Motivation...How? & Monday Stats...

If you’re looking for motivation to get you off the couch and started on your workout, I have to tell you something… the motivation is not coming for you.  

I repeat, it is NOT coming.

You don’t just get motivated.  

DISCIPLINE COMES FIRST.

I am thankful that I grew up in a family who was pretty active. My parents played sports, my mom taught aerobics, I played softball, was a cheerleader, was on color guard, played tennis and rode my bike EVERYWHERE till I could drive. But having children slowed me down a lot. However that active girl was always still there and she would whisper "get up, go for a walk". So I got up and got moving again. Yes it wasn't the same as before kids but that's the great thing about being active, there isn't one "right way".

Trust me, I know it's hard. 

I know what it’s like to physically force yourself off the couch to do a workout that makes you want to die after only five minutes. 

I know what it’s like to cry during a workout because it’s so hard (did that last week during cardio but we will discuss that a bit later). 

I know what it’s like to quit in the middle of a workout. 

I know what it’s like to be embarrassed about having to workout to be healthy. 

But the truth is, you’re not going to get motivated. You have to take some sort of step forward on your own.

If you think you can’t do something because you’re not feeling motivated enough, you’re actually saying you don’t care enough. You don’t want to get motivated if you’re not doing anything about it, because it’s the action that creates the motivation. Action must come first. What you really should be saying is you want to be disciplined.

It takes discipline to take the action to get motivation. 

Did you get that???  

Being disciplined means you do something even if you don’t want to. People who are disciplined are willing to do the hard things, whether they want to or not. You have to tell yourself, “I don’t want to, but I’m going to.”

You’ll find that when you do it you actually feel amazing. When you feel amazing doing something you needed to do but didn’t want to do, you’re motivated to keep going. You’ve crossed it off your list and that makes you feel like a badass!

If you’re not happy with where you’re at, health or otherwise,  you know you deserve better and you want to make that change, you have to start today!  You have to start right now. Don’t wait until next Monday or the 1st of the month like everyone else does. 

Today is the day to start over. 

Remember it’s all about the action you take right now.

