*This post is sponsored by Smile Brilliant! All opinions are my own. 

I’ve noticed over the years that my teeth haven’t been as white as I’d like them to be. Perhaps it’s the red wine and coffee? (#nevergivingthemup), but I notice it the most in pictures. I also have the dubious distinction of having to have had braces TWICE, once in adulthood, so I really would like to straightened teeth of mine to look DARN GOOD. And white! Blinding white! Celebrity white! All the white!

Ha.

But, I also have really sensitive teeth. As in I need a numbing gel to get my teeth cleaned at the dentist, I use sensitive toothpaste, and would die before biting into something really cold. And should I mention I don’t have the time or money needed for in office procedures?

 

Enter Smile Brilliant. I was totally intrigued by the idea that I would have custom-fitted trays that I could do at home ( I mean, I can barely schedule regular dentist appointments, much less go…) And I’m also a sucker for teeth whitening reviews….

Here’s how it works:

1)You get the kit and mix two types of molding putty together and squish it into your mouth with the trays they send you. It takes a couple of minutes and isn’t messy or gooey. You then send them in with a prepaid package.

2) You’ll then get your custom fitted trays back and you can begin whitening! You’ll get two types of syringe cartridges: one is the whitening gel and the other is the sensitivity gel you use after. A little goes a long way. You can start with using the whitening trays for anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours. I would start at the smallest amount and go up as need. I find 1 hour is good for me, as more time makes my teeth really sensitive for a day or so after, and I see good results after the hour. I also have done every other day when I need to when beginning, but you can do what you want time wise depending on what you have going on.

3) I typically whiten my teeth after I put my kids to bed and I am done eating. I clean my teeth and put the trays in and read. When my time is up I rinse the trays and then do the sensitivity gel for another 30 minutes. Again, you may feel sensitivity based on how your own teeth are. I can’t do more than an hour at a time, but you may be able to handle the 3 hours. This is a trial and error kind of thing! I tried more time and my teeth ached a bit after, then I tried less time and they were fine.

Now for the results! I saw results after a couple of uses, and got compliments after 3 uses. Which lets you know it is working! I typically use my custom-fitted trays about once a week now, and sometimes I miss a week, but I find the results stay. I also like that it is up to you how white you want to go. You use your own discretion about how much you want to use it and how white you want to be. (Also, can teeth be too white? Lol.)

Now for the giveaway! It will be open for a week and is eligible for U.S. residents only.

 

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This month I decided that every night before I went to bed that I would write ten things I was grateful for. And honestly? It’s been easy. Sometimes its small things, like the color of new leaves against a blue sky, or a good nap in the middle of the day. Often the smallest things are something to be grateful for, and I’m really enjoying taking the time to think about them throughout the day and storing them in my mind for later.

It’s easy to be grateful when things are going well, right? When life is cruising by and we are all healthy and happy. But what happens when things aren’t awesome? When people get sick and die, or children you know are diagnosed with horrifying ailments? I’ve known so many people who have lived through the unlivable and still get up each day and soldier on. These people are my heroes.

If you know me personally, you might have seen that we had to let our cat go on Monday. It was really hard to make that decision for her and on that morning I woke up dreading the day. She’s been our fur baby for fourteen years and despite the fact that she was ill and not doing well, we cherished her. Watching her die was so, so hard for me. The second the vet said, “her heart has stopped,” I just lost it. The finality of it was horrible. I’ve been heartbroken for days and I didn’t expect it to hit me this hard. I knew I loved her and knew this was the right thing to do, but the emptiness she left behind is palpable. My heart is broken.

But you know what? That night, laying in bed and making my list of ten things I saw the magic in it all. Some of the things I was grateful for:

Being able to pet her and lay my head next to her while she passed, telling her I loved her.

Getting texts from my mom all that morning and right after letting me know she was there for me.

Receiving a poem via text from a friend that made me smile (have you read the “rainbow bridge?”)

A picture my daughter drew for me at school about the cat going to heaven.

