As you all know, I live to eat and I workout so I can eat more. Losing weight, toning up or whatever your goals are, is actually really easy but the hardest part is finding motivation (and keeping it). Having the right mindset is the most important so you have to have enough drive to reach your goals even though there will always bumps along the road that’ll make you wander off. Here are some tips that helped me:

• Don’t say “I want to lose weight.” Dieting is intimidating so don’t make it your main goal. Instead, focus on achieving a healthy lifestyle and once you do, you’re going to lose weight and tone up anyway.
• Start a food journal. Weightloss is so simple: eat in a calorie deficit and by recording your food, you’ll see how many calories you’ve eaten and freak out when the numbers get too high which should be some motivation for you to stop [for the day]. Just don’t get too anal and obsessed with the calorie-counting and measuring food; it helps in the beginning but you can stop (or do it less frequently) once you understand your body and your foods overtime.
• Start slow and don’t deprive yourself. Don’t cut everything out at once or you’ll end up binging. If you’re craving for something, let yourself have it once in a while in the beginning but only a little bit (eg. a bite) and then slowly restrict yourself even more. Once you start eating healthy and less junk, your cravings will become less and less because basically, if you’re always eating sugary desserts, your body will always crave for it so once you cut it out, you’ll crave it less.

  

• Invest in cute workout gear that compliments your body. You can’t see your body with baggy t-shirts and your boyfriend’s gym shorts but with form fitting clothes (that aren’t 2 sizes too small), you’ll see your body and the progress you’ve made = motivation will go up! FYI, I think Lululemon and Bebe Sports sweat pants are the best.

  

• Load up your iPod. Music, workout videos (you can download from Youtube), fitness apps, take notes, etc. Technolgy is so good to us so take advantage of it; you’ll have everything you need right at your fingertips. There are 3 things I always need: iPod, water bottle and a towel. If I forget one of those, I’ll actually drive 20 minutes back home and to the gym again just to get it. I know that sounds stupid but back in high school if I forgot one of those, I would just not work out… which is even stupider. I’m getting there, okay.
• Read health and fitness blogs and know the science of toning up/losing weight/etc. Knowing how it works will make it much easier instead of just jumping into it and not see results and besides, it’s actually quite simple once you know how it’s done.
• Throw out the scale!! You really only need a mirror and your clothes but if you really need to, only weigh yourself once every two weeks. You’ll get discouraged weighing yourself daily and only seeing minuscule changes in progress.
• Be creative. Change your workout weekly/bi-weekly, do different kinds of cardio (machine, bodyweight, circuits, etc.), learn new ways to lift, take classes… the possibilities are endless and you’ll never get bored.

  

How do you guys stay motivated?

Anyway, if you guys want the link to my fitness journal, shoot me an email (don’t ask for it in the comments!!) but I’d have to have a way to validate your identity (eg. a blog/social media profile — where I’ll email the link back to an email address I find on there).

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This is Chinese designer, Guo Pei’s collection from China’s Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2010 entitled, Thousand and Two Nights. It’s a beautiful and luxurious fusion of Chinese and Arabic design… and some killer shoes.

And here’s 12 inches of goodness for the shorter ladies out there.

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I want to live in an beautiful stately home.

I want to my own Midnight Garden where I can escape to with a good book.

I want a farm …with hired-help.

I want a field full of sheep like Beatrix Potter’s.

I want a slow-paced lifestyle where I can ride horses all day.

I want to explore old castles and have picnics amongst it’s rolling hills.

I want to live on the English countryside.

I’m sure it’ll change again and again over the years but this what my idea of retirement looks like right now.

What’s yours?

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If I were a month, I’d be September.
(Hello, Fall!)

If I were a day of the week, I’d be Friday.

If I were a time of day, I’d be 11:00pm.

If I were a planet, I’d be Neptune.

If I were a sea animal, I’d be a Great White.

If I were a direction, I’d be east.

If I were a piece of furniture, I’d be a bookshelf.

If I were a liquid, I’d be taro milk tea.

If I were a gemstone, I’d be an amethyst.

If I were a tree, I’d be an Ever Green.

If I were a tool, I’d be the Adobe Pen Tool.

If I were a flower, I’d be a magnolia.

If I were an element, I’d be water.

If I were a kind of weather, I’d be a thunder storm.

If I were a musical instrument, I’d be a cymbal.

If I were a color, I’d be tyrian.

If I were an emotion, I’d be euphoria.

If I were a fruit, I’d be a lychee.

If I were a sound, I’d be “ha!”

If I were a car, I’d be a Range Rover.

If I were a food, I’d be a french fry.
(So I can be covered in gravy and cheese curds)

If I were a material, I’d be chiffon.

If I were a taste, I’d be savory.

If I were a scent, I’d be vanilla-raspberry.

If I were an object, I’d be a lip gloss.

If I were a song, I’d be November Rain.

If I were a body part, I’d be the tongue.
(Stop thinking dirty thoughts, it’s because I love food.)

If I were a place, I’d be Versaille.

If I were a facial expression, I’d be a zoned-out look.

If I were a pair of shoes, I’d be a pair of thigh-high leather boots.

What would you be?

Via The Fab Brunette.

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