Tag Archives: motivation

Bulletproof secrets to sticking with Your new year resolution

January 6, 2015Motivation to stay fitafter weight loss, healthy life mindset, motivation, no excuseChristina Marky

Coming up with a new year resolution is easy, and if you are anything like me, you’ve come up with tons of resolutions you’d like to make a reality in the new year. That is really nice, but what can guarantee that you’ll stick with your new year resolution in the long run and won’t drop it after a few weeks into the new year? I have the secret to sticking with your new year resolution right here, that I guarantee that will work:

Secret #1: Make it a habit

Making a new year resolution sets you up for failure if it is not based on observing your current habits. What you need to do is make behavioral changes. In order for you to stick with your new year resolution, you need to make it a habit. By taking up a new healthy habit or substituting an old, existing bad habit with a new healthy habit, you guarantee that you’ll stick with it in the long run. So instead of making new year resolutions, concentrate on developing healthy habits in the new year. There are 2 ways to do this:

Substitute a bad habit with a new, healthy habit
Take up a new healthy habit

It doesn’t matter whichever you choose; the important thing is to think of your new year resolution as a habit. This is key to making you stick to your new year resolution in the long run.

Secret #2: Take up one new healthy habit at a time

As a new year resolution, I started last year with a 30 day challenge of eating at least one fruit per day for 30 days. Seems easy, right? Well, it wasn’t! In order to keep up eating a fruit for 30 days, there were several issues I had to address, that I didn’t see coming. It seemed easy on the first week: I ate an orange, apple or a banana every day for 7 days. Then all the fruit I bought started going bad, because I bought a bunch of fruits that I couldn’t eat in a week. I ended up without fruit at the end of the first week. So I had to change my approach and buy smaller quantities of fruit. Then my appetite got better, and ended up eating more than one fruit per day, and again ended up without fruit at the end of the second week. After the 30 days were over, I figured that I like eating fruit, so I made this challenge a healthy habit and continued eating at least one fruit per day. On the next week, I forgot to buy fruit, because it still wasn’t a healthy habit for me to buy fruit during grocery shopping. Every time I had to write down exactly how much fruit I need to buy and which type during grocery shopping. It needed a lot of adjusting in order for me to develop a healthy habit out of my new year resolution. After 90 days into the new year I remember looking back and thinking about how challenging those past 3 months have been. But I stick to it, adjusted, and finally developed a healthy habit of eating one fruit per day. By making it a healthy habit, after a year, I still eat a fruit a day.

Now imagine yourself with 3 or more new year resolutions that you want to introduce in your life all at once. A simple thing as eating one fruit a day took me 3 months to shift into a healthy habit: I had a lot of adjusting to do until I came up with a right shopping plan that works for me and that doesn’t leave me with spoiled fruit or without fruit. I was ready to introduce a new healthy habit after that. Have I taken up 3 new habits at once, I guarantee I would have failed in all 3 of them in the long run. So figure out one new healthy habit, and when you see that you made it a habit and you can stick to it for more than a month, then move on to the next one.

Introducing 12 new healthy habits this year is quite an achievement, right? Way better than failing at 3 new healthy habits before the end of the first month.

Secret #3: Take it step by step – with small steps

Don’t make a new year resolution that is way too much of a challenge and needs you making huge changes in your life. You won’t be able to stick to any drastic measures in the long run. By making an surrealistic new year resolution, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Let’s say: You decide to lose weight by working out at the gym at least an hour a day 5 times a week while your current workout routine is going to a yoga class 2-3 times a month. It is guaranteed that you won’t be able to maintain that regimen longer than a week because of work and other responsibilities. You feel bad because you failed at the start, and you stuff a pizza, coke and delicious sweets into you face for the next month. You failed because you set yourself an unrealistic goal as a new year resolution. You can’t expect to go from working out once a week to working out 5 times a week. You need to make that shift gradually. First, make it at least 2 times per week to the gym or to that yoga class. Then, when it becomes a habit, raise the bar. Make it 3-4 times a week. You will need to overcome a lot of obstacles and figure out a workout schedule that works for you in a long run. Introducing new healthy habits is only possible if you do it with small steps.

