Part 1 of my Journey: Mindset
I wanted my first post about fitness and lifestyle to center around the changes that I’ve made in my personal mindset. While at first, this may not make much sense, but I will explain how the small changes I’ve made to my thinking and decision making has positively affected my happiness and overall mental health. I personally believe that getting in great shape and living a healthy lifestyle goes beyond just looking great. I think the fitness and health journey goes hand in hand with the journey to live a happier life. I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes as I sit down to write this blog post –that I believe perfectly sums up the change in my mindset. “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.”
Doing the same old diet and exercise I’ve been doing for years wasn’t going to get me where I always aspired to be. To really see the progress in the mirror, you need to commit to making a lot of lifestyle changes. (Depending on where you’re at currently of course) It seems simple… but really think about that. In order to have the will power to push yourself to get into the best shape of your life you have to be mentally prepared and really want it.
A few salads here and there isn’t going to give you the results you’re probably hoping for. Your day to day diet and habits needs to change. It’s going to take work but it’s not the type of work you dread, it’s the type of work that helps you to evolve into the person you’ve always wanted to be. You don’t have to feel overwhelmed making a drastic change all at once. Make one big change every other week, or every month, and over time BOOM- you’re living a completely different lifestyle. One positive change repeated every single day, compounded over time will make a massive difference and help you towards your goal. A little thing called compounding interest, that I learned from one of my favorite books, The Slight Edge.
In February of this year I decided to eliminate meat from my diet. I figured I would try cutting it out, see how I did, and then cut out additional foods that I knew weren’t good for me. I honestly didn’t miss it at all, realistically I always felt so lethargic after eating it. After successfully cutting out meat I decided to try my hand at another change, and cut out diary (with a few splurges here and there) and so on. Think about what you wish your dream diet and fitness routine would be and work backwards. Figuring out how to gradually get there so that you’re more likely to sustain it over a long period of time. For exercise, start with 3 times a week then 4 then 5 etc. You will find that after those first couple of weeks, if you can push through and stick to your plan, you will start to feel the positive changes and notice them in the mirror. This will only motivate you further to get after it!
Some other key factors:
Who you spend your time with will have a big effect on how successful you are towards your fitness and health goals. Get your bf/gf/roommate on board. If you only hang out with people who drink and go out every night and have no desire for a healthy lifestyle it’s going to be a little harder. I learned this on my recent trip to Tulum when I had the pleasure of hanging out with a few girlfriends who have lived a healthy lifestyle for years. Eating healthy all trip was so easy and enjoyable. Matt is also on the same page and we’ve been pushing each other to keep at it for a few months now! He works out every.single.day. twice a day. Yup.
It’s not dieting it’s a lifestyle change. Cheesy but true. One thing I’ve learned is that you won’t get your dream body in a month, or even 3 or 4 months. Annoying… I know, but just when you’re not seeing the results you want after 3 or 4 months and you’re ready to slack off, this is where most people go back to their original weight/diet or plateau. This is where you really have to step it up and work even harder. It’s going to take a lot of consistency over time and changes you can easily stick to. This is why I think the worst thing you could do is procrastinate until right before summer and do a fad diet. You want to figure out what changes you can make that you can actually sustain for the remainder of your life.
A quote that I always love to remind myself of, even though sometimes it makes me sad haha. “Food is fuel not therapy.” Food is delicious and can be a fun experience but not if you feel like a total shit blob after. I always want to order cookies and pizza and pasta and love it in the moment, but actually pay attention to how you feel after. Try to disconnect the thought process between being bored and wanting to eat for entertainment and happiness. Rarely, is splurging worth it. When you’re putting amazing/healthy things into your body, you’ll feel great and overall be happier. I felt like I struggled so much with being fatigued and tired all the time and have made great strides toward being full of energy! I attribute this all to the changes in my diet and working out 5 times a week. One last reminder - Food is intended to fuel your day and fuel your mind.
I know my following has been built on fashion and ootds. But after thinking long and hard about what motivates me to be a better blogger my core purpose has always felt much deeper. I want to help and inspire people, even if it’s in a small way. I want to impact people’s lives in my own way and to help with things I am passionate about. I have this great platform to be able to connect with people and I want to continue to expand on this. I want to inspire people to take that leap of faith to quit their job, pursue their dream, get into the best shape of their life, be happier, or inspire someone to dress in a way they’ve always wanted to feel more confident, or learn a simple new skincare tip that helps their self-esteem. Overall, I just want to be a good example, sharing my journey of making a big lifestyle change to maybe inspire someone else to do the same. I wasn’t always this way, I literally used to eat gummy bears for breakfast. And if I impact just 1 other person’s life in a positive way then I’ve done my job.
Highlighted below are 5 reasons I personally made the change:
Fatigue - I used to feel tired all.the.time. As someone who’s income is solely dependent on the effort level I’m putting in, I wanted to have more energy to accomplish more things in a day.
Mental Fortitude - I felt so weak all the time that I didn’t even have self-control over what I ate. I ate anything in front of me. If I passed candy, I had to have some. I wanted more control over myself and my emotions. I used to eat a whole pie of pizza to myself every Sunday…
Age - I turned 28 this year and although I can’t control getting older, I can control my body. At 28 I want to be in the best shape of my entire life. And I’m definitely the healthiest I’ve ever been in my life. I want to have children way down the road and when I do, I want to make sure I’m the absolute best version of myself and the best example to them too.
Facetune and Photo Editing – I’m not ashamed to admit that I indulge in the occasional arm adjust. Maybe it seems harmless in the moment but as a bigger picture I didn’t want to promote editing anymore even if no one knew I did it. How much more inspiring would it be to show how you can have the body you’ve always wanted if you just work for it. It’s so much more impactful to share how if you want to have your dream body it’s attainable for anyone. I wanted to share my journey of how if you want it bad enough you can make it happen.
Happiness 😊 Everyone’s goal in life is to be happy. Working out and eating healthy strengthens your mind and a strong mind allows you to control your emotions and overall happiness. It feels good to take care of yourself.
I really hope this helps! Next post will be exactly what I’m eating.
