Monthly Archives: November 2014

How not to freak out about losing workout routine while injured or sick

How not to freak out about losing workout routine while injured or sick

Emotional issues after weight loss, Motivation to stay fit, , ,

It happens if you workout regularly: sometimes you get injured or sick and you can’t do your workout routine like you planned. Your control freak mind gets stressed instantly by screaming at you one of the following two sentences when you are injured or sick:

Freak out #1: Oh my god, I’m gonna get fat if I don’t workout!

How not to freak out about losing workout routine while injured or sick
For calculating your TDEE you will need a pen, a notebook, a measuring tape and a tomato. The tomato is crucial, trust me.

Don’t worry, I have good news for you: you can avoid weight gain even if you can’t work out because you got injured or sick. It’s all just math: if you eat enough calories to maintain your weight, you won’t get fat nor lose weight if you are injured or sick. When you work out, the formula is different: you can eat more calories and burn the excess with working out. Now, if you haven’t already figured out how much calories you need to eat in order to maintain your weight, you can do it by heading to a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) calculator here. It will help you figure out how much calories you will need to eat while injured or sick.

There, we addressed your biggest fear of not working out when injured or sick.

So what’s the second fear of not working out when injured or sick?

Freak out #2: But I will lose my fit form, if I don’t work out!

The most important thing you need to know is: you injured yourself or got sick because your body is sending you a message!

How not to freak out about losing workout routine while injured or sickGetting injured while working out means that you haven’t payed enough attention to your workout and you were pushing yourself harder than you should have. So the last thing you need to do is making the injury worse by further pushing yourself. Take a few days off of your workout routine, so that you can access the damage.

If it’s an injury that takes longer to heal, then after a few days you can start coming up with a plan to work around your injury or sickness. This means that if you’ve hurt your ankle, you can try to come up with exercises that will not require your ankle: build your upper body, use hand weights! Modify your workout routine to fit your current state. You can always find an activity that will get your heart rate up and keep your blood flowing.

However, I highly recommend that you just use this time of being injured or sick to rest and recover. Sometimes we all need a little break. Remember:

Working out is not a destination. It is a way of life. [Tweet this!]

Get back to your workout routine slowly, with time.

How not to freak out about losing workout routine while injured or sickDon’t worry, you can take time off your workout routine while injured or sick, and still be able to maintain your form.  No matter how much muscle or strength you lose while laying in your bed injured or sick, you will gain it back much faster than it took you to gain it at the first place. This is just one of the reasons why lifting weights is awesome. It has long-lasting effects on your muscles. Thumbs up for muscle memory! It is an awesome thing!

In fact, just relax, don’t worry too much about missing a few workouts, because it’s not a big deal. Just think about how awesome you are for making a lifestyle change and sticking with it! The fact that your brain wants to workout even when you are injured or sick shows your dedication and commitment! Just think about all the awesome things you’ve accomplished so far!  You are truly awesome! Everything is awesome! Even the Lego figures agree on that one:

 Need even more support in your healthy life journey? Click here to get free access to more useful tips>>>

anorexia vs phantom fat distorted body image

Distorted body image: anorexia vs. phantom fat

Body image problems, Emotional issues after weight loss, , , ,

Not being able to see your fit body image after weight loss and still seeing the fat body or as we are starting to refer it as “phantom fat” is not anorexia.

anorexia vs phantom fat distorted body image
[Image courtesy of marin at FreeDigitalPhotos.net]

Anorexia is basically an eating disorder while being obsessed with having a thin body, and an irrational fear of gaining weight. The person who has anorexia has a distorted body image of themselves.

After significant weight loss there is this condition referred to as phantom fat. Phantom fat is when a person after a significant weight loss is unable to see their new fit body. All they see is their old fat body image, and not the new fit body staring back at them from the mirror. Although phantom fat is not an acknowledged mental condition, it is clearly a temporary mental disorder that needs to get more attention.

