I have been crazy busy like all of you working moms out there and wanted to say hello before heading east to China!  I hope you all had a healthy start to 2012 (can you believe it’s already March?) and were able to spend meaningful time with family and friends during the holidays.

I found myself a month ago thinking…where did January go?  And then, what happened to my time?  So, I sit here reflecting on the positive change that we profess at Jenny Craig every day and I think; what change am I applying to my own life and how am I committing to it? Here’s my commitment, move more!  I can come up with all kinds of excuses as to why I haven’t been moving as much as I’d like; hectic travel, my morning exercise routine being disrupted, the treadmill at the hotel was broken, and on and on.  While I am pretty consistent in the “move more” category, I have had a rough three weeks. After the excuses, came the guilt. I felt guilty; then I couldn’t break the cycle; and it moved more and more out of my realm of control and motivation. (At least that was the excuse that felt best to me.)

One contributor to my guilt was that February was American Heart Month. And for Heart Month, we announced something really big.  Jenny Craig is a proud national sponsor of the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk, and will be supporting nearly 350 Heart Walks throughout 2012.  Additionally, Jenny is supporting the American Heart Association’s mission to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent by 2020. This is a lofty goal, but I know it’s possible. By changing your weight and lifestyle, you may be able to reduce your risk for heart disease. We’ve got to drive this message home.

This is why I set out this month to get myself moving, and I sat down and gave myself a reality check.
It’s really simple, and not worth beating yourself up over it. Just get up and move.  I realized that in my travels these past few weeks, I was walking a couple of miles every day. Most days, I had chosen to skip the cab and walk to my next destination. When I was hustling from airport to airport, I didn’t take the express walk way, I just hoofed it to the other end of the terminal. And while in the terminal, I didn’t order the sinful-smelling burgers and fries, I opted for a salad with a packet of Jenny salad dressing from my purse. I made small little decisions that seemed somewhat insignificant at the time, but I felt better with every passing day I was traveling.  I didn’t have to resign to the fact that I would be inactive all day and that I had “blown it”. I could skip the cab from the hotel and walk, that was 15 minutes of activity, then walked back, another 15 minutes of activity. Done and done!

While January is all about resolutions, I would like to think that my February was about reality. It’s the everyday choices we make that lay the groundwork for our health.  I could not be more proud of our support for the American Heart Association’s My Heart. My Life. healthy living initiative, and I want to show my commitment by practicing what I preach. One step at a time.  If I can share one gift with you, just give yourself a reality check. You can find out where you stand with your own heart health by learning about the American Heart Association’s Simple 7 (seven factors that indicate risk for heart disease) by visiting www.mylifecheck.org.  And if you love your family and friends as I do, you’ll ask them to do the same.  Here’s to hitting the pavement and moving just a little bit more every day.

Eat Well, Move More, Live Life.
XO, Dana