Communites of the now factor

                I was sitting at my computer, reading some friends posts on Facebook and was shocked of how much we are community all about convenience and the now factor. It’s crazy how different the world is now compared to when our parents or grandparents were kids.

                People who want to lose weight and feel great in their skin don’t want to work for it. They look up cleanse or quickie diets and hope for the best. Most of the quickie diets are starvation diets and that is HORRIBLE for your body. Your body needs fuel to make it thru the day and your food is your fuel.

                There is a 7 day cleanse diet that I have been hearing about and for 7 days your drink water. That’s it, no food what so ever, just water. Your body can’t make it on that. There is no nutrients and protein to keep your body going. Yea you may lose some weight but you won’t be able to move by the end of the diet or in the hospital. This kind of craziness is how you get eating disorders.

                Others think going to the doctor to get weight loss pills will make all their problems go away. Yea they decrease your appetite and sometimes you don’t even end up eating that day. It’s like you’re on crack and your body has no idea what to do. You can’t no eat and still keep popping these pills.

 Even if you eat every day and lose all this weight with these pills, what happens when you stop? There is nothing to decrease your appetite except your will power. You didn’t use it really the whole time you took these pills so why would you have it now?!

Yes there are some weight loss supplements that do work and they are to be taken with your meals. The difference is these are WITH your meals not INSTEAD!

                Some people think that surgery is the answer to everything. If your arm skin is saggy, your tummy is too big, or you want a smaller nose. You are beautiful the way you are.  Don’t think that because you are overweight you need an instant result.  A lot of people who get those surgeries to make your stomach smaller gain most of their weight back after a few years. They don’t’ work out and just depend on that surgery they had. You can’t just depend on a quick fix; you have to depend on yourself.

                If you want it bad enough, just put your mind to it and you can accomplish ANYTHING!

                If you want to lose weight and don’t know how contact your local gym and talk to a professional. You can get a gym membership and have one on one sessions with a trainer. Do a few sessions and you will have some workout routines down. Do some of their classes they have, you can get a work out buddy to help you stick to your goal and vice versa, and have a great time working out.

 

Have you taken the easy way  on a diet? What results have you gotten? Have they stuck?

 

Thanks for reading and Liking my blog!

Eating out every night? Here are some tips to take a healthier bite!

Ever feel like you have SO much on your plate and no time to do anything?!? So you do a drive-thru run, order some burgers and fries with a soda, and head home to do more work while eating a grease filled burger. We all know that is not the best decision you have made for your body, inside and out. Here are a few tips and tricks I have learned a long my diet way:

                Snacking a weakness for you and only unhealthy items readily available? Take one of your days off and change that. Go to the grocery store and only buy healthy items that sound good to you such as carrot chips, apples, grapes, or celery.  Even get something that is high in fiber which is a huge bonus some examples are avocados, corn, or wheat crackers. Make sure you grab tons of zip lock baggies and enough food to snack on for a week.

                Now when you get home make sure you clean all your veggies and fruits really well. Then decide on what sounds good together as snacks and start pairing them up. Make sure you cut everything up so it’s that much easier through the week. Put them in the zip lock baggies and pop them in the fridge.

 Now every day when you’re about to head to work, school, your kids have a play date or whatever you day holds, grab a snack or two. That way when you start to feel that hunger pang you got yourself covered with some healthy and I bet your body would say a big thank you.

Don’t have time to cook a dinner every night so going out its easier for you? Well stop it may be easier but I bet your body is hating it.

 Make your meals one day a week and freeze them till you’re ready to eat them. Buy a few things of chicken breast, some turkey meat and whip up some great food that will taste just as good when you defrost and heat it up later this week.

I personally love soup so I make a big batch of soup with chicken and all sorts of veggies, and then freeze it in portion sizes so that way I just have to unthaw what I’ll eat that night. The soup could be 2 suppers and a lunch for my husband and I throughout the week. This makes your whole week a pinch and you are going to feel so much better.

If you absolutely have to go thru a drive thru and have no way around it look for the healthy items. There are plenty of apps for your phone that you can put in a restaurant and what item you are looking at getting, that will show you all the nutritional facts. Look at the calories and carbohydrates before you order any food, also look at the salt. A lot of places use tons of salt making their food and then add some more when it’s done. That is never good for anyone no matter what age you are and what your health status is.

