Posts Tagged by motivation
Happy Motivational Monday
January 27, 2014 |
New Year, New Goals (and why have I been MIA?)
January 2, 2014 |
I know I have been a little MIA the past few months… let me explain. The past few months I have been on a roller coaster. One minute I am super motivated and eating right and the next I am picking up old habits and saying things like “tomorrow I will go to the gym” and “tomorrow I will be more strict on my diet” … but waiting until tomorrow is the oldest cliche in the book.
Yes, every day is a new day and new opportunity to start fresh and make good decisions, but every time you take another bite is a decision. You don’t have to wait until the next day to make a change. Why not start (or re-start) with the next fork full of noms?
I know very very well how temping the gooey artichoke dip can be or happy hour at the local sushi place. Trust me, I will admit that in the past 3 months I have gained 10 pounds. I felt like I couldn’t preach to the blogging world about my weight loss journey when all I was doing was gaining – sitting on my couch while eating Thai take-out. That’s not a positive journey at all – a journey to the dark side. I was feeling so guilty about my new habits but didn’t have the motivation to do anything about it. Even my trainer started to get more on my back about what I ate and my lack of exercise because it was noticeable.
So what happened? I had the right mindset and I was on top of my game…. life happens. No one said it was easy. If it were easy, there wouldn’t be so many people out there struggling with the same things I am. You have to make time for your goals because no one is there to micromanage your every decision.
I was talking to a friend of mine on new years eve who recently lost 50 pounds. There are no miracle diets or workouts any one person can do that works for everyone across the board, but the true secret to her success was and is her mindset. I know it sounds cliche but even I have said that in the past (when I was on my weight loss streak). She told me that every day she took some “me” time to keep her on track, just thinking about the future.
This leads me to my new year’s resolution:
I will wake up every morning and stretch. Side Tangent: I am not a fan of yoga. I’m going old school with traditional stretching because if your muscles are tight, you have a far higher risk of injury when working out. While stretching, I wont think about my scary long to-do list. This time is for reminding myself who I want to be. Where do I see myself next year and how do I get there? I am the only one holding me back from my goals. This year will be a year of change.
Also, from now on I am counting macros (macronutrients). So all my new recipes will have the fat, protein, carbs and fiber listed (throwing in fiber for good measure). My trainer Emily Mraule thought it might be easier for me and my creative cooking to calculate my macros rather than just tell me what to eat. So I am keeping a food journal to keep me on track. Too bad I didn’t get that food scale I wanted from Santa this year, haha.
Did you make a plan-for-sucess to keep you on track for your new year’s resolution?
Happy Motivational Monday
September 23, 2013 |
While Fall may be here, there are still many of us enjoying Summer weather. This motivational Monday I want to remind you to go out and live. Enjoy the last bit of warm weather while it lasts and head to the beach.
Being overweight, I always felt self conscious about pool parties and beach days… any outing that involved my insecurities to be exposed.
One of the biggest pieces of advice I can give to those that struggle with weight is to not let it hold you back. In the past, I never wanted to buy new swimsuits, hoping that this Summer might be the Summer that I finally could buy and wear the bikini I dreamt of. If that bikini didn’t make it into my shopping bag, I put my foot down and wouldn’t buy anything at all.
Just a few years ago, I was invited to a friend’s house to go swimming and realized that my suits were so old that I had nothing to wear. I ended up showing up late, knowing that by the time I got there, everyone would be out of the pool and I wouldn’t need to worry about the pool at all. But you can’t hide like that forever.
Once I let it go, I was so much happier. I felt better about myself.
Excluding yourself from spending time with friends and family only makes you feel worse. Just because you are working hard to get the body you want doesn’t mean you can’t embrace what you have now.
Happy Motivational Monday!