Sometimes we all just need a little bit of motivation. Make good choices and push yourself as hard as you can. Anything worth having isn’t easy.
One Gorgeous Girl
being gorgeous has never felt so right
Tag Archives: motivation
Starting the Week Right
Monday’s are rough. You get thrown into a week of work, responsibility and stress. As soon as Sunday rolls around I start dreading the week ahead. Lately I have really found that taking an hour or two to plan and prep for my week makes a world of difference in the way I eat and in the attitude I have.
Sitting down and planning meals can seem kind of tedious at times but I find it really does make a big difference. Not only does it help cut down extra cost at the grocery store (no more mindless purchases) it also helps to streamline things when I’m in a rush. I don’t like to get overly specific with what I plan, mainly putting my focus onto dinners. What I eat at breakfast is usually a combo of a few core meals I rotate through. There are a few days where I don’t want to eat what I had planned but that tends to b a pretty easy fix. I’ll change up the protein or throw in a different vegetable and my tastebuds are satisfied yet again. Whatever I make for dinner is typically turned into a small meal for lunch the next day. It makes it super easy!
One other thing I like to do before the week starts is write my workouts on a calendar. Once I complete a workout I cross it off and continue on to the next day. There is something satisfying about seeing a whole bunch of accomplished workouts on a calendar. It helps keep my focused.
Monday mornings are important for me. They set the tone for the whole week and a few little steps help me ensure I’ll have a healthy and a happy week.
Do you have any rituals you do on Sunday to help set up a strong week?
Making Better Choices
Thank the heavens for iced coffee and air conditioning. This heat wave is making it seem impossible for me to get anything done. I don’t want to eat healthy and exercise feels pretty foreign. All I want to do is enjoy a few margaritas and sit around in the sun. Not the best thing for my waist line.
Today I am starting fresh and am going to make better food choices and be more active. It really can be as simple as a healthy breakfast. Right now I’m not even eating breakfast. I feel like smacking myself on the head. Breakfast is super important and I know better then to set myself up for failure.
Hopefully by focusing on healthier food and being more active I won’t completely fall off the wagon. My portion sizes need to stay in check and I need to be more careful about the amount of sugar I’m eating. I don’t want to undue all the work and progress that I have made. From here on in I going to make better choices.
What helps you make better choices when the weather is ultra hot?
A Little Inspiration
Whenever your mind wanders and you think you can’t continue, just keep going. When you would rather snooze then workout, just get your shoes on and go. When the burger and large pop sounds more appealing just remember how good your body feels when it’s nourished. When you think you can’t do something, give it everything you’ve got. Fear is the only thing holding anyone back. Let’s find out what we are capable of.
Just Keep Swimming
Summer is here and I couldn’t be happier. This heat wave has left me wanting to be outside sucking up all the sunshine possible. I will admit that hot temperatures leave my craving cocktails and patios. Not normally the most motivating combination for early morning workouts and healthy eating patterns.
In the last few weeks I have been waking up at 5 am(!!!) to get to the gym. Luckily I have a fantastic gym buddy(thanks Kate!) who helps keep my ass motivated to get out of bed and get moving. I am slowly building up my endurance and building my speed and stamina so I can successfully run two half marathons next year.
Getting my workout done in the morning helps to keep me on track. If I work out I usually make better food choices. I sleep better and I find that my mood is more upbeat and positive. These last couple of weeks have been up and down as far as food goes but I’m working on making better choices.
So far I am down 35lbs and I haven’t gained anything back but I haven’t continued losing. These next few weeks of summer are going to be dedicated to mixing things up, watching my nutrition and giving it my all. I can’t wait to see the results!
Beautiful Brittany – A Guest Post
Hey everyone! I hope your week is going well! In the midst of all my crazy school work I asked Brittany, over at Beautiful Brittany to guest post. Britt is on a pretty amazing journey and is kicking some serious ass in the weight loss department. She has inspired me and will hopefully inspire you all as well!