If at all possible avoid buffets like the plaque! You go in saying you’re just going to get the healthy food and only go up once. Like that ever happens for anyone! You have to have amazingly strong will power and then some.  Most people, like me, end up getting more than they thought on their plate and you know that it is way above the calorie limit you wanted on that plate. Then after you eat all of that you look over at the buffet and see something you didn’t get. Next thing you know you have another plate full of food on your way back to your seat and knowing that you’re probably going to eat half of that plate. A buffet is just a place for disaster if you’re on a diet, trying to be healthy, or gain some muscles.

Basically plan out your means, prep them ahead of time, and watch what you eat. Your body, partner, kids/ future kids, and pets will thank you for the thought you put into the food you make and eat. 

 

What are your favorite healthy snacks? Foods?

Thanks for reading!

Stuck in a rut here is some good luck!

Stuck in a rut with you diet or work-out? Stressed to the max and thinking of quitting? DON’T!  Stop thinking like that and just readjust what you are doing.

                Scale not giving you the numbers you are looking for? Think of everything you’re doing not just what you’re doing during the work out or your diet information. Are you keeping a complete food journal, not just the calories you want to write down? Are you changing up your works outs? Your body gets used to the same work out and will stop helping you achieve your goal.

 Start by changing up your work-outs more often. Some people work out for 5 days and then take a 2 day break. Others have set work-outs for set days such as: Monday and Wednesday work your abs; Tuesday and Thursday work your legs and so on and so forth. Everyone has their own way of doing it and if yours isn’t working change it up. Confuse your body and you’ll start seeing the results again.

 Also make sure you give your body some rest so that way it can catch up to you. When your body is tired you can start catching colds and virus’s easier, pulling muscles, and much more. When your body is tired everything about you is tired. Remember to take a day’s rest here and there to improve your results and your body.

Did you decide to take a short and break and now you can’t get back on track? Just breath, it’s not as hard as it seems. Just get back into it slowly. Pick a show and during the dreaded commercials pick a quick exercise. Do jumping jacks jog in place, hold a plank, or whatever you want! TV shows are usually 22 minutes with 8 minutes of commercials. That is 8 minutes of exercise you just did and if you repeat this a second time that is 16 minutes. You are already back on track and doing great.

 Now grab your headphones, put on Pandora and walk/jog around your block for a bit. If you do 14 minutes of walking or jogging around the block that is 30 minutes of exercise that day. You are already off your break and back in action. Keep doing this for 5 days and then take a day’s break. Then start again the next day with your favorite show and you won’t have an issue getting started again.

Same with your diet, start back on that slowly as well. Say to yourself” I will be starting my diet again this morning and nothing will hold me back from my dreams”! Put all the junk food on the back row and the healthy in the front. It helps with the temptation of wanting to grab that quick full of calorie snack.  Now throughout the day make sure you remember your goal and the reason you started this diet in the first place. You got this and you ARE in control.

Are personal issue’s wreaking havoc on your emotions and motivation?  One thing NOT to do is turn to food, nothing good EVER comes of this. You need to sit and think about what is really bothering you. Don’t focus on the drama that is going on around you; find the issue that is truly affecting you.  What is making you cry or making you angry? Now when you figure that out you know the root of the problem, RUN IT OUT!

 Put your sneakers on, turn some music up, and head out the door. Walk/jog/ run till you wore out. Head home, take a bath, and then hit the hay. When you wake up your body will probably hurt but your brain will be clear. Sometimes the best medicine is time to just clean your head and focus on you. After all you know more about your heart and body than anyone else.

 If you’re still sad, put in a sad movie to cry it out then go for a jog to clear your head. Still angry go to the gym and start punching that bag. For every punch say why you’re mad and why that makes you angry. I bet your run out of reasons why you’re mad before you get wore out. Keep punching till your arms feel like spaghetti noodles. This works because you get out in the open why you’re upset and you just pounded the anger out. Sometimes you have to exhaust your body and mind to fix emotional issues that you have.

Now realize you just did two days of exercise and there wasn’t an excuse that could hold you back. That makes you amazing and that you can do anything you put your mind to.  I knew you could do it and remind yourself of that every day.

