Healthy Habits

Friday, January 16, 2015

Its that time of year where you want to start over and be the best you possible, right?
Say what you will about "new years resolutioners", at least its happening; who cares when...

I get lots of questions about diet and fitness and truthfully, sometimes i don't answer because i feel like i'm not qualified to and sometimes i don't answer because i'm stuck in a rut and feel i am not the person to be asking because i am very lazy!

So because i've had this kick up the bum to get back on track and fill up my fitness section of the site, here are some fitness resolutions i'm making.


  • Drink 128 oz water a day- i drink lots of water any way and that happens to be 2 of my giant hydro flasks per day. Having a set goal like that makes me drink more than if i just pour myself glasses through out the day.
  • Take my pre and post workout goodies regularly- Vega are the best i've found for workout supplements because all of them are plant based and easy for your body to use. Their pre-workout energizer helps me to push through workouts without watching the clock (highly recommend if you're doing cardio) and their sports performance protein definitely helps me recover quicker meaning i'm not sore for the next day.
  • Use less vegan butter sticks when cooking- if Paula Deen was vegan, that might be me (strictly based on butter usage). Especially in the winter, i always want to make pies and buttery mash and mmmmm, yeah- it needs to stop.
  • Do cardio- i hate cardio because i get bored and i don't want my boobs to jostle around. Luckily i can walk fast at high incline and get my heart rate into its target zone without the latter issue occurring. I plan to do 20 minutes 3x a week to start.
  • Take weekly pictures- i like to base progress on how i feel but sometimes i swear my hormones make me have this insanely warped view of what i look like. So because of this i'm going to start taking photos again to compare my progress in a more clear manner.
  • Yoga- i love yoga; i feel good when i do yoga; and yet i rarely do. I have no idea why this is but it happens in other areas of my life too, i love to sabotage my ultimate happiness. I'm aiming to do a little every day or when i remember and start watching youtube videos for some guidance. I'm also setting a goal to feel confident in one new pose per week.

I think its really important for your goals to be based around feeling better and not numbers and percentages. What are some of your favorite fitness kick-starters? Add yours below and maybe we can all share them and do this together.

Comments

currently there's 11 comments, would you like to add YOUR THOUGHTS?

  1. Thanks for your honesty in this post. My fitness goals are mainly related to circus. I've been teaching for the past few years and have let my own training take a back seat so this year I am taking a break from teaching to feed myself new skills. My goals are;
    1. To train my solo skills of hula hoops, Lyra and trapeze 3x a week.
    2. To attend a handstand class once a week so I can improve my technique and hopefully master a press to handstand. A skill that has eluded me where you lift your legs off the floor into a handstand without jumping.
    3. To Attend a trampoline class once a week. Last night I went to Bounce which is basically a warehouse full of interconnecting trampolines of different styles. So much fun and a great cardio work out for me ( I never do any).
    4. Yoga... Totally agree with you on this. I leave a class feeling on top of the world so I should be doing it more often. I have found it to be so good at opening my hamstrings too.

    So they are my fitness goals and I'm about to head out for an open day at a natural medicine college to find out a nutritional medicine course :)

    Have a great day Rhian x

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    1. Those are some awesome goals and it sounds like those things really make you happy so i hope you get to follow through on them!

      I definitely feel you on the hamstrings... i need to get better at stretching mine out.

      Excited to hear about your circus progress :)

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  2. Thanks for sharing your goals, Rhian! I have a huge passion for goal-setting and helping others reach theirs, so I'm pretty giddy over seeing someone post about it! If you have any advice, please share!

    1. Figure out where I want to take teacher training and save up for it. Start it as soon as possible. No more excuses!! This is something I've been putting off for years because of financial restrictions, and having a demanding and stressful career that led me to move 4 times. I don't want to put it off any longer, because becoming a yoga teacher and helping people has been a goal of mine for 4 years. Time to make it happen!

    2. Take at least 3 classes per week. 30 minutes at home on off days. Meditate 10 minutes a day.

    3. Fix my lower back so that I can go deeper into my practice. I want to feel comfortable and relaxed in any posture. I'm too young to feel this much pain, and I'm committed to getting it treated through chiropractic adjustments, massage, yoga and Ayurveda.

    3. Get my eating habits locked down. More protein for breakfast and lunch for lots of energy, some good fat and fewer carbs. Stop skipping meals! I want to take care of my body so it takes care of me.

