A Curvy Girls Guide to Crushing Your Fitness Goals in 2020

"It’s hard to lose weight and stay motivated to keep it off.  In today's episode,  join Jana'e Michelle, entrepreneur, host and blogger as we discuss the secrets you already know to staying consistent and motivated! If you've been struggling with losing the weight or getting to the gym, and could use some motivation and encouragement? Then this is the podcast for you.

Transcript

Jana'e Michelle: 0:13

Welcome to this curvy girls life podcast, a podcast designed to empower and encourage women to be the best and most authentic version of themselves. I am your host, Jana'e Michelle, entrepreneur and blogger at Thiscurvygirlslife.com. Before we hop into today's episode, if you are enjoying what you are hearing so far, I would love for you to hop on over and subscribe and rate us on iTunes or whatever platform you're listening on. For more information on our blog, podcast and for a free printable, be sure to visit us at thiscurvygirlslife.com now let's hop into today's episode. I would just like to say welcome, welcome, welcome to the very first episode of this curvy girls life podcast. We are excited to have each and every one of you with us today. So just to give you a little bit of an overview of what this curvy girl's life will be offering you as a podcast. We are a life style brand, so we will be talking everything from fashion, beauty, skincare, self care, fitness, business, all the things that a curvy girl would be into. So we are going to hop into this week's episode, but I just want to let you guys know that we are in for a treat this week. As you guys know, we are at the beginning of the year today marks day one of the rest of 2020 can you believe that we are in day one of 2020 and so for today's podcast, I actually wanted to hop in today and talk to you guys about fitness. And yes, it is going to be a fitness podcast today because it is the beginning of the year and on most people's resolution lists or go list is always either to lose weight or work out more. So I figured what a great way for us to get started, especially since I myself have been on my own fitness journey since about may of 2019 so I am going into about my seventh month of just going hardcore to the gym and eating better and I am definitely seeing the benefits. And so I thought, what a better way to start this podcast and to bring this information, how I've gotten to where I am today. Um, the techniques, the tools, the advice that I've gotten along the way that I thought that I can share with you. So that's just hop right in. So to give you guys a little bit of background about myself, i n I believe, March of 2019 I went to the doctor and I like any doctor's appointment, you step on the scale. I stepped on the scale and the nurse said 391 pounds. Yes, you heard me 391 pounds. And when she said that, to be very honest with you, the only thing that ran through my mind is"that's nine pounds away from being 400 pounds." That literally was my thought. You are nine pounds away from being 400 pounds. And so because of that, I knew it was time for me to make a change. I knew that I had to do something, but I'm going to be very honest with you guys. I didn't do anything. As a matter of fact, I think that number depressed me, scared me more than I had let on. And I kinda got into my feelings and ended up doing something that I didn't want to do, which was eating more, gaining more, feeling more unhealthy. And to be honest with you, the last time I weighed myself was at that doctor's office, but I am 100% sure that I gained weight from March to May 27th and you're probably wondering the jump between March and May 27th what is, what does that have to do with anything? Well, May 27th was the day I started my fitness journey. That day I got up early, I went to the gym and I walked on the treadmill for an hour and I did that every day, five days a week, sometimes six or seven on the weekends. And I would just walk on the treadmill. But I got up and I got there. And then as this journey kind of continued, I started to do little things like starting to incorporate some free weights, incorporating some squats and some of the things that I was familiar with. But the only thing that I had to do was get there. And so my first tip for anyone who is trying to lose weight, who is trying to lead a healthier lifestyle, someone that maybe just wants to maintain the weight that they've already lost is change your mindset. My actual quote that I wrote down was, you are not limited by your body, only your mindset, and I'm going to be honest. It took me a long time to get to the point to where I understood the difference between unlimiting my body and my mindset. I automatically assumed that I couldn't do certain things because of my size and because of that I didn't try. I would go to the gym and I would do the same exercises that I felt comfortable with because I was familiar with them and I also felt that, okay, my body can handle this, but that was my mindset because as I started to work out, as I started to get more into my daily routine, more into trying out different exercises that I started to realize that, okay, she may be a big girl, but she can move. What? She can jump, she can do lunges, she can do all the things, things that I sat there and watched other people do, I can do. And I needed that because it allowed me to start to see that it had nothing to do with my size. It was the mindset that I had. I wasn't trying new things, I wasn't doing certain things because I just automatically made it seem like my body could not do that. But that was my mindset and I had to change that. And as soon as I changed my mindset, I started doing things like the side shuffle on the box or box. Um, what do they call it? Box jumps. Um, I mean now don't get me wrong, I'm not at the highest level of the box, but the fact that I'm doing box jumps now, um, if you would've told me that I could do, I will be doing box jumps today. A year ago I would've told you no way. And now I'm here. So the one thing that you really have to do and have to get a hold of when you are thinking about going on a journey of living, a healthier lifestyle, of losing the weight, of building muscle is your mindset. Your mindset is a thing that's gonna stop you or it's going to grow you. So get control of your mindset and just do it. Just do it. You got this, you guys, believe me, it took me a while to get there, but I got there and you can get there too. Like what you're hearing so far, make sure you never miss an episode by clicking that subscribe button right now. This episode is made possible by listeners like you. So thank you so much for your support. Now let's get back to the show. So my second