Got new work clothes, y’all 😏 Little moments like these [ya know, getting dressed for work by slipping into a @fabletics set and eating mo’ meals out o’ bowls] represent just how much change I’ve created in my life in the past few months [not to mention, years] 👏🏼 Small as these acts may seem, they represent BIG risk + faith + hustle + hard work 💯 What started as a skin-deep means to an end [#weightloss] evolved into a soul-deep passion, and then a higher purpose ✨ I mean, I used to have to *force* myself to wake up n’ workout, to choose greens over grease – and now... these things are so very much a part of my identity that I rebuilt my whole life around them 🤯😭🥰 I sure as hell don’t take any of it for granted 🙅🏼♀️ I soak it all up, every detail, every day, with gratitude + pride 👏🏼 Every meal prep, every rep, every set lead me to this point📍And it’s only the beginning...
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That thing you want to do? Do it. Pursue it. Start now. And don’t stop.
The defining quality of my relationship with health, nutrition, and fitness? 👏🏼 SELF #RESPECT 👏🏼 The way I see it, every time I acted in avoidance of wellbeing, I said to my body + mind, “I don’t respect you.” Every time I made a choice without consideration for its consequence, I said to my body + mind, “I don’t respect you.” With every broken commitment to myself – every excuse for a snoozed alarm ⏰ or takeout binge 🥡 or skipped meal – I said to my body + mind, “you aren’t worth my time and energy.” What a truly sad way to “live” [if you can call it that]... But lucky for me, and for you, it’s all in your hands. You just have to act on it. How will you show yourself some respect this week? 💌👇🏼
🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️ Brussels Sprouts?
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I get this question all 👏🏼 the 👏🏼 time 👏🏼 and y’all, my answer is always simple and always the same, “I don’t believe in cheat meals” 🙅🏼♀️ Allow me to explain 👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼
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➕ I decided to change my lifestyle and make nutrition a priority because I was sick n’ tired of cheating + disrespecting myself, so I won’t engage with things that I feel don’t benefit me 🎤👇🏼
➕ I have reshaped my preferences and palate in such a way that I *crave* nutrient-dense food and, for the most part, find anything less unappetizing 👅
➕ I believe in eating Whatever I Want, Whenever I Want and in my experience, the idea of “cheat meals” creates a false sense of scarcity around food that often leads to over consumption + negative associations [search this on the blog 📲]
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The real question here is, “what’s your fave less-nutritious food?” 🙇🏼♀️ That I can answer! 💡 This girl loves a real-deal, straight from the diary farm, high-quality, ultra/thick milkshake! 👏🏼 I ain’t talkin’ Dairy Queen y’all, it’s gotta be LEGIT🍦 For me, fried and fast foods aren’t “worth it” 🚫🍔🌭🍕🍟 I don’t enjoy the taste, the grease, or how my body and brain feel after eating them. But I’ll be damned if I won’t suck down a scoop o’ ice cream and whole milk every now and then 🤤 What’s every now and then? For me, it’s probably 2-3 times a year! I have my dessert yogurt bowls weekly that satisfy my sweet-side all while aligning with my goals and preferences.
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But hey, that’s just me! I encourage you to define what a sustainable approach to nutrition looks like on your terms, one meal at a time 👌🏼
You don’t need **any** former fitness level to start #CrossFit and in fact, I highly recommend that you START your real-deal fitness routine here to ensure mastery of proper form + movement mechanics!
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CrossFit believes [and I personally agree] that our needs vary by DEGREE, NOT KIND 💯 Simply put, this means that every 👏🏼 single 👏🏼 human 👏🏼 needs to perform intentional physical activity founded on functional movements + the 10 general physical skills – from a twenty-something with a sedentary nine-to-five, to a pro athlete, to a mom of three, to a 74 year old grandpa of seven. We all need to be able to sit, stand, walk, pick up something that has dropped on the ground, and reach overhead. We all would like to climb stairs without being winded, stand tall without a hunchback, and live independently.
For this reason, CF is quite possibly the most inclusive + adaptable fitness regimen out there. CrossFit doesn’t ask its members to sacrifice an intended stimulus because a mechanical/physical limitation or otherwise prevents them from completed a prescribed movement, rep scheme, or load. Instead, CrossFit meets each athlete where they are in order to ensure the desired stimulus is achieved within the bounds of the individual’s abilities, while simultaneously helping them to progress and expand their margins.
