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

It's Not Always About The Scale

When you're working really hard on your fitness journey, you absolutey CAN NOT measure all of your progress by the scale. First of all - not all of your weight loss shows up on the scale. If you're building muscle and burning fat, the scale does not distinguish between muscle weight and fat weight. It won't tell you "hey, you burned 7 lbs. of fat but you gained 3lbs. of muscle" it will just tell you your 4lbs. down. Which is not a true measure of your loss because 3lbs. of muscle vs. 3 lbs. of fat is a BIG difference.

It's really important to celebrate your non scale victories as well. What can you do now that you couldn't do before? What changes have been brought about in your life because of your fitness efforts? Maybe it's the fact that you can walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded. You can keep up with chasing your kids around. Your cholesterol has gone down. Your clothes fit better. You feel better. You sleep better. You can run farther, work out harder and go for longer. These are all things that are way more important than 3 little numbers on a scale.

It took me quite a while to realize this. Like so many of us, my attention was so wrapped up on the scale numbers that I wasn't realizing all the progress I was making. I didn't get winded when I went out dancing with my friends - I didn't have to sit out every other song because I was exhausted. I was on my feet dancing all night, in 4 inch heels! My endurance improved - I could run for longer than 5 minutes without stopping. Then, longer than 15 minutes, longer than 20, than 30 - over an hour of running without needing to stop! I could never do a pull-up or the bent arm hang in High School physical testing. The monkey bars? Forget it. How is carrying my own body weight across a series of bars supposed to be fun? Well - it's still not really fun, but I can do it. My pull-up count is up to 3 on a good day and I can bent arm hang 'til the cows come home. I can see my arm muscles without flexing. I'm not on Michelle Obama's status yet, but I will get there!

I have just recently reached another non-scale victory. It's no secret to those that know me that I like to wear tight clothing. I just do. Most of my clothes fit me at many sizes because a lot of the things I wear s-t-r-e-t-c-h. Still, fat rolls under tight clothes just ain't cute. So for most of my life, I've had to wear some sort of Spanx garment to at least smooth everything out under my clothing. The past few weeks - I've been able to put on things that usually take a great amount of specific placement and adjusting to hide bulges, without all the effort. I just get dressed. It's still fairly new to me and I'm still kind of shocked over it. I absolutely still suck my stomach in all day, but in general I feel different.

So today, I am celebrating this non scale victory and I think I look pretty dang good. What are your non-scale victories?


Celebrate your non-scale victories!



What Muffin Top?

For the 3 people out there who don't know what a "muffin top" is when referring to a woman's body shape - let me quickly explain. The way modern jeans are designed, the waistband doesn't actually fit anywhere near a woman's waist. It actually sits somewhere below her belly button. Now the waist - that would make sense - it's a natural place in our bodies where our shape curves inward - the middle of the hourglass, if you will. But no - jeans are designed to hit in the middle of our belly fat where there is no natural indentation. So, in the case that you have EXCESS belly fat, splitting it through the middle with a pair of jeans results in fat spilling over the top, very similar to the way the top of a muffin "spills" over the top of it's paper cup holder. Thus the muffin top analogy.

Muffin Top

Now - most people don't even realize that I have a muffin top, but do not be fooled. I was a fat child and an even fatter teenager. If you think that I don't know how to disguise my body so that the public only sees what I want them to see, you are so, so wrong. I have been TRAINED. I suck in all day, every day. That is not a joke or an exaggeration. As a reflex action, my belly sucks itself in the second cloth of any kind touches it. I can strategically place padding, belts, shirts, jackets - you name it - to make my boobs look bigger and my body look smaller. Trust me, ya'll have no idea what I got goin' on! My muffin top is one of my BIGGEST foes in the battle for weight loss. Let me tell you, it is a pain in the butt trying to disguise it in some of my cutest outfits. And of course, my lower belly and thighs are the last places I lose weight, so I've been trying to obliterate this muffin top for years.

