by Michelle Pino
May 12th-18th is National Women’s Health Week, so now is a great time to get up, and get motivated! Whether you are going to improve your lifestyle choices for your health, weight loss, or basic fitness, there will be times when you need a little extra inspiration to keep on going. An inspiration board is a great way to be more motivated. Visual cues often have more of an impact on inspiration than other types of motivation. What's great about an inspiration board is that it is personalized specifically for you, by you, and in just a few steps.
Gather Your Supplies: To make an inspiration board you will need a large piece of cardboard, such as a poster board, or even paper such as banner paper. You will also need glue or tape to attach your motivational items to your board. You will want to find pictures or images that inspire you to be healthy, lose weight, work out, or whatever the goal is that you need inspiration for. You can print images from the computer or find colorful pictures in magazines. Choose images and quotes that personally grab your attention and motivate you to reach your goal.
Organize Your Thoughts: Now that you have a stack of images, pictures, and quotes, it is time to be selective. Choose one or more items that inspire you to action. These will be your focal point. Now choose several more items that are related in some way to the ones you chose. The relationship can be by type, idea, color, texture, etc. Anything that ties together with your main focus of the few you chose at first. Don't worry if you don't use all you collected. Save these to make future inspiration boards as your goals change over time.
Prepare Your Board: Place your one or more main focal points on the board or paper where you want them. Then, place the other items around these main points. Do not glue or tape them yet, you are going to keep moving things around until the inspiration board is just how you'd like it for maximum motivation. You can decide if you need to add or change anything.
Finish Your Board: Once your board is how you like it, take one piece at a time and glue or tape it to your board. Place your board in a prominent place where you are sure to see it every day to inspire a healthy you.
Get as specific and detailed as you must: This is your board to seek daily inspiration, so you want images that light a fire within you and not someone else. Use pictures that enable you to visualize your goal and see the healthy balance required for success in reaching for your particular stars.
Here is an example board:
Photo Credit: Upstate New York golf club | Green Smoothie Recipe | Nike Sneakers | Athleta Tank | Beach Yoga
Personally I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors and being outside. Now that it’s spring and the weather is finally starting to turn, the outdoors is great place to find motivation. I’ve used it as the center of my fitspiration board. Exercising indoors can become mundane and leads to those “excuses” of having better things to do than working out. When setting your health goal start small. Choose a goal that is attainable and reasonable. That means you don’t have to go and spend an arm and a leg on a yoga studio membership, when you can do yoga anywhere: the beach, the park, or your apartment. Yoga is great for all fitness levels. There are several resources online to get you started if you’re new. The beach is very inspiring place because of the view, sights, and sounds. In keeping with the theme of the outdoors, I would like to enjoy more of it by finding another activity to keep me outside. I’ve started taking some golf lessons at NY golf club, Atunyote, and I’m starting to improve. It doesn’t bother me that I’m not a pro; to me, it’s just nice to be outside doing something that isn’t too strenuous! Treat yourself to some new workout gear to help get you motivated. New sneakers are a great start. These pink sneakers from Nike, are a great example of all new styles and colors available for the spring and summer months, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “happy feet”. Improvement in your daily diet is where you notice the most change. The best way to start is by adding more fruits and veggies to your regular routine. Try a tasty green smoothie as your mid-morning snack. They may look funky, but they taste great and can be adjusted to your liking.
Michelle Pino, our guest blogger, provided these tips in hopes to educate others on how to lead a more motivated and less stressful life. She believes a more focused approach put on our health will result in more balanced life. Her hobbies include cooking, DIY projects and learning about healthy lifestyles. She works at a luxury spa in central New York where she enjoys helping others indulge in spa treatments.
Erica Meloe is a physical therapist and the co-founder and Director of Velocity Physiotherapy in New York CIty. She is an innovative physical therapist who combines her knowledge of orthopedic and neurological assessment and applies this model to treating pain in all areas of the body. She calls herself the "non-traditional", "traditional" physical therapist and gets results when others therapists do not. Erica believes in treating the whole patient, not just the body part in question.
