Fitness: what you can do NOW!

A HUGE aspect of anti-aging is fitness. I have mentioned it before, but never gone into any detail. Over two years ago I had a little girl (my husband and I named her Bella). During my pregnancy I gained close to 80 pounds!!! Yes...80!!! I was eating EVERYTHING in sight! Haha!! Before I was pregnant I weighed around 130 and was a size 4-6. I am not that size now. :( People tell me all the time, "Well you look great, Michelle". That is nice and all, but I know where my healthy weight range is and I wish I could be closer to it right now. I know there are so many women (and men) that feel the same way. Some thoughts that a lot of people have are, "I wish I could lose that last 5 pounds", "I wish I could just tone up a little", or "Man...I really need to lose a lot of weight and get back to my healthy self again". Maybe you have never been as healthy as you would have liked. Everything that I put up on my blog are things you can do to better yourself and everything I advise you to do, I do myself. But in all reality, nobody wants to go to a dermatologist if that dermatologist has terrible skin. Nobody would go to a personal trainer if that personal trainer was obese. I wouldn't expect anyone to want to listen to what I have to say unless they see that I have good skin, nice hair, healthy body, etc. I am basically trying to help people with staying young and vital as long as possible and if I don't look young and vital, I am being...well...a hypocrite. Now...I do a lot of things right. I eat pretty well, and work out at least 30 minutes a day (usually an hour or so). I take my vitamins and I take care of my hair, skin, nails, etc. But I am NOT perfect. Nobody is. There is always room for improvement. Anyway...here is what I am getting at...

Fitness is huge. A lot of people struggle with it. A lot of people spend their whole lives trying to lose the weight they know they should. Heck...ever seen the biggest loser? Americans are getting bigger and bigger. It's really quite sad. People need to start caring more about their bodies and what they do to it. There are thousands of books out there about diets and fitness. Sure...there are tricks to losing weight but people think it is really complicated when its NOT. Here is the simplicity of it all: You need to be burning more than what you are putting in!!! Is that simple enough?

My sister was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease when she was 10 or so. She had to have monthly steroid infusions for this immune disorder and she ended up gaining a lot of weight from the steroids. After she was able to get off the steroids (thank the Lord), she was worried she wouldn't be able to lose the weight. She started counting calories, watching what she ate, and worked out for 30 min-1 hour a day. SHE LOOKS PHENOMENAL NOW!!!!! I mean...she always looked beautiful to me...but she looks AWESOME!!! All because she decided she didn't want this disease to take over her life. She wanted to look good and she made it happen! It may not have been really easy at first, but now...eating right is routine for her.

Here is what I am going to do. I told you earlier...I never really lost ALL of the baby weight I needed to. I am going to do it. I am going to start today and you can see for yourselves how easy it can be if you put your mind to it. Here is something to think about. Food is fuel. So many people think that food is there to eat as much of it as you can. Food should be greasy and sugary. Well...let me tell you...its not. Your body was not constructed to eat everything you look at. Your body doesn't need all of it! What your body needs is enough FUEL to get you through the day. Is is bad to enjoy a delicious piece of cake or a scoop of ice-cream every now and then...no. But don't make that your routine!

For the next few months (or until I lose all the weight I need to lose)...I am going to keep a journal of what I have been eating and when (and how long) I work out. I will take a before picture and an after picture and post them when I am finished with my goal. I want everyone out there to know that you can do this. Why not start now? Lets get to our health potential together!

I know I said I was going to have a vitamin and more ingredients...but I am going to post it tomorrow! It has been along week and I desperately need sleep. ;) And speaking of sleep...I am going to do a very important blog on sleep either next week or the week after. I am trying to decide if I should put the special interview up next week or the sleep blog. There is so much exciting stuff to come...so much for all of us to learn! With that said...goodnight! Until next time....

God Bless,

~Michelle~