Some Practicals!

SO....some practicals for this week!  Here are a few suggestions on some little things you can do to help you start your weight loss/healthier living lifestyle:

1. Write down your goal!

Only 3% of people in this day in age actually write down their goals, yet those 3% are the ones that are successful. So go ahead and do it! Write down your goals! Stick then all over the place. On your fridge, on your computer, on your bathroom mirror....keeping your goals in mind helps more than anything, and writing it down finalizes it in your mind. What is it? A pair of jeans? Being able to run a race? It needs to be specific, and attainable. Be realistic, but don't be afraid to dream big too.

My goal right now is I want to be able reach the P90X level in my workout by Christmas, and be able to do 500 repetitions in my AbsRipper workout. Challenging? Yes. Realistic? Yes. Possible? YES!

2. Get a food journal

Recording everything you eat and drink is going to no only open your eyes to how much you might be eating and how often, but will also be an encouragement to go back in read as time goes on and your habits start to change. In your journal, I would suggest breaking your entries up by day. For each day, write the time you eat, what you ate, how much, and what you were feeling when you ate it. The goal here is to help you start to see patterns in your eating habits. Do you eat when you are bored? Depressed? Whenever you feel like it? Finding out about yourself in this sense is going to be extremely helpful in finding ways to overcome bad habits.

3. Find an exercise venue

I may not be a health expert or anything, but I do know that you cannot lose weight and gain muscle if you don't exercise. There is no way around it friends. You just gotta suck it up and do it. I know working out seem daunting and time consuming, but I am tellin you: it works. The secret here is you need to find active things you enjoy. Nobody wants to be miserable when they are working out. That by no means helps our goal of thinking positive thoughts ;) So yes. Find something. Join a gym. Sign up for a class! Zumba, cycling, swimming, hiking, tennis....the possibilities are endless. Just make sure it is something you are going to stay committed to. And there is no rule that says you have to always do just one thing! The point is learning to incorporate activity into your life, not necessarily always put it in it's own category. You have to work hard though. No beating around the bush. Taking the stairs is not gonna cut it. For weight loss purposes, you need to be getting at least 45 minutes of good, hard activity per day. More on that later...

4. Get a food scale and measuring cups

Portion control. Portion control. Portion control. No more guessing. I challenge you this week to measure everything. Look on the back of the box next time you go for the cereal. You will be shocked when you measure out the portion size, I am just tellin you. But you know what? It really isn't that bad. You will learn to eat portions eventually and not feel deprived. Your ice cream will look like a golf ball, your steak will seem pathetic, and yes, you will look at 1/2 cup of cereal and be like, "Are you kidding me?!" But just suck it up, and remember what you are making all these sacrifices for. "NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS FEELING GREAT!" -Jillian Michaels

5. Get the materials you are going to need.

I suggest a good water bottle (start drinking that water folks!!!), some exercise clothes, a pair of tennis shoes reserved for your workouts, equipment like a yoga mat and hand weights, (these can be good if you are going to be an at home exercise video person like me!),good, upbeat music for working out, and a cookbook for healthier eating. Also, there are countless blogs, websites and places to get tips for purging your kitchen.

One final thing.

I cannot recommend the program Weight Watchers enough. It is just really amazing. It addresses everything I have just talked about, and their whole approach to weight loss is just great. I strongly encourage you to join. It really opened my eyes and gave me hope for my weight loss journey. Check out their website here.

And for exercise motivation , check out Jillian Michael's website. This girl inspired me so much to stop whining about my weight, and just suck it up and get tough and fight for what I wanted, which was to be strong and healthy. She has so many tips and inspirational things to say, so I greatly encourage you to check her out too!

Never despise meager beginnings.

Okay, so we all know that the idea of being a strong, fit, and healthy individual  appeals to us, correct? I don't think I have ever met anyone who said they enjoyed being extremely overweight, feeling tired and down a lot, and not to mention, enjoyed dealing with all the medical risks and problems that often accompany an overweight lifestyle. Our culture worships this image, and has elevated it to unbelievable heights, to the point that if you are fat or even a little overweight, you are dismissed and discredited as being lazy, lacking self-control, and just a weak willed and minded person. How screwed up is this?!
I want it to be known right here and now that I am not by any means endorsing the life-style I will be describing because I feel we need to respond to the world's tug to be perfect. That is where people get hung up. They guilt trip themselves into the diet. They guilt trip themselves into the exercise. They guilt trip themselves into saying no to the desserts. This is NOT how it should be! I am here to tell you that if you want to see success, you can think nothing but positive thoughts about yourself, your journey, and your progress. This battle cannot be won if your mind is in the wrong place. But more on that later...

Beginnings. Oh, they are hard. They frighten us because we are stepping into unknown territories. We are afraid of the sacrifices and commitments we know we are going to have to make along the way. We don't want our little comfortable universe to be rocked and changed. These are completely legitimate feelings, friends. And on top of that, the whole situation can leave you feeling vulnerable. Admitting you have a problem either with food, weight, exercise (or lack thereof hehe) in itself is not only extremely difficult, but extremely wonderful!! I did not start seeing success until I verbally stated with my mouth that "I need to change." Now, I'm not telling you to go post all over your Facebooks and Twitters and Blogs, "Hi, my name is ---------------, and I need to lose weight." Haha no no no.

