Anonymous asked: I am 22 and lost 60 pounds over the last two years with just makin small changes and working out a bit. I am physical healthy but now I am crippled by a fear of gaining the weight back (I am still 30 pounds overweight). Recently I focused on mental health and started eating more food I enjoy (a mix of healthy food and unhealthy) and I began swimming instead of running. I feel amazing mentally but fear I am not doing enough because i don't have a really healthy life (like you for example). Help?

This happens a lot; all the time actually. Be proud of yourself for losing the weight (I am!) and celebrate yourself. You are living a healthy lifestyle. Don’t compare yourself to me or anyone at all! I don’t run all the time (my knee would hate me) and I only work out the way I do because I follow the Body For Life plan and I often times get dragged into events with my active family. If I could sit on my butt and watch Supernatural all day, I would. I do that often, actually. It’s much more important to be mentally healthy than to be thin. Ignore the scale. Healthy weight charts are always bullshit. Just move it (swimming is great!), eat what you love and things that are good for you and sometimes foods that are just good for your tastebuds, and cherish yourself.

Make a list of things you love about yourself that have nothing to do with your weight or outward appearance - your kindness, personality, ability to balance your life well. Do things that are fun, like swimming, and don’t think of it as a workout. Don’t panic about gaining weight back. You’ll probably fluctuate a little like we all do, but as long as you’re active and you’re not eating all junk food all the time, you won’t put it all back on. And even if you put some back on, so what? Are you living a life you like, full of fun and good friends and great food? Then that’s perfect. That is a perfect life, my dear.

Anonymous asked: I want to lose weight but a part of me doesn't because I feel like I'd be 'giving in' to what my mom has been nagging me about for a year+ & what you see constantly in society, shoved in your face. A part of me wants to be stubborn & be just one big FU sign to everyone. But I want to learn Parkour & skateboarding, I want to be able to run again without getting tired fast. What to do? I can't decide which I want more, say FU to the world or be my true self.

The important part is to be true to you. When you do that, you are saying fuck you to society. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of you, if they think you’re fat or skinny or stubborn or giving in. You’re not giving in if you’re doing it because you want to, not because society tells you to. And if someone says something about it, you tell them that. It doesn’t matter if anyone does say something though, as long as you are secure in your reasons.

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You know your life has changed when you’re more excited about new Nikes than new heels.

Anonymous asked: I gained a bit of weight over this past year and I'm trying to lose it by exercising and making healthier eating choices. I've been in recovery for an eating disorder for over a year. I'm having a really difficult time coping with the fact that I can lose weight and still eat. I've never lost weight the healthy way. Any suggestions on dealing with this? Thank you!

One, I’m really proud of you and you should be too! That’s awesome. The key statement there is making healthy choices. Don’t focus on losing weight, don’t focus on getting smaller clothes, don’t do the ‘when I’m thin’ thing. Get healthy. Don’t count calories. Replace white bread with whole wheat, diet soda with water and eat lots of lean protein and complex carbs. Even though I’ve never had an eating disorder, I’ve always thought less food will make me thinner too, especially less carbs. I stopped doing Jamie Eason’s livefit because I hated low carb so much, and started doing Body For Life. It’s a 40% protein 40% carbs, 20% fat to make up your daily diet. You don’t count calories. I was terrified but I’ve made huge gains. I feel happier. I’m not exhausted even though the workouts are intense. In four weeks I’ve gained tons of muscle and lost tons of fat and the scale hasn’t moved at all. Don’t believe the scale. It lies to you. It’s effected by water weight, what you ate that day, what food is still in your belly etc etc. No one can see the number on the scale or in your pants. Do it to feel healthy and happy and strong. Never ever workout or change your eating plan to look thinner. Who cares about that? Following a free workout and eating plan will probably work well for you, like Body for Life or one of the many on bodybuilding.com.

Anonymous asked: Hello. Two years ago I was at my highest weight of 214. I decided enough was enough. Started eating better,cutting calories and exercising. I have lost 68 pounds to date and would like to lose another 23-28 pounds. Problem is i'm not happy with myself at my before weight or current weight not sure I'd be happy at m goal weight. I still look at myself and see the 214 pound person. When I catch a glimpse of myself unexpectedly i'm like wow I look so small then I immediately start being critical.

