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A couple of weeks ago marked the end of Tone it Up Summer Seris. This is the first time in a decade that I put 110 percent into an eating and exercise program. I feel that what I did and what I accomplished was a great start after I had not worked out seriously in two years.
When I finish something, I always like to look back and see what I can do to better myself going forward. When I looked back at the eight weeks that was the Summer Tone it Up series, I found ways to improve upon what I did accomplish.
In no order special order but these are all the things I realized that I have to work on.
Abs are made in the kitchen
This was a hard, hard hard lesson that I had to learn. I want to be skinny and healthy but able to stuff my face with Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza and look like JLo, but it doesn’t work that way. I can have muscles of steel, but if it is all covered with fat, then no one will notice. I am doing the 21 Challenge that started On Monday and I promise you, I will be tracking every single bite of food in Noom. I have to remember that there are no shortcuts to a place or thing worth going.
I am the type of person that needs accountability
I learned this the hard way when I fell off the plan. I honestly thought I had it in me just to buckle up and do it, but I don’t. I have started posting stuff on Instagram after I workout as a kind of accountability since all my friend seems to be over all of the fitness stuff.- I don’t have that luxury, as working out is the only way to keep my anxiety at bay. Posting to Instagram is working so far! ( Shameless plug to my Instagram ) I also have a couple of friends that I FaceTime since they live in another state. I wish that I had someone in person that I could work out with, but you got to work with what you got!
I have to exercise in the morning before I talk myself out of that day’s workout
I had worked out in the evening before, mostly when I was in college. Miracle Mornings had not been invented yet, so it seems that the whole world exercised at night. Then a few years ago, when I read the Miracle Morning, I tried the whole work out in the morning, and it was a total game changer! I found that if I worked out in the morning that it controlled my anxiety way better than at night. I must admit I used to be very cynical about the rest of the Miracle Mornings, but ever since I implemented them, life feels better. And the biggie: I talked myself out of my workouts a lot when I was doing it in the evening. I would claim I was too tired and all sorts of other stuff, but when I switched it up to the morning, I almost always get it done.
You have a ton of a better chance with keeping with the food plan if you cook for yourself than if you go out to a restaurant
I LOVE to go out to eat at places like Taco Bell. I think I engaged a bit too much in recent weeks. And I felt like shit. Then when it was suggested I go on a gluten-free diet, I promised that I would give it a 100 percent try. I noticed the way I feel and the way I sleep improved after only two weeks. I honestly didn’t realize just how much gluten is in restraint food. Even things that seem like there should be no gluten has gluten in it. I have learned it is best just to eat what I cook than to try to explain I need the gluten-free version, and then they want to know why and blah blah. I live in the mountains of Ky, so it is just the way people are here, but it is still annoying.
You will feel a million times better if you drank your water goal
I admit it. I am one of those people that would rather chug down gallons of Diet Coke. I have even gone to the Dr before and found out that I was not sick; I was just dehydrated. I still am not all that good with drinking enough water, but I am way better than I used to be, and that is something that I have started keeping track of. And I notice that the closer I get to my goal, the better I feel.
Ain’t no shame in the modification game
If you look at the workouts that Tone it Up has, and if you are severely overweight, you may think you cant do the exercises. I was in the same boat. I finally got up the gumption to look up modifications on the moves that I needed help with, and once I did, I started seeing vast improvements in my strength. As I like to tell people: ain't no shame in the modification game!Click To Tweet
I heard that on Youtube, but it slips my brain of who it was, but that phrase allowed me to shift into a much more healthy mindset and to stop comparing myself to other people who make a living in fitness.
While this is primarily a home workout program, you will still get stronger than before even if you never step foot inside a gym
If you told me five years ago that you can get stronger and lose weight and all of that in 25 mins AND at home, I would have laughed in your face. I honestly bought into the idea that to change your body type drastically; you had to go ultra low carb a hit the Gym for an intense two-hour workout. I used to do that and all I got was a run over by a truck feeling.
