Month: January 2015

Thinking of giving up?

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SO many people start exercising and dieting, make it a week or so into their new routine, and then quit when they aren’t seeing the results that they want. This is really sad, because if they would just hold on a little longer they could have gotten some great results. What is important to remember with weight loss is that you didn’t put the weight on overnight, so you can’t expect it to all just fall off overnight.

You just need to have faith that if you continue then the results will come, because they will! Like I said, it didn’t take a week to put that weight on, so it is unrealistic to believe that it will come off in a week. If it does come off that quickly, chances are it is through unhealthy means or extreme changes, and the weight will come right back on when you return to typical eating/exercising patterns.

Do it the right way and stick to it! You won’t regret it if you do, but chances are you will regret it if you quit! Think of it this way: The time is going to pass regardless of whether or not you are eating clean and working out. Would you rather be following the plan and working toward your goals, or would you rather not ,and then find yourself in the exact same position – or worse – a few months later?

Only YOU have the power to make the choice to change your habits. Nobody can force you to eat good foods, just like nobody can force you to do your workouts. Just like that old saying, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. I can tell you what you need to do to get fit and healthy, but whether or not you do it is totally up to you!

Click Here if you’re finally ready to take that leap of faith!

Are fad diets any good?

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Doing super restrictive diets, like many of the fad diets out there claiming to help you lose weight fast, is not a good idea at all! Sure, you will most likely lose some weight, but chances are as soon as you go back to eating normally you will gain it all back. What you lose with fad diets is the water weight, which comes back as soon as you get back to your normal eating habits. You WILL NOT maintain that weight loss, so what is the point in picking a diet that is not sustainable long-term? What is even more important to note is that it is simply NOT HEALTHY.

Instead, find a variety of healthy foods and meals that you enjoy, and then create a new healthy lifestyle around those foods! Eating healthy doesn’t have to mean depriving yourself of junk food 100% of the time either. It is important to have a cheat meal every once in a while to not only help you stay on track, but also because it revs up your metabolism. As long as you don’t completely pig out and you eat in moderation, one cheat meal is not going to hurt you every now and then – it can actually be beneficial! If you deprive yourself entirely of things you crave for a long time, there is a higher risk of going on a binge at some point. If you plan out your cheat meal and use it as a reward for progress, you will curb those cravings for a while and help yourself continue moving forward. 

Furthermore, you can still have “cheat” meals without it entirely being a cheat. For example, when I crave junk sometimes I will have a plate of nachos made with organic nachos, salsa, and cheese. If your kryptonite is chips, try cooking some homemade popcorn and just melting a bit of real butter to put on top with some sea salt. I also like having homemade pizza every now and then, and I just measure out my toppings so that I know how many calories I am consuming and I can organize the rest of my day around it. 

You need to remember that one bad day is not going to make you gain a bunch of weight. That works both ways though, because one GOOD day is also not going to make you LOSE a bunch of weight. Results will come over time, and with effort.

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Hip and Thigh exercises

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Contrary to popular belief, you actually can’t spot train! All of these exercises will work the hip and thigh area, but they also work other areas in your legs as well. If you do any of these, or even many of the exercises in the “butt exercises” note, they will work these areas. One thing I’ve learned throughout my own journey is that you just have to do leg exercises in general, and the weight will come off wherever it feels like coming off lol. I still have fat on my hips and thighs that I would like to get rid of, but doing only these exercises wouldn’t make that happen any faster. It would actually be counter-productive because this area natually takes longer for us as women to lose, so you might as well work all the other areas while you’re at it so that you see progress everywhere else while you wait! The key is that you’ll be building muscle, and the muscle is what is going to burn off the fat.

-Squat with leg lift (Do a regular squat with feet shoulder width apart, then when you are standing up lift one leg out to the side. Be careful not to lean to the other side, and focus on standing straight just lifting the leg up and out to the side. You can alternate legs if you want, or you can do one leg then the other)

-Standing hip opener (Stand straight and bring one knee up so that the top part of your leg is parallel to the floor, then bring the leg out directly to the side but keeping it at the same angle, and then lower the leg back to the ground. Again, try to remember to stand up straight and not to bend into the turn. This will work your legs as well as your core and your abs from balancing and using that core strength to stand straight)

-Bowling lunge (Get into a lunge stance with most of your weight on the forward leg, and then inch the other leg behind you and to the side. You should be able to lift your back toe off the ground and balance on the front leg for a few seconds. It will feel like you’re about to throw a bowling ball. Once in position, lunge down, then come back up slowly. Repeat as many times as you can)

-Sumo squats (Get into a wide foot stance with toes facing outward. Squat down and then come up slowly. Again, repeat as many times as you can)

-Pulsing sumo squats (Same as regular sumo squats only this time instead of coming all the way up when you finish the first one, you only come halfway up. Do that pulse three times, then on the fourth you can come all the way up. This counts as one rep)

