Throw the Word ‘Diet’ Away!

So, month 2 of 12 is officially in session, so I have a question:

How many of us are still saying you’re going on a “diet”?

Don’t you truly just hate that word?? I know I do.  Every couple months or so, I would call myself going on a “diet”, and within about a week in, I would be  giving it up and saying “I QUIT” to the entire concept.  This was obviously not yielding any positive results.  That is excactly why about two years ago, I decided to stop calling any change I made to my eating habits a “diet”.  I just called it what it was; deciding what I was and was not going to eat anymore.  I honestly can’t remember the last time I referenced my eating habits as a diet, and that has made all the difference in how I feel about what I choose and choose not to eat.

Everyone has their own way of tackling the number 1 resolution of a new year; losing weight and eating better.  I found out the hard way a few interesting and critical things:

  • I can’t lose weight the same way everyone else does, and I have to make the gym fun for me
  • I am not going on a “chicken-brown rice- broccoli” diet of sorts, because it will piss me off and I’ll eat a pizza instead.

Instead of trying to lose weight like people I saw on TV or social media, and limiting myself to only 3 foods consistently everyday, what I decided to do was to implement simple, yet better habits about my health.  Right now, I am currently weeening myself back off red meat (which is very rare that I eat it anyway) and I am working on letting go of pork as well.  I promised myself to work out at least three times a week on strength training HIIT circuits.  I feel like the more  I implement things I enjoy doing, the more it will not feel like a chore or such an important  obligation that I don’t want to make a valid commitment to it.

Now, when I commit to a specific change in the way I eat, I also never count out the things I  love most; which was something I did before (totally elimiinate things I thoroughly enjoyed).  Now, I continue to eat things I love, but in moderation.

For example, I love Pepsi.  I don’t know if there is anyone or anything that will have me not like or stop drinking it.  In previous attempts at weight loss, I attempted to quit drinking Pepsi cold turkey, but it never worked and I found myself frustrated and just quitting.  Now, I have developed a new attitude towards weight loss and now, instead of quitting it cold turkey, I just drink it in moderation.

The overall lesson I learned from this experience is that your life is what you make it, and whatever you choose to do is your business.  If you don’t want to lose weight, then dont.  If you do want to lose weight, don’t make it a hassle.  Turn it into something you are going to enjoy doing; if not, you will never actually have fun or feel good about your weight loss.

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Self-Care Sunday Highlight: Hydration, Hydration, Hydration

I'm going to keep it simple this week and take a page out of one of my favorite podcast's books, The Friend Zone. 

For the wellness segment this week, Fran talked about how she began drinking 3 liters of water and raved about all the positive benefits just one extra liter of water gave her daily, since she was already drinking two liters a day.

This motivated me to highlight hydrating as a self-care topic for this week, because people be sleepin' on water, tho'. Lol.

For about as long as I can remember, I have been on a "gallon-a-day" kick; meaning yes, I drink at least 100-128 oz of water a day.  I feel like anything less now my body is not at it's best.  I knew that part of me becoming a healthier me began with increasing my water intake, so I took that and told myself that I would start drinking more water. There are certain formulas out there that tell you exactly how much you should drink based on your weight and body type, but so far based on how much I work out and everything, a gallon has pretty much kept me well hydrated throughout the day.

I also wanted to highlight a few of the benefits water has, because although sometimes you cannot see it, water does amazing things to your body if you pay close attention:

  • Clears up your skin

  • Cleanses your body of nasty toxins

  • Relieves fatigue and gives you an energy boost

  • Boosts your immune system

  • Relieves headache tension

Since the beginning of me drinking water, I've seen a great increase in all these things, and when I'm not getting enough water, I can tell. I feel tired, my skin looks washed out, and overall I feel very dehydrated.

Sometimes water is not my favorite thing to drink, but I know my body cannot live without it, so I make sure I keep my gallon jug with me, and anytime I need a thirst quencher, I tip it back and chug-a-lug!

So, this week, monitor your water intake. If you know you don't get enough water or don't think you're getting enough water, try to increase how much water you drink in a day and see how it changes your overall feeling after about a week.

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#OperationCrunchTime

So, I officially have 63 days until I go on my trip to Jamaica for Memorial Day.  This means, it’s time to tighten up and get my life together.

This means it’s time to up the cardio, and get in this gym more.  I’m going to try my first 2-a-day today.  God help me, lol.

I’m also cutting back on the carbs…because I really don’t need them anyway…

Welp, let’s see how these next 63 days go! One day at a time……

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Fitness Update

The last  couple of weeks have  been horrible to say the least, smh. But I have gotten my motivation back.

Needless to say, work has been brutal, and literally kicking me in the butt.  From working late, to on call hours, and everything in  between; the life of a supervisor has really been a task these last couple of weeks.  As a result, my gym routine has suffered tremendously.  It was getting to the point where I didn’t want to do anything, but go home and sit on my couch.

I have tried a new method, which may not sound like much to any fitness buff, but I have finally committed to working out in the morning, as opposed to after work.  I have only been at it for 2 days; however, I feel like it has increased my motivation to workout and I feel good going to work in the morning!  I think I will make this an everyday part of my routine now, because I love working out, and I want it to be a staple in my life.

Here’s to a new beginning and hoping I can continue to wake up at 5:30 am! Lol.

 

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#Yoga4Growth

So, in my quest for a newer, more flexible me, I have began a #Yoga4Growth challenge for February.  So far, I’m on day 5, and have gotten through my first week of yoga!! I am really enjoying it and it gives me some time to myself to unwind and meditate after a long day.

I plan on switching up my routine, and start going to the gym early in the morning, and doing yoga and meditation at night.  Lately, I have been in a rut with wanting to go to the gym, but just being too exhausted from work during the day to even muster up enough energy to make it to the gym. I think adding this component to my fitness journey is definitely helping me keep my body flexible and helping me to relax and power down from long hectic days at work!

Here are the poses and ladies to follow during the journey on IG:

@ladydork

@koyawebb

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My Review on Having a Personal Trainer

I have finally finished my 6 months of personal  training!  I wanted to do a review on it, because I have a new-found positive perspective on it.

Before, when I would get serious about being in the gym and working out, I never considered getting a personal trainer.  My main thought was, “I can do whatever they are doing on my own.  I don’t need to pay someone to help me lose weight.”  So, I always went against it and just tried to make up routines on my own.  Needless to say, I wasn’t getting too far with that.

I decided to give it a try.  I purchased 6 months worth of personal training fun, and I must say, it was very beneficial and it was an AWESOME experience for me!  I was able to learn so much from my personal trainer, and she was super nice and is always willing to help even if she isn’t my trainer.

I will admit that I didn’t lose a ton of weight during my personal training time; however, the more I thought it over, that truly was not the reason I got a personal trainer.  I know what I have to do to lose weight, but I think my main reason was for someone to hold me accountable and MAKE me push myself, and also help me confirm or deny some of these well-known weight loss and weight lifting techniques and myths that are floating around the Internet.  I think hearing things from my trainer made me change the way I do certain exercises and how I view my weight loss.  Had it not been for my trainer, I would have never tried to do any of the workouts I had done with her.  Thanks to her, I have a new arsenal of workouts and differnet combinations I can do in the gym to help me out.

Also, my favorite part was that I got to keep all of my workouts in my folder! I consider my folder something like my trophy from those 6 months.  I have every workout I did in that book, and as I looked back through the workouts, I was amazed at some of the things I had accomplished through this time.  Here are a few things that I was able to conquer, that I never thought I would:

  • Box jumps (the usually scared the crap out of me)
  • Double Unders (w/ the jump rope) (figured out the secret to this ;))
  • Manmakers
  • Power and Hang cleans
  • Did my first superset workout
  • Battle rope
  • Rower machine
  • DB snatches
  • PR:
    • Deadlift-175 (want to go for 200 next time I do legs)
    • Bench Press-125 (gonna go for 135 next time I do chest)
    • Pull-ups (assisted) – 90 lbs (just recently went for 80 🙂 )

I realized that I was clearly stunting my own growth in the gym based on the types of workouts I was doing.  After this I could tell I was clearly capable of doing way more than what I was telling myself I could do when I lifted or worked out.

My trainer probably doesn’t know it, but she truly pushed me mentally more than physically, and I thank her for that.  I did workouts that I never thought I could do, and after each one, I felt amazing that I could achieve that!

So, (even though she may not see this), Thanks Brittany! You are an awesome trainer and I appreciate you taking me on as a client!!

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