The holidays, Easter, Christmas & Thanksgiving, see so many of us straying off plan. If you’re like a lot of people, your healthy lifestyle typically takes a back seat. Between the parties, get-togethers and endless treats that characterize whatever the season is (think cake and bun and cocktails) you know you’ve a gained a few and you probably feel a tad lethargic and plenty guilty. What’s done is done. You now have a chance to pick up where you left off. Here are my suggestions for getting back on track.
Continue reading Getting Back on the Keto Track in 4 Easy StepsTag: exercise
You don’t have to exercise, but you should. How to (easily) build a habit.
I’ve always done some form of exercise. Even more than 50 lbs ago last year, I used to get up and workout. But the saying “weight loss is 80% fork, 20% work” is certainly true for me. I was getting fatter and fatter even though I was working out. That being said, I knew that I was still doing something good for myself when I did work out. My mental and emotional health benefited. Exercise lifted my mood and cleaned the cobwebs out of my brain. I then changed my diet and went keto. The keto diet changed my life. The weight started coming off. And do you know what else happened? I actually wanted to exercise more. I was able to increase the intensity, frequency and consistency of my workouts. I know that exercise is an absolutely important part of any journey to wellness and living our best life ever. I still have to make that decision every night to get up before dawn the next day. I still have to push myself every workout. Here are my tips for people for whom making exercise a habit doesn’t come easy. Like me. Continue reading You don’t have to exercise, but you should. How to (easily) build a habit.
Don’t Sabotage Your Keto Journey by Too Many Changes All at Once.
When most of us decide to embark on (yet another) weight loss program, we attack Day 1 of The Change with gusto! “I’m going keto! I’m going to lose weight and my life will change!” We go to the gym, we pack our salad for lunch, we come home energised and eat air pie and breeze pudding (ok maybe we eat another salad) and feel great! “I’m gonna do this (this time)!” we shout to all who’ll listen. Day 2 is a repeat of Day 1. Yippee! Day 5: Let’s skip the gym today. I’ve been good all week. And I’m totally going to have a slice of cheesecake today. Let’s call it a cheat day plus I’m sooo worth it. Two months later the scale hasn’t budged, your friends and family are gently teasing you about the grand announcements you made about turning your life around with weight loss and deep down you feel like a miserable failure even if you never say it aloud, and your self-esteem takes a battering. You’ve failed. Again. You’ll be fat forever. You’re weak. You’re greedy. You’re not disciplined enough. You lack willpower. Those are the LIES seeking to condemn you to an unhappy state. Continue reading Don’t Sabotage Your Keto Journey by Too Many Changes All at Once.
…Working my core
…Working my Core
Well school’s out. I live for times like these. Nope. I’m no longer in school (well, sorta, does online study count J?) but I have 2 that still are. When school in Jamaica is out, my normal 1 ½ hour commute becomes a 40 minute one. Can I get an Amen? This allows me lie in bed a little later. I normally rise at 4:30 to exercise. This morning my alarm went off at 6:00. I had put out my work out clothes from last night (cause you know that if I don’t do that, I have another excuse NOT to get up and work my butt) and I had already determined that I was gonna do the Pilates routine…such a great workout! My core gets tested, my spine lengthens and I’m left feeling all supple and energised. I really, really enjoy Pilates…once I get into it J. So anyways, the alarm went off. I promptly turned on my lamp and reached for my kindle. LOL! So much for putting out the work out clothes from the night before. I’m decisive, if nothing else. And in a split second I deferred my work out from this morning to tomorrow morning. Not an ounce of guilt. And I sank with pleasure back into my pillow, pulled the comforter higher (it’s deliciously chilly in my neck of the woods now) and proceeded to pick up where I had left off the night before. I’m in the middle of “Love..From Both Sides” by Nick Spalding. I’m starting to chuckle as I type. Here’s one review from Amazon:
‘Absolutely hilarious. Seriously, I’d warn you not to read it in public as people will look at you strangely as you attempt to do that supressed belly laugh thing that makes you look demented. Anyone who’s ever had a cringeful date that’s ended in humiliation (that’s pretty much all of us, then!) will heart this.’
Listen to me…my core may not have been tested by Pilates, but five minutes in, my core was certainly contracted as I convulsed in laughter. I struggled to maintain control in deference to my sleeping husband. But the tears streamed, the core contracted and I had to rise quickly from the bed and head to the kitchen, where I grabbed on to the counter and had a good belly laugh!!!
Breakfast completed, coffee had (sweetened with organic coconut sugar- delish! –that’s another blog post though) I retreated to complete my ablutions. I will spare you the gory details, but once again, my core contracted as I sat on the throne reading more of Mr. Spalding’s work, trying desperately to control my laughter since I was the only one in the house up at that hour. It was an exercise in futility. After a couple minutes of trying to stifle my laughter and control my core contractions, I gave up. I put down the kindle and let it rip…the laughter that is. I threw my head back and I roared. I let the tears roll. I snorted. I screeched. I moaned. I roared some more. The laughter throttled down. I wiped my eyes and then it began all over again. This went on for some time. I was indeed working my core! That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!
Be warned: the book has in some “language” and “explicit scenes”. If it were a movie, it would be rated A18