Changes and Finding Confidence and Comfort

Good evening fellow food lovers! I am so happy to hear that so many of you liked the recipes I have shared over the past few days! I love hearing positive feedback on my recipes and it makes me incredibly excited when someone tells me that they are actually going to try my recipe! I consider that as a compliment as I take my cooking very seriously It’s never a dull moment in my kitchen! Believe me! So be expecting more recipes coming your way because today was all about food prepping for the upcoming week! I usually do food prep on the weekends, but I got pretty creative today and broke away from the “usuals”

I have been going through quite a few changes lately and have been wanting to talk about them with all of you because I am extremely impressed with how I have been dealing with things.

One of the changes as all of you know is totally cutting out cardio and reducing my time at the gym for a month. I am no “cardio junkie”, but I was nervous about no longer doing my high intensity sprints on the treadmill (at least for now – throughout the LIVEFIT program cardio is reintroduced in the second phase). I definitely saw great results from doing HIIT, but I had to take a serious look my goals and revaluate what I was doing in order to achieve them. So, no cardio it is. I want muscle gain. I need to gain and this is how I am going about doing that. My thoughts of cutting out cardio were not that pleasant. I immediately thought that I was going to no longer see my abs and gain some serious weight very quickly. Despite such thoughts, I committed to the program and the plan because I know it is just ED thoughts telling me that I am going to gain weight too quickly. Now I am finishing up two weeks without cardio and haven’t gained a single ounce nor are my abs covered up by the “fat” ED was telling me I would soon put on. So there you have it friends, you do not have to be a slave to that treadmill! Of course cardio has it’s time and place, but now I think I am going to use cardio more as a “tool” than something I do weekly. When I want to lean out for a particular occasion I can incorporate some HIIT into my routines, but now I am just specifically focusing on gaining, so I will be eating clean and lifting heavy

I have also changed my diet up recently. Other than incorporating complex carbohydrates into my dinner (meal five), I have also increased my carb intake in general. Carbs are so important and many people, too many people, are so confused about that. My friend and I had a long chat about this issue over a cup of tea the other night. I get very upset and frustrated when I read inaccurate information in the media regarding nutrition because people believe it. Trust me, I have been there. When I went through my ED I believed anything and everything I read even if I knew better!
I came across a really good article written by Michelle LeSueur the other day that I hope all of you take the time to read. It made me realize some things and it totally related to what was discussed over tea with my friend the other night, too! So ironic!

If you don’t have time to read the article, I will mention some of the things that have been on my mind lately and were also found within the article…

Somehow, I would love to educate others that fitness competitors and models do not look they way they do on stage and in picture at all times. They look like that for their show, photo shoot, or whatever it may be, but not throughout their daily lives. Fitness competitors go through extreme routines to look like that. It’s incredibly intense and seems exhausting (if you want to read about Naomi’s journey for prepping for a competition – check it out her blog!) I totally admire these individuals for being able to do something so intense, but it is important to note that, like I said, they do not look like this all of the time. I love that Naomi has a picture of herself on her blog termed as “Off – Season Naomi”. I admire her for doing that; showing others that she does not look like that all of the time because really, a person needs to drink water and if you drink water before a show – the competitors won’t look as “tight” as they do!

I’ll even admit, I love to see my abs on a daily basis, but really? It’s not a totally normal thing (especially for women). So, now that I am on my new training routine and diet consisting of more carbs and calories to promote weight gain I am reminding myself that I do not need to look like a cover model each and every day, or any day at all for that matter. I just need to look like Meg Happy, healthy Meg

It’s kind of crazy how well I am dealing with the changes, though. Especially since I am sitting a lot more lately due to studying for exams. Of course, there are days when all I feel like I do is eat, but hey! I love food! I rather eat than not eat, right!? YES!

A huge accomplishment of mine lately has been being able to feel comfortable in my own skin. One thing that I have always struggled with is being able to rest my hands on my stomach. There was always something about that stomach area that I did not feel comfortable with. At times I couldn’t even wear t-shirts that grazed my lower abdominal area, but now – I am so comfortable with my bod and am actually able to appreciate my tummy I realized how comfortable I became with myself when I read Tessa’s blog last week. She discussed how she would “grab” at herself feeling for “fat”. I could totally relate with this and how I used to to the exact same thing. It was such a bad habit. And then I realized… I do not do this anymore! From there I knew, I am much more comfortable with being me. Being in my skin and appreciating everything about it (even if that includes a little extra here or there)

Something that reminds me to be confident in my own skin is this

The red shoe. My favourite Christmas ornament

Last year, I attended a “Red Shoe Event”. It was a fashion show and dinner to promote body confidence because it is believed that red shoes are associated with boldness and self – confidence! I was given a beautiful bookmark at the event last year with a description of the meaning behind red shoes, but am unable to find it, so I will leave you with a beautiful quote that I found on the Rock Red Shoes website instead!

“You are not your bra-size, nor are you the width of your waist, nor are you the slenderness of your calves. You are not your hair color, your skin color, nor are you a shade of lipstick. Your shoe-size is of no consequence. You are not defined by the amount of attention you get from males, females, or any combination thereof. You are not the number of sit-ups you can do, nor are you the number of calories in a day. You are not your moustache. You are not the hair on your legs. You are not a little red dress. You are no amalgam of these things.
You are the content of your character. You are the ambitions that drive you. You are the goals that you set. You are the things that you laugh at and the words that you say. You are the thoughts you think and the things you wonder. You are beautiful and desirable not for the clique you attend, but for the spark of life within you that compels you to make your life a full and meaningful one. You are beautiful not for the shape of the vessel, but for the volume of the soul it carries.”

Have you ever heard about red shoes and their symbolism?
Do you own a pair of red shoes? I don’t! But, I have my Christmas ornament
Would you consider yourself to have good self-confidence or is it something you could work on? Like I said, I feel as though I have finally found comfort and confidence within myself, but we all have our days when things don’t seem so splendid, but those days are few and far apart for me!

Have a wonderful week friends! Chat tomorrow!

Meg
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo