30 Day Video Series

So I'm super excited about this idea! In my mission to help 1,000 people with their ftiness this year - I've come up with a fun project. I'm going to do a 30 Day Video Series called "30 Days of Fit Tips". What it will be is a 30 day video series of me giving tips and ideas that I've learned over the years to help you on your fitness journey. One new tip each day. I'm not a professional (yet), but I've been through a lot and I would love to share all of that information with anyone who can stand to benefit from it. Every day (for 30 days) there will be a new video that gives you a tip, an idea or a piece of advice that will hopefully help you on your fitness journey.

All you have to do to see the videos is subscribe to the series by leaving your e-mail address below OR messaging it to me. You must subscribe via e-mail in order to get the secret links to the videos. This is an exclusive video series for those who subscribe only. The series will start on March 20th. Anyone is welcome to subscribe! Tell your friends, anyone you think could use some help. It's completely free and will just be short daily vids that give helpful information for you to use on your fitness journey. It will be me delivering my brand of tough love - I don't BS and I keep it real. 

I would love to help you on your fitness journey and I hope this video series can do just that! Please send me an e-mail and ask to be added to the video subscription list BEFORE March 20th! April 24th!

You Can Lie To Yourself, But Don't Lie To Me

Let's get real. A lot of you are lying when you tell yourself that you're doing all you can to lose the weight. You tell yourself "I'm working so hard and nothing's happening!" Then when I ask you what's going on, your words paint a different story. Here's why you may not be seeing the results you want.

1) You're eating too much fast food and eating out too often. Fast food is not healthy. Period. With the exception of Saladworks and maybe a salad from Subway, you're wasting money and calories if you're trying to eat healthy. Even then - they're still giving you processed meats. Fast food will never, ever be as good as grocery-store-bought whole foods. Ever. As a last resort - ok. As an unexpected delay in meal time option - ok. As a daily lunch choice - no bueno. You absolutely should not be eating out every day and then complaining about weight or money since you're readily wasting both. Paying $7 for a meal daily is far more expensive than buying groceries and making that exact same meal yourself, but healthier. It requires you to prepare a little bit more, but so what? If you're really trying to get healthier, you need to be willing to do what it takes.

2) You're not working out enough or efficiently enough. Adding exercise slowly to your routine is a great idea. Doing a half hour of cardio a week however will not get you far. And if your cardio consists of slowly walking your dog through the park that one day - that's really not gonna do much for you. To efficiently work out and burn calories - you should be working your way up to 5 workouts a week and they should be aerobic. Your heart should be pumping and you should be sweating. Yes that sounds hard because it's supposed to be. That's the point! Find something you like that gets your heart rate up but is also fun. Cardio kickboxing and Dance-Fitness classes are great ways to move it and enjoy it while you move.

3) You give up too easily. Getting fit is not a goal you hit and then stop. It's a lifestyle. Even once you reach whatever goal you have for yourself, you still have to work to maintain it. It doesn't stay on it's own. Your life has to be one that's geared towards change. It's ok to mess up, it's even ok to backslide sometimes. It's NOT ok to stop. What would be the point? If you stop trying, all you'll end up with is being sad and back to where you started. Who cares if you mess up? Who cares if you skipped two weeks of workouts? Just start again! Get back into it. There's no rule that says if you don't do things perfectly, you're out of the game. You are on a personal journey. It's up to you to live it how you want. So quit complaining and get back in the game!

xoxo,
 Sweet Charity

My Mission To Help 1,000 People

Most people make New Year's resolutions on January 1st. We promise to become better versions of ourselves and make this year different than the last. We vow to lose weight, stop smoking, start reading, spend time with family, watch less tv and stick to a budget. Out of all of the people who make resolutions, about 1/3 never make any changes and half of the remaining resolutioners quit within the first two weeks into the year.
So hare are you doing with your resolutions?
I can't say that I make New Year's resolutions. I'm constantly setting goals for myself, all throughout the year. And when I decide I want something, I go after it with all my heart and soul. It's not about how quickly you can achieve your goals - it's about giving your best effort at all times.
So I'm setting a new goal for this year. And I think it's totally do-able, but...