-Hip raises (Lie on your side on your mat and hold yourself up with your arm resting on the mat and your foot closest to the ground on the mat on its side with the other foot resting on top of it. Slowly lift your hips off the ground so that the space between your body and the mat forms half of a triangle. You can do this with your knee on the mat instead of your feet if you don’t have the strength to get up, but try it with the toes first)

-Leg lifts (Get in the same position as the hip raises only this time you will lift the top leg up into the air as high as you can)

-Wall sit (Get into squat position with your back against the wall. Your legs should be at a 90 degree angle, with the top part of your leg parallel to the floor. If it starts to burn too much just come up for 10 seconds and then inch back down. If your legs start shaking too much, you’re done)

-Step ups (If you have a stepper or a small stool this would come in handy. Otherwise just use something about the same height or even just a regular stair if you have to, but ideally it will be a bit higher than a typical stair. You just step up with one leg, step back, and then lunge back with the other leg. This is one rep, and do as many as you can on one side before switching to the other)

-Toe touches/deadlifts (If you have weights you can use them to make this a deadlift, otherwise you can use cans of soup or something to make it at least a little more difficult. Stand up straight and then bend down but keep your back straight as you come down and try to bring your hands or the weights as low as you can)

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Quote of the day

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“Choose your relationships wisely. Being alone will never cause as much loneliness as the wrong relationships. Be with people who know your worth. You don’t need lots of friends to be happy; just a few real ones who appreciate you for who you are. Oftentimes walking away has nothing to do with weakness, and everything to do with strength. We walk away not because we want others to realize our worth, but because we finally realize our own worth.”

This is SO true. I never did understand the people who spend their lives getting into relationship after relationship after relationship just to avoid being alone. Personally, I would rather wait it out for the REAL thing. I want someone who loves me for me, and that is what everybody should be striving for. We all deserve to be happy, and keeping negative people around will only bring you down.

Only YOU hold the power to eliminate the people constantly spouting negativity from your life! Give the negative people in your life the boot, and focus on spending more time with the people who treat you as you deserve to be treated. If you surround yourself with positive people, you will find that you start to become a more positive person yourself. 

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Butt toning exercises

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Here are some moves you can do to tone your butt. You can add weight to a lot of these to make it harder and work better, but it isn’t necessary.

-Regular squats (feet shoulder width apart)

-Sumo squats (feet further apart with toes pointed outward)

-Pulsing squats (Squat down, then only come halfway up 3 times, then come all the way up on the fourth pulse. That is considered one rep)

-Squat and hold (Squat down and hold position for 10 seconds, then come up)

-Wall sits (Put your back against the wall and squat down so that your knees are at a 90 degree angle. When it starts to burn just come up a bit to give your legs a break, then get back down into it. If your legs start shaking, you’re done)

-Lunges (You can do these as walking lunges where you do one on each side, or if you don’t have much space you can do them standing still in one place doing a full set on one leg and switching)

-Screamers (Get in a lunge stance with most of your weight on the forward leg, then you bring the back leg off the ground with your knee coming up. Pull your hands in as you bring the knee up, it will almost feel like you’re pulling someone down to knee them in the gut or something. Do this repeatedly as fast as you can. You will know why they are called screamers within like 5 seconds lol)

-Leg extensions (Get on your knees on a mat and raise one leg up into the air as high as you can repeatedly, then the other leg. This can also be done standing up, but you have to be careful of your posture and that you aren’t cheating by leaning forward)

-Leg pulses (Get in the same position as above on your mat and raise one leg up as high as you can, then only bring it back down halfway and keep pulsing up)

-Bridge (Lie down on the mat with your feet planted down below your butt, then lift your body up into a straight line)

-Hip thrusts (Rest your shoulders on a bench with your feet planted on the ground and lif your body up into a straight line so that your legs are at a 90 degree angle. I usually do this with a barbell and some plates by resting the bar across my hips)

-Back kicks, aka donkey kicks (You literally just kick straight behind you. You will have to bend forward to do this one, and you probably shouldn’t try this at the gym or you may get some strange looks lol)

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Don’t Hesitate

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So many people say “I’ll start Monday”, or “I’ll start after New Years”, or “I’ll start after I eat all of the bad food in the house so that it won’t be there to tempt me”. and things of that nature. Yet, that day never actually comes. The more you put it off, the less likely it is to actually happen.

If you have the motivation to get started and you WANT to get started, don’t let yourself put it off. If you do, chances are you’ll never get started. If you do get started and you ate all of the junk food in the house so that it wouldn’t be there to tempt you, chances are you will have put on some extra weight. Now you not only will have wasted time you could have been making progress, but you’ll have put on more weight that you will have to work off!

Why not get started early and build the good daily habits that will keep you going during and after the bad days to come? There will be days when you will give in to temptation, and what I want you to remember is that one bad day is not going to wreck your progress. However, by the same token, one good day is not going to give you progress.

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Food VS Body

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Lol I totally agree, and I bet I am not alone in this! The cravings subside most of the time, but every now and then I do crave stuff like pizza, chocolate, ice cream, or my kryptonite, ROOTBEER!

Just because you have those cravings, doesn’t mean you have to indulge all the time.You should never completely restrict yourself from having things like this long term because it can actually be counter-productive. If you try too hard to NOT eat something, eventually you are going to get caught on a rough day and you are going to go on a binge.

Make the choice to treat yourself once a week, and try to pick cheat meals that are still relatively healthy. You can do this by make meals that mimic the foods that you love. For example, with Shakeology I mimic my love of ice cream by making it neapolitan flavored! My personal favorite cheat meals are homemade nachos and homemade pizza. We use organic nacho chips, we measure out the salsa and the tex mex cheese, and we throw it in the microwave. For the pizza, we use a healthier brand of thin crust and measure out some sauce, pineapple, pepperoni slices, and cheese. These meals are delicious, and I am able to eat them completely guilt free!

Click Here to make a free account on Team Beachbody so that you can gain access to some healthy recipes.

Survey Says!

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Have you ever heard of Shakeology? If not, check out the results from a survey that was done with people who have tried it. The vast majority of these listings are all super high numbers!

Now I am aware that they are a HUGE amount of drinks and shakes out there that claim they will help with weight loss. This deters many people from trying Shakeology because they think it is just another one of those fads. Coming from a person who actually HAD this line of thinking, I can honestly tell you that Shakeology is not like the other drinks or shakes you may have tried.

I refused to try it myself for a while because I was skeptical of anything that claimed to help you lose weight after having wasted hundreds of dollars on products that failed to work. After a while though, my coach sent me some sample packets in the mail. Upon trying the regular chocolate Shakeology, I finally decided to give it a try. I have been drinking shakeology daily ever since!

I love the way that Shakeology makes me feel, and I love what it does for my body. Even better than that though, I love the taste! I mix my Shakeology with a scoop of whey protein, some frozen strawberries, almond milk, and ice. To me this honestly tastes like a chocolate covered strawberry milkshake. Come to think of it, when I went to a Wedding Trade Show with my Beachbody business I gave out samples using this recipe. I had multiple people tell me that it tasted just like ice cream!

Shakeology has so many health benefits, and it is great for anyone who has a sweet tooth. Simply mix up a blend that mimics some tasty treat, and drink it to curb your craving!

Click Here if you would like to learn more. You can find videos, information, as well as recipes on my website.

Is your food medicine or poison?

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So many people are getting sick these day, and you hear all the time of people having heart attacks at a pretty young age. Sometimes these health issues has a lot to do with what the people were eating. If you’re one of those people that can eat just about anything all day and night and never gain any weight, that does NOT give you a free pass to eat nothing but junk! You can be unhealthy and still be small, and then some day all of that junk food will catch up to you.

Just because you are not getting “fat” on the outside, does not mean that your body isn’t changing and getting fat on the inside. If your arteries get clogged up from all the junk that you eat, and blood stops flowing to your heart, you can potentially be the next person to have a heart attack in your 20’s or 30’s.

People need to realize how important it is that you take care of yourself. You need to choose to put good and nutritious food into your body! More important than that, you need to choose to provide good and nutritious food to your children. It is your responsibility to teach your children how to be healthy, and they will learn from you. If you are constantly eating junk food and allowing them to eat junk food, they will grow up eating junk food.

When my little sister was a toddler, we didn’t allow her to have pop until she was older. By the time she actually tried pop, she didn’t even like it. She hadn’t been introduced to it because she was always told that it was yucky and not for her, so she didn’t get it in her head that it was okay to have at that super young age when they are developing their habits. Kids need to develop healthy eating habits so that they don’t end up being unhealthy as they grow up.

Parents tend to forget that their habits can impact their children in a big way. If a child loses their parent because they had a heart attack younger than they should have from their poor eating habits, it will most-likely devastate them. We all need to be more health conscious not just for ourselves, but for those around us that care about us and don’t want to lose us to something trivial that could have been prevented!

Click Here if you are ready to finally change your eating habits and create a healthier life for yourself and your family.

Courage doesn’t always ROAR…

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This is such a great quote!

Chances are you’ll struggle in the beginning, and it will be trial and error until you figure things out. What you need to remember though, is that the struggle is totally normal. You just need to stick with it and you will surprise yourself with the progress you make!

So many people get down on themselves because they can’t do certain moves, or they aren’t seeing progress on the scale, or they aren’t able to go running. Whatever the case may be, none of that matters. What matters is what you CAN do, and that you do it. Over time, you will get stronger and be able to do more.

You should always focus on simply being better than you were yesterday, not by trying to kill yourself doing too much too fast. Have you ever done that? If you have been the person that called it quits instead of sticking it out, are you ready to be courageous and try again?

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