The office I work in has mirrors everywhere. On a normal day, I'm adjusting my outfit a bajillion times to make sure said muffin top is not jumping out and scaring people. On this particular fall day - I'm wearing a little jacket that was sent to me c/o one Chalene Johnson. (Love her.) I'm still getting used to the fact that it's a small and it actually zips on me without me suffocating. I didn't notice until today, but because of my body shape - the bottom of the jacket tends to ride up a little bit and rest on my muffin to...

Are you there muffin top? It's me, SweetC.

Wait a second. The jacket rests where my "muffin top" is usually bulging, but today - there's no bulge. I mean, there's still more there than I would like, but it's not spilling out of my clothing. I didn't even think about the fact that when I got dressed this morning, I did not have to strategically position my tights to be sure the muffin top was being controlled. Yes, those are TIGHTS - not pants.

So it looks as though my hard work is paying off. Who knew?

Keep workin' people, it pays off.

Remember Your "Why"

For everything we do in life, there is a reason or a "why". Why do I go to work each day? I go because I need a job to make money to pay my bills. Why am I a free fitness coach? I coach because I know how hard the journey to getting fit can be and if there's any small thing I can do to help someone else on their journey, I want to do it. Why do I dress up and put on make-up and perfume? Because it makes me feel good to look and smell good.

Why do I workout every day? Because I didn't like the way being overweight made me feel. I set a goal in my head of how I want my body to look and I will continue to work towards that goal until I've reached it.

The reason that so many people give up on their weight loss or stop trying is because they forget their "why". In the midst of all of the things going on in life, they let the little interruptions and rough spots get to them and completely forget the urgency they had to start their journey in the first place. Ultimately, the reason always comes back around because if you quit - you didn't actually fix anything. You just postponed your progress.

What's your "why" for wanting to get in better shape? Write it down. Daily, if necessary. Post it somewhere you'll see it. Is it to be healthier so you you can play with your kids and live a long life to be with them? Write that on a picture of your family and put it somewhere you will see it daily. Is it to get back to the kind of shape you were in when you were in High School? Tear a page out of your HS yearbook and circle your sports picture. Give yourself a daily reminder of why you're doing what you're doing so that you'll be inspired to KEEP doing it. No one said it was going to be easy, because it's not. But you're allowed to make mistakes and you don't have to do it perfectly, you just have to do it.

xoxo,
Sweet Charity

Ready, Set, Perfect!

It seems to me that a lot of people seem to be afraid of getting fit. They feel like since they don't know all the particulars, all the best rules and regimens - there's no point in even getting started. Sometimes, it's legitimate but sometimes - let's face it, it's just an excuse.

We live in a society where we feel pressured to get things done, get them right and to do so RIGHT NOW! If it's not perfect, then it's not worth even trying.

But that's crap.

You don't need to know much to get fit. Start with eating less and moving more. There. That's it. That's all you need to know to get started. Everything else - you learn along the way. Fitness is something you have to learn about by doing. You can't sit and watch the Biggest Loser and hope and wish and dream that someday you can somehow be picked for a tv show where people will force you to work out and eat better. Why are you sitting on your butt watching TV and wishing and not DOING something about your fitness?

Just get started. Then, as you start - learn. Read about better ways of getting fit. Seek out your friends and family who have the kind of results you want and find out how they did it. Start with small changes to your daily routine and work your way up. You don't have to go from zero to perfect in one day! It's a journey, not a field trip. As you go, you'll learn better habits and then even better habits, until one day you turn around and can't even see your starting point because it's so far behind you.

If someone would have told me when I was 20 years old - that ten years later, I would be working out daily, eating a diet of only clean foods, only eating fast food every once in a while, enjoying vegetables, and coaching others to fitness - the 20 year old, 180lb me would have said "yeah, whatever." But, here I am, 40lbs lighter and a lot wiser. There's so much I know now that I didn't know then that I learned along the way. But if I waited to get started until I knew it all, where would I be now?

