Post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own Setting fitness goals can be a challenge if you’ve never done it successfully before. Weight-loss, regardless of how much you have to lose, takes hard work, patience, and dedication. Which is something that is easy to say but much more difficult to do. Because even with the best of intentions, without a concrete plan, reaching weight-loss and/or fitness goals can be extremely difficult. Or most likely, impossible. Think about it. How many times have you heard of someone reaching a fitness or weight-loss goal without a plan in place? Most people set a number in their head that they want to achieve and then…that’s it. A lot of people don’t go much further. Some will say they will work out or eat less but then not define what that really entails. Like many things in life, success is in the details! Realistic goals = attainable goals. Before I get into actual goal setting, first a word on realistic goals. Before you start to put a plan into place, make sure the goal(s) you have chosen for yourself are realistic. For example, it may not be reasonable to set […]
A food binge doesn’t need to be a game-ender. If you struggle with binge and emotional eating then this post is for you! I’ve talked about changing my relationship with food in another post but I only lightly touched the topic of emotional eating. Emotional eating was (and in many ways still is) the biggest hurdle in my health journey. My inability to control how I used food was always my downfall. And there was the terrible habit of letting a single food binge equal automatic failure. Post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. I used to think that a food binge meant that I had failed myself. I used it to berate myself about my lack of self-control, to call myself a gross loser, and to validate my feelings of worthlessness. Then I would let a single binge destroy any and all progress I had made. And the downward spiral would begin for the umpteenth time. Are you using food to fuel your body or abuse it? Answering this question honestly was one of the first steps toward healing my relationship with food. It’s kind of like the AA mantra, the first step toward […]
Post contains Affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. There are so many reasons to start a home yoga practice. A home yoga practice is much cheaper, private, and time flexible. Those three reasons alone tend to be enough to get people interested in getting on their mat at home. But, especially to the uninitiated, yoga (even alone at home) can be intimidating. One of the biggest questions I get asked is, how do I get started? First and foremost, you need to change your expectations for what you imagine an at home practice to look like. Most likely, it is not going to have the same vibe and feel as a studio. It is not going to be all “om” and zen for the simple reason that you won’t have a yoga teacher guiding your practice and allowing you to “zone out”. But it is for this reason that a home yoga practice actually allows for a deeper connection to yourself. At home, you are guiding your practice, choosing the poses, the speed, length, and flow. Beginning your home yoga practice. At a yoga studio classes are anywhere from 60 minutes to 90 minutes. And let’s […]
Changing my relationship with food is an ongoing process. When I talk to other people about health and fitness, food is always the biggest pain point. Many of us who live in western culture tend to have a deformed relationship with food. Although when I think about it, even that statement isn’t entirely true. It’s more like we have bizarre relationships with food-like products. Because, when was the last time you heard someone talk about their out of control stir-fry addiction? And I’ve never heard anyone berate themselves because they went back for that second serving of sautéed vegetables. But if I replace the words stir-fry and vegetables with chips, candy, or anything covered in cheese and it’s a different story. It’s these food-like products that have us chained to an unhealthy lifestyle. And it’s our attachments to these foods (and the meanings we’ve assigned to them) that hold us back. Post contains Affiliate links #ads. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Convenience isn’t that convenient. You know that saying, ‘if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is’? Adults of the ’80s and ’90s should have held that in mind when the convenience food explosion […]
Fitness motivation is easy to find…at first. When you’re first starting your health journey finding fitness motivation is easy. You’re eager to go to the gym, you’re purchasing cute gear, and you’re feeling pumped! But, flash forward a couple of months down the road and those feelings aren’t nearly as strong. And that’s normal! But to be successful on your journey you need to be able to dig deep on those hard days. One of the easiest ways to maintain fitness motivation is to be prepared for the hard days ahead of time. First, you have to acknowledge that there will be hard times. Shake off the idea that you’re not allowed to struggle in your journey. Acknowledge that you will doubt and question yourself. But those hard times are not a reflection of your commitment to your health journey. They just are what they are, tough days. Post contains Affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Don’t mistake hard times for failure. When times get tough, a lot of people tend to give up. They ‘try their best’ but then call it quits. I can understand that line of thinking, I’ve done it myself many times […]
**This post contains affiliate ads. For more information please read the disclosures page.** Before you can set goals, you need to find your why. So last week I posted a condensed version of my background and a bit of my journey so far. And I was going to write about goal setting, but I realized something really important came before goals. And that’s the reason why you’re setting goals in the first place. You might be like, okay well, my goal is obviously to lose weight or get in shape. But I’ve learned your why needs to be much deeper than that. I was watching an episode of This Is Us yesterday where a line really resonated with me. It was something along the lines of, “what if you lose the weight and you’re still just you.” Too often, we think of weight loss as this magic life and self altering thing. And in some small ways it is. But for the most part, you are who you are regardless of your size. That’s why finding your why, that is more than a number, becomes so important. You need to have a deeper reason. Because once you lose the weight […]
Do You Struggle With Eating Enough Fruits and Vegetables? If you are used to eating a largely meat-based diet, adapting to a plant-based diet can be strange at first. I’ll be honest, training your palate to enjoy all the different tasting vegetables can be a challenge. But not to worry because I am here to help you out! Plant-based or not, if you are looking to include more fruits and vegetables into your diet, you have come to the right place! Eating more fruits and vegetables doesn’t have to be all about salads and juice. And it also doesn’t have to be difficult to include them in your meals. There are tons of delicious ways to eat fruits and vegetables! Why Add More Fruits and Veggies to Your Diet? The leading causes of death around the world (according to WHO) are coronary artery disease and stroke. Sadly, in the past 15 years, the number of people dying from these preventable diseases has only increased. Education and research surrounding diets are at a high, yet first world countries are slowing eating themselves to early and preventable deaths. Doctors and research worldwide largely agree that a “heart healthy” diet includes zero red […]
This post contains Affiliate Links. For more information please see Disclosures. Opinions are my own. Preparing for your first run can be daunting. Chances are, even if you’re excited to get running, you’re a little nervous about that very first run. I speak from lots of experience! I have had three first runs! The first was back in 2012 when I was training for my very first 5km race. At that time, I was close to my heaviest weight and was wanting to try for a baby. So, I tried running for a few months in an effort to get in better shape for a healthier pregnancy. I did it. Sort of. Running at that weight was really hard, physically and mentally. But I am so glad I did it and I would do it again! Even though I ran a miserable 5km race and didn’t put my running shoes back on until January of 2014, I had proved to myself that I could do hard things and accomplish goals at any weight. My second “first run”. My second “first run” was in January 2014. I was at my heaviest weight, having recently given birth to twins, and well in […]