Click HERE to Begin a New You!!

While I was stalking people on Instagram, my hobby, I ran across another girl who went on a fitness journey and read through some of her posts. I'm good at stalking so beware. ;) One of her posts was a picture of the treadmill screen and she had burned 926 calories in an hour on the treadmill. Someone posted "HOW DID YOU DO THIS!?" and she wrote, "Turn your incline up to the highest setting and walk for an hour! Turn a good show on and the time flies!"

Put the incline on high, she said...... walk for an hour, she said.. Time flies, she said......HOLY FREAKIN COW I'm pretty sure I am not going to have movement in my legs in the morning. Make that tonight. I think one just fell off tonight.. OUCH. On top of my leg falling off I sweat enough to fill up a gallon zip lock baggie, I'm sure of it. However, I felt major satisfaction when I walked out of that gym and felt like I truly gave it 100%.

Today I reached a weight that I am almost sure that I haven't seen on the scale since maybe 6th grade. I made it into the 170's and I couldn't stop smiling all day. Do you have any idea what it feels like to have small success like that? I could not wipe the smile off of my face all day because I feel like I truly have control over my own health. It's an empowering feeling!

I have to give partial credit to my 170's to my change in eating plans. It's hard to be strong in both exercise and in the kitchen. I have the exercise down and figured out but the eating was hard for me. I had all of the materials to help me make a good eating plan and help me stick to it but I was putting it off. I was making the excuse too much of "I workout, so I can eat this cookie, they counter balance". Instead I need to plan my day around planned cheats to make sure I still get the nutrients instead of my lapse of self control. Sunday I sat down and made my grocery list to last me each meal the whole week and did some meal prep once I got home. I started following the beach body 21 day fix eating plan.

I don't follow the Beachbody workout portion of the 21 day fix, I only follow the eating portion (aka I didn't pay for it through Beachbody, neither do you). The key is to workout at least 30 minutes each day because that is what the workout video would be if you used it. 30 minutes of workouts and eating healthy will pay off eventually! Most people see results within 5 days! 5 days people!

What is the 21 day fix you ask?

The 21 day fix Is accompanied with 6 color coated food groups. Green is veggies, Purple is fruits, Yellow is good carbs, Blue is healthy fats, Orange is dressings and seeds, and Red is proteins!

To begin you have to do a small math equation. You take your weight X 11. Then add 400 (for any workout you may do). Then Subtract 750.
EX: Mine is 178 X 11 + 400 - 750 = 1608





There are 4 groups which you may fall
1,200 - 1,499
1,500 - 1,799
1,800 - 2,099
2,100 - 2,300
No matter where you fall, do not be discouraged! This eating plan will give you the nutrients your body needs and help you lose the weight quicker!

Once you figure out where you fit into the groups you will then know how many foods from each colored category you are allowed per day.

From here you should make a grocery list from each category for the week. I plan 7 days in advance and make all of my meals in advance so I have no excuses. I know this sounds like a diet and may suck but it really isn't a diet. It is showing you how to have the nutrients in your diet that you really need. You will see a change within a few days of how good your body feels with the right nutrients!





The Green Container is 8 liquid ounces
The Red is 5 liquid ounces
The Purple is 8 liquid ounces (but most fruit is specified, so you won't need to measure)
The Yellow is 4 liquid ounces
The blue is 2 liquid ounces
The Orange is 1 liquid ounce
And then your teaspoon.

On top of eating correctly you should drink half of your body weight in water. For example: my body weight is 178 so I have to drink 89 oz of water each day.

If you have one bad meal or give into temptations don't throw the towel in for the day. Jen, a trainer off of the biggest loser says our minds can be a dangerous thing. We often get into the F*%k it mood when we eat one thing bad during our day. If you give into a cookie, learn from it and figure out what you were feeling when you gave in to help with next time. Don't say, "well, I already ate a cookie so now I can eat bad the rest of the day". This goes back to the 80/20 rule. Focus on each week being 80% healthy and 20% bad. If you do better than that AWESOME!

Want support and motivation? I am willing to make a Facebook group that is private for everyone to talk about their weight loss journey. From workouts, foods, struggles, successes, and good/bad days. If you are interested comment on this blog, message me on Facebook, or text me!

