01 Nov
Lifestyle

OPTIMIZE YOUR TO DO LIST!!

What’s one thing that every adult has in common? A To Do List! While they might not have the same content, the fact of the matter is that we all have something to do! It’s just a part of life. Now the question is do we or do we not actually make a list? Well if you ask me, I’m making a list every time! I am a checker offer. ✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️ It literally brings me peace and joy to check things off. I feel organized, effective, and productive! It also just helps me remember the massive amount of tasks that I have to complete. To Do Lists are awesome when done right, but they can also be stressful when done wrong. 

Keep reading to see how I make my lists more efficient!

1. GET THE ESSENTIALS

A To Do starter kit is a must! What does it require? 

  • Small Size Sticky Notes
  • Medium Size Sticky Notes
  • Small note paper pad
  • Colorful pens

I bought these items together in bulk at target for less than  $25.00. 

I like to have specific items designated for making my list because it’s easier to keep up with and in my mind it gives the list a level of importance. If I have my iPad, my computer, and my list kit, I know some things are about to get done!! 

2. CREATE A COLOR CODE

I select 3-4 different color pens and then I assign a priority level from low to high and then urgent. When I used to study for tests in college and dental school I would always use different color highlighters and pens to write and absorb my notes. It was something about the colors that made my notes pop and thus easier to remember. It may be a little anal to assign the priority levels, but just think about a list written in all black w/ no organization vs. one that has 4 colors and each color tells you the level of importance of what you need to do. I’m way more efficient when I color code. 

3. BREAK YOUR LIST DOWN

  • WEEKLY, DAILY, & SINGLE TASKS LISTS
  • LISTS IN DIFFERENT PLACES

I always feel like I have a million and one things to do and when I write them all down on one page, I get overwhelmed and my anxiety levels go up immediately! Also, if all my tasks are on one sheet, I try to do them simultaneously. At one point I thought being a “multitasker” made me a high functioning individual, but then i realized when I multitask I never complete my list, I stay forgetting things, and although things are getting checked off, the quality of what I’m getting done is compromised. So I break my list down into three. 

1.A weekly list, which is the master copy and holds everything that needs to be done. 

2.A daily list which is a smaller snapshot and limits how much you can do. I put my top five tasks on this sticky. 

3.A single task sticky on which I write one action down at a time. When I complete it I cross it off the other lists and then choose the next one up. It eliminates multitasking, keeps me focused and I complete my list!!

Another reason I like to break the list down is because you can place them in different locations as reminders. I’m always moving throughout the day, so having reminders in different places ensures that I don’t forget the list I made myself at the beginning of the day. 

There’s obviously more than one way to make a ToDo list. This works for me, and I’m hoping it will give you an idea of how to approach organizing your own list! I would love to hear if you are a list maker and if so what are your tips and tricks to make your list more effective?! 

21 Oct
Lifestyle

BODY ANALYSES: The “SMART” way to weigh yourself!

  • Featured
  • By

Traditional scales are a scam!

Ever since the 6th grade  I’ve been the type of person that weighs themself everyday. Literally everyday. I did/do that because it allows me to keep long term track of my weight and I don’t tend to gain more than 5 pounds because I’m so aware of how much I weigh. When I start gaining weight I know immediately and can make the necessary changes. I think we all have different types of relationships with the scale… whether I have a healthy one with it or not well that’s another topic for another blog.

But I’ve been traveling and in transition for the last four months and as a result I haven’t had access to a scale on a daily basis. I recently signed up with a new gym and they offered me two InBody Scale analyses for the FREE! So of course I hopped on that deal! 

Keep reading to see what I experienced and learned during my analysis.

MY EXPERIENCE

So this is how my experience went.

Stepping on the Scale!

A trainer contacted me two days prior to my appointment and gave me basic instructions to track my food and drink lots of water. I went to the InBody website and they have a pre-appt informational video (which I’ve posted below). Some instructions they give are:

-Don’t drink for 45 mins prior to resting

-Don’t eat 2-3 hours prior

-Don’t workout atleast 3 hours prior 

-Stick to your normal eating routine the day before

When I arrived I got on a scale and held these little handles for about a minute. Then from there I filled out a questionnaire that really aimed to identify my existing fitness and nutrition habits, what my current goals are, and how do I prioritize my goals. I was then given my Body Composition Analysis and the trainer proceeded to break down the stats. 

https://inbodyusa.com/general/inbody-test/

WHAT I LEARNED

From the breakdown of my stats, this is what I learned.

-I have inflammation in my body and I need to drink more water.

