False Positives

I think in our society of memes and catchphrases, it's really easy to make excuses. It's really easy to hide behind motivational sayings and just live a stagnant life. It's also really easy to be more concerned with complaining than finding a solution to our problems.  The mindset that most quickly becomes a slippery slope (and believe me, I've been there) is the one that says: "My body is beautiful just the way it is." If it ended there, it would be wonderful. You've learned to love yourself and that is something we should all do. But it usually goes past that point into something unhealthy.

For some, it turns into bashing thinner people and basically treating their size like a disease. Not cool. If bigger women can be proud of their bodies, why can't smaller women? Don't be one of those. Maybe you're not insecure and jealous--but these kind of sayings make you look that way.

For others, it's using buzzwords like "curvy" or "thick." They start thinking, 'I don't need to lose weight. I'm curvy. Marilyn Monroe was curvy. [insert celebrity here] is curvy and she's hot." I'm not hating on curvy girls. I've always been one of them. But...

If you're eating healthy (and not over/undereating), exercising regularly, and your BMI is in check, but you're still hippy or chesty or have got some junk in the truck; more power to you! That's what I'm talking about. That's curvy. I was still that way when I was at a healthy weight. You know what's not curvy? When your doctor is telling you you're overweight, when you've got excess visceral fat (clinging to stomach), when you're eating like crap, when you're drinking like a fish, and when your version of exercise is walking from one bar to another. I'm getting back to curvy, but guess what I wasn't when I started this? Curvy. I was LUMPY. But it wasn't about looks. It was about the fact that I was always tired. I wasn't getting proper nutrition. I couldn't walk up stairs without huffing and puffing. And my BMI was in the overweight range.

It's all well and good to blow off society and their standards of beauty. The media is full of crap and what they want is unrealistic! But too many of us hide behind that and keep horrible habits. Your body needs exercise and proper nutrition. If you truly don't care about the looks aspect, that's fine! But if you keep doing what you're doing, one day the price will have to be paid. Maybe you'll age prematurely. Maybe you'll develop adult-onset diabetes. Maybe you'll have a heart attack. Maybe you'll dramatically increase your risk of cancer. Is it worth it? Will you still think it's worth it in 20 years?

I can't tell you how many women I see posting a status one day about starting a workout regime and how they're determined to lose weight...and then the next day posting something that's a cop-out like "Bones are for dogs" (again with the thin girl hate). All right, fellow chubster! I'll play your game. Meat and rolls belong on a dinner table, not a person, and muscles are for CHAMPIONS. It's unbelievably common to have falsely positive attitudes in public and then despise ourselves behind the scenes. It isn't healthy and using these cutesy little catchphrases isn't going to change the truth that you're not happy and your body isn't, either!

Staying on track is hard. Fitness for me is a back and forth thing. Kill it, kill it, kill it for three weeks and then I fall down for a week and barely muster a workout. I know it's so painful when you've got such a long way to go. But it's much worse knowing how far you are from healthy and not doing anything about it.

Value Versus Cost

SO many people who look at the cost of a challenge pack with me have said "That's so expensive." Some of those same people will go out and get gym memberships.  Even more get a latte every day at Starbucks.  Even more than that go on the Special K diet or make with the Slim Fast and get a lot more low-calorie filler food than actual nutrition.  So let me break it down.  I'll use the 21 Day Fix challenge pack as an example.  For simplicity's sake, let's cut the charge into two portions: the workouts and the Shakeology.  We'll call the Shakeology bottle, portion containers, and detailed eating plan gifts with purchase.

THE WORKOUTS

We'll say the workout portion accounts for $60.  You get 7 workouts (1 for each day of the week), a bonus Plyo workout, a 10 minute abs add-on, and then the 2 Shakeology workout dvds (one 30 minute, one 50 minute): so a total of 11 workouts.  Based on an average gym membership cost of about $25 a month, excluding fees and cost of gas driving back and forth, you're spending about $300 a year.  That $300 is for a membership that may or may not be used and most likely can't be used if you're traveling, if you can't find a babysitter, or if your car breaks down.

You may not even know how to effectively use your gym membership.  Maybe you're running on the treadmill and little else.  Maybe you are embarrassed to use a weight machine in front of Mr. Muscles over there.  Maybe you don't know the right combination of moves to get you off your plateau!  So those dvds are a concentrated, planned out, precise way for you to get in shape--$240 less than a year at the gym and you can use them over and over WHEREVER and WHENEVER you want!  **

**And you don't even have to wear pants!

The second part of the challenge pack is Shakeology.  We're gonna assume it accounts for $100 of the cost.  Broken down, that's less than $4 per shake.  If you regularly buy drinks at Starbucks, fast food breakfast, or go out to bars and get drinks; you spend right at or well over that amount on those things. And you would spend more trying to get on a no-nutrient low-cal prepackaged diet plan from the grocery store.

