Saturday, September 8, 2012

Football Just Gets Me Motivated

Hi everyone! So, my workout plan for this month is the Sweaty September plan from Blogilates! I love it so much. I feel so accomplished after I complete my workouts and love that she encourages her viewers as we go :) I can definitely tell a difference in my body; it seems more toned and strong. However, I've sort of plateaued in my efforts to lost weight, and have stayed around 153 for about a week. Hmm. I think I'm really going to try eating clean this week and see what happens! I hope you all are doing well!

P.S. Today is College Game Day, and watching really hot boys playing football just always makes me want to workout! What about you? What are your inspirations? Have an amazing week :)

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

It's a Lifestyle Change.

Hi everyone! My name is Claire, and this blog is about my fitness journey. To begin, I will tell you a bit about myself before I decided to change my eating and exercise habits, and life overall.

I have been involved in some sport for most of my life, whether it was swimming competitively for 8 years or softball for 5. I also dabbled in dance, gymnastics, yoga, and everything else that little girls love to try. I am a natural sports player, so I can pick up anything pretty quickly. The only problem is that I hate to practice, so when I became annoyed by swimming practices, I quit that, and focused more on softball, which I ended up quitting 2 years ago. When I was playing sports, I ate whatever the hell I wanted, and figured that I worked it off with the sports. So when I quit, I still had those bad eating habits: eating an entire bowl of cookie dough as a snack, 4 huge pizza slices for dinner, fast food when I was too lazy to cook. I started gaining weight, but made the excuse "I'm a teenager! It's hormones!" Uhh, no.

I knew I was getting chunky, but it really hit me when I was at the doctor's office, and at 167 pounds, I could be considered overweight. I would go shopping, and feel bad about trying on cute clothes because that one word-overweight-made me feel terrible about myself. So I started exercising. I would take my dog on walks in the evening, and though it wasn't much, I felt good because I was at least being active. However, it was not making much of a difference in my weight.

I looked into fitness more on the internet, and followed a couple fitspo Instagrams. I discovered that leisurely walks don't do much; healthy eating habits and tough workouts deliver the results that I wished for. I started by eating less food, and doing cardio a couple times a week. I always felt great after my workouts, and as I became more interested in fitness, I set a pretty lofty goal for myself: six pack abs.

I knew that it would be extremely difficult to achieve that goal, so I kicked up my "diet" a bit more. I don't even call it a diet now; it's a lifestyle change! Instead of just smaller portions, I made sure that my meals were actually nutritious. Huh, imagine that! I tried to eat more vegetables and fruit, and drink water instead of soda. I made my workouts more intense, going for jogs, weight training, and workout videos from the internet that made me sweat like I have never sweat before. I felt so accomplished with myself. Throughout the summer, I have gone from 167 down to 153 pounds. But I'm not stopping there.

I don't have a six pack, so I have dedicated myself to clean eating. I try to read labels more, and avoid anything that is heavily processed. However, I still have snacks like ice cream once in a while, and they actually help to motivate me to try harder the next day. I try to workout every day, and when I don't it feels like an incomplete day. My goal weight right now is 130 pounds, so I still have a ways to go, but I know I, WE, can do it. So, everyone, LET'S GET FITSICAL!