Fit Fun Tina

Getting back in the game

backinthegame
Getting back in the game is TOUGH. Have you ever run out of gas in your car and had to push it towards the gas station? A car is difficult to push and requires a great amount of effort to get the car rolling. Once the wheels finally get in motion, it becomes easier to push the car. That’s because once an object is in motion, it tends to stay in motion until something causes that object to stop.

If you’ve ever made a complete lapse in your health journey, then same principals apply. Using the car example above, we can easily compare the principles. When you lapse, there is something that caused your vehicle of health to stop. Perhaps in your health journey, you’ve run out of gas (or steam!!). Maybe you had an unexpected health issue, some sort of emotional crisis, or even a slow walk into complacency. For whatever reason, your car is completely parked, and it’s not budging. It doesn’t matter how you got there. You’re there, and you don’t want to be there.

When you make the decision that you are ready to move again, you realize there is probably going to be a lot of work involved to get your car (of health) rolling again. You need to make a plan. You might need to clean out your refrigerator and your pantry. You’ll need to buy nutritious foods and make a meal plan. Beyond the nutrition, you need to figure out your fitness plan. Are you going to workout in the gym, workout at home, or just make plans to incorporate walking into your schedule? There’s a lot of work that’s involved, and you haven’t even started yet! The car is still sitting in the middle of the intersection, waiting for your next move.

Once you get the plan in place, it’s time to gather all of your tools together to put that car back in motion again. I’ll be honest, it can be extremely intimidating. Questions and doubts will start to come into your head. What if you forget your deodorant? What if people look at you with eyes of judgement? What if you fail? These questions and doubts are no different than if you were starting out for the very first time.

Last week when I had my restart, I had a plan. Everything was laid out in front of me, and ready for execution. My first day in the gym, I was extremely intimidated and wanted to immediately crawl into a hole. My gym, which is usually quiet this time of year, was bustling with a ton of people. I couldn’t work out alone? Yikes! I did 30 minutes of cardio, and knew I couldn’t delay going to the weights any longer. It was a moment of sheer dread. I didn’t dread the workout itself (well, honestly, I kind of did…), but it was working out next to people who were…extremely fit. And here I was wearing yoga pants because I didn’t have the confidence to wear my workout clothes. Fortunately, I ran into a friend. He was in the right place at the right time, because his voice of encouragement was what I needed to pull this off. Had he have not been there, I would have been okay. I was going to do it anyway, but speaking with him gave me an extra boost of confidence and allowed me to focus on the job ahead. My wheels were finally starting to turn.

One week into my re-start (read more about it here), my vehicle of health is finally moving in the right direction. While I did not have a perfect week, I managed to lose 2.8 pounds. Have I lost more in previous attempts? Yes, but I’m not concerned about it. I can’t compare myself to others, nor can I compare myself to my own past. My car’s moving, and it doesn’t matter how fast or how slow my car is going. As long as it goes in the right direction, I’m going to reach my destination. In the meantime, it’s up to me to continuously keep the wheels rolling.

Week One Restart: Nobody Likes to Talk about Weight Gain!

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HelloFresh Information and Review

Fresh food delivered!! If you've ever wondered how HelloFresh works or whether it is worth it, here is some information and my review.

Who doesn’t love stuff shipped to their house?! I mean, is it a bad thing I know Postman Pete by his first name? For months I have seen ads for HelloFresh, and for months, I’ve thought “Hey, that sounds cool. Maybe next time.” Finally, I decided to bite the bullet and see what the fuss is about, and ordered my first week of meals. If you’ve ever wondered how it works or whether it is worth it, here is some information and my review. *disclaimer alert* HelloFresh did not pay me in any form for this review. Any information and opinions given are expressly my own. Affiliate links ARE included and help to keep this blog rolling (in addition to making your life a little easier in finding this product.

What is HelloFresh?

Fresh food delivered!! If you've ever wondered how HelloFresh works or whether it is worth it, here is some information and my review.

HelloFresh is a subscription service to provide you with ingredients needed to make healthy, fresh meals. There are three different types of boxes to choose from:

  • Classic Box – Serves 2 or 4 people (you choose). These are standard meals, and you are given the option to choose from a list of meals.
  • Veggie Box – Serves 2 or 4 people (you choose). Perfect for vegetarians!
  • Family Box – Serves 2 adults and 2 children. Family friendly meals with choice of 2 or 3 meals.

