.Guest Post: Lucy from Craftberry Bush.

Happy Saturday everyone! 

A few weeks ago I shared my personal story explaining my determination to become healthier spiritually, physically, and emotionally. I am happy to report I have completed 3 weeks of eating better (much, much better) and I can honestly say I feel good! My energy level has continued to increase and I find myself accomplishing more in a day. The 12 minute exercise program has been wonderful and I find myself pushing harder and harder each time and completing more exercises during the 20 second intervals. I am not perfect and will admit I took one week off with exercising because it was my "time" and I am afraid my sweet mouth for chocolate came back for just a few days. Good news: I did not get discouraged! I jumped right back into my healthier diet and exercises. I have not weighed myself because I am not ready to see numbers..I simply enjoy feeling better and my clothes fitting a little (very little at this point) better! 

I am thrilled to announce our guest blogger today! It is Lucy from Craftberry Bush! Lucy is a wonderful Christian, a loving mother, wife, and friend. Her blog captures the beauty God created in elegant, creative ways. Lucy's blog offers high quality photos that will instantly draw you in to the warm, whimsical feel she continually creates. Lucy shares personal stories about her family as well as fun, inspiring craft projects for all to enjoy! I love reading Lucy's blog and was so touched when she offered some advice on getting healthy. Lucy is a personal trainer with excellent insight on getting healthy. I asked Lucy if she would like to write a few posts for my blog to inform me, as well as my readers, about tips for diet and exercise and she jumped at the chance! Here is Lucy from Craftberry Bush!

Hello guys, 

I am so honored to be here at Little Things Bring Smiles to share with you some basic information on getting healthy. When I read that Katie wanted to embark in a healthier journey, I was immediately excited. As a personal trainer, I offered Katie my assistance and support and of course Katie being our sweet Katie, she thought you would also benefit from some of my suggestions.

In the next couple of weeks we will be discussing the how’s and why’s of getting there. 

 

Let’s start with goal setting…

Whether you want to lose weight, gain muscle or increase your endurance, it's important to tailor your workout to fit your goals. That seems obvious, but almost everyone who starts working out eventually finds their enthusiasm waning as their goals get further and further away. One way to avoid giving up is to make sure your goals are realistic and that you have a specific plan to reach them.

If you're trying to lose, get healthy, build muscle or excel at a sport, you'll need SMART goals - Goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. When you don't have a specific goal, it's difficult to keep exercising and to track your progress to see how far you've come. Keep in mind that you can have a variety of goals - Losing weight, getting in a certain number of workouts, improving your health or even just making better choices every day.  

Before you start working out, take a moment and ask yourself these questions:

1. What do I want to accomplish with this exercise program?
2. Is my goal realistic and attainable?
3. Do I know how to reach my goal?
4. Do I have a timeline for reaching my goal?
5. How will I reward myself when I get there?

 

For example if your goal is to lose 50 lbs in 6 months, it is possible but it is not reasonable and you will only end up feeling defeated and discouraged. Experts recommend that you lose no more than 1-2 pounds per week, but it isn't likely that you'll lose 2 pounds every single week and many people find they actually lose about .5 to 1 pound on a good week. 

 

Be aware that if your goal is to lose weight, the more weight you have the easier will be to lose weight initially, but the closer you get to your goal weight the harder it will get. That does not mean you should give up. 

 

Do you need to lose weight? 

Often our weight loss goals are based on what we think we should look like rather than what's reasonable for our bodies right now. There are broad parameters to use to figure out if you need to lose weight but, in general, you might be a candidate for weight loss if you have the following characteristics:

• A BMI of more than 25
• A Waist-Hip ratio of higher than .8 for women and higher than 1.0 men
• An Abdominal Girth measurement of more than 35 inches in women and 40 inches in men

Of course, these are only guidelines and you should consider them as such.

Take a look at your life, do you run out of breath while walking up the stairs or just doing everyday activities? Do you have pain in your joints? Are your clothes not fitting properly? Do you just want to feel healthier ?

Nutrition and Exercise. You cannot have one without the other. Come back next week when I will provide you with some basic information on the best exercises and some nutrition tips.

Thank you so much for reading along and good luck on this new journey.

Much love, Lucy

Thank you Lucy for taking the time to write this. I am looking forward to next week's post :) 

Happy Weekend!