A Test

January was a true test of my patience. Unexpected house guests moved in, forcing me to find a new apartment and pack up all of my belongings in the span of a week. And while all that was happening, my food was being eaten without my consent and my personal belongings were being used and misplaced. Ah, the joys of sharing a living space. I tried my hardest to remain calm in the situation however, I had a few stress pimples popping up and could definitely feel the stress taking its toll on me. Despite all of this I remained fairly on track with my healthy eating and exercise proved a lovely and welcome escape from the craziness in the house.

Now, I am in a new apartment (with a gym and yoga studio in the building!) and the stress of that situation is fading quickly. I would love to say I’m settling into a routine after the move but that would be a lie. I have been traveling recently, and will be for the next week and a half, so consistency will have to wait. But I have been exercising fairly regularly and eating pretty well (aside from a day of eating my way through Boston). I also managed to prepare all my own food for my flight in an effort to ensure healthy and delicious food and to reduce waste. It was definitely a success!

The future is looking pretty bright! I have decided to get back in touch with my ballet roots (left untouched since age 15). I want to incorporate more ballet themes into my workouts and do some barre routines. Though it is not much, I do think it will add a fun spin to my workouts. Well those are all the updates I have for now!

Shine on,

L

 

A Second Chance

While I know I truly can only blame myself, I believe the massive amounts of traveling and vacationing I have been doing have seriously derailed my progress. I did try to make smart food choices and attempted to stay active as much as possible, but there is only so much a girl can do without the time or space to properly workout or prepare meals. Excuses aside, it is time for me to shine. I am finally in the same location for more than a few days and I am ready to get myself back in the gym and in the kitchen.

This week will not be without its flaws, however. Wednesday bring a dinner out with friends and Thursday night is booked for a house party, but that will not stop me from working out and making good food choices wherever I can. After all, this whole journey is about sustainability, not crash dieting.

Over the next eight weeks, I will be working towards being able to run a 5k! This week, I am starting off at a manageable 2k in addition to other circuit training-style workouts. Tomorrow will be the first official day of training and, needless to say, I am very excited!

In addition to working towards a 5k, I have also been trying to focus on my overall self-care. It started when I realized my shoulders were VERY dry, and in desperate need of moisturizer. In fact, my whole body (aside from my face which I moisturize twice daily) really needed some lotion. As I have very dry skin, especially in the winter months, I have taken it upon myself to moisturize my body daily, and do a hair mask every week or so to keep it healthy. These may seem like small, even trivial gestures, however it is part of a larger goal to take care of my body to the best of my abilities. I want to be the best me I can be.

So although I have been absent for a while, I am ready and excited to be back on track. This is my time to look after me, and I don’t want to let me down.

Shine on,

L

A Month Without Pizza

I was browsing YouTube for some inspiration today and came across this video about losing weight, and some easy ways to do it. Being the lazy girl that I am, I was definitely intrigued. One of the ‘hacks’ that really stuck with me was the idea of identifying the worst thing in my diet and eliminating it for 30 days. I instantly thought of pizza. I. Love. Pizza. It’s been my go-to comfort food forever and the convenience of delivery makes it even more appealing. I’m pretty sure I’ve ordered pizza more times than I’ve gone to the gym in the last few months (YIKES!) but come on, what’s not to love about cheesy, warm, delicious pizza!

While I could go on for days, it would only make me want to call up Domino’s this instant, and that is exactly what I am NOT going to do for the next 30 days. As suggested in the video, I will be giving up pizza, as well as all other delivery food, for the next month in an attempt to ‘clean up’ my eating habits. I am trying to overhaul my diet but that can be a very daunting task and I never do well with restriction, so if I can just eliminate the worst part of my diet, a healthier and more balanced diet should occur naturally.

Unfortunately, this decision to give up the ultimate comfort food comes at the same time as several deadlines, which I usually deal with by stress eating, you guessed it, pizza. But if I can make it through this month without pizza, I can do anything!

Shine on,

L

A New Beginning

Today is the first official day of my lifestyle change (as I made my decision to change last night, just before heading to bed), and what better way to celebrate than to prepare a delicious and healthy breakfast and get a little workout in! Oatmeal with fruit is always a good choice and I’m hoping some lemon and ginger tea will help with the bloating I’m currently experiencing. As for the workout, it was very short and sweet but a good way to ease back into being active.

Over all, I’m feeling quite positive about today, and the choices I’ve made (though I maybe could have done without the soy hot chocolate). But even on an easy day like today, I’ve had to force myself to workout, using a long hot shower, complete with leg shaving, as a reward. I think it has to do with the weather. During the winter months, it’s nothing but rain and cold, and of course it doesn’t help that it gets dark at 3 p.m., leaving me desperate for my warm bed and some Netflix. It takes a good deal of will power to get myself out of my cozy Christmas pajamas and into some workout gear, and most days, I just don’t have that kind of strength. But it needs to be different; I need to change.

And I’m feeling the change in my mentality happening already. I’m becoming more determined to achieve my goals, and more exited to be working towards something. Though it will no doubt be challenging, I know it will be well worth it. But now comes the hard part: waiting. It can take a long time to see results and I am not a very patient lady. I’m hoping my excitement and my drive will push me to continue and I can take this task on one day at a time…

Shine on,

L

A Realization

At 5’11” and 140 lbs, I am by no means fat. In fact, I am at the lower end of a healthy weight range. But today I came to the unfortunate realization that I am skinny-fat. It has been quite some time since I have consistently taken care of my health and to my horror, it is beginning to show. I saw my reflection in the kitchen window today and my tummy, where I tend to hold all my fat, had grown noticeably and I looked several months pregnant. Don’t my weight fool you; I was never meant to weigh this much while having no muscle to account for this weight, and no booty to balance it out either! And so I can safely classify myself as skinny-fat.

As horrifying a realization as this may have been, I have no one to blame but myself (and of course the Domino’s delivery boys.) I have been far too lazy and irresponsible about my health and that pregnant-looking reflection has given me the wake-up call I’ve been needing. It is time for me to stop making excuses for eating junk food and not working out, and start taking action by getting my butt back in the gym and in the kitchen.

My goal is to develop healthier and sustainable habits and improve my fitness. I am not limiting myself to a certain weight or restricting myself drastically, I am simply focusing on being a better version of myself and taking care of my health and well-being. I want to be able to be proud of my reflection and be proud of my lifestyle. So today, I am starting my journey to fit…

 

Shine on,

L