Like these tips? Get more useful quick tips on how to motivate yourself towards a lifestyle full of healthy habits! Click here>>>

How to restart workout routine after winter holiday season

December 30, 2014Motivation to stay fitafter weight loss, healthy life mindset, motivationChristina Marky

Keeping up with a healthy diet and workout routine is impossible during the winter holiday season. The winter holiday season revolves around delicious food and stuffing it into your face. Devoting free time to be with family, visiting relatives or preparing for gatherings interrupts the usual workout routine schedule. If you are anything like me, not getting to workout regularly and eating healthy will drive you crazy. Yet it is really hard to get back on track once the winter holiday season is over. How could anyone expect you to not stuff the delicious leftover Christmas cookies into your face and go to the gym instead of curling up with a good book and hot cocoa?

Follow these 3 steps to help you restart your workout routine after the winter holiday season:

1. Weigh yourself

Poor eating choices during winter holiday season just happen. Every day of the winter holiday. Sweets, soft drinks, dessert, that one more plate of juicy steak. The pounds will just stack up on you secretly.

Look no further for motivation: weight yourself! During Christmas, I’ve put on 5 lbs / 2.5 kg in 2 days! Oh the horror!

I bet you’ll be running to the gym the moment you see those numbers on the scale moving up up up! It pissed me off so much that I’ve gained that much in such little time that I’ve immediately hit that Zumba Fitness class that evening and sweated like a donut at a police station!

2. Don’t think, just act!

Make the first small step: make it something easy. Don’t over think it, just do it. If it is that easy, you will not be able to say no in your head. Fill the water bottle. Put your dry fit t-shirt on under a sweater. Put on your winter coat, hat and boots! Go out the door. Head for the gym. Easy!

Once you make the firs step, you will feel more motivated to continue. Make it with small steps, one step at a time! You’ll get back on track in no time! Bye-bye winter holiday season pounds!

3. Track your calorie intake

Tracking calorie intake stops during the winter holiday season because it’s impossible to track all the delicious home made food prepared by family. Or you don’t want to track because you already feel bad for eating it and knowing it’s not a healthy choice. You don’t want to make yourself feel even worse about it when adding it to MyFitnessPal’s calorie counter. However, when you come to the point of regretting you poor meal choices after the winter holiday season, you will need to start to log your food again. Plus, if you eat the calories to maintain your weight, you won’t get fatter. Or just do what I did, and start eating at a caloric deficit, and lose those excess 5 lbs / 2.5 kg in 2 days.

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 need to eat to reach your goal weight.

Need even more support to get back on track with your fitness routine after the winter holiday season? Click here to get free access to more useful tips>>>

How to start a 30 day water challenge: the rules

December 16, 201430 day water challenge, Motivation to stay fit#noexcusewaterchallenge, healthy life mindset, Maria Kang, motivation, no excuse, water challengeChristina Marky

3 rules of the 30 day water challenge

Ready to start Your 30 day water challenge? Not sure how to get started? First thing first: let’s see what are the rules of the 30 day water challenge!

Rules of the 30 day water challenge seem simple: You should drink 1 gallon/3.7 liters of water a day for 30 days, no sweetened beverages nor alcohol are allowed for this period.

How to start the 30 day water challenge?

If you are serious about starting the 30 day water challenge, there certainly are more questions that will arise. Now let’s break down these simple steps of the 30 day water challenge one by one, and answer the big question:

1. Create a water drinking plan

If you are not much of a water drinker, then making yourself to drink 1 gallon/3.7 liters of water a day for 30 days will be tricky at the start. You will need to monitor your water intake, but eventually you will get used to drinking that amount of water. I suggest starting the 30 day water challenge by creating a water drinking plan for yourself to drink that 1 gallon/3.7 liter water a day. You can even have a weekday and weekend water drinking plan if your daily routine differs during the week. The trick is to create a water drinking plan for yourself that fits your lifestyle. The point of a water drinking plan is to plan the water drinking in advance – so you will be more likely to stick to it and meet your daily goal of water intake.

Creating a water drinking plan helps you develop a habit of regularly drinking water throughout the day. It is important if you are not used to drinking water.

Don’t drink all the water in once! In fact, you mustn’t drink more than 0.21 gallons/0.8 liter of water in an hour, because water poisoning is a real threat. You can prevent water poisoning if you distribute your water intake throughout the day.

Just be mindful of your water intake frequency: having a water drinking plan is a great way of achieving this.

2. Swap sweetened coffee, tea, soda, juices with pure water (or their unsweetened equivalent)

If you strictly follow the rules of the 30 day water challenge, then you shouldn’t drink sweetened soda/coffee/tea/juices nor alcohol at all. Swapping your sweetened drinks with pure water is great step towards a healthy lifestyle!

If you are finding this to be really strict, then start the 30 day water challenge by taking your coffee/tea without sugar, honey or artificial sweeteners. Swap soda and juices with water! Limit your alcohol intake to drinking 1 glass of vine or other alcohol 1-2 times per week as a treat.
[table caption=”Am I allowed to drink this during the 30 day water challenge?” width=”500″ colwidth=”20|100|50″ colalign=”left|left|center”]
Drink type,Allowed,Not allowed
Coffee,Yes if unsweetened,Sweetened coffee NOT allowed
Tea,Yes if unsweetened,Sweetened tea NOT allowed
Soda,Yes if soda water,Sweetened sodas NOT allowed
Juices,NOT allowed,NOT allowed
Milk,Yes if unsweetened,Sweetened milk NOT allowed
[/table]

3. Does water in my coffee/tea/soda/juice/soup count as water?

Drinks such as unsweetened coffee and unsweetened tea also count in into your water intake during the 30 day water challenge. You can also count the water in soups as well.

We agreed that you are going to drink water instead of juices and soda during the 30 day water challenge, so it is clear that water counts as water.

Soda is allowed only if it is soda water (sparkling water), a natural potable mineral water with high concentration of sodium bicarbonate, typically carbonated. Keep in mind, that flavored carbonated water contains sweeteners, so it is not allowed as a drink during the 30 day water challenge. You should stay away from any kind of soda beverages.

However, if you choose to treat yourself with that 1 glass of vine or other type of alcohol, don’t count them in your daily water intake.

If you’ve read this far, it means that you are ready to start your 30 day water challenge! If you have any reservations about drinking 1 gallon/3.7 liter water a day for 30 days, consult your doctor.

Need proof of the benefits of drinking more water? See my results of the 30 day water challenge>>>

Starting a 30 day water challenge? 4 alarming issues you need to address

December 9, 201430 day water challenge, Body image problems, Motivation to stay fit#noexcusewaterchallenge, body image problems, fit body, Maria Kang, motivation, water challengeChristina Marky

A lot of you asked about the 30 day water challenge I’ve completed, so here you will find answers from how much water should you drink during the water challenge to how often should you drink, as well as advice to 4 alarming issues you will come across during those 30 days.

If you are reading this, then it means that you are ready to start your 30 day water challenge and you need no more proof of the benefits of drinking more water. However, if you are still not convinced of the benefits, head over here to read about the results you could have after completing the 30 day water challenge>>>

The rules of the 30 day water challenge are simple: you drink 1 gallon/3.7 liters of water for 30 days. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But there are questions that will emerge after you start the 30 day water challenge – so let’s address them one by one:

1. How much water should I drink during the 30 day water challenge?

The starting rule is to daily drink 1 gallon/3.7 liters of water for 30 days. If you are anything like me, you have busy and hectic workweek and eventful weekends, and at some point you will just forget to drink enough water.

So start the 30 day water challenge by creating a water drinking plan for yourself to drink that 1 gallon/3.7 liter water a day.

My weekday water drinking plan was that on weekdays I drank 2×50 oz/2×1.5 l during my office hours from 9 till 5, and then drank my my 26 oz/0.75 l workout bottle during my afternoon workout. The truth is that this water drinking plan worked perfectly on weekdays, however on weekends I needed another plan to meet my water goal of 1 gallon/3.7 liters.
The weekend water drinking plan that worked for me was to drink a glass of water before and after every meal. On Saturday mornings I drank a glass of water right after I woke up, then 1 more glass after my morning routine of washing face, teeth, and dressing up for the day, and 1 more glass of water during/after breakfast. With 4 meals a day, I still had to fill my 26 oz/0.75 l workout bottle twice a day and carry it around with me to come close to my goal of 1 gallon/3.7 liters.
I recommend drinking just water, but at first it might feel too overwhelming and boring. This is when you can spice things up! If you are tired of drinking just pure water, try infusing water with various fruits and herbs! Your taste buds will thank you, and it still counts as drinking water! What I’ve found useful, is this water bottle that you can drag around with you all day and have different fruit flavored water every day!

2. How much water should I drink all in one during the 30 day water challenge?

Water cure — “Let’s cure him of those pesky electrolytes!”

Don’t drink 1 gallon/3.7 liters of water all at once, because water poisoning is a real thing. It happens when you wash out the electrolytes that your body needs. In fact, this was used as a way of torture in the Medieval century.

To avoid water poisoning, just don’t drink more than 0.21 gallons/0.8 liter of water in an hour. If you have healthy kidneys, they filter 0.21 – 0.26 gallons/0.8-1 liter of water per hour. See this list of risk factors for water poisoning. If you have your reservations about drinking 1 gallon/3.7 liter water a day for 30 days, consult with your doctor.

Don’t worry too much, because if you are anything like me, then usually you don’t drink enough water. So at the beginning of your 30 day water challenge, your main problem will be to get used to remind yourself to drink water – the risk of water poisoning won’t be on the table until later on. Only when you develop the habit to drink plenty water, and get used to visiting the toilet more frequently, you might face the problem of drinking excess amount of water in a short period of time.

Don’t let the thought of water poisoning discourage you in starting your 30 day water challenge, because drinking lots of water has many benefits. But just like all the other issues in your life, you must be mindful of your water intake frequency. You easily can prevent water poisoning if you distribute your water intake throughout the day.

So the next question that pops into your head should be:

3. How often should I drink during the 30 day water challenge?

Distribute your water intake throughout the day: drink water in the morning, before and after meals, during workout, during work and running errands.

During my 30 day water challenge, I was drinking 2×50 oz/2×1.5 l during my office hours, and a 26 oz/0.75 l workout bottle during my afternoon workout on weekdays. On weekends I usually failed to meet the 1 gallon/3.7 liters goal; tried hard coming close to it by drinking a glass of water right after I woke up, then 1 glass after my morning routine, and 1 more glass of water during/after breakfast, and drinking 1 glass of water before and after my other 3 meals.

Your goal is to get close to your daily water intake of 1 gallons/3.7 liters, but don’t overstress if you fail. There are days when you won’t make your goal, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t experience the benefits of your 30 day water challenge.

4. Does soda/coffee/tea/juices count as drinking water during the 30 day water challenge?

If you want to strictly follow the rules of the 30 day water challenge, then you shouldn’t drink sweetened soda/coffee/tea/juices nor alcohol at all. In fact, you could stop to drink sweetened drinks even after the 30 day water challenge is over! Changing your drinks from soda/juices to pure water is your best bet towards a healthy lifestyle. So during the 30 days, start by taking your coffee/tea without sugar, honey or artificial sweeteners. Swap soda and juices with water! Limit your alcohol intake.

During my 30 day water challenge, I drank one coffee in the morning without sugar and just a little bit of milk. Stopped drinking sweetened beverages a long time ago, and drank water instead, so that wasn’t a problem. However, I like to drink a glass of vine few times a week with my dinner – so I limited this to one glass per week. It was a special treat to drink a glass of vine for my romantic weekend dinners.

To sum it up: consider the water in unsweetened coffee or tea, but don’t count the once-a-week alcohol if you are choosing to have that fun drink.

Ready to start you 30 day water challenge? Way to go! If you have any questions about the 30 day water challenge before you start it or during it, feel free to ask it in the comments section below.

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

November 25, 2014Emotional issues after weight loss, Motivation to stay fitdownside of being fit, fit body, motivation, successful weight lossChristina Marky

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!

Getting 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.

Don’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>>>

4 steps to healthy life mindset even if You are lazy

November 11, 2014Motivation to stay fitfit body, healthy life mindset, motivation, successful weight lossChristina Marky

The 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

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>>>

How to find time to exercise if You are too busy

October 1, 2014Motivation to stay fitbody image, fit body, motivationChristina Marky

Friends and coworkers compliment my new found good looks and fit body - they all want to know my secret. When I reveal that my fit body is due to regular exercise 5 times a week, they instantly become uninterested. They claim they have no time to exercise.

Everyone is searching for a quick fix for looking good, and are not interested in hearing that in order to achieve their goals, they need to sacrifice time, change old habits and work hard for a longer time period.

Exercising is good for the well-being of your body and your mind as well. We all know that regular work out is highly beneficial, however not many of us make the effort to make time for it. The most frequent excuse that people have of why they don’t work out regularly is that they don’t have time for exercise. What I really hear is when someone says to me that they don’t have the time to exercise is that they don’t think that exercising is important enough for them.

If it’s important enough, you’ll make time for it. If it is not, you’ll make up an excuse. [Tweet this!]

So it just means that other things are more important in their lives than being fit, feeling healthy. Many of the benefits of regular exercise are more than weight loss itself.

Excuse #1: I have a busy schedule I can’t fit in an hourly exercise each day!

Fix: The trick is to plan ahead your exercise sessions for every day of the workweek just like you plan any other activities in your busy schedule. So plan that 1 hour exercise for the 5 workdays ahead of time. The secret to maintain a regular exercise for a longer time period is to have a plan B at hand: if working out at a planned time fails because of some unexpected and unplanned happening, you need to have a second option.

How to find time to exercise if You are too busy — Missed gym time today so I’m gonna work out in the kitchen instead

In my case I plan my gym exercises right after working hours, so that way I have plenty of time for other things in the evening. However, if there is an emergency I need to take care of right after work or I unexpectedly stay in late at work, I set plan B in motion. That is to go to the gym in the evening. Being a planning freak as I am, I also have a plan C, in case plan B fails too. That is to get my dose of exercise done on an additional day (usually on a weekend when my rest days are). If I can’t make on time to the Zumba class for any reason, my plan B is to have my cardio elsewhere that day or later that week.

Planning is important, because it will help you achieve greater consistency. [Tweet this!]

Get started by planning your exercise session by making a detailed schedule of your weekly activities, and find time to exercise.

Excuse #2: Cooking / cleaning the house / washing and ironing / household chores are taking up too much of my free time!

Fix: These all are household chores that we all have to do. Unless you have a maid that does all this instead of you, chances are you have to do them by yourself – and you must do chores for every day. The real trick here is to decide for yourself if having an always clean house is more important to you than having a healthier and fit lifestyle. It bothers me too to look at that dusty shelf every morning for days and promise myself that I’ll clean it right after I get back from work, but because I made it clear to myself and to my husband that daily exercise is on high priority. So looking at dirty shelves for 3 days should be bearable. The good thing about regular exercise is that it has many benefits, one of them being more energetic. This means that many times when I get home from the gym, I shower, eat and start cleaning/washing/ironing! I could have never imagine doing this back at the days when I was fat and low on energy all the time!

How to find time to exercise if You are too busy 2 — Exercise first, then clean!

Also you could think about delegating chores to family members as well. Let go believing that you are the only one who can complete things perfectly. I too had a hard time while learning to delegate. The secret formula is: if someone can make it 80% as good as you can, then delegate that task immediately!

Need more help in motivating yourself to start working out regularly?

Click here for free advice >>>

How to get motivated to continue Your workout routine after a holiday

September 18, 2014Motivation to stay fitfit body, healthy life mindset, motivationChristina Marky

You’re sitting on a plane flying you home after your summer vacation, and your mind gets depressed thinking about the million things that are waiting for you after your arrival. Need to call parents, let your best friend know your back from vacation, need to take shower, unpack, wash, dry and iron all the clothes from your suitcase, hang the souvenirs you brought home, sort the pictures you’ve taken, and many more. It already seems like hard work, and all you want to do is relax and sleep after the long and exhausting travel home. Plus you’ll need to call in the office, because they already left you messages asking when you will be back and available. Reality is slowly kicking in: vacation is over.

How to get motivated to continue Your workout routine after a holiday 1 — Big line at boarding? Instead of waiting, I’ll do 10 push ups!

Getting home from vacation is rather demotivating. It is overwhelming just to think about all the things needed to be taken care of, so no surprise that you don’t want to start. How can anyone expect you to get back on track with your everyday life and workout routine right away?

Here are 3 steps on how to continue your workout routine after a holiday:

1. Make the first small step

Do something very easy first. Make the first step. Don’t over think it, just do it. If it is that easy, you will not be able to say no in your head. Fill that water bottle. Put your dry fit t-shirt on. Get those running shoes on your feet. Go out the door. Run. Easy!

Once you get started, you will feel more motivated to do it. You’ll get back on track in no time! Trust me, give it a try!

2. Get 8 hours of sleep each night

How to get motivated to continue Your workout routine after a holiday 2 — Your bed is waiting for you!

Vacation should be relaxing, but it can end in exhaustion after the long travel. So you will need to rest at night in order to get back on track. Try to sleep at least 8 hours every night, or if you have a chance have 20-30 minute naps in the afternoon to get your full energy and motivation back.

3. Weigh yourself

How to get motivated to continue Your workout routine after a holiday 3 — My scale is a lying bastard.

