TRAVEL BLOG

I was reading my daily devotion today on the subject of intentions. I was immediately drawn to the title and felt it was speaking to me personally. Can you relate? We all have good intentions, dream about fulfilling them, but somehow they get pushed aside and forgotten. Well, not really forgotten, because they continue to dance across the pages of our thoughts. At least this is the case for me. Are you guilty of not following through on good intentions to make something happen? Starting that fitness program or promise to eat healthier ? As I read further, I understood the importance of  writing down the intentions, to begin a plan and follow through with action. Moving from intention to action takes a plan. This applies in most everything in life from painting the house, spending more time with family, to adopting a healthy lifestyle . It's really staying true to taking care of the important things in life. What has helped me is setting up challenge systems where I complete three g

The scale game starts as innocent accountability for weight loss and turns into a game of just how much we can get away with cheating on our program.   Who is guilty? The scenario typically looks like this... The fitness program is going great and the weight is coming off at a healthy rate. Suddenly, we begin validating food rewards for a job well done well above what's considered moderation.  We challenge the scale to see how far we can push those numbers because we think there's leeway.  Besides, we're doing such a great job and deserve a weekend of pizza, beer, and pastries, right? Wrong. This is a risky gamble and not a definition of living a healthy lifestyle .  The purpose of obtaining a healthy weight is not to yo-yo back and forth. It means taking our health seriously and maintaining the lifestyle.   If the scale gets in the way of that, it's time to toss it, especially when the 'scale game' derails our health and fitness goals. Relying on the mirror and

What do I mean by looking like myself?   Well, I have certain genetics and a lifestyle contributing to what I look like. I'm not supposed to look like anyone else including other fitness women in magazines. Back in my competitive days, I do admit to more than admiring fitness competitors and felt I needed to look like them to win. I struggled with my body not responding the same way as another competitor. It was an unrealistic way of thinking . The girls in the magazines don't even look like the girls in the magazine. Straight up the fitness truth. I'm so happy to have learned through that insecure journey. I have come full circle with knowledge, age, and wisdom.   I embrace who I am and what I look like. I strive to be my best me and not anyone else.   It would be such a stressful life to constantly compare myself to all the beautiful women out there. Life is too short to think unrealistic thoughts or goals. Did you know all images in magazines are photoshopped? The pi

I absolutely love organic peanut butter and eat it almost daily. I'm even guilty of eating a tablespoon straight from the jar. Peanut butter just so happens to be one of the best sports nutrition superfoods. It's a rich source of healthy fat and quality plant protein. Did I mention it tastes amazing! I can be very creative with peanut butter adding it to oatmeal or mixing with protein powder. Eating healthy fats like peanut butter is one of the ways I obtain essential nutrients that maintain my fitness. Did you know good fats help boost your metabolism to more effectively burn body fat? Unfortunately eating fat has received lots of bad press and blamed for making us fat. Not true. There's a difference between fats that help keep us healthy and fats contributing to being unhealthy. Compare a donut to a handful of raw nuts for example. Healthy fats like peanut butter and other nut butter are shown to promote good health. Another thing to keep in mind when enjoying peanut bu

Keeping a food journal can be your best friend and accountability partner when learning how to implement a healthy nutrition program.  It can also feel like a burden depending on your commitment level.  I have heard it all when it comes to food journals and the love/hate relationship caused when keeping track of every morsel. The problem is really not the food journal, but the issue of not wanting to be honest with ourselves.  W hen life is going great and our program is on track, we gladly write down every healthy bite and proudly share eating habits producing positive results.   On the other side of the spectrum is feeling guilty eating off track and not wanting to write it down. We even convince ourselves somehow not writing it down means it didn't really happen. We tend to have moments of forgetfulness when we stop being mindful of our eating behavior.  The truth is regardless of what we want to include in our food journal, our body keeps an accurate record. You can run but