It’s already August and how does that bathing suit fit? As well as you had hoped it would in May? I’m not trying to make you feel badly about it; in fact, I am all for embracing the body you have and dressing it for best effect, as Stacy London and Clinton Kelly like to say on the TLC channel show, What Not to Wear.

What I am wondering is, if you did have a plan to wear a smaller size bathing suit before summer began to really get hot, or at least have the one you’re wearing now fit better, and it didn’t happen, what didn’t work?  Or, if you had planned to get out and exercise more, now that it’s light at night and not freezing cold like in winter, did you actually do that?  Were you going to eat more salads because the produce is local and fresh during the season?  Oh, right, the tomato scare. And, now it’s peppers. So much for that.

As a wellness coach, I help people to create a plan that they really can stick with, one that includes small, sustainable changes over time that can be tweaked and fine-tuned until it really works.

We would start with the end in mind, by creating your wellness vision. This is a vision of who you want to be and what you want to be doing in the future in terms of your health and wellness. What it would look like, feel like? What would you be? And then we would really explore WHY you want to be that person, so you could draw on that to re-motivate yourself when the artichoke dip sneaks up on you. And finally, you would craft your goals. First three-month, longer-range goals, and then we would break it down into 1-week goals that are actually attainable, because we would proactively anticipate obstacles to your success― and strategize to work around them by using your strengths to make them SMART goals. This means that they are Specific (exactly what are you going to do?), Measurable (three times/week no mistake about it), Action-based (yes, you’re really going to do it!), Realistic (like not trying to lose 10 pounds on 2 weeks) and on a Timeline (no putting them off). And, with a wellness coach to keep you on track, you would be held accountable to yourself.

So, if we were to rewind the tape, what could you have done differently? We can’t change the past; only make progress in the future. And, making change is about progress, not perfection. It’s about what you choose to do.

What’s your vision of yourself in the future? What is it costing you to not achieve goals you may have set many times over? What would it feel like to finally achieve those goals—your goals? Hold onto that feeling. Let it help you to create a plan that is SMART.

So, after all that, I would like to share a fresh summer recipe with you that I was inspired to make after my brother and sister-in-law gave me a huge zucchini from their garden.  No tomatoes or peppers involved.  This is so easy and it was delicious. I took ½ of the zucchini (I said it was big) and chopped it up (about 4 cups). Then I sautéed it in a little bit of olive oil with a shallot and some chopped garlic. In the meantime, I cooked 1 cup of whole wheat cous cous in 2 cups of vegetable broth with a bit of salt. After it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes. How hard is that? Then I mixed it all together with a can of drained corn and another of drained, rinsed black beans, and seasoned it with cumin and fresh herbs from our container garden. It’s already gone. Good thing I have that other ½ of the zucchini left. I may need to repeat this recipe. High fiber, low fat, high protein.

All inspired by a monster zucchini. What inspires you?  A new bathing suit? A still-sunlit summer evening? A summer vegetable? Turn that inspiration into motivation, add a vision and SMART goals, and you are golden.