Courage to start that work-out!

Starting a new work-out is challenging and scary for just about anybody. It is hard for some people to start the work-out, stick to it, be consistent, or many other things.

                There are many things you can do to make sure that you get that end result that you have been wanting by sticking to your work-out. Who can say they were disappointed by getting the results and hitting their goal? I know I couldn’t!

                Keep only positive thoughts when going about the work-out. Most of the work-outs out there have worked for someone or they wouldn’t be promoted like they are. Make sure you research the work-out, look for any positive or negatives on it, and focus on the positive

. Just think if they can do it you can do it. Getting off the couch is always the first step.

                Keep your eye on the prize! You want to look good in a bikini, pair of super short shorts, or just fit back into that wedding dress. Get it out, buy a bikini and hang it up somewhere. Remind yourself that you are worth it and you will fit into it. Know that there is no quick fix to getting healthy and fit. All of it depends on you and you got this.

 Try the outfit on, take a picture and print it out. In a few weeks of consistent work outs, looking at the picture and pushing yourself toward that goal, try it on again and take a picture. Look at those results and remind yourself you are doing amazing. Any pound or inch of your body is fantastic. Keep these pictures up to see your progress and look at that outfit saying “dang I am going to look sexy in this”!

                Repeat “you go do this” over and over in your head when it gets tough and you just want to quit. When running or walking pick a distant goal and pick up the pace to that goal. When you feel like you can’t make it say “yes I can” and focus on going forward.

 Hit your goal you chose and know that you did a great job. I repeat “Go GO GO” over and over as my feet hit the ground and I focus on my steps instead of how far away my goal is. Every step you take brings you closer to the immediate and your goal of being healthy.

And if you just can’t keep with the program for lack of motivation, confidence, or any reason get a work-out buddy. You know that at least one of your friends is looking for that motivation or a friend who loves you and wants to help. Give them a call or text to work-out with you. If you don’t want to have them see you scream and shout from the sit-ups you’re doing go for a walk or a hike. Any exercise you do is amazing.

                It takes 21 days to make a habit.

 Get a dry erase board with a calendar on it and pick a start date. Don’t pick next month or the week after next. That is not going to help you one bit and you know it. Go 21 days of some sort of exercise, walk around your block a few times, jumping jacks during commercials on your favorite TV shows, or march in place. It will all become a habit and you can continuously add more anytime you want or feel the need.

Feeling proud of your progress and want people to know?!?! Facebook the results you’re getting or tweet them. At least one person will read it and that is awesome. I know that when I hit a goal I run to my computer to put it in Facebook. It puts a HUGE smile on my face knowing someone out there is either like “girl you’re doing good” or “I wish I had the strength to make that change in my life’. You know it feels good to know that you are taking that step to improve your life for whatever reason it may be.

What work-outs are you trying? What words of encouragement do you use?

Thanks for reading! Have a great Independence Day!

Who wants to join me?!?!

This is my July challenge to myself. I know that I can do this and when i accomplish it it will be AMAZING!! Join me and lets get fit this JULY!!

Something everything needs… MOTIVATION

What motivates me? I’ve been sitting here thinking about this. I wish that I could be motivated by meaningful things like being a role model for someone, or being fit enough to run for charitys. Honestly though I can only come up with motivation that fits me .

I have noticed that I am more motivated to have the body of someone in a size 6 then what people considered skinny in a size 1. The girls everyone is saying are fit and in shape now make me think “Girl you need a cheeseburger”.  Skin and bones just aren’t that attractive to me and my husband thinks the same thank gosh.  I just want to look fantastic in a bikini and be able to get the size 6y clothes on the clearance rack!

I have a NEED and a WANT to be healthy. That is another motivation of mine. I know that I need to be healthy and eat healthy for not only me but my husband and our future children. I want to be able to chase them and catch up to them. I have this fear of not being able to keep up with their activities because I am unhealthy and overweight. I have to defeat this fear and I WILL.

Watching the Biggest Loser also gets me motivated. I know that I would hate being yelled at to work out but one or two work outs with those trainers would be AMAZING!! I would love to be able to kick butt like that in the gym and rock out some of those numbers on the scale. Plus having the back up to get healthy and not have the options in the fridge to eat badly.

