The Emotional Effect of Weight Loss and The Stages of Readiness

Its been 2 weeks since my last post, and boy has it been busy! Simply due to how I have been feeling emotionally these past 2 weeks, I feel like I need to touch on the importance of actually being READY to make a change in your life. This not only applies to weight loss, but for anything you are "hoping" or wishing would happen in the future. There is a reason why we always hear, "no one can make you change, you have to want it for yourself." There are a lot of things that I thought I wanted, but it turns out I wasn't even ready for the change I was longing for. Over the past year it has been a huge emotional rollercoaster for me personally on my path to get back in shape, achieve some personal fitness goals and get to my goal weight. I know my body pretty well, so its relatively easy for me to pinpoint the weight range that I am comfortable with emotionally and physically. I say this only because it is important not to focus completely on the scale when it comes to achieving your health and fitness goals. I have 2 photos pictured with dates 1 month apart...would you be surprised to know that I haven't lost a single pound in 1 month, but my stomach is noticeable smaller and I am beginning to see some changes in my back and collarbone area as well.

Although the scale didn't move this is one reason why I am such a huge fan of documenting your progress in pictures. I lost some BF % which is a goal of mine and lets face it, I definitely needed to! One of my goals has been to see some muscle definition, because it has been something that I've been lacking. I was very excited to see my abs start to come in, my quads peaking through, my biceps finally showing some curve and my shoulders rounding out a little. The 2 pictures listed below were taken last week. You can absolutely tell the difference between a flexing photo and non flexing photo!

     

There are a TON of factors that come into play especially for women when it comes to weight loss. Did you know your hormones and emotions really DO have effect on your weight loss or weight gain? This is just one reason it is important to have a healthy mind as well as a healthy body. I have had one heck of a time losing the last 5-10lbs that I have been trying to lose and I have no doubt in my mind this is due to my mental state. A nice little example is my lack of self-control was the snacking rampage I went on yesterday! It was like I was a bottomless craving pit and I didn't even care. My mind has been clouded with insecurities, worry, guilt and thoughts of upcoming change. As women we are constantly thinking about what needs to be done or who needs you right this second. It has been scientifically proven that men don't have this problem. We are biologically wired to constantly think and worry so it is easy to begin to let the daily tasks and struggles weigh you down physically and emotionally. I can't tell you how many times I've done that! Until we have completely healed from the inside out and stop making excuses for yourself, you cannot expect to accomplish your goals in health and fitness. I'm not a huge TV watcher, but my husband and I do have a few shows we watch. Our ABSOLUTE favorite TV show is called Extreme Weight Loss on ABC. This is one of the first shows I have seen that not only focuses on weight loss, but they actively dig deep into each individual to find the root of their issue, to free them emotionally of the chains weighing them down. There is some interesting research that shows that people who successfully change their behavior go through a series of five stages-and usually cycle through these stages three to four times. You can read a little more about it here with Stages of Readiness for Change. I am thankful to my fellow fitness professional Sophia G for link!

I tried a few new recipes this week, including some Paleo muffins that will be SURE to keep the cravings away! I had to stop myself from devouring them during my snack rampage since it kind of defeated the purpose right? Be on the lookout for new recipes in the recipe section!

Until next time, keep pushing towards your goals, no matter how big or small they may be. Learn to love yourself, don't compare yourself to any one else. There is only 1 you! Only you can make the change.

Milestones and the Journey Awaiting...

Last week my husband and I celebrated 5 years of marriage together. The past 5 years have been some of the best so far in my life! I feel more whole and complete than ever before. What is sad to me is throughout the first 3-4 years of our marriage I couldn't tell you how much negativity I encountered regarding marriage. Now don't get me wrong, I think the people who were sharing the negativity, didn't exactly realize they were being so pessimistic. Just a few examples of some of the things I've heard:
"Oh you just wait until after the first year when the honey moon stage wears off!"
"How long have you been married? Oh just wait until the 3 year mark! You may not be so happy then"
"Oh man 5 years is when it gets bad, just wait til you get to that 5 year mark!"
"Add a kid in the mix and tell me how happy you are"
"Oh, you're married?...are you happy?"

It is so disheartening to hear so many people speak this way, it wasn't just a few people here and there, I got a comment like this at least twice/week while working at the gym coming into contact with so many people. I also have friends who are terrified to get married because they are told to "settle" because they are no longer 20 years old. Who put an age on when one can marry? whether you're 19 or 65 don't ever settle for anyone less than who God has for your life. I am no expert on marriage, but I do know that there are so many moving parts. You have to be 100% in it. Some say its a 50/50 relationship, I truly believe its 100/100. People say "you're not the person I married", I honestly hope I'm not the person my husband married 5 years ago. I would hope that in the last 5 years we have grown together, changed together, matured together and grown to love and respect one another even more.  In the back of my mind I've been "waiting" for that HUGE fight everyone says I'll have eventually, and who knows maybe we will, but for right now, it hasn't happened yet. When you hold an open line of communication with your spouse you are setting yourself up for success. I have been so blessed to have had so many positive role models in my life when it comes to marriage and parenting. All you can do is your very best and keep striving to be better and better each day.