You don't have to know it all, you just have to start! Where are you in your fitness journey? Where do you want to get? I can help you get there. I've been in your shoes and I can show you the way. You'll be amazed at what you can do!

xoxo,
Sweet Charity


Send me an e-mail!
SweetCharity@SweetCMe.com

How Bad Do You Want It?

One of the hardest parts of losing weight for a lot of people is keeping the weight off. I feel like this is even harder for people who A)Lose a lot of weight very quickly or B)Lose the weight through surgical means. Carnie Wilson is a prime example. There was this huge deal when she got gastric bypass surgery and lost all this weight. Now, she's right back to where she started. Even with a smaller stomach - she managed to stretch it back out and get to her original size. Now, I'm not saying that EVERYONE who has a surgical reduction will do this. Nor will everyone who doesn't have surgery not pack the pounds back on. It just seems that when it comes to weight loss, as in many areas of life - slow and steady wins the race.

I'm not one of those people who has gained the weight back. I've been slowly but steadily losing for several years. I tend to hit a certain weight and either be satisfied for the moment, or just plateau without being able to break it. (The one exception to this would be when I tried depo prevera birth control and ballooned up 10lbs. in one month. NEVER AGAIN!) I think a lot of people don't realize that when you're overweight - after you lose the first few pounds, it gets harder. Constantly harder. Each pound will be harder to lose than the last. The smaller you get, the more your body will fight you on letting go of more pounds. You just have to keep figuring out ways to make your body let go.

With all the effort, time, frustration and work that I put into getting where I am now - there is no way I will go backwards. I refuse. I know how hard it was to get here and I don't want to waste time going backwards and not forwards. People who lose all their weight in one fell swoop? They don't have those years of work and effort behind them. It might be easier to let the pounds sneak back on and not think too much of it. Until suddenly, 10 lbs. has crept back onto their figure and it's not quite as easy to get rid of as it was the first time OR they have no idea how to get rid of it because the first time it was gone was through surgery.

I'm a pretty tough cookie and I believe in tough love and being honest - both with others and myself. It boils down to this: if you want it bad enough, you'll do it. Period. Getting fit is too expensive? Hmm, I bet if you took those couple extra dollars you spend on lunch EVERYDAY or that you spend at Starbucks EVERYDAY or that you spend going to the movies EVERY WEEKEND or going out drinking EVERY NIGHT, etc. etc. etc. I bet if you took all that money and stopped spending it on "stuff" and started spending it on your fitness, the prices would equal out. If you're not willing to give up some of those things, then you don't want to get fit. Truth. I don't go out on the weekends. I don't want to spend the money or the calories. Because my fitness is more important to me. You don't have time? You can do ten minutes a day of working out. You can give yourself ten minutes - wake up earlier, take a shorter lunch break.If you really want to - you can find ten extra minutes in your day. You can Tivo Entourage or Dexter or whatever TV show has you hooked. If that's more important to you, then you don't want to get fit. I make sacrifices to get the results that I want, not excuses.

The difference between someone who lost the weight and kept it off and someone who didn't...the difference between someone who is doing what it takes and someone who just complains...the difference? Desire and Effort. If you want it bad enough, you'll do it. I set my goal for myself over ten years ago. I'm not there yet - but I haven't stopped trying. Even when people tell me I don't need to lose more weight - that's their opinion, not mine. And I don't let what other people think stop me from doing what I want. Even when it feels like I'm doing everything right and nothing is coming from it - I keep going. Why? Becuase I know what I want and nothing will stop me from getting it.

The question is, what do YOU want? Are you ready to stop making excuses for yourself? Are you ready to be real with yourelf and realize that cheating on your diet "every once in a while" doesn't keep you fat but cheating DAILY does? There's no reason why you can't have the body you want. You're the only one in your way. DECIDE what you want, COMMIT to doing it - and there's no doubt that you will SUCCEED.

If you need help, that's what I'm here for. Send me a message and we can get started on the commitment you've made to yourself right away. SweetCharity@SweetCMe.com

"Are you interested or committed? When you're interested, you'll do what's convenient. When you're commited, you'll do what it takes." - John Assaraf

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