The stuffed kitty my son let me sleep with “so I wouldn’t get lonely”

I came up with ten things I could be grateful and happy about, even on a really hard and emotional day. It was actually easy to come up with them, too. So many ways I could think of how blessed I am and I believe, truly, that there is something to be grateful for no matter what. Even on dark days there is something beautiful to be grateful for.

I’ve always been a big believer in being positive and knowing that I am lucky to have what I have because there is always someone who would be thrilled to be in my shoes. I think knowing this and living it really cements the fact that if you have a grateful heart, good things will come to you.

Tell me, would you write down ten things to be grateful for each day for a month?

 

St Tropez on left//Tanwise on right

I’ve been a big fan of one sunless tanner for a couple of years now, and even wrote a post (that is one of my most viewed posts EVER about it.) SO, I haven’t had to experiment much with tanners since then. Which is good! But then I kept hearing about the wonders of St Tropez and decided that I would be a human tanner guinea pig FOR YOU GUYS (ha ha ha), and try them both out and compare. I’ll do some pros and cons for you to compare.

(Note: I applied both with the same tanning mitt I buy generically at Ulta, after showering and buffing with a loofah and body polish.)

St. Tropez Express Foam before & after

St. Tropez Sunless Tanner Express Foam

Pros:

Goes on easily and dries QUICK!

-After the initial chemical smell, it does not smell as it develops. You could easily put this on and get dressed and enjoy your day.

-After you apply it you can still go out. It isn’t streaky as it is applied, and you just look tan right away. I would just stay away from water or rain or sweat as the bronzer will wipe away.

-I find the tan to be a perfect color. It also can be lighter or darker depending on how long you leave in on before showering. It is okay to rinse off after 3 hours, whcih is pretty fast for a self tanner.

-Does not transfer to clothes.

Cons:

-Honestly? The only con is that it is more expensive, but in my opinion it is worth the splurge.

 

Tanwise lotion before & after

Tanwise Tanning lotion (I used to use the foam, but the bottle kept malfunctioning, so then I switched to the lotion.)

Pros:

-It smells REALLY good when you initially put it on.

-It is inexpensive and you can get it on Amazon or at Sally Beauty Supply.

-There is very little streaking and I have only seen bad results once (most likely user error on my part!)

-The color is really pretty and realistic.

-The color lasts about 5 days before fading. Fades well, though!

Cons:

-Once it is on it starts to smell very bad, just like self tanners do. It transfers to clothes and I don’t feel like I can leave the house after I apply it. I typically apply after I go to the gym, put on sweatpants, and don’t leave the house till I shower it off that night.

-It doesn’t look good after you apply it until you wash the bronzer off. Very dark and streaky and obvious (though it looks good after a shower!)

-The color can be darker than I want sometimes, and it can make my feet and legs really dark (even with lotion application and a light hand.

Results! You guys, I hate to do this (because I love when the cheaper version wins!), but the St. Tropez Express Tanning Foam is just amazing. The tan it gives is just GORGEOUS. It is quicker and easier to use, and you can put it on and just go (which is more convenient for most people, including myself.)  I still recommend Tanwise, it is a great product for the price and I don’t have a lot of complaints about it. BUT. St. Tropez is better if you can swing the price.

Left/Before starting BBG, Right/ After approx week 32 of BBG

I get a lot of questions about my fitness routine and when I do different parts of it, so I figured I’d do that here for you! I am about to start my 34th week of BBG (2 weeks short of my third full round!), and I am so happy with what I’m doing. I’ve seen some big changes physically in the time I’ve been doing this program, and feel even better on the inside. Self confidence and KNOWING that you can do anything you put your mind to is everything. I’m 36 years old, I have two kids, and I’m in the best shape of my life. If I can do it, you can do it, I promise.

Here we go!

Monday (28 minute circuit, plus 10 minutes of a treadmill warmup and 10 minutes of stretching after): I do BBG legs on this day and it is often the hardest day of the week for me. I add weights to anything I can and recently started using ankle weights on top of that to make it harder. I typically limp out of the gym that day and I am sore for 2-3 days after.