Poor eating choices while on vacation just happen. Every day of your holiday. Sweets, soft drinks, dessert, ice-cream, cocktails, that one more plate of juicy steak. The pounds will also stack up on you. So what better motivation than weighing yourself after vacation? Oh the horror! I bet you’ll be running to the gym the moment you see those numbers on the scale moving up up up! It pissed me off so much that I’ve gained 4 kg/8 lbs in just 10 days that I’ve immediately hit that Zumba Fitness class that evening and sweated like a donut at a police station!

Tips to keep body fit while on summer holiday

September 9, 2014Motivation to stay fitdownside of being fit, fit body, healthy life mindset, motivationChristina Marky

Did you know that the fitter you are the faster you will lose your fitness? I know, so unfair!

You will lose your cardio capabilities way faster than your achieved muscular strength.

Enjoying your summer holiday it is almost impossible to watch what you eat and keeping it only healthy meals and watch you weight while being away from home. If you travel abroad, there will be the temptation of trying all those delicious and yummy local specialties you just can’t miss out! If you are lucky, they will be healthy foods, exotic fruits that you can enjoy without feeling remorse. However, if you are unlucky like me, the delicacies you try while on your summer holiday will mostly be on the unhealthy but delicious side of the food pyramid. This means that by indulging in new meal specialties during your summer get away will have an impact on your weight.

So what can you do about no gaining too much weight and lose your fit body while on a holiday?

1. Monitor water intake

When it’s hot outside, and you are enjoying yourself on the beach, many times you’ll think that what you crave is ice-cream or keeping it a best case scenario, fruits. This craving that you feel may just mean that you got dehydrated because you simply forgot to drink water. So instead of standing in line for ice-cream, just have a glass of water. It will keep you hydrated and if you still feel hungry afterwards you can always go for a snack. But drink water first!

2. Get creative!

There are various opportunities waiting for you to take them in order to get an exercise! Surely you will not be able to stick to your regular workout routine while on a holiday, but that is no excuse for you to completely skip exercising! If your hotel has a pool, problem solved! Swim 20 fast laps and then 3 slow laps for cool-down. Rent a bike to check out the tourist attractions! Put your walking shoes on and hit the road! Go for a run in the morning when it’s still not that hot outside! Exercise on the beach by using your own body as weights!

3. Go dance those calories away!

Dance on the beach when you hear your favorite summer song! Go to a bar or a disco and dance, dance, dance! There is no better way for you to get moving and enjoy yourself with your friends! It is a great opportunity for you to get to know the foreigners while abroad and learn new dance moves from the locals.

4. Choose the stairs

Instead of using the elevator, opt for the stairs every time. Use stairs to get to the top of that tower for a pretty view of the city’s skyline!

5. Play games

Have a ping-pong tournament with your friends! Play frisbee or volleyball on the beach, or go golfing. Mini-golf counts too! Or just play tennis in the hotel’s court. All these a great activities to get yourself moving!

6. Plan the exercise activities for every day

It might just be a long walk on the beach, a medium intensity aqua aerobic class in the hotel’s pool or a sight-seeing bike tour, but be sure to do something that will keep you active every day while on a vacation! Hike up a mountain or go scuba diving or snorkeling: it will give you new experience, great memories and raise your overall happiness.

7. Pack travel friendly healthy snack for the road

Tips to keep body fit while on summer holiday 2 — I have 9 carrots, 3 kohlrabies and 5 peaches in that bag.

Bring fruits and veggies with you while traveling instead of cookies, chips and chocolate bars! A plastic container filled with sliced carrots and kohlrabies and other veggies of your choice takes no time to prepare, and it will provide you the vitamins during your travel. It is a great solution for keeping your regular daily bowel movements.

Remember: doing something is always better than not doing anything at all.

And this is true for your exercise regimen while spending your summer vacation away from home. Be proud of yourself if you manage to maintain half of your usual routine while on vacation! Just stay positive, be creative and mix it up! You’ll get your daily dose of exercise while being away from home in a fun and entertaining way!

Unexpected results of completing Maria Kang’s 30-day no excuse water challenge

September 3, 201430 day water challenge, Motivation to stay fit#noexcusewaterchallenge, body image distortion, fit body, healthy life mindset, Maria Kang, motivation, no excuse, no excuse moms, water challengeChristina Marky

It was summer, it was hot, and I knew I should be drinking way more liquids. That’s when I stumbled upon the call for Maria Kang’s no excuse water challenge, so it was the perfect opportunity to make myself drink more water. I was skeptic about keeping up daily drinking 1 gallon a water for a month, but I started anyway.