I say all the time that if you don’t love yourself fat you won’t love yourself skinny. Same goes for hair color, clothes, tans, boyfriends/girlfriends, whatever. You have to be happy with what’s inside. Make a list of your accomplishments, including but definitely not limited to, your weight loss. Every day write down things you’re proud of yourself for - your personality, humor, compassion, whatever. If it doesn’t change, you should talk to your primary care doctor about BDD, Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

Anonymous asked: Is it true that you can lose weight & keep it off by just eating less/healthily and not exercising? My Mom keeps doing this & keeps saying how she needs to go for walks but never does it & keeps complaining whenever she gains back what she's lost. I can't say anything or else she'll get all defensive. Yet she gets after me to lose weight so I'm less apt to get diabetes which makes no sense because she's about as heavy as I am. What??

Yeah you don’t have to workout, but most people would rather get active and burn calories than just cut them out of their diet, and it raises your BMR so you naturally burn more calories. You can give her educational information about sticking with a healthy lifestyle and incorporating walking with her calorie deficit, but you can’t make her do anything. If she doesn’t want to talk about it, you can’t force her to. The saying that you can’t help people who don’t want it is entirely true. If she asks, give her info. If she complains directly to you, you can tell her that, but you can’t force anything.

Anonymous asked: Hi, so...I am normally pretty slim and have stayed in the same 3-pound range for the past few months. I have a fat day here and there but I always get back on track afterwards. Well, for the past week or so I have been eating way more and way less healthy than usual. And every day I say it's just a binge day and I'll pick back up tomorrow, but that hasn't happened. naturally I've gained a couple of pounds this week. Question is, is it noticeable to others? And how can I go back to normal?!

No. Anything you’ve gained within a week is water weight, and probably way less than you think. Unless you’ve eaten an EXCESS of 3500 calories and burned none, then you haven’t gained any significant weight. Your lifestyle is just slipping and you’re maintaining instead of actively losing. Your weight will always fluctuate due to water weight, food intake, and what food is left in your system so you haven’t actually gained anything permanent. Get back into the gym. Print out some motivational quotes. Schedule your workouts and make your meals in advance. Only you can motivate yourself.

Do something that scares you: hot yoga

I have this list of stuff I want to do that scares me. It started strictly as a list of shit that freaks me out but then it got cluttered with spiders and clowns and road detours and got totally out of hand.

I turned it into a sort of bucket list, but the kind that consists of things that makes it feel like you have a creature in your chest trying desperately to get out. AKA, things that make my social anxiety skyrocket. Today, that was hot yoga.

‘But it’s just yoga in a hot room!’ I know, but sit down, Judgmental Judy. I’m afraid of hot yoga because I get nauseous freakishly easy. Like a 20 minute car ride or walking too fast in the Florida heat on vacation. So while I can yoga fairly well (though you don’t believe me because I just used yoga as a verb) but I have a tendency to hurl at a moment’s notice.

I went with my best friend at 930 in the morning and ate what may have been too much food first. This was the first thing I panicked about on the ride over. Then I had to open the door to the hot room and it was HOT. You know when they train you how to check if a room is on fire by touching the door handle, and if you burn a fucking hole in your hand that the room is possibly on fire? It felt like that. But A was behind me, shuffling me in, so I didn’t stand a chance. I kicked off my shoes and waved awkwardly and sat on my mat. It was so hot I couldn’t breathe. Then I had to pee. I left to pee. When I came back it seemed less suffocating.

It became suffocating again when we laid down and I noticed that the ceiling was filled with these massive pipes covered in that stuff your mom used to lie out in the sun with. I feel like Stu used one once on Rugrats. Sun blanket reflective things.

Anyway, all I could think of was one of those falling down on me, which made it a little scary to be in shavasana (aka corpse, aka lay down and nap). But aside from that, I loved it. I sweat like a fucking pig, more than I have ever sweat in my whole goddamn life, so much that I couldn’t do a bridge because I was too slippery (and also because I lost that talent by the age of 12). It didn’t feel like coming home, or finding peace, or being at one with the earth like people swear it does, but it was pretty fucking awesome.

Anonymous asked: If I get nauseous while running (which I do, often) what should I do? I usually walk until it passes but it starts again after a brief period of running and it's really annoying D:

That’s incredibly common and there’s no real answer for it. Usually it’s just because you’re pushing too hard - running too fast and intensely too quickly and sending your heartrate through the roof too fast. Make sure you’re warming up for at least five minutes, then jogging, then incrementally picking up the pace. Other forms of cardio will help with your endurance as well, which help fight the nausea.

Make May Amazing

Get back to the healthy basics!

Eat cleanwith recipes like these. Search the farmers markets for organic berries, apples, veggies, and legumes. More protein! More good carbs! There’s no need to go hungry.

Work it out with HIIT, lifting, or running.

Love yourself! Tell yourself every single day how gorgeous you are no matter the number on the scale or size of your pants because numbers do not define you! See your friends. Give hugs. Play outside. Get dirty.

Get out there and own it!