Positively Weightless: July 2019

Today's post is going to be a little different from the rest, and I am really excited to share this with you all! Earlier this week I was so surprised to find I had been nominated through Twitter for The Sunshine Blogger Award. Quite honestly I had never even heard of this prior so I was surprised to say the least. This post is going to be my response/requirements to accept the nomination and explain the award a little bit!

So, what is The Sunshine Blogger award I am sure you are wondering? The Sunshine Blogger Award is given to bloggers that spread creativity, positivity, and are inspiring in the blogging community. The award is completely driven through the community, nominated through fellow bloggers to recognize their inspiring and positive content.

Here are the rules for the award:

Thank the blogger who nominated you.
Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you.
Nominate 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 new questions.
Notify your nominees about their nomination.
List the rules and display a Sunshine Blogger Award logo on your post and/or website

First off I would like to thank The Ray Journey, and Arushi Sinha for the nominations. I was so very surprised and humbled by your nominations. I have been writing this blog for just about five years now, so to be recognized for my work is absolutely amazing. I am so appreciative and honored!

To prevent this blog post from being incredibly too long I am going to answer six questions from both The Ray Journey and Arushi Sinha, just as The Ray Journey did in his post.

My answers to the questions from The Ray Journey:

What is the first thing you do when you wake up?: As bad as it is the first thing I usually do is check my phone. Usually I check my emails or some of the blogs I follow to see if there is a new post.
What is your spirit animal? Wow, what a fun question! To be honest I never really thought about this, but I would say maybe a dog. I like to think I am pretty friendly and loyal to those I love.
What do you do when you feel uninspired? Usually when I feel uninspired I do my best to really take a look at life and the world around me. Most of my blog topics are based on life experiences. If I am feeling really uninspired, however, I will just take a break. Better to do that than just crank out a post my heart isn't truly in.
What is the last thing you do before you go to bed? I usually get settled into bed an hour before I actually go to sleep. I sometimes slather on some essential oils, put some soft music on, and just relax before drifting off.
What is the worst food you’ve ever tasted? Olives! I honestly cannot stand them!
List 3 of your best qualities. I have such a hard time answering things like this but I will do my best. 1.) I would say my first is I love to give. I love holidays so much because I love buying gifts for people from the heart. 2.) I like to think I am fairly organized. It might not necessarily look like it at first, but even when I seem to have a mess on my hands I usually know exactly where something is when I need it. There truly is a method to my madness. 3.) I am a planner! I always double check plans and like to have a solid game-plan in place before going anywhere.

My answers to the questions from Arushi Sinha:

Are you a full time blogger? No I am not. I work a full time job as an Executive Assistant to two wonderful bosses. I love blogging but I honestly absolutely love my job and wouldn't leave it to blog full-time even if I had the chance. I truly know how lucky I am to say that too!
What was your happiest moment till date? You know I really don't think I could pin-point one solid day or event as my happiest. I have a ton of great memories. My niece and nephew's births would be right at the top though.
Define yourself in three words. Loving, positive, and happy.
Which is your favourite book? I am going to cheat a little here and name a few. First (which will be not surprise to anyone who knows me) is the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Honestly if you only saw the movies do yourself a favor and read the books too. If I had to pick a stand alone book it would absolutely be The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I could not put it down! I didn't move on to a new fiction book for quite some time after I finished it because I just wasn't ready to let the characters go.
What kinds of things, serve as a distraction for you? Plenty of things distract me. If people are home I will pretty easily get distracted especially if I get to talking. If I am feeling a bit uninspired literally anything can distract me from random sounds to a notification on my phone.
How do you control your emotions when you’re overwhelmed? I am an incredibly emotional person and sometimes it is hard for me to control them especially when I am overwhelmed. I honestly sometimes find that the best thing is to not control them. I have no shame with just letting myself cry. Usually if I try to control them, they end up taking over and it is so much worse than just letting it out in the beginning.

As I stated in the rules, I am suppose to nominate 11 other blogs for the award. To be quite honest I am fairly new to the community despite my blog being five years old. I only recently expanded my blog to the Twitter universe in April of this year, so I am not as familiar with as many blogs as I could be. I hope it isn't too much of a crime, but I am going to only nominate 5 blogs for the award. I would love to be able to nominate 11, but I just am not as into the community at this point as I hope to be one day. I look forward to meeting new bloggers and reading their content as the year progresses though. Next year if I am lucky enough to be nominated again I will be sure to make it 11. I just did not want to pick at random and nominate someone who's page I didn't truly enjoy.