You hear everywhere about the benefits of drinking plenty water, but if you are anything like me, you know that it is good for you, but during the busy and hectic workweek and eventful weekends, you just don’t remember to drink. So I started by creating a plan to drink that 1 gallon a day. Got a 50 oz bottle sitting on the table of my office desk which had to be drunk twice during my office hours, and then I only had to fill and drink my 26 oz workout bottle during my workout to drink a gallon a day. Sounds easy? Well, like everything else, it is challenging at first, but then you get used to it. I was really curious about all the positive things that consuming more water and keeping yourself hydrated would do to my body.

The unexpected results of completing Maria Kang’s 30-day no excuse water challenge are:

1. Wrinkles around the eyes are gone

After 5 days of drinking plenty water the wrinkles under and in the corner of my eyes visibly reduced. 25 days into the challenge I did a 2-step wrinkle test with strips. The test shows how deep your wrinkles are, and mine said that I am wrinkle free! I have to admit that lines under my eye are still visible, but their length and depth is reduced. Not bad at all, especially if you consider that all I had to do is keep myself hydrated for a month!

2. Pesky pimples and acne free face

If you suffer from cystic acne, you pretty much know how irritating and depressing regular monthly flare ups can be. Nobody needs to tell you how uncomfortable it is. I am a 33 year old female and until recently I also struggled with acne. I’ve seen improvements in the last year after an active year of trial and error and finally I’ve found the best skin care regimen for myself – 3 months ago I have finished developing an ultimate home skin care routine that made a difference (see how: use your brain to help your face). However, once a month the start of my period still marked another monthly event: a total skin freak-out.

So imagine my surprise when only after 6 days of drinking plenty water I noticed an improvement in my overall skin tone. Even further, when that time of the month arrived and for the first time in my life I had no breakouts! It’s been 30 days, and I am pimple free!

My honest confession: after finishing the 30-day #noexcusewaterchallenge I stopped watching my water intake and drink less than 1/2 a gallon a day. After only 3 days 3 pesky pimples appeared. Bummer.

3. Perfect poop every morning

Are you a perfect pooper? Research suggests that the range of “normal” pooping is typically 1-3 times a day. And it should look like a snake (see the Bristol Stool Chart Type 4 ). You should not push hard for the perfect poop: it is a balance between not having to push or strain, but also not having so much urgency you barely can hold it. Thanks to the water challenge, my bowel movements became normal and I make the most perfect snake poop every morning. This alone was a motivation for friends around me to start drinking more water each day, and now we are a bunch of happy friends creating perfect snake poop!

4. Lost almost 9 lbs in 30 days

I never believed that I could lose pounds by not changing my habits and by not incorporating more exercise into my current routine nor by consuming less calories, but it became a reality! On day 11 I weighed 4 pounds less than when I started the challenge! It was quite a surprise for me! Although the weight loss did not continue in this initial rate, I still weighed 9 lbs lighter at the end of the challenge! I have to emphasize that the calories I burn on a day-to-day basis remained the same as well as my healthy eating habits.

5. Highly energized and well rested every single day

I resent waking up early and walking to the office. My only motivation is the first and only fresh cup of coffee that I drink at the office. Then on the last week of the 30-day water challenge everything changed. I haven’t slept more than usually, but after I woke up I felt refreshed and full of energy. It wasn’t just a one-timer: this was the case every single morning, and the fully energized feeling lasts throughout the day. I have tons of energy for the gym after my workday, and I Hulk smash every single workout!

When I spot a woman on a street walking towards me with dark circles or wrinkles around her eyes, I can barely hold myself from approaching and shaking her, screaming:

“Start drinking more water, woman!”

Completing the 30-day water challenge and seeing the positive results it has made me crazy, I know. Although I wanted to scream at and shake women when I found out what a difference a perfectly fitting bra makes, so maybe it’s just me reacting weirdly to new things that make me prettier and my life easier and healthier.

Any of these benefits alone were enough motivation for my friends and family to start consuming more water, and they experienced after a few days the advantages themselves! The 30-day water challenge is over, but this should not keep you from starting your own water challenge and see the benefits for yourself!

Here is a list of 4 alarming things you need to know before you start a 30 day water challenge. Click here>>>

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