The Real Reasons Why You Should Give Up Drinking

I’m not exactly sure when I  took my actual last drink, but it was in the latter part of 2014. I just stopped.  I don’t think anything really motivated me stop it was just something I did.  Well, that’s a lie.  I did have a good reason.  Headaches that would not stop.  Stomach pains from hell.  For New Years I decided that I would take my last drink that night when the clock struck 12AM and then I would officially quit drinking for at least the first 6 months of 2015.  

I went down to Austin to celebrate New Years with my #BFF and made plans to have a blast with her. Well, the universe had other plans for me.  I became insanely sick.  I mean I had NEVER been that sick in my life.  I could hardly eat, stand, or speak.  The coughing would not stop.  I broke out in the worst way.  I was so sick that I was too scared to be around my niece and nephews who are toddlers because I was concerned that I had the flu.

On New Years Eve I headed over to one of those drop in clinics to see what was going on.  I didn’t have the flu or strep.  Just a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HOR-RI-BLE case of allergies.  I’m not someone who gets allergies, but the doctor informed me even the best of us are getting really bad allergies because the pollen and mold count were at a record high. On New Years Eve it was three times it’s normal high for that time of the year.  

Since I was so sick I couldn't drink with the bestie and some of my friends.  However, that didn’t make the night terrible.  I mean I felt terrible, but I still had a fun time.  I didn’t need a glass of champagne to have a blast that night.  

Let me tell you, life is so much different when you’re on the sober side of the drunk messes.  The universe needed me to stop drinking for some reason and it did a force shut down on me that day.  In all honestly it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me.  

3 REASONS I GAVE UP DRINKING

Family History of Alcoholism

The struggle is real y’all.  I have and had family members who were addicted to the bottle.  That addiction is not an easy thing.  Giving up drinking is really hard.  Before I really understood alcoholism I thought i was just a mind over matter thing.  I felt like people who couldn’t give up the bottle were weak and making up excuses.  That couldn’t be further from the truth.  Alcoholism is a disease.  What people don’t understand is that a TRUE alcoholic cannot survive without drinking.  

Their bodies have been so programmed to drink that if they go a series of days where they do not drink then their body will begin attacking itself and bring on an alcoholic seizure.  When a body is that badly beaten up it needs to be professionally assisted with detoxing.  One of the most dangerous things for an alcoholic to do it detox in his or her own.  It’s not the mind that’s addicted to the alcohol, it’s the body.  The liver is the organ that has become addicted to the alcohol.  The liver can become so addicted to the alcohol that it doesn't know how to survive without it.  When it does not get the alcohol it then sends a message to brain that it needs its alcohol.  When the liver does not get the alcohol it will then begin attacking the body and this is what sends people into an alcoholic seizure.  

It is important for people who are addicted to alcohol but want to quit to go to a rehab center to properly detox from alcohol.  Seeing family live through this and having family die from this is so hard.  It never stops getting hard.  After my personal family experience of this I haven’t looked at alcohol the same.

Health

Well, I know I went into a long detailed paragraph about why alcohol is bad, but for my story it was messing with my personal health.  Most specifically I felt like my brain was being clogged.  Everything felt foggy and hazing when I was thinking.  I couldn’t concentrate on shit. However the worst where the headaches.  They would last for days.  They would be so painful  They would hurt so much that I began to get scared.  While I could still drink like a sailor my bounce back was not the same.  Even when began drinking wine the recovery time was not the same. The stark truth is I had to quit.

Affecting My Goals

Due to the headaches and the recovery time needed the drinking was affecting my motivation, goals, and work.  When I would work my 9-5 I would work much slower because the headaches were that intense.  When I was working on photography stuff I couldn’t be as creative because my entire head felt hazy.  I would find myself sleeping in or missing appointments.  I was not being present in my life.  In order to do the job right you HAVE to be physically and mentally there.  If I am going to be a great employee or a world famous photographer then I need to be 100% present. It’s not like i’m the only one working towards goals like these.  There are a ton of amazing photographers who will get the job that I can’t get done due to my sucky recovery time. In order to be successful I needed to give up the things dragging me down.

HOW DO I FEEL SINCE GIVING UP DRINKING?

Amazing.  I feel so amazing.  I feel present.  I am so much happier in life.  I feel more effective at work and with my photography business.  I don’t have these crazy ass headaches anymore. and most importantly I feel healthy. My skin looks AH-MAZING.  I now get up at 6AM and start working on my business and can stay up until 1AM.  Now that I am getting more into exercise I know that drinking won’t be counter productive to my body goals.

WAS IT HARD TO QUIT DRINKING?

No.  It wasn't hard to quit drinking. It wasn’t hard for me because I am not an alcoholic.  While I may be genetically pre-exposed to alcoholism I am not an alcoholic.  I simple do not have a desire to drink.  That’s why I am able to be around alcohol with without the desire to drink.  I can party with people who do drink.  In fact I still have mad bottles of wine and alcohol in my house (because it just makes my bar cart look classy), but it wasn’t hard for me.  

2 THINGS IS DID TO MAKE QUITTING AN EASIER PROCESS

Told my Friends Straight Out that I had Quit Drinking 

It was a love it or leave it approach.  I made it clear that me not drinking wasn’t going to change who I was.  In fact it was going to make me better.  I let them know they shouldn’t feel weird about drinking around me.  I just did not want to be pressured into drinking with them.

Distanced Myself from People who Respect It

I distanced myself from people who could not understand why I had quit drinking.  I feel as though that when I tell people that I am not drinking that I should not be challenged on this type of change.  If I tell someone that I quit drinking and they still took the time to buy a shot of tequila it was time to bounce and distance myself until I could speak to them in a sober state.  

You don’t need to drink to have a good time. I still dance at the bars.  I still get loud.  I still love to have fun, but it has to do with the atmosphere of the people I’m around.  I have a tribe of people that I can be around when they drink because I don’t have the pressure of drinking.  Even when they are we all benefit because guess who the designated driver is?  LOL  

IT'S BEEN 6 MONTHS WILL YOU EVERY DRINK AGAIN?

Now lets not get it twisted.  I will still offer champagne and wine for my boudoir sessions. I will still happily take part in Dallas brunch and Sunday Fundays.  You just won’t see Me drinking.  Will I ever drink again?  Probably. but it won’t be the casual drinking as it once was.  It will be for major goals achieved or for life changing events.  

WHAT ABOUT THE COCKTAIL RECIPES?!

Yes, I will still have drinking recipes on the blog.  I will just have my friends finishing them off!  LOL!  

In the comments below if you have given up drinking how did you let your family and friends know?

How to Make Anything A Habit

Yes, it’s easy for anyone to get motivated to start a new healthy life purpose, but if you don’t make it habit then you may set yourself up for failure.   In order for something to be a habit you have to find away to place it in your life.  Sometimes that means taking something out of your life that is no longer beneficial.  

If you are really serious about a goal or a new endeavor in your life you HAVE to make it it priority.  No.  It does not take only 21 days for something to become a habit.  It takes closer to 66 days for that to be true.

Five Ways to Make Anything a Habit

1. Stop Making Excuses 

You have to stop making excuses for why you can’t accomplish the goal.  You can do it.  You are actively choose not to for some of the lamest reasons.  For me I was making excuses not to run.  In winter it was because it was "too cold to run outside".  Guess what? When summer came… “It’s too hot to run outside.”   Yes, I have a gym facility in my building, but I would use the excuse that “running on a treadmill does not feel the same as running outside.”  Yeah, I had some bogus ass reasons.  I had to be real honest with myself.  The real reason I wasn’t running is because was I was being lazy.   

 ACTION: Ask yourself, what lame excuses are you making in your life preventing you from accomplishing you dreams?

