Today is the first day of your journey... and mine.

Hey guys, sorry for the VERY VERY VERY long delay in any updates or activity on here. A lot has happened in the last six months and unfortunately i fell off the waggon and never got back on.

I feel that in order to achieve your goals you need to be in the right frame of mind and know why you are doing what you are doing. We all fall and sometimes our frame of mind may change and if we are not committed to the goal fully this change of mindset will will always make it a struggle to get back up.

For me, things have finally become clear again. My goals, inspiration and mind set have been foggy for a while and this has stopped me (even though i should never have let it stop me!) I allowed myself to slack off, to not workout, to not eat what I should be eating to be healthy....

I fell!! I'm not where I planned to be at this point in time, to be honest I am right about the same place where I started.  As I write this I am 59.7kg, I still have a flabby mid section, flabby arms & thighs. I am not happy with my body, but I only have myself to blame, ME, no one else but me.

...but I am back, I am ready, I am committed and I AM GOING TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!! 

I AM HERE TO KICK MY OWN ASS INTO SHAPE.

Are you ready? Are you committed? Are you going to join me in changing your life, you mind, your health and your future?

Today is the first day of your journey:

Firstly you need to decide that you are ready mentally to begin the journey, its not going to be easy, in fact there will be times when it will SUCK! but we cannot let this keep us from achieving what we are setting our sight on.

You need to figure our if there is something holding you back mentally or emotionally. When you think about working out or are eating those foods you shouldn't be eating what are you thinking, it may only be subconscious, but you are telling yourself something, you are giving yourself a way out. For example it may be something like "if i change i will lose my friends", "I have always been this way I can't change" "I have tried and failed it before, if i try again I will fail." just to name a few excuses we can feed ourselves. Until we acknowledge these things that are holding us back and deal with them we will never truly be able to stay on the waggon.


Then, what do you want to achieve? Now I don't want to hear you say "i want to lose weight", " I want to be skinny" "I want to be attractive"... 
I need you to give me something solid!! Give details, how much weight do you want to lose (but remember weight isn't everything!!), what size jeans do you want to fit, do you want to fit into those jeans you wore 10 years ago and have held onto with hopes of one day fitting them for example. The goals must be measurable, and ideally can be broken down into smaller milestones.

Now we make a plan, we set our smaller goals. So if you goal is to lose 100 kilo you can set smaller 5 or 10 kg milestones and set a time frame of when you would like to meet the first one.

What do you need to do to achieve it?  How often are you going to work out? what are you going to eat? what other aspects of your life might need to change? for example.

Keep track of where you have come from and where you are going. Keep reminding yourself of what you want to achieve. Keep a journal everyday of what you ate and drunk, what you did as a workout. Its easy to lie to ourselves when we just think about what we did but it becomes harder to lie when we put it down on paper.  

REMEMBER - this isn't a diet, it isn't a quick fix, IT IS A LIFESTYLE CHANGE. Diets and quick fixes are temporary, a lifestyle is permanent as long as you want to live that way.


What do I want to achieve?

For me this is still a work in progress, I haven't set my goals yet, as I said I am right back at the beginning but I am hoping to have them set for myself by tomorrow.

 So whats it going to be?  Do you want to remain the way you are? Or do you want to become the person you have always dreamt of being? It starts now, today, this minute.  Make the choice and start your journey. Join me or find someone you know to go on the journey with you if you would like. Become an inspiration to someone else in your life and help them become who they always wanted to be. And remember, we all will stumble at some point or another along the way, but don't let a small stumble keep you down and stop you achieving your goals.

Blooming Fitness

Hey guys, are you on or looking at going on a body transformation journey? I know i am and i am sharing my journey on this blog, the highs and the lows, struggles triumphs, everything.
I started this blog a while ago but life got in the way, or should i say I allowed life to get in the way. But now I am committed and ready. 
Come join me, share your experiences, offer input make suggestions. 
I would love to share in your journey and have you share mine.

Come join me on facebook where I will post quick snappy quotes, recipes, tips, and just check in from time to time.

You can follow me on Instagram (Louisetaylor22)  where I post pics of my life, healthy foods I find, and all around random guff...

I am really looking forward to sharing my journey with you and hopefully sharing in yours.

Please comment with any questions you have, tips you want to see, blog posts you want to see or even just to say hi.

Remember to take care of your body, it is the only place you have to live...

Quick high protine snacks

Sometimes you want a quick and healthy but sweet snack. So why not kill two birds with one stone and have a protein snack?
Here are a few quick and easy snacks that you can make that you can keep in the fridge for when you need that fix or that you can make for pudding.

QUICK PUDDING

1 cup Greek Yogurt
1 scoop flavored protein powder (strawberry, chocolate and banana all work well)

Mix yogurt and protein together until well combined, eat straight away or store in the fridge.

Any flavor pudding you like

Protein Oats

Cook oats (not pre-flavored packets) as you normally would, allow to stand for a few moments until slightly cooled, add a scoop of protein powder and stir well. This makes the oats really creamy and they taste great!!

High Protein Hot Cocoa/ Coffee

In a mug add one teaspoon cocoa powder or coffee.
Add hot water and stir until dissolved.
Allow to stand for a few minutes to cool until warm, or add some cool water to speed up the process.
For hot cocoa - add a teaspoon (or more to taste) chocolate, vanilla or unflavored protein powder
For coffee - add a teaspoon (or more to taste) of :
Vanilla powder - to make a late
Chocolate powder - to make mocha
Or any other flavor you wish to try

Peanut Butter Drops

Nead peanut butter and chocolate protein powder until thick consistency. Roll small amounts into balls and store in fridge

Who inspires you?

Eeeeeeekkkkkk I am so bad, it has been over a month since my last blog update!!!!!
Slap on the back of the back of the hand for me!!!

It is so easy to "fall off the wagon" but what matters the most is how hard you fall. Just because you haven't been as strict or as disciplined as you normally would doesn't mean you have failed. So long as you are still trying even a little bit then you are still on the right track. OR even if you do take a wrong turn and end up heading down the unhealthy path, there is always a way to jump over the the healthy side again. It just takes will power.

For me it all started when I was sick just over a month ago.  I made an attempt to switch paths but then I had my final week of work, birthdays etc and long story and excuses aside, I haven't been as good as normal. Tisk tisk tisk!!!

BUT I AM SWITCHING PATHS, JUMPING SHIPS, TAKE A 180 DEGREE TURN. 
However you want to say it, I am back on track!! 
Last Sunday I made the choice to go for a run just because there was nothing else to do. This was my turning point when I decided to start going running more regularly... and I feel great!! 

INSPIRATION!! INSPIRATION!! INSPIRATION!! 

Once you make the choice to be healthy I feel it is important to find some people who inspire you. Whether it is their body that you like - eg I would love to have a stomach like her, or the health choices they have made, find someone you look up to that will help you stick to your goals and motivate you to work out. 

For me the three woman below are very inspiring:

RAECHELLE CHASE - IFBB FIGURE PROFESSIONAL

Raechelle is a mother, she has her own business (dvd's clothing etc), travels the world, models, has her own magazine and writes for many others, has appeared in numerous fitness magazines. She has also competed in international body building competitions and done extremely well.

TRISH STRATUS - FORMER WWE DIVA AND OWNER STRATUPHERE YOGA STUDIO

Trish Stratus had a six year career in the WWE and retired as a seven time WWE Womans Champion. After retiring from the WWE Trish Stratus opened Canadas largest eco-friendly yoga studio. 

LISA MARIE - BODYROCK TV / DAILY HITT

Lisa-Marie films daily videos of quick effective workouts for people to do from home. These HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts are extremly hard and effective (as you can tell from how shredded she is)

Find your self some inspiration, stick some pictures where you will see them to keep you motivated and get your ass moving!!!

Happy exercising!!!

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Butter vs Margarine

I read something interesting today. About the difference between a food which has been around for centuries and a copy of it which has only been around for hundreds of years and how much worse it is for you. I am talking about Butter v.s. margarine.

When Margaine was first manufactured it was used as a means of fattening turkeys but in the end it killed the turkeys. So in a way to make some money off it they added some yellow colouring and sold it as a butter substitute.

In todays culture butter seems to get a bad wrap and its is thought that it is the more unhealthy of the two options, but this is far from true. You are much better off having butter on your toast than margarine (and to put stop to another myth, it doesn't have more calories).