Tuesday (40 minutes cardio, 10 minutes stretching): This is the lone “cardio only” day I do. I go back and forth between a brisk walk on the treadmill at a fairly steep incline, OR I do the stair climber. If I do the stair climber I do 5 minutes walking up regular, 5 minutes walking up sideways on the right, 5 minutes walking up sideways on the left, 5 minutes skipping a step, and then I repeat until I’ve done 40 minutes. I do this at a  6-7 pace. I listen to podcasts during my steady state cardio and it makes it a little less boring;)

Wednesday (28 minute circuit with 10 minute treadmill warmup and 10 minutes of stretching after): I do BBG arms on this day and again, add ankle weights to make it harder. This day tends to be the biggest struggle for me as there are a ton of push ups and it really wears me out! I am shaking when I’m done.

Thursday (28 minute circuit with 5 minutes of a treadmill warmup and 10-15 minute HITT warmup after): I do BBG abs and then I finish up with a HITT workout, as the ab workout doesn’t totally exhaust me as the other days do! My HITT workout varies depending on my mood that day. I either do 30 second intervals of running up double steps at a 16 on the stairmaster, followed by 30 seconds of walking at a  slow pace (5) to recover (for 10-15 minutes total); OR, I do sprinting intervals on the treadmill at 30 seconds running full-out and 30 seconds where I jump on the side rials and rest for 30 seconds.

Friday (28 minute circuit, with a 10 minute treadmill warmup and stretching after): I do BBG full body and then really stretch after. Every once and awhile if I’m felling it I will do another HITT workout, but I am usually pretty tired by then, lol.

Notes: I am working on varying my warm ups, either with jumping rope or the rower machine. I am also looking into more varied HITT workouts, but for now this is my routine! I take the weekends to rest and I count my macros for my eating plan.

Thats’s it! Tell me, what HITT routines do you like that you’d recommend? Help a sister out!

Sometimes you end up going down a rabbit hole on the internet and you don’t regret it for an instant. You see, it all started when I read Sydney’s post about her k-beauty routine, and MAN, I was intrigued. I read her post and loved what I saw, and FELT her excitement, and I knew I wanted that for myself.

My skin has been changing over the last couple of years, and I’ve been struggling to figure it out. I do have some products I adore, but still, it hasn’t been enough. I have melasma on my forehead, some breakouts along my chin that tend to linger and scar, and just a uneveness that I don’t like. (And let’s not mention that frightening look into the magnification mirror in the hotel in Vegas…) I mean, I can cover it all up with makeup and it is fine, but I want to get away from that! With my gym routine I want to be more barefaced, you know? I almost always wear mascara and eyeliner, because I just plain like it, but I’d also like to ditch the concealer and throw on some moisturizer and be fine the other 90% of the time.

Cue (Korean) k-beauty. The rabbit hole I went into started with Sydney’s post, and then went into sokoglam’s blog that has so much information on it that I almost died from happiness. I loveeeeeeee researching things and reading reviews, so reading all these blog posts and then finding all the products on Amazon and cross referencing reviews was amazing. You can also get a lot of these products from either Target or Sokoglam.com, but I love me some Amazon Prime, so that is where I got a lot of my new stuff. Let’s get into the details of what I bought and why:

