I saw a picture of myself yesterday and became obsessed with how big I looked. My son is 10 months. I'm lighter than the weight I was before I had a baby. I got married a year ago. And yet, instead of remembering all of these awesome things, I became consumed with this obsessive thinking that everyone has to see my progress. I've been around a group of people twice that have commented on others around me who had also just had babies, saying how great they look especially for having a baby. Because they said it to them and not me in front of me made me feel very insignificant, especially since I work very hard. They didn't intend to make me feel forgotten but it still made an impact on me. I may not look the same as they do but I definitely look better than I did before I got pregnant. That's my own accomplishment. I recognize it and no one else has to. I've always had a slight obsession with making sure I stay in shape, even as a little girl. Small comments from adults made this worse. Some never realize the impact of their words. I remember a measuring tape being brought out to measure our waists. I have a natural hourglass figure and back then, I didn't realize that. I thought I was just big everywhere. I didn't want my waist to be measured. I didn't want anyone to measure me and comment again about how I was too curvy. So, I took off on my bike in an effort to lose the curves. They may have meant no harm but the impact lasted a while. We are all so different. Weight loss is not linear. Sometimes it stalls in certain people for a while because we have to get past our set point (more on this later). And to expand even further on that, you don't even need to feel pressure to lose weight! If you're happy and healthy, I'm not insinuating you need to lose weight at all. The scale fluctuates with MANY different factors: bloat, water weight, undigested food, food intolerance, etc.
I am strong. I work out almost everyday. I eat healthy but I also don't obsess over eating healthy. This is part of living abundantly to me. Living abundantly means not stressing over counting calories or how much I weigh. We are our own worst critics. No one else obsesses over our weight in a picture like we ourselves do. Even if they have a passing thought about our weight, it doesn't consume their entire day like it consumes ours. Live abundantly. Don't stress the weight gain or slow weight loss. If you don't want to lose weight, don't feel pressure to. Just live a healthy, happy, abundant life.
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I shared a post recently about an Instagram influencer that I follow who shares a wealth of information.
And while most of his content is interesting, he posted something that stumped me for days. He claimed that caffeine intake can count towards your daily water intake. (Coffee, tea, etc. since it contains water.) I drink about 100 ounces a day. I feel sick when I drink any less than that. Staying hydrated helps me to feel on top of my game, productive, less sluggish, etc. especially since I work out so much. When he posted this, it's not like I had never heard others claim this before but hearing him say something like this caused me to wonder if it's true. After all, he has thousands of followers and supposedly does extensive research on nutrition. So, I experimented with this. I drink a ton of caffeine in coffee and teas. I limited my water intake back to 60 ounces. It only took me a day to feel the side effects of not drinking my usual 100 ounces. Pure water is so good for you. Sure, eating an apple or any other fruit contains water and it can count towards your water intake but how do you even measure that water consumption? It's so important to drink at least half of your body weight in ounces. At least. I drink more than that because 100 ounces is where I feel the most hydrated. If you're only counting the water in your food, your gatorades or other electrolyte drinks, or other drinks, chances are that you are definitely dehydrated (especially since caffeine dehydrates you). The whole point of this post was mainly to emphasize the importance of staying hydrated, especially since it's almost summer but I would also like to stress falling back on basics. Just fill up a water bottle, try to keep track of how much you're drinking, and try to stay consistent. There are so many social media "experts" who will mislead you based on their "research" and understanding. Fall back on the basics and rely on common sense. You don't have to do extensive research to know what's healthy for your body. We all know fruits, vegetables, and water are essential. People who don't like consuming these are more likely to research reasons why they don't have to consume them. Stay hydrated, my friends! Today, I want to talk just a little bit about MyFitnessPal and how it's changed how I view food and my fitness goals. I downloaded the app about two or three years ago. I intended to use it to obsess even more about my weight loss. At the time, I was starving myself, restricting myself, and working out way too much. My priorities were centered around the scale. I actually deleted the app when I realized it wasn't helping me at all in my food disorder. Postpartum When I had my son, I started working out when my doctor said I could (six weeks). I downloaded the app again, followed a few people on social media that I knew would help promote a healthy lifestyle, and changed my focus to "reaching" my calorie goal instead of taking away from it. It's such a good feeling when I can say "I need to reach x amount of calories today" instead of "I need to stay below x amount of calories today." For me, knowing that I need to eat more and giving myself permission to eat more is freeing. I eat to fuel my body now. MyFitnessPal App MyFitnessPal actually has a free version of the app that I used for a long time. I pay for the premium version of the app and only intend to keep that once I reach my goals. Now, I know that weight loss and fitness goals aren't meant to happen overnight. It takes time. I actually talk more about this in this blog post, Eat More, Live More. I want to make healthy living a lifestyle, not something that I make hard to obtain. So, instead of stressing over whether I've eaten too many calories that day or if I've worked out enough that day, I stretch out my goals for the week. And if I haven't hit my goals or ate too much for the week, I still don't stress it because the week before I probably worked out too much or didn't eat enough. Like I state in my blog post mentioned above, weight loss is not linear. It takes time. With MyFitnessPal, I can see my weekly reviews. I keep a separate album on my phone for my screenshotted weekly reviews so that I can compare. I rarely ever hit the exact numbers and I don't stress it at all. I just try not to go too far off of the numbers. This app has truly changed my perspective and has helped me not to stress as much as I used to. I lose weight slower but I also have a healthier mindset and am able to focus more on becoming stronger. This photo is not mine and is also not representative of my macros or exercise. Photo credits to the blog: 8 Tips for Making the Most of MyFitnessPal).
This topic could really fall under any category but for me, lately, I've been fighting this feeling in two areas: my fitness life and my business life. What do you do when you feel unmotivated? I used to only work when I felt motivated. I only wrote when I felt motivated. I only worked out when I felt motivated. This caused me to miss out on building my writing. It caused me to miss a ton of work outs. Even now, I haven't posted a blog post in a few days. I was writing daily for about a week and then just gave into my lack of motivation. For some reason, I equate lack of motivation with talent. However, when you have made something a habit, going through the process of creating, of doing the thing (whatever it is you don't feel like doing), it's almost like muscle memory. Maybe you don't feel like working out. Does that mean you're not going to do it well? Maybe. Maybe not. Ability does not always synchronize with motivation. Fighting Through Lack of Motivation Here are a few things that help me when I feel more like I'm going through the motions:
Just Show Up
Sometimes you just have to show up. Maybe your work out will suck, that's okay. (Just don't hurt yourself with bad form.) Maybe this blog post sucked. That's okay. I'm still showing up. I'm still putting in the hours to improve my skill. If you want to change, you have to do something you've never done before. If you're experiencing a plateau, maybe it's because you're not pushing through and showing up when you don't feel like it. For years, I didn't see progress because I was only showing up when I felt like it. If you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done. Show up. Do the work. Push through. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. I have always struggled with body image, contributing to a borderline eating disorder where I would starve myself for days while continuing my work outs in order to get down to my goal weight. I knew it wasn't healthy but I was so determined to shed the fat. Many people struggle with this! I had no idea that I was not the only one doing extreme fasting for days with the lie that I wasn't hungry. Weight Loss After Baby After I had my son, it got worse. Not only had I been gaining weight before I got pregnant (I call this my CPS weight because I gained 20 pounds just working there, yikes) but I quickly gained another 35 pounds. This is normal for pregnancy and I knew it but to me, the scale was almost 60 pounds more than what I was used to seeing. I became obsessed with shedding those pounds once I had Jackson. I was not kind to my mind. I constantly spoke negative words. I did way too much cardio. Social Media Influencers I don't remember when I started following these two influencers but I promise they changed my entire mindset. I felt convicted for expecting immediate results. I felt convicted for being so harsh to myself. Your body picks up on the things we are thinking. There is truly a mind-body connection. If you are not kind to yourself, your body acts in response. So, not only was I stressed at work, but I was also causing stress to my body with negative self-talk. So many influencers have the power to either make us feel worse about ourselves or completely change how we view ourselves for the better. These two influencers helped me so much and I share their page with anyone I can. Here are their Facebook pages so that you can have a chance to check them out as well:
I get nothing from sharing their pages. I just truly want you all to feel the joy of living life to its fullest the way I have lately. When I started following Ripped to Shredz, I was amazed at the amount of research he does in order to continue offering up to date information to his followers and clients. His information completely changed how I was "dieting". I calorie track in MyFitnessPal. I used to do it and obsess over getting under a certain amount of calories. Now, with my new mindset, I now track so that I can REACH my number. My mindset has completely changed. I'm no longer obsessed with starving myself but with fueling my body so that I can complete my workouts (this will be for another post because I actually LOVE my workouts now), take care of my son, and still be emotionally there for my husband. Whereas before, I was always grouchy because my body was not fueled at all. I can't even come close to the information that this team offers so I will let you follow them (they're also on Instagram) and discover their wealth of knowledge. Be Patient
Reaching your goal takes time. That is the biggest thing that I've gotten from RTSF. Before, I was expecting immediate results and sometimes I got those results but they never lasted long. RTSF explains why this is and why it's important to take your time to reach your goals while still enjoying life. My goal eventually is to stop working out 6 days a week once I get down to my goal weight. I want to be able to work out 3 days a week and only use it as a tool to maintain. Since I'm in a deficit right now, I'm working out more to create a higher deficit. Mik Zazon is just an all around positive influencer. She coaches on food freedom and encourages the importance of normal eating habits. What I love about her is that she emphasizes the importance of not obsessing over food and working out. I used to work out because I felt like I had to. Now I work out because I want to. It's important to know the difference and feel the difference. Now I don't freak out when the scale hasn't budged in a month. I know it could be a number of things, muscle gain, water retention, food in intestines, etc. My body looks and feels different so that's what I'm focusing on now while still keeping my end goal in mind. It's a lot less stressful living like this. I enjoy life more. I enjoy food now. I still enjoy my wine without the guilt. It's such a freeing feeling to live life this way. I hope it encourages you to do the same. I'll write more about my work outs in the next post. I want to dive deeper into cardio, how I was overusing it and what I'm doing now to get better results. |