We all have a choice

The title says it all, we all have a choice. It doesn't matter whether it's your life, fitness, career, or any other type of decision the choice is yours whether you choose to be positive or negative about it. For years I made excuses about not making my decisions correctly, I don't have gas, I don't have a gym membership, I have nobody to work out with, all of the excuses under the sun you could think of I gave for not taking my fitness journey seriously. Not only that but I chose day after day to have a poor me attitude about my fitness journey and about life in general. We all have that type of friend who no matter how many times you tell them they don't look fat, they are pretty or whatever else they always have something to complain about, they're having a bad day, a bad week, or a bad life. 

I am lucky enough to have a mirror of a friend to show me the truth about how I was behaving. But for years I chose to be oblivious,nto how I was behaving, I chose to not look into the "mirror" and it wasn't until recently that I got a dose of my own medicine where it hit me that we have a choice to either live each day positively or negatively. you know the saying you're only one work out away from a good mood? I firmly believe this  is true, sure I still have days where I'm tired from work or I've had problems with patients or with family or anything else that seems to go wrong in a day, everyone has bad days, everyone has problems that that they are faced with every single day it's how you choose to react to these problems that really defines you. LOL it's like Reese Witherspoon says: exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, happy people don't just shoot their husbands. 

Now in order to lead a more positive life by choice you have to choose to eliminate the negativity and drama from your life, it's not always easy. I recently had to make a choice to remove certain friends from not only my  Facebook but my life completely. It's something that I've struggled with but if you are serious about living a positive life and incorporating that into your fitness journey it's a sacrifice that needs to be made. One thing I'm trying to do is make sure I see the positive in every situation, It's not always easy but I found that it makes my life a lot better and genuinely makes me a happy person, and when you are happy you you attract positivity. You get back what you put out as I say. I'm sad it took me this long to really grasp the concept but now that I have it I don't intend to go back to negativity land. 

So back to the daily choice, not everyone has time for the gym, I have days where I don't get off in time and I know the gym is going to be packed, so instead of just saying screw it, I will just do my workout at home. Maybe I won't be able to do the exact workout but some workout is better than no workout at all. I mean think about it, they recommend 30 minutes a day of exercise, that still leaves you with 23 hours and 30 minutes to do whatever you want! Personally I love vegging out watching food nextwork and going through my Instagram feed for new makeup, hair, recipe or workout ideas. That's my ideal wind down after a long day. 

So what can you do if you feel the negativity bug creeping up on you after a day filled with problems and no solutions? It's simple really. Close your eyes and focus on a positive thought, it can be anything you want, a cheat meal, a memory, a person, whatever! While your focusing on that happy thought and letting the warmth wash over you take a deep breath in through your nose while counting to three (I know I know a non multitaskers nightmare 😉 but you can do it) and then blow it out through your mouth slowly. You will do this 3x. This action helps reset your system and essentially puts you into your higher brain function or third brain as my friend Ann teaches ( this technique is used in heart mapping, and is actually taught to high level people at Redken where she worked and she was kind enough to teach it to me during one of our sessions, I was hooked up to s heart monitor and everything and you could see on the screen my levels, it was pretty cool to see the changes after doing this exercise) I can't explain it but you can actually feel stress leaving your body and you instantly feel better, calmer and more focused.  So in closing if the only thing you get from this is the knowledge that you have a choice to be happy everyday then my mission is complete!! 

This is showing how your emotions effect your heart rate and brain function, the top is someone who is stressed and not thinking clearly, the. Bottom is someone who is currently functioning at a higher level and are currently using their 3rd brain

Showing how the signals of stress apply to our brains and our thought process

And finally showing the levels work and what they do.