This week I began a new challenge myself. I have started the challenge package from Beachbody for PIYO. This is a mix between pilates and yoga and shakeology each day. I will be doing this for 90 days and keep you in on my results and progress! An important part of each persons weight loss journey is to make sure you are always challenging yourself.

A lot of people have been asking me for a workout for beginners. This is one of my favorite HIIT workouts that you can do at home with not a single piece of equipment. You can do as many as you can and push yourself a little harder each time. This will start you out slow and you can Youtube "Interval Training" workouts too to find more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhdXXqcoco0

I believe in each and every one of you and I know that you can start this new year as the old you and finish the new year as a new you. Believe in yourself and do this for yourself!

XOXO, Audrey

I work with one of THOSE people...

If there was one category that I would place myself in, it would be hypocrite. I'm terrible at saying "you can't do that" and I turn around finding myself to be engaging in the act that I just shamed. I still do it anyways and think I'm above all else so.... I'm a hypocrite.

I still weigh 183 pounds,. One of my selfies won't end up on a health inspiration page. I do things wrong sometimes. I don't always know best. I haven't learned the 100% ins and outs of health and fitness. And biggest of all, I suck at the holidays.

Man oh man do I suck at the holidays. Mentally I kept tellinng myself I would NOT eat those sweets and that i would stick to the veggie tray, not the carbs... However, I have to admit that deep down I had it planned to cheat and enjoy my holiday and jump back on the band wagon after the holidays were over. That's horrible! This mindset sucked my motivation dry and made me miserable! I have breakouts on my face. I cry during the day because I feel fat and I am crazy unhappy! Why on earth do I continually do this to myself when I KNOW exactly how it makes me feel. Maybe some day I will learn.

I purchased a year membership at the local gym (so I now I a year membership at 2 gyms.. Yes I am stupid). I bought an exercise ball, a medicine ball, and a set of 8 lb weights to add to my elliptical in the basement to begin my own home workout area and I am set to purchase PIYO the beach body program tonight. This girl, is ready for a challenge! I am going to challenge myself and pish past my limits to reach the goal that I have worked towards. I refuse to give up now and you shouldn't give up either. Don't make this a New Years resolution to get as many likes as you can on facebook make it a goal with determination from within!

On the subject of the title of this blog... If you aren't familiar with one of THOSE people you will be after I point this out. It's one of those things that has driven me nuts since the day I began to lose weight. When you're on a weight loss journey you want to talk about it, show it off, brag about your weight loss, swap healthy recipes, share your favorite workouts, etc.. It's such a great feeling to find that person that you relate to on every level and have all the health and fitness things in common! .... Then you have the opposites. Example:
Me: "I ate an apple, green beans, and grilled chicken for lunch!"
Them: "that's way too healthy and you aren't getting enough carbs! If you're running you need carbs!"
Me: "what are you eating for lunch"
Them: "French fries and fried chicken"
note*** they weigh 115 pounds and never gain a pound
THAT is on of THOSE people. They also proceed with telling you that you are ruining your metabolism by training the way that you are and BLAH. BLAH. Blah.

I know I'm not a fitness guru but I have lost my 20 pounds in a very healthy way and I plan to continue with my diet and exercise the way that I started. So back off naturally skinny girls. I love you all but I am large and I don't plan to eat like I want to be large forever. If I follow your diet, I will be forever overweight. Therefore, I will follow mine.

Last blog I discussed emotional issues with your weight loss, if we never face these, you will struggle in your weight loss. You have to pinpoint why you gained this weight to begin with and why you eat with your emotions. If you don't pin point this now, you never will. Every time this comes back to haunt you, you will go back to your old ways. I have done it, probably 10 times.

Research your emotional eating problems, start this journey from deep within, and know your stuff. Don't let the outside world get to you. Stick to your diet. When you drop the pounds, they will realize that you're doing what is right for you.

Please please please everyone take a chance with health and fitness and just see what it has to offer you. Don't break promises to yourself and don't be the person that says you're going to the gym but finds excuses. Become a new person this year. A new you, a better you, a stronger you.

Remember I'm here for YOU just like you're here for me.
XOXO, Audrey

Cardio Is For The Birdies

Last week I posted a picture of my transformation, which brought up a lot of questions from others. Such as: What are your secrets? How are you doing it? What have you changed? How can you help ME?

Well guess what, I have answers for all of those!

What have you changed?
I have changed everything. From my eating habits, my sleeping habits, and my workout habits. I have changed it all. However, I didn't do it all in one day. I did it over time.
With my eating habits: I started one meal at a time. I started with breakfast and made it healthy every single day. Then when I was used to 1 I went to 2, then I went to 3 with a healthy snack. I made those meals each 4 hours apart. 8am(breakfast), 12 pm(lunch), 4pm (snack), 6pm (supper). I found that if I went longer than this without eating, I frequently over ate.
My sleeping habits: I started going to bed earlier instead of staying up all hours of the night and I started getting my butt out of bed in the mornings to workout.
My workout habits: I have tried to lose weight a thousand times plus and never get anywhere. Once I got used to eating at least 1 meal a day that was healthy I started working out as well. Something I had to understand was I have to work up to my max potential, not start there on week one. I was pushing myself too hard and I would give up because I didn't feel like i could do it. Start simple just like with the meals and work your way up. Even 30 minutes a day is amazing!

How are you doing it?
I have been trying to diet for years. Every time I thought that it was all about calorie restriction. However, it is SO much more than that. Calories need to be restricted BUT that doesn't mean cut them out period or eat less than your recommended daily value or to cut out the protein and the carbs that give you energy to keep going. You have to do some research and learn what each thing does for your body and how to control the numbers. What I tell everyone is that PROTEIN IS KEY! I truthfully believe that you have to get your max protein each day or you are only hurting yourself.
Also, I work out each and every day, with one rest day. You have to be dedicated to the change or it isn't going to happen. The excuses have to stop and become excuses for why you HAVE to go to the gym, not why you CANT go to the gym. It's all a mindset game. Weight loss comes with hard work in the kitchen and at the gym.

What is my secret?
Support. Support is my secret. I know that each week nobody depends on seeing my blog be posted but they are cheering me on when they read it. So many people are rooting for me and if I give up now I let down so many more people than myself. My secret is this blog and it holding me accountable. Each week I have nearly 200 readers. If I give up I give up on 200 people who are counting on me to prove the world wrong and to show everyone my strengths. Find your support, create your own blog, find a reason to keep going!

How can you help ME?
Ask me anything! Even if I don't know the answer, chances are I'm going to look it up. I can give you workouts even if they are workouts I have acquired from others when I asked. I can give you recipes, I can give you tips, I can give you tricks, I can drag your butt to the gym with me, I can hold you accountable by asking you weekly what you have done to make yourself better. I can do a lot for you, it just takes you asking me!

Outside of these questions I want to let you all know that weights are key! One time I worked out with my best friend before I began this journey and I was just going to bike. She looked at me with a serious face and said, "Oh no, Cardio is for the birdies. We are lifting weights today". She pushed me past my limits and made walking nearly impossible the next day. BUT I felt change in my body after just one time at the gym! The fact of the matter is that fat does not burn as many calories as muscle does. When you gain muscle you ramp up your metabolism, and you burn more calories. In other words, you're going to lose that weight quicker and that belly fat!

You can run or do your choice of cardio, I run 2 1/2 miles a day along with weight lifting, but don't forget to lift! With gaining more muscle you need more protein in your body. Did you know: the amount of protein you are supposed to consume per day is the muscle mass % that you have. For example I weight 186 lbs to date and my muscle mass % is 116.6. That means each day I have to consume approx 117 grams of protein to properly feed my muscles.

Lift weights and get your protein, see results.





I'll post again after the weekend with some awesome workouts that I have gotten from fitness guru, Tara Roach, that went through her own transformation and is now a muscle machine! Her workouts will kick your butt every time and make you feel like you truly did all that you could do.

I hope everyone has an amazing weekend and please be safe!

xoxo,
Audrey

A Picture Says A Thousand Words

When you start to think about health and fitness, your mind takes over. Ever seen the quote "Your brain quits before your body"? Health and fitness doesn't happen over night. Your motivation and education for health and fitness can happen over night, but not a weight loss or mass gain. I have to admit that I try to stay as positive I can on this weight loss journey, BUT once in a while the thought crosses my mind of "this is going to take FOREVER".. This thought, I think, is where people let their brain win and say, I give up....I did.

