So many of us have a negative mindset toward food. You might not even think you feel negatively toward food until you stop to think about it. Which I encourage you to do. Ask yourself these questions: Do you have a “cheat day”? Do you sometimes feel guilty after you eat something? Do you have foods that are off-limits? Do you overeat without realizing it? Do you use food as a reward? If you answered yes to any of the above then you might not have as great a relationship with food as you think. You might not think that there is anything wrong with having a cheat day but the issue lies in the mindset. Because when you think about it, cheating on anything isn’t exactly positive. And feeling guilty about eating something doesn’t project a positive relationship with food either. But our relationship with food doesn’t have to be that way. This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Is Food The Enemy? Do you often feel like you’re at war with food? Or like there is no winning when it comes to eating? I completely understand. I used to feel like that […]
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Why use a Pre-Workout Drink? Maybe you’ve heard about pre-workout supplements or Beachbody Energize before but don’t really know how it works, or maybe you’ve seen that pink magic I drink on my Instagram. Either way, you’re curious! Why is everyone into pre-workout? Pre-workout supplements are designed to give the body and brain a “boost” prior to a workout. Let’s be real. We’ve all felt sluggish before a workout or have had a hard time getting into the workout mood. But not everything that gives you energy is good for you. There are so many energy drinks on the market that are filled with sugar. And no one wants a sugar crash after doing a hard workout. Seriously, I used to roll my eyes toward workout supplements. I just didn’t see their value. But when I started working out 4-6 days a week, I sometimes needed help getting past those sluggish moments. Especially when I felt crunched for time and just needed to get a good workout done quickly. This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. I’ve tried a TON of pre-workouts thanks to getting a bunch of free samples from a local sports […]
Healthy eating is easily the number one thing that most people struggle with and I am no exception. Even though I’ve reached my goal weight and live a fitness lifestyle, I still find healthy eating difficult. I’ve just accepted that it’s just something that doesn’t come naturally for me, and that’s okay! But it means I need to regularly work on my healthy eating habits to make sure I never get too far off track. Over the past year or so, I’ve worked hard to take control of my emotional eating and to develop better healthy eating habits. And while I’m far from perfect, the eating tips below have helped me lose a large amount of weight and keep it off. Now, just because there are 10 tips below does not mean that you need to do all of them at once. Try out one or two at a time before adding on others. You’ll build up your healthy eating habits over time. Remember that tiny changes add up to huge results! Eat from a smaller plate. Eating from a smaller plate is an age-old trick that works. I often eat from a side plate when I feel tempted to […]
This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. My weight loss journey began in 2014 not long after I had given birth to twins. I was at my highest weight ever, coming in at around 249 lb. I remember the day that I stepped on the scale and saw that number. It made my heart sink to my feet. And it felt like it couldn’t be true. But when I looked in the mirror I didn’t recognize myself. I felt like I was trapped deep inside my body. And I had no idea who I was anymore. It was an exceptionally low point in my life. But thankfully the person who I was back then didn’t give up on herself. She took that dark time and turned it into something completely different. I made the decision to take control of my life. That meant taking care of my mental health, my emotional eating, and getting over my aversion to exercise. With the help of my supportive husband, some fit friends, exercise programs and anti-depressants, I was able to lose over 100 pounds. And so far, I’ve maintained that 100-pound weight loss for over a year. […]
This post contains Affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Emotional eating is a topic that is starting to become a little less taboo. More and more people are admitting to using food as a self-soothing tool. Or as a means to numb their emotions. I have done both many times. And while I’ve gotten much better, I admit that it is still something I have to continuously work on. Working on my emotional eating has been a game changer in my health journey. It’s changed my relationship with food and helped me to lose weight and keep it off. I honestly believe that addressing our deeper emotions and changing how we use food is so important to a healthy lifestyle. But emotional eating still happens. And when it does, it’s important to know ways to stop. Having tools are your disposal will make you feel more confident. Plus, they will help change the way you deal with food and emotions over time. Identify The Reason For The Binge The most important things to do is recognize that you are stuck in a food binge. This might sound easy to some people but part of bingeing behavior […]
