Exercise Rant: 09-24-13

Sometimes songs can bring you out of a very annoying funk. Even if the song isn't meant to be inspirational it can make something inside if you spark and your whole attitude changes.

Lately I've been in a workout funk. I have had very little motivation and desire to workout. The days I did workout I forced myself to just to see if I could get out and it didn't work. During this time I had started at home workouts, Jillian Michael's 30 Day shred to be exact. The workout itself was great. I have no complaints about the results that I have been seeing. My only problem was that I didn't like being secluded from people. I am a full-blown gym lover. It's not the fact that there are a ton of machines and equipment, it's the people who I enjoyed being around. To be around everyone with the same energy motivated me. I also feel that at home workouts for me are an easy excuse for me not to workout. So after the second week I my in home workouts I started to get bored. So the workouts slowed down. I would come home and fun other things to do to keep me from working out. After some thought I realized what had me in a terrible funk. I missed the gym, that person to person interaction. Being surrounded by people who indirectly motivated me to workout.

Yesterday was the first day in three weeks that I went back to the gym. Just the simple act of packing my gym bag excite me. I got to the gym and immediately felt better and funkless. My go to workout that gets me pumped is a run. I have been running for the past three years and it's one of the things that makes me feel good about my body. I hit the treadmill, plugged in my iPod and hit play. I don't remember the first song that played but I do remember it not being hype enough. Then I remembered I had the new Katy Perry song Roar. Immediately after turning that on my body and kind reacted. That song made me remember why I love working out and what it does for me. Working out is not just about losing weight and getting fine. It's about the inner feeling that it gives me. That clean, free and nourishing feeling is what I loved so much. I could be upset, sad or even sexually frustrated and when I run every emotion goes away. That's what I was missing these past three weeks. I wasn't allowing myself to have that inner peace.

To Katy Perry and whoever else wrote that song, thank you.

My Weight Loss Jouney: From 240lbs to 165lbs

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This is a collection of photos from my junior year in high school until March 2013. I would say that my journey didn't begin until after I graduated from college. My heaviest weight was about 240lbs and now I'm at 165lbs! I went from a size 22 to a size 10! I don't necessarily have a set weight goal that I am trying to reach. I just want my body  to be medically healthy.

Most, if not all, of my weight loss is attributed to being active and changing my diet. In college I ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I didn't really care too  much about what I was eating. During my freshman year I tried to kick up a healthy lifestyle but I quickly fell to the waist side. LITERALLY! It wasn't until after I graduated college that I really began to understand how important it was to take care of my body. So I started walking each day until I could bring myself up to jog then run. I have been running since October 2010 (when I joined AmeriCorps) starting with 17 minute miles to now I'm running 8 minute miles.

In January of 2011 I was diagnosed with Celiacs Disease which changed my diet completely. I know that the diagnoses played a major role in the changes but I would still fully give all the credit to daily exercise and staying active.

I continue the same routine today that I started in 2010. That's work out 4 to 5 days out of the week. No matter if its hitting the gym, going for a run or dancing around my apartment (if the weather is bad). I live in NYC now so walking is always the case. I also continue to eat a gluten free diet. Although I hate it! lol

I hope you enjoyed my pictures and be on the look out for an up to date weight loss news!

ITS NOT ABOUT BEING skinny

Over the past year and a half I have changed my lifestyle in many ways. First, one that I cannot control is that I was diagnosed with Celiacs Disease, that forces me to change everything that I eat. But as far as exercise and being active goes that’s nothing new. I have always been an active person. I’ve never been known to just sit on my ass. But what I want people to understand is that, this new lifestyle that I have chosen for myself is not to get to a certain weight or to get skinny. Its not to impress someone. Its not for any particular event or outfit. I do this for my health. This is not some get skinny quick scheme then in a few months I have to back track and start all over. It has taken me two years to make the progress that I have made. A the two years have not been easy. But like anything new it takes practice and persistence to see results. 

I was happy and confident at 230lbs, but I wasn’t healthy. Now, 52 lbs lighter,I’m happy, confident and most importantly HEALTHY. I think people forget about the important health factors that humans are faced with. There is diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, cancer, ulcers, tumors, hypertension, and thyroid problems that run in my family. Many of my family members and and other people that I know that die at an early age or have to live a very medicated life due to these very distinct diseases. I even have friends my age who are diagnosed with some of these same diseases and of course they can be genetic  but a lot of the times its due to poor eating and lack of physical activity. And its not always people that are to be considered medically overweight, obese, or morbidly obese. These things can and do happen to people who are “naturally skinny”.

That’s why its important to become aware of these things. Not obsessed. Educated yourself on nutrition and how to become physically active. All it really takes is that first introduction to a healthy lifestyle. Trust me once you start to feel good on the inside and out, once you start seeing changes in your body that will be all the motivation you need.

I don’t want to come off as ungrateful for the compliments that I have been receiving, because I am grateful.

I’m getting really tired of talking about this and it will take me much longer to talk about whats important than this post.  

be happy, be healthy…

nikki