2. Learn How to Prioritize 

Sometimes we fail at making things happen because we aren’t prioritizing or making room for that like we should. Yes, we want to do it… and we might do it for a week, but we aren’t really making the necessary sacrifices to make it a habit or set ourselves up to win.  In order to win at this habit game you need to be honest with yourself.  For me, I knew that I needed to get my runs in first thing in the morning.  I could not let that alarm go off multiple times.  I needed to get up and get at ‘em. If i didn’t get it done in the morning it was a fact that i was going to be too tired after work to do it.  I live about 60 minutes away from my job.  With the Texas sun and bad traffic makes you too tired and sun drained, and all I want to do it get naked and veg out once I walked through my door..  Knowing this about myself  I HAVE to run in the morning.

ACTION: Make a list of things you move around to make your goals worth winning.  Are there things you can move to the weekend?  Are you a morning person or evening?  Be honest with this schedule shift flexible responsibilities around.   

3. No Days Off

I know I will have some push back from this point, but for me I can’t have any days off the first 100 days of any new habit.  The reason being is that if I just have one day off it will form into an excuse why I need a second day off, then it forms into a pattern, and then a habit.  Whenever I start something new I have a 100 day challenge to make sure I make it something I do everyday.

 ACTION: In reality what do you need to do to make something a habit?  Do you need to be more or less strict with yourself? Be very honest with yourself here. 

4. Keep Track of Your Accomplishments

You should keep track of your accomplishments and analyze what you are doing right and then what you are doing wrong.  If you feel as though you need to push yourself then set yourself up for mini challenges.  Mini challenges break up the overall goal into smaller more achievable chunks.  For example, for the next two 3 weeks I want to see if I can lose 10 pounds.  How i plan on achieving my goal is making sure I’m making time, running 2 miles a day, and making sure I meal prep.  I will give you guys the results in the early part of August.  

ACTION:  During your new challenge how can you break it up into pieces to make it easier for you to achieve your overall goal and not get bored?  Create a list of fun and challenging activities that you can implement in your new journey.

5. Reward Yourself

After my 100 day challenge I will reward myself.  I am the hardest person on myself so I keep myself accountable.  For example, for the 100 day running/walking challenge  if I do it for 100 days straight (5 max miss days) then I will reward myself with Christian Louboutins shoes!  Yes, something I wouldn't normally do for myself, but I think that if my feet are going to be working hard they should get some cute shoes to go with it.  This way I will feel like I earned the shoes and not feel guilty at the price tag.  

ACTIONS What goody that you can give yourself once you achieve your goal?  Don't feel guilty for spoiling yourself.  This reward is a trophy for working hard to change your life in a positive way!

More Information about how to Properly Form a Habit

Below are some amazing links that you have to check out if you are wanting to start a new habit but don’t know how to.  These are great resources for anyone needing to make a positive change in their life.  

• Habit Formation: The 21-Day Myth
• 66 Days to Form a Habit
• 5 Scientific Ways to Build Habits that Stick

Things to Note...

Give Yourself Room to Make Mistakes...

1.) If you notice in point four I gave myself up to 5 days to mess up.  There will be times when I have to miss a running day  because something comes up.  I just might accidentally sleep in and don’t have time to run after work.  Things are bound to happen that are outside of our control.  That’s why I gave myself five scratch days.  However, that’s not to say that I can skip over those days.  If I miss a day of running I still need to make up for that previous day.  I did this so I don’t set myself up for failure and self sabotage by discouraging myself from completing my challenge because I missed a day or two.

Drinking, Drugs, and Powerful Addictive Habits

2.) Now if your habit is drinking, recreational drugs, or some type of powerful addictive habit these steps and suggestion may not work for you.  I would suggest speaking to a professional about making positive changes in your life.  

I know this has been another long and detailed post, but I think it’s something that needs to get out and is very important.  I really hope these five steps help you form your new habit help to have a more fun and balanced life.  

