Tag: lifestyle

Snacking Tip

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It is SUPER easy to overeat if you let yourself just eat directly from a bag or whatever it is you’re having. Instead, try getting some snack sized zip lock baggies, and portioning out bags of 100 calories each!

This tactic makes it super easy to track what you’re consuming, and it is great when you’re on the go. I would even recommend keeping a bag or two of some kind of nut or single serving bag of some other healthy snack in your purse or in your vehicle for when you are out and about. This will keep you from buying something unhealthy on impulse when you are hungry and away from your healthy food at home.

You can do this with fruits and veggies as well, and just keep a container full of 100 calorie bags at eye level. It has been proven that you tend to go for whatever is at eye level when you open the fridge, so keep the fresh fruits and vegetables front and center!

For more helpful tips, you are invited to join my FREE Health and Fitness group!

Are you a yo-yo dieter?

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I was one of those people who started and stopped repeatedly before something finally clicked in my head and I actually stuck with it . There comes a time when you realize that you just have to suck it up and work your butt off for what you want! For me, that time came when I was finishing my third year of university. I realized that I was about to enter into another graduating year. and I was quite a bit heavier than I had been in high school. I was miserable the year I graduated high school, and I spent much of the year by myself because I was too self-conscious about my weight to actually go to any of the events. I did not want to go through that again, so I decided to put my foot down and make a change.

Changing your habits isn’t easy, and I am not going to lie to you and tell you that it is. It is hard work physically, it is hard work in the kitchen, and it is hard work mentally and emotionally. You need to exercise regularly, eat clean 90% of the time, and deal with the mental battles you will face when it comes to temptation. You will also need to deal with the emotional ups and downs that comes along with a fitness journey. You are going to give in to temptation at some point, and you’ll feel guilty. You’re going to see progress and feel great. You’re also likely going to hit a plateau at some point or maybe even gain a few pounds back, and you’ll have to deal with the negative emotions that come along with that.

The important thing is not how many times you slip up or make a mistake, but in how many times to get back up and keep fighting. One bad day is not going to destroy your progress, but one good day is not going to help you achieve your goals. You just need to keep fighting the mental and emotional battles, keep on track with your nutrition 90% of the time, and keep working out regularly.

Slow progress is progress, so don’t give up! Each time you give up, you will just put the weight that you lost right back on. Then when you decide to get started again, you’ll have even more weight to lose. You need to remember that the time is going to pass regardless, so you may as well keep pushing toward your goals.

If you are ready to make the commitment to yourself and a healthier future, we should talk. Send me an email to hfmxj@stu.ca with the subject line “I’m ready to transform” to discuss the opportunity to be a part of a challenge group of individuals going through the same process!

Do your relationships hamper your progress?

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Don’t let other people tear you down. There are going to be people out there that are going to try to discourage you from making positive life changes and/or tell you that you can’t do it. This may even come from someone close to you, like a friend or family member. This hurts, but you can’t let them beat you down to their level.

If you’ve watched Extreme Weight Loss with Chris Powell over the years like I have, you’ll have learned that sometimes the people closest to us will try to prevent us from being successful on our journey simply because they aren’t ready to make those changes themselves. Sometimes they do it without even realizing it, and though they would never intentionally do something to hurt you, their subconscious wins the battle and they say or do things that can set you back.

Making the shift from junk food to healthy food and from inactivity to activity on a regular basis is not easy. It takes hard work and dedication. This process is made much more difficult if you don’t have a support system to lean on. For example, if you live with a spouse or significant other that doesn’t want to make healthier choices, or if your friends constantly invite you out to places where you’ll be tempted to eat poorly.

What I would recommend that you do moving forward is to start analyzing the people in your life. Think about the people that mean the most to you, and the people you spend the most time with. Once you’ve figured that out, you should then have an open and honest conversation with each of those people. Say, “listen, I have decided to start eating better and working out because it is very important to me that I get healthy and/or lose weight. As my family member/friend, I was really hoping that you would support me on this journey.”

If they are the type of person that says or does things that bring you down and work against your health and fitness goals, you can add something like “You are very important to me, and I don’t want to damage our relationship. However, I feel like you sometimes say and/or do things that make it more difficult for me to stick with my positive life choices. I would love for you to join me on this journey, but if you aren’t ready, I at least need that discouraging behaviour to stop. Otherwise I might have to take some time away from you for a while until these new life choices have had the chance to become habits”

This isn’t always an easy conversation to have, but it is important if you want to be successful. If you’re open and honest with them about what you want and how you are feeling, they will likely be open and honest with you in return. It may be just the push they need to agree to these changes themselves, and it could really strengthen your relationship. However, if they refuse to join you and they continue the negative behaviour, you really should consider taking some time away from that person to work on yourself. You need to surround yourself with positive people that support you and your health and fitness goals, otherwise your chances of being successful tend to dwindle.