There are a lot of weight loss shakes out there. While Shakeology does help with weight loss, that is not it's sole purpose. It's more like a liquid multivitamin. It is almost impossible to eat the amount of food it takes for your body to get all of the nutrients it needs by eating.  You'd have to eat a LOT. When your body is missing nutrients, you crave things--things like candy, carbs, sugar, or if you're like me--Taco Bell. Those things aren't going to help your body. You'll binge and feel better for all of 2 seconds before the crash. Shakeology also doesn't use artificial sweeteners--chemicals that can cause digestive issues and even MORE cravings!

When I started Shakeology, I did lose weight. But more importantly, I felt better. I have energy. I don't get hungry at night. I used to get home from work at 10:30pm and consume massive amounts of food because I was just plain starving! My latest T25 challenger says since she started the shakes she's almost never hungry at night, so I'm not the only one experiencing this change.

The point is, put your money where your mouth is. If you care about your health, cut out one of those expenditures like going out to eat so often, getting a latte every day, buying drinks at a bar (which are usually marked up 150% or so). Put your money toward your health and change your life! I was scared at first. But guess what? Since I started the eating plan and Shakeology, I have spent LESS money on groceries. I'm spending about $100 monthly on shakes and still have more money than I had before! Why? Because I'm paying attention to what's going into my body and not going into graze mode. I'm not buying a bunch of diet pills and supplements. I'm just living healthy.

And that is the difference between value and cost.

Not Just a Pretty Face

There are tons of ways to measure your weight loss.  Using all of them is a REALLY good way to avoid obsessing about one of them--like that evil scale.

I forgot to mention I'm a master artist.

Shoot, a lot of people gain weight when they first start working out.  Muscle weighs more than fat and that ain't no urban legend.  I briefly want to talk about one of the ways that I've noticed myself losing weight on this glorious Beach Body journey.  I talk all the time about measuring yourself, but sometimes it's even easier than that.  Just look at the dadgum mirror.  Or a picture!  If you're like me, you'll see it in other ways...like your face!  Check this out:

I was looking at some pictures I took recently and started thinking "man, my eyes look so big! Have they always looked like that?" And nope, they haven't.  My face has slimmed down so much! Instead of tiny little slits, I have eyes! haha. I've got definition--on my face!  It's fantastic.

Find yourself a little victory like that.  It will propel you further even when you aren't necessarily seeing pounds come off or washboard abs yet.  For me, it's my face! It'll always be a little round, but at least it doesn't look like a big ball of dough now.  haha.  It's not just a pretty face.  It's a fit face.  BOOM BABY!

Message me for details on how to get your OWN results and stop wasting money on things that don't work.

Skinny Versus Fit

Every once in a while, because I am kind of pathetic, I glance back at my "skinny pictures."  When I was 19, I lost about twenty pounds.  It was not from being healthy and I lost it super fast.  I was constantly freaking out about what I ate and I would have a breakdown if I missed a day at the gym.  I would spend hours just running on a treadmill and only doing strength training on an occasional, haphazard basis.  Compared to being a super unhealthy chubster squeezing into her pants like a busted can of biscuits, I guess I looked better then.  But now I'm looking at them in a new light.

I had lost a lot of weight, true, but I was what I like to call fat-skinny.  You know what I'm talking about.  Just because a person is thin doesn't mean he or she is fit.  At the time, I was all flab.  Fewer pounds of flab, but flab nonetheless (not to mention I was tired all the time and harassed myself for not being thin enough).  I was squishy in all the wrong places and my body was fairly gawky and awkward.  And man, I just had no butt back then.  Exhibit A:

PS I was totally sucking in.

I was just thinking about the definition I'm starting to see now.  Even with how far I have to go, I'm showing more muscle and definition than I ever did back then.  I have never seen my abs.  It's tragic. Until NOW.  It's easy to not get the results you want even when you're killing yourself--because it's easy to be disorganized.  My eating and workout habits have been completely transformed through Shakeology and the 21 Day Fix.  I know I posted this picture last week, but seriously...

I have LINES IN MY BELLY! LINES OF GOODNESS!

I think the reason I feel so much more confident now than I did then is that I am losing weight the right way and my body is different.  It's not a smaller version of the same thing.  And I'm not starving all the time or running on the treadmill until I collapse.  Which is a plus.

Skinny, for people who aren't naturally so, doesn't last.  Eventually you'll lose that desperation or you'll make yourself sick with the obsession.  You just can't maintain that straight mentally ill approach to looking "better."  Eventually you will need to eat some food or you will have a life and not be able to commit yourself to 3 hours at the gym every day.  Or you won't be able to afford a gym anymore.  Or you'll exhaust yourself to the point where your fatigue takes over.  But when you get in a lifestyle of fitness, everything changes.  That's what I love about Beach Body.  It's about living a healthy lifestyle, not dieting, not punishing, not obsessing.  It seriously changes everything.

Restructuring and Realism

I originally set out to do three blogs a week, but life happens!  It just hasn't been possible the past two weeks.  I may cut back on them, but I'm thinking now that I'm restructuring a few things, I can make it work.  I was very gung-ho about working out in the morning on my last round, but toward the end I found myself flagging a bit.  During my rest week and continuing into the first week of Round 2 of the 21 Day Fix, I got in the habit of staying up later.  I work from 1-10, so it's kind of a natural rhythm.  The thing is, I realized that I push it WAY harder in the evening than I'm really capable of in the morning.  And (especially if I do two workouts every day like I've been shooting for this week) I sleep like a baby!