“I remember it like it was yesterday. It was June 2010, and it was my yearly check up at my Doctors. You know the one where they weigh you. I have always hated getting weighed. As an overweight person it just sucks and was always disappointing. Well this time was by far the worst. When she told me how much, I was in honest shock and disbelief. All I could think to myself was “how could you let yourself get this bad.” I was just so disappointed in myself. However, that was the day I decided to change my life to a healthier one – and I am so very glad I did.
Since June 2010 (so one year and 9 months later) I am down 60lbs so far. I feel great. I feel like I have more energy, I feel happier with myself, like I have more self esteem and am even more confident. I love the fact that I used to be on the tighter size of 24, and in my closet now I have some tank tops that are a size 16, size 18 dress pants, shirts that are 2x’s (I used to be a 4x). So it’s the little things like that which make this whole journey that much better.
I still have a long way to go. I’m looking forward to my next milestone and the tattoo I am going to treat myself with. So thank you again to Steph for asking me to be a guest writer on her blog, and I will try to be more diligent in posting my progress in mine.”
How incredible is 60+ pounds and counting. As an added bonus both Britt and I have decided to embark on the Couch To Five KM, a handy dandy app on the iPhone ( and possibly android). Anything that gives me motivation to get my but in gear is good. Make sure to head over to Britt’s blog and check out all her wonderful posts!
Setting Up Success
Recently I have been pondering why I am making such slow progress on my weight loss journey. I have an overall weight loss goal but sometimes the overall picture seems to be to big. When you have 100+ pounds to lose it can be hard to stay motivated. I am going to start breaking my weight loss down into increments of 25 lbs. Having something smaller to work towards makes the whole process seem more attainable.
I am going to start food journaling again and planning workouts. Success doesn’t happen by chance so I need to put a plan into motion that encourages me to reach my goals. The whole family wants to vacation in Cuba over Christmas this year and I really want to feel confident when I am down there. I know I won’t have a supermodel body, but that has never been my goal. I want to have a boatload of energy, keep up with everyone and not feel ashamed of my size. I will get to this goal 25lbs at a time. I will never be this fat again.
Working it Out.. Snap Fitness Style
This week has flown by, honestly I can not believe it is already Wednesday. I seem to have taken a turn to more writing about beauty and skin care more lately than health and fitness, but to be honest I felt like I couldn’t write about health and fitness if I wasn’t actively being healthy. Sure I was making some OK choices but I still was eating chips and desperately avoiding the fact that I need to work out.
That is all changing… quite rapidly.. because I joined a new gym!
I am looking forward to working out in a gym that is solely a gym. There are no kids running around, they have brand new machines and most importantly they are open 24 hours. I went in for a tour of the gym last Friday and decided that it was the place for me. This place is a little pricier than what I would like to be spending but I figure an extra $25 a month is more than worth what I will gain in health benefits.
I went in Sunday to do my run through of the gym, essentially a personal trainer who shows you how to properly use the equipment, and to also do my fitness test. Every bone in my body did not want to wake up early on a Sunday morning and have someone who is in great shape mock my very own fat ass. The fitness test started off with weight, blood pressure and body fat percentage and then led to a 1/2 km jog to see what my maximum heart rate was going to be. I don’t know why I expected to be totally humiliated but the whole experience was far from that. The trainer that helped me through everything was amazing! Not only was she super energetic, she was also knowledgeable and seemed to genuinely care about my experience at the gym. I signed up for 3 personal training sessions with her, and I will probably start those within in the next two weeks. Tomorrow night is my consolutation with the trainer, where I should get my nutrition plan and decide on some goals I want to achieve.
I really want to be able to complete a marathon by the time I am 25 (just under two years) and in order to do that I need to focus on loosing the excess weight and getting back into good shape. Keeping the marathon motivation in mind, I’m going to aim to be at the gym 4-5 times a week. I don’t want to get crazy with gym but I am also sick of being fat and at this point I am willing to do whatever it takes.
Cross your fingers that the consultation goes well, and I leave the gym with a new plan. I’ll be back Friday to break everything down for you guys!