I WILL NEED YOUR HELP!

I'd like to help 1,000 people with their fitness this year. Fitness is a huge part of my life. It's not just what I love, it's part of who I am. The amazing changes that have come about in my life especially in the past few years can be traced directly back to my commitment to working on my fitness. I'd love to be able to share the happiness I've found with every single person I encounter, and this year - I want to make sure that I do just that.
If you feel that I have helped you in any way whatsoever with your fitness - physical or financial, please visit http://www.sweetcme.com/ and click the "Like" button so we can keep a count of all of those I've helped. If you'd like my help, all you have to do is send me a message! And if you know of anyone that you feel could use my help, please send them my way too. This is the most exciting goal I've ever set because it's not just about me, it's about all of you too. So join me in spreading the message of fitness to all you know and help me reach 1,000 people by December 31st!

xoxo,
Sweet Charity



The Keys To My Weight Loss Success

So many people ask me questions about my weight loss success. What did you do? How do you get motivated? Where do I start? What do I eat?

The answers to these questions really aren't that complicated. At least not for me. My motivation? Simple. I don't want to be fat ever again. I want to look in the mirror and like what I see. That's all the motivation I need. Where to start? Just start. You know the basics - start with that. Stop eating crap. Now. Stop buying crap to eat. Workout. Do any workout -  it doesn't matter which one. Do something rather than nothing.

The bigger question is - how? Here are my essentials - the things that I know I must do for success.

1) DO THE WORK
I don't have a problem with complaining. I complain all the time. But you earn the right to complain by putting in the work. You don't get to complain about how hard it is or how inconvenient it is unless you're doing it. If you're too lazy to make an effort - then stay fat and shut up about it. Don't complain if you're not putting in effort. What's the work?

Work out 6 days a week.
Log what you eat - all of it.
Eat clean. Cheat minimally. Don't dwell on the cheat - move on.

That's really it. That's the core of it. Learn to master these things and you'll see results. You don't have to perfect right out the gate. I've done this for a decade and I'm still not perfect. Just do your best and keep making your best better. Don't wanna log your food? Don't wanna work out? Fine - don't. But stop complaining that you can't lose weight.

2) LEARN & GROW
You know what cutting carbs did for me? Nothing. Jack squat. My body was not impressed. You know what eating from the top two tiers of Michi's Ladder did for me? I lost 5 lbs. Learn what works for your body by trying it. You can't gauge your own success by someone else's. You are not them. Don't wish you were, just find out what works for you. If one diet and one workout worked for every body - there wouldn't be so many different ones to choose from. Find what works for YOU. But don't just try one thing then give up. Don't be lazy.

3) DO NOT QUIT
Losing weight isn't easy and results don't happen overnight. If this were the case - then no one would have weight problems. If I stopped trying just because I didn't see results quickly - I wouldn't be where I am. If you really want to see results - you have to keep going. Getting fit is not something you do for a while and then you're done forever. IT'S A LIFESTYLE CHANGE. You have to know what's helpful for your body and what's harmful. I'm not gonna lie - I still love me some french fries and pizza and chicken nuggets. I know the bad crap that's in fast food and I find it delicious anyway. However, I can count on one hand the number of times I'll actually get fast food in the course of a month ... a few months at that. A year's time - that's probably both hands. Point is - it's not as often as it used to be.

Bottom line is - JUST TRY. Make an effort. Don't talk about it, be about it. Get off your butt, and do what you know you need to. Once you start and see the fruits of your labor - it makes it easier to continue because you'll want to continue seeing the results! Make a plan. What can you do right now that will put you on a better path? Need help? Send me a message and we'll make a plan together!

xoxo,
Sweet Charity

Weight Loss Transformation Video!

So, I already told you that I reached my goal weight. Well, I promised myself that I would do my first transformation video once I made that weight. So - here it is!

Confetti and Balloons Please!

I can't believe it! I really can't! I did it! This is the most surreal moment I've ever had! I can't stop using exclamation points!!!

I REACHED MY GOAL WEIGHT!



Confetti :)



Goal: the weight that I started this journey trying to reach. The number that I chose in my head when I was 18 years old. The battle that I have been fighting for the past 11 years. I have finally won! When I first set out

Nobody's Perfect

Too many people have this idea in their head that if they can't hit their diet and exercise PERFECTLY, then there's no point in doing it all. I don't really understand this mentality at all, but there are so many people who feel this way. I have some friends who say:

Well, since I ate so poorly today - I didn't see the point in working out.

And then there's people who get so down on themselves because they slipped up and ate something bad, that they completely tank their whole diet because of ONE slip up:

I was doing so well, but then I had french fries and then 3 scoops of ice cream, and the next day I had a burger and I just couldn't stop eating bad stuff!

People also beat themselves up about working out:

I only did 30 minutes in the gym today. I'll never be thin :(

I didn't get to my workout today, what is wrong with me?!?

If any of these people sound like you at one time or another, this is my plea to you to

STOP!

Stop beating yourself up for little mistakes.
Stop thinking that just because you didn't do it perfectly, it doesn't count.
Stop expecting yourself to change overnight.
Stop expecting to see results in a matter of days - that's not realistic.
STOP being negative, period!

If you have a negative mentality towards any aspect of diet or exercise - it increases the likelihood that you will fail. You can not beat yourself up over every little thing. People who are fit and lead healthy lifestyles didn't get that way by being perfect. They got that way by being consistent. They did not let small setbacks completely de-reail them from reaching their goals. If you eat poorly one day - SO WHAT?! You know that you ate poorly - that doesn't mean that one day has to turn into one week and one month. It was one day of your life. MOVE ON. You recognize the bad behavior, you learn from it and then you change it. And when you do slip up and eat poorly - that is all the more reason to work out!!! You need to try to cancel out as many calories as you can. Even if the result of that workout won't be a drop in pounds, at least it will help you from gaining weight which would be a step in the wrong direction.

Life happens. Sometimes you just won't be able to resist that piece of cake. Sometime, you won't be prepared and you'll buy fast food. Sometime - you just won't have time to get to your workout. These are all normal things that you should not feel horrible about. What you should do - is pay attention to why it happened, and plan to not let it happen again. Could you have prepared your lunch the night before so that you had it to take with you instead of buying fast food? If you scheduled your workout in your day the way you schedule work and schedule watching your favorite TV, would you have missed it?

Think positively and speak positively to yourself. Pep-talk yourself! If it's not something you would say to your best friend in the world, you shouldn't say it to yourself. Would you ever tell your BFF - you're such an idiot! I can't believe you did that! ? Then don't say it to you. Instead, say to yourself - ok, I'm definitely gonna do some extra cardio to make up for that slice of cake! Or, I am absolutely packing and bringing my lunch tomorrow!

Nobody's perfect. No one gets it right 100% of the time. But if you shoot for 100% consistently, I guarantee you'll at least land in the 90th percentile. This week alone, I've gone off my eating plan - twice! Did I beat myself up over it? Absolutely not. Did I adjust my weekly calorie intake around it AND do a few extra workouts? You bet I did. And if it results in a slight setback for me this week - then that's the price I'll have to pay. I'll learn from the experience, and figure out a better way to resist the temptation the next time. I'm not gonna stop working out and I'm not gonna pig out and eat everything in sight. I'm going to stick to my clean eating plan and daily workouts because that consistency is what has led to lasting weight loss for me. It's not being perfect every step of the way that gets you results, it's continuing on your journey - no matter what that will get you there.

xoxo,
 Sweet Charity