Tag Archives: Health

Social Media and Fitness

This may not be a ‘typical’ post for me, but it’s been something that I’ve been thinking a lot about and felt the need to write about. Maybe it’s the marketer in me…

Social Media. Exercising. Healthy Living. Three things that have become staples in many of our daily lives. It seems like no matter where I log onto, people are posting/tweeting/instagramming their exercise, food or daily adventures. I’m not complaining, I’m one of those people. I find that seeing those memes or hearing about another friend’s workout adventure is motivating. It makes me want to be active.

With the warmer weather coming, I think most of us have fitness on our minds. With warm weather comes swim suits and the beach. I know I want to be ready for that!

Social media has become a means for people to boast about their fitness wins, their diet woes and their major successes. It keeps us honest. It also makes it personal and holds us accountable. If you post on Facebook, ‘Heading to the gym after work!’ and then later post ‘Forget the gym, home to sweatpants’ chances are you’re a) going to feel some form of guilt (unless of course you didn’t go to the gym because of illness) or b) probably going to get some negative response. At least this is why I have found in my own fitness journey. I am that person who posts something and doesn’t always follow through. It is my laziness shining through and I am working to change that. Why do I think this happens? More than likely,  positive feedback was received for the initial post. People were happy for you, proud of you and wanting to encourage you. When they see the latter post, it may be de-motivating for others and some may wonder why you posted your first post in the first place if you weren’t going to follow through. I’ve found that if I’m posting it to social media, I better be following through.

Here are my views on how social media plays a role in fitness:

Facebook: This is easy. You post, people respond. It’s like sharing with 600 friends your success or your failure. Granted, not all of your Facebook friends are going to respond, but it’s a mass way to tell EVERYONE, ‘I’m going to the gym today!’, ‘Wow, my muscles are really aching after that workout,’ or ‘Totally didn’t go to the gym. My couch was calling me.’

I can guarantee, each one of those will get a response. And it may not always be the response you want. But Facebook is a great motivator when it comes to fitness. It’s like having a support group constantly surrounding you and supporting you. Not only that, there are plenty of great Facebook pages devoted to health and fitness. Some of personal favorites:

  1. She Rocks Fitness
  2. Tone it Up
  3. 100 Days of Real Food
  4. Fitness Magazine

Twitter: Twitter has a cool dynamic in the health world. I’m still just diving into it, but the fitness community really appears to bond together on here. As you connect with some of the health and fitness folks, you’re exposed to great tips, recipes and blogs. As I’ve made my journey into a healthier lifestyle, I’ve found many of these Twitter members motivating and helpful. I love seeing what they have to say, and since most of them blog too, I look forward to reading their blogs everyday! A few personal favorites:

  1. PeaceLoveandLowCarb – @PeaceLoveLoCarb
  2. Nurtitionella, MPH RD – @nutritionella
  3. Bess Be Fit – @bessharrington
  4. FitFluential – @FitFluential

Another awesome way Twitter functions in the health realm is their use of hashtags. Hashtags are great way to keep similar posts in one easily searchable area. One of my favorites is #SweatPink. It’s mostly all women, but it’s a lot of motivation and a lot of great people who are are living the healthy life!

Pinterest: Motivation. Motivation. Motivation. Seriously. If you are looking for motivation, join Pinterest and check out their Health and Fitness pins. You can find workouts, memes, and motivational quotes that will keep you moving. When I’m having a down day, I just hop on and take a look and am usually ready to rock and roll after that!

Instagram: Instagram is a visual Twitter. You can have followers and use hashtags to tag your picture so they can be found. It’s a cool way to show your cool new running sneakers, what you’ve been eating throughout the day and your latest workout that you were so proud of. Personally, I love Instagram. It makes my pictures look cool and it’s fun to use.

I know, I’m looking into this too much. I look at the use of Social Media as a way to fuel my exercise and my healthy living. Like I said above, it keeps ME honest. But at the same time, when I recently hit my first milestone (5 lbs!), I posted to Facebook and the feedback I got from it was incredible and really made me push. I couldn’t wait to post my 10 lb, 20 lb and eventually 30 lb milestone.

In today’s world, I think Social Media is great way to get healthy and stay healthy. I’m not where I want to be yet, but I know by posting my progress and my wins, I feel one step closer every day!

And for the record, I don’t consider myself in any way, shape or form an expert. I’m merely expressing my views on how I see Social Media fitting into the realm of health and fitness. There are plenty of others out there that are far more knowledgable than I am. Remember, this blog is just chronicling my journey and my thoughts :)

Stay tuned… at some point I’ll be posting a post about Apps!

The 3 Day Diet — Day 1

I’m not one to try out ‘fad’ diets, but when I heard of one that boasts ‘Lose up to 10 pounds in 3 days!’, I’ll admit, I was intrigued. Once I found out a friend was partaking in it, Nick and I decided it was time to learn more. After reading more about it (Google, Blogs, Articles), we decided we would give it a try. It’s only for three days and seemed utterly doable. It totally is a ‘fad’ diet, but whatever, I’ll go back on my word just this once.

