What does your Ideal Body and Health look like?

Ahhhh, now this weekend felt like summer! I just spent a couple days in Pismo beach with my husband and our puppy. (he took me on a trip since he missed my birthday while he was in India:-)

We spent our days wine tasting and going to the beach.  Not a bad way to live!

It happened to be graduation weekend so all of the parents were out with their graduating seniors re-living their own college days out at the bars. I heard the tradition in San Luis Obispo is that all the bars open up at 6am on the morning of graduation so they can all get their per-ceremony celebration on. Wow, they are troopers!

Being around all these college students made me think a lot about our clients. So many of them remember how it used to be so “easy” to maintain a certain lean body type. They could eat whatever they wanted whenever they wanted, never workout and still have an amazing physique.

And now, when they start to get on an exercise plan, they are a little confused as to what their weight loss goal should be. And they are unsure about whether they ‘should be’ at a certain weight for their height and body type because of the way they used to look.

I have been asked this question time and time again and I have thought about this for a while now. Often times we reflect on our how our body looked in the past. And now, we feel determined to get this figure back no matter what it takes.

Or are we?

I for one think that it is totally possible to have the body and health you desire wherever you are in life but..

You have to work for it.

And maybe it is not as easy to work for as it was when you were in your early 20s.

And for that matter, sometimes because we are so busy we simply don’t have the time to eat 6-8 small and balanced meals a day, workout 6 days a week, sleep 8-10 hours a day, drink plenty of fluids, get all our work done, have time with our friends and families, you get the point. We have to chose the things we can manage that will not cause additional stress so we actually have fun getting healthy.

The question is, are you really willing to take the time and do what you have to do to get that same figure back? Or, is it just important to you to be and feel healthy and energetic now over having the body of a swim suit model?

If the answer to the question above is option A, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate what you really want so you don’t feel so pressured by your own exercise plan.

Your ideal weight and body type should be where you feel most comfortable with yourself and most healthy and happy in your own skin.

It sounds vague right? But think about this for a second.

Visualize what your ideal body looks like on you and how you feel looking this way.

I will help you out:

If you are fitting into your clothes you love wearing, feeling alert, happy with your energy levels, feel fit and healthy, have developed lean muscle mass and tone, feel stronger, are eating a healthy diet filled with vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats, can close any belt loop you own in a place that makes you happy, are not jiggling around anywhere that makes you uncomfortable, and have a healthy body fat percentage (talk to your doctor about this, it is different for everyone’s body type and athleticism)…

Then congratulations, you have reached a weight that is ideal for you  and your body!

Now can you see it?

Everyone is unique and different.  We all have a different body structures, heights, weights, ages, levels of athleticism, time frame for getting our workouts in. But we all have some sort of idea of how we would like to look and feel and generally speaking, this is probably your ideal weight.

I hope I’ve answered your question on the subject and would love to hear your feedback. So post a comment below today..