Post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. I love love LOVE self-care. I am so happy it’s a thing so I don’t have to feel guilty about spending extra time on myself. Not that anyone should ever feel guilty about spending time on themselves but you know what I mean. There are three types of self-care; emotional, spiritual and physical self-care. And while all three forms of self-care have a relationship to one another but I’m going to spend time talking about physical care. Simply because talking about all three is way too much information for one post. It’s easy to fall into the thinking that self-care is extravagant or a luxury. And it can be! But self-care is so much more than an expensive day at the spa. Self-care means different things for different people so keep in mind that this list of self-care is simply what works for me. I know I could add so much more but then this post would go on forever! But please, do share with me you favorite physical self-care practices in the comments for me to try. Why Is Self-Care Important First, let’s talk about why self-care […]
One of the most frequent questions I get asked is “how do I stay motivated?”. Everyone always wants to know the secret to staying motivated on a weight loss journey. Motivation is a funny thing. It’s something that we can easily have an infinite amount of or none at all. And it’s all up to the individual! Motivation is the force that drives a person to repeat a behavior. And it is generally considered to be one of the most important factors that drive change within an individual. So basically, it’s pretty important. I totally understand losing motivation while on a weight loss journey. While I may have it figured out now, it still took me over 25 years and lots of attempts before I really grasped how motivation works. And whether you have 5 pounds to lose or over a hundred, figuring out motivation is hard. But there are a few tips and tricks that make a big difference in staying motivated. And I’m sharing those with you below! This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Tips For Staying Motivated On Your Weight Loss Journey Know Your Why: Knowing your true reasons for […]
This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Working out after any length of time can be really challenging. That first workout after a break, whether it be because of illness or injury, takes a certain level of planning. Personally, I just got over a really bad case of the flu. It was so bad that I ended up taking 5 days off from working out. Which for me is a huge amount of time. But it was totally necessary. If you’re not careful a cold, flu, injury, or even just life getting in the way can mean falling off the fitness wagon entirely. And most people will agree that the longer you go between workouts, the harder it is to get started again. The more days there are without exercise the more likely it is that motivation will start to fall by the wayside. The best way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to be proactive. Read my tips to get back to your ass-kicking, workout slaying self! Remember Why You Started It can be so easy to fall into a lazy routine with no activity. A body at rest wants to stay […]
Contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Honestly, part of me barely knows where to begin with this post! There are so many aspects of a large weight-loss journey that have been surprise. Or at least, many things I hadn’t previously thought about. At the beginning of my journey I was like most people with a large amount of weight to lose. All I could focus on was the scale and numbers. When I started my journey I was 249 lbs, a new twin-mom, and was overwhelmed by life. While I had been overweight all my life, I had never before been this overweight. I was in a really low place. I was so close to tipping the scales over to 250 lbs and for me, I knew that if that happened, I would fall down a hole that I might never be able to get out of. So that was the first day that I pushed play on a fitness program. And from there, I never looked back. It was about putting one foot in front of the other. Numbers, Numbers, Numbers When I started my weight loss journey, it was all about the numbers. […]
This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. How many times have you tried joining a gym or sticking to a diet or healthy eating? If you’re like many people around the world, the answer is probably countless times. For over 20 years I was the same way! For the longest time, I couldn’t make anything work. I struggled with being accountable to myself. And turns out, that was where I was wrong. I didn’t need to be accountable to myself, I had to be accountable to another person. And that’s where an accountability partner comes in. One of the biggest mistakes a person can make on their health and fitness journey is to not have an accountability partner. There is this popular fitness quote that I always see floating around that goes: Set goals. Stay quiet about them. Smash the sh*t out of them. Clap for yourself. Repeat. And the quote always drives me crazy because it’s the worst advice ever! Stay quiet about your goals!? How in the world is someone supposed to get the support that they need if they don’t talk about their goals? How an Accountability Partner Works While an […]
In October 2018, I crossed the finish line of my very first half-marathon! Setting this as my goal for the year, I dedicated all my free time to training, and transformed myself from a complete non-runner in the fall of 2017 into someone who could conquer a major race just one year later. It is easily my proudest fitness achievement to date. Transitioning from a non-runner to a half-marathon finisher meant that I was constantly stepping into the unknown. Every run longer than 3km was a step into uncharted territory—which was a bit intimidating. Along my training journey, I learned countless invaluable lessons, with each run teaching me something new about running, resilience, and myself. Here are my top 10 tips: 1. Picking Your First Half-marathon The first lesson that I learned was that a surprising amount goes into choosing which race will be your first half-marathon. I thought I did a lot of research before I chose my race but turns out I did the wrong research. I focused mostly on how hilly the race route was and where the race was held. What I should have focused on was: 2. Weather Firstly, pay attention to tip 1 and […]
It’s been a couple of years since I did, P90X, my very first home workout program. And it was that first program that completely changed my life. And I do mean completely. But first, the backstory! Post may contain affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. 3 years ago my life looked so different. I was over 100lbs heavier than I am now, I had two-year-old twins, my depression and anxiety weren’t being treated properly, and I was struggling to do just about anything. I was miserable and I felt trapped. Thankfully, I had friends who saw my struggles and suggested a solution. P90X. A friend had previously had great success losing weight (he lost 70lbs!) doing P90X. However, like many people, I thought that I wasn’t capable of success the way he was. I assumed he had better will power, better genetics and a host of other wrong ideas. I was full of excuses as to why P90X worked for everyone else but it wouldn’t for me. However, the day that the scale in my bathroom flashed 249lbs, I knew I had hit my rock bottom. I knew that if I went a pound over 250lbs, […]
Water is my jam. But believe it or not, I used to have a really hard time drinking water. I couldn’t drink a straight glass of clear water, I always felt the need to add water flavouring. Which isn’t healthy at all, let’s be honest. And I’m almost embarrassed to say how long that lasted. Let’s put it this way, I was a parent before my H2O habits changed. But when I finally decided to get serious about my health, I knew I needed to be drinking more water. And not just more H2O, but more clear and plain H2O. Now, weaning myself off of the sugary water “enhancers” was a separate (and difficult) task. And if you struggle with drinking enough water and think that adding water enhancers with help, I urge caution. Firstly, once you start using them, its a hard habit to break. Secondly, is drinking flavoured water better than soda or juice? Just barely. The truth is that these water flavours contain artificial sweeteners, colours and more, and there is not nearly enough research done to say whether they help or hinder weight-loss. There are other ways to add flavour to your water (if you feel […]
I love winter running. When I first started running in the summer of 2017, I was unsure about how running in the winter was going to go. While I happily live in Canada, I am not a fan of the cold and snow. Which is kind of too bad considering it is winter half of the time here. But after 2 months of running indoors on a treadmill, the pure boredom forced me to give winter running a real shot. And kind of surprisingly, I fell in love! I’ll be honest, my first winter run was pretty hairy but that’s because I wasn’t prepared properly. But since then, whenever the sun is shining and the roads are relatively dry, I head out on the road. You’re only cold if you’re standing still! Cold weather doesn’t have to stop you from enjoying winter running! In fact, I would argue that running outside in the winter has a lot to offer. Here are my top 5 reasons why I love winter running: Burn more calories! Running burns lots of calories in the first place, but running in the cold burns extra calories as your body works to maintain its core temperature. So basically, […]
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 […]