Monday afternoon meant grocery shopping for all of the essentials. Off Nick went to the grocery store and I vowed to start the diet on Tuesday morning despite having a nasty cold. Of course, that would change if I was dying from said cold.

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How I felt as of Monday evening….
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Day 1 wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The real challenge wasn’t eat the foods they wanted you to eat, but not snacking in between meals. They want you to drink as much water as humanly possible (without throwing up of course…). Thankfully, I drink at least 3 Nalgenes a day, so upping that wasn’t completely insane.

Day 1 looked as follows.
Breakfast: 1/2 grapefruit, 1 slice of toast, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and coffee or tea
Lunch: 1/2 cup of tuna, 1 slice of toast and coffee or tea (must be caffeinated)
Dinner: 3 ounces of any meat, 1 cup green beans, 1/2 banana, 1 small apple and 1 cup of Vanilla ice cream.

Breakfast was already more than I normally eat. A slice of toast with peanut butter and coffee is a typical morning for me. I learned quickly that… I don’t like grapefruit. At all. In small doses…fine. Bt shoving a 1/2 of a grapefruit down my throat…not so fine. I was surprisingly full until about 10:30 am at which point I was ravenous. Let me just tell you how excited I was for my lunch of dry tuna and toast. Seriously. I couldn’t wait to eat it.

Once lunch came, I couldn’t wait to eat. I love tuna. I hate dry tuna. I like my tuna with olives, mayo, salt and pepper. Not straight from the can. And one piece of toast? Seriously? This lunch was about a 1/4 of the size I normally eat.

Honestly, it wasn’t all that bad. I put the tuna in the bread and folded it to make a mini sub. Besides being dry as hell, it wasn’t horrible. Once I was done, I couldn’t believe how full I felt… Very strange.

Dinner was delicious. Ground turkey and green beans cooked together in salt and pepper. My apple was delicious as was my banana. And the ice cream just topped it all off. Lets see what day 2 brings!

Now the real test is to see if we actually lose weight. I weighed in at 183.4 lbs on Monday AM. I am down 4 lbs since I started this blog though! I won’t myself again until Friday morning (Thursday evening is the last meal).

Until then, I’ll keep posting updates. I’ve heard really good things and really bad things about this. Day 1 wasn’t horrible; but ask me after Day 2 since I’m not allowed to have coffee…..

Tough Love and Motivation

After my previous post, I really thought long and hard about what motivates me. You would think it would be something simple; the goal is to be healthy. But sometimes that goal is just not enough for me to get off my overweight butt and hit the gym. It’s much easier said (or written in my case), then done.

After receiving a very long series of text messages from one of my closest friends and fellow blogger over at Just Your Average Athlete, I realized that seeing those around me make changes in their lives to get healthy is motivating. Not too mention, Molly’s tough love and her quest to help me get healthy is also SUPER motivating. Thanks Molly! In all honesty, while I knew in my heart it was time to get healthy, her messages truly motivated me and touched me to the core.

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So, since my last post, I’ve thought long and hard about what is motivating me. Here it goes.

1. My Health: I have a history of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, thyroid problems, high blood pressure, etc. in my family. I have a lot of odds working against me. I am determined to not end up with ANY of the above, unless its the way nature intended for it to happen. I want to be a role model to my younger family members and to the kids at the barn where I ride and teach. I want people to see me posting about my latest work out adventure and say ‘Wow! How motivating is that?! If she can do it, I can too!’

2. Four Weddings: Yes – I’m not going to lie. I have FOUR weddings to attend this year and I want to look amazing for all of them. One in April, June, September and October; two of which I am a bridesmaid in. What’s motivating about this? I don’t want to look fat in my dresses!

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3. My Wardrobe: Now, this may sound a bit conceited, maybe even a bit contrived, but I love clothes. More specifically, I love my clothes. And when I look in the closet and don’t want to wear any of my clothes because they cling in all of the wrong places or they are just too tight, it’s motivating. I REFUSE to go buy all new clothes, two sizes bigger. I REFUSE! I want my clothes to fit.

4. My Family and Friends: Corny as it may sound, it’s true. Lets be real for a second. When someone in your family or one of your closest friends is on a quest to get healthy of are in the best shape of their lives, it motivates you. Or when you see someone that needs the support to do those things; it motivates you. I want to be both of those people. I want those around me to see me getting healthy and want to join in. Molly, who was mentioned above, has been a huge motivator for me because I see how happy and healthy she is! My fiancé is also a huge motivator because we want to be healthy for each other so we can spend many happy and active years together.

I’ll be brutally honest. I had a completely unhealthy weekend. I ate a lot. I drank wine and beer and had a wonderful time. But now that its the beginning of the week, I’m lethargic and can feel just how awful all of that is affecting my body. My energy is constantly low. And I refuse to pump myself full of coffee.