1. The beginning steps involve a double cleanse. The first is with an oil based cleanser and the second is a water based one. I already have a gallon jug of Purity Made Simple, so I bought Banila Co Clean It Zero to start with. You start with the oil based cleanser and finish off with the water based one and your face will love you.
2. Next you need a toner to balance the ph balance of your skin. I have always hated toners as they felt like the burned and added nothing, but apparently k-beauty toners are not harsh and really are an integral part of your routine. I bought Etude House Moistfull Collagen Toner because it had great reviews and I saw this brand mentioned a lot in the blogs I read.
3. About twice a week you are supposed to exfoliate (after the double cleanse step!) I bought Neogen Bio Peel Gauze Peeling Wine because it was recommended by Sydney and had great reviews. It smells like grape juice and I really dig that;)
4. An Essense is something that comes highly recommend in the k-beauty routine and I had never heard about it. I almost decided to skip it as it seemed weird, but the products are relatively inexpensive and I wanted to really dive in here! Must. Do. Everything. One-hundred. Percent. I bought the Cosrx Advanced Snail Mucin Power Essence because it had great reviews, snail mucin is apparently a miracle product for aging skin, and it had a great price. I’ll just not think about what it is made from and apply this stuff liberally!
5. This next part gets wild because you add in serums and boosters and it seems like a lot, I am game, though! I took the advice of Lauren from The Skinny Confidential and ordered Instanatural vitamin C serum and Instanatural Rose hip oil. I also ordered the Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator to add into my night routine (duh!), because it is really highly reviewed for aging skin.
6. An eye cream is something I have seen the importance of for a while now. I bought Cosrx Honey Ceramide Eye Cream because it came highly reviewed and you’ll notice I stick with some brands as they seemed perfect for my really dry skin. I also REALLY love Rodan and Fields eye cream .
7. It may seem crazy to add a moisturizer on top of this, but again, I am game to see how this will all help me and let me live a mostly makeupless life. I use the Rose hip oil in the daytime under my sunscreen, and at night I ordered the Laniege Water Sleeping Mask. 
8. Lastly (!), in the day you need an spf cream, and at night you need an overnight cream. I currently use a Rodan + Fields duo that I have been pleased with. I do plan to experiment a bit when those run out and have looked at the Missha All Around Safe Block Sun Milk for day coverage, and for night, I’ve heard great things about the the Laneige Renewal Water Sleeping Mask (mentioned above.)

*A note, you also are supposed to use a sheet mask a couple of times a week, I haven’t jumped in there, yet. Give me time, though, I’m sure I’ll go nuts there, too;)

The whole thing apparently takes 10 minutes twice a day, which I can make happen. A tip I heard once that I love! At night, instead of waiting till 11pm to wash your face, try doing it while your kids are taking a bath, or when they take 15 agonizing minutes to brush their teeth and get ready for bed (longest minutes ever are before bedtime…) That way you are all cleansed and ready and can enjoy the rest of the night.

Also! I am just about a week into this routine and wanted to share, so if you are in we can do it together! I’ve heard the first week or two comes with breakouts and such as your skin purges all the gunk it is hiding. So don’t be scared. We can do hard things. I WILL say my skin has never felt more moisturized and it looks dewy and prettier than typical.

Finally (I swear!), if you are in a hurry, the most essential steps are the double wash, toner, moisturizer, and spf. The rest is a bonus. This is what I do before the gym Monday-Friday. Then I come home and do the rest of the stuff.

Progress reports to come!

I am naturally a positive person, it is something that people comment on often and it got me thinking about the HOW’S and WHY’s of being positive. My life is not always amazing and full of happiness, and crappy things happen often, yet I am happy almost all of the time. There are a lot of factors that go into that, such as a supportive husband that makes me laugh, two kids that make my life special, and great friends and family.

Yet, I’ve been happier with less. I was happy when we made  1/3 of the money we make now, and when I lived far away from family when my husband was away, or when I worked crappy jobs in one of the 5 places we’ve moved in the past 14 years. I truly believe being positive is a learned trait that you have to work at constantly. I’ve thrown myself a pity party here and there, but most often I get up, dust myself off, and figure out how to make things better. Here’s how I do that.

