This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx on behalf of Polar

I started my weight-loss journey three years ago this month, and I’ve learned so much about myself through this entire process. I was in the same position as you, and I know how easy it is to get sidetracked and lose motivation. I honestly didn't think that I would last a month on my weight loss journey, and now it's three years later. The process wasn't easy, but it was definitely worth it. Below, I'm sharing 5 Ways to Stay Motivated to Workout & Stay Active.

Create Routines

What I learned that works best for me is having a routine. For instance, once I complete my hygiene in the morning. I review my sleep data on my Polar Ignite 2 watch. I then complete my first session of yoga. Being a mom, one email or call can possibly change your entire day. I learned having this routine and sticking to it works best for me.

Example of My Morning Routines

• 6 am Hygiene
• 6:30 am Review my Polar fitness watch Stats
• 7 am Yoga
• 8 am 1st Snack
• 9-11 am Emails

Clothing and You Love
A total game-changer for me is having workout gear that I actually love. Whether you’re trying to lose weight or just stay active. Having workout gear that you actually love makes a huge difference in staying motivated.  

Do What You Like
I’m a huge believer in doing what you like. I personally prefer walking instead of running. You may love to run. Figure out what you like. Trust me, it comes with trial and error. However, once you find workouts and systems that you like. It just makes things so much more rewarding.

Accountability Partner
It’s so important to find your tribe. Whether it’s your colleagues at work or your virtual buddies. Find people who are on the same journey as you and use them as a support system, and also keep you accountable for staying on task.

Reward System
I’m a huge advocate in creating a reward system for yourself. Whether it’s a reward for drinking water daily and/or working out all week. Creating goals, and once you reach those goals have a reward system for reaching those goals.

Make It Apart of Your Lifestyle
I’m often asked How I’ve been able to maintain my weight loss, and honestly, it’s because it has turned into a lifestyle for me. It didn’t happen overnight. It’s just a part of my daily routines to check my stats for the day, month, and/or week.

 

Fitness Watch
It’s so important to track your fitness, it has been a huge part of me staying motivated. My Polar Ignite 2 watch has been a total game-changer for my wellness journey. Not only can you change the watch face and bands to fit your personality and/or outfit look. This fitness watch keeps you motivated to crush your goals with features like wrist-based heart rate tracking, integrated GPS, and guided workouts. My favorite features are the workout tracking, and the sleep and recovery insights. You can also control music, and view the weather forecast, so it really fits into your lifestyle.

Comfort

Hello, everyone, if you're new to this series I recently went on a healthy eating and weight loss journey in March of this year. You can learn all about my journey here. I've lost over 40 lbs so far. Which was not my original goal and I'm more in the maintaining and muscle gaining stages now.
Lately, I've learned that I've had to learn how to deal with the opinions of others. It's funny because my immediate family never say anything. However, everyone else has something to say which is honestly doing more harm than good.
I guess people fail to realize that I don't owe them any explanation and I'm not open to their opinions. Which people give a lot.
Now that it officially fall. I plan on switching up my routine a little. Prior to my metabolism slowing down. I never had any issues losing weight during the summer months. The last couple of years I've owned a workout machine which like most people I barely used it. Well, this summer we had to get rid of it which I'm a little nervous about now.
I don't own a gym membership because I'm just not the gym membership type of girl. I've had one for years in the past and would never go. Since to starting to get super cold in October and I don't look like the cold. I have to do better about going for my daily walks and figuring out a routine for the fall and winter months.
Since the official start of winter isn't into mid-December if plan on finding an In-home workout routine that will give me enough steps ( I try to do 10k a day).

I still plan on tracking my steps and food which has been really helpful for me.
In the past, I've really struggled in the winter time with maintaining my weight. I would gain at least ten pounds each winter due to poor eating habits and lack of exercise and during the warmer months, I would pretty much loose whatever weight I gained that past winter.