So yes, I’m being that person who says ‘Start of a new week; Start of a healthier me!’ but in reality, I’m just telling myself that the rest of my life begins today. A better, healthier me. I’m saying ‘No!’ To Weight Watchers (even though it works wonders), at least to the counting points, but sticking to their values of portion control, and focusing on eating healthier. And a lot of exercise. It’s not about a fad diet. It’s about learning to live and doing it on my own.

It also helps I have to check in with Molly by 6:30 PM every night to make sure I do something active every day (Tough Love at its finest.)

Stay tuned for my first night back at the gym. It should be an adventure to say the least.

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The Five Stages of Grief

You know that moment when something happens to you that is so profound that it literally makes your jaw drop to the floor. Have you ever had that moment happen to you after stepping on a scale? Because I have. In fact, it happened this morning. And not in a good way.

I have a FitBit Aria Scale. It doesn’t lie. It is probably the most dead on scale I have ever owned. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s too dead on.

My fantastic (and slightly evil) scale.

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See, sometimes I like my scale to lie to me. Just a little bit. If I’ve gained 3 pounds, I want it to tell me I have only gained 2.5 lbs, just to make me feel better (I’m convinced my old scale did this. I’m also convinced it was not good for my head.)

I’ve been telling lying to myself for weeks now that I’m jumping back on the healthy wagon. And everyday something comes up, and suddenly I find myself gorging on pizza. And then I try to justify it by telling myself “It’s okay. You ate healthy the rest of the day!” Clearly I’m just lying to myself.

We just moved into a new apartment. Granted, we bought lots of healthy foods and we cook, but we also bought a lot of beer and wine. Because if friends come over, we have to be ready!

So this morning, I decided that Weight Watchers Round 10 was going to begin. I was prepared and ready to go. Last week, I had jumped on above scale and saw that I had only gained 2 pounds through the holidays. Instant win in my book, even though I was still closing in on my post-college graduation weight. Convinced that I had probably lost a pound or two since then because I was eating healthier, I hopped on the scale.

I have never seen my scale jump to a number so fast in my life!

Nor did I like the number staring back at me.

187.4 HOLY CRAP!

I think I went through every stage of grief at 6:30 this morning while looking at the scale.

1. Denial: ‘No frickin’ way! You are lying to me! I’ve been SOOOO good all week.’ (hops off scale and checks it) ‘Maybe your just off balance…’ (Good try, it’s on a tile floor). ‘Are the batteries dying?’ (Brand new!)

2. Anger: No, I wasn’t angry at the scale. Even though its totally the scales fault. I was so angry at myself for even LETTING myself get back to this point. I had promised myself I would never see that number on the scale again. And here I was, nearly 5 years later, back at that point.

3. Bargaining: ‘Now, if I get back on you, you’re going to show a MUCH lower number this time, because come on. Really? I’m not that heavy,”

For the record…. I am that heavy.

4. Depression: Yes. I cried. It SUCKED seeing that number staring back at me. It was horrible and a god awful way to start my day.

5. Acceptance: And then it hit me. This is nobody’s fault but my own. No one forced food down my throat, or told me to have one more beer. It was all me.

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Which means, it’s on me to conquer it.

I can officially say things can only go up from here (or hopefully down in my case)!

The Road Begins

Today marks the first step on a long road. This is not going to be a typical ‘weight loss blog’. I’ve done those in the past. This is going to chronicle my journey to finding and settling into a healthy lifestyle that I so desperately need. Yes, I do need to lose weight (about 40 lbs to be exact) and yes, there will be some updates and such in here. But I am going to heavily focus on the changes I’ve made, the exercises I enjoy and those little successes and health finds that make everything that much better.

So hi everyone. I’m Eryn and I’m overweight, despite having a passion for health and exercise. I’m overweight because despite my passion, I have failed at and lacked motivation to do the things I read about. This is changing. I’m sick of ‘dieting’. Instead, I’m changing how I look at my daily life and am working to incorporate healthy new things to it each day. Your love and support would be GREATLY appreciated. Yes, I am still doing Weight Watchers as well, but that’s to keep me honest :)

So I am jumping right in. Today is day one. And day one meant, first day without coffee. I LOVE coffee but I’ve decided to take a step back from it. Mainly because of what I put in it. This morning was a delicious cup of The Mighty Leaf Organic Bombay Chai. Needless to say, it turns out I don’t need coffee to survive (or wake up) as much as I thought. Just a little bit of caffeine and I’m raring to go!

Breakfast also was the second change. I love carbs. I love anything that is comfort food. I LOVE Dunkin Donuts. But I ignored my cravings and instead got an Umpqua Oats JumpStart Oatmeal at the local coffee shop this morning. If you haven’t had one of these, they are fantastic for an on the go. Definitely didn’t hold me over, but I feel better.

I promise, my posts will be far more entertaining than this one. I just needed to get my thoughts down on paper. I have a long road ahead of me, but I’m ready to get healthy and enjoy my healthy lifestyle.

Here’s to a new and improved me!

What is your motivation to live a healthy lifestyle?