Today I am hosting the Blogging While Brown Blog Carnival for January. I attended the Blogging While Brown conference last June and I learned so much from my peers! This month's theme is Health & Fitness. You guys know that I have a love for fitness, it is my place to escape all of the crazy. When my day is super stressful at work (or even at home) I go the gym, put on my Beats by Dre headphones and do some work until the magical endorphins appear. My weight issues have fluctuated from high to low but one thing that has always remained consistent is my daily determination to exercise. I started this blog years ago because I was pregnant and couldn't do what I LOVED to do (exercise like crazy) because of very painful sciatica. The blog then evolved into a message that showed moms, stay at home moms, working women, working women who were moms, that you can always find time for fitness. Always.
During the last sermon of the year, my pastor taught us the three things a man should have being the head of the family. As I thought about these three things, I realized that you need these three things to stay on track with your fitness journey as well.
1) Decisiveness: There may come a point where you are sick of how you look or how you eat. Nothing will happen in your journey until you make the decision to change. For example: I knew I have had issues with my eating for the past 2 years. When I came home from Blogalicious I saw myself in pictures and made the decision to change. Making that decision has changed my perspective but it has also made things that much harder because I can no longer do what I used to. But with the changes I have done more than I was able to in 3 months than I have in 2 years.
2) Consistency: Looking back at my journey, this was the one thing I struggled with the most. I really had a wondering eye when it came to diets. I saw what was working for one person so I tried it for a few weeks. Then I heard whispers at a conference about what worked for this person so I tried that. Then there are all of the diet trends that get thrown at you daily like Paleo, low carb, high carb, gluten-free, weight watchers, Jenny Craig, fat free, vegan, South beach--the list goes on. I wanted the best body possible so I was willing to try all of these things. If it didn't work after 2 weeks, I gave up and moved on. Now that I have been calorie counting consistently and logging my foods daily the major transformation has begun. There are certain days weeks where I flirt with trying a new program because I am frustrated with the slow progress but I know in the end consistency will get me through, and it will get you through as well.
3) Strength: this is a doosie when it comes to working out and weight-loss. There are so many days out of the week where is takes a ton of strength to even get out of the bed much less workout. It's about finding strength in the moments that you never would have even thought about before. For me it's the little things, saying no to my husband every night as he offers me anti diet foods to share with him. Saying no to the cookie barrage of the holidays. There are occasions where I still say YES but those are much fewer and far between. I find strength in saying no. It reinforces the journey that I am on. It takes a ton of strength to tell your friends that you have plans, to ignore the side eyes, to close your ears to the mocking giggles and the claims that you are "missing out". You need strength to make decisions and you need strength to stay consistent. Although I am deep in the daily grind of my during I know these three things will bring me through.
Whether you are looking to lose weight, start a new career, build a business--all three of these thing must be present to succeed. For the January Blogging While Brown Blog Carnival I am so happy to feature some fantastic Health & Fitness posts from some amazing bloggers:
- Lia from The Get Fit Diva shares her .
- Joi from Rx Fitness Lady talks about her new 90 Day Challenge Teems over at Baby Teems shares her Operation Snapback Get Started Workout.
- Kimberly over at Manifest Yourself discusses her personal Journey To Wellness.
- Valerie over at Live Fit Journey talks about her 2014 Fitness Goals.
- Cass over at Losing In The City breaks down why She is Choosing To Be Fearless In The New Year + A Giveaway
The carnival is still going strong! Join me as I host a twitter party on Tuesday, June 21st @ 7pm EST for a fun Twitter Chat on How To Stick To Your Health & Fitness Goals for the entire year not just January! Will you join me? I don't want to be tweeting by myself :) (Although I have definitely been known to do this!) Follow the hashtag #BWBFIT & follow me on Twitter to join the fun!
Do agree with these three qualities? Which one is most important to you? Will you join me in my twitter chat if even out of pity? :)
Registration for Blogging While Brown 2014 is now open. Join us in New York City June 27-28, 2014.
