Be your own competition. Be your own motivation.

If I could pick any celebrity or icon to be my fitness motivation, it would certainly be famous personal trainer, Jillian Michaels. She is someone who not only transforms lives, but has transformed her own, as well! Her body is a powerhouse and my goal is to one day be able to sport abs like hers! Like have you seen her…

One thing we need to set straight is that I am not Jillian Michaels, nor will I ever be. (as much as I may wish) I feel like I am always saying things along the lines of “Oh man! I want to look like her!” or “If I run faster, maybe I can look like her!” However, it is impossible for me to ever become someone other than myself within my own flesh. What I need you to recognize is that with living a healthy lifestyle, you cannot purely motivate yourself to be like that of someone else. You must focus on yourself.

I repeat…

YOU MUST FOCUS ON YOURSELF.

I just recently started a bootcamp here at my campus with over 50 other students. (I will keep you updated!) I have always been intrigued by this whole idea and surely could not let this opportunity for a great, structured workout pass me by, even if it means waking up at 5:15AM…There are tons of us there, which is an incredible sight to see! Although we may not be the happiest of people to be forced to run at such an awful hour of the day, we are all there for one purpose- to become a better version of ourselves.

Today, we ran our first timed-mile. Back in high school, this was the infamous day of sport’s tryouts that I would spend my summers training for. Even though it was about me and my time, I found that I would compare myself to the other girls trying out for the team. I was allowing myself to fall into that trap of wanting to be faster than her, skinnier than her, what have you. But, I needed to focus on myself and my abilities.

I’m a normal human being. I beat myself up A TON if I do not perform to what I know is my best. Today, I did not perform to the best of my abilities and once I finished I said to myself,

“Alright Jen. Time to kick some ass. You have five weeks. Let’s go.” 

I know what I am capable of becoming. I know that I have the potential to run faster than I have ever ran in my entire life. I know that this year is the year I will conquer this healthy lifestyle with the utmost expertise.

I am done comparing myself to others. I am done running behind or in front of other girls, only thinking that I wish I were faster or wishing I could look like they do when they run. I am done placing energy on things that are of no importance.

What is important is that I become my own competition and my own motivation. I got my mile time of 7:25. It is now my goal to decrease that time below 7 minutes. I am here to say that I will motivate myself, I will challenge myself, and I will NO LONGER compare myself to others.

I am a force to be reckon with. You are a force to be reckon with. DO NOT FORGET THAT. This is your time to push yourself far beyond your expectations. Sprint harder. Jump higher. Lift heavier. You got this. Keep going and remember,

Focus on you and only you.

Celebrate!

I apologize for my lack of posts the past week! I have been busy with the ins and outs of sorority life.

Anyways! Can you guess what tomorrow is?!?

You got it… MY 21st BIRTHDAY!! I can hardly believe it- the big day has finally come! I’m looking forward to a wonderful day of celebrating with great friends and of course, sips of my first legal drink! 🙂

With this monumental birthday upon me, I can’t help but think of the past few years of my life in contrast with my present and quickly approaching future. I am not going to bore you with my regrets, my dreams, blah blah blah. What I am going to do is tell you that what should be celebrated is my body!

I can confidently say that is probably not what you were expecting me to say! However, when was the last time that you said “Cheers to me! All of me!” I will tell you one thing- I have never ever done so. In fact, I usually place shame on my body and ridicule it in a mirror.

But for my 21st birthday, I want to celebrate the strength and the beauty that exist through my body. What is imperative is to have a close relationship with every curve on your body. In order for you to feel comfortable in your own skin, you must love the skin you are in!

I know. I know. How many times have I heard that one before?

Regardless, it holds more value than we are often able to recognize. Yes, I have parts of my body I desperately want to fix, but what good is it if I just stand in the mirror and point out every flaw I feel I may have?!

What we all need to start doing more days than just one is celebrate who we are and the body that we so gratefully have! Celebrate your health! Celebrate your strength! Cheers to you every day of your life!

Tomorrow, I intend on forgoing my healthy eating and enjoying all the sweets I LOVE and drinking a few drinks for the first time in a real bar!!!!!! I am making a promise to myself that I will not be angry at my eating choices and I will not regret the food that enters my body. I will wake up and go to bed looking into that mirror thanking my body for giving me 21 years of health, 21 years of strength, and most importantly, 21 years of great dance moves!!

So cheers to you, 365 days a year!

Happy Friday!

Let me just say, it is quite a blessing to not have any classes on Fridays! I look forward to 5:10PM on Thursdays because my weekend starts right then. Although it is extremely tempting to lay in bed all morning and do absolutely nothing, I try my very best to get out of bed and get to the gym! I will be honest, there are many mornings that I skip out on the workout and push it off until later because I have learned to listen to my body. ALWAYS listen to your body! If it is telling you no, listen and don’t go. But, do not allow this to become a habit if you can only get the workout completed in the morning. I find that having a little pre-workout snack is all I need to help me push out an awesome workout.

Another great way to be productive while exercising is putting a load of laundry in before I make my way into the gym. That way I have 30 minutes to give my workout all that I have while my clothes are in the wash. Then, I have an hour to make breakfast, shower, and dry my hair all while my clothes are in the drier! It’s fabulous! Okay, now many of you may think 30 minutes isn’t enough, but that is not true! Here is an AWESOME treadmill sprint workout that will have you sweating instantly!

Sprint-30 sec Rest-30 sec 10x

And that’s it! Easy peazy, right?! What is important is that whatever your sprint may be (mine is 12mph) be sure to be exerting at least 80% of your energy. Work for that speed! What’s awesome about this is that it is over extremely quickly and you are not only sweating, but burning fat! Interval training is FAR more effective than simply spending hours on the elliptical or even running at a slow, steady pace.

