It's OK to really, really, really Like Eating. Really.

I'm dieting right now.

I've still got 16 weeks left to get to my goal, but I am currently eating deficit calories.

How am I going to maintain self control?  Motivation?  Compliance?

First of all, I'm not going to rely on willpower, but I am going to rely on the habits and routines I've been creating, but in order to successfully diet for 16 more weeks, I'm going to have something to look forward to everyday.

Every.  Damn.  Day.

If I pack my meals for the day, and I already know I've packed a bunch of crap I hate, I'm going to be a miserable b*tch while I'm dieting, and more than likely, I'm going to fail.

Food is a 'uuuuuuuuuge part of my life.  Like, I love food.  So much.

If I can't know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there's at least one thing delicious waiting for me to eat, everyday, then I am sad, and grouchy AF, and likely plotting my next donut binge...

So, what I've learned counting macros, is that I can work loads of yummy things into my day, and I must plan something chocolate-y.  It's a necessity.

I am currently sitting at a weight that I have been a handful of times in my life, but never, ever lower.  As in, the last time my scale was lower than this, my age was likely a single digit.  I'm one month in, a little under 7lbs down, and so freakin' excited to see what my bod looks like underneath the 15-20lbs I'm going to lose!  (I do plan to put back on some weight, in case you were concerned!  Lol!)

I have booked a photographer.  A great one.  She is mainly a family photographer, however I've seen what she can do, and I'm so confident in her abilities, as well as in the insight of my coach, that I have complete faith that this goal will become a reality that I will treasure forever!

So back to the food part, because, really, food is important.  Paramount, even.  I track my food every evening.  In my most successful times, I wake up, and already know what I'm making myself for breakfast.  There are no surprises.  I simply pack, and eat what I've decided upon the night before.  It has been one of the most empowering tools I've acquired, and considering I'm on my damn phone a lot anyways, it takes no more than 5 minutes to open up my app, plug in my choices, and then tweak them to fit my macros.  The first thing I track?  My non-negotiable.  Currently?  Protein pudding topped with crushed cookies.  It's so stinkin' good, and packs a protein punch!  I've learned that a small amount of yogurt can absorb a huge scoop of protein powder, and also that just three chips a'hoy thins can turn it into a dessert.  Tracked.  First.  Every evening.

If you're trying to shred down a few or a whole lotta' lbs, then please know that you should not eat food you don't want to eat.  Life is too short for that.  Figure out what you like and either find healthier options or make your portions smaller - I typically use a combination of these two tactics!  Bump up your meals with some veggies, maybe, or don't, if you hate them!  Bottom line, don't suffer.  You can absolutely lose weight while eating things you're looking forward to.  If you're feeling lost?  Looking for a better plan, where you can eat things you enjoy?  I'm not your gal...but this gal is! ↓↓↓

http://www.motivateandbfit.com/

18 For the Second Time

I celebrated 18 for the second time around in June.

I was 18, 18 years ago.

It felt like a minute between the first and second, even though the first seemed to take for-EV-er.  I couldn't wait to turn 18, so I could buy my own stuff, do whatever I wanted, get my own apartment...what a friggin' scam that was, amiright?!?!

I remember being around 16 or 17 and, before the world wide web was a thing, I'd written and mailed letters to the University of Calgary and Alberta, asking for information on their medicine programs.  I wanted to be a doctor, and I was so excited about the prospects of my future, that I was asking for pamphlets and letters about the schooling I thought I would embark upon.  When my packages came in the mail, I read and re-read them, cover to cover.  The idea that I could be, do, any damn thing I wanted was so scary and so thrilling, all at once!

I reflected on my birthday about what I've accomplished since I first turned 18.
I did not end up at medical school.  Could I have?  Maybe, maybe not.  Instead, I found Medical Laboratory Science, and four years after I graduated from high school, I had a University of Alberta undergrad degree, a career, in Abbotsford, BC and drove a brand new, black Toyota Corolla, and my Dad drove from Fort McMurray to the Fraser Valley approximately 26 times in a span of only 10 months...thanks again Dad (and Mom!).  Since those first 10 months post-University, when I was truly on my own, though I needed many bail-outs while living out by the coast, I've maintained my career.  I've landed a really good guy, and we've made three awe-inspiring, sometimes smack-yourself-up-the-head frustrating little people.  We've been through some sh*t, we're still here, and at 18, I never, never could have known that my marriage would be one of my greatest accomplishments.

While in grade school, I was more academic than athletic.  I didn't have to try very hard to achieve my grades.  I did have to try hard to make sports teams, and I did have to try hard to stay around 150lbs.  At 18, I felt like my whole life was waiting, ready for me to just make all the right choices and then live happily ever after.  I remember considering, deeply, applying for a pharmacy degree.  That meant five years of school, instead of four.  No damn way, I thought!  Four is enough!  Lol!  How foolish was I, that one more year seemed like an infinity more!  I did make the right choice, though, and 14 years later, I still love what I do.  I now know that my career accounts for very little, though at the time I thought it would be what defined me.  Choosing what to do in University felt daunting and urgent, like a wrong choice at this fork in the road could spiral me into eternal failure.  It didn't, and wouldn't, but we don't know these things as youth, and it's probably for good reason.

I think about the fact that a lot people turned 36 this year, and about how many of them might still be waiting for the good stuff to get going, or maybe they've found themselves somewhere they never thought they'd be, or perhaps they're sad that they haven't done what they thought they would.  The ones who aren't too impressed with 36.

I know I'm not the only one who is looking back on these years proudly, with a big a*s smile and a serious sense of accomplishment.  I could never have known that I'd be here.  That I would've done what I've done, and been so crazy proud of myself, yet still dreaming and digging deep for more, for better things for myself.  I certainly didn't wake up the day after my 18th birthday and slap my hands together with a, "LET'S DO THIS!".  I can't say I didn't make mistakes, but I can say that I did my damnedest to learn and grow from the setbacks I encountered.  I'm still making mistakes, and gaining confidence that I can be better, stronger.

Health and longevity has become such a huge part of my life, and although creating tiny humans wasn't a dream of mine when I was but a young 18 year old, it has been such a pleasure being a Mom, and teaching my kids how to care for their bodies so that they themselves get to 36 and feel a whole lotta' hell yea, I'm killing this life thing!

I don't ever want my limiting factor to be my age, or my own body.  I see patients everyday who are imprisoned in their bodies.  They are just waiting.  To see the doctor, for their ailments to, maybe, clear up, for things to be better.  People, who almost joyfully, talk about their conditions, and diseases.  Or how they take a mitt-full of medicine four times a day.  This is not how I want the next 18, or even the 18 after that, to be like.  I've worked hard to have this life, and my intention is to continue to work hard so I can always feel good about where my life has gone.  Life is short, and it feels like as soon as we realize just how short, we're already living on the back half.

I'm doing 18 for the second time, and I'm confident that these next years might even have greater things in store for me.  Not by luck, or by chance, but because I will make the choices and put in the work, so I can reap the benefits.  I'll also be 54 in 18 more years, soooooooooo...