Motivation doesn’t come, you create it.  That’s the power you have.

~~~

Okay so last week was kind of a shit show or should I say snow show. So I was suppose to go grocery shopping on Thursday. Well Wednesday we got hit with the beginning of a 3 day winter storm. 

Here's the thing, it NEVER SNOWS here like it did those 3 days. We also had temps down to the teens which also never happens. And howling winds which were causing awful snow drifts. Wednesday to early Saturday morning the police were urging people to stay home because the roads were so bad. This area of the UK just isn't used to the weather we got slammed with. It was crazy. So I didn't end up being able to grocery shop till today, which means I tried my best to stay on my meal plan but it was far from perfect.

I crushed my workouts and staying active for my #365ActiveChallenge though.

Today I started the full 80 Day Obsession Plan and it was killer but fun. I'm really excited to see how my body responds to it over the next 80 days. 

I will also be walking inclines a few times this week too and work myself up to walking inclines 5 days a week. Baby steps for now to see how my hip reacts.

I've also decided to go strictly gluten, dairy free and KETO!

And for once I'm excited to update my stats because I lost a few pounds. 

Weight: 

February 26th 175.2 lbs --- March 5th 173.0 lbs (2.2lb lost)

Measurements:

Biceps - (R) 12" / (L) 12"

Forearms - (R) 9.5" / (L) 9.5"

Chest - 37"

Stomach (at hip bone) - 37"

Hips - 43"

Thigh - (R) 25" / (L) 25"

Calves - (R) 15.75" / (L) 15.75"

*I will update measurements March 31st*

And because a few of you were asking what my meal plan was like here it is. I will say I am EXTREMELY picky so my meal plan is VERY  SIMPLE. LOL! 

And I'm intermittent fasting so I only eat from 12pm to 8pm.

Its roughly between 1400-1500 calories a day, 73% Fat, 21% Protein, and 6% Carbs.

5am-730am: Coffee

845am: Unicorn Moonshine Ketones (ask me about it, if you are interested)

1st Meal at 12pm: 2 Keto Biscuits & 2 Jimmy Dean Sausage Patties

2nd Meal at 230pm: 4 Strawberries, Keto Blueberry Muffin & Unicorn Moonshine

3rd Meal at 5pm: 3oz Grilled Chicken, 1 cup Iceberg Lettuce, 1 Hard Boiled Egg, 

14 Hormell Pepperoni Slices, Topped with Dairy Free Ranch Dressing

4th Meal at 730pm: 2oz Arla Lactofree Mild Cheddar Cheese (vegan cheese) &

14 Hormell Pepperoni Slices

Monday Stats

I know I already blogged today so forgive me! But like I said in the post earlier today Monday's I'll be posting my states and eventually when I grow some bigger balls I'll share my photos. LOL. But I also wanted to show you guys my equipment, and new shoes I'll be using as well.

Monday February 19 States...

Weight: 

175.2 lbs

Measurements:

Biceps - (R) 12" / (L) 12"

Forearms - (R) 9.5" / (L) 9.5"

Chest - 37"

Stomach (at hip bone) - 37"

Hips - 43"

Thigh - (R) 25" / (L) 25"

Calves - (R) 15.75" / (L) 15.75"

Now I already have Beachbody OnDemand, so I already have access to all the Beachbody workouts. However I didn't have the bands or sliders I needed to use during Little Obsessed and 80 Day Obsession. 

I looked at purchasing the ones through Beachbody which I had 3 different options.

Option A: Buy the bands (3 bands) for $15 and the sliders for $30 ... $45 total

Option B: Buy the Obsessed Starter pack that comes with the bands, sliders and containers (which I don't need) for $60 total

OR I could buy the bands and sliders from UK Amazon. 

I got these bands (4 bands) for $21 along with a travel pouch to put them in. And I bought these sliders for $21 ... so $42 total and I got them within 5 days of ordering instead of waiting for Beachbody which usually take a few weeks for me. 

Plus the sliders and bands are cute colors! HA!

So here we go. Time to start this journey. The biggest struggle this week for me will be the new meal plan but I got this guys. The vision of my goal is burnt into my brain. I won't stop or fail!

Let go of “fine” and embrace what could be...

The transformation story…

I didn’t realize how badly my body had slipped away from me during my 4th pregnancy.  I hardly had time to eat, let alone shower between everything we had going on.  Then few months (6 weeks to be exact) after Rowans birth, I was using the medicine cabinet mirror to put my make up on.  I had just gotten out of what probably was my only shower in three days, and I caught a glimpse of myself in medicine cabinet mirror.  I cringed.  And then I cried.  What happened to me?

I’m pretty sure that up until that point, I had managed to fool myself into thinking I could eat whatever I wanted, and still look and feel just “fine” to others and even myself, hiding in loose-fitting clothes.  My tears revealed the truth.  I wasn’t “fine.”  I didn’t feel comfortable in my skin and I wanted to be as beautiful on the outside as I felt on the inside.  

So… after a good cry in my underwear, I decided to take some full body pictures of myself.  I was adamant that this was the last time I would be “fine”.  I didn’t want to be fine, I wanted to LOOK and FEEL GREAT.  I wanted more energy.  I wanted to make it through to the end of the day without a melt down.  In my new world of motherhood and doing everything and anything for everybody else, I wanted something for MYSELF.

I’m no fitness supermodel.  I wasn’t a college athlete.  I’m just a mom that wanted to regain her identity.  I wasn’t born with the “skinny gene.”  Obesity runs in my family lines.  However, I was born with the “try hard” gene and I strive for personal growth.

Lipstick & Lunges is bringing you the “5 Steps to the Best Shape of My Life” series.  Regardless of where you are on your journey for personal health and fitness, I hope that you’ll take a look at what I believe are the KEY factors for success in our own lives.  Let today be the day you decide to change your mindset.  Let go of “fine” and embrace what could be. Join a community of women who are striving to be the very best version of themselves.

Follow us Instagram@Lipstick.Lunges  and on my personal Facebook where I love getting personal.  You can also subscribe to Lipstick & Lunges blog for healthy recipes, workouts, and most of  all inspiration and encouragement!

Check back tomorrow for Step 1 in the 5 Steps to the Best Shape of My Life series.

You can do this and we are here to support you along the way!  We can’t wait to see you shine!

Hard time with a diet?

Have you ever had a hard time with a diet?

Let’s just say you are physically not happy with yourself, so what’s the first thing you think of?

“I need to diet!” “I need to lose weight!” “I need to get skinny!”

Sound familiar?

Girl, of course they do! Why do those phrases sound familiar? Because every single one of use women on this god’s green earth, have spoke those same exact words when we were not happy with where we were physically.

So we decide to make a change.

But what comes with this change?

99% of the time it’s something drastic… like a complete overhaul! You have to start counting calories, macros, fats, make sure you are eating between this time and this time, and don’t eat this and don’t eat that. Or you resort to something even worse, popping pills, sticking on patches or drinking all your meals!

Usually when we make this change, we are hoping for quick results.

                            “I want to lose 20lbs in a week!”

Um…. sorry girlfriend, that’s not gonna happen! There is no such thing as losing weight fast, and it being ... 1. healthy for you, and 2. being something that you can maintain.

Don’t worry, I am not judging you if you have succumbed to one of those trends, I mean girl, I have done my fair share of garage diets to try and lose weight….

Hydroxycut, Medi Fast, Atkins or fancier term….. South Beach Diet, Advocare, 

Intermitted fasting, Carb Cycling, you name it…

and every single one of those i failed at and THANK SWEET BABY JESUS that I did! 

You know why, because those are not ways of living!

You are suffering, you are abiding by some instructions and some rules that DO NOT FIT WITH YOUR LIFESTYLE! And what is worse, some people end up trying to change their lifestyle in order to stick with these fads….

Then they get fed up, depressed, shits not working, or I am gaining weight back twice as fast as I lost it, and guess what….

YOU ARE NOT HAPPY!

Truth is, there is all types of advice online, social media is blowing up with all these diets, quick fixes, cleanses, etc that tell you that you can drop this much weight in this amount of time… but what they don’t tell you is everything that comes with it.

Unnatural supplements, shakes, patches, pills, foods, etc…. ARE NOT GOOD FOR YOU! While you are trying to lose weight and you are putting horrible substances in your body, yes you could lose weight, but as you doing more damage than good inside? And how are you truly feeling on the outside?

If I can give you one piece of advice and something that I hope you listen to, is always listen to your body! If something doesn’t feel right (like heart palpitations, over exhaustion, starvation, etc) that means DROP THAT DIET LIKE A BAD HABIT!

Here are a few things that you can do instead

1. Add more veggies. Don’t focus on cutting sugars, carbs, caffeine, etc. Focus on adding more good stuff in. Then you won’t feel like you are depriving yourself and you are getting full of the good stuff and won’t want to eat junk.
2. Realize that it’s a lifestyle change. If you want true happiness and health and have a body that you always wanted, realize it’s not going to happen over night, it’s not going to be an easy journey, and that you need to celebrate every small success from choosing broccoli over breadsticks to dropping a pant size. TREAT YOURSELF!
3. Last but not least. Love yourself as you are NOW! Know that you are worth a battle, you are worth the investment of time and energy that it takes to make healthy changes. Know your worth and that you deserve to feel good NOW while working towards where you want to be!

Also, if you would like to know more about finding inner strength to help you reach your goals click here .... HERE!