Cheat Days

Cheat Days are brilliant..... and much needed for all of us.... anytime your diet consists of you depriving yourself from certain foods you will slowly fall back into your old habits. But nibbling or having a small piece of your favorite cake can help you feel content and move forward.
Deciding on a Cheat Day is important, just as much as you plan out your good days, your cheat days should be planned out as well. This way you can make sure you eat the things you have been craving or miss. The most important thing a cheat day helps you realize is that once you have stuffed your face at the end of that day you are so ready to go back to your healthy meals. From time to time these days help you get pumped and ready to go back to your good days.

Lazy Days

There will be lazy days, It has been almost 9 months for me and I still have a few lazy days out of the week. These days are ok, we all need them. Lazy Days give our bodies a chance to take a break and relax. One lazy day a week is enough just to keep you going and your energy level boosted.

If you plan ahead you can make sure your lazy day ends up on a day where you cant fit in your workout. Planning ahead is key! I can not stress enough on this!! If you dont plan ahead, you will end up not working out. Even though 80% of your results come from your diet and eating habits, the 20% of the workout is that extra touch of sexyness you feel when the pounds come off and your clothes start looking even better and better on you!!!

So my dear friends if your feeling lazy, your not alone. As long as you know how to identify these days, work through them, and conquer them!! I am here to tell you that you can conquer them, whether its by treating it and having an actual lazy day or re-evaluating why your feeling lazy that day and getting your butt up for a workout.

I'm not telling you its going to be easy, I am telling you that its going to be worth it. If you wait for perfect conditions you will never get anything done..... a lazy day is a condition but you can and will get through it like I do.

Haters Gonna Hate

Anything you try to complete on your own is always a challenge, but when you have that support group you need it gives you the extra push! We all need have and want fans, I personally have a good group of fans who cheer and root me on through this process. It easy to fall back, give up, and not continue the race when you dont hear your fans cheering you on from the sideline. Find the right support group and share with them what your weaknesses are, and how you can work on them. Not to sugar coat anything, keep in mind also that when you have got fans and a good support group you also have haters. Those individuals who will always have something to say to criticize you or try to bring you down from your accomplishments.

Especially when it comes to weight loss everyone ALWAYS has something to say; especially women. It will affect you from time to time, but dont let it affect you permanently. Learn from it, and use it as a stepping stone to get one step closer to that finish line. That is exactly what I have been doing, and I can say I have come pretty close to the end. This is why it is important to evaluate your reasons for changing your life and losing weight. If you are in it for all the wrong reason, you will fall back. Step back and ask yourself why you are doing this? Most importantly who are you doing this for? There is only one right answer, make sure that is your answer. The rest will fall in place and your support system will continue to support you, most importantly Haters will continue to Hate.

Excersizing for Life..nothing else...

If you really realized how positively your body reacts to excersize you would do it more often. The problem is we get inpatient, we don't wait to see results. If you care about your body, and your health you WILL keep up with it and make it your lifestyle. People make so many excuses, but if we wait for excuses to go away they never will. Excersize for your life and only that. Focus on how much of a positive reaction this gives to your body and soul. Excersizing is not just about weight loss, its about feeling great. When you excersize you are automatically energized and full of life.

Studies show that:

"Exercise boosts your brainpower by increasing serotonin, which makes you more productive. It also decreases stress levels and gives you more energy via endorphin release. Even better, regular exercise keeps you healthier and slows down progression of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis and loss of muscle mass. Keep up your exercise plan and you'll find yourself with a strengthened cardiovascular system."

You don't need research studies to show you that excersizing for your life will benefit you. Just Try it. Find what you like, find what fits your life and do it for YOUR Life, no one elses.

No Excuse Zone

At this point, how you have been keeping up with your life improvements should feel like a regular life routine for you. It should be incorporated in your lifestyle, it should not come to you as much of a challenge as it was before, it should now feel like the norm. This is when I would say it is key to pay attention to "No Excuse Zone"'s. No Excuse Zones are the simple decisions we choose not to make each day. For example, choose the stairs instead of the elevator. Park far and walk, the amount of extra walking we can do throughout the day outside of our workout sessions help us burn so many extra calories!! It's those extra calories that help make a difference on the scale and in your clothes.

Happy?

Are You Happy? If you can confidently answer this question with a "yes" then you are so close to the finish line my friend. Most people think that this process is about trying to live up to standards whether its the standards of the media, our friends, our love interests, our families. If you are going to do this you have to do it for yourself and NO ONE else. If you believe that you are truly happy with yourself being overweight then I will tell you that you don't need to change your life, but I know for a fact that that would be a lie. No one is truly 100% happy when there is so much room for improvement and change for your physical health, your physical being, your mental being and most importantly for your heart. You have not found true happiness and self satisfaction with yourself till you can truly challenge yourself on improving your life, improving to feel healthy again, and most importantly regaining your energy about Life. When you keep your body happy, you will feel happy as a whole. You will have energy to live again and to do things and overcome challenges you never thought you could before. The only person who truly benefits or loses from this in the end is YOU.

Plataeu

It's gonna happen, you can't control it but you can work through it. The fact of the matter is that this process is not as breezy as you think. I am here to give you the reality of it, sugar coating nothing. You will eventually Plataeu, some sooner and some later than others. Do not let this discourage you, plataeu simply proves how consistent you have been with your regime and this is great but its time to move forward to bigger and better things. It's time to challenge your body and work it towards becoming the best its ever been.

When you Plataeu your body simply becomes accustomed to the workouts you have been doing and the number of calories you are consuming. It is time to change it up, step it up. How much cardio were you doing each day? Add 30 minutes to this. Where you using weights or doing and strength training? If not now is the best time, I am not saying bulk up but It is time to tone up those arms and legs. I started with two 3 pound weights to work on my arms, this one small step makes a huge difference in your workout. Also change up and intensify your cardio. Were you walking? now step it up and jog or run. If you hike like I do increase your distance and intensity. Remember guys, we have the formula to this solution its a matter of using the formula to actually solve the problem. You may also need to switch up your eating regime. I started eating small meals every two hours.

Here is an example of what I ate today:

8am: Corn Flakes 1 cup (no milk)

10am: Banana half

12noon: Chicken cutlets, brown rice, & cucumber

2pm: Small Tomatoe & other half of a Banana

4pm: Baby Carrots

6pm: Chicken & Steamed Veggies

8pm: Fruit or Yogurt

**This may be really challenging the first week because as your metabolism speeds up you will feel very hungry more often through out the day but you will get used to it!! I promise!! Nothing is impossible.

Let's move forward from the challenge of Plataeuing, as we continue to reach our goal weight. Are you going to let this discourage you?