One of my favorite places in the world is the Big Island of Hawaii. It is a gift that I get to spend my almost 50th birthday here (tomorrow!) with my husband.

We’ve been coming here since our honeymoon 16 years ago. We try and make it every year, carving out time between jam-packed schedules. It’s a time to just hang,  see pretty fish, breathe in the Plumeria, and stalk my favorite Big Island singer, John Keave at the Bamboo in Hawi.

In past years, it’s also been a food-arama. Back in the day, I’ve been known to return from the Big Island brown and round. We knew all our dining places in advance even though the truth is you can usually make same day reservations. Mai Tais, Wine, Starters, Dinner, Dessert and coffee. That’s how we did it.

Last time, we changed all that. Not only did I feel better, we saved a ton of cash, and I did not return brown and round. Win-win-win. We walked nearly every day. We kayaked. We hiked. We did not eat out three times a day and sometimes even not for dinner. We stayed at a condo instead of the hotels which gave us more space, a grill, a large fridge and other perks we loved. We found a nearby market with local produce and ten different kinds of Poke–so amazing! Poke on greens was a perfect night for us.

That’s our new Hawaii. One where we soak up the smells, the ocean, the sand under our toes. One where swimming is more important than chocolate souffles. One where we feel renewed and healthier coming home then we did where we got there.

A number of experiments have been done to show how we stay in our patterns even when we don’t have to. One, using flies, showed that when kept in a jar with a lid on it, the flies–with the exception of a few pioneers–wouldn’t fly away even when the lid was screwed off because they were so used to staying inside.

Be a pioneer fly. Take your unhealthy habits and reshape them so they can support your goals and help you reach your optimum health.

Aloha!