1. When things are going really bad, like if my daughter is throwing up in the Detroit airport into a magazine bag during a 3 hour layover, and then my husband and son get sick on the plane, and they lose our luggage and my kids are laying like dead animals on the ground while I report our bags (which took two days to get back to us…), I always think, “is this the worst that can happen?” In that instance, that happened to be the worst airport trip of my life. I then go, “okay, THIS is now the benchmark for bad airport experiences”, so now when things go wrong in the future I can say that at least it wasn’t as bad as “that other time.” It’s a mind trick that enables you to be grateful for what you have, because it could always be worse. That benchmark often gets lowered, but most often I find myself in instances where it still could get worse, and I’m grateful it is not.
2. Another thing I like to do is just accept the way things are and look for ways we can make them better. We are moving in a couple of months, from a place and a school and a town that we all adore. I COULD boo hoo this and make my kids sad about leaving and crying, or looking at the huge undertaking of buying a new house and changing schools/doctors/dentists/etc., as a bad thing. But I can’t do that. You see, we have to move and have zero choice. So then it is up to me to set the tone for how we view this move. I like to open it up as an adventure to the kids. We will travel to a new area and learn new things. We search things to do on the ride down and in the new town. I show them videos of their new school and house and tell them all the cool things they can look forward to. We discuss a little bit about how we will miss where we live now, but I always include the fact that we have an adventure awaiting us. My idea is that they will grow up always looking for that silver lining. To say, “we are sad to leave here, but so excited to do this instead.” There is always a silver lining in life if you look hard enough, and I work hard to make sure my kids see that.
3. The last thing I do to be positive on a daily basis is to just be grateful for what I have. I’m grateful that I have two children that make a mess and drive me nuts, because I would be lost without them. I am grateful for my husband because he provides for us so well, and always supports my dreams. I’m grateful for being able to buy the food we need and the clothes we want and be safe and warm and happy in our home. I’m grateful for a strong and healthy body that does everything I ask of it. I’ve seen horrible things happen those around me and I see them pick themselves up and carry on. The loss of children, parents, homes, jobs. Things can always be so much worse, and having the perspective of being grateful is important. One of the smallest ways I do this is when I make a mistake, like last week I dropped my vacuum when I was walking downstairs and the canister opened up and spewed a weeks worth of dirt and grossness all over the carpeted stairs. It took me a bit to figure it out (after walking away and letting it sit for a good while), but once I cleaned it up I thought, “well at least now the stairs are really clean.” Sometimes you just have to search deep to find the positive.

That’s it! Most of these are simple, really, but they are the little ways I stay positive in a world that constantly seems to send me curveballs. There is ALWAYS a bright side to something, and it may take a long time to figure out what that is, but if you have a little faith in life that things will happen the way they are supposed to, and a little gratefullness for what you do have, you will be happier, I promise.

I was huffing it out on the stairmaster today doing a HIIT workout and listening to a podcast when THIS question was asked at the end of it…(love me some Gary Vee!)

“What is your definition of a magnificent life?”

You guys, it nearly stopped me in my (disgustingly sweaty) tracks. It takes everything that you are doing now, and everything you WANT to say about your life, and puts it all in perspective. I pondered that for a bit and immediately knew that this question deserved some thought and a blog post. Writing here has always been therapy of sorts for me, and if something I write rings a bell with one reader I feel like this is all worth it. Helping YOU and being someone who contributes meaning to YOU is everything to me, both here and on social media.

On to the question! Here is what MY definition of a magnificent life would be.