Here are my nominations for the award:

The Haiku Imagist

She Keeps the Change

Thoughts with N

Deanna Jackson

Valerie Ascending

My 11 questions for you all:

Who is your biggest support system when it comes to your writing? You do not need to go into personal details, just mention your relationship, how they support you, etc.
Why did you start your blog?
How emotional of a person are you, and how (if at all) does that play into your blog?
What is a fun random fact readers may not know about you?
What is one thing you always do when you are writing? (For example I love diffusing essential oils when I do).
How do you go about choosing topics for your posts?
What is your favorite animal?
What is your ultimate guilty pleasure?
Who or what was your biggest inspiration that lead you to start writing?
What is your favorite holiday?
If you could write a blog on any topic other than the topic of your current blog, what would it be?

I just want to thank The Ray Journey and Arushi Sinha again for your nominations! I look forward to becoming an even more prominent member of the blogging community so I can nominate even more people if I am lucky enough to have the opportunity again next year. The fact that an award like this even exists is so amazing to me! The writing community on Twitter has been so amazing to become a part of, especially with fellow bloggers. Thank you so much for the opportunity, and I look forward to seeing my nominees post their responses!

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I set out to write today's post with an entirely different idea in mind. A lot of the time when I do anything that leaves me in one place for an extended amount of time I will listen to YouTube videos. Cooking, doing my makeup, even writing sometimes are all good examples. I have been following and listening to a number of fitness channels lately which I am sure is not too surprising to hear. Most of them (especially the ones I choose to follow and watch on a frequent basis) give some very solid advice. A lot of it is about working out and nutrition of course. I honestly love listening to some perspectives on these topics, and it really does give me and help me keep my motivation.

There is one small problem I have with them though, and that was what I wanted to get into with my post today. With advice comes a lot of suggestions. One of the biggest things I have noticed most fitness influencers is that a good number of their advice equates to spending money. Now I understand that these things are in a sense going to come hand in hand. It is a pretty known fact that a healthier alternative on a fast-food menu is going to be a few dollars more than that cheeseburger on the one-dollar menu. That is just one very broad example, though. I am more so talking about the advice that suggests buying all these expensive foods and fitness programs. A lot of these are not exactly reasonable for the average person to add into their daily list of expenses. I know personally that you really don't have to spend a lot of money to lose weight. When I lost weight the first time, I was working a part-time minimum wage job while going to school full time. I can promise you I wasn't spending the money I am now on a personal trainer back then. I wasn't buying any fancy green teas or acai puree to put into my smoothies. I know that it can be done with a lower budget and wanted to share some experiences and suggestions on just that today.

Let's start with food/nutrition. This is the biggest aspect of losing weight as we all (should) know. Trust me if my diet was as on point as it needs to be I would likely be at my goal weight and I am far from it right now. You truly can't out-exercise a bad or even just lacking diet! Now, I am by no means a nutritionist or doctor so of course, but it is a pretty known and basic fact that weight loss means you are burning more calories than you are taking in. So while I would suggest you make healthier options for a nutrition stand point, you will lose weight by just staying under a calorie goal. Do not take that as a pass to eat an entire gallon of ice cream since it technically fits under you calories though! It just makes logical sense to pick lower calorie foods like fruits and vegetables since you can eat so much more of them and they are giving you some nutritional value. However, a lot of these influencers talk about buying grass-fed beef and organic produce all the time and I think that is just not reasonable for the average person. Would I love to be able to buy the very best options all the time for my diet? Absolutely, but I am on a budget as well. Just make smart choices. Just as an example I have been making avocado toast as a quick healthy dinner after my weeknight workouts. Three simple ingredients, healthy fats, carbs, and proteins. I buy the avocados in a bulk bag as well, which is more cost effective making this total meal (2 pieces of bread, 1 whole avocado, 2 eggs) just around $2.00 per meal. There are plenty of ways to eat healthier foods and lose weight on a budget. You definitely do not need to buy all of the fancy organic options some of these influencers talk about.

The other biggest topic is, of course, exercise. Now I choose not to follow too many of the YouTube channels where the influencer is really just subtly trying to sell fitness programs. A lot of them do talk about the gym or joining fancy classes. As you know, I do in fact spend a portion of money between a gym membership and personalized training programs and sessions with a personal trainer. I know, however, that this isn't realistic for everyone. Back when I lost weight in college I didn't join a gym for months. I worked out from home, and I think that is more than doable for the average person. You can essentially do anything from home except for anything that requires weights and fancy equipment. Would I be able to do the types of workout my trainer writes for me at home? No but that does not mean you can't have results anywhere but a gym. You do not need to buy some fancy trainer's personalized training programs or meal plans. All you need to do is get up and get your body moving. That could simply mean going for a walk, and you increase the total distance over time. That could also mean finding free programs or videos online. There are honestly a ton and a little bit of everything out there. Chances are if you do some research, you will find something you love. Pinterest and YouTube are great places to start! You also can spend a little money on things to use at home. This book, Body by You by Mark Lauren was recommended to me and I did a number of workouts from it. I also use this Weight Watchers yoga DVD frequently, and I purchased these resistance bands (which also included a workout in them) a while back as well. All of these are great examples of tools you can purchase one time for around $15 and get your exercise in with. Just find something that works for you and you can stick to!

