healthier life, the people that love and support me need to know, and hopefully need to be on board and supportive. I’m very lucky that all the people in my life are supportive. I’ve heard from others that have people in their life that seem to only want to sabotage their success. I can’t imagine why anyone would do that, but I guess it takes all kinds.
Who do you share the details of your journey with? Do you have the support of those around you?
I tend to tell those closest to me before sharing them even online in any way. I marinate on it myself for awhile and then, two clicks from actually registering for a marathon, I'll text my husband and ask if the training would put too much strain on our schedule/relationship/etc, and he responds with, "GET IT!" And I do. I guess that's my way. I marinate, GET EXCITED, panic a bit, get support from those closest to me, and THEN tell others.
ReplyDeleteAlso, working at home is great for my lunching -- sometimes. And sometimes not. I've been making conscious efforts since the week after Christmas to be more deliberate with those choices. It's hard, but worth it!
I love the term "marinate"! I too "marinate" an idea all to my self first, making sure that I'm ready to commit to it. No point in telling anyone if I'm not ready.
ReplyDelete