-I don’t consume enough protein for my lean body mass (LBM). As a general rule we should be consuming 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass in order to maintain. When I tracked my food my average daily protein intake was 90 g, but LBM is 119. 

-My basal metabolic rate is 1550 calories which is the minimum number of calories my body needs to function at rest. So I need to consume that amount of calories to function at a basic level. Based off of my tracking of food for the few days prior to the meeting I wasn’t eating enough calories. Who would’ve thought I’m not eating enough?!!! 

-I haven’t really identified a specific goal. I think I’m really just trying to maintain. She gave me a website (Tdeccalculator.net) that helped me identify my maintenance and cutting calorie consumption and the corresponding macros.

-We talked about my workouts and how I should organize them. She stressed that it’s important to work primary muscles prior to synergistic/secondary muscles because if you work those first, you’re simultaneously working the primary, so when you finally go to work the primary muscles they’re already tired and your form be compromised leading to a greater risk of injury.

INFO

WHAT I LIKE

I really learned about my body. It was like a speed date introduction to my body. I didn’t have to make assumptions. It gave me exact insight on how to adjust my eating habits. My trainer was professional and informative. She knew what she was talking about and I came out of the session with a decent understanding of how I should move forward. I was given tools to help like a list of food options to eat to help meet my macros, a website to help identify and count macros, and the opportunity to sign up for personal training. 

It was a fairly quick process and I left it feeling encouraged which is not often how one feels after being weighed.

MY TAKEAWAY

A traditional scale is pretty much useless. Why? Because it’s not an indicator of health. It gives you a number that doesn’t distinguish between fat, muscle, or water which is what our bodies are made up of. It literally just gives you a number with no background information. 

60 seconds on a high tech scale and 20 minutes with a professional gave me more information about my “weight” than the scale has given me in the past 20 + years.

So here’s some food for thought… or questions to ask yourself (because I asked myself these questions after my experience).

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

(1) What type of scale person are you? 

i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, not at all

(2) Does your method of weighing yourself assist you in your body composition goals?

If you haven’t tried the BCA you definitely should. There are a lot of gyms that offer this service, but maybe you don’t have a gym and you only do home workouts. They have started making at home affordable scales that measure more than just weight. 

I’ve dropped a link to an article that’s identified and rated the top 5 smart scales of 2021. 

Top5smartscales.com 

Throw your scale away! It’s time to weigh ourselves the “SMART”  way!

01 Sep
Lifestyle

AGING GRACEFULLY INTO FITNESS

  • Featured
  • By

I’m turning 35 in a few days and don’t get me wrong… I am ecstatic about it, but also a little wary. Why? Well because I can’t predict exactly how aging will affect my body or my health.

This summer I decided to recommit myself to running. I hate running, but when I was in middle school and high school I could run a 7 minute mile. Now… not so much. On a good day I’m running it in 9:15, but if the distance increases…. my mind literally just shuts my body down. Now I know this isn’t solely because of age and more likely due to my inconsistency with my running habit and my negative mind set towards it, but when I was inconsistent and young, it didn’t matter. I could still run a fast mile regardless of how long it had been since I practiced. As I age, I realize that I have to adjust my habits in order to maintain a certain level of fitness.

Keep reading to see the steps I’m taking to age gracefully into fitness!

1. SELF CARE

Self Care is such a hot social media term these days, but that’s because it holds value. Self Care results in Self Preservation which really is the Goal! In taking care of our bodies and minds we can effectively prolong or even overcome certain unwanted affects that getting older can have. Strictly speaking about fitness, age can be detrimental because our bodies are inching towards the end of their life cycle. Muscles lose mass, strength and elasticity. Bones become brittle and cellular healing capacity declines.

Self Care looks different to everyone but these are my go tos for fitness and self care:

-Flexibility and Mobility Training

-Percussion and Massage Therapy

-The use of props/appropriate safety personal protective equipment when working out (i.e. – wearing good running shoes, using blocks and straps in yoga, wearing waist and knee braces if I’m lifting heavy).

-Knowing WHEN and HOW to rest my body

2. KNOW YOUR LIMITS

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t push or challenge yourself. You absolutely should! Yet there is a fine line between pushing yourself and injury. If we know our body’s ability to heal isn’t 100 percent, why would we intentionally put it in a position where it has to?

By knowing my limits I am effectively listening to my body. Understanding that running a 7 minute mile isn’t impossible, but it might take me some months or years to get my cardio back to that level. While it might hurt my ego, I have to admit that physically I am not where I used to be AND physically it might take me longer to get back to where I once was. It’s about being honest with yourself and then moving forward accordingly.

