Keep On Keepin' On

"The mind is its own place and in itself can create a heaven of hell, or a hell of heaven."

-Mitton

This new blog post is going to be a little different than ordinary. Instead of dwelling on what we should be eating and what we should be trying differently in terms of working out, I'm going to tell you all about some inspirational words I recently heard from a motivational speaker.

Those words right up top seem like a great place to start!!

"The mind is its own place and in itself can create a heaven of hell, or a hell of heaven."

I know that everyone has noticed that I have hit a wall when it comes to my weight loss. (138.6 by the way) I attribute this not to my eating habits or to my lack of working out (okay maybe a little bit attributed to it...), but to how I've been thinking about my weight loss challenges.

See? I did it again- I called it a challenge. Right there I'm setting myself up to feel like its going to be the worst deal ever and I'm going to hate it and it will just suck.

Time to re-evaluate.

What Mitton was trying to tell me in his little quote up top is that if working out sucks, its because I choose to make it suck. If its enjoyable, its because I choose to make it enjoyable. I feel as though I wouldn't be having such a hard time working out and actually enjoying it if I just told myself that I was going to enjoy it- if I changed it from a "workout challenge" to a "workout adventure," or even a "sexy workout." (Lets face it- who doesn't enjoy looking sexy while they work out??)

My ADVENTURE for you this week (you see what I did there???) is to think of 3 great things about working out every time your mind comes up with 1 bad thing. For instance, if I get discouraged while working out and think "UGH! I hate doing ab work! THIS HURTS!!!" I need to quickly come up with 3 things I LOVE about doing abs.

1) They keep my core strong

2) They will give me a hot six pack (eventually, right??)

3) I get to see a fun new view of the gym!!

See, now that wasn't so hard, was it?

You try!

When you've finished reading this post, comment back and tell me 1 thing you hate about working out, followed up with three GREAT things about working out!!

As always, HAPPY FITNESS!!!

Good Old Fashion Competition

The healthiest competition occurs when average people put in above average effort.

-Colin Powell

Who is up for a little competition??

This week, I had a friend (Dan. Hello, Dan!) suggest a little friendly competition. He said that he needed a push to get back into workout mode. "So why not have everyone pay $10, say 10 people, and compete for the money? I'd workout for $100."

Who wouldn't?!?

Now comes the real issue- How to gauge who the winner will be.

Now, some of you might be farther away from your target weight. Some of you might have been trying for months and months and finding yourself stuck in a rut. Some of you might be thinking "How could this be fair? Especially if its open to men and women alike?"

I had the same thoughts. I also have a small issue with the fact that some of us are closer to our goal weights than others. I, for one, am a mere 6 pounds away from the 130 I so long to weigh. (However, for the sake of a good competition, I'd be willing to weigh 126)

:)

Anyhow- the whole point of my ramble is this: Who would want to be a part of this weight loss competition? What are your suggestions on making it fair? How much would you be willing to put in the "pot", if that is how you would like to do it at all?

Let me know what you all think, as well as your progress this week!

Happy healthy habits!

God Works in Mysterious Ways

God Works In Mysterious Ways…

“What does this have to do with weight loss??”

Glad you asked! LENT IS HERE!! (getting there I promise!!)

For those of you who aren’t Catholic, let me give you the low down…

During Lent, we must fast in some way. Some people, mostly children, choose to give up candy or soda, while some people give up smoking or drinking. You do this for the entirety of the 40 days of Lent in representation of the temptation Jesus faced in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights.

Again- “WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH WEIGHT LOSS?????”

This year, I’m cheating and using Lent for my own benefit. (Does that count as cheating??)

I will be giving up a slew of things that I otherwise would have a hard time letting go of. First on the list? Soda. (With the exception of soda in drinks on the weekend… I know. I’m picking and choosing. But its either that or I drink beer… yuck. And MAJOR calories.)

What else will I be refraining from? Excessive sweets. “What constitutes ‘excessive’?”