When you sign up for the service, you can choose your delivery dates and your meal selections. (I ordered the Classic box my first week, and didn’t realize I could pick the meals!) They will send you shipping information with tracking (mine was delivered via UPS). Fresh food delivered!! If you've ever wondered how HelloFresh works or whether it is worth it, here is some information and my review.

The box comes well insulated with special ice packs (we kept the ice packs out overnight to see what would happen – still rock solid the next day!), so your food arrives cold and fresh.

My experience

Like I said, I originally didn’t realize that I could choose my meals until my first delivery had shipped. Once I realized, I quickly went online to select next week’s shipment before I forgot! Choosing meals online was super easy to do (besides choosing WHICH items to use!). I had no other problems with shipping or delivery.

Unboxing was super simple, and each recipe’s contents were divided by recipe. (This is AWESOME!) The meat was not packed within the boxes, so the produce was able to be kept separate. Inside each box all of the necessary ingredients were inside, from produce to herbs to condiments like white wine vinegar in these cute little bottles! The ONLY thing that was not included were some major staples, such as salt, pepper, olive oil, and an egg. The meals came with a recipe booklet (you could separate each recipe card), which pictured instructions. The recipe cards are great, because you could keep them for a future use! Also, if you happen to lose your recipe cards, the recipes can easily be downloaded from their website.

Meal #1 Herbed Lemon Chicken Caesar Salad

Fresh food delivered!! If you've ever wondered how HelloFresh works or whether it is worth it, here is some information and my review.

Of course, the shrimp meal box said to cook first, but I decided to rebel and cook the chicken inside. (That and the fact that I didn’t see the “Cook me first” sticker on the shrimp box!! Haha!

Do you know what I liked about this Caesar salad? No anchovies! (They’re my mega nemesis). The recipe card stated it would take 25 minutes to prepare, and it was pretty close to accurate. I LOVED that instead of providing pre-made over crunchy croutons, they provided a ciabatta roll for you to slice and make your own croutons!

The meal turned out delicious, and I wouldn’t have changed anything. However, the Romaine lettuce looked a little sad upon arrival, so I chopped off the bottom end and stuck it in water to spruce it up before eating. Also, these meals serve more than two people! For 21 Day Fix, I filled a red, two greens, and counted an orange for the dressing/parmesan cheese.

Meal 2: Warm Shrimp and Farro Salad

Fresh food delivered!! If you've ever wondered how HelloFresh works or whether it is worth it, here is some information and my review.

Remember how I said I didn’t realize you could choose the meals? I don’t like shrimp (or any other seafood for that matter!). Had I have known I could choose, I wouldn’t have picked this meal. However, my mom is in town and LOVES shrimp, so it all worked out!

Since she loves shrimp (and I don’t), I gave her the honor of making this dish. Again, she had no problems with the preparation (besides the fact she’s not a fan of arugula!), and she said the meal tasted very good.

Again, this meal did provide more than 2 servings. I think if you were to order these dishes at a restaurant, their idea of a serving would probably be close to the same size as HelloFresh’s servings.

Meal 3: Marinated Steak Bibimbap

Fresh food delivered!! If you've ever wondered how HelloFresh works or whether it is worth it, here is some information and my review.

Bibimbap is Korean for delicious. (I’m kidding. But it was delicious!) One of my good friends in Seminary was from Korea, so I was excited to see this dish. (Note: I was never excited about kimchee, but that’s another story!!) It was nice to prep this dish by pickling the scallions (although the instructions said to pick the white part of the scallions and the scallions were mostly green so I had to make an educated guess). I don’t usually cook with scallions (my husband is not a fan). Also, we skipped the mushrooms (neither of us are fans), but my mom had no problem putting them into her shrimp dish (above).

The meal called for a fried egg on top (egg not included), and was the perfect finish for a meal. Don’t skip the egg – it provides an extra layer of richness to the dish! As for the serving size – the meat literally contained two red container servings of steak. However, for 21 Day Fix I used half a red of the steak combined with the egg to make a full red, then measured out a yellow for the rice, and a green for the vegetable (and 2 tsp for oil). Doing it this way, I was able to portion out 4 meals (and there was extra rice).

The cost

The cost varies depending on how many servings you order (and how many meals are provided). For my Classic box (2 generous servings), the cost is $69 (shipping is included). This breaks down to $11.50 per person per meal. When you consider the factors of 1) not having to go to the store 2) not having to buy extra ingredients that you don’t normally use and 3) you’re saving a lot of time building a shopping list and putting all of your items together during prep time, then this is an incredible value. It’s certainly cheaper than eating out, and you’re able to get yourself out of a cooking rut!