tip of the day is consistency. You see this one? This is the one for me, it's the most important because it's that thing that makes you go to the gym even when you don't want to go to the gym. Consistency, mindset and consistency go together quite well. But if you want to see a difference in any habit in anything that you're doing in life, you have to be consistent at it. Doing it once and expecting results is not the way to do it. Consistency is really about you fighting through that desire to stay in the bed in the morning or fighting through that desire to stop and get that fast food burger. Or for me it's fries. Consistency is you setting yourself up every day. So to give you guys an example, for me, I know that I am a morning person. I do better in the mornings and so for me, setting up my gym routine at 4:30 in the morning made sense because I'm up, I have the energy and I'm ready to go and I can do it. I don't mind the cold air. I don't mind that it's early. I don't mind that it's still dark out. And so for me that was the perfect time. Now, if you would've wanted me to start working out with you at six o'clock in the evening during the week, that probably would not have worked. I would not have been consistent. I know how I am after work. The last thing I want to do after work is going to work out. And so for me, my plan of action to be consistent was working out in the mornings. My plan of action to eat right is to consistently grocery shop and meal prep consistently grocery shop and meal prep. Meaning I should have things that I can snack on in the home. I should be able to open my refrigerator, maybe grab a container out that I can take to work with me for my lunch, for my breakfast. And that way I am being consistent. So you have to set yourself up for consistency and you kind of have to find those things that work better for you. Now, some people, you may be better to work out in the evening, God bless you. Um, and if that's your schedule, then just stick with it. Find that routine. If it's at five 30 every day you walk to the restroom in your building at your, at your job, you throw on your gym clothes. So when you get to your car and you get in your car, you're already dressed for the gym, just drive to the gym, started setting up those little things that will become habit and that will become consistent for you. And as you become more consistent, you'll see the progress along the way. So my last and final tip for those that are early birds would be to get it done early. And I know I just kinda touched on this a little bit, but working out early for me just makes so much sense because it gets me, it gives me energy throughout the day, it helps me deal with stress throughout the day. I feel more aligned throughout the day, which I absolutely love. And most of all, one of the things that I think I love most about it is you, you're boosting your metabolism quite early. So the foods and things that you're drinking throughout the day are breaking down a little bit faster. And so that's one of the things I love about working out. And then the other thing that I love around working out in the morning is my stress level. When I work out early in the morning, it doesn't matter what you throw at me at work, I seem to handle it better when those days where I'm not working out or maybe I'm working out in the evenings, I just noticed that I could have a bad day and I don't handle it the way that I would love to just handle, you know, my day. But I noticed the difference is when I've had an opportunity to get a good workout in, get those endorphins going and get that adrenaline pumping. I tend to react a little bit. No, let me, let me take that back. I don't react to things. I tend to to be able to take a minute, think about things and I allow that stress. My stress level is just so much lower when I work out in the morning. So this is just like an attempt to encourage you because there are certain exercises, like if you're a weight lifting and you're doing cardio or say you're doing a class such as body pump, these things will actually keep your body burning fuel and burning calories throughout the day. So the thing that I love about that is if I work out in the morning and I get a good workout in, I'm continually burning calories throughout my day because of that morning workout. So there are just so many good benefits about getting up and getting it early. Now I am a big girl but I can move and I enjoy a good workout and so I want to guys to know that regardless of your size, regardless of how you feel, your body may be limited, there are things that you can do to start to make yourself feel better. It starts to put you on the path of your goals right now. If that is simply walking every day, if that is going to the gym and maybe just working on your own arms, working on your legs, target one area for a while just so that way you get used to just going and then start to incorporate other things. I definitely will always say if you can get cardio in, cardio is probably one of your most important things. Get that heart rate going, get that blood pumping and get that cardio going. But as you're getting there, as you're getting more used to it, start to think about group classes. Start to think about training sessions. I'm starting to think about maybe getting a workout buddy so you can once again stay consistent, have somebody there to help you, keep you on track with that mindset and maybe someone to help encourage you on those early morning workouts. But I just want to say thank you guys so much for joining us today. That is just a little bit of insight into my current fitness journey. So if you guys want to see more of my fitness journey, please be sure to visit my Instagram, my fitness Instagram@thiscurvygirlsfitness there. You'll actually see, in my stories. I tend to post most of my workouts on most days. Um, if you don't see it in my stories and you definitely will see it in my feed as well so that you guys have enjoyed today's episode and uh, yeah, so thank you guys so much. Thank you so much for joining us in this week's episode of this Curry girls life podcast. Make sure to visit us at our website at thiscurvygirlslife.com where you can subscribe to the show and iTunes, Stitcher, or via RSS so you'll never miss an episode while you're at it. If you found value in today's show, we'd appreciate a rating on iTunes. Want more? Sign up@thiscurvygirlslife.com for our monthly newsletter and our free printables. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram and Twitter at curvy girls life. Be sure to tune in next week for our next episode. Thank you guys so much for joining us today and beautiful people. Have a good one. See you next week, deuces. Bye.