Butter

• Eating butter (in moderation) increased the obsorbtion of nutrients in other foods
• Butter can increase the flavor of other foods

Margarine

• Very high in trans fatty acids
• Apparently it can increase your risk of cancer by up to 5 times
• Lowers the quality of breast milk
• Decreases your immune response
• Decreases your insuline response
• It has 27 ingredients in common with paint

Need proof of how bad it is? Take the lid of a tub of margarine and leave it in a shaded area for a week. It will still be good as new. No flies lingering (not even the annoying little ones), there is no change in smell, and it doesn't rot due to the lack of nutritional value, nothing will grow on it, not even microorganisms

WHY? ITS ONE MOLECULE AWAY FROM PLASTIC

Next time you go to eat butter grab a plastic container from the cupboard and think really hard for a moment "would I melt this container and spread it on my toast?" I can only imagine your answer would be "hell no"

Whats my point here? We need to think about what we are eating and putting into our bodies. As the years go by our foods are becoming more and more processed and more and more chemicals are being added. Before you buy something try and see if there is a less processed version around, chances are the price isn't that much different either. 

I would be interested to hear from you what food swaps you can think of, keeping with the example of butter for margarine, try to think of two very similar foods. Another example: white bread = bad, bleached white flour for wholegrain bread = good, full of healthy grains and fibre.

GOALS GOALS GOALS!!!

Well you may have noticed I didn't do an update last week, that is because I was sick all week. My diet and exercise all went out the window and I spent most of my time curled up on the couch with some ginger ale. I'm surprised that with all my not so healthy eating this week I only put on a few hundred grams, but I did notice that I am a bit more squishy from not working out.

So I should probably update on the week before last.

First of all, I now have a facebook page so if you haven't already liked it please head over and check it out 

Goal One - Go for two runs. I did manage to do this, although my second one was on Sunday night after my sisters birthday and a very heavy few bites of chocolate cake. This run was about twice as long as I would normally do which meant it was a different route than I would normally go. Silly me I forgot about the bloody hill at the end!!!!       Oh and I rescued a little hedgehog who was wandering around on the side of the road, good deed done.

Goals Two and Three- Go to the gym 4 times. EASY!! Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday. So on Saturday afternoon I got my new protein powder from Mass Nutrition NZ in Kapiti Lights (if you haven't been and checked it out yet, I would recommend it!!)
I got the Syntax Nectar. Its lactose free which I LOVE and the flavor is awesome. I got Strawberry kiwi and it taste like Strawberry Juice. While I was at Mass Nutrition NZ I also picked up the protein shaker that I said I would get if I did 45 mins of Yoga (which I did). Somehow I managed to break it after a week though and ended up with a puddle on my table :(

New Goals:

One - 4 workouts in total, this could be running, yoga, gym, zumba etc. The reward for this is a new pair of headphones. Mine have broken and I have been using really big chunky ones.

Two- Read a chapter of my Jillian Michaels book. It hasn't been given much attention since January so now seems like a good time to pick it back up. The reward is $10 in my PJ fund.

New Week, New Goals

WHAT HAPPENED?? blinked and its Wednesday already and i haven't even set my goals... OH NO NAUGHTY NAUGHTY!!!!

My Lucky Week:

I have had a very lucky week. It started on Saturday, there is a new supplement shop in Kapiti (Mass Nutrition  New Zealand in the ally between Coastlands and Kapiti Lights - go check it out, the guy who owns it is lovely and will make sure you get the right products) They had their grand opening on Saturday so I popped in to see how it was going and Justin gave me a free copy of his book. YAY
Then my free membership at City Fitness is about to expire in the next day or two, on Monday the manager gave me an extension on it so I can keep going for a little while longer. DOUBLE YAY!!!!

Calf day at the gym. 70 reps total at 80kg

Recap of the week:

I started the week with my no meat day, piece of cake, it was easy but it is my way of trying to reduce the amount of meat that I eat slowly rather than just going cold turkey (haha or cold carrot i guess??). I don't eat a lot of it but I always find that even a small amount leaves me feeling sick and like someone is stabbing me in the stomach.
I did manage to hit the gym 3 times during the week. On Wednesday I even went on my own with just instructions on what exercises to do. I thought I would probably go easy on myself given my trainer wasn't there but I don't think I have ever hurt so much the day after a workout as I did with that one. My whole body hurt pretty much the whole week from my workouts which I guess is a good thing. After doing my leg work out on Friday I was still recovering on Monday night.

I completely forgot about my third goal and didn't go for any runs last week. I will have to make up for it this week.

New Goals:

1. Go for two runs - since I didn't do this one last week I am renewing the goal for this week. As for the reward I got myself mixed up and got the lunch box as a reward for going to the gym 3 times instead of the drink bottle - so the reward for this will be a drink bottle
2. Go to the gym 4 times - i will get myself some protein powder - i have seen a really nice looking one at Mass Nutrition New Zealand that I want to get
3. 1 x 45 minute session of yoga - I will get a new protein to have my new shake in.