Goals Goals Goals

I've been asked a lot recently how I stay motivated. The truth is there is no concrete method to keep your motivation in check, and I'm definitely not the strongest willed person, just the other day I had a huge elephant ear, (I did share it with 3 people so I didn't eat it all myself) there are days when I get off work and I've had a crappy day and the last thing I wanna do is go to a crowded gym and work out. But the truth is I know what works for me, it's about small steps, telling myself I'll go workout for 15 minutes if I still feel like I don't wanna work out after that time I will leave, 9 times out of 10 I end up staying for at least an hour and I feel better, and that 1 time I don't stay? I walk away knowing I gave it a shot. I also have a movationsl board to help me keep focus of my goals, I'm a visual person so having lists and boards and goals like that really help me. Pinterest and Instagram also keep me motivated by following fitness type boards and people because all I have to do is scroll through either of them when I feel a binge coming on and it gets me right back into check. Not to mention it's great for new exercises, recipes or just visual quotes and motivation. My biggest obstacle will always be food, I eat too much, I eat to little, I don't eat the right stuff, I eat the right stuff but them I am still hungry so I eat way more then I should, portions are wrong, too much sodium, too many carbs, the list goes on and on, I know all the excuses people give for not eating right because I've used them myself. I'm starting to get better but everyday is a challenge, not to just grab subway after a long day, skip lunch and breakfast because I'm in a hurry. I've realized just how important some or any form of meal prepping is, whether it's creating a drawer of go to healthy snacks or portioning out meat so when you need to make dinner you can just defrost it and cook it quickly, fitness really is a lifestyle not just s quick fix. One of my goals for my fitness group is to have a meal prep swap night where everyone brings on of their healthy meals they've already prepped and can swap them for others along with recipes and ideas. I'm also hoping to host a healthy recipe swap where every time I make a new healthy/tasty alternative for people to make at home, however I need to find a place to host these events because right now my house is definitely not a good meeting point. 2015 may have started off rough but that doesn't mean it will have to end the same way! What are some of you goals and motivational tools that help you? I love hearing everyone's ideas!

Gym Rat Lifestyle

You know its funny.......I used to wonder how on earth people could spend hours upon hours in the gym, I mean really? I used to think I hit maximum when I would be at the gym between an hour fourty five and two hours, and keep in mind I spent an hour on the elipitcal. So really I only spent 45 or so minutes doing actual weighted workouts. Most times I spent more time doing Cardio because I would end up taking a Kwando Class when I was a member at LA Fitness (formerly Ballys when I went there) I have only taken a couple classes at 24 but i'm debating on whether or not I should start taking more, truth be told I feel most of them are strictly cardio and call me crazy but I like going at my own pace on the treadmill and eliptical, of course nothing beats cardio outside but well it is Oregon and although the weather has been nice I've been doing weights/cardio and the gym has the weights so its in the gym I go. However as soon as the weather continues to stay nice I will be going hiking. Anyways back to what I was saying, I find myself staying longer and longer in the gym, today for example I was there for three and a half hours, (yes I said that correct) I'm sure you are probably wondering to yourself...what were you doing??? I would be bored out of my mind! Well here how it was broken down: 20 minutes in the sauna, 25 minutes on the treadmill, an hour and 30 minutes doing my legs, an hour and 10 minutes doing my abs and then I finished my workout with a 5 minute cardio cooldown. Tomorrow it starts all over again. However I have to work in the morning so I probably will not spend another 3.5 hours but i'll definitely be spending atleast 2 hours there tomorrow. I spend atleast 5 days a week at the gym, 6 if i'm feeling really lucky. It's been 3 weeks and I can tell a small difference, sure the scale has gone up but I also have to remember i'm lifting weights and it is true that muscle does weigh more than fat. You are probably asking how do I become a gym rat? I barely have time to function let alone commit to 2 hours or more at the gym. Well here is the thing, you can workout ANYWHERE and I do mean ANYWHERE. You don't even need weights, you can do body weight routines, and if you want weights check out craigslist. There are TONS and I mean TONS of different workout equipment options on there.

