more motivated than EVER.

i am so excited you guys.  i am like bouncing off the walls excited about the subject of today's post!

first off, i have to say i am more motivated than ever to change my eating habits & live a healthy life.  like, i don't think i will EVER be able to go back to the old way that i thought about food.  what changed me you ask?  ummm, a little movie called "Food, Inc."

holy crap.

we only caught a bit of it last night on PBS, but i am planning on watching it in its entirety asap.  if you want to know why you should buy some {most!} of your foods organic or locally, just watch that movie.  who's seen it & what did you think?  i was already pretty passionate about eating smartly & healthfully, but watching this movie has just added another gallon of fuel to the fire.

so here we go.  here are a few things that help me live a healthy & fit life.  and some things that i am always working on being better at!

last week i saw a quote that has really stuck with me.  it went something like:  "if you want to weigh what you've always weighed, then eat what you've always eaten."  so true.  but for me?  even more importantly than what the scale says, i hate the way i FEEL when i'm eating badly & i love the way i feel when i'm eating right.  so i've been telling myself:

"if you want to FEEL better than you've ever felt, then eat better than you've ever eaten."

ok, so it doesn't have the same snazzy ring to it, but you get the point.  how you feed your body makes such a huge impact on everything.  food is fuel & when we fill up on junk all we're gonna get out of it is junk.  after a few days of crappy eating, i feel uncomfortable in my clothes, things fit tighter, there's a noticeable change in how i feel overall.  but after i'm back on track for a while my clothes fit looser, i can hold my belly in tighter, & i have so much more energy.

so what am i doing?  eating whole, real foods, saying no to fast food, & using all kinds of portion control.  even if you eat healthy, when you eat too much of it it's still too much.

dude, you've got to plan.  keep your fridge, cupboard & purse stocked with healthy snacks so that in a pinch of hunger you won't be tempted to open a bag of cookies or buy a hot dog at the food court.  think almonds, apples, string cheese, & the such as.  also?  i plan to cheat.  i always eat something sweet after both lunch & dinner.  just one something.  a reese's miniature or a chunk of cookie dough.  when i am tempted to pop a second one i just tell myself, "nah, i'll have another one later."  and i do... after the next meal.

plan your meals & cook them yourself.  if you need ideas, check out sites like cookinglight.com or cleaneatingmag.com.  both are amazing resources for healthy meal ideas & if you're like me, you'll find way more tasty meals than you can fit in a year.

when serving up a meal, leave the serving dishes in the kitchen & don't put them on the dinner table.  you're way more likely to thoughtlessly shovel seconds & thirds onto your plate when it's staring you straight in the face next to your plate.  just serve up what you know is a good portion, eat it slowly, then sit on it for a while before getting up for more.  you may decide you don't need more after all.

and lastly, drink lots of water.  like, lots & lots.  then drink some more.  your body retains water when it's not hydrated so make sure you're filled up & it'll flush your body of the excess.  true story.

this is a must.  and probably my favorite part.  i really do love to work out.  i get super stir-crazy when i miss a work out & i seriously love the feeling of pushing through quivering, shaking muscles in order to knock out a few more reps.  love it.  but that has come as a result of years & years & years of regularly working out.  being physically active has always been really important to my mom, & i attribute my love of it to her.  so thanks mom!

not so in love with getting physical?  start slow.  go for walks or do calf raises while you brush your teeth.  take the stairs instead of the elevator & park far across the parking lot.  move quickly while you clean your house.  bored with your work outs?  mix it up!  muster some motivation by registering for a 5k or find a friend to walk with.  as long as you're doing something, it's gonna be better than nothing.

i'm also more motivated than ever to up my work out intensity.  why?  because i'm seeing results.  and that is motivating.  when you see your body changing, getting stronger, & doing things that it didn't used to be able to do?  you just want to push it that much harder & reinforce what you're doing.

give it a go!  you'll be amazed at what you're capable of.

try workin out your fingers & click twice to vote.  your strong fingers will thank you.  i will too.