'Weighing In'

                    

I did it the other day. The unthinkable. Stepped on the SCALE! Dun dun dunnnn. For me, weighing myself is ‘triggering’ – and so I don’t do this often. I also don’t advise my challengers or clients to rely on the scale either. And here is why.

The best and most important point here is that – The scale does not define you. You are and will always be more than a number on a scale. I know that for myself – it’s a control kind of thing – and it takes me unhealthy places. So I just rarely do it - I rely on other things to check my progress. 

The number changes – a lot. If you are going to weigh yourself, do it once a week – before eating – and at the same time of day at each weigh in. Weighing yourself multiple times a day/week is excessive and causes more harm (and stress!) than good.

Muscle mass is cool. Seriously. If you’re building muscle, you may not see a big change on the scale – but you’re still making a lot of progress!

 

Things you can do instead!

Base your ‘weight’ on how your clothes fit. Are your clothes feely baggy? More snug? Watch your diet and exercise according to these changes.

Progress pictures! Take them once a week. Refer to previous weeks and see the changes you’re making. Give yourself a pat on the back.

Check your energy levels. You know when you eat like crap, you feel like crap. If you are feeling sluggish, you know you need to switch up your nutrition and get your sweat on! Do it!

Calipers. If you are serious about checking your body fat percentage, you can use calipers. I can go into detail about how - just ask! 

That’s all for today – let me know if you have any questions! Thanks for checking in !  XO

Travel Tips

I get a lot of questions about this so I wanted to just address on my blog– staying healthy while traveling! It’s so easy to throw off your plan entirely when you’re on-the-go – but you don’t have to!

Here are some of the ways I stay on track while traveling:

Go in with a plan. If you go into it thinking that you’ll try to stay on track, but whatever happens happens – oh, it’ll happen! Trust me, I’ve been there! If you know you’ll be hitting up your favorite restaurant, plan your cheat meals ahead of time. Plan your workouts to fit into your schedule – bring DVDs, bands, whatever you need to make it happen.

Bring/stock up on healthy foods. I don’t go anywhere without almonds, Quest bars, Ezekiels, water, shakes, and peanut butter. Honestly, nowhere. I will bring string cheese, Greek yogurt, and sliced peppers in a little cooler as well. It might sound crazy, but it helps!

HYDRATE, hydrate, hydrate. In my personal experience, traveling oftentimes involves adult beverages. Sometimes. Maybe. All the time. I don’t know – either way, make sure your drinking water, too. Drink it as soon as you wake up, before meals, and before you go to bed. Your body and skin will thank me.

Make a few great playlists. For the ride or plane trip, obviously. And you might even get all hyped up to get a sweat in.

I think that’s all I've got for now! What are your tips for staying on track while traveling?! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts J

Speaking of traveling, Harlow and I are road tripping this weekend to see some of our favorites – snacks in tact and ready to go! Thanks for checking in! XO

Tough Love Monday

I’m putting my game face on while writing this post and I hope this message is received well! I love what I do. I am so passionate about health and fitness and I love sharing that with others – motivating them to make healthy changes and helping them to reach their health and fitness goals. The thing is, I can’t actually work out for you, prep your food, or eat clean for you. Don’t get me wrong, I would, I totally would. But I can’t.

I talk to so many people who have an end goal in mind, but don’t have the time, motivation, or drive to get there. Like all things in life, it takes WORK. You can’t expect change without MAKING changes and putting in the time. A lot of people don’t want hear this, but it’s so true. Also, setting unrealistic expectations and goals sets us up for disappointment – but we can touch on that with another blog post!

This tough love goes for myself, too. Sometimes I get so discouraged, but I have to step back and realize that I am the only one keeping myself from reaching my goals. I’ll fall off the clean-eating wagon and expect my body to continue to make changes – and it won’t. I have the choice to get down on myself and continue to eat unhealthy and be lazy with my workouts – or I can get off my butt and work for it. It’s a lot easier to workout and eat vegetables than it is to wake up every morning, unhappy with what I look and feel like.

It may take a few months, a year, a few years – but you’ve got to start somewhere.  You aren’t going to get where you want to be by remaining where you are. I’m NOT saying this to be mean or pushy, I’m saying this because you are capable of SO many things! Stop doubting yourself, stop worrying about the amount of time it will take to get there or what people will think of you. Get out of your comfort zone, push yourself, go for it – You wont regret it, I promise.

“If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it.”

Pit Stop at Trader Joe's

We did some running around the other day and finally got to check out Trader Joe's! I have never been and was super pumped to check it out so I thought I would share some of my finds. I got some of my usual buys: avocado, peppers, cereal bars for on-the-go snacks.

I ALWAYS have toasted sprouted grain for breakfast (with peanut butter, of course!) - usually Ezekiel muffins - so I decided to try their brand which both Harlow and I are pretty impressed with. It's a little thicker than the Ezekiel bread, so that is a plus in my book. I also always have tortilla chips on hand because chips and cheese/salsa is my favorite snack so these quinoa and black bean chips seemed to be a great pick. I haven't tried yet, but I will keep you filled in! Dried mango - great on-the-go snack.

I think my favorite  pick has got to be the cookie butter. Definitely a treat but so ridiculously good. I also wanted to get a little crazy (haha) and try dates - pitted with peanut butter = so good. Someone also recommended that I warm them in the oven with a little almond butter, so this is definitely something I'm going to have to try.

I also wanted to add that Harlow was totally digging the oldies music they had going on. She got really into it and was jamming while doing her usual waving and saying hello to every single person in the store! Where do you usually shop/what are your go-to items?? Let's hear it!

My Fitness Journey

The never-ending journey!

This post is for all the moms struggling to lose those last few pregnancy pounds, the girls who have tried numerous diets and workouts without the results they were looking for, the guys who are struggling to gain confidence in their body. This is for you!!

This picture is me – today – right now.  I am in NO WAY posting this so you can body shame yourself or strive to get where I am. Your journey is YOUR OWN! I have stretch marks, too. I have days where I feel uncomfortable with my body, too. If you only knew what I went through to get HERE, you would feel SO much better about your own journey!

I worked and continue to work hard for my body. It is SO incredibly important to me that I am in a HEALTHY place – and that’s where you should strive to be as well. Just like everything else in life, these things take time, hard work, and dedication.

I am so fortunate to have found Beachbody and to be surrounded with people who are so encouraging of my fitness journey. If you are struggling or just in need of motivation and support, you are not alone! I would be happy to help you in any way that I can, just contact me!

If I could give any small piece of advice, whether it be about your fitness journey or anything in life, it would be to just go for it. Don’t think even for a second that you can’t or you won’t or how much time it’s going to take. You have to believe in yourself, because sometimes you may be the only one believing – and that’s okay! Lukewarm is NO GOOD. Go for it – with everything! Xo