Overall my point is just that you do not need to spend a ton of money to lose weight and get healthy. Here are my tips to lose weight on a budget:

Make better choices with your food.
Buy in bulk when you can! Even fresh produce can be bought in bulk. You can buy fruit and freeze it to use at a later date. Buy avocados when they are rock hard so they will ripen overtime for you to use. Even things like eggs typically keep in the fridge for a little while. Canned foods such as beans will go pretty far too. Find ways to get a bigger bang for your buck.
DRINK! WATER! I know I say this more times than I can count. Water is (basically) free! If you can buy a filter for your tap, do that and use a refillable bottle! There is really no reason to be drinking calories anyways.
Find a workout program or activity that suits both your physical and financial needs.
Stay consistent! Eat fewer calories than you burn and stay active!

You can 100% lose weight and be healthier without spending a ton of money. Sure it is nice when your budget allows you to purchase things like personal training sessions, higher-quality foods, and even just having a gym membership, but if you have the drive and dedication you will be able to do it all on your own!

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If you follow my page, I am sure you noticed my absence last week. I am not going to lie and come up with a silly excuse as to why I took the week off. It was a long weekend for the 4th of July and I pretty much took the weekend off to just relax. Last Sunday when I usually post I spent the day baking cookies for one of my bosses' birthday and I binge watched season three of Stranger Things. I was feeling a little bit of writer's block as well, so I figured instead of forcing out an entry that my heart wasn't fully in, I would just take the week off. Here I am feeling refreshed and ready to go for this week!

The plus side to taking last week off was that it gave me a great idea (as well as some time to brainstorm more future ideas) for this week's post. I have talked in the past a few times about listening to your body and taking time off of your routines for recovery. I still stand by that. I took around three weeks off of the gym after having my wisdom teeth surgery and do not regret it. I have felt like I have been overtraining a bit at the gym in the past and I have taken a few days off. I still think listening to your body is extremely important. What I wanted to talk to you about today, however, is a little different. What about the times you want to just take some time off of your routine? Maybe you don't want to go to the gym one day for a reason other than a physical reason. Maybe you just want to take a vacation day from work just to sleep in and relax. Maybe you want to postpone posting on your blog to binge watch a show you have been waiting almost two years for (wink wink). I am a pretty firm believer in taking the time off you want for these things, but I will explain further.

Let's start with the gym. I have mentioned so many times you are probably getting sick of hearing about it now that I actually love working out now. I've been waking up at 7 am every Saturday morning now to get to the gym. That does not mean I do not have days where I blow it off though. Last week I actually decided to skip out on my workout on Tuesday after work so I could go to my niece's softball game. There was no reason other than just wanting to do something for fun. I felt fine and got out of work at the normal time. I could have gone to the gym, but I wanted to finally go to one of my niece's games. I do not regret that at all. I want to suggest that you do the same but warn you to tread lightly. Do not do this too often as you will likely start to let it be a habit and blow off your workout more and more. Take it from someone who knows.I used to blow the gym off any chance I got. This doesn't just go for the gym either. If you can take a break from certain routines from time to time for some fun I would suggest you do it.

Another big one to go on would be your diet. I don't say diet in the terms of a fad diet, but just your every day healthy eating and making sensible choices. I am sure you can all guess how I feel about all the fad diets. I think it is safe to say that anyone who makes a conscious effort to make good choices with their eating has come to a crossroads with those choices from time to time. One great example would be a wedding or some other big function like that. If you are someone who is constantly thinking about their food choices and counting calories, counting points, etc. then I am sure you've felt conflicted at one of these events. I am a firm believer in cheat meals. I personally am still working on cleaning up my diet so I am not going to act at all like I know it all, but I personally feel like cheat meals are essential to success. If you are never allowing yourself the things you love, you really are only setting yourself up to fail. So with that being said I would say to enjoy yourself at a wedding or party. Allow yourself to have a piece of wedding cake and the steak entrée. Not to even mention it would be pretty rude to not eat at a wedding when your place probably cost the couple around $100. Don't be so hard on yourself. If there is something fun that involves food don't stress about it. Let yourself go off track for that day just as you would blow off the gym for a family function as well.

The most important part of this equation is getting back on track. Sure I didn't go to the gym the day I went to my niece's game, but I was right back at the gym doing my crazy rowing exercise my trainer wrote for me the following day. I went to a wedding with a friend recently and enjoyed myself but the next day I was back to eating sensibly. I am fully planning on taking some days off of work next month just for a few mental health days but I will get right back to work the following Monday and into my routine. The biggest part of this as I have preached about in the past is to get right back on track as soon as possible. Needing to go off of your routine for recovery purposes is necessary of course, but going off of them for fun is okay too. Always remember that life is about balance. Enjoy your life. Have some fun on top of all the hard work you put in every day. Just remember to do the work again once the fun is over!

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