Phantom fat or not being able to see your fit body after weight loss is a temporary mental disorder that needs to be addressed. [Tweet this!]

Anorexia is usually coupled with a distorted body image that changes how the person perceives and thinks about their own body. A person with anorexia sees themselves as overweight when in reality they are being underweight.

Being unable to see your fit body after significant weight loss is also due to a distorted body image that a person has of their body after weight loss. However, a person with phantom fat see himself or herself as overweight when in reality they are being in the normal weight range. Or in case we are talking about weight loss while being obese, phantom fat will result still seeing oneself as obese when in reality one will be overweight. 4 steps to healthy life mindset even if you are lazy

It comes as no surprise that phantom fat is not considered yet a mental disorder, while anorexia is accepted as a serious illness. Think about this: we haven’t really accepted the fact that carrying around excess weight to the point of being obese and overweight are not just usual conditions but serious health issues that need to be addressed.

How can you tell if you have anorexia or you are experiencing phantom fat after weight loss?

Here is a quick comparison on how to tell anorexia and phantom fat apart:

[table caption=”Characteristics of anorexia vs phantom fat” width=”400″ colwidth=”200|200″ colalign=”left|left”]
Anorexia,Phantom phat
Eating disorder,Temporary mental disorder
Distorted body image,Distorted body image
Obsessed with having a thin body,Obsessed with having a fit body
See own body as overweight when in reality body is underweight,See own body as overweight when in reality body is normal weight
[/table]

If you think that you or someone you know has anorexia, don’t be afraid to talk to someone about it. Get help, because anorexia is a serious condition that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Don’t confuse seeing yourself fat while being fit for having anorexia. Please, educate people around you that looking fit now while being overweight for a long period of time before that does not mean that you have anorexia. Struggling with accepting your new fit body image after significant weight loss is not what having anorexia is like.

Do you think that you are experiencing phantom fat after significant weight loss? Click here to find out in a few easy steps if you are suffering from phantom fat >>>

4 steps to healthy life mindset even if you are lazy

4 steps to healthy life mindset even if You are lazy

Motivation to stay fit, , ,

4 steps to healthy life mindset even if you are lazyThe healthy life mindset I had developed while losing weight has made me achieve a mindful and healthy life. And this healthy life mindset continues to make healthy changes to my life and changing for the healthier not only my body but my mind as well.

Identifying Your bad habits

The healthy life mindset raised my awareness: I became more aware of my bad habits that were not beneficial to my health and I worked hard in changing them. First it started with the bad habit of eating lots of processed and junk food, unhealthy snacks, lazy lifestyle, being used to not take seriously my body’s needs, spending free time in front of a computer browsing Facebook, watching stupid shows I didn’t even wanted to watch.

4 steps to healthy life mindset even if you are lazy
My number one bad habit on the left. Number two bad habit on the right.

In order to start my weight loss journey, I had to identify these bad habits and then address them one by one: choosing healthy foods for my main meals, cutting back on snacks and supplement chocolate and cake with fruits, seeds and nuts, start walking to work and choose the stairs instead of the elevator, paying attention to drinking enough water, developing outdoor interests, choose meditation to clear my mind of work induced stress instead of the brainless TV watching, changing my priorities and daily schedule in order to fit in going to the gym or to a zumba or yoga class on weekdays.

Healthy life is just a romantic idea in Your mind

My goal was clear: I wanted to lose weight in a healthy way – and I was prepared to make drastic changes in my lifestyle in order to achieve that. Looking back it wasn’t only my lifestyle that changed; the healthy lifestyle changed my view of the world, my priorities in life, and even my always panicking and stressed out mind changed for the better.

While being overweight I knew what I had to do in order to change my body and I knew I had to develop a healthy life, but I wouldn’t take even the first necessary steps towards a healthy life.

While being fat, living a healthy life was just a romantic idea in my head that I could achieve anytime I wanted to. [Tweet this!]