In the comments  below please let me know what you are doing to stay get motivated and create a positive habit.

5 Exercises That Will Turn EVERYBODY’s Head

On Tuesday I wrote a post about the importance of fitness and gave three essential workouts that we should all be doing in order to stay fit and help build an exercise regime that will workout for us.  These particular workouts are great because they are moves that we can do in the park or in the comfort of our own home.  

Today I want to bring you 5 more exercises we can do with little or no equipment.  Each of these exercises are great alone or combined into a hardcore cross training workout.  

1.) Burpee

 I’m going to be honest.  I HATE burpees.  I mean it took me forever and a half to (a) figure out what in the world a burpee was, and (b) the importance of a burpee. Burpees are a full body exercise which virtually works every muscle in the body.  You can burn more calories in a lot less time. Burpees are a full body exercise muscles that work, deltoids, biceps, triceps, pecs, obliques, abdominals, quads, bum, hamstrings and calves.  

2.) Jumping Rope

Yes!   This grade school exercise is one of the most effective.  Research has found that low to moderate, sustainable exercises such as walking, biking, or jumping rope are the best way to improve the quality of your cardiovascular system. Jump rope is a great way to improve the muscle tone in your legs and lower body. 

3.) Obliques  

This is probably one of my favorite areas of the body yet the most overlooked section.  When well trained and body fat is low give it gives your waist a more tapered look.  Exercising this group helps to alleviate back pain and enhancing posture.  

4.) Lunges

I have a love/hate relationship with lunges.  I hate doing them, but I LOVE how I look after weeks practice.  If there is one exercise that will make your legs and bum look AH-MAZING then these are it.  The lunge is a total lower body workout.  It increases muscle tissue, shapes the lower body, gives more flexibility in the hips and also helps to strengthen the core. 

5.) Handstand Pushup

 I despise doing regular push ups.  I just do.  I have no idea why.  It just do, but I can do an up and down pushup all day long.  The handstand pushup is a strength exercise.  It works out the shoulders and the triceps.  

I really hope that you guys can added these 5 exercises into your regime.  Each one of these focuses on a different part of your body, but when used as a whole, combined with a healthy diet, can really change your body into the one you have always dreamed of!

In the comment below please let me know which of these moves are your favorite and why?

Why We Fail at Diets and How to Overcome Them

It’s cliche but it’s true... abs are made in the kitchen not in gym.  I don’t even do ab exercises anymore because I hate them so much.  I’d rather eat myself skinny than attempt to do one more crunch or superman.  Consider me #TeamNoCrunch!

In order to get the body we really want we HAVE to eat right.  There is no way around it. When I change my eating habits I  honestly hate calling them diets.  Diets sounds so temporary.  It’s more of an eating lifestyle ← Gawsh, that sounded so pretentious, but you guys get it.  

4 Reasons We Fail at Diets

Sometimes when we change the way we eat we may slack and then totally fall off, but today I want to give you four potential reasons why you are slacking on your new eating lifestyle and how to overcome it.  

1.) We Give Ourselves No Room to Mess Up

Listen, changing an eating habit is not an easy one.  Especially in the culture we that we live in today.  Sometimes we mess up and we become so discouraged that we just stop because we see our slip up as a sign of failure.  Now we so need to consider our slip up an L… not as in lose, but as in lesson.  For example, you decided that you just HAD to have that bag of cookies from the vending machine because you body was in desperate need of that 3PM sugar rush.  After about 15 minutes you fall from that cookie high and then the guilts kicks in your.  You then start mentally beating yourself up.  Stop doing that.  

How to Fix this?  Make sure you load up on snacks.  If you are craving something sweet then make sure you bring two already pre-sliced apples.  You will find that the apples do appease the sugar cravings. If you are craving something salty then pack a bag of almonds.  Almonds are full of nutrients and will satisfy the salt cravings you are having.

