Are you ready to lose weight?

I lied
Ok, so I didn't lie about drinking water as my first step but after some thinking I realized that I did something prior to this. I was mentally ready to lose weight. If you are not ready to lose weight then no book, diet, exercise program or pill is going to help you. How do you become ready?

You have to be uncomfortable
If you are comfortable with your body then why would you put extra time and effort into changing it? I think that we should love ourselves but if I had been comfortable with my body then I would not have made healthy lifestyle changes. I remember going back to school after I had my first child and I was actually embarrassed to look in the mirror when I used the restroom, especially if a cute thin girl was in there with me. I could not stand feeling this way and wanted a change.

Visualize yourself (thin, strong, healthy)
You have to see yourself in your minds eye how you want to look and feel. Picture yourself exactly the way you would like to look and how you will feel when this happens. Try it now. How does it feel? I feel, strong, healthy and sexy. I have more energy and enjoy my life more. Now practice this on a daily basis.

Use positive self talk
I am the queen of beating myself up however, I knew that this would only stop me from being my best. So, I decided to say something positive to myself every morning in the mirror. I bet there is at least one thing that is absolutely amazing about you! The very first thing I said to myself was that I was incredible because I was able to make the most adorable little boy. What a feat! We would love to hear the good things you tell yourself so we can steal them for ourselves.

You will HAVE to change your life!
Many people want to lose weight but they want to keep their lifestyle. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Realize that you are going to have to make PERMANENT lifestyle changes. Please note that these should be done in baby steps so that you can maintain them and it is not traumatizing. 

You must make time in your life
Our lives are crazy busy! One of the main reasons people say they can't lose weight is because they don't have time. We are working 40+ hours per week, taking our kids to activities, volunteering etc. The list could go on and on an on... Well, we have to have a margin of time in our lives and this means we have to make some changes. For example I am currently working overnights and getting very little sleep and I have almost no time with my family. I can not start an exercise program right now. It will only cause more stress in my life. I have taken steps to change this because I have to feel good about myself. Next week will be my last week of overnights because I have found a new job! I am giving myself two weeks to settle in and then I will begin working out regularly. What are some things that you must change in order for you to make time for yourself?

Now your ready
Once you have your ducks in a row you will be ready to change your body by changing your life. Please share what things are holding you back and what you can do to change them.




Baby steps

So to update you about my weight loss journey. I did a mini workout yesterday and plan on doing another today. I kept it simple, adapted pushups (maxed out did them till I couldn't tollerate another. I used a desk to put my hands on. I like these better than the "girl" style push ups on your knees because it gives you a greater range of motion like you would have with the regular push ups. So back to my workout. It is so sad I hate to even call it that, but I have to start somewhere. Ok, then chair dips (maxed out), plie squats (feet very wide toes pointed slightly out) works inner thighs, normal squats. I maxed both of these with no weight but my own. Then I did 100 kegals. Ladies I can't tell you how important this is after having a baby. It helps with incontinence and helps with sexual performance. Hey, I am just gonna keep it real here. Then I did a series of booty exercises. The ones where you are on all fours and you lift your legs toward the ceiling. I repeated this two times. I tried jumping rope for a few minutes and realized that I should wear a sports bra for this endeaver. Needless to say this was the toughest. I only did it for five minutes. Mind you when I am fit I can jump rope for an hour. Crazy, I know but it is a big warm up and cool down exercise for boxing and I prefer it over jogging. I can't stand jogging by the way. So hooray for me for taking this baby step to my weight loss goal. Which by the way is to have 22% body fat. I hate the scale. It doesn't differentiate between fat and muscle. So, this is why I have a body fat percentage goal. On top of posting pics I will post all my measurements and my body fat. Believe it or not it is hard to share this info. Kuddos to all of those who have gone before me. It takes guts to show the world where you are at when you are at your worst. I am gonna continue with my baby steps so I can post those fun after pics! Can't wait.

Losing the baby weight

Ok, most of you already know that I just had Baby Ben. He is now just over two months old and such a cute little chunk! He is my third little guy and now I have to begin the journey of losing the baby weight again. I have decided to share my journey with you. I am dreading it but I will post before pics because honestly, it really is motivating to see others change their bodies. Since, my goal is to help you meet your goals I am gonna put my humility aside and bite the bullet. The first time I was pregnant my start weight was 135 and my end weight was 216. I was able to lose all of it and look even better. My boxing pic is after I had my oldest. During my second pregnancy I didn't gain as much weight. I think it was around 38lbs. It was more difficult to fit in exercise this time around as I couldn't just go for a jog because I had my oldest son to watch and no double stroller. I pretty much lost the weight through making healthy choices and staying active such as doing yard work, walking and jogging and simple exercise like push ups and chair dips. We were so broke that a gym was not an option. I did manage to lose it all again. This time I got up to 201lbs. I had gestational diabetes and this really slowed me down. I just could barely move and the diabetes caused me to gain more weight. At this point I am down to 172lbs. I can fit into some of my prebaby clothes but not most. I am a size 10/12. The biggest thing is that I have lost a ton of muscle and put on a ton of fat. Fun times! My first goal is to start adding exercise back into my life even if it is just 15 minutes per day. Getting into the habit is the KEY to changing your body. You must form new habits. I am also going to start a food log. I hate this more than anything! It is just a pain in my butt, but I know it will help me get back on track. I will try to get those pictures posted this weekend so come back and check them out.