Pinch some salt, not your wallet with HelloFresh! Get fresh ingredients & tasty recipes delivered

Also, HelloFresh will often run promotions for your initial order. For the month of May, you can receive $25 off per box for your first two boxes (that’s a $50 savings!) The promo code for this month is HelloMay50.

My overall thoughts

Overall, I am in LOVE with this service. It is not perfect by any means (we are not a fan of certain foods, so I can’t just substitute ingredients), but overall the convenience factor is amazing. It saves so much time and energy that as a busy mom, I’m not sure why I didn’t try this before! Since the food is healthy, I can cater it easily to 21 Day Fix (it’s not always a *perfect* match, but it’s pretty close). As for the family box, I’m not quite sure how my toddlers would react to the exotic foods (to a toddler, most food is exotic), but I’m excited to at least let them try new things. Someday it may catch on, right??

Special Offer! $50 Discount on your First two Boxes! Code HELLOMAY50. Valid for new customers only. Classic, Veggie or Family Box. Ends 5/31/15. Eat fresh & healthy – Shop Now

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A love for self – when the scale will not budge

If you're frustrated, here's some advice on what to do when the scale will not budge!

Dear Tina,
For real, the scale has not budged in five days. I’m doing everything right. I’m eating the right foods. I’m exercising my butt off. I’m drinking water. I’m doing all of the right things, but the scale will not budge!! Why is it not cooperating in my favor?
Signed,
Frustrated

Dear Frustrated,

I get it. I know who you are because I’ve been in your shoes. As a chronic dieter and scale obsessor, I can remember those pains of frustration when you’re absolutely doing everything right, and yet not getting rewarded with the number you would expect. It is the very reason why I would quit any diet I ever tried. My thought process would tell me that if the scale isn’t going to cooperate on my terms, then I may as well go back to my old eating habits so I could at least ENJOY myself. Why yes – I think I will help myself to that piece of delicious chocolate. Oh, a spoonful of ice cream? Make it a bowl! Oh potato chips, I never really enjoyed you but I have deprived myself for so stinkin’ long… Then, a few weeks later, I would step on the scale and my pulse would start pounding at the sight of the number I was now seeing, and the dieting process would restart once again. This time is for real, I’d tell myself. I’ll buckle down and do what it takes, and…it’s just.so.exhausting.

The cycle kind of repeats itself, doesn’t it? This very cycle is probably why the diet industry is so successful. The diet industry wants you to believe you’re going to lose weight. Losing weight means a lower number on the scale. We all (well, most of us!) want a lower number on the scale! So this industry will sell you products with the promise to fulfill your scale dreams. Sometimes that industry will give you a promise to achieve losing a certain amount of weight in a time frame. Therefore, not only is the diet industry promising you’ll have a lower number on the scale, they are often promising to do it in a quick amount of time. And the best sellers will often be the companies that offer the biggest promise with the smallest amount of effort.

The older we get, the longer we are being fed these promises. For as long as people buy into these promises, the diet industry will continue to thrive. However, that’s a whole another post. Let’s get back to you, Frustrated.

I understand that you are writing because you’ve been working hard. You’ve probably got some goals, and you’ve been working hard to achieve them. If the number on the scale is not cooperating, you’ve possibly entered the mode of analysis to see what exactly you’re doing (or not doing) that is not allowing the scale to work in your favor. If you’re in analysis mode, I’d like you to check out my related article on Scale Frustrations – Why am I not losing weight? (It will open up in a new tab, so come back when I’m done!)

If you have done the analysis and are still frustrated, I have some very important suggestions for you to consider in this journey. I think these questions and suggestions are far more important than your analysis of what you are doing right/wrong.

