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10 Year Challenge

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⁣I remember seeing this picture and feeling horrified at how I looked but this is where I started… ⁣

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𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 ⁣

𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝟻𝘬 ⁣

𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 ⁣

𝘡𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 ⁣

Now I’ve learned to reframe and see that girl differently. ⁣

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I’d give her a hug and tell her that what I see is that she’s trying her best. ⁣

She has strong and healthy legs that are going to put up with a lot. ⁣

And she is happy to finally be prioritizing fitness and her health. ⁣

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That picture has brought me to where I am and for that I’m forever grateful for that starting point. ⁣

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𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠. ⁣

What’s one thing you’d tell your 10 year ago self?!

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9 Things I Wish I Learned Sooner….

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𝘐 𝘞𝘐𝘚𝘏 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝟿 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺…⁣

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Truth is, starting my first diet at the age of 8, trapped me in a lot of unhealthy beliefs about myself and my body. ⁣

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I quickly became my own worst critic and while I could share a whole different set of 10 nutrition and fitness tips I learned (𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘴), I wanted to actually share some of the mindset shifts I had to make along the way. ⁣

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Years of dieting taught me to stop trusting, respecting, and accepting my body. That being said, here are the beliefs I wish I adopted sooner to preserve that trust & respect. ⁣

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1. Stop being so hard on yourself. ⁣⁣⁣

2. “giving it your all”⁣⁣ does not mean you have to be perfect or have it all together.⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣3. Give yourself time & grace to fail, make mistakes, and learn. ⁣

4. Find patience for yourself as much as you do for others. ⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣5. Stop trying to shrink. ⁣Allow yourself to take up space. ⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣6. Focus on what is going well and those who want to see you doing well.⁣

7. Appreciate your body for all that it does for you. ⁣

8. Forever work towards loving yourself more.⁣

9. Speak to yourself as you do to others, and treat your body as you would others. ⁣

⁣⁣⁣

𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧: be authentically you

even if that means the introverted family person who loves to workout and is secretly an 80 year old grandma on the inside⁣

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𝘚𝘈𝘝𝘌 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨

What is one thing you wish you learned sooner on your journey?

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Break the Cycle

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If you overate this weekend, this is the best time to break the cycle. ⁣
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𝘐 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴… ⁣
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Around the holidays I would restrict so much, that when the holiday would arrive, I’d undoubtedly overdo it, feel like I needed to start from scratch, put all the “bad” foods off limits again, and usually find myself off track again by Friday. ⁣
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Then I made this shift and I want you to give it a try… ⁣
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Instead of getting “𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬” or going back to only “𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯” foods or throwing away all of the cookies so you can’t eat any more….⁣
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I want you to eat normally. ⁣
Drink a lot of water. ⁣
Eat veggies, lean protein, and foods that make your body feel your best.⁣
Have a leftover cookie if you want it. ⁣
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When you stop restricting in order to reach your goals, and start fueling your body to feel your best, a crazy shift happens. ⁣
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You can actually stay on track, because there’s never anything to fall off from. ⁣
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𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲. ⁣
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You can’t undo this past weekend, but you can change your actions going forward: ⁣
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Eat more fuel, more consistently. ⁣
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And focus on 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 your best, not 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 your best, the rest will fall into place.

Did you have a good holiday? What is one thing you did to take care of your body today? ⁣

How to Handle the Holidays with Balance

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𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬, 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞…⁣ ⁣

Bring one dish to share (𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘸-𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴) ⁣

Two alcoholic beverages (𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳)⁣

Three yummy cookies (𝘯𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴. 𝘌𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘺. G𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯) ⁣

⁣Four fruits for snacking (𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺, 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭)⁣

Five veggies each day (𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮. 𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘴) ⁣ ⁣

Six feet from the buffet (𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘛𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴) ⁣

Seven days of exercise (𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦)⁣

Eight glasses of water (𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴) ⁣

Nine ounces of protein (𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳) ⁣

Ten mindful minutes (𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘋𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘚𝘖 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩) ⁣

Eleven new choices (𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴) ⁣

Twelve counted blessings (𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳) ⁣⁣

𝐏𝐒𝐀: Please don’t stress over the next week… breathe, relax, enjoy the holidays and remember progress is not made or ruined in one single day, just keep going… ⁣

Calorie Cycling 101

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𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳? ⁣

I mentioned the other day how I always used to struggle with eating too little and then in turn eating too much because it just wasn’t sustainable. ⁣

I’d always do great Monday through Friday and then the weekends would hit and I’d pull myself completely off track. ⁣

I have a cheat meal. ⁣⁣

I’d stop tracking. ⁣⁣

I’d go out with friends. ⁣

I’d buy foods I usually didn’t (𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭). ⁣⁣

And then I would wonder why I wasn’t seeing the progress I was working so hard for. 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳? ⁣⁣

Especially with the holidays I see this all the time, but what if I told you there’s a way you can actually eat more during your parties, weekends, and events and still make progress. ⁣

𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫: ⁣

Calorie cycling. ⁣

⁣There are many ways to cycle calories but one of my favorite approaches is to pull calories down slightly during your routine days and bump things up for the weekends, holiday parties, etc… ⁣

So long as your weekly calorie intake is averaging in a deficit, those higher days will even out. ⁣⁣

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝟒𝟐% 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤. ⁣

For every weekend you have off track you are holding yourself back, but with this approach that no longer needs to be the case. It’s all about striving for that balance. ⁣

𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐟𝐮𝐥?! 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬? 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮? ⁣⁣