Bikini Series 2017 | Halfway Point

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I have mentioned Tone It Up before, probably way to many times, but my love for the trainers and this program are worth mentioning! I love how flexible tone it up makes working out and eating.  Just follow the rules - but make it your own.  It's a lifestyle after all.  They are constantly coming up with new recipes, workouts, and general life tips that are always positive and encouraging.

We are now in week 4 of the summer bikini series.  Although, I am pretty terrible at check ins.  Which is where you post your meals and workout photos on instagram to keep up with everyone else doing the challenge, and to receive and give encouragement.  My office has NO service so I just don't / can't use my phone then pretty much forget after I am home.

Even though I don't post check ins regularly it doesn't mean I am not following along with the meals and workouts.  I have been loving this bikini series.  I am learning so much throughout this process, especially since this is the first bikini series I have been following.

I haven't noticed too many physical changes or weight changes but I don't necessarily have a lot of weight I need to really lose. The changes I am seeing are more mental.  I am getting better at refusing foods that don't serve me healthy purposes or make me feel like crap.  I have also noticed that I am doing more every single day.  I always have been one to work out - but I also had days or weeks where I just didn't.  Now I am more consistent in doing something every single day whether it be a short video, walk with the pup, or inviting friends to go to bootcamp or yoga. In turn, doing something pretty much every day has incredibly helped my mood. I also find that when I workout I pick healthier options to eat because I want to fuel my body and treat myself better.  It becomes a healthy cycle.  It's so much better than the old spiraling into unhealthy choices that I fell victim to often.

I can't wait to see what the next 4 weeks of the challenge have in store for me.  Just in time for summer!!

What is your favorite way to improve your overall wellness?

How I Meal Plan and Organize My Week

Today is the first day of the bikini series with Tone It Up!  Go beach babes, you got this!! I will be joining you soon :) This week I actually didn't plan or prep anything because I am camping in West Virginia with thirty 4th graders and all of our meals are being provided at the campsite.  I am just going to enjoy the experience and still try to be as healthy as possible with what I have.  

I wanted to share a little of how I typically prep for success for my upcoming week.  It's kind of funny because I used to not be a planner at all.  Then I went to grad school and it all changed.  I had to be super organized - working 2 jobs, taking graduate classes, keeping up with homework, internships, and social obligations - not to mention planning meals for all this running around and trying to fit in workouts. 

Since I am on a budget I started meal planning as well as planning out all my events all together.  I wanted to know what I was doing for the upcoming week so I could plan meals around it or have healthy options to bring with me.  Eating out was never really an option because of the added cost that brings.  

Now I am not in grad school but still living a pretty hectic life I have found peace of mind in being a little prepared for what is coming.  So every week I get out my computer, colored pens, my Passion Planner, and a notepad for lists and get to work.  I check a few things.  1. My school calendar 2. My personal calendar 3. Offline [a fun app that posts events in Charlotte] 4. Tone It Up's weekly schedule for workout 5. My tone it up Nutrition plan.  

First, I put everything into my planner according to the time I want to accomplish things.  I even make sure to write down journal time in there because there is power in writing your goals down and I need that time set aside for prayer and self care! Then I add in workouts from tone it up or classes like bootcamp or yoga that I typically go to with friends during the week.  Lastly I plan out my meals.  I plan out what I am going to eat for every single meal each day of the week.  I try to make it as simple as possible and tone it up has taught me how to reuse ingredients for multiple recipes so nothing goes to waste!  This also helps you be creative with your meals multiple times throughout the week instead of just getting things to make one meal like I used to do [My old roomie / current bestie would be so proud] After the meals are planned I make my grocery list and head out to Trader Joes.  Sometimes I will even prep for the week especially if there is something like muffins I want to eat multiple days but not always.  I pack my lunch for work every night so while I am at it I prep for all my meals for the day ahead. 

I find that I am calmer and more likely to reach my goals when I set aside this time every weekend.  Meal planning and organizing my life with my calendar I feel has made me a bit more successful from week to week.  Of course things always come up but I am not ever far from my planner to check and make adjustments.  Or if I happen to go out to eat I consciously make a healthy choice and then just shifts some meals around. There are so many ways to prepare for the week ahead but I find the most important thing is to think about what you truly want to accomplish.  At the end of the day or the week what will you be proud of yourself for when you look back and plan to do those things!

How do you set yourself up for a successful week?

How to Bounce Back into a Healthy Routine After Slipping

We all have those days, mine typically fall around my time of the month. The days where we are exhausted and don't feel like cooking or working out.  The days where no matter how great you meal planned whatever that healthy item is just doesn't seem appetizing anymore.  So we cave - we give into our unhealthy cravings and indulge. Or we take a nap instead of that fitness activity that was planned.

Whatever the slip might be.  It's normal.  It's okay to have days that aren't 100% clean eating and attending a crazy bootcamp where you burn 500 calories.

I used to let these slips get to me.  I would really beat myself up about it.  You can read more about what I gave up for lent and why: here and here.  I would turn negative self talk into an internalized terrible idea about myself and my worth.  The vicious cycle of "it's not worth its" "I am a mess up" "I just can't because of x,y,z" would turn one bad meal or skipped workout into a bad few days.  Those bad few days turns into a whole week of unhealthy choices for myself.  Then all of a sudden I find myself in a huge rut, fueled by unhealthy habits that crank up my anxiety and negative self-talk, to the extreme.

Slowly, I have had to evaluate that cycle that seems to happen within me.  It's so not worth it.  I have had to literally change my language.  Being a part of the Tone It Up community has helped me so much with that.  K & K teach that they don't use language like "cheat meals" because then it means you are doing something wrong and should feel guilty [which you 100% should not!] Sometimes your body just needs a break or a huge bowl of mac and cheese - you do you boo. Treats are not something to be guilty about or to kickstart an incredibly unhealthy cycle, they are treats.

After that "treat" you talk to yourself and your dialogue should look more like: okay that happened, it's okay, it was worth it, I am rested, I totally and mindfully enjoyed every bit of that mac and cheese and now what's next.  And here is the trick, you do something about it.  Your next meal is a green juice.  You go for a walk after your nap.  You treat your body with love and respect because you only get one.  You make healthy choices because you love your body and you want it to be able to perform well every day.  You eat healthy because your body deserves good healthy fuel.

You don't let a slip turn into a bad week or month or year because you are so much better than that. Change your mind set.  Change your language.  Take care of yourself first!

How do you bounce back after slip ups?

What I Learned Doing the Look for Love | Tone It Up Challenge

all tone it up photos taken from toneitup.com

Yall, I did it.  I completed my first Tone It Up Challenge. I cannot even begin to articulate what these past 6 weeks have meant to me.  FYI this is definitely not a sponsored post I just love this plan, these trainers, and the transformation I have had within.

But in order to truly understand my why for joining Tone It Up we have to go back in time. Like to high school... I have always been an athlete.  Swim practice 6 days a week was my norm.  With all of that practice, I never really thought about what I was eating.  We weren't really educated on nutrition either.  Carbing up is a common phrase in the swim world.  And not healthy carbs I'm talking full on mac and cheese binges before meets was a regular occurrence.  I also didn't have the best relationship with food either.  I would come home from school and as my pre-workout / after school snack I would eat everything and anything in the cabinet [sorry Mom!] I had no real sense of portion sizing.

Then I left for college, I still swam for my school, so going to practice daily was my working out, plus swim meets on weekends.  Again, I felt like I was good because I swam so much and that burns a ton of calories.  Being in college comes with it's own challenges. No parent to yell at me when the whole bag of chex mix is gone or to tell me I can't go to a fast food place with my friends because it's past curfew.  Add in drinking and I was wrecking my insides slowly without actually realizing it.  Because, you see, this whole time I was blissfully thinking I was okay because I swim. I used swimming as an excuse to truly eat whatever I felt like.

So then I graduated college and got my first teaching job.  I moved back home with my parents and in order to find something to replace swimming I joined a gym and got hooked on zumba and yoga classes.  I was on a super strict budget now #teacherprobs so I had to figure out how to really meal plan.  I started losing weight I think based on the fact that I wasn't going out to eat all the time to save money.  I also pack my lunch for school every day because a lunch break is not a thing in schools #anotherteacherprob so by default I was eating slightly healthier. Yet, I still didn't really eat properly but it was in this time period that I realized I wanted to feel healthier and needed to make some changes in my life.

A few years later I moved back to the mountains for grad school.  Grad school, specifically a counseling program is 2 years of intensive self care and therapy, it was here that I found a passion for nutrition.  I got really into reading articles about food and what it does to your body.  The connection between food and mood was absolutely fascinating to me.  I also stumbled upon Tone It Up and starting following their workout schedule they post every week.  The more and more I researched I kept coming back to Tone It Up and knew they advertised a nutrition plan.  I have been a silent observer in the community presence online as well.  I was blown away by peoples testimonies.  They did a huge black Friday sale one year so I made the purchase and became a full blown member.

I read through the nutrition plan and loved their guidelines.  The science behind their recipes and nutrition plan really peaked my interest.  The more I educated myself the more I realized they are right.  Health is truly about what you put into your body.  You should fuel your body with fuel that takes care of it and is going to create the best version of yourself because you love your body. 

Still, I wasn't fully committed.  I tried a few challenges and always seemed to fade.  I observed the community still but didn't participate [social media is sometimes a difficult thing for me] Then I did Whole30.  I stuck with it for the whole 30 days. I fueled my body with clean food that is good for me.  I never felt better.  I actually liked what I saw in the mirror.  I was making the best choices for myself. Whole 30 completely changed my relationship with food.  I listened to my body and what it needed.  I stopped eating when I was full.  It was so encouraging to be proud of myself for actually accomplishing something too.  But, whole30 for me, wasn't sustainable.  I wanted to add back in foods to my diet that I knew from my research was still good for me but not allowed on whole30.

So life after whole30 left me searching for what to do with myself nutrition wise.  I read back through the whole tone it up nutrition plan again and this time it clicked.  I was committed.  I started truly eating based on their guidelines and rules. It's all about eating the right foods at the right times but also giving yourself permission to have some treats.  I began just simply asking myself the question is this tone it up approved or not? See, I was good at whole 30 because I am a rule follower.  So this little question helps me and my relationship with food tremendously.

This past January Tone It Up released their look for love new years challenge.  I wanted to follow along and stick it out; the whole six weeks.  I did. I didn't follow their plan to the t but I learned that sometimes that's okay as long as you still eat approved foods.  I learned that working out doesn't always have to be a crazy 2 hour long swim practice, sometimes you just need to listen to your body and maybe all it needs is a simple walk with the dog [that counts!] I learned that progress isn't always the number on the scale, it's how you feel, it's in the small choices that you make every day to push you toward your goals.  I learned that you can find love within.  Love yourself first because that's what matters.

I still have some personal goals that I set for myself.  My health journey is far from over.  But I feel like I accomplished what I set out to do.  Now I have started over for round 2 of the look for love plan, because the meals are just that good yall.  I truly feel better about myself following their plan.  And yes I still have my indulgences but the plan really taught me to make better decisions and to get back on track quicker instead of wallowing in self hate which turns into more than one bad choice.

So thank you Tone It Up.  I am still learning, but you have taught me oh so much and I can't wait to see what comes next for me. I'm thinking another race? Maybe yoga certified? Who knows the sky is truly the limit. Karena and Katrina I am so grateful that you are my trainers.

Have you ever tried a health journey or plan that completely changed your relationship with food and self?