As for household relationships, like children and/or spouses, think about who does the grocery shopping. Is it you? If so, just gradually start reducing the amount of junk food you have in the house! Your family might not like it at first, but if you replace the junk foods that they enjoy with some healthier options, they will get used to it over time.

You need to be a positive role model for your friends and family. SHOW them that it is possible to make these life choices and what kind of results can come from making those choices. Invite them to join you on your workouts. Talk to them about how you are feeling now that you have started this awesome journey, and make them want to join in.

If you have children, this is more important than ever, because children will model after you when it comes to food choice in most cases. If you constantly eat junk food and allow them to eat junk food, they are going to learn that junk food is good. If you don’t eat junk food regularly and you don’t keep junk food in the house or allow your kids to eat it regularly, they will learn that junk food is not good for you and that they can only have it as a treat once in a while. The problem is that many people are eating junk food ALL DAY every day. For example kids get sent to school with chips, cookies, fruit roll ups, lunchables, gummies, etc. Instead, send your kids to school with healthier snacks like fruit and veggies.

If you teach your children healthy habits early in their lives, they are less likely to become overweight or obese going into adulthood. I wish that I had been forced to learn healthy habits when I was a child, because I could have avoided all of the years that I spent depressed and in self-imposed isolation because of my weight.

Send me an email to hfmxj@stu.ca with the subject line “I’m ready to transform” if you would like to make me your free Beachbody Coach. I look forward to speaking with you, and I can’t wait to watch your mind and body transform over the course of your health and fitness journey.

Are you addicted to junk food?

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I saw a post from one of my challengers in my free Health and Fitness group yesterday, and I decided to make this blog post about it because I feel as though it is important. Anyone who has ever struggled with food addiction will understand this, and anyone who hasn’t, probably won’t. Some people may even find this notion completely ridiculous, but if you haven’t been through it, it would be hard to grasp. So, what is addiction anyway?

“A physical or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, such as a drug or alcohol” Dictionary.com

The idea here is that food can be an addiction much like alcohol, drugs, tobacco, gambling, etc. If you struggle with food addiction, chances are you have formed a habit of eating snacks as you watch television or movies. It can be so drilled into your mind that it is actually hard for you to sit through an entire show or movie without getting a snack of some sort. I struggled with this bigtime when I started my fitness journey, and I had to ease my way into eating healthy by still snacking at night with healthier options. It is not easy to change these habits, but just like any other addiction that is damaging to your health, you have to work at it to break these habits.

Maybe this kind of addiction isn’t as obvious or extreme as some of the others out there, but it is still detrimental to your health in the long run. From what I’ve read, it seems there are differing opinions on this topic from health professionals. However, having been through it, I strongly believe that eating can be a psychological addiction.

“A strong or harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble)” Merriam Webster

In this case, the strong and harmful need factor would be applied to junk food, and the act would be considered eating. What a lot of people don’t seem to understand is that for many people struggling with weight issues, eating is more than fuel for our bodies. For some of us, eating is a form of comfort. We get sad, depressed, angry, frustrated, stressed out, et cetera, and we immediately head for the junk food. Sometimes this is completely subconscious behaviour, but we do it anyway. This ends up being a NEVER-ENDING cycle! You eat to make yourself feel better for negative emotions, and then you gain weight. The weight gain makes you feel even worse, so you go for the junk food again to feel better. You then gain more weight, eat more junk, and the cycle goes on and on and on until you put a stop to it.

“… most addictive behavior is not related to either physical tolerance or exposure to cues. People compulsively use drugs, gamble, or shop nearly always in reaction to being emotionally stressed, whether or not they have a physical addiction. Since these psychologically based addictions are not based on drug or brain effects, they can account for why people frequently switch addictive actions from one drug to a completely different kind of drug, or even to a non-drug behavior. The focus of the addiction isn’t what matters; it’s the need to take action under certain kinds of stress.” Psychology Today

What does this mean? Well, what this means to me is that it is possible for you to shift your “addiction” from food to fitness. It honestly worked for me, and I think it can work for everyone else too. Exercise releases endorphins into your brain, which ultimately makes you feel better overall! When I finish an intense workout, I usually feel refreshed. There have been many times when I’ve been upset or angry when I went down to do an intense cardio workout like Turbo Fire or Combat, and by the end of the workout, I felt a million times better than when I started.

If you start gradually decreasing your bad food habits and exercising on a regular basis, you WILL start to see results. You’ll start to feel better about yourself, you’ll sense the brain fog from all of the junk food start to lift, and you’ll start regaining your confidence as you lose weight from your positive life choices.

Are you ready to start working toward a happier and healthier life for yourself and your loved ones? If so, send me an email to hfmxj@stu.ca with the subject line “I’m ready to transform”.

I can’t wait to help you along your journey as your free coach, and I look forward to watching you transform!

On a diet do you look at junk food and think “I can’t have that”?

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Chances are, you probably do. This is something that a lot of people do, myself included.

Here is the problem with that: You know that common saying that you always want that which you can’t have? Well when you think that you “can’t” have something, it makes you want it that much more. In order to change your eating habits long term you have to change your way of thinking about it first.