All the gym time in the world will not make a bit of difference unless you control your diet. I myself am a binge eater, both healthy and unhealthy foods. I haven't had soda in 11 days but I can tell you it hasn't been easy. I work in the food industry, I have unlimited access to soda everyday I work, as well as french fries, desserts etc. It's so easy to just walk up to the soda machine and pour some Dr. Pepper or Sprite (my favorites) and fill up my cup. But it was funny, one day I walked up the machine like I normally do and for a split second paused under the sprite fountain and then I moved my cup over and pushed the water button. And from then on it's been easy. I have 10 more days to go and then not drinking soda will be a habit, now does that mean I won't have soda ever again? Probably not. I love Soda, I love chinese food, I love pizza and pasta and candy and CHOCOLATE. However having recently found that I suffer from acid reflux...(the only symptoms I was having was I felt as if I was always and I mean always swallowing some type of phlegm.) It wasn't until I finally went to an ENT that he told me that is a symptom of acid reflux. But I don't have any other symptoms besides that. Anyways he then told me the bad news: No coffee, soda, fatty foods, acidic foods, alcohol and spicy foods....I took to instragram with a photo and jokingly asked how I would nourish myself????? Now I rarely, and I mean rarely drink alcohol, my last beverage was on my birthday in January and before that, it was in August. But acidic foods??? I love pineapple and tomatoes and lemonade, chocolate (yes chocolate not only has caffeine but it tends to cause reflux more than any other food). Fried foods I understand and I rarely eat anything fried anymore although I will say it again how much I love chinese food which of course is fried......But caffeine??????? I love my coffee, I look forward to PSL all year long and I cry when it's over (okay well maybe not really cry but still I am sad, what white girl doesn't love her pumpkin everything LOL)  The soda is definitely not a problem anymore but if I hadn't already stopped cold turkey I could tell you it would be a big problem.

So what else contributes to being a gym rat you ask, well supplements, supplements, supplements. I not only incorporate protein shakes (which I do not recommend as meal replacements unless you are working out because they will simply make you gain weight.) My favorite right now is Cellucor Whey Protein in Peanut Butter Marshmellow it tastes just like peanut butter crunch!!!!! I like to mix it up with banana's, honey, and a little bit of chocolate syrup. (Yes I drink chocolate milk after working out and I use a little bit in my protein shakes, I live right on the edge lol). Along with my protein shakes I also use C4 which is a workout boosting supplement with Niacin to give you energy and I am happy to report it works well and there are no side effects. My personal favorites are Blue Razz and Watermelon. I also occasionally drink some of Brian's recovery drink that he brings but it's sooooo nasty, its fruit punch. However if you like fruit punch it's fantastic! The only thing you have to make sure you do is drink more water if you take C4, It actually takes water and puts it into your muscles more so unless you drink more water it can wreck your kidneys. But that's only if you don't like drinking water when you work out and who doesn't do that.... It's funny, I remember working at SunsUp Tanning forever ago and our trainer at the time used to constantly take C4 and he was like on crack it was hilarious. He always offered to give us some and I was like noooo I don't take energy drinks (I thought it was like a redbull at the time. I can now say I was wrong) Although Brian was a little overamped when he first started taking it....But now he's calmed down. It was again hilarious to witness. Me? Well I just feel a tingly/burning sensation in my body for a couple minutes and then I go about my workout. Maybe I could say my metabolism is too high for it to have a big effect on me....hahahahah right.......Well thats all for this week, if you would like to see more updates follow me on instagram :) @kerisa21 or hashtag #kerisamode and show me how you work out!

The Struggle Is Real......

So as many of you guys know I am currently unemployed so going to the grocery store and loading my cart up with delicous goodies just doesn't happen anymore, and when I say delicious I mean healthy as well. You really can change your eating habits in 21 days, especially if you are broke, and no I haven't reduced myself to eating off the dollar menu. Just because you may not have $200 to spend on groceries doesn't mean you can't eat healthy food for less. It just means that you need to stick to the essentials. What are my essentials you ask? Well I will break that down for you:

Salad Mix 0.99 cents

Open Nature Drumsticks $2.96

Strawberries & Cream Oatmeal $1.62

Taco Seasoning .75 cents x2

Wheat Bread $1.09

Deli Lunch Meat $0.69 x2

Honey Nut Cheerios $2.50

Butter $3.29

Tillamook Ice Cream $3.99

Total Spent: $19.32

So for $20 I was able to purchase enough food for a week of meals, plus a splurge item (I have to buy tillamook icecream when it's on sale its so good and a scoop goes a long way) Now you may be asking where is the milk where are the eggs what about other protein besides chicken? Well we currently have a total of 17 chickens so eggs are never an issue for me, milk I am set on and thankfully I still have turkey in the freezer, btw speaking of turkey I love going to Safeway on $5 Friday and stocking up on the big packages of ground turkey, I can easily get 5-10 meals out of a package of ground turkey. I have found that buying in bulk and then freezing them in individual packages just makes meal time so much easier, no fussing with cooking too much or too little. It's funny I recently read an article on facebook about a mother who said she needs more funds from the government to afford to live healthy because she can only afford junk and that is why she is obese. But truth be told it's not difficult to eat healthy, I find that unhealthy things are most of the time more expensive because you end up eating more then the recommended size and therein lies the weight gain. Now not everyone chooses to shop weekly for food but I have found that it works best for me, many a time I have went the grocery store and dropped a pretty penny only to end up eating out or not wanting to eat what I purchased so then it just all goes to waste. The only thing that I do stock up on is meat, if there is a sale on turkey or fish or chicken then I will be happy to stock up on it but everything else I buy on weekly basis because lets face it, those grapes might sound good now but are you going to single handidly go through 2lbs of them before they get gross? Probable not considering we all know what happens when you eat too many of them! So the next step I would like to take is planning my meals out a week in advance, just planning not preparing and freezing just planning so that way when I go shopping I know exactly what I need and there is less of a chance of something not so good finding it's way into my cart. I have also started a food journal to help me, and it's not going to be a typical food journal, i'm not counting calories i'm just writing down exactly what i've eaten and at what times to see if there is a pattern. Or I have a craving i'll write down what I replaced it with and see if it makes the cravings subside. I have a problem with bad food and it's time to take control, i'm not going to completely eliminate sweets or entire food groups but I would like to start following the 80/20 rule, aka 80% of your meals must be healthy and 20% can be cheat meals so essentials if you eat 3x meals a day (snacks are not included) then 18 meals per week must be healthy and 3 can be cheat meals, you can still have your cake and eat it too. Just don't eat the whole cake....