I understand that not everyone is the same.  I'm realizing more and more how very essential it is to be realistic about yourself: who you are, how you function, what makes you feel better.  For me, it's working out at night.  I love relaxing, reflecting, and snuggle time in the morning--makes the whole day a lot less stressful.  It's getting creative with what I'm eating.  That one is a big one.  After a few weeks of different salads for lunch, the thought of salad legitimately nauseated me.  This week I tore into some roasted eggplant, garden tomato sauce, and ground turkey and realized how stuck in a rut I had been!  Some people get up at 5am and work out for two hours before hightailing it to work.  Some people eat the same foods every day.  Maybe it works for them...but they're not me!  You can't build your success around someone else's needs...you've got to learn yours.

I'm so thrilled to see new coaches joining The Knockout Legacy every day!  Becoming a coach is the best choice I ever made.  Watching our challenge groups flourish seriously keeps me going.  When I see four people in a row posting about their workouts and nutrition and I'm slacking, it's a kick in the butt to get going again.  It's hard to be self-motivated all the time...but I can manage competitive.  haha.  Another thing that keeps pushing me?  My results.  I have never had abs in my life, but check it:

And I know the longer I work, the better I will get.  There's something sexy in working out so hard that you're dripping sweat.  It makes you feel like you can conquer the world.  And the sense of accomplishment pushes me harder and harder.  I missed one day this week but worked out twice every other day and felt amazing.

Also had a funny moment this week where I stepped on the scale and it said I weighed about 20 pounds more than I had the day before and I almost had a panic attack.  Had to measure myself just to calm down.  Nope, waist was down an inch--hadn't gained.  Safe to say my scale is broken.  haha.  That's what you get for buying a $7 scale from Wally World.

Failboating

So for the first time since I started Beach Body, I missed two scheduled workouts in a row this past weekend and didn't do the eating plan at all.  Not only that, but I only wrote one blog entry, which is a slacker move.  I was insanely busy, I have been feeling just ga-ross lately, and I just had the urge to retreat away from everything for a few days...yet I'm not going to make excuses for myself!  Sometimes you are just going fail a little.  It's normal.  The thing you have to remember is that you can't let it destroy your progress or determination.  Taking a couple of days off doesn't mean you can't do it.  In fact, it makes me more determined.  I have a new T25 challenge group coming up and they're offering a great deal (stay abreast of the sales and promotions by joining as a FREE player here.)...Shaun T is a beast and I know it will be a step up for me.  So I've got to get strong!

I'm not going to lie, sometimes it is hard.  Sometimes I'm tired, sometimes I want to stop.  But ALL the time I think about why I started and who I want to be.  I don't want to be that person who is too lazy to change for the better.  I think a lot of people hide behind some catchy "love your body slogans," and I think you should love your body--no matter the size.  You should be able to feel beautiful.  But the fact is, people who TRULY love their bodies take care of them.  And you can't do that by constantly shoveling in as much of whatever food you like.  You can't do that by refusing to exercise and giving yourself a pass because you're tired.  You're probably tired because you DON'T exercise.  Even on my most worn-out days, I'm not half as fatigued as I used to be when my eating and exercise habits were poor.  It definitely helps that I've got my Shakeology adding in a power pack of veggies, vitamins, and nutrients that I wouldn't get otherwise.  PLUS it's a good way to get an extra veggie serving in--throw it in the shake and I'm done.

Now, I'm going to hold the share bear and tell you about what's really been going on with my journey this past week.  I have had the biggest problem with just feeling nauseous when I try to eat veggies.  Not all of the time, but a lot of the time.  I've been craving peanut better and milk.  I have a habit of Googling things to investigate, and that is exactly what I did.  It turns out a diet too high in fruits and veggies and too low in salt and calcium can cause problems in your digestive system--problems like they would list on a Pepto Bismol commercial.  Some fruits can even halt the absorption of calcium because it tricks your body into thinking you are all stocked up on Vitamin D (which comes from the sun, duh)--which is the helpmate of calcium.  Keeping salt in your diet can help balance that issue, especially in the winter when we spend more time indoors and don't get the benefits of natural sunlight.  (You can read the full article here.)

Maybe it isn't the same for everyone, but for me, there's such a thing as eating "too good."  Milk isn't really part of the meal plan (you can have it three times a week if you sub out a grain container), but I'm going to be adding some in--as well as a bit of sodium.  Your body has cravings for a reason and it is to communicate essential nutrients that you're missing.  Check out the chart below for some good examples.

In any case, though I took a mini failboating vacation, I am going to try to hit it hard from here.  I can't be the next female action hero if I'm all flabbed up and too weak to get off the couch.  haha.

Godspeed, ladies and gents, and don't forget to check out my FAVORITE workout tool--the free WOWY supergym on the Beach Body website, available to all free players, where you can schedule your exercises (whether or not they are BB programs) and be entered for a chance to win some money every time you log in!