I want to share with all of you my latest lifestyle changes just because I am so excited about them and hopefully I can inspire at least one person to create the lifestyle they want for themselves. After all, the way we live every day is the way we live our lives!

3 weeks ago I joined LA Fitness. I told myself I would only join the gym if I was actually going to go 3-5 times a week. I don't want to be that person that pays for the membership and never goes, or goes once a week. As soon as I mentally committed to going and made room in my schedule for MYSELF -very important- I signed up! Since then I have gone 4-5 times every week.

 

Eating healthy just came naturally with working out! I didn't join the gym thinking to myself I will work out hard and eat healthy. The only way you can be let down if you set high expectations. I joined because I knew I WANTED to work out. After realizing how good I felt I didn't want it to stop so I naturally WANTED healthier foods and hardly crave the junk anymore. Only doing what you WANT will make you happy. If I do crave something, I tell myself don't worry Sara, maybe you can have it tomorrow, but today you are doing great so far! Creating these little mini goals in my head makes things fun to attain! If I were to say to myself, I'm never going to eat chips again, I think I would have a panic attack and start eating chips - lol. It's all about baby steps and being realistic.

Now in terms of food, we are all addicted! I recently watched a documentary called "Hungry for Change". It is AMAZING! Watch it!! Some key points I learned from the doc:

- 80% of all processed foods (which is almost everything in the grocery store) contains MSG. Think of MSG as Nicotine in cigarettes. Nicotine makes smokers addicted. MSG is fed to rats when they want to make them fat for research. It also creates the sensation in your body that you are full and tricks your body into thinking you ate all the nutrients it needs. THEN when your body realizes it was fooled, it gets hungry again for the NUTRIENTS you didn't put into your body and you get hungry sooner. It's a tactic in the food industry to make us hungry more often so we can buy more of their crappy food.

- No Fat, or Low Fat products are Bull*^% because they contain twice the amount of sugar and when you eat a lot of sugar it turns into fat in our bodies...In turn we are addicted to sugar because it's in everything! Even things we wouldn't think of have sugar! It's all there so we keep wanted more and more of that subconscious sugar rush. You see how food industries don't care about our health? They just care about how the can make MONEYYYY (as Kevin O'Leary would say).

-Sugar is 10x more addictive than cocaine.

So yea, watch that documentary! Just for the sake of realizing what chemicals you are putting into your body!

Anyway so here's my progress in the past 3 weeks:

On the left is 3 weeks ago, on the right is 2 weeks ago 

On the left is 3 weeks ago, middle 2 weeks ago, right 3 days ago.

Habits that I wanted to change 3 weeks ago:

-Eating a big bag of chips to myself on average once every 2 days.

-Eating a whole triangle of brie cheese on average once every 2 days (usually costing me around $7/ triangle).

-Sitting in front of a desk (when Im not photographing) and not being active AT ALL. I told myself I was too busy...

-Looking in the mirror at my stomach every night and getting down on myself i.e. It's impossible to change I love chips and cheese too much, CORRECTION I'm too addicted to salt, sugar and MSG.

-Waking up usually around 12:30. Since I am my own boss I can wake up when I want but then I always feel like I've missed a lot of the day somehow. Even if I go to sleep late.

-Eating because I was bored

New habits I've created!

-Eating smaller portions of food but more frequently during the day, snacking

-Eating protein , especially after working out

-Creating a cheat day once a week where I can have SOME chips and cheese. Key word is SOME. I dont binge. I stay focused on enjoying every bite and pre-decided how much I will have so that I am still on control of the situation. It could turn ugly quick lol. It feels great! Like a treat! :)

- Im at the gym 5 days a week with 2 rest days for my muscles. Feeling active feels AMAZING! I feel more like myself, am more inspired and have fresh ideas!

-Now I look in the mirror and I feel self-love! - super important!

CELEBRATE LIFE. LEARN LOTS.

LOVE WHAT YOU DO.

AND ALWAYS BE CURIOUS FOR MORE.

BE THE ADVENTURER OF YOUR OWN DREAMS.

AIM HIGH, HIGHER.

CHOOSE TO BE HEALTHY AND HAPPY INSIDE OUT.

BE YOUR BEST. INSPIRE OTHERS, IT'S CONTAGIOUS.

BE FEARLESS.

DISCOVER YOUR PURPOSE. THEN MAKE IT HAPPEN.

GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS.

DO STUFF THAT NATTERS. DO IT RIGHT.

STOP AT NOTHING TO CREATE, EVOLVE, BE SMARTER, NOURISH, AND HEAL.

HAVE AN OPEN MIND. LISTEN. REALLY LISTEN.

DEFEAT THE NAYSAYERS. DARE. YOURSELF. DAILY.

DEFY THE ORDINARY.

RESPECT EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING.

TAKE CARE, OF YOURSELF, EACH OTHER, THE PLANET.

LAUGH WITH ABANDON.

LOVE WHOLE-HEARTEDLY AND SPREAD JOY.

-----------AND ABOVE ALL------------

LIVE YOUR LIFE IN BOLD.

LOVE YOURSELF.

THIS IS YOUR TRUTH. WHO YOU ARE.

YOU ARE THE ONLY YOU OUT THERE.

YOU ARE PERFECT NOW.

ALWAYS WILL BE.

Hope this inspired you in some way! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need a pep-talk :) I'm always up for chatting about personal growth! Email me sara@saramonikaphoto.com.