Fitness

Fitness

FitFluential

Exciting announcement!

Because YOU visit, email, comment, tweet, pin, and share my blog, I have gained an incredible following with thousands of viewers per day. With every click of your mouse, YOU have helped me to gain exposure by top fitness magazines, health food companies, and blogging communities! Thank YOU, because without my readers, this blog is nothing!

I am soooo beyond excited to announce that I am an official ambassador for FitFluential! I will be joining a family of fitness fanatics who spread a positive healthy message year-round. FitFluential is a “nationwide network of fitness enthusiasts sharing their journey both online and offline through multiple social media outlets.” Being an ambassador of FitFluential is such an honor, and I am so thrilled to be joining a growing company with such positive impact. I cannot wait to work with their incredible sponsors and partners! Thank you so much to Kelly Olexa for the incredible opportunity!

A little while ago, I mentioned how I was frustrated and stuck in my head battling a vicious cycle of poor body image and lack on motivation to keep up with my healthy lifestyle. I’m not perfect, and like many others, sometimes I can’t resist a piece of carrot cake, and sometimes I wake up and don’t want to exercise. My goal as the author of this blog is to be honest with my readers and share both my successes and struggles. My journey of losing and maintaining weight has had it’s share of ups and downs, and I want to influence others to stay motivated, on track, and reach their goals. Thanks to the tight knit community of bloggers and my very own readers and friends, I was able to regroup and remember why I changed my lifestyle in the first place: to be healthy and fit. I will be working with FitFluential, to share this same goal by practicing what I preach, and encouraging others to get healthy and fit!

#FitFluential starts now! After you finish reading this post, close your laptop, turn off your computer, lock your iPad, and head out for a 30 minute walk! Don’t feel like leaving the house? That’s fine! Instead, do 30 pushups on the hour, 30 squats every time you talk on the phone, jumping jacks during commercial breaks, or 30 lunges as you text your friends, whatever it is, get moving! The excuse “I don’t have time to workout” has just been removed from your dictionary of phrases. I’m sure you could squeeze in some sit-ups while you’re waiting for water to boil on the stove. There are so many little opportunities to squeeze in some reps throughout the day! You don’t need to go to the gym to tone up those arms. Grab some canned vegetables and do some tricep extensions! Just because you’re not at the gym, it doesn’t mean you’re not getting a decent workout!

I’ve been slowly coming back out of my fitness rut and back on track. I’ve been going out on walks, taking the stairs (malls, apartment buildings, office buildings), and doing squats as I cook. This week I will be starting one of my toughest challenges yet: vacation. I will be packing up my running shoes and visiting my boyfriend in Texas, but this time, I refuse to give in to vacation mode and delicious southern cooking. I will be staying #FitFluential with the help of Sam, who is pumped and has already planned out daily runs in every park in the surrounding area (I know, he’s amazing). I have been treating everyday like it’s a vacation, but it’s time to focus on myself and my health, because I know that when I am eating well and exercising, I feel great, and am so much happier with myself physically. Since Sam is helping me stay #FitFluential while on vaca, it is my goal to help you guys stay fit and healthy whether you are going through finals, celebrating graduations, or starting to slack off for summer.

I’ll be checking in from time to time to share updates and progress, and to see how you guys are doing! I’ll let you know when my official tip page is up on their website! Eeeeek, squealing big time right now!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad’s birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS!


Of course I had to make my dad the ultimate RFFMBT gift of all gifts: fresh carrot juice! My dad loves carrots. He loves them so much that he has taught all of our dogs to be carrot addicts too. Every time someone opens a produce drawer in the fridge, the dogs automatically think it’s “carrot time” which means one carrot for my dad, and then half for each pup. Our late Yellow Labrador, Tiger actually started to turn orange on his chest from the daily carrot routine!


After my dad left for work this morning, my mom, sister, and I headed out for a nice morning walk around 6:45am to surprise my dad at his favorite coffee shop in town. He stops by for a cup of java at the same coffee shop every morning, so we thought it would be fun to take our puppy Elin and surprise him. Of course it was a total fail and we missed him by 10 minutes! We ended up taking a photo out in front with our coffees and texted it to him. He was more surprised over the fact that I was awake at that hour over everything else! Although mission coffee shop surprise was a bust, it was nice to get some exercise in before my brain even had time to recognize what was going on. The puppy enjoyed the walk too!


Now I’m off to run some errands before I meet up with my trainer Kandace. She always helps me to refocus and find balance between exercising and healthy eating. She is a great trainer, friend, mentor, and to top it off, a breast cancer survivor. I encourage everyone to read her blog about how exercise saved her life and kept her strong throughout her treatments. She is such an inspiration!

Stay tuned because I have a very excited announcement later today! 

DIY Workout Shirt

Happy Fashion Friday!
I have a super fun arts and crafts project for my beautiful little bunnies to try over the holiday weekend!

I love buying new clothes, but sometimes I love making them even more!
I started college as a fashion design major, so I have always been a little crafty when it comes to recycling old T-shirts. This has to be my new favorite DIY reclaimed shirt. You can wear this casual racerback to your workout and then dress it up with a lacy bandeau when you meet your friends for some rabbit food afterwards. Turn your basic into a chic little number and go hit the gym like you own it!

DIY Workout Shirt
Makes 1 sexy little tank

Ingredients:
1 old T-shirt
1 pair of scissors
20 minutes

1. Start with a pre-washed T-shirt. Any old shirt will do! The bigger the better.

2. Cut away the ribbed neckline and bottom hem. For the sleeves, cut downwards starting from the shoulder, determining how thick you want your straps. Cut straight down and then begin to curve down below the armpit seam.

3. Determine how low you want your front neckline, and cut away.

4. Flip the shirt over and make a narrow racerback, curving inward from the armpits.  Then cut a deep “V” shape from the top neckline.

5. Using the excess bottom hemline, stretch it out until it becomes one long string of fabric. Knot the string a couple of inches above the bottom of the “V” shape.

6. Wrap the string all the way down around the center of the racerback, and back up to meet the other ends. Knot the ends together tightly. Trim the loose ends.

7. To give your tank a high-low look, lay your shirt sideways, flattening it out evenly. Starting a few inches up at the front of your shirt, start cutting diagonally until you reach the back.

Throw it on with some cute yogis, grab your water, and hit the gym!
Post or email your photos if you make a shirt! I can’t wait to see your creations!

If you loved this DIY, you may also like my DIY Multi Strand Scarf! No sewing required! 

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