Push yourself and you will be amazed at how quickly your endurance, stamina, and speed will improve all while shredding it off your tummy! A good workout is a wonderful way to start the weekend! Woo! Keep it going!

It All Depends on the Music

I know this has been said many, many times before, but music most certainly dictates our mood. I find this to be especially the case when talking about exercise.

Imagine that you hit the gym, ready to put in hard work and sweat like you’ve never sweat before. All of the sudden, your iPod starts playing an endless array of slow songs that make you think of your ex or simply, put you to sleep. Not exactly what I like to call “pump up” music…

I attribute most of my energy while I work out to what music I have playing in my ears. Quite honestly, I do not think I could have finished my half-marathon without all of those EDM beats blasting in my earphones, pushing me to finish! Music is what can distract you from any negative feelings you may be having towards your present situation, aka running sprints on the dreaded treadmill. Depending on your taste, if you have some fun jams by your side during your workout, I guarantee it will greatly improve not only your attitude toward exercise, but more importantly, your performance!

Today, I wanted to leave you all with a little taste of my most recent workout playlist that I have labeled, “Happy, Healthy, Strong!” on my iPhone. It’s a mix of EDM, pop, & a tad bit of rap that is sure to get you motivated to kick some booty in the gym, starting off with a little JLO! 🙂

Booty (feat. Pitbull)- Jennifer Lopez

Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix Radio Edit)- Omi

Bad (feat. Vassy) [Radio Edit]- David Guetta & Showtek

Black Skinhead- Kanye West

You Make Me- Avicii

Booyah (feat. We Are Loud! & Sonny Wilson)- Showtek

Drive You Crazy (feat. Jason Derulo & Juicy J)- Pitbull

How You Love Me (feat. Bright Lights)- 3LAU

Spaceman (Carnage Festival Trap Remix)- Hardwell

Freak (feat. Steve Bays) – Steve Aoki, Diplo & Deorro

Born to Rage- Dada Life

Payback- Dimitri Vangelis & Steve Angello & Wyman

Flashlight – R3hab & Deorro

Revolution (feat. Faustix & Imanos and Kai)- Diplo

There are many more playlists that I have! So be on the lookout for new songs that will help you get that heart rate up! WOO! Happy Thursday!

Twenty-one days. Can you do it?!

There is nothing that I love more after a long day than some sort of sweet treat, whether that be countless scoops of mint chip ice cream or handfuls of M&Ms. I never thought I had a “sweet tooth,” but boy, is that wrong.

Unfortunately, being away from home, the temptations of sweet heavenly goodness seem to follow me around every where I go! It quickly turned into habit that I would just have to have something sweet after my meal. I craved all of the bad things, even if I knew that it was not good for my body and of course, I was usually still full.

After a few weeks of being back for my junior year here at school this past fall, I kept ending the day with horrible stomach aches. I finally came to accept that it was all of those sweets that were doing this to me! I would have an awesome day of lean meats, veggies, and fruits, and then a couple hours before bed, my inner cookie monster took over.

When I start to feel gross and heavy, I know that it is time for me to take action. I knew that I needed to change what was becoming like that of a nightly routine to something only once a while. But, in order for me to stop craving sweets all together, I had an idea that put my money on the line.

What I needed was 21 days of accountability. I needed 21 days of no sweets to completely distract and cleanse myself of them, overall. So, I made a bet with one of my friends that for 21 days I was to have no sweets and if I cheated at all, I owed him $50.

That’s right- $50!!!

You do what you gotta do, and for me, I wanted high stakes.

Quite frankly, it wasn’t that hard. Once I learned that sweets are not there yelling my name over and over again for me to eat them, it was a piece of cake. (haha) Learning to simply say no or to avoid the dessert section of a cafeteria is EASY as long as you keep reminding yourself of why you are doing this.

So, here I am a few months past that first time I did 21 days without sweets and I am here to start again! Join me with cutting out one bad health habit that you may have for 21 days. That is three weeks! The time goes by slowly at first, but give it a week and you will not only feel good physically, but you will feel like a rockstar!

Ready? Set? GO! 🙂

Strength

What needs to be determined before we can begin on this journey together is the difference between the idea of being “strong” versus “skinny.” Most importantly, we must learn that one of these words needs to go.

Can you guess which one?

SKINNY

I think this is where my misconception about health and fitness began after I graduated high school. I thought, as I am sure most people do, that in order to be beautiful and fit, I needed to be a certain size, one of which that was certainly too thin. But, that is WRONG. Young woman need to recognize that skinny does not mean healthy. Yes, I could be 110 pounds and look “skinny” to you, but I would be weak, frail, and out of shape.

In order to effectively change your health, you must accept this and deject the concept of skinny. Make that promise to yourself that you are on your journey to strong and I PROMISE you that you will feel beautiful and full of reigning strength.

Okay, now as for the actual exercise part of the equation- DO NOT FEAR WEIGHTS. I used to be one of those “skinny” worshipers that was scared to step away from the elliptical or treadmill and head over to the free weight portion of the gym. As I am sure you have read or heard at some point, weights don’t make girls huge, cupcakes make girls huge. 

If you want to change your life for the better, weights are a MUST. You could even start with some great body weight exercises and eventually add in some weights!

My intention with this blog is to take you on my journey through living by what has fully and entirely changed my approach to health.

STRONG IS THE NEW SKINNY. 

I will walk you through the steps I have taken to work towards a better lifestyle. I will give you ideas on tricks to keep you on track and of course, kick-ass workouts to make you sweat!

Who is ready to be the hottest & STRONGEST version of themselves?

I SURE AM! Let’s GO!