  1. Ask yourself: What are your non-scale goals? Why did you start this process? What are you hoping to achieve? Do you want to be healthy? Do you want to be active? Do you want to make better choices to set an example for your children? What kind of behaviors does your healthy self exemplify? Are you proud of your work?
  2. Drop your time goals. Type A people – I’m talking to you! It’s understanding to want to lose weight in a certain period of time, but sometimes our bodies do not want to cooperate. You can take all of the scientific models of calories in/calories out, overanalyze how many calories you should be consuming to get a certain result, and you can have the perfect plan in place. In the end, our bodies win. It is up to our bodies to cooperate, and there are so many complex factors such as muscle mass, our exact metabolism rate, water fluctuation, hormones, and the actual nutritional content of foods – it is impossible to be fully and completely precise.
  3. Take measurements! I cannot stress this enough! Chart your measurements. The scale will not tell you if you are gaining muscle mass, but the measuring tape will! Sometimes “weight loss” comes in the form of a smaller body without a reflection on the scale! Your clothes will start to feel looser. Here’s a guide with printable chart to help you out: How to take measurements
  4. How do you physically FEEL? Forget the scale – let’s talk about the stuff that really matters. How is your energy level compared to before you started your journey? Has your sleep pattern changed for the better? (Moms of babies – I know that’s a silly question!) How do you feel after eating a nutritious meal? Journal your progress, and take note of these markers. (If you don’t have a blog or a journal, you can always send yourself emails!!)
  5. Stop beating yourself up. Seriously. It’s OKAY to slip a bit. I’d even say it’s okay to slip a LOT. As long as you’re getting back on that wagon right away, you’re still in the game. When you slip, take note of how you feel. Determine whether there were triggers, and see if there are ways you can deal with the triggers in the future. Then, move on.
  6. Put away the scale for awhile. Send it to time out! If you are working on living a healthy lifestyle, the scale won’t matter. Your body will react accordingly to however you decide to fuel it. At the end of the day, it is not about the number on the scale. Sure, seeing a lower number can give us great satisfaction. But living a lifestyle that is healthy will be far more rewarding. Let me say this again – your body will reflect your healthy lifestyle. It may take you longer than you hoped, but this is not a short-term process!

Above all, be kind to yourself. Love yourself and take care of your body. It is the greatest gift you can give to yourself.

With much love,

Tina

P.S. Can you please SHARE this post? Perhaps there is someone else that needs to hear this. Thanks!!

 

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Confessions of a scale-aholic

Confessions of a scale-aholic...and the road to recovery.

This is my confession. When I first started living in a healthier lifestyle, I found myself stepping on the scale. A LOT. The thrill of seeing the scale number going down was a bit of an adrenaline rush! Every morning, I would weigh myself as soon as I woke up to see my progress. There were some mornings, when the scale wasn’t cooperating in the way that I thought it should be, and I would hit a mound of frustration. I would spend the entire morning analyzing my previous day. Did I really burn enough calories? Did I eat too many calories? Did I eat too little calories? Am I experiencing water retention? The questions were endless and they would fill my mornings (and sometimes the entire day).

I was so desperate to see the scale drop, that I started almost obsessing with the scale. Daily morning weigh-ins added to the occasional nightly weigh-ins (because I had calculated that on average, I weighed 2 pounds less in the morning than I did at night). Weighing in at night gave me a glimpse of what to expect in the morning, so either I’d go to bed either happy, grumpy, or confused.

When I started making specific weight goals and deadlines to reach those goals, I became even MORE obsessed. We are talking major stress to hit the goals I had in my mind. Add the stress to the fact that I am a recovering emotional eater, and it was too much for me to take. If the scale had a drop that morning, I’d slip in a tiny bite of something as a “reward” (I know the logic seems funny but it really came down to getting too relaxed with my mini-celebration). If the scale had a significant increase, I’d get moody and eat…well, more than a few bites. I was chained to the scale, and allowed it to determine my mood for the day.

After joining Beachbody and the 21 Day Fix, I was on FIRE. The scale was dropping by leaps and bounds, the inches were coming off, and I was in the fast lane to success. I knew that the initial drop would slow down, and it did. I slowly slipped back into my scale-obsession, desperate to continue making progress. Finally, after a week of the scale going UP every day (despite that I was keeping everything in check), I hit the proverbial wall, knowing that something needed to change.

And so I decided to do something completely different than I had been doing – I stepped AWAY from the scale. I knew what I needed to do to be healthy, so I made a little challenge to myself to NOT look at the scale. Admittedly, it was pretty hard the first few days. I was working my tail off, and I wanted to SEE some kind of results. But as each day passed, the anxiety decreased. I even started to feel a little glimpse of freedom! Stepping away from the scale also challenged me. I knew that if I was cheating, then when I came back to the scale I’d see a less-than-desirable number. I love a good challenge, and this really helped me to focus more on my nutrition and less on my progress.

While I do have a specific goal weight in mind, my ULTIMATE goal is to be healthy. To eat healthy, to be fit and strong, and live healthy. I have the right tools within me to make it happen, and I KNOW that when I focus on the healthy, my weight/body is going to follow. Focusing on the health as opposed to the number on the scale has been a definite game-changing experience.

Are you a scale obsessor? I’d love to hear your story, and hear how you triumphed over it. Send me an email at fitfuntina@gmail.com

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