3. CONTINUE TO SET GOALS

Continue to set goals, even though they may have changed. Goal setting is a motivation and accountability tool. We evolve as we age, so it makes sense that our goals will change. It’s still important to set them so that we can visualize and form a path towards what it is we are trying to achieve.

My fitness goals for this year are to improve my cardiovascular health. I want to be able to make running a daily habit. I also want to continue to grow in my yoga practice and improve my flexibility.

4. CONSISTENCY IS KEY

Like I said earlier, running would probably be easier for me if I had stayed consistent with it. Why is consistency key? It’s key because achieving a fitness goal doesn’t magically happen overnight. It takes hard work and dedication over a long period of time. If you’re always starting and stopping, it takes longer to get to where you want to go and every time you stop it becomes that much harder to start.

I don’t know about y’all, but I’m all about finding an eazier solution for the same outcome. So yea…. Consistency!!!

5. APPRECIATION

Appreciate where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going. This is all about offering yourself grace and understanding for where you are in your journey.

I honestly got mad when I realized I wasn’t running as fast or as long as I used to. Like legit mad, but then I paused. I thought to myself… ‘ you formed a healthy habit of running at the age of 11 and 24 years later you can still do that activity, just at a different level.’ Then I thought… ‘imagine what you can do in another 24 years if you’re consistent and intentional with the goal you want to achieve?!’

Taking a moment to give myself grace gave me the time to process the situation in a completely different way. A way that encourages and motivates me to do what I have to do.

A part of me is afraid of getting old. Afraid that I will lose the abilities that I have now. While that might be true, I realize that how I age isn’t something that’s completely out of my control and that I have the power to age with grace. I do not have to be bounded by fear.

I hope these tips are helpful to you all! Let me know what you’re doing to age gracefully into fitness!

06 Aug
Lifestyle

THE ART OF THE STAYCATION

In 2009 the term Staycation was added to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. A combination of the words stay and vacation, they defined it as “a vacation spent at home or nearby.” With travel coming to a halt during the pandemic, staycations were a saving grace for travelers across the world, including myself. I was used to taking a trip whether small or large at least once every three to four months. Unable to board a plane, and stationed in a country 7,000 miles away from my family I began to feel stuck and claustrophobic. So I started to experiment with staycationing. A little over a year later, I now consider myself to be an avid staycationer and I’ve found that there’s definitely a technique to having a successful holistay! Keep reading to see my approach to a successful staycation!

STEP 1: IDENTIFY YOUR WHY.

We all have our own reasons for needing or wanting to take a trip. Knowing what that reason is prior to traveling gives us the opportunity to tailor our experience to our specific needs. Ask yourself why would going on a staycation be beneficial and what is your intention?

I decided to go on my last staycation because I needed a gratitude refresher. I was getting bored and overwhelmed with my daily routine and things that would normally bring me joy were no longer having the same effect. Taking a staycation allowed me to push the pause button on my day-to-day, recharge my battery and come back refreshed able to once again appreciate the small things.

STEP 2: SELECT YOUR DESTINATION WISELY.

The “stay” in Staycation does not mean you have to stay at home, but you also don’t have to leave home. There is flexibility in the term. The idea is to find a location that offers you vibes, convenience, scenery, food selection, access to activities or whatever it is that you deem important during your time off.

For this particular trip I only had two days to unplug and relax, so I focused on finding a place with upscale lodging that didn’t require extensive travel time. I chose the Wyndham Grand because it was a 10 min Uber ride from my flat, and the luxurious rooms offered a view that could set and maintain the vibe I was looking for.

STEP 3: JUST DO IT.

Once you arrive at your destination, the first thing you should do is revisit your reason for taking this staycation. Write down your intentions, take a few minutes to mediate and feel/establish the energy of a different space. After that in the words of Nike “JUST DO IT. ” Whatever it is that you came to do, do that and do it unhindered.

My “JUST DO IT” moment began with putting on my robe! Robes in hotels symbolize relaxation, so I walked into the room, put my robe on and I was immediately in an unplug mindset. I spent the rest of the weekend reading, resting, and eating!

STEP 4: ASK YOURSELF DO YOU FEEL FULFILLED?

So, I think by now you can see the trend of checking in with your intentions. It might seem repetitive, but if you go on a trip for a reason and the trip ends without getting what you needed, then what was the point? When you stay true to your why, then you’re able to accomplish the goal you initially set out to complete, meaning the trip was worthwhile. That is the last step, asking yourself if you feel fulfilled.

Although things are starting to open back up and vacations no longer have to be on hold, I believe staycations are here to stay! Vacations are a form of self-care and so are staycations. Not to mention they require less funds, less time, and less travel. If you have a staycay coming up, try my approach and let me know how it goes!