Monday Motivation - I'll Do It My Way

I'm a bit late with the Monday Motivation post today as I've been at an athletics meet this morning and then spent the afternoon at the beach. I was also a little bit stumped about what to write about. Then I found this .......

Oh my god, this struck such a chord with me! A weight loss journey is such an individual thing that you really do need to find what suits you and stick to it. Find the exercise you like, adapt your diet to suit you and work around your lifestyle! Don't listen to anyone else, it's your life that you are working to improve so do what is best for you.

I think the reason that I liked this so much is partly because I have chosen to ease up during the school summer holidays because that suited me. I know that would not have been everyone's choice but I am definitely doing this MY way!!

Hope you are all having a great start to your week and making choices that are best for you! As I said, we are just back from the beach

Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

My Fitspiration

As we move closer to September and my plans to kickstart my fitness programme, I thought I would share with you some of the things that inspire me and that hopefully will help me to push myself further.

I definitely need inspiration to help me when running and as part of this, I've created a running playlist on my phone

I really recommend doing this. I just went through my iTunes library and tried to pick out songs with a good beat. My workouts at home tend to be using DVDs with their own music included so they are find but I can't run in silence! The playlist definitely makes me go faster! 

I also find fitness clothes quite inspiring! When I started this weight loss journey, I wasn't brave enough to set foot outside and run so this is what I wore to exercise indoors

For me now, just putting on my favourite workout outfit is inspiring when I look at how far I've come.

I'm inspired by the fact that I now feel confident to run wearing Lycra and I don't care who sees me.

Even though you may still be in the middle of your weight loss journey, it's important to feel good about yourself and for me, fitness clothes are part of that. 

I'm often on the lookout for new fitness clothes and I've recently found some great outfits from Adore Me that have really inspired me. I've never been confident enough to bare my midriff but I love these outfits so I'm definitely thinking about treating myself if my fitness programme goes as planned

It can be quite difficult to find workout clothes in bigger sizes to use during your weight loss journey and the outfits from Adore Me are some of the best that I have seen.

The other outfits from Adore Me have also given me Fitspiration. 

I'm definitely continuing to work hard towards my fitness goals. .If you like the look of the Adore Me then I suggest you check out their website! They have some really great inspiring looks.

If you have read any of my Monday motivation posts then you will know that I am a big fan of inspirational quotes. I'm always looking out for new ones and have made up some of my own. This is one of my favourites.

Fitspiration can come from many different areas and can really help with your motivation. Hope you have enjoyed reading about some of the things that inspire me, let me know what you use for your Fitspiration.

Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Wednesday Weigh In - Week 33 - Yo Yoing!

So my summer continues to be a story of  my weight yo yoing up and down a bit with half a pound gained this week. If you have read my blog before then you will know that I've basically had to suspend my fitness routine while it's the school summer holidays. This has meant that I've made the decision just to try and maintain my weight at this point and then really push myself in September when my daughter goes back to school. So I've two weeks left to go!

I'm not stressed about gaining half a pound this week. I'm sticking to a healthy diet but the lack of workouts obviously makes a huge difference!

I'm actually finding this quite educational as it's helping me to understand more about how much food my body actually needs on a daily basis. Maintaining weight is something that I found incredibly difficult in the past so I would lose weight and then have it creep back on. So if the summer is helping me understand more about maintaining my weight then that, in my opinion, must be a good thing!

Still I am really looking forward to kick starting my fitness routine and I've got workouts and runs planned for September already.

Hope you are all having a great week. Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Monday Motivation - Goals

When I started my weight loss journey I deliberately didn't set any goals. I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself and I didn't want to give myself any time constraints. I'm now wondering whether it might be time to reconsider this and set some goals to help with my motivation.

As you will know if you have read my blog over the last few weeks, I am marking time until the end of the school summer holidays. I've equated it to not stopping my weight journey but just jogging on the spot for a while. When my daughter goes back to school in two weeks time then I really want to work on my fitness. Bearing that in mind, I am thinking about setting some fitness goals.  Running would probably be a good place to start. I use the Map My Run app so it would be easy to track my progress. 

I don't agree with setting weight loss goals personally. For me it creates too much pressure and as I veered towards eating disorders in the past, I need to avoid putting myself in that situation. Fitness goals may be a good motivator though and it's something I think I will do. I'll let you know what goals I choose.

Let me know if you find setting goals useful or not. Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Melon Frozen Yoghurt

I'm a sucker for a cheap supermarket deal so when galia melons were on offer, I grabbed one. Sadly it sat in my kitchen for a few days so I decided to do something different.

Ingredients 

1 Galia melon

1 cup (340g) low fat natural yoghurt

1/2 cup (170g) honey

Method

1. Scoop out the melon flesh and cut into chunks.

2. Purée the melon in a food processor.

3. Mix the yoghurt and honey with the melon.

4. If you are using an ice cream maker then tip the mixture into it and follow the instructions. I set mine for 25 mins. If you are not using an ice cream maker then blend the mixture thoroughly in a food processor.

5. Transfer the mixture to a suitable lidded container. If you have not used an ice cream maker then you will need to freeze the mixture for about an hour. I did use an ice cream maker but I still froze mine for an extra 15 minutes to get the consistency that I wanted.

This is such a light and refreshing dessert for the summer. The recipe makes 800g of frozen yoghurt and is only 102 calories per 100g serving. The melon gives a sweet and delicate flavour but you could substitute a cup of any other fruit if you prefer

Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Wednesday Weigh In - Week 32 - The Right Direction

It was a small weight loss this week

but at least it was a loss. Anything that goes in the right direction is good. Maybe running helped yesterday. It certainly motivated me for Sept 6th when my daughter goes back to school and I can kickstart my fitness regime again.

I'm still trying to look at the weeks until then as maintenance. We have a quieter week coming up so no fast food temptations and a 100% healthy diet should be easy to maintain. If I'm really lucky then I might even be able to fit in a workout but I'm not counting on it!

Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Monday Motivation - Aim High And Keep Positive

If you have read my blog before then you will know that the last few weeks have been quite difficult for me. It's the school summer holidays so my fitness programme has virtually stopped and the weight isn't really going down at the moment. So my motivation for this week is to keep my goals in my mind and stay positive whatever the setbacks at the moment.

One of my favourite quotes keeps coming to mind at the moment.

I know that Robert Kennedy was talking about changing the world when he said this but it could equally apply to changing yourself. Don't ask yourself why you are out of breath if you have to run, instead think why shouldn't you run a local fun run and work out how to achieve that.

When I started this weight loss journey and thought about what I wanted to achieve, there was this little voice in my head saying you will never lose all that weight and be skinny. That voice keeps trying to come back but I push it down and keep aiming high for my goals. 

My other thoughts this week are about looking for the positive in every situation.

I may not be losing a lot of weight at the moment but I am learning about how to maintain my weight and what that means for my food intake. This is something that I feel quite positive about as maintaining my weight is where I have always struggled so this bodes well for the future.

I know that it is sometimes hard to look for the bright side in every situation but trust me, look and you will generally find out.

This is just one of the things that helps me to keep on track, get through bad patches and keep focused on my aims and goals.

I hope you are all feeling motivated this week. Remember, it may take a while but we can do this!!

Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx