Fit and Healthy

Losing weight is not easy, it never was and it will never be.


Those girls who are naturally skinny are lucky, well, I do know they have to deal with critical comments too (I have been there some time ago).
I never felt comfortable being in-between skinny and starting-to-get-a-little-bit-chubby. There are a certain friends who will shake their heads when they read this, but I don't care. I have to feel beautiful in my body, not you.

Three years ago I gained around 17 pounds / 8kg due to unhealthy food (hell, I just love icecream so I ate it every night for a couple of weeks... shame on the inventor of icecream!) and emotional stress. On top of that I stopped going to the gym, I admit that wasn't one of the best ideas in my life. To be honest I did noticed some difference, but it was fine until I went out with a friend and saw a few pictures from that night online. Suddenly I had huge chubby upper arms, a little double chin in some mean ankles and beefy thighs.
Some may say curvy women are more beautiful than those skinny girls, which is true, but it does look pretty ridiculous having plump body parts without having boobs.

I tried to diet. And found out that dieting is awful. Changing your eating habbits is one thing, but counting calories all the time is nerve-racking.
Then I gave fasting cures a chance. I did lost 4 pounds in a week but I literally starved myself. Afterwards I tried really hard to eat low fat food in the evening, like salad and chicken. But I was always hungry. Always. And sleeping while you're hungry is really stressful.

After I moved out I planned to go to the gym again, but I never went. Excuses don't change anything, instead, they make everything worse.

(Source: tumblr - inspiremethin.tumblr.com)

It has been 2 years until I finally realised it's upon me, my body won't change itself over night. Unfortunately... :D

In my opinion strict diet plans and workout lessons twice or thrice at the gym don't solve your problem until you changed your behaviour as well. That includes working on your habbits, both eating- and exercise-wise.
During the last days I learnt a lot about healthy food and useful workouts without starving yourself. Healthy and mindful eating doesn't mean that you can't enjoy your food, but you have to be aware of how you eat, every single moment. We do forget too easily what we are eating and are barely aware of what we're consuming. Think about your food, pay attention to it.
Food isn't your therapist, it's not your best friend, your diary or your stress reliever. Food is fuel and we should treat it as such, no more, no less.

(Source: tumblr)

As for exercising, everyone has to decide what they would like to do, how much time they want to spend. I know there are some people who say you don't have to exercise to lose weight. That's true. But when you want to have a lean, athlectic body working out is a must. I want to have lean muscles so I have to work for it.
Tumblr is an amazing community where you can find so many different fitblogs and a variety of workouts, you should definitely give it a try. ;)

I guess everyone looks up to someone else, because of their looks, of their attitude or maybe good grades. But instead of hating on someone why don't you get your ass up and work on yourself? Envy pushes us, keeps us going.

(Source: tumblr) 

(Source: tumblr)

While I composed my workout I thought about how much time I can afford, what I like and what I want to achieve. I am an university student, I do have enough time to go to the gym twice a week for 2-3 hours, but cardio is the only thing I like to do there - most of the time it is a mix of stairmaster, bikes and elliptical trainers. Due to knee problems which lay in our family I can't use treadmills or rowing machines.
Beside cardio I love yoga and pilates so the gym should offer some courses. Everyone who did/does yoga knows what it does to your body. When you want to have a toned body, you should definitely try it out.
Furthermore I want to have an everyday workout for home, something quick, easy but effective. A friend of mine introduced me to Jillian Michaels (The Biggest Loser) and I fell in love with her 30 Day Shred Workout (Level 1).
20 minutes 5 times a week should make a difference after some time. You work on every little inch and every little muscle in your body, the first time I did this was pretty tough and I barely made it through the workout.
On top I wanted a few more ab exercises, but I was afraid to overwork my muscles because I haven't done anything in a really long time. When I stumbled upon this plan I immediately included it in my workout.

(Source: tumblr, perf-fect.tumblr.com)

This plus mason twists and "peeing dog butt" exercise takes only a couple of minutes.

After the first day I felt horrible, I had mucle aches, could barely move and was super tired and sleepy. But when I woke up the next morning my body not only felt fine, I also had the urge to do the workout again.
The weekend is Jillian-free but I will do my abs workout.

When I lose this weight I don't expect my boyfriend to love me more or stay with me forever, I won't get my dream job nor a lot of money. I won't turn someones head when I walk down the street. But I feel comfortable in my skin again, I will be confident, happy and won't fear to take my clothes off infront of someone else. That's the reason why I want to lose weight.


Who to follow:

Healthy Life Project

Fit and Healthy is beautiful

For a better me

Downtownn

♥