Fall Goals

• Maintain weight ( not lose any more weight) 
• Build muscle 
• Create a workout routine
• 10k daily steps 
• Create weekly meal plan for myself

Do you have any fall fitness or weight loss goals? 

As many of you know, I recently went on a weight loss journey and lost 35 pounds. Yay right? Well, I know the goal was to lose weight now the bigger goal is keeping it off. I’ve worked so hard to get to the point of where I’m at today. A lot of sacrifice and dedication. When I first started this journey. I thought losing weight was going to be a really hard process for me. I made up every excuse in the book from already being a good size to my metabolism slowing down. I quickly learned that anything is possible. Now that I have accomplished this goal. My next goal is maintaining my weight (unless I gain muscle in sexy areas) I wanted to share with you a few tips that I’m using to assist me with the next chapter in my weight loss journey. 

Accountability Partner

I have an accountability partner for shopping. Why not have one for my weightless journey. This person does not have to be in the same state as you. However, it does have to be someone that is going to answer your calls and/or respond to your text messages. You know those mornings when they bring hot Krispy Creme donuts in the office or you really don’t feel like going for your daily walk or working out. This person is one call away to let you know that you’ve come too far. Find someone that you can rely on. They don't currently have to be on a weight loss journey. They're there for support and encouragement. 

Support Group

Having a support group of people can really make this process a lot easier for you. Most likely your calorie count has increased which means this can become a slippery slope for some. There are so many support groups out there from Facebook to possibly one at your actual gym or library. Research and find one that would be most beneficial for your lifestyle. Which ever route you select is great as long as it fits your current lifestyle. Don't set yourself up for failure you know you know you're going to be unable to participate online or in person. Also, if you find that you want to try both options and figure out later which one works for you. That's awesome! The main goal is to use something that will work. 

Regimen/ Plan/ Consistency

I will not stress to you have important it is to have a regimen. On a weekly basis, I meal prep. I cut a watermelon and put them in my to-go bags so they are already on hand when needed. I have plastic utensils if I’m in a rush. I typically bake something once a week so I have a healthy breakfast or snack. I go to the grocery store once a week to stock up on my fav veggies/fruits and when I meal prep. I meal prep for all of my meals. I still use My Fitness Pal app to track my calories and steps. You’ve come thus far because of your consistency. There is no magic pill you can take. Because honestly, the weight will just come back on. All of those days that you had a healthy alternative would have gone to waste. Don’t take any breaks, don’t turn your cheat meals into your daily meals. Trust, me. I get it, however, consistency always wins the face. What works for me is planning ahead. What may work for you is creating your meals daily and that's the beauty of this journey. However, consistency is key. 

Do you have any diet tips?

Pin for later

Today I'm sharing five tips to assist you with losing weight. I know that it's not easy to lose weight. Trust me, I get it. I'm currently on a weight loss journey myself and I've been receiving so many questions in regard to how I have lost weight thus far. By no means am I a fitness instructor. Just a real mom with real stretch marks and a muffin top.

Goal

What would I change?

Almost two months ago I started tracking my calories and watching how much food I actually consumed daily. I would always keep a food journal on my phone. However, I had no idea how many calories I was actually consuming on a daily basis. One thing I wish I did differently was actually planning out my meals and have all my calories accounted for. So many days I would just wing it, which I would be under a thousand calories at the end of the night. I try my best to stay around twelve hundred calories. What this means is having an idea for breakfast I'm going to have oatmeal with strawberries, lunch tuna on a half avocado and dinner beans with a sweet potato. By knowing this, I can plan my snacks around how many calories are left over and only eat what I planned out.

What did I cut Out?

Are you currently on a weight loss journey?

I'm always looking for new recipes to try. Especially those that can assist me while on my weight loss Journey. A couple of months ago I tried lemon turmeric lemonade and it was okay.  I guess it was so weird to me because I felt as if I was sipping on a seasoning. Kinda like sipping on parsley. If that makes any since. Throughout the last couple of months, I learned a lot about turmeric and all of the wonderful benefits it has. I decided to revisit the idea of incorporating turmeric in my diet and felt as if that a turmeric shot would be more of my speed. 