2.) Our Cheat Meals Turn Into Cheat Months

 I’m not a fan of the cheat meal philosophy.  There are studies on studies that show that cheat meals are important to your fitness journey but I feels as though in the beginning of the journey (the first 90 days) you should hold off on that cheat meal.   

How to fix this?  It has been noted that it takes about 66 days to form a new habit. In my opinion during the first 3 months you should not have a cheat meal to help form a healthy habit.   

How to fix this?  Meal prepping.  Meal Prep can be done a number of ways.  One of my FAVORITE Youtubers to watching when it comes to meal prepping is BakingMadGymAddict because her food is fun, healthy, and not boring.  There are two ways to meal prep. You can do the once a week thing or you can meal prep twice a week.  Even though it’s more work I do prefer the twice a week option because I can change my food up.  Sometimes eating the same meals over and over again during the week can be boring.  For me, not having a variety does not aid in my healthy eating. I tend to self-sabotage because I just need something a little different. The once a week pattern does works because if you are a busy professional you have very little time to spend in the kitchen so knocking your meals out once a week on a Sunday may be a good option for you.

3.) We Don’t Know What Healthy Food to Pick out at Restaurants

The hardest part of the healthy eating journey is not knowing what to eat at a restaurant.  I myself hate buying salads from a restaurants.  Really, why do I want to spend $15 on a dayum wedge of iceburg lettuce?  I mean have eating establishments gotten so lazy they can't chop up the leafs anymore?  I digress.

How to fix this: When dining out i would stay away from any plates that have heavy creams and cheeses.  Also, If you are going for dinner see if they can give you lunch sized portion instead.  This helps because you are not eating as much AND your ticket may be a couple of dollars cheaper.  

4.) We Weight Ourselves Too Early

When starting a new eating and fitness regime we should wait at least 60 days before getting on a scale.  If we get on a scale everyday or even once a week we could get discouraged because we don’t see the scale reflecting the work we are putting into to lose weight.  

How to fix this? I highly suggest staying away from the scale for many reasons.  The main one being that in the first 2 months your body is still trying to become acclimated to your new fitness habit.  With that the body is still adjusting itself  and the weight will fluctuate up and down. Instead measure your body in  inches.  This works better because you can see where you are loosing fat and gaining muscle.  Remember that sometimes the scale will reflect a weight but it can’t reflect the muscle to fat. Muscle takes up less volume than fat so that’s why you can still weigh the same but you body can look completely different.  

Remember that weight lose is a journey not a destination.  I know… i’m heavy with the cliches this week.  Don’t get discourage for making a mistake or the scale not giving you a number you want to see.  Instead focus on the inches and making your new eating and fitness regime a habit for a happy and fit life.  

In the comments below what other diet fails do people make and how can they fix them?

Three Simple & Essential Exercises You Can Do Anywhere

Fitness is one of the most important habits we can have.  In fact, before my father passed he said that the one thing he wish he didn’t give up was working out.  Working out is a very important habit to keep because it helps us build better bodies and stronger minds.

Working Out is Good for Mental Health

Working out is good for our mental health.  Working out can be considered a form of meditation.  When we are working out we are released from our mobile devices or having our minds preoccupied by something else.  It’s one of the rare times in our modern society where we are unplugged and living life in the moment.  

Being in the moment gives us clarity, helps relax the mind, and gives us time to think about important issues.  Having clarity allows us to be more creative and efficient in both work and home.  

Working out also makes us more confident.  Once we start seeing the benefits of our hard work (more compliments and us fitting in clothes we haven’t worn in three years) it becomes an addiction and makes us feel accomplished.   Being confident make us happier people.

Working Out is Good for Our Physical Health

Working out is also great for our physical health.  Working out makes us stronger, faster, and think quicker.  Working out helps to build endurance.  Lets not tippy toe around the fact that it helps our sex drive.  Trust me, no one is complaining about that.  