Progress Progress Progress

So it's been almost six months since I re-started my weightloss journey in February, i've had my ups, ive had my ups and i've had my downs, I think everyone experiences these in any type of journey, i've come a long way but I still find myself struggling in certain areas, for example I was all cardio for the first couple months and now it seems i've given up cardio so to speak, i've been focusing more on weight training which of course has caused my weight to go up because we all know muscle weighs more then fat, I have been losing inches and i've created an excel spreadsheet to help me track my progress, i'm also exploring more options such as starting to try a protein supplement with my first shaker cup~! (I got an awesome offer from GNC through facebook that includes a free gold card and shaker cup just for showing my college ID! it's a $30 value so thank you facebook and GNC!) One great thing about weight training is that i'm starting to see more definition in my arms and legs which is great but I really wish I would see it in my stomach, it is getting harder and i've lost another 1/2" but I wish it would just melt faster! Which brings me back to cardio, I need to up my cardio game but (and yes this sounds like an excuse and thats fine if you take it that way) the weather has just been so bipolar! It's either scorching hot or raining and as much as I hate to use this excuse but the other huge factor is that I don't have a lot of places to run unless I drive somewhere first. I live right off the highway and there isn't always a lot of space to walk/run on the side of the road, i've almost been hit several times and that is scary enough, not to mention some crazy guy could stop his creeper-mobile and kidnap me (yes I know this is highly unlikely but we all know it's still in the back of my mind) anyways with that in mind the fact that I am jobless right now and not getting any unemployment makes it a little tough to drive to go running, and yes I try to coordinate doing cardio when I am in town but that is getting fewer and fewer, it's funny I used to only want to do cardio on the eliptical at the gym and never wanted to do it outside and now it's like reversed, sure I am getting back into my gym routine and feeling better and better about my workouts and Brian has been pushing me hard at the gym everytime we work out together but I want more. I'm not happy with how slow my progress has become and granted I probably lost weight too quickly in the beginning because I made poor choices but now that i'm comitted to doing it the right way it seems like it's harder then ever. I can't wait to be working again, I definitely made too many excuses about not working out after work because I was too tired and I only worked out before work once and now that I have all this time on my hands I want to work out but I don't have the gas to drive to the gym constantly, I know what you're thinking, why don't you join a gym thats closer to home? Well to answer that I did, and unfortunately the gym didn't have pretty much anything that I wanted out of a gym so that was a total bust, and since I am planning to be moved out by early next year I just need to tough out the commute until then. I can tell you it will be so nice when i'm like 5 minutes from work and the gym. If I get the job that I interviewed for then I could literally walk to work and to the gym from the apartments I want to stay at which would be a HUGE change.    I would be able to go to the gym anytime I want and not have to worry about the gas or the longish drive. I envy people who have a treadmill or elipitical in their house or live close to walking paths, I mean sure they probably envy me because I live in the country but it's not like I live on a back road I live on the main highway so there are log trucks and speeding cars coming down my road and they don't always pay attention to people walking on the side of the road let alone the speed limit (I know i'm guilty of the second one) Anyways so back to the topic at hand. My six month check in, I really need to start focusing on my eating habits because that is where I am failing. I don't think I want to go as far as meal replacement shakes but I really need to get down my calorie intake which is hard because my metabolism has spiked so i'm hungry more and not all of my choices are the healthiest, I am trying but not hard enough. I feel like I really need to start expirimenting more with my cooking because i'm getting like food boredom, sure i've cut out ground beef and replaced it with ground turkey and I have chicken but I need more options or I need a wizard to magically make it taste completely different because thus far the only things i've tried with ground turkey is meatloaf, meatballs, spaghetti and tacos. What other healthier options of meat are there? I won't do Tofu, I will occasionally have some edamame but not as much as I used to since reading the Perfect 10 diet book I told you guys about, i've had some salmon and lobster tails but lets face it thats a champagne taste on a beer budget. Thus far I have only ever had cedar plank salmon when i've had it at home. There has to be more options then that but I just don't have the funds to be having salmon every other night and i'm not sure what some of the other fish options could be that might be cheaper. I really need to start doing my research because I am in a food rut. Everything I want to eat or I am used to eating isn't healthy and although i've searched for healthy alternatives I haven't actually tried making them in the kitchen. LOL it's not even New Year's and I already have my resolutions all picked out.....

March March Baby......

Hello March! So as of today I am 17 days in on my challenge and i'm doing good, as I said before i'm not going to measure myself until I hit day 30 but I can definitely tell a difference in the way my clothes are fitting which has been nice, but of course the only downside is that my favorite and only pair of Miss Me jeans are starting to get a little baggy which means I have to constantly wash and dry them to get them to shrink a bit but of course by the end of the day they've stretched out again :( But of course its a small price to pay and i'm sure I can sell them on eBay and then just buy a new pair. Thankfully I have my AE jeans in sizes 4, 6, and 8 so hopefully it'll be an easy transition. Anyways back to the topic at hand, on top of finishing my challenges, starting my new workout and doing my running challenge on Nike I am also going to be drastically changing my dietary habit this month. I was planning on starting today but well I woke up this morning and literally forgot what day it was and that it was a new month and I ended up having a soda and club sandwhich with my friend up at OHSU today which means it will start tomorrow. So what is the change in my eating habits you ask? Well first off i'm going to start counting calories again, I did it awhile back and I did pretty good with the weekdays but when the weekends came I used them as cheat days and well all the weight I lost from calorie counting just came back on plus some. Since I am going to be doing weight training 3x a week and running 2x a week (or more) i've determined that 1500 calories a day is the goal I am going for. I was doing 1200 the last time I started doing it but I wasn't working out, and obviously if I feel like my I need to up my calories I will do so but this is a starting point. Besides counting calories i've also decided to seriously restructure my diet, i'm doing better than I have been in the past but there is always room for improvement, I've decided to start The Perfect 10 Diet i've told you guys about in the past, so for the first 3 weeks I will not be eating any grains such a bread, pasta, cereals...you get the idea, I also will no longer be drinking soda and since I rarely and I mean rarely drink alcohol i'm not worried about that not being allowed. I have 4 months left to lower my cholesterol before i'm rechecked in June and well I want to be thin and fit before I turn 30, before summer would be even better but there is no quick fix to become toned and fabulous and although i'm inching closer to my goal weight I feel like i'm not going as fast as I could be. I've got the fitness bug and i'm itching to get more and more accomplished. I can't wait to see how I look and feel at 90 days. Now until my gym membership is unfrozen i'll be doing my workouts at home but either way i've made sure that my workout routine can be done at the gym or at home and i'm planning on making all of my workouts that way so if I don't feel like driving all the way to the gym or i'm not in the area I can easily do it as soon as I get home. Maybe i'm so much more motivated because I really want a new Triangl bathing suit that costs $79 each and I have atleast 2 minimum colors I want. Idk lol,  either way i've found my motivation and even though there has been days where i'm tired or frustrated or whatever and I don't want to do my challenges i've sucked it up and i've done it. Lets face it suck it up now and I won't have to suck it in later! i'm kind of stoked because by eliminating grains and soda etc for 3 weeks I will lose up 14lbs in 21 days and well that puts me over my first goal of 20lbs! It would actually put me at approximately 26-28lb loss which would be absolutely fantastic. So ready.....set.....GO!!!

Extreme Couponing......Healthy Shopping

So lately i've been OBSESSED with watching Extreme Couponing on TLC, now obviously I wouldn't purchase half the things that they do because it seems like a lot of what they purchase is very unhealthy...(Um   a wall of 2-liters????) 500 hundred boxes of  poptarts?? No thank you. Now one thing i'm horrible about is actually having a food budget set up, in the past I never had a grocery budget because I would spend all my money eating out and then just eat whatever was at my house that was quick and easy, But now that i'm older and trying to eat healthier I've determined I need to have a food budget, but how much is enough?? It seems like when I have tried having a food budget I always overspend or I end up buying food and then I eat out and the food goes to waste or I don't buy enough food and I run out of stuff really quickly, I've thought about going shopping weekly as opposed to bi-weekly or monthly. I wish that I could get into extreme couponing so that when I go i'll pay next to nothing for my groceries but lets face it most coupons are for pre-packaged, unhealthy items that I should not be eating, rarely do you see a big coupon for lean turkey or produce. I've thought about trying to find coupons for things like that but so far i've come up short. I personally try to shop mostly at Fred Meyer and Safeway just because of the fuel points, I probably shop at Safeway more though because their Just For U app is just amazing, I love getting special discounts on things that I buy constantly. For example a couple weeks ago I bought 2 packages of Jenny-O ground turkey, normally its $6.99 for a little over a pound of it but it was on sale for $5 Friday, and on top of that I got a digital coupon for another $1 off each package which means I got an amazing deal, I wish I would have bought more than 2 packages but when your on a tight budget you buy what you can. So that brings us back around to couponing and why it's important. Now I don't have the time or the patience to be an extreme couponer but; i'm attemping to try to atleast be somewhat of a couponer because lets face it, I am not a millionaire and I want my money to stretch. So back to the conundrum of me trying to decide if it's better to shop weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. How often do you shop for groceries? I think it's easier for me because well, there is just me i'm feeding. If I was in a larger family I probably would just shop monthly because trying to go to the grocery store weekly might be a hassle. Anyways, one thing I'm super excited for that is coming up next month would be the meal prep party i'm going to on March 8th, this will be the first one i've ever been to and i'm really looking forward to spending an afternoon with some awesome ladies AND making a month of dinners that all I will need to do is re-heat them up in the microwave. Can't beat that! Now one thing that is definitely a challenge while shopping is trying to avoid all of the unhealthy, processed, artery clogging food that is spread throughout the aisles, you really have to look at the labels of what your putting in your shopping cart, i've found soybean oil is in almost everything nowadays, which makes it really really tough to find healthy alternatives unless you head to Market of Choice, New Season's Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, all of which are not exactly down the street for me, If any of these places are close to you I highly suggest shopping at them, are they more expensive? Yes, but you can't put a price on your health. That fact is true. So what is your go-to healthy items that are aways on your grocery list? Personally mine is ground turkey, chicken and salad mix, I would love to just go into the store with an unlimited produce budget so that I could get all of the fruits and veggies that my heart desires...But...thats just me!