But, what I would encourage you to do is to let a couple of your close family members/ friends know about your desire to be healthier, and invite them into the process. Never, ever, underestimate the power of a support system, no matter how small. My support is my family. My mom is my biggest fan. Se says my journey has inspired her. (Haaaha which is funny, cuz she's the one who inspires me!) I also have 3 younger sisters, all of whom are the best encourager's, coaches and helpers. Sometimes that support comes by one of them riding their bike next to me while I run, or one of them yelling "You go girl!" when I am out on the mat in the garage doing abs workouts, or even something as simple as, "Hans! You are lookin real good girl!" These are just a few examples of how much effect supporters have. You may think you can do this solo, but you really can't.

Below is a post from a blog I found. Just 5 simple reasons to live a healthy lifestyle. I got it from here.

There are many reasons for healthy, active living (definitely more than 5)… and all the reasons are just as important as one another. Really, they are not to be seen separately. All your reasons support each other like bricks work together to support a house.

REASON #5. STRESS RELIEVER

Healthy active living will relieve stress and allow you to handle problems better. Stress can be brought on by many things: work, diet, family, friends, holidays, too much caffeine, not enough sleep, kids, parents… the list goes on and on. Healthy living is a great way to help you deal with day-to-day problems. After working out, your body releases endorphins that give you a sense of euphoria, accomplishment, and satisfaction. Just 30 minutes a day will change the rest of your life. When you embrace a healthy lifestyle, you start becoming more efficient and focused at whatever you do. If you say you don’t have time to work out, what you’re really saying is that you’d prefer to be stressed out.

REASON #4. FAT BURNER

In addition to being a fat burner, healthy living relieves you of the slavery to another diet. Forget about dieting. Instead, make small changes in the way you eat… with the intention of changing the way you eat FOREVER. But, be realistic… have balance and allow for slippage. It takes self-control and self-discipline, but you can eat a lot of foods that other people can’t eat if you change your overall lifestyle. Why? Healthy living involves exercising… which burns off lots of calories, meaning you can spoil yourself every now and then.

REASON #3. INCREASED ENERGY

A healthy lifestyle raises the maximum amount of oxygen your muscles can use by almost 50%. This means more energy and less dependency on caffeine, just in case you’re a heavy coffee drinker. It also means you will have to drink more water which is good for all systems in the body and improves memory.

REASON #2. INCREASED CONFIDENCE

Even if you only begin your exercise routine with 5 minutes and you build from there… you will still experience a great degree more confidence in everything you say and do. Afraid to tell a girl you like her? Start working out you will notice your body and mind improving together. You’ll notice your poor self-esteem being replaced by a new sense of self-assurance. And you’ll find that confidence can make a huge difference in virtually EVERY area of your life.

REASON #1. YOU!

YOU are the most important reason to embrace a healthy lifestyle. All other reasons stem from you, because you are the root. If you love yourself (and you should), then a healthy active lifestyle is a good way to express it. It allows you to prove what your body and mind are truly capable of. Ask around…virtually NO ONE has ever felt worse about themselves after starting a workout routine. It may be difficult at first, but after you get over the 3-day hump you will start to build a passion for it (or at least some tolerance!) and you will look at yourself in a whole new light. Your entire perspective can change… as you begin to see the world as full of opportunities instead of obligations.

You can still be a good person and not have a reason for living a healthy life, but if you understand the reasons for healthy active living than you can still become a BETTER person. Healthy living is about always trying to improve one’s life. It’s a journey not a destination. Enjoy the journey!

So there you have it. Just a few reasons to make the choice to change. Let today be the day! I can promise you right now that you will never regret making these changes in your life, but one day you will regret not making them! Being healthy and strong changes your whole outlook on life, and really transforms the way you live. And as that post said, living healthy is a constant, life-long journey. It is a lifestyle change. It is not going to happen over night. But you will see results if you are faithful at working hard to reach your goals. It has taken me almost 2 years to lose just a little bit of weight. And I would be lying if I said that I haven't been discouraged sometimes. BUT when I remind myself that there is no timeline, no race, no deadline, I find it easier to breathe and keep going. Because there is no rush. Results will come. Patience. You will need to have alot of it.

Well!! That was probably the longest post in the history of blogging, but I hope it was helpful. As you can see, I am very passionate about all this, and love encouraging others to go for it!! All the best on your journey!!

Powerful Beyond Measure...

so i was getting ready to do my first post on here...and suddenly this was brought to my mind, and i was like "Oh my goodness,  this is EXACTLY what I wanted to say!" Read this. Believe it. Act on it. Because it is true! Let go of your fear. We were not meant to be afraid, but strong and confident in the Lord. This applies to our heath  too!!

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, 

fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people 

won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." -Marianne Williamson

Please watch this!! (Pause the music at the bottom of the page!) 
This is from one of my favorite movies, Facing the Giants. Be encouraged!! If you want success in this friends, you are going to have to fight for it, and give it your BEST!

The Deathcrawl