I love that this recipe includes all natural ingredients and it was super easy to make in my Vitamix Blender. 

My first time making this recipe I made a small batch and stored contents in an up-cycled glass bottle. I consistently took a shot daily and I was really impressed with this recipe. 

Overall, I plan to have this recipe on rotation. I love all of the benefits that it has. 

Benefits

Turmeric: 

Natural Anti-Inflammatory Compound

Coconut Water: 

Good source for electrolytes

Ginger:

Great for assisting with digestive issues

Raw Honey: 

Good sources of Antioxidants. Plus, Antibacterial and Anti-fungal Properties

Lemon:

Good sources of the vitamin, C. Plus aids digestion and supports weight loss

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoons raw honey 
• 2 cups coconut water 
• 1 teaspoon dried turmeric
• 1-inch fresh ginger root 
• 1 lemon 

Instructions

1. Place coconut water, turmeric and ginger root in a blender and blend
2. Add lemon juice and honey
3. Enjoy! 

Have you tried s turmeric shot before?

Hello, friends! Today I'm sharing a fitness update, as you can see from the blog title I'm currently 24 pounds down. I have reached my original weight loss goal however, I still have a final weight loss goal that I'm trying to each. The last seven days were really hard for me to reach my daily intake of food. Because I don't eat meat and I only eat seafood when I'm in the mood. I found myself eating, however, the calories weren't adding up. I eat a ton of fruits, however, the calorie intake for a bunch of medium strawberries really isn't that much. I'm going to try to keep a steady pace throughout the day and try to reach half of my calorie goal by my lunchtime. I also plan on doing a more active workout. I go walking and run periodically throughout. However, I need to be a little more active. I need to sweat more!! I also noticed that I've really been struggling with my daily intake of water. Not sure why. However, I will continue to work on that. I'm far from perfect, this journey has been really interesting. I never thought that I would get to the weight that I'm at today. I am currently not on a weight loss plan with any company. My weight loss is from hard work and dedication. I do not take any weight loss pills. I do take a shot periodically of apple cider vinegar but it's not every day. I do drink lemon water in the mornings before my meals when I have them on hand. (this is consistent when I have them on hand) I try to drink water before and after my meals. As you can see, I'm not perfect! Thanks for taking the time to read my weight loss journey!

Do you have any weight loss tips?

This morning I decided to measure my waist and I was so shocked that I lost 2 inches in my waist. By no means am I one of those beautiful women who has always had a small waist. Nope, not me! I looked at myself and was like “nope” I don't want to measure myself and see that it's the same size from my last measurement. It looked like it was the same. I don't measure myself on a weekly basis because I'm honestly scared that I'm going to see that I didn't loose or that I gained weight and freak out. I do plan at some point once I reach my goal to track my weight weekly. Just not right now. I've been asked what has worked for me and I'm sharing the deets below.

Exercise

For the last couple of weeks, I haven't been to the gym. I don't even own a gym membership. I did a couple of weeks ago and wouldn't go. 

Food

I try my best to stay away from dairy. I typically have up to 1200 calories a day. I try my best to stay under 1400 and a little above 1000 calories. I typically drink a cup of mint or green tea daily with no sweeteners added. I will add a half of lemon to my green tea though.

Counting Calories

When I first started this journey. I did not count calories I was more focused on portion control. I did not want to give up anything! That shortly changed when I noticed that I could actually lose weight. I use My Fitness Pal to track and count calories.

Steps

I try my best to have 10K steps daily. Which really works out because I have a dog so I take him walking in the morning and for a walk at night. If I still do not have any enough steps. I'll take a walk by myself. I don't own a Fitbit. I use my phone to track my steps. 

Do you have any fitness tips?