When I decided I needed to take my health and weight seriously I was bombarded with all these different fad diets and crazy workouts. It was a lot of information to process at once, so I let everyone’s advice slip from my head and do my own research. Since my biggest issue seemed to be my liver at the time, I decided to see what I could do to help that first. I bought the book “Skinny Liver Diet” and read it cover to cover in one day. It was filled with so much information, and the best part was, it was a lifestyle change, not a fad diet. I immediately went through my cabinets and refrigerator and threw out anything that was not going to be needed with my new way of eating, and let’s face it, I had to get the temptations of pasta and frozen treats out of the house lol! I made the choice that the best thing for me was a strictly organic plant based way of eating. I now shop at Whole Foods, meal prep every Sunday for the whole week and feel great about myself. An idea what what I eat a day is: breakfast- a serving of strawberries, a serving of cucumbers and 3 hard boiled egg white. Lunch- tofu or chicken with steamed or raw veggies. Snack- roasted seaweed. Dinner- a salad of spinach, cucumbers, peppers, and a light balsamic vinegar dressing. I also do interment fasting. I don’t eat after 5pm at night and my first meal of the day isn’t until 9am. And I drink LOTS of water!
Exercising was a tricky part for me. I initially thought all I had to do was walk and I would be set, so my first week I walked 2 miles before work, 2 miles on my lunch break and 2 miles after work. I thought I was doing amazing. Then my doctor asked me what I do for exercise. I proudly said “I’m walking 6 miles a day.” Her response was “that’s good but what exercising are you doing?” That’s when I realized walking wasn’t enough, I need to get in some cardio and get my heart rate going. I didn’t enjoy going to the gym because it’s always crowded and I never have a clue if I am using the machines right. I decided I needed a workout class that was more structured. I narrowed it down to three classes I wanted to try, Ariel yoga, barre, and cardio kick boxing. My coworker told me she had been wanting to try out barre and said if I did that she would go with me. As much as I wanted to do the Ariel yoga, I liked that I would have company so decided to give barre a shot. We went to a class and man was it torture… I don’t think my body has ever that sore. So that was that, barre was ruled out. Two weeks later I was still only walking and didn’t see much happening with my weight so I talked to another coworker and said I wanted to give barre one more shot and asked if she would join me. She agreed, we went and I was so proud of myself for making it through that I made the decision to sign up for a full month. After a week of going I was hooked! I have now been there for 3 months and it is truly the best part of my day! The staff are not just knowledgeable but beyond motivating and I am pretty sure if it wasn’t for them, especially the owners, I wouldn’t have gone back. I have never once felt judged, which is hard considering right away I noticed I was the biggest one. The people who attend class are also beyond friendly and are easy to talk to. I tell everyone I know how amazing it is there and have gotten four people to also sign up. When you believe in something, you should shout it from the roof tops! I had someone once tell me that barre is life changing and it couldn’t be more true, I am 100% better because of it!!
From Lazy to Lean... and everything in between! 