HOW I'M GETTING IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE

For the first time in over 2 months, I put on jeans and left my house.

Yup, for the past 2 months that we’ve been under stay-at-home orders, I’ve literally stayed at home in my leggings every single day. I hadn’t even gone in another building that wasn’t my house until this last week.

And you wanna know the first thought I had when putting on my jeans?

“Dear Lord, I hope they still fit…”

Please tell me I’m not alone in this feeling…

Much to my surprise, not only did they fit, but they actually felt - dare I say - GOOD!

A few months ago, I shared my health journey and how I was working to “heal my body.” I honestly didn’t think I’d be updating you just a few months later, but I’ve made some really great strides in my progress over these past few months and wanted to share what I’ve done to really feel GOOD in my skin again…

>> THROW AWAY THE SCALE

To be honest, we haven’t had a scale in our house in about 5 years, so this is not something new to me, but as someone who used to obsessively weigh themselves daily, NOT weighing myself has been SO freeing!

Before you ask, “But, how do you know if you’ve lost weight?!” think about it this way... 

How do you feel when you get on the scale and your weight goes up? It SUCKS doesn’t it! And you beat yourself up about it. And you starve yourself. And then you get hangry. And so you binge. And then you weigh yourself, and the number went up again.

And the cycle continues.

Girlfriend, STOP THE CYCLE. Throw away the scale - or at least take the batteries out - and stop using the scale to measure your worth.

Stop using the scale to measure your worth.

Instead, put on a pair of jeans and note how they feel. Then a few weeks or months later, put them on again and see how they feel. I’m telling you, this is A MILLION times better than weighing yourself daily.

>> LEARN WHAT YOUR BODY NEEDS

Probably one of the best things I did was learn what I REALLY needed to be focusing on as far as my nutrition needs. I know A LOT about nutrition since I have a background in Exercise Science, but I never really learned exactly what MY body needed. All I knew is that I probably wasn’t getting enough protein, but I didn’t know exactly what my body needed as far as calories and macronutrients (carbs, proteins and fats).

So, I got a personalized macro calculation from one of my clients, Emily Field, who specializes in macro counting as a registered dietician. Not only was she able to tell me exactly what I needed to be eating, but she gave me advice on what I needed to focus on to get the outcome I was going for.

I counted my macros about 80% of the time for 2 months, which was enough time for me to learn what the number of calories I needed felt like, and how to get the right amount of protein (that was my big focus) in my diet. Now, I haven’t counted in a few weeks, but I have been able to maintain my progress pretty regularly.

You can learn more about getting a personalized macro calculation from Emily Field RD here…

>> MAKE A COMMITMENT TO YOURSELF

All of 2019, I was trying to figure out what felt good… or really, why pushing my body to train for races felt so awful. So, this year, I decided to take the year off of racing (hmmmm, seems like good timing at this point) and focus on doing what felt good for my body.

But, I also made a COMMITMENT to myself to stick with my program instead of jumping around from program to program. I made it to week 11 before having to switch to at-home workouts, and now I’m on week 9 of my at-home program and am sticking with it.

And because I know you’ll ask, I use the Sweat App by Kayla Itsines (the PWR program), I do 2 HIIT runs per week with the Peloton app, and the other days I run 3-5 miles. But, please remember, this is what works for ME… find something that you love to do and STICK WITH IT!

>> THIS IS A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT

While I know I said to throw away your scale, I’ve gotta be honest with you… I weighed myself for the first time this past weekend (hey there Wii Fit Plus…) and learned that I’ve actually lost around 5 pounds!

Wanna know how long it took me?

FIVE MONTHS.

Look, when it comes to your health and weight loss, it is not something that is just going to happen overnight. Yes, we ALL want that magic pill that will help you lose 5 pounds overnight. Wouldn’t that be great?!

But, if you want LASTING weight loss - especially when it comes to your overall health - it’s going to take awhile. Take your time. Treat this like a marathon, and not a sprint. Be willing to stick with this for a year.

One of the biggest takeaways from one of my favorite books - High Performance Habits - is that high achieving people make their HEALTH a priority. This year, make a commitment to yourself to get in the best HEALTH (not SHAPE, not skinniest) of your life.

That’s my goal this year - to get in my best health. Because as I get closer to 40 (!!!), I want to feel GREAT in my own skin, and I know that spending this year sticking with my health goals is going to get me there.