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We call this “scaling.” Scaling allows any athlete to complete any workout, regardless of ability, simply by altering the load, duration, or movement in order to achieve the intended stimulus produce the same level of **relative** intensity. There is a scale for every single movement that will ensure you get in an effective and safe workout resulting in biological + neuroendocrine adaptation [aka: #progress ~ aka: #gains n’ #shreds]
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Scaling isn’t embarrassing or cause for insecurity 🙅🏼♀️ It’s smart, it’s safe, and it’s the most efficient + effective way to make progress.
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In my opinion, this is the absolute BEST thing about CF. It gives us measurable and observable performance-based progress indicators. We go faster, lift heavier, jump higher, learn new skills. We can PROOVE that we’re getting fitter, and not just cause our body weight implies it
Pick some #protein 🥚
Pick some #carbs 🌶🥒
Pick some #fat 🥜
Put in on a plate 🍽
Simple as that 💯
✖️No recipes
✖️No complex ingredients
✖️No supplements or superfood powders
✔️Just real food, real simple
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I am a crEATure of habit, y’all 💁🏼♀️ I’ve known this since the time I ate bologna + cheese on wheat bread every day for four years in middle school, then when I ate turkey + cheese on wheat bread every day for four years in high school, and then when I ate the same turkey bacon panini from my college cafeteria TWICE DAILY my freshman year 🤦🏼♀️😂 I’m happy to say that, unlike much of my habitual past, the habits + routines I’ve built today serve me day in n’ day out – body 💪🏼 mind 🧠 and soul ✨ #Veggies for #breakfast every day? That’s a #habit I can hold onto 👍🏼
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When it comes to a sustainable nutrient-dense diet, simplicity + staples are just as important as creativity + variety. We don’t wanna get bored 😒 but we don’t wanna get burnt out, either 🤯 I’ve found success by rotating through a concise rolodex of repEAT breakfasts + snacks and allowing for my dinners [and leftover lunches!] + weekend fridge clean-out meals to expand my palate 👌🏼 -
How about you? Are you a repEATer or a one n’ done diner?
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dEATS 👉🏼 Lemon-Dill Yogurt Dip [@chobani + lemon juice + dill + garlic powder + salt n’ pep] + fresh sliced snap pea, baby cuke, and baby pepper for dippin’ + jammy HB @vitalfarms egg [👀 method on my food highlight] topped with @traderjoes EBTB + a few almonds for some plant-based fat 🤤
What the Health?!
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In a world of 🌎 packaged promises, our perception of whether a food is “healthy” (“good” 😇) or “unhealthy” (“bad” 😈) is blinded by the “Health Halo” ~ the act of overestimating the healthfulness of an item based on a single claim. Think: “veggie” 💥 or “low-calorie” 💣 or “protein!” 🌪
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It’s what’s on the inside that counts, y’all, and often times, the front of the box stops us from ever getting there ✋🏼 This all-too-common lack of awareness leads us to over-consume items we perceive to be “healthy,” whether or not they are *actually* nutrient-dense foods, just because the packaging tells us a pancake is protein-packed. I don’t blame us! Marketing + Diet Culture are WHACK! 🤪 But we can change how we navigate it. We can be conscious consumers! 👊🏼
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Before an item makes its way from the shelf to your cart to your belly, direct your eyes 👀 and noggin 🧠 on the ingredients + nutrition panel. How many ingredients are there? More than 5? Are they whole foods that grow on the earth 🥬 or are they chemical compounds imitating real food? 🧪 What’s the serving size? Is it realistic to what you’d consume, or microscopic + minuscule? Does the food contain reasonable macronutrient values, or is it candy in sheep’s clothing? 🍬
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Remember, food is not good or bad 🙅🏼♀️ And we can’t rely on what we think we know to determine if a food benefits our health + wellbeing 🙅🏼♀️🙅🏼♀️ Beneath the fads + trends + crazy claims, all foods have a nutrient profile... and the nutrition FACTS don’t lie! 💯
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Want to become a more educated + conscious consumer? fitlicity.com/nutrition-services