    4. Master inversions! This is a goal that scares me. I want to be able to float from downward dog to crow to handstand, float down into chaturanga. Literally flipping your perspective can give you the ability to be more flexible in life and open to change. This will challenge me both physically and mentally, and I will learn to trust myself through the process.

    Keep spreading the positivity! I'm stoked to see where we are a year from now. :)

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    1. It sounds like you're already well on your way- thats so awesome!

      I hope that you get to finally move in a direction you're more happy with career-wise... it sounds like you've been under a lot of stress.

      Its a shame you can't teach me yoga... i've never found a class i was happy with here and the one time i thought i had, the teacher moved out of the area :(

      Keep in touch <3

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    2. Absolutely LOVE this post. I too have wanted to do teacher training and found a great studio. The unfortunate part is that I have too many bills I need to pay off before getting to that point. I might try next year...student loans are killing me. But your post is so great, it definitely hit me hard and inspired me, it looks like you and I are on the same page.

      My problem is that I am so so so so lazy! I feel like I need someone to push me and that's why I loved going to classes. But, they are so ridiculously expensive.

      I'm wishing you lots of luck, because if you can do it, I can do it...and honestly, I'm sure we can ALL do it!

      Keep me posted on your progress, would love to hear how you're doing!

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  3. Great post! Good luck with your resolutions :)
    I'm totally trying to get back into healthy ways and less cheat days lol. But number 1 thing for me is to get back doing Pilates it helps so much to strengthen the core and back areas :)
    It's interesting you mentioned the thing about hormones and how you see yourself, it sounds like Body dysmorphic disorder - I get this horribly sometimes, mostly during PMS. It's so weird! Excellent idea about taking pics, I will have to try this as well.

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  4. Thank you Lexa!
    Doesn't a strong core feel great? I rarely get back pain now i spend more time on abs and lower back exercises... i wish i started 10 years ago.

    Regarding the dysmorphia thing, i think as long as you're aware that its just your brain screwing things up, thats half the battle.
    Whenever i feel like a huge blob i just make a point to remind myself that yesterday i felt great and tomorrow i will too.

    Let me know how it all goes <3

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  5. Rhian, as soon as you posted your IG post, I was like...ughhhh, yessss. I have been the laziest person even the past couple years. I used to run like crazy, I did yoga religiously, and just thoroughly enjoyed the feeling it gave me. It was a stress reliever and cleared my mind. I feel like now it's just gotten to the point where I want to get back into yoga, but I give myself every excuse not to. What is wrong with me? I need someone to push me, once I get into the pattern and habit of doing it, I'm good...but since I stopped, it's just stopped. It's been a year since I've actually done any yoga. I went to the gym last week for an hour and haven't been again since. I have absolutely no desire.

    I joined the Do You Yoga community, and haven't even started it. It's supposed to be a community of people pushing other people and encouraging one another. I've had it for over a year and haven't even started any progress. This year I want to focus on really working on that and getting to a point where I can do a handstand without the wall. That was my resolution last year, but to no avail. I already eat healthy, but I'm sure I can eat HEALTHIER, so I am going to try to focus on that as well.

    Lastly, I keep telling myself this, but because of work..I go home mentally exhausted and don't want to even go on my computer, BUT I really really really need to focus more on my photography. I used to be so passionate about it, and now I have to push myself to edit photos. ::sigh::

    I feel like we are forever working on ourselves, and loose track of what once made us actually happy. I didn't have to force myself or push myself to run, do yoga or take photos before....I wonder what happened that changed that.

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    1. I hope you can find a new routine to incorporate all of the things you want to achieve/ make you happy!

      Your post got me thinking... all of the people commenting on this are so hard on themselves (including me) and feeling we could be doing better, but honestly, there are people out there who don't give a fuck who they hurt/ if they take care of themselves/ if they make any progress mentally or physically, so really we're doing a pretty great job at even being aware of ourselves.

      Did that make any sense?

      x

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    2. 100% agree Rhian. We are our harshest critics. It can be so easy to fall into the routine of comparing ourselves to other people through the internet, which leads us to lose track of ourselves. (I am so guilty of this). The best thing we all can do is love ourselves for exactly where we are at this point in time.

      If you have a goal that you've been putting off, ask yourself what's holding you back? If it's money for teacher training, maybe start looking into options like payment plans, and scholarships. I think it's so exciting that we're all practically strangers, but we've been motivated in some way or have learned something by sharing our goals...or at least I have! And for that, Im so grateful. Thanks again for making this post, Rhian!

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  6. Just wanted to check in and see if you've made any progress on the health expedition?

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