Fitness & Healthy Eating

I decided that I wanted to write about what I do for fitness and how I eat healthy. Now just a little FYI eating healthy and exercises has been a RECENT change in my life. I was a sodaholic, carbaholic, and junk food lover. I didn't care what was in what I was eating, if I wanted it and it looked good I ate it. I was addicted to Pepsi for over a year. I decided this year as a New Years resolution that I wanted to get "healthier" and here is what I have been doing on my journey...

Let me give you some stats from before I started my journey...

• Five Feet Two Inches
• 125 pounds
• Shirts-Medium/Small
• Pants-27 or 3/4 (tight fitting)

Now I don't have like a large amount of body mass to lose what I am looking to do is tone up my body and feel "healthier" about myself. I know I am not FAT I am not setting out to lose like 20 pounds, HELLO I would be a skeleton, seriously.

How I started Exercising

• Walk outside on my lunch hour- usually 20/30 minutes
• Walk around the local zoo drive-usually 40 minutes
• Walk on the treadmill- 30 minutes

I just simply started trying to make myself get in some kind a cardio workout at least 3 times a week. Honestly, it was a struggle at first. I was surprised by how much I had to push myself to get out and walk on lunch. Although I must say it was rather nice to get some warm weather that also assisted in my lunch workouts. As I said this was supposed to be a New Years Resolution this has taken me 3 long months of trial and error to figure out what works best for me. and during that time I haven't really lost any weight.

How I workout now...

• Walk on my lunch hour -usually 20/30 minutes
• Walk to work and home- usually 30 minutes each way
• Jog/Walk around local zoo drive- 27 minutes
• Jog/Walk on the treadmill-30 minutes
• Strength exercises- jumping jacks, crunches, leg lifts, push-ups, (other I don't know names)

I have started jogging! Whew, one day I just was walking around the zoo and I told myself "Chelsea, just jog to the speed limit sign, to the corner of the fence" I just kept increasing it each time and then I would walk and start jogging again. That has really worked for me to get myself to jog. I am no marathon runner AT ALL but I can now jog for awhile and before I could barely do 5 minutes of jogging. I am pushing myself and I feel amazing. I can't wait until I can run all the way through the zoo! That will be an accomplishment.

How I used to eat

• Pepsi daily- never water
• Donuts, cake, cupcakes, candy bars
• Carbs- Potatoes, Roman noodles, Mac N Cheese
• Veggies- only on my pasta AKA tomato sauce
• Fruit- does fruit snacks work?
• Lots of fast food, oh boy, probably 2-3 times a week at least

I look back at what I ate and I still cannot believe that I don't weigh more and feel more out of shape. If I wanted something I ate it. I loved having Pepsi when I got to work with some deep fried potatoes with cheese for breakfast and pasta/french fries for lunch and dinner was usually fast food or some kind of noodles. I was terrible. I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me.

How I eat now...

• No Pepsi- Just water (sometimes I throw in chocolate milk, I don't like regular milk)
• No sweets- sometimes a chocolate fiber bar or occasional 1 cookie or piece of chocolate
• Carbs- I love carbs but now I eat more whole wheat and better portion sizes
• Veggies- these are daily I love Green Giant steamers (corn, broccoli, cauliflower)
• Fruits- grapes, strawberries, natural applesauce
• Fast-food- Maybe 1 time every 2 weeks

I am so proud of myself I quit drinking Pepsi, added in lots of veggies and fruits, hardly any deep fried goodies and better portion sizes. I am not expert on eating right so I just tried to add in things and take out others slowly. I do watch my sugar intake and sodium. I use MyFitnessPal application to track my calories and progress (such a great app/tool and it is FREE)

I am on my way to healthier body and let me say it is a journey. I have to remind myself daily that I am doing this for me, nobody else and if I want to reap the benefits then I need to do it.

Motivate, Motivate, Motivate...

• Buy a cute exercise top or new running shoes
• Try new foods don't limit yourself too much (Jalapeno String Cheese, so yummy)
• Find a friend to workout with or talk healthy eating with
• Read fitness articles- I love pinterest or Allwomenstalk.com- great articles
• Set a reachable goal- For me my 21st birthday on May 21- I want to tone up and be able to run around the zoo, the whole thing
• Buy something a size to small to motivate yourself to work out
• Don't get down on yourself if you cheat- we all do it happens, just work it off!
• Music- create a playlist of upbeat songs you love to jam too, rockmyrun.com

Whew, well there is my little life plan on fitness and healthy eating! Remember your fitness and healthy eating might not be the same for the next person so be open to new ideas and be willing to share yours.

Motivate*

-Chelsea