I know exactly how I can get a healthy life and fit body, I know I have what it takes to do it, it’s just that I don’t want healthy life right now. I figured I have time, I will do it one day.

The push you need if You are a lazy sloth

4 steps to healthy life mindset even if you are lazy
Here is a cute puppy acting like a lazy sloth.

The one thing that made all the difference and what pushed me, a fat lazy sloth over to take steps is when I realized that I am in my 30’s and maybe I’ve spent half of my life(!) in this limbo of “Oh, I can get fit, I just choose not to” mindset, and not only will it be harder to get fit as I age, but I already had health problems emerging related to being overweight and living a sedentary lifestyle that I wasn’t even aware of, and accepted as a necessary evil. I watched my aging overweight parents struggle with serious health issues because of an unhealthy life we all lived.

I just suffered a heart wrecking break up, and was after a relationship that I thought was going to last forever – we girls tend to believe this when we are in love and the guy has at least two good qualities. So becoming single in my 30’s when everyone around me is either getting married or having a kid is life slapping me across my face shouting:

“Wake up princess! Time to get fit!”

I figured if I’m lucky I’ll be near my 40’s when I have my first kid, and the kid will be forced to watch me deal with serious health issues because of my unhealthy lifestyle. Well, this scared the sh*t out of me, and I was ready to do anything in order to provide my future child a worry free childhood without making him watch me suffer because of my unhealthy lifestyle choices. I don’t want my future kid to be forced to watch me struggle like I am forced to watch my parents struggle with their health.

If you didn’t get a similar slap from life yet that gets you  want to improve your life for the better and start living a healthy life, then keep reading carefully.

4 steps to healthy life mindset

Steps on how to develop the healthy life mindset – even if you are a lazy sloth:

1. Set clear goals

Setting a clear goal is important because it is crucial for long term success. If you are anything like me, you hate setting goals for yourself, because it seems hard to come up with a realistic goal that is not impossible to achieve, yet it isn’t too easy too. But you need goals because they will help you stay focused, motivated and they will also allow you to manage your time efficiently. Your goal needs to be clear, measurable, and you will need to add a time frame for it.

Have one goal for short term, and one for long term.

My short term goal WAS that I wanted to lose weight for my  future wedding in order to look good in the wedding dress; my long term goal IS that I want to live a healthy life.

2. Find motivation to make the first step towards your goal

My motivation was fear, because I was being freaked out by the fact that my children will have to watch me struggle with health issues and they will not be able to do anything about it, just like I am unable to help my parents with their health issues because of their, our unhealthy lifestyle.

Of course you can make your motivation other than the fear of dying too young, just make sure to think of a motivation that you need in order to make the first step towards reaching your goal set in step 1.

3. Make it a habit

Making your routine a habit is an important part of the healthy life mindset. You can achieve great things slowly, step by step – the only way to ensure that this happens is to make it a habit.

You can make it a habit just like I did: by replacing your existing bad habits one by one with new healthy ones. Or you could develop a new healthy habit for yourself.

The secret is to stick with it.

4. Continue and repeat

Repeat steps 1-3 until your results are met. Easy!

Need more emotional support in your healthy life journey? Click here to get free access to more useful tips>>>

Accept new fit body with creating your fall 2014 wardrobe

Body image problems, , , , , ,

Becoming fit has left me with lots of big clothes that were filling up my wardrobe space. In the fall of 2014, I decided that it was time for purging my old wardrobe. I wanted to create my fall 2014 wardrobe that I will love and that will be functional to fulfill my wardrobe needs. After getting rid of clothes either by putting them in bags and taking them out of my wardrobe to storage or donating them, and repeating this for 2 or 3 times, I was still left with lots of fall clothes in my wardrobe that were taking up the space in my wardrobe but I did not wear them for some reason.

Yet when I needed to dress up for a night out, for a serious business meeting at work, or just for walking my dog, I felt like I have nothing to wear. It was time to change all that.