1. I’ve said this a million times, but one of my biggest goals was to become a mom. If I died today I would be thrilled to know that I have them and their birth was everything to me (though dying terrifies me as well, because I’m afraid they’d never know how much I love them…but that’s another post for another day.) Now that I am a mom and have been for nine years, my goal is to raise them to be happy and content and to live their best life. I don’t care the details of what they end up doing, I really don’t. They could be ANYTHING, as long as it is something that makes them happy and makes them feel like they are doing what they are meant to do. My happiness is linked to theirs. If they weren’t happy, I wouldn’t be either, it is as simple as that. So my job now is to support them and make sure they have good self esteem and to give them what they need emotionally to succeed in life.
2. I’ve never been one that has had a set career path in mind. I change my mind often and my dreams change as I age. I DO know that I like owning my own time, and creating a career that is flexible and works for me. I’m still working on that, because I think it takes time to come up with what works and what doesn’t. Some career paths are good for a short period of time, but aren’t meant to be forever. I think jobs and opportunities exist to teach us something. I taught school and loved that, but don’t love it full-time. I love supporting children and helping them be happy, but I can’t do that full-time as an educator. I’m happiest surrounded by kids and just loving all over them. Perhaps that means I become a foster parent someday? Maybe I substitute teach and set my own hours and be there in that capacity? Or maybe I stay home and be there for my kids only and support their friends when I can? What it boils down to is that I want to be a positive influence for young kids in some way.
3. Another work thought, I want a job that I am passionate to do every single day. I know this involves working for myself on my own terms. It just does. Right now my passion is fitness and style and writing and leading/supporting women, so continuing to grow my brand via social media and my blog is important to me, as it connecting with those that inspire me. I love that right now it is completely possible to live a life where writing  a blog and posting on Insta stories can make you money. In forty years I want to be successful in my own terms, and that involves creating a career (or careers) that enable me to stay home and have that freedom, but still contribute to our bottom line. I want to help people, in some way, and be a role model. I want to leave a legacy that says I did this on my own terms, in my own way, and I was successful at it.
4. I want to continue to be married to my best friend and live in a way that shows we have made it work, through the good times and the bad, till the end. I really love that being with him makes me a better person, he has taught me so much about myself that I believe comes from the fact that we have grown up together and experienced so much. I want to be buried side my side with him and just know that the life we built has been the most blessed life, no matter that happens.
5. Lastly, I want to say that I had TIME to live a great life. TIME to vacation to all the places I wanted to go, TIME to go to every one of my kids’ soccer games, TIME to go to the gym as much as I want, TIME to rest when I want and work when I want, TIME to hustle and build my brand, and TIME to develop myself into the person I need to be to accomplish the other things on this list. Time is everything, and having the gift of time is all I need.

Tell me, what do YOUR definition of a magnificent life?

I need to preface this by saying, I AM SUCH A SUCKER FOR PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT. I really, really, really love reading these types of books and always look for ways to better myself. One always needs to look for ways to improve oneself, am I right? I feel like I go in phases. Sometimes I read nothing but deliciously mindless romance novels, sometimes I visit the library and go through all the autobiography’s, and then other times I get on a kick of reading self-help novels. I’ve read a bunch of the latter lately and wanted to share my takeaway from each. I like to read personal development books that work in all aspects of my life, from parenting, to creating the best personal closet you can, to business strategies, so my favorite books encompass those. Let’s go!

1. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*CK: This book is a no holds barred way of saying, you do YOU and screw everyone else. You have a responsibility to very few people in the world (for me it is mainly my kids and husband), and outside of that I have to really watch what I bring into my world. One thing I’ve found as I’ve entered my mid to late thirties is that my life has boiled down to things that mean something to me. I don’t say yes to many things that I hate, and when I do I regret it. My life now is made up of all the little choices I have made in the past, that has since given me the freedom to make better choices for the futire, does that make sense? You also have to be brave enough to stand up for yourself and say no to the things and people who drag you down. If you don’t mind prolific swearing (I liked it), and need a kick in the a%$, buy this book!
2. You are a Badass: Another no apologies book! I LOVED it. It spoke to me so much and I highlighted nearly 90% of it. It is brutally honest, but who doesn’t really need that? I loved everything she had to say, especially the talk about letting go of childhood stuff and just moving on. I will keep this book in my collection forever.
3. #AskGaryVee: I have one things to say…if you are building a brand or business in this day and age, no matter what age you are, you need to read this book. I love Gary Vee. He knows his stuff when it comes to social media and the new age of business and advertising. I listen to his podcast every single time I do my steady state cardio at the gym and I always hear something that impacts me and makes me THINK. The world is changing, how we do things in business has changed, and if you want to keep up you need to read this.
4. The Curated Closet: I saw this book on a blog I love and immediately ordered it. I even wrote a blog post outlining how I used what I learned while reading this book, I loved it that much. It basically teaches you exactly HOW to find your personal style, and HOW to build your closet around your style, as well as HOW to escape bad purchases and going around and around the trend cycle you see everywhere. I filled pages and pages in a notebook of notes from this book and determined my style is NOTHING of what I thought it was.
5. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: This book is older than the rest on this list, and I resisted buying it for a while. I always have considered myself a neat person, but after reading this I found I was more organized rather than truly neat. I had a lot of stuff I was holding on to for no reason, and I purged probably 50% of my home after reading this. I’ve found that I end up having “things” that I have kept out of habit, or because I felt bad about spending money on and not liking, so I kept. This book is about having things in your home that bring you joy, and ruthlessly editing the rest.

