Tag: blogmas

Blogmas 2018

Blogmas Day 25: My favorite Workout apparel brands

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*Today is also the last Day of Blogmas, hope you enjoyed it. Hope everyone had amazing Holidays with their loved ones. I’ll be back soon.

Blogmas 2018

Blogmas Day 24: Who or what motivates me?

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One of the biggest motivations of course is seeing my own progress, seeing how far I have come is the best motivation when I’m feeling down or as if nothing has been changing recently. That’s why I love the fact that I’ve taken Before pictures even though I originally never planned on sharing them (my instagram used to be private until sometime earlier this year where I got out of my comfort zone and went public). It’s been a great experience and amazing feeling since I stepped out of my comfort zone.

My second biggest motivation is a Person, my big brother to be more specific. He has supported me throughout my entire journey whether it was with the nurtition or with my workouts. My brother has been into fitness for quite a few years now and has become a certified Personal Trainer. He’s the only one I trust with both my nutrition and exercise when I need advice, not because he’s a trainer but because he actually does it himself so he knows what he’s talking about and he knows what works. Even though we’re currently not on the same continent he still is such a big motivation and support (when I workout and not really feeling it I often think back to the workout sessions I had with him and it motivates me to push myself to my limits). I am incredibly thankful for everything he has done for me not just with fitness, he’s an amazing brother and I can’t put in words how thankful I am for everything and how much that really means to me.

When I see new progress he’s the first person I share it with and there’s no better feeling than hearing him say “I’m proud of you” or how happy he is for me. I simply wouldn’t be where I am today without him and his amazing support.

Blogmas 2018

Blogmas Day 23: The impact fitness has had on my life

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Of course the most visual impact has been the weightloss and starting to gain more muscle. But overall fitness has had a huge impact on my life, not just physical. A lot has changed for me since fitness has become part of my life. I have a completely different mindset than I used to have before, in a lot of aspects of my life. I don’t struggle as much with depression and mood swings as I used to (also because I stopped taking hormonal birthcontrol, which I wouldn’t have even thought about if it wasn’t for fitness). I’m a lot more confident, I don’t care as much what people might think of me I do what’s best for me whether or not people judge me for it.

I learned a lot about myself, when I first started this journey I wasn’t in a good point of my life and I took this time to solely focus on myself and my goals. Just doing something for me, getting to know myself better and what I really wanted in life. It has been so much more than a physical journey, fitness has shaped my entire life new.

Also along the way I finally learned and found self-love and happiness within myself and I couldn’t be happier about that fact. And that surely impacts my life in so many ways.

I’ve fallen in love with taking car of my body and how my mindset has changed, so overall I can say fitness has had a very big impact in so many ways on my life. I’m always looking forward to learning new health and fitness related things to improve myself and my knowledge.


Blogmas 2018

Blogmas Day 22: Holiday Eating tips

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  • Try sticking to the healthier food options
  • Don’t be so hard on yourself, it’s okay to allow yourself to eat something outside your regular diet once in a while
  • Use a small plate/Portion Control
  • Everything in moderation, don’t overeat (possible binge trigger)
  • Drink plenty of Water (helps not eating too much and also flush sodium and excess water out)
  • Eat Vegetables/Salad first
  • Stay active after dinner (and have a workout in the morning)
  • Plan ahead
  • If you take leftover home with you, try sticking to the healtier options
  • Get back to your routine soon after the holidays

*If you weigh a few pounds more after the holidays it’s most likely excess water or bloating which will go down in a day or two, just keep hydrated and go back to your regular eating.

Enjoy yourself and the time with your loved ones. Happy Holidays!

Blogmas 2018

Blogmas Day 21: What’s in my Gymbag?

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Since I workout at Home (Home Gym) I don’t really use a gymbag but if I did that’s what would be in it.

  • A Hoodie (I’m always cold and also to make me sweat)
  • Wireless Headphones
  • Fitness Grip pads
  • Ankle Straps (with Carabiner)
  • Resistance Bands (short, perfect to impliment in leg workouts)
  • Resistance Bands (long, for assisted Pull ups and cable like exercises)
  • Sweet Sweat Waist Trimmer
  • Sweet Sweat Workout enhancer
  • Barbell Pad (not in the picture)
Blogmas 2018

Blogmas Day 20: Athletes that inspire me

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  • Lauren Drain Kagan, I think she has an incredible body and I’d love to have amazingly strong legs like hers in the future. She’s been a big inspiration for me, a body like hers is something I’m aiming for (of course I’m aware that we have a diffrent body shape etc..). She’s definetly proof that muscles can be sexy. Also I love watching her stories or youtube content, I like her personality (well the parts that I’ve seen on social media).
  • Jeremy Buendia, I discovered him when I watched the Movie “The Perfect Phisique” on Netflix. I looked him up after the movie and started following him, his discipline,dedication and mindset are incredibly inspiring and motivating for me. When I’m lacking motivation I sometimes watch one of his videos and I just feel motivated, there’s something about him that has that effect on me. You can tell that he’s very passionate about this sport.

*I follow a lot of athletes and weightloss accounts and they’re all inspiring in their own way, those two are just those that I personally find most inspiring or relatable.

Blogmas 2018

Blogmas Day 19: How I got back onto the fitness wagon

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After falling off the fitness wagon, I had a very hard time getting back on track again. Getting out of that vicious binge cycle and starting to eat clean and disciplined again took me quite some time. But I knew I had to get back on track and reach my goals, my weight gain had made me depressed and bitter again and I really missed how happy I had been when I had lost weight. Early 2016 (around April) was when I finally got back to eating clean but I’d still do Cheatdays. That is when I realized frequent Cheatdays were a big issue and I finally started to take more interest in nutrition and being a lot more disciplined with myself and my diet.