How to start creating your fall 2014 wardrobe

Luckily I came across a minimalist fashion blog that had a simple and usable guide on how to build yourself a capsule wardrobe. It took me a whole weekend to identify my clothing needs that fit my weekly activities and to purge all the unnecessary clothes from my wardrobe. It took me weeks to get the missing items for my wardrobe I have identified that I needed in my closet but I did not own or were too big or worn out to keep on wearing.

Five steps of creating your fall 2014 wardrobe:

Accept new fit body with creating your fall 2014 wardrobe
How to create your fall 2014 wardrobe

Get a look of my fall 2014 wardrobe

For the first time in my life I managed to clean out my closet and build a fall 2014  wardrobe for myself that I am happy with. My fall 2014 wardrobe consists only of clothes that I absolutely love to wear and I feel good in. It has 37 pieces of clothing, that fit into my wardrobe perfectly.

My happy little 37 piece fall 2014 wardrobe:

Fall 2014 capsule wardrobe

What to look out for while creating your fall 2014 wardrobe if you are still losing fat?

I am a girl who is into fashion – and by being into fashion I mean that I am following a lot of fashion blogs and watching the celebrities on red carpet and their everyday street styles. When I was overweight, I was looking at stylish pictures of girls wishing I could pull off their outfits with my fat body without looking like a beach ball. So naturally I thought that if I ever lose weight, I will be as stylish and beautiful as the models and fashion bloggers are. Well, turns out that losing weight and changing your body from fat to fit does not make you a stylish fashion icon.

During my weight loss journey my clothes on me looked crappy: being unaware of the fact that my body changed and was becoming more and more fit instead of fat, I was still wearing my old fat clothes. My wardrobe was full of clothes (even my casual business office outfits) hanging lose and folding unflattering on me. For the first time in my life I regularly started using belts regularly for my pants that were being baggy. But the weigh loss continued and my clothes were becoming bigger and bigger, and my family was the first who started to point out that I needed a new wardrobe. I was happy that I can finally shop for new clothes, and wanted to get all the latest trends.

Continuing with becoming fitter and fitter my clothing size went smaller and smaller. I had to shop frequently, plus I enjoyed that I can buy clothes that are a smaller size. I ended up wearing clothes for 2-3 weeks before they’ve become too big. Tailoring my big clothes wasn’t an option for me, because I don’t have a tailor I trust and the few clothing items I took to a tailor to fix were a disaster and I ended up not wearing them. Plus, you should not force your new fit body into old fat clothes!

Trying on new clothes while out shopping will help you to see your new fit body if you are suffering from phantom fat and you don’t see your weight loss on your body in the mirror.

I learned that only stretchy clothes fit my changed body, so I started to shop smarter for my wardrobe, knowing that in 2 weeks my body will change.

My advice to you while being in the losing weight phase is to search for stretchy clothes – you’ll be able to get more wears out of them that way. [Tweet this!]

Benefits of having a fall 2014 wardrobe

My fall 2014 wardrobe has 37 pieces of clothing, that fit into my wardrobe perfectly. I have more space in my closet than ever before! I can see all of my clothes, which makes matching items and putting together outfits easy and fast – I can put on a perfectly polished outfit for office in the morning in less than 3 minutes!

I wash and iron clothes more frequently but it takes up less of my time. I don’t know how this is even possible, but washing and ironing takes less time than it used to.

Believe it or not, there are no drawbacks of having a 37 piece fall 2014 wardrobe, and I have no idea why I haven’t come up with a capsule wardrobe before. I thought it is much work and fuss to put together a wardrobe and I wasn’t sure I would be able to pull it off. It took a bit of planning, a lot of thinking, but it made me more aware of my lifestyle and habits.

Building a fall 2014 wardrobe was not only a cleaning of my wardrobe and my old fat clothes, but unintentionally it was also a big cleaning of my thoughts and I got rid not only of my old big clothes, but of my old fat self body image as well.

Got inspired to build your own wardrobe? Check out my fall 2014 wardrobe for inspiration! Click here>>>

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