1. You don’t need to wait to become the perfect version of yourself to be happy.

Oftentimes, we prioritize reaching a goal so much so that we forget about our happiness in the whole equation. The focus centers on the weight we still have to lose or the definition we want to see, and we aren’t happy with ourselves until it happens. We close ourselves off to experiencing life and relationships around us so that we can finally get from point A to B—essentially, we equate our happiness with a goal. We spend so much time measuring ourselves up, punishing ourselves and feeling guilty for not being “perfect” when, in reality, you don’t have to wait to become this “perfect” version of yourself before you start loving yourself and truly enjoying your life. You’re allowed to be happy while you continue to evolve and improve. You don’t need a number on a scale, a number of reps, a number of miles or an amount of weight you can lift to feel validated.

Personally, I believe I’ll be the “perfect” version of myself when I am able to just enjoy exactly who I am in the present moment. This is the version of myself I am striving to become. Continue working toward your goal, but in the meantime, embrace, own, accept, love and just enjoy being who you are right now. There is only one of you and we have one life to live, so allow yourself to be happy!

2. No matter how far you still have to go, you’re allowed to celebrate how far you have come.

You’ve heard it before: “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.” When we focus too much on how far we have to go, we forget to realize how far we have come. We could be leaps and bounds further along in our journey than we were just a few months ago but not take the time to stop and celebrate all that we have achieved in the process.

We get this picture in our heads of exactly who we want to be, how we want to look and where we want to go. We work hard and we persevere every single day to get closer to becoming that picture in our head, but it’s not always about the end goal. There is so much to be proud of yourself for while you are on the way to where you are going. Take a moment right now. Look at yourself; look how far you have come. Remember that person who chose to start? You are that person. Be proud of that person. Celebrate that person.

Next time you get stuck thinking about how far you still have to go, challenge your perspective. Regardless of how far you are from the person you want to be and the place you want to go, you have come so far and that deserves recognition!

Don’t let the person you want to be stand in the way of celebrating the person you are now. Even though you may have more to go, your hard work is worth it, your hard work shows and your hard work has paid off!

3. You are your own kind of beautiful.

Stop comparing yourself to others. We are all guilty of this—I’ll be the first to admit that I do it too! Truth is, we were all born with different hair textures, eye colors, metabolisms and body frames, and every one of these things makes us beautifully unique. We are our own person. No one is just like you—how cool is that? You are you, and no one else can be you no matter how hard they try. We have to remember this when we find ourselves wishing we had what someone has or could do what someone else does. When we strive to be like someone else, it is a million more times difficult to be happy with who we were uniquely made to be.

If you take away anything from this blog post, I want you to know that who you are, every single part, is unbelievably beautiful. You are too pretty and too smart to act like you are not. You may look at yourself in the mirror and not think twice about the reflection you see, but what you aren’t seeing is the beauty others see in you. It’s time for you to look at yourself in a new way—we see it, now it’s your turn. Go ahead and tell yourself how beautiful you are! Do it today, and every day after that.

4. Who you are as a person is way more important than the way you look.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that no one is going to love you more for losing 20 pounds or having a six-pack. Those things are great goals, but the things that have a lasting impression are your character, values, actions, positivity, happiness, love and everything that’s inside you.

That five pounds you gained or lost weighs a lot less than the smile on your face and the passion in your heart. People around you don’t care about the number on your scale and probably don’t even think about it. So, stop torturing yourself and letting the way you look dictate your attitude. It’s more important to live a life that keeps you smiling and keeps others smiling than a life that keeps you obsessing over your weight. Remember what really matters.

5. You are strong, capable, beautiful, significant and more than enough.

You are! Stop telling yourself otherwise. Even when it feels like you aren’t, I hope there is at least a small part of you that believes you are. You may not be able to see it today, but others see it every day. Others see every ounce of greatness within you—more greatness than you will ever know. Never forget that.

If you know someone who needs to hear one of these reminders, share this post with them. If you’re more of a podcast person, you can download the podcast episode that goes along with this post and listen to it on those days when you need a pick-me-up.

Also, if you didn’t know, I have a cooking show called Morgan Makes It where I show you how cooking and eating healthy can be simple, quick and still so delicious. I release a new recipe every single Monday, which can be found on Burn Boot Camp’s YouTube channel. Go check it out if you are ready to start eating healthy and don’t know where to begin or if your diet is feeling stale and you are looking for new, fun and healthy ways to change it up!

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In my professional career as a business owner and a personal trainer I have come across and wide variety of personalities. Most of these individuals are moms who are looking to take control of their lives and get into shape after giving birth to children. Those little bundles of joy are the greatest blessing you can be given, unfortunately, they take a toll on the female body.

Getting back into pre-baby shape can seem like an impossible feat. But as the famous Adidas quote goes, “Impossible is nothing.” Some moms may carry their baby’s left over weight for 20 years before deciding to do something about it. Today, life is so busy that is easy to use different excuses to put your own health on the back burner. The most common excuses I hear are things like,

“My children take up too much of my time.”

“The gym is too far away.”

“I could never get back into shape.”

“I am too over weight and I can’t do that.”

Let’s face it. The reality is that we can all exercise. We all can make time, there is a gym within 10 minutes of every household, and there have been millions of people who are overweight who made a commitment to change and succeeded. The REAL question to ask yourself is, “Do I really want to?” Acknowledging that you want to make a change is the first step to success.

A Choice.

Find your big “why”. Everyone and their brother is telling you that a change is needed but you must intrinsically WANT to change. Why do you want to be a healthy mom? To set an example for your kids? To make yourself happy? To make your significant other happy? To live a long life free of illness? Which ever way you cut it, you have to want to help yourself before anyone else can help you. First, make a choice and decide why you want it, seek help, and devise a plan to get there!

A Challenge.

If you think losing weight and getting into the body you desire will be easy, think again. If it was an easy task there would be no need for people like myself who specialize in helping you get fit. The old saying goes, “Health is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise” but I disagree with that statement. The revised version that breeds TRUE success is, “Health is 100% nutrition and 100% exercise”. Being 100% committed to reaching your health goals is the only way to guarantee success.

Lets not sugar-coat things here, exercise is painful and few people actually enjoy it. Holistic nutrition is difficult and few people have the mindset to change their lifestyle. Those who can commit to getting 30-60 minutes of exercise 3-6 times per week at the top of their   priority list are guaranteed to be successful with some nutritional guidance. Your health must become a priority over everything else in your life because without your own health you have nothing. It may sound selfish but your kids, significant other, friends, and family will all benefit from you bettering yourself.

A Change.

Commitment and consistency are the key elements. You must know going in that it will be hard but if you can commit to a challenge, change will be inevitable. Excuses can be made all day long but at the end of the day excuses will leave you overweight and unhealthy. Think about how good you will feel when that first 10 lbs. comes off, think about the way your husband will be so proud of your hard work, and think about the way you will look at yourself in the mirror.

A world of feeling good and excellent health awaits you. What is stopping you? Millions before you have done it in similar situations and the only thing stopping you from your goals is yourself!

If you know someone who would benefit from this blog post please forward it to them and let them know you care!