That’s it! I wholly recommend any of all of these! Tell me, have you read any of these books? What did you think?

I found a pin with the exact quote from this post title on Pinterest and it immediately resonated with me! I’ve tried to be really candid about this health journey I have been on, and eating well and MORE is part of what has made this so life changing for me.

You see, I used to excel at eating a lot less than I do now. I’d feel better in my own skin if I ate like a bird and weighed a certain magical number (which doesn’t really exist, but I still strived for it. ) I typically skipped breakfast and ate something tiny for lunch, and then overcompensated and ate a huge dinner. If I ate no snacks and was in “control” of what I ate, I was happy. If I didn’t, I would punish myself with cardio and promises that I would be better. And yes, I was thin doing this. It “worked” for me. My baby weight from my two kids was mostly gone and I could wear a bikini on the beach and be okay. My benchmark for inner happiness was a “good” weight on the scale and supreme self-control. Needless to say, needing to weigh a certain number and rely on eating less than I need was not a recipe for happiness.

I am the type of person that has really good self control and willpower. It can be good and bad, as unchecked, it can turn on me a bit and make me live in a way that is not sustainable. Enter Beachbody Guide in my life. I’ve written about my gym program and the eating plan I follow, but I wanted to go deeper today. You see, my BIGGEST takeaway from it has been my inner transformation.

I work out to be strong and healthy and my personal best, not to punish myself for what I ate.

I eat to fuel my body, not to obsess over calories and weight.

I weigh myself very rarely, and focus instead on how I feel.

I look at food as what it can do for me and my body, and not as an enemy against my self-control.

I treat my body and my health like I want my kids to treat theirs.

So where does ‘eat better, not less’ come in this? Like I mentioned, I always counted calories like a maniac, and judged myself based on my weight. I used to eat about 500 calories LESS per day than I do now, and I weigh basically the same. I want to repeat, I don’t really weigh any different from what I did 6 months ago.

Left: start of BBG/Right: 24 weeks of BBG

I think it is easier to see this with a photo. I take these photos every four weeks or so for myself, because it helps me see my progress as I go through this program and it solidifies the fact that eating more and better really does mean everything. My weight did not change by much between these photos, maybe a pound or two at most depending on when I weigh myself. Again, I have no idea my exact weight. This is probably the first time in my entire life that I have not defined myself by my weight!

It. Is. So. Freeing.

Food for me now is fuel, rather than the enemy. I look at my food diary app and see that I need more carbs, or protein, and eat that way. I eat so much more than I ever did when I was trying to micromanage and undernourish myself! I eat to give myself energy and help me achieve my fitness goals, and I have never been happier. The key is to eat more foods that are BETTER, based on your activity level and goals. My current goals involve building muscle, so I eat a little more of certain foods than when I am trying to lean out a bit (my spring/summer routine.)

I think the moral of this story is, for me, that it has taken me years of weird fad diets, reading health blogs, and just plain getting older and (hopefully) wiser to figure out what I need to feel good inside. I need to feel good in my skin and that comes from challenging workouts and great food that fills me up and gives me energy.

Tell me, is it challenging for you to find a balance between eating healthy and feeling good about yourself from the inside out? Let’s discuss!