Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Social Eating: How Do We Fight It?

When you follow this kind of lifestyle you quickly learn where your pitfalls are. I don't struggle bringing home ice-cream, and when I go shopping I only buy things that fit my diet. But my pitfall is social eating. I have friends, and we all love food, and we all love eating together. So we go out, we order pizza, we make cookies...etc.. And there seems to be no way to avoid it. Especially now that we're at the end of the semester it's easy to justify binging on sugar and sweets to "combat stress". Even though I know full well that the sugar and white flour makes me more stressed.


So how can we fight it? Here are a couple things that I've come up with:
  • Eat your food with them! 
    • Have an cooking party! I was with a friend of mine and we were talking about our latest binge (baking cookies for a bake sale...with plenty left over and pizza to balance it all out). She looked over a me and said "I love cooking together, but lets do something a little healthier next time." So we're starting to cook actual meals together. Let them know that your food is yummy! Let them into your world.  
  • Share your goals.
    • Let people know what you're aiming for. They tend to be more supportive if you ask for help and support. Make it a team effort, and let them share your victories with you (just try not to celebrate with ice cream). I've learned that I need to be careful about how I talk about my diet, because I don't want to be preachy. But I'm learning that this change is hard if you're too antisocial. Look for help and support, and be willing to accept it. 
  • Leave if you have to.
    • Now nobody wants to be this person...but sometimes it's necessary. If you can't say no, and you've said hi to who you need to say hi to, get out of dodge! It's not always the funnest of options, but then again, being sick isn't a fun option either. So if it's worth it to you, then excuse yourself and go somewhere where you won't be tempted. 
Just a reminder: if you slip up, don't worry about it. This is something that takes adjusting to, and takes a lot of trial and error. Dr. Fuhrman has a 90-10 rule, where 90% of what you eat is healthy, and 10% can be whatever. So a little slip up every now and again isn't going to destroy anything, and having a planned day where you can eat your favorite binge foods if alright, just keep it to that assigned day or time. Because it's when we start losing control of what we eat that we get in trouble. 

These are things that I've done, but what have you found to be helpful? I'd love to hear your ideas!

-Shayla

SLENDER

Monday, March 30, 2015

Motivational Monday

Motivational Monday: Because it doesn't have to be the hardest day of the week.


I'm enjoying today, I really am. Last week I ran 2 miles in 26 minutes which is my fastest time, and then when we did our bake sale for class this past week we reached our goal of $200. That felt really good. We had to work super hard, but it all went well. :)

If I've learned anything, it's that you win a lot more often when you keep on trying. I'm so grateful for the help of those people in my life who have inspired me to keep working at it.

I hope your Monday is a fabulous one!

-Shayla

SLENDER

Monday, March 23, 2015

Motivational Monday


Who says geeks can't be fit? This is enough motivation for me to run any day. :)


Whoot!! Today has been fabulous! Why do you ask? Many little victories for a morning when I don't have to go anywhere.

  • I was out of bed before 10 a.m. (9:30 to be precise)
  • I exercised for an hour with 40 minutes of cardio! 
  • My laundry is in the dryer
  • I'm set for the bake sale this weekend
  • And I've found a fabulous recipe for a chocolate fruit dip that I think is my new favorite dessert!
Overall, a very productive day so far.

-Shayla

SLENDER

Sunday, March 22, 2015

I'll Never Go Back

I've been struggling on and off the past couple weeks as I've been trying to learn how to deal with stress in school. It's hard sometimes, working through the late night studies, trying to stay awake and fighting food cravings at the same time. Often I don't succeed and then I get grumpy and a little depressed about not being "strong".

But then Thursday after a particularly hard fall in my eating goals, it hit me. Even though I wasn't doing so well now, I was still light-years ahead of the way of life that I followed even six months ago. That compared to then, my failures now are few and little. Then it hit me: I've weighed 193 pounds. I will never weigh that much again. I've weighed 175 pounds. Never again. And I am bound and determined that by the end of April I'll say "I've weighed 165 pounds. Never again."

Every pound I lose, every ice cream I don't eat, every time I try to be true to helping my body be healthy, I win. Gaining ground is rough, but so is gaining weight. I'd rather gain ground. And it's all worth it, because I've promised myself that I'll never go back. Not ever.


You got this folks!

-Shayla

SLENDER

Friday, March 20, 2015

Warmer Weather

Well folks it's a beautiful time to be in Rexburg Idaho...it's almost 60 degrees, the sun is out and everyone is running! It's so much fun to see all these people getting out and exercising. It's pretty inspiring to me.

I'm always like:

Other Runners:                                                           Me:


Every time I see somebody running up the hill to the temple I mentally think: You can do this! Whoot! Go! I know what it's like to be that runner, and as someone who generally sticks to treadmills, kudos out to all those who make the effort to go brave the bumps campus has to offer.

So remember. There are times when you're out there running and you feel like everyone is watching you...and then you feel super self-conscious because you're sweaty and gross, and just a little too aware about the sweat-lines. But more often than not, people see you and are cheering you on! They know it's hard, and they're impressed that you're doing it. No judging.

Good work exercisers! Keep working, and just because you have a slow day, that doesn't mean you have to give up on the rest of the week!

-Shayla

SLENDER



Monday, March 16, 2015

Motivational Monday

So when we talk about being healthy and getting in shape there's always a lot of emphasis on the importance of exercising and eating healthily. Now these are key elements, don't get me wrong, but it's also important to be happy. When you're happy it's easier to work out, it's easier to take care of yourself. 

Something I love doing is singing, and last night I went with a couple friends and we sang Peter, Paul and Mary songs for hours....my geek heart was content. It's the next morning but I still feel happy because of it, and even though I have a ton I need to do today, I feel like I can do it!

So keep plugging on with whatever makes you happy. If it's music, sing it! If it's a book, read it! If  it's running, pound it out! We can't let our crazy lives rob us of the simple things that makes life enjoyable. 

And now, for today's (mostly unrelated) Motivational Meme:


I don't know what it is, but this makes me laugh every time I see this...

Have a fabulous day folks!

-Shayla

SLENDER

Monday, March 9, 2015

Motivational Monday

So February was an interesting month...filled with homework, grandparent visiting and lifestyle-committing. I've been running, biking, riding an elliptical (ellipticizing?) and working on my goal to weigh 158lbs by the beginning of April. I feel like I'm on track to doing it! Today I got on the scale pre-breakfast/eating/drinking and found that I'm down to 163 lbs!! This means:

1. That I've lost 30 lbs in 9 months
2. I'm only 5 lbs away from reaching my goal! I'm almost there!

So needless to say, I'm feeling good on a Monday!




When I reach my goal I'm going outfit shopping.

-Shayla