My Health & Fitness Journey...In A Nutshell!

Hi lovely people :)

This week is whizzing by, and I haven't had one spare second to breathe. But that's okay...that just makes me appreciate the fact that the weekend is getting nearer!

I've had a lot of questions about my health/fitness journey so I figured I'd give you guys a little look into that!

WARNING: THIS WILL BE A VERY TEXT HEAVY POST ;)

Before I get into the details of my journey there is something I want to share:

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This is so true for me. The only time that I step on a scale these days is when I go to the doctor's office. When I first started losing weight and living a healthy lifestyle, I stepped on a scale once a week to track my progress and make sure that I was meeting my goals. Now that I have met my goals and I am maintaining a healthy lifestyle, I can gauge where I'm at by how my body feels.

My journey...well in high school I was overweight. I'm 5' tall and weighed 143 pounds at my heaviest. You may think to yourself, "143...really that's not THAT much." Okay - wrong. When you are 5' tall, 143 pounds means that I looked like a rolly polly ball. It was not good. I had no self confidence, and I wasn't comfortable in my own body. I knew I had to do something.

The summer between my sophomore and junior year I made the decision to revamp my lifestyle. I was ready to live healthy and love myself. And feel good by doing it the right way. I'd seen close friends and family crash and burn on fad diets, so I knew those were a no-go if I wanted lasting results.

I didn't really know where to start so I just jumped right in. I joined a local gym and committed to going 5 days a week - doing an hour of cardio each of those days. 30 minutes on the elliptical and 30 minutes on the bike. Nothing crazy. And for my diet, I started out by cutting out all drinks except water, cutting out sweets (which let me just tell you was the hardest part for me because I don't have just one sweet tooth, but probably more like 4 sweet teeth), switching from white bread to wheat bread, and changing from 2% milk to skim milk. I also axed all fast food from my diet. 

My eating habits have changed even more since then. I still only drink water, hot tea & coffee...no soda! My sweet tooth has tamed down a lot. Occasionally I'll have a craving and I usually try to satisfy it by drinking a cup of coffee or something like that. I rarely eat bread. And I drink almond milk. My diet consists of a ton of fresh fruits & veggies. I love smoothies :) I eat fish & chicken a few times per week.

That first summer (about 2 months) I lost 30 pounds. 

I'm not a naturally skinny person. 

I worked hard.

I didn't give up.

I ate right.

And exercised.

There's no hidden secret.

Just drive & ambition!

Is it easy? No. Absolutely not. If it was easy everyone would be healthy & in shape. 

But I can tell you one thing...it's worth it!

Since then I have lost 10-11 more pounds and have maintained that weight for over 2 years. It started out difficult, but now I couldn't live any other way. Here are some of the things that I do now to maintain a healthy lifestyle:

(and please note that even though I am "skinny" I am strong. I'm not a little beanpole and I take pride in that :))

I work out at least 6 days a week for 60 minutes each day. And I've come to love it.

My work outs consist of 5 minutes of stretching, 30 minutes of cardio, 20 minutes of strength training, and 5 minutes of cool down stretching. Sometimes when my schedule is hectic, I break up the cardio & strength training and do one in the morning and the other in the evening.

I eat breakfast every day to get my metabolism going (I'm a big on never skipping breakfast). I also eat lunch and dinner every day and one healthy snack in between lunch & dinner. I drink lots of water (at least 60 ounces a day). And I do treat myself on the weekend occasionally- if I want a slice of pizza or a mojito (or both!) I have them. I just make sure to be on my A-game Monday-Friday and keep my "treat" portions reasonable. There's no reason to make yourself miserable! 

I try not to base my day around how many calories I'm eating; instead I try to fill my body with foods that will make me feel good and give me proper nutrition & energy. That along with being active and working out every day = the key to success!

My tips:

Eat lean protein.

Don't skip meals.

Avoid processed foods as much as you can - fresh is best!

Pay attention to portion sizes.

Work out as early in the day as possible.

Change up your work outs so you don't get burnt out/bored.

Go bike riding, play a game of tennis with a friend, go for a swim, just MOVE.

Work out with a friend if you feel like that will motivate you.

Don't ever give up! Results won't happen over night! Make it your lifestyle :)

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I'm known among my friends as "the healthy & fit one" and it took a lot of hard work to get there. But like I mentioned earlier...it comes naturally to me now. Do I have to occasionally fight off cravings? Yes, but I am stronger than my cravings. AND YOU are stronger than yours :)

Seriously, if you want to make it happen, commit yourself and it will happen. My way will not work for everyone, but that's the beauty of living a healthy lifestyle, everyone's is different! You have to find what works for you & your body!

I'm so incredibly excited to continue this journey of mine and pursue my passion for health & fitness by becoming a Certified Personal Trainer. 

Remember ladies...you are BEAUTIFUL :)

If you ever need any encouragement about your health & fitness journey, you know where to find me!