Well thanks for wondering- “Excessive” would be more than one sweet a day. And it’s gotta be SMALL. I’m talking ¼ of a cupcake; ¼ of a Kit Kat bar; 1 scoop of ice cream, etc. You get my drift?

I know- I’m being very particular about what exactly I’m giving up. But we all know that quitting something cold turkey hardly ever works. : )

Here’s my big question: Are any of you taking the opportunity to use Lent as a tool to aid you in losing weight? If so, what are you doing? Maybe I’ll steal some of your ideas!!

Feeling the Love

If you don’t love yourself, how do you expect others to love you?

Happy Love Day, Ladies!

Lets just get this started, shall we?

This is me in a two piece swim suit….

I am one... curvy... lady.

Wanna know what I learned this week?

I have TERRIBLE self-talk.

After taking these photos, I have been obsessing all week, using words like “fat ass”, “disgusting”, and a plain and simple “gross” to describe myself….. TO OTHER PEOPLE. And this is what I realized: No one can make me feel worse about myself than I already make myself feel- and that’s a huge issue.

Since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, I figured what better topic for tonight’s blog post than loving yourself?

This weekend, I challenged myself to only regard my body as beautiful- to focus on what I love about my body instead of what I dislike.

And you know what??? IT WORKED. Instead of feeling tired and lethargic, I popped out of bed after a night of drinking and felt amazing. I was literally bouncing all over the place, feeling gorgeous in my sweats with my hair in a messy bun atop my head. Only one person had to tell me I was gorgeous to make me feel better: Myself.

My point? I know that I go on and on about how I’m trying this and that to lose weight, but losing weight isn’t going to solve the issue. If you hate your body now, you’re never going to reach weight loss point that will make you stop and say “I love ME.” You will keep trying to change things about yourself- even after they don’t NEED to be changed. If you don’t love yourself, how do you expect others to love you?

This week, I want all of you to focus on positive self-talk. Make note of every time you say or even think something negative about yourself. The amount of times it happens will most likely shock you.

Aside from that, keep working towards a healthier you! Happy Valentine’s Day, lovelies! Remember to feel the love!

I Don't Feel Like Dancin'

Nobody ever drowned in his own sweat

-Ann Landers

Well hello, ladies! (And gents)

After missing my dear computer for about a month, I finally have it back and am back on the weight loss bandwagon, only this time I have even more reasons to get back in shape:

1) Spring break is in less than 2 months. Holy swim suit. SO not ready for that one.

2) Weddings, weddings, and more weddings. (This is what happens when everyone you know starts getting married)

3) After hearing my sister tell me how much she misses getting to wear a two-piece swim suit, I think I should probably get that body for myself and show it off as much as possible.

4) I am TIRED of feeling sorry for myself and staring in the mirror wishing I was 7 sizes smaller (That didn't sound that bad until I typed it out. 7 SIZES!?)

Moral of the story, I'm tired of being overweight.

Heard of Just Dance?? I HAVE!! My sister bought the game for the Wii and we have been having a great time testing it out.

If she wouldn't kill me for doing so, I'd take a video of us both dancing to our favorite song, a little spanish number, and post it on here because it is that much fun.

One of the functions of this game is a Just Sweat option. This picks out the best songs to dance to if you want to get a good workout in. It keeps track of how many calories you're burning, too. BONUS!!

Due to the fact that all scales give different numbers at different times of the day, I think my new "weigh-in time" is going to be when I donate plasma every Tuesday and Thursday, at about 1 p.m. As of right now, my weight on those scales is 140. On my next post, I will bare all my flaws and take a picture of how my body looks now........ in my BATHING SUIT. (Already regretting this decision.)

Also, I'm looking for ideas on places I can get my run on this winter. With a limited amount of funds, I can't afford to spend a ton of money on a gym membership. Any ideas would be super helpful, ladies!!

Tune in next week for more embarrassing moments in the workout life of me :)