Today I woke up feeling lean and inspired to write; two pretty rare things. I promised this blog post, hmm lets see, maybe 7 months ago. Yikes. Life happens and it’s hard to blog consistently, but hey, today I woke up less bloated and inspired to write a lil sumthing, so here it is.

If you didn’t already know, I used to be a little chunky monkey. See pics for proof. Over the last few years, I’ve lost over 40lbs - something I attribute to exercise, healthy eating, and a healthy mind.

Here are the five biggest things that help me:

Intermittent Fasting + Diet

Full disclosure: this is something I completely dabble in and have no idea what I’m doing. I started playing with the aspect of not waking up and immediately eating food - GASP! But breakfast is the most important meal of the day, Nicola! Well… what if it isn’t? What if it’s just another myth perpetuated by the media years ago to make you eat more Poptarts or something? Kinda like the Got Milk campaign.

After a tumultuous relationship with food, I finally realized that food = fuel. (Food can also = fun, but that’s another chapter.) So if food equals fuel and I spend most of my mornings lounging in bed/responding to emails/convincing myself to get up and walk my dog, why would I require fuel? So instead, I just drink coffee and I eat my first meal around 12pm or 1pm. This is about a 16-18 hour fast since dinner. Some science suggest this gives your body and digestive system a break, and it’s worked for me so I agree and like this science. On other days, if I’m going to workout before 10am, I will eat oatmeal or have a protein shake. If I don’t eat before exercising I am weak and not much gets accomplished.

I hate diets. If you read my last fitness blog post you would know that I went through a ridiculous phase with my bestie where 100- calorie-snack- bags were our main food source. For months I counted all my calories and desperately tried to understand macros. Math is not my forte so you can imagine how that went for me. These days my diet is not very strict but it’s easy for me to determine what is simply good and bad for my body. I don’t tolerate dairy or wheat very well so I try to limit these. I still eat pizza and drink beer though because I’m a silly muggle. I’m still a vegetarian and I eat seafood occasionally. Things that make me feel good include: oatmeal, eggs, most vegetables, fruit, tofu salads, nuts, beans, and plant-based protein shakes.

Instead of diets, I’ve found that doing two or four week ‘resets’ has been good for me. During this time I just eliminate everything bad like dairy, wheat, sugar, coffee, and alcohol. It’s pretty hard to do, and feels like hell for the first few days, but v rewarding in the end. Whole30 and Arbonne are an example of some programs I use to reset.

Find Your Tribe

For me this used to be Kayla Itsine’s BBG. I still love this program, and will sing its praise forever, but the workouts just got a bit monotonous for me as I’ve been through it three times already. That being said, if you’re looking for a place to start I highly suggest trying BBG. The BBG (Bikini Body Girl) community is really like no other and I still enjoy to creep on them from afar.

My new obsession is lagree. A new studio opened up close to me in October and I decided to try out their first free class. I was completely hooked after that. For those that have never heard of it, lagree is a 45 minute high-intensity but low-impact workout. All the movements are done suuuper slow, but the transitions are quick so your heart rate stays up the entire time. It really challenging and I basically die every class.

I loved it so much that I actually ended up getting my Lagree teaching certification. Which is kinda insane as this is completely out of my comfort zone. If you had told me 5 years ago (or 2 years ago!) that I would be confident enough to teach on a microphone I would have laughed. Contrary to what may be displayed on social media, I am actually more on the introverted side. My voice doesn’t really project, which is perfect for me because I’d rather stay at home and read books than yell over music at parties.

But life is only exciting if you try new things, so alas, here I am with my teaching certification. I think the best part of lagree for me has been meeting a whole squad of badass babes that motivate and inspire me daily.

Don’t Play The Comparison Game

If your instagram feed is just filled with tiny girls eating cheeseburgers saying “breakfast, lunch, and dinner amirite?!” Unfollow them right now. Those girls probably work really fucking hard in the gym 6 outta 7 days, but for some reason they only decide to show you day 7 (which is consequently their cheat day). This is really harmful. I used to be like “That waist to butt ratio?? But how?!” I unfollowed girls like that because they made me feel bad and were not helpful for my journey whatsoever. They also have zero muscle mass and probably have trouble staying upright on a windy day.

Now I follow beautiful, STRONG, kickass girls that send out positive messages and don’t try to pretend that they don’t work really, really hard for their health. Here are a few that inspire me:

@kaliburns

@powerbyruthie

@kelseywells

@wakecarro

@lindseyharrod

Get a Fitbit or Apple Watch!

There is nothing more motivational than this judgmental little device. I have no experience with Apple Watches, but I was really into my Fitbit for a few months before I lost the charger. I felt super lame if I couldn’t even do the suggested 10,000 steps a day which motivated me to get moving more. I soon upped my goal to 15,000 steps and found that I could easily achieve this if I walked Loki a little further every day. In return, Loki was happy, my Fitbit was happy, therefore I was happy.

I liked it because it kept me motivated and the only person I was competing with was myself. I should find that charger.

Drink Water and Be Happy

I fully believe in law of attraction. Once I started just focusing on the positive milestones, no matter how tiny, those milestones kept growing. At my lowest points I had a pretty negative mindset and used to be really uncomfortable in my body. I was unhappy that I ate and drank so much, so I ate and drank more. I was stuck in a vicious cycle with no end in sight. On top of this I had horrible acne. A result of hormones, eating the wrong foods, and definitely not drinking enough water. After finally being injury-free in 2015, I started to take my health more seriously and make changes. I met and fell in love with Broc in February of 2016. Luckily my mindset was already shifting or I wouldn’t have taken a chance on him, as I used to not think of myself as being very lovable. Broc and Loki make me the happiest I’ve ever been - and being happy changes everything.

So focus on the positive and trust me things will start falling into place. Oh, and drink a lot of water. Like an uncomfortable amount. If your pee is clear, your face and mind will be, too.

If you have any questions about any of this, please reach out and I’ll be happy to answer them!