From now on, instead of saying “I can’t have this” to yourself each time you see a treat you’d like to have, but know you shouldn’t – try saying “I don’t eat this”. Think about what junk food does to your body and mind. It causes you to gain weight, it causes brain fog, it causes drowsiness, and much much more. Then think about your goals and what you want for yourself with respect to your health and your life.

Is your goal to be healthy, have energy, lose weight, etc.? If the answer to that question is yes, then you need to start telling yourself that you don’t eat junk food anymore. Not because you can’t have it, but because you don’t want to put all of that junk and toxins into your body.

Click Here if you would like to create a FREE Team Beachbody account to gain access to a variety of information on health, fitness, and nutrition.

My Transformation: Body and Soul

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In honor of #ThrowbackThursday, I thought I would post an old photo of myself! I look at this photo from Christmas at my grandparents house a few years back, and it amazes me how different things are now. I had no confidence in myself to speak of, so I would do my hair all fancy and wear nice makeup to try to instill confidence in myself. I still do those things lol, but now it is just for fun!

For me the best part about having lost this weight is simply regaining my confidence. I love that I no longer avoid public places, and I can actually have fun. I love that I finally get to experience things that I was forcing myself to miss out on because of my weight, like swimming and tanning on the beach. I love that I finally got out of my shell and went after a dream on mine this summer! Until summer 2014 I hadn’t flown in an airplane, I hadn’t left Canada apart from going shopping in the states a couple of times, and I hadn’t travelled or explored much at all apart from the smaller cities surrounding my own. I am so proud to be able to say that I’ve now flown 6 times, I’ve had the opportunity to explore Barcelona, Paris, and London, and I’ve found a new passion that I can’t see ever going away. I NEVER would have had the confidence to do that prior to finding Beachbody and changing my life through this health and fitness journey. 

Most of all, I just love that I’m not sad and down on myself all the time anymore. I have become a much more positive person overall. I am kind of shy and awkward by nature when it comes to talking to new people in person, but I have seen a dramatic increase in my sociability since starting this journey. I’m not nearly as shy and afraid as I used to be, and it has allowed me to meet more people than I have in years. If you’re struggling with your weight and dealing with depression or isolation because it, please come and talk to me. Beachbody changed my life, and I would love nothing more than to see your life turn around for the better too. 

Send me an email to hfmxj@stu.ca with the subject “I’m ready to transform” if you’re ready to take this leap!

Do you reward yourself with food for your successes?

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I was really bad when it comes to stress eating, and reward eating, and just eating in general. If I was having a bad day, I would self-soothe with ice cream or chips. If I was doing really well, I would think that I had earned myself a treat.

Now that I’ve gotten into healthy eating, I consider healthier snacks to be treats like greek yogurt and strawberries. Once you find healthier versions of the junk food you used to like, they can become your treats. What I have learned about rewarding yourself with junk food is that it is a very slippery slope. Once you have that treat, you may bring back all of those cravings to the forefront of your brain and have to start from scratch trying to get rid of them.

When I reach goals that I set for myself, I reward myself by buying new clothes to replace those that are now too big for me. If your goal is to fit into a bikini or swimming trunks and look great by summertime, and you hit your goal, treat yourself to a hot new bikini or swimming trunks!

This is a lifestyle change, and it is not something you kind of start and then stop as soon as you reach your goal. It is something that you continue with for years to come to KEEP the results that you’ve gotten. I have made this switch, and you can make it too!

Email me at hfmxj@stu.ca with the subject line “Beachbody: I’m Ready”, and I will help you work through the options to find a program that will be best suited for your individual goals and needs.

10 Day Plank Challenge!

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Do you want to build a strong core and get abs? If so, you should try this challenge! Planking is actually really good for your core and abdominal muscles. It isn’t easy, which is why you increase the time incrementally throughout the ten day timeframe.

If you are new to fitness I would suggest probably starting out by using your forearms to hold yourself up. As you build strength, you should try holding yourself up with your hands. If your arms get too shaky, come back down onto your forearms. You want to push yourself to do better, but you don’t want to push yourself to injury!

I’ve posted this challenge in my free health and fitness group for all of my members, and you are invited to join us! Just comment on this thread and let me know if you would like to participate, and we will go from there :)

What will YOU choose?

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You can choose to change nothing with respect to diet and exercise, and expect no positive change in your body. OR, you can choose to make good choices with respect to diet and exercise and start seeing progress in your body, strength, and overall health!

The first week is the hardest when it comes to diet. Once you find healthy meals and snacks that you like it becomes a whole lot easier! After you’ve been eating healthy for a bit and you get all of those chemicals and processed foods out of your system, your body won’t crave the junk food as much. Instead, you’ll find yourself craving your favorite healthy snacks.

Just try to always keep in mind that the time will pass regardless, so you might as well make the best of it!

Click Here if you are ready to get started!

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.

Click Here if you would like to be coached by me, and added to my private Health and Fitness group.