Can I get a personal healthy shopper please?! I just have to make sure I am only going in the healthy aisles at Wal-Mart and Target.

I want to put a skirt on with some heels and know I am rocking the crap out of it. I want to be able to walk by a mirror and be like “Oh yeah I am rocking this body”. I want that confidence in myself and my body. I don’t want to feel ashamed standing next to by 6’4 skinny husband anymore. I will rock it next to him and our spoiled rotten dogs!

I want to be able to run a 5k or 10k without stopping or keeling over! I want to be able to NOT be last place. I am very competitive person and when I start something I go all in. I want to be able to go all in and maybe even win. Do you know how amazing that would be for anyone?!?!

I think of all these motivations as I lace up my shoes, get my apps set to go on my walk/jog. I rethink all these things as I push to get my miles in when all I want to do is head home. I know that the work outs I am doing will make my life so much better than it is.

There are some days when I just want to stay on the couch and just work out harder the next day. I know that by getting off the couch and working out I am passing all the people who are just staying on the couch. That is at least one race I know I can win RIGHT NOW and EVERY DAY!

What motivates you to get up and exercise? To eat healthy?

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Counting calories or Counting Carbohydrates: the age old question

Which method leads to faster weight loss, counting carbohydrates or counting calories? I have personally tried both methods and both work. They have their pros and cons just like any other diet method. People swear by both so I decided to do some research and add my personal experience. For some of my facts I just googled both carbohydrates and calories.

Carbohydrates are basically a large group of compounds such as sugar and starch. Some examples of these are grains, pasta, and breads. Some fruit has carbohydrates as well.  I know that things like bread and pasta take longer for out body to break down.  Most diets that you do that are based on carbohydrate counting tell you to limit your carbs. Your body does use a certain amount of carbs as fat burning fuel. I counted carbs for a while and it worked pretty well. One of my main problems was find the correct carbohydrate count.

Plus I am a girl who loves to have bread or pasta either one will do. I am currently doing better with this and hope it stays that way in the future.  A downfall is that fried chicken is low on the carbohydrate scale but HUGE on the calorie scale. You just have to be careful with what carbs you decide to feast on. Don’t think that counting carbohydrates means you can eat so many donuts or pizza’s a day and still lose weight. That is just not how it works. You have to eat healthy carbs such as fruits, wheat grain, beans, or vegetables.

<i>Fun Fact: There is 875 grams of Carbohydrates in 1 pound.</i>

Calorie is a unit of energy. All foods have calories; some of them are so low in calorie count that it takes more calories to digest the food. Most of these foods are vegetables and fruits such as apples, oranges, broccoli, and celery. These are eaten raw to get the “Negative” calorie effect. I, personally, have had more results with calorie counting.

Since 1990 all foods sold in the United States must have a calorie count on the package which helps out with us calorie counters. Also when you go to a restaurant you can go to their website and find out the calories. Some restaurants have the calorie count on the menus. The average American needs to eat 2000 calories to maintain their weight.

<i>Fun Fact: 3500 calories is equal to 1 pound.</i>

 I use an application called Fitness pal to log all the food. I also have a hand written journal that I use as a backup. The application tells me the calories in the portions and you can find most food. If I can’t find the calories on the application I end up just Googling the food. Counting calories is easier for me since the application I use tells me the calories I have burned in any exercise that I do. That helps me stay in the calorie zone that I am aiming for. I counted calories last year and ate about 1200 calories a day plus I worked out. I lost around 12 pounds the first month and I felt fantastic. Then I lost motivation because of personal problems. I am back on this wagon and I WILL hit my goal.

All in all both are great ways to go about dieting in a healthy way, it just depends on your preference. Which do you prefer? What kind of results have you had with either of these in the past? If you haven’t tried these what diet do you use? What results have you gotten?

Thanks for reading and I can’t wait for your responses!

Nightly Exercise/Apps I use

Usually in the evenings around 730pm I get ready to go for a walk/jog. I say walk/jog because I am NOT a runner just yet. I wish I could go run for 10 miles and barely break a sweat but that’s just not me. I walk for a few minutes then do a minute of jogging. I am working my way up to two minutes of jogging.

