Fitness: Tips, tricks, and inspiration


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Everyone wants to be healthy, right? And in shape? Yeah, well, me too. Sometimes it can be hard though. Especially if you live in a place where winter lasts for six months here's lookin' at you, Wisconsin and it's hard to get outside, and maybe you have a lot of little siblings that eat PBJs and mac n' cheese and when there is no food in the house and you're hungry, you just have some mac n' cheese too. Plus, high school involves a lot of...school. And procrastinating from school. Therefore, most of the time I'm on the couch, or behind my desk. (And I probably have some cookies.)

The struggle is real.

But before I dive into my tips, tricks, and inspiration, I want to make something clear. In this day in age, everyone puts so much energy and thought into being skinny. They worry so much over whether they are fat or thin or whatever. Ladies, God made us the way we are, in all shapes and sizes! Does God care whether we are fat or thin? No! Will we not go to Heaven if we don't all wear size 2 in jeans? No!

So, skinniness is not the goal here. Being thin is not necessarily the same thing as being healthy.  Health and strength are the goals here and these are good goals to have. Why? Because our bodies are...*drumroll*... Temples of the Holy Spirit! And we should take care of our bodies and nurture them and keep them in good condition. After all, they are gifts from God. After all, if you borrow a book from a friend, you try to keep in in good shape, right?

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But whatever shape or size you are, a healthy diet and exercise are essentials for everyone. So here we go :)

Diet

Everyone should know the basics of a good diet, so I'm not going to get into that much. Just eat clean, avoid junk food and bread and sugar, and you should be fine. In fact, just cutting out all bread and high-sugar foods is a really simple but good diet. But in case you want to do lose some weight (like me), I created my own diet. It's called V.E.M.F.F., an acronym for the foods that are allowed on the diet: veggies, eggs, meat or fish, and fruit. An ideal day of this would be something like this.

Breakfast: 2 eggs and an apple

Lunch: Salad with balsamic vinegar and whatever salad veggies are in the house

Dinner: Meat and veggies. (Or the meat and veggie parts of whatever we're having)

*note: if we're having pizza or something I try to just have another salad instead. (Do you know how HARD THAT IS THOUGH?!??!) (It's worth it though, yes it is ;))

Snack: Frozen fruit or popcorn (Popcorn is a really good snack because it is full of fiber and low-calorie)

But what if you're hungry? (If you are really hungry, then eat!) But its okay to be a little hungry. You're not going to die. A lot of times I think I'm hungry but really I'm just bored. Try getting out of the house, or drinking some water first to see if you're actually hungry. Another tip is to chew gum. That way your body is kind of tricked into thinking you're eating, and it also helps for sugar cravings.  And, you can't snack with gum in your mouth ;) If all else fails, go for a walk or something. Get away from the fridge!

Drink a lot. Drink at least 8 cups of water and drink green tea, too. Green tea helps in so many areas, including revving the metabolism and burning fat. Having a big, cute water bottle filled up in a great idea, because you doesn't want to drink out of a cute water bottle?

You’ve heard me say it a million times: being hydrated will change your life. I’ve been drinking 150 oz per day for the past 7ish years and cannot imagine going back. While consuming a large amount of water each day comes pretty naturally to me, it never hurts to have reminders. If you’re just getting …

Another thing that keeps me on track is to write down what I eat. That way I actually think about what I'm eating instead of just grabbing random handfuls of food. You could also try keeping a schedule or making a meal plan. BUT:

Don't think about what can happen in a month. Don't...

One last thing: don't cheat. Not because one chocolate chip is going to suddenly make you gain 10 pounds. But in my experience, once I had one chocolate chip I have two, and then five, and then I'm just like "heck with it imma eat this whole plate of cookies". Don't go down the slippery slope! Don't cheat!

Oh, but one very last thing: don't take it too far. Go ahead and celebrate a birthday with your family or get an ice cream cone with your friends once in a while. It's okay to eat unhealthy foods sometimes!

Exercise



Sadly, diet and exercise go hand in hand. I try to do 20 minutes of working out a day. It is really easy to find great workouts on YouTube. My favorites are:

  • PopSugar workouts, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHgLdjyhbdA
  • Kelsey Lee workouts, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj2lgl0PsYw
  • Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred (but that only comes as a DVD now)
  • FitStar workouts, if you have a Fitbit. They come with the app.

Try to mix up different types of workouts, like bodyweight, weightlifting, HIIT, or tabata. Remember to stretch!

Of course, indoor exercise isn't the only kind of exercise! Walking, running, swimming, and sports all totally count. I say as long as you break a sweat some time in the day you're probably good to go.

If you're looking for health inspiration, funny quotes, and great fitness tips, Get Healthy U is the place for you!

Even though it's really hard, once you get on a roll and start seeing and feeling the results, staying in shape can become really fun. Just don't give up! But if you do, (and I have failed so. many. times) just get back up and start again right now. You got this!


Stuck in a rut? Check out these 20 inspirational travel quotes that will give you a serious case of wanderlust.

*Another disclaimer ;) Please east something or stop exercising if you feel dizzy or weak or sick! I am not a nutritionalist or fitness expert or anything like that!*



Comments

  1. This was such a great post!! Thank you, Amelia! I need/have wanted to got active and fit for a long time. Hopefully this post will be the gentle push (shove) I need in that direction. <3

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    1. I'm so glad you liked it! I hope it helps ;)

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  2. Wonderful, as always, Mia!! I really needed to hear all this! I`ve been trying to work out more, and it hasn`t really been happening. The sad thing is, I mentioned that to a couple of people and they were like "Why are you working out? You`re already skinny!" It annoyed me so much. Like, no, I simply do not want to be a weak pathetic little girl, thank you very much. Anywho, thanks for the tips, I`m sure they will help! You always do give such marvelous advice, girl!! :) <3

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    1. Right???? The focus on "skinny=beautiful" is such a big problem! It's not even healthy. I'd take big, strong, and healthy over skinny, weak, and "pretty" any day. ;)

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    2. Exactly!!!! I hate that mentality. And that people assume working out is just to get skinny.

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  3. I can't agree more with more exercise and water :).

    The only thing I disagree with is cutting out bread and sugar entirely. The body does need carbs and sugar for energy production (not a ton, but still needed).

    Excellent post!

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    1. I'm glad you liked it!

      True, but there are carbs in foods other than bread, such as nuts, potatoes, or corn, and there are great natural sugars found in fruit!

      Of course, healthy breads and pastas are absolutely fine if you are already in shape and just looking to maintain a healthy diet, but they aren't usually the best for weight loss.

      I hope this makes sense :)

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    2. It does! Since the term carbs and sugar were so broad, I wasn't sure what you had meant at first.

      Even with weight loss diets, I would still add in whole grain breads and other "good" carbs in moderation just to make sure that your system doesn't go through as much of a dietary shock.

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    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    4. Sorry idk how to edit comments so I deleted my last one x)

      I was just saying that I would edit my post. I actually did say just bread, not carbs, - it would really be a horrible idea to cut out all carbs!!! Haha :)

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