Now back to fitness right!? Our anniversary consisted of a solid gym date followed by lunch, a nice long walk, some cheesecake factory cheesecake and ended with some rented movies and our fluffy couch while Dakota was in daycare. We planned our day to allow for whatever we wanted to eat, but not before we got a solid lift session in. Now I'm not saying be strict and go binge, that is not a healthy practice. Eat what you want, but in moderation. I crave cheese its, cheesecake and pizza just like everyone else, but it is not something that will get me where I want to be. I can't eat whatever I'm craving and complain I still look the same. Make the conscious decision to move forward, take control of your body and your health. Gain the confidence you need to uplift yourself and others and realize it takes time. Justin and I decided to extend our clean eating challenge for the unforeseeable future while scheduling a cheat meal every 10 days. It isn't sensible to give myself a fitness/weight goal and only give myself 2 weeks to get there. It took longer than 2 weeks to put it on, so its going to take longer than 2 weeks to get it off. When you take the time to eat right and exercise you're going to change your body for the long term. there are no quick fixes. A friend of mine sent me a quote today that I will leave with you. This can pertain to any goal you have, fitness or non-fitness. No one can force you to make the right decision. Only you can.

Fitness Gadgets...Are You In The Zone?

I'm usually not one for too many fancy things when it comes to working out, but there is 1 item that I believe could be your make it or break it item when it comes to reaching your goals! What is it? Why thank you for asking! A Heart Rate Monitor!

Now, During these last few weeks, I have been getting up early to work out and eating clean with the exception of very few cheat meals. Now I've already talked about how each cheat meal has been awful, made me break out and upset my stomach. It's important to find the right balance of food and workouts. For me this has been difficult to find out how much I should be eating vs. how much I am working out. 3 Days/week I actually workout twice. I teach my Group Exercise class in the evenings in addition to my morning lift session. I have been trying to be diligent and trust the process, but the one thing I was missing was my heart rate monitor. I decided to strap it on yesterday morning, just to see how high my heart rate was getting during my lift sessions and HIIT sessions. There is no doubt I have felt fatigued, so of COURSE my heart rate was where it needed to be right? WRONG. I found out my heart rate was NO where NEAR where it needs to be for my HIIT training, therefore I have not been able to be as successful in accomplishing my goals! No wonder! I had the opportunity in College to find out that my actual max heart rate is 201 so I can better get an idea of where I need to be.

Finding your target heart rate is essential for training in the proper zone to be more efficient with your workouts. Here are the steps you can take to calculate your own target heart rate zone.

1. When you first wake up measure your resting heart rate for 60s (or 10s multiplied by 6)
2. Next determine your Max heart rate with this simple formula. Take your age and subtract that from 220
3.  Plug in the information to get it figured out!
Target Heart Rate = [(Maximum Heart Rate – Resting Heart Rate) × %Intensity] + Resting Heart Rate

I will use mine as an example for 50% of my max and 85% of my max. I am 25, my most recent resting heart rate taken at the doctors office last week was 50bpm with my max HR being 195 according to the calculation. (220-25)

For a 50% Target Heart Rate: [(195 − 50) × 0.50] + 50 = 122 bpm
For a 85% Target Heart Rate: [(195 − 50) × 0.85] + 50 = 173 bpm

You can see that my target heart rate has a very wide range 122-173bpm. For my HIIT sessions my heart rate should be closer to 170-180 rather than 122. This has been my missing ingredient! I'm not sure why I stopped using my monitor in the first place, but I am excited to get it moving again! I use a Polar HR Monitor. With any Monitor you want to make sure it is accurate and of good quality. If it doesn't come with a chest strap, I'm sorry, but it may not be that accurate.

On a side note, I think my cute adorable little child is turning into a crazy animal! People always tell you this happens, but they are so cute you just think, "nahhh not my little cutie!" We are excited to see this crazy lady grow up!

 I have a friend whom I have known for about 9 years now who has been completing her own Clean eating challenge with her family. She has some great clean and delicious recipes as well if you want to take a look! Check out her blog here I have also added a few extra snack recipes in the Recipe Section!
Until next time, try to do 1 random act of kindness this week. Maybe no one will know you did it, except the person you did it for!