This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Losing weight is hard. Trust me, I get it. While I did eventually hit my weight loss goals, it took decades of trial and error. Which is why I’m trying to so hard to share all that I’ve learned through this blog so that other people can lose weight without it taking decades! Since I was a teenager (and prior to my weight loss), I would constantly gain and lose the same 20 pounds. It was infuriating! I could never understand why I would lose a tiny bit of weight and then it would simply halt. It felt like no matter what I did the weight would creep back on within a few weeks. And every time it was upsetting and demotivating. As a result, I would get so fed up that I would quit and go back to my old unhealthy habits. But eventually I learned what it was that I was doing that was stopping me from achieving my health goals. So now I’m sharing my errors with you! Read below to see if you’re making any of these mistakes that slow weight loss. You’re […]
Fitness isn’t something reserved just for the already fit person. It’s for everyone, at any size and weight! If you’re over 200 pounds like I was, and thinking about starting or are already on your health and fitness journey, let nothing stop you. Especially not your weight. At my heaviest, I weighed in at 249 pounds. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that number or size, it simply didn’t reflect who I felt like I was inside. I felt as though the real me was buried under layers that didn’t belong. I felt constrained, not just physically but mentally as well. Deep down, I knew I was so much more than my exterior showed, and I was determined to let that person inside me shine. So, what did I do? It started with changing my life in every single way. First, I adopted a rescue dog named Gigi, which meant I had to go out for walks twice a day—no excuses. I revamped my diet, minimizing junk food and focusing on nourishing, whole foods. I surrounded myself with positivity, distancing myself from anything and anyone who drained my energy. All of this helped me shift my mindset from a can’t-do […]
Exercising at home is so much easier if you have a designated workout space. And I speak from some serious experience. For the past year, I had an extra person living in my house. Having even just one extra person significantly cut down on space to exercise at home. All of a sudden, the only space I had was in a small, cramped corner of my living room. It made doing my workouts at home much harder (and getting the motivation to work out is hard enough!). The house was so cramped at times that I bought a gym membership to do my home workouts in the conditioning room. Now, I’ll be honest and admit that I ended up loving doing home workouts at my gym but that’s beside the point. When my houseguest moved out, all of a sudden I had so much more space to exercise at home. And while I had learned to enjoy the gym atmosphere, I was so happy to have more workout flexibility. Plus, I now was able to create a workout space for myself that truly worked for me. Post contains Affiliate Links. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Why Having […]
This post contains Affiliate link. See Disclosure for details. Opinions are my own. Are you sitting there thinking that working out sucks? You’re not completely wrong, nor are you alone in your thinking. If I’m being perfectly honest, I have a very strong love/hate relationship with fitness. As much as I love the rewards of the fit life, working out 4-5 times a week can still be hard. Because no matter how great the benefits of a workout are, it can still suck to do. Countless times I have found myself 5 minutes into a home workout and have been like, “this trainer is trying to kill me”. Maybe a little dramatic but that is how it feels. Thankfully, over the past year, I’ve learned several hacks that make home workouts easier or at very the least more bearable. I still might not love my workout while I’m doing it but I know I’m doing everything I can to make sure I have success and get the workout done. How To Make Home Workouts Easier If you have hacks to make your workouts easier, more enjoyable or less painful then you are more likely to keep up a fitness regime. […]
My “How To Lose Weight For Beginners” YouTube Vid!⬇️ Transforming My Life: 10 Powerful Habits That Helped Me Shed 100 Pounds and Embrace Health A huge weight loss journey is an epic commitment to yourself—especially when it means losing well over 100 pounds. There are a lot of myths out there, but trust me, there are no shortcuts or magic fixes for significant weight loss. Big weight loss takes dedication to yourself, perseverance, deep self-reflection, and a change of lifestyle habits. To be honest, for the longest time, I doubted my own strength and value, and had myself trapped in a belief that a healthy lifestyle and weight loss was out of reach for someone “like me.” But along the way, I learned a lot about myself and slowly but surely started changing my story, leaning into true self-love and seriously stepping up my game. This kind of weight loss journey is about so much more than just dropping pounds—it’s about living a life you might not have thought was possible. One day everything changed… One day it just clicked for me: I deserved to chase and reach my dreams no matter how far away they seemed. I realized that […]