1 year ago I was on a fitness challenge and had lost 15 lbs. I was not so much focused on food as I was getting in physical shape. One day on my run I let my brain fill with bad thoughts. One being, "You're going to give up sometime, you can't do this forever, why not just quit now".. Another being, "I'm just going to be fat and happy forever".. Jillian Michaels would scream at me for this. NEVER call yourself names or use your weight as a joke. Stay positive and work hard, you will get there! Nothing in life that is worth it happens with the snap of your fingers. YOU CAN DO THIS!

If you are anything like me, you surf Pinterest for all things healthy. Motivation, recipes, workouts, quotes, etc.. In this post I am going to show you how Pinterest can be a good thing, but can also make those 'thoughts' that I talked about, worse.

Tell me you haven't seen this picture before.... I haven't eaten sweets for 2 weeks, and sweets are my weakness in life. They are the sole reason that I have love handles. I found this when I typed 'health motivation' into the search box on Pinterest.. GREAT motivation (not). Yes, you will survive if you eat a cupcake, but the beginning of your diet is about ditching the cravings. Tell me what health benefits a cupcake has for you besides making you have a 'cupcake top'. NONE. PLUS, I am not genetically predisposed to being 'fat' but I do have big bones. No diet can change big bones and chances are I am never going to have a thigh gap. So, I chafe. Get over it. Your legs are what take you everywhere in life and sometimes we take those legs for granted. Some people don't get the chance to chafe. Be thankful.

This is my absolute favorite picture that I will show you in this blog. When you come to the realization in life that each meal is not to fill your stomach, it is to feed your body the nutrients it needs to function, you are winning. As I said before, a cupcake has no health benefits. Not a vitamin, not a healthy fat, not giving you energy, it is actually giving you fatty sugars. WHICH, by the way slow you down, so add another pound to the body you already dislike. You hear it all the time "Your body is a temple". But seriously people, your body is what gives you life. Gives you the ability to get out of bed healthy every day. Allows you to walk. Allows you to do what YOU want to do each day. THAT in itself should be motivation to put nothing but healthy foods into your body.

Do I even need to write about this one? Make this promise to your body. To yourself. Change your life, change yourself. PROMISE yourself.

How am I losing this weight? I'm eating healthy and taking this awesome new diet pill called "Get-The-Hell-Up-And-Work-Your-Ass-Off-Every-Damn-Day"! That my friends is not a fad, and it will not be added to the failed list. Promise.

A diet isn't for a week, it's for a lifetime. It is a life change to make you better. When you are on a diet for a week, or just a month, you fail. Nobody wants to be a failure. Tell yourself that YOU WILL DO THIS!

THIS is why you keep going. You set a goal in the beginning that you know is going to be worth it in the end. The bad thoughts that you feed yourself, can be easily beat with positivity. Yesterday was the beginning of my fitness journey and I am in more pain than words can describe. However, I'm going back tonight because I know it is what it takes to get me where I want to be. Always think of the big picture.

I've been excited since the first .1 lbs dropped off. Be happy for yourself! No matter what the milestone, even if it is just going to the gym every day for a week, be proud of yourself! 

Everyone is going to have their awesome days and their bad days. That is part of life. But when that day comes remember this. You don't have to beat yourself up! Go back to my first post and read my suggested article of why men lose weight easier than women. One of the reasons was that they have an 80/20 rule! Not every day is going to be 100% but make sure they all average up to 80%. 

Last but not least. Don't quit! Be stronger than every excuse that you could ever come up with and do it! I'll end with what I began with, "Your brain quits before your body". Don't quit! 

I may say things that not everyone will always agree with. That's fine. I want you to argue with me. Because if you are arguing with me, that means you are also on this journey and have learned things for yourself. You want to put your knowledge up against mine. I am not saying that I am a fitness and health guru but I sure hope to be some day! The best way to learn is to get out there and do it!

My reminder to you today is all of these pictures. Make this the post that you repeatedly come back to and read for your daily motivation. Even if it means skipping the health and fitness section of Pinterest. 

xoxo, Audrey