I’ve never really been a runner. I can walk all day. I am the go to girl for amusement parks and scenery walks. You walk slow and take in everything around you. With jogging or running I have always thought that it was all focusing on your speed and endurance. That you didn’t focus on anything around you. Boy was I wrong.

Since I have started I have learned that I do much better when I am focusing on everything around me. Sometimes I get so caught up in how open the space is and the beauty in it all. Or I just get caught up in watching my dogs splash through all the water they can find and run off just to run back at lightning speed like they have something on their tail. Funniest thing ever I swear.

I have learned that applications on my IPhone are some life savers. I tend to get distracted sometimes and forget what I was doing. I know I call those blonde moments. I use my applications for everything. I wouldn’t know how far I walked or jogged, how many calories I lost, I wouldn’t have motivation on those lazy days, or be able to pick up the pace. I also have some of these applications hooked in with my Facebook. I love seeing the improvements I have made on my newsfeed because I know everyone else is seeing this also. You know it feels good when someone compliments you and it makes you want to keep it up.

I have an application called Zombie Run and it is awesome. I am one of the people who love zombie things period so this app was right up my alley. It did cost $3.99 but totally worth it. Basically you have missions that you select from. The first one is of you flying in to the base and you hear everyone talking around you. Then you crash and you have to run to a hospital then to the base. You can hear the Zombies behind you. I booked it down the road leaving my husband in the dust. He had no idea what was going on. On the days where I really don’t have motivation to do more than a slow pace I use this application.

I also have another application called map my walk. It uses GPS to map your route and your distance. It does help because I don’t go the gym or walking trails that have the miles mapped out for you. I also use this application in wal mart. I know that when I am there I do a lot of walking. You know how it is, needing some groceries but also needing something for the garden. They are always on opposite sides of the building. I think they do it on purpose but it works out in the end. I do AT LEAST half a mile every time I am in there. This application also tells you the calories you have lost. I try to do 3-4 miles an evening. I want to get up to five but when I hit that 4 mile mark I am pooped.

The last application I have recently found is called charity mile. For every mile you walk they have sponsors who give the charity you picked money. Each time you walk you can pick a different charity. I have been wanting to give back to the community somehow and what better way than to get your exercise in while doing a good deed.

I have also learned I do so much better with upbeat songs. I just use Pandora radio station but a lot of people have their music lists. I have sat down several times to make a list of songs I think I would like to run to and that will keep me motivated. I totally blank and can’t think of one song. So I just use Pandora and pick from my MANY radio stations that I have accrued over time.

Tonight I did 4 miles, burned 535 calories, and averaged 13 minutes a mile. I ran from several zombies and came out alive. I went old school with some prince and Janet Jackson, and then switched it up to my old school which is nsync and the early songs of Brittney Spears. I came home feeling amazing and I love that I can say that I sweated my butt off tonight. Anyone else get in the exercise they wanted today? If so what did you do and how effective is it? How did you feel afterwards? I would love to hear from you.

Have a great night!

A little bit about me :)

      So as my first post as a blogger I figured I would write a little bit about myself. I am 24 and have recently married an amazing man. I have 3 crazy cute dogs who rule our house.

     I decided to start a blog to motivate myself and to hold myself accountable. I have started many diets in the past few years and I always ended up stopping. I gave excuses for everything, ” Its the weekend so I should enjoy myself” or ” I deserve one treat” so i would go load up on carbohydrates, sugars, and everything else. I didn’t find ways to stop my excuses or even fight back. 

      I currently weigh 176, which is better then two years ago when i weighted 200 lbs on the dot. I am only 5’2 so this amount of weight is considered obese( which is crazy in my opinion). My goal weight is 160 for now, when I hit that number I will pick a lower number 🙂

     I stopped drinking pop June 10th, so almost to the 21 day mark so hopefully it will become a habit. It was rough at first but then I found green tea. I personally like the Lipton green tea with citrus. It is only 100 calories a bottle and it is delicious! 

   So on this blog I will be posting the exercises I do, the results i am getting, the different healthy foods i find, and much more. I would love to hear from anyone who has done a diet, succeeded or failed, and from people who are doing or planning a diet. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and have a great night 🙂