At that time I also increased my workouts from 3 Days a week to 5 and later 6 Days a week. Even though I was much more disciplined and wouldn’t even have a Cheatmeal for pretty much the rest of the year (besides Thanksgiving and Christmas which were a lot more disciplied than ever) I was maintaining my weight, no loss whatsoever. Being stuck on a plateau for so long was extremely frustraiting and demotivating, but I still didn’t give up.

I was devastated and didn’t know what I was doing wrong, my brother suggested I’d try Keto for a while to see if I had more success with that. After debating for quite some time and trying to educate myself on it, I tried the Keto diet around Jan/Feb 2017. Unfortunately that was an awful experience for me. I tried it for about 3 months, again no weightloss whatsoever, on the contrary I actually gained 2kg/4.5lbs. And I was constantly feeling off, my digestion and just in general I didn’t feel well and was dizzy quite often. After those awful 3 months I went back to my prior routine and did Low Carb and finally started to see results again.

Later on in my journey I started implementing more carbs as I was extremely low carb prior I started focusing a lot more on eating a more balanced diet and focusing a lot more on my relationship with food which has become much healtier I’d say.

I fell in love with the progress and myself throughout this entire jounery of getting healthier and working on something for solely myself, even before finding what worked best for me. This jouney has been more than just a weightloss journey, my life has changed so much. I’m not who I used to be 2014 physically and mentally and I couldn’t be happier about that.

Blogmas 2018

Blogmas Day 18: How I fell off the fitness wagon

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I started my journey End of 2014 but I first started losing weight 2015, by June/July I had lost 17kg /37.5lbs which I was super happy about. As you might know if you read some of my previous posts my relationship with food wasn’t something I had really worked on up to this point in my journey.

About 2-3 months into my journey I’d allow myself to have an entire Cheatday every single Sunday. So every Sunday I’d eat whatever I wanted, the entire day, no calorie tracking whatsoever. I would’t eat extraordinarily big amounts of food but I’d eat high calories, well over my limit (Candy adds up very quick..) at first that wasn’t an issue I’d still lose weight but then I hit a plateau. At the same time I finished all my Exams and stared working my first real job, I’d work long hours and had to commute (+2.5 hrs each way) every day to get to work. It was a very stressful time I barely had any time for myself, let alone strenght to go to the gym after a long day (also difficult because I was using public transportations), at the end of the day I was even to exhausted to meal prep. I would buy my meals at a grocery store close by, at the beginning I’d still eat quite healthy, but soon I started to buy comfort food and quickly I put on a few pounds that I had lost. Approximately 10kg/22lbs to be exact.

Not being able to workout was so demotivating and all that stress led to me simply not really caring anymore. Luckily that job that caused me so much stress was only temporarily. Pretty much the rest of year 2015 I struggled to get back on track again, I was stuck in a vicious cyle of binge eating. The fact that I felt like I had lost control (over my eating) and that I had put on weight was frustrating and depressing I felt like a failure. I knew I had to get a grip and take control over the situation again in order to feel better physically and emotionally. I had to prove to myself that I actually was capable of doing it all over again, and I did.

*Find out how I got back onto the fitness wagon in my next post.

Blogmas 2018

Blogmas Day 17: Favorite Protein Snacks

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Before sharing my favorite Protein snacks I want to say, I personally don’t eat such things that often simply because I feel like I have a harder time sticking to eating clean if I eat them to often.  Also it quickly adds up ($) and calories, I mostly use protein bars or cookies if I’m in a hurry and can’t get my oatmeal in that day or sometimes if I’m simply craving something sweet.

I have tried a few protein bars and so far my absolute alltime favorite is “Syntha-6 Protein Crisp” by BSN, they’re absolutely amazing very similar to a rice crispy treat. I don’t have any at this moment so I can’t share any pictures of how they look. There’s quite a variety of different tastes, so far I have tried the following (+my personal rating):

  • Chocolate Crunch (8/10)
  • Peanut Butter Crunch (5/10)
  • Salted Toffe Pretzel (9/10)
  • Vanilla Marshmallow (10/10)

*For reference the Nutrition Facts for one Bar: 230 Calories – 6g Fat – 20g Protein – 23g Carbs

Then I’ve also tried Lenny & Larry’s “The Complete Cookie” so far I’ve only tried Chocolate Chip (10/10) but I want to try some of the other tastes as well. The cookies are individually packed and quite big, I’d say the texture is comparable to a soft backed cookie as you might be able to see in the pictures below.

*Nutrition Facts for one complete Cookie: 400 Calories – 16g Fat – 16g Protein – 66g Carbs

*The cookies aren’t super high protein but they’re good to get some carbs in when in a hurry or to help with the sweet cravings, but as you see they’re pretty high in calories and carbs so I try to eat them very,very rarely.

Blogmas 2018

Blogmas Day 16: What’s my biggest aspiration for next year?

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My biggest aspiration for next year, is definitely to lose the last few pound to reach my goal weight. And then fully focus on building more muscle, I have already made great visible progress with my back and can’t wait to see the rest follow.

I want to be more focused and disciplined again, the holidays have been making it unusually hard for me this year. I can’t wait to go back to my normal disciplined routine and crush my goals.