Skinny Saturday

A while ago, I wrote about the beginning of my health and fitness lifestyle. I have been striving to make the changes necessary to live a life that is full of vitality! One that I can really say I feel good about myself, and am healthy. It’s not all about being skinny. It’s about being healthy. Yes, part of that, is being at a weight that is healthy.

Three months ago when I wrote that first post, I really was at the point where I felt like I couldn’t lose weight. In the past, I would start to work out, and quite literally, 3 weeks later, I would find myself (joyously!) pregnant. Since I felt like I didn’t have a real routine, I would stop all together. In that 3 weeks, I never really saw a difference. With that said, I was one of those people who wasn’t pleased with they way I looked, but didn’t really know if I had what it would take to make the changes necessary to accomplish my goals.

This time around, I just knew I could do it. I knew I wanted to. I knew I needed to. So, one evening, I decided to get myself up the next morning and workout, knowing, it was going to give me a swift kick to my behind! So, a few things that made me stick to it:

1.) Prepare

I got my shoes, clothes, and water bottle ready the night before. No searching around at 5 AM, and no excuses. I knew where everything was. I also had to prepare myself mentally. I had to tell myself no matter how hard it was, I was going to do it. I was going to work my hardest. I made sure to take some measurements, or, you could even take pictures. Even though my weight wasn’t changing much in the first 4-6 weeks, my size was. The scale can be deceiving. Measuring myself has helped to give me motivation to keep going!

2.) Plan

I know, how is this different from prepare, right? Well, I had a plan. I was going to get up, get out of bed, and get dressed. I knew if I could just get out of bed I’d be okay. I knew what DVD I was going to use and how long it was going to take. I knew when I was done, I would still have time for my quiet time before the children woke up. I had to plan accordingly. Wake up at a time (even if it seems TOO EARLY!) that it is realistic to accomplish your goals for the morning. I knew it would take me 15 minutes to get up and wake up before I would work out. I knew my workout was about 30 minutes long, and I’d probably just sit on the couch for another 15 after working out. That would leave me with another 45 minutes to an hour before the children were up for quiet time. I also knew I would workout 5-6 days a week, knowing that rest days are crucial for my muscles to rest and recoup from my workouts!

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

3.) Be Accountable

Next, find someone to be accountable to. Obviously, my husband knew I wanted to start getting into a routine, and make lifestyle changes. Not diet and crash, changes. Not starve myself and binge, changes. With that, he has not only been my number one supporter, he is also my first line of accountability. After him, I used SparkPeople to track my workouts and my food. Tracking my food was a HUGE wakeup call! I had no ideas the calories I was taking in every day. It made me think twice about what I was eating, knowing I would go and put it in. It was also nice to plan ahead and think about what I was going to eat. I could plug it in and see my calories before eating them! If I knew we would be going out for dinner, I could go on and try to find what my normal meal is. From there I could cut out something, or watch what I ate that day.

I’ve also recently found a workout buddy! Wow! What a difference that has made to even get together once a week and be able to work out together. It gets me up in the morning, and although I wouldn’t say we are competitive with each other, we are able to say “One more! Keep going! You’re kickin’ it!” It’s one more thing to keep you going!

4.) Encouragement

Now, this one, you may not really be able to find, or be able to count on. I’m adding this one for a very specific reason:

My husband has been extremely supportive of me. He has truly been there from the first day, telling me how proud he was of me, the changes he was seeing, etc. It has really helped to keep me going.

Obviously, you can’t really ask people to praise you or give you encouragement. Some people are natural encouragers, others, don’t know how to do it. I’m very thankful for the encouragement I have surrounding me. I don’t have to look for an outside source. It comes from the one who is doing life with me. Not only that, but I know that I have been given one body. I need to care for it. I truly believe that it pleases God for me to take care of myself and be healthy. We may need to be our own encouragement!

Again, I can not stress enough the healthy aspect. Although I weigh myself and the numbers are in the back of my head, I know it’s more about being healthy than having tiny numbers. It’s about having energy and (dare I say it!?) self-esteem. I want to feel good about myself. When I do, I carry myself more confidently. In my opinion, when you feel good about yourself, people notice it. Not in a bad, prideful way. I hope I carry myself in such a way as to encourage others, not in a “I think I look great, don’t you?” sort of way.

This is just a little glimpse into what got me started. I hope it can encourage you to not jump on the fitness bandwagon, but make lifestyle changes that include working out and eating healthy foods! I’d love to hear about your journey to a healthy lifestyle and how you make it work.

Happy Saturday!