Three Best Home Exercises

I know that gym memberships can be expensive.  Yes, many of us are ballers on a budget so we have to be financial conscience about where we are spending our money, and sometimes we can’t  afford the gym.  Today I want to give you three tried and true exercise moves that you can do anywhere

Plank 

Planks are a girl’s best friend.  Planking helps you to build strength in your core, upper and lower body so its a good full body workout. You do not need any equipment to perform this exercise all you need is a bit of space, and it really helps improve flexibility by stretching muscles and will improve posture if performed regularly.  The plank works almost every main muscle.  

Squats

Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s squats. Squats are an excellent exercise for training the lower body and core muscles.  If done regularly they help to define thighs and buttocks. They can improve circulation, posture, digestion and are a low impact exercise that almost anybody can do.  Squats are primarily a lower body exercise and works out the quads, bum, hamstrings, hip abductors,  and calves. 

Running

 If you are REALLY trying to lose weight then the thing you need to do is run.  Running is an equal opportunity fat killer.   Running allows a person to burn an average of 100 calories per each mile he or she runs.  Running 5 miles a day can burn an additional 500 calories, making it a legitimate way to lose weight.   

To get more information on workouts and how to execute form properly please check out my new favorite website 30 Day Fitness Challenges for all your fitness needs.  I will be using this site as reference again and again.  

In the comment below please let me know of other non gym exercises everyone can do anywhere.

7 Effective Ways to Stop Being a Hater

Don’t lie to yourself.  At some point in all our lives we have hated on someone else  for absolutely no reason.  Well, we had a reason.  We felt that the person was better in (insert given interest here).  Because we saw that person having more success we began to hate on them.  We hate because we are jealous over what they have because we think we deserve it more.  

I’m here to tell you...

Just get over it!  Stop being a hater. Stop wasting away the precious seconds of your life by taking the time to hate on someone else’s life.  You have no idea what it took for that person to get there. Even if you think you do being bitter doesn’t do anything for you anyway.  You are wasting good time and energy but choosing to hate one someone else. This takes away what you could be doing to get better.

Today I give you 7 ways to stop being a hater and begin getting better.

1. Take Workshops:  

You want to get better at something?  Take classes from people who are better at it than you.  Think you have a great business but no one is seeing your work? Take a marketing class.  You’re not the best runner?  Join a runner’s class.  Taking workshops are beneficial to you for many reasons.  

One, you can meet people who may have gone through the sames issues as you.  Taking a workshop allows you to have the opportunity to bounce idea off each person to see what’s working and what isn’t working.  The leader of the group may serve to be a great mentor for you.  It’s great to have someone that is a veteran in the field that you can go to for guidance and direction.  

Second, workshops are great for networking.  Going to a workshop puts you around like minded people who may have the same goals as you.  Let me tell you from firsthand experience that being around people who share the same goals as you is very enlightening and liberating.  You feel as though you have found your tribe.  

   2. Watch YouTube  

Can’t afford a workshop just yet?  Well, check out youtube.  You can find just about ANYTHING on YouTube.  Everyone has tutorials on anything that you are looking to learn.  The world is different now.   The internet has been the one thing that really connects people around the world.  Youtube can be used as virtual classroom.  There are so many people on YouTube who want to teach.  And just about everyone has access to smartphones. There is literally no excuse why you can't get on YouTube and use that as a resource to hone your craft.  Many YouTubers are really nice and approachable so don’t be scared to reach out to them.

   3. Get a Mentor:

 I know I touched a bit on this in point one, but getting a mentor is not a mute point.  Finding a mentor may be a slow and hard process, but it’s great to have a confidant you can approach and get their valued opinions on issues in your field of interest..  Mentors have the potential to be lifelong friends.  They also come with their one set of contacts and networking groups that you can be apart of .  

Let me tell you, the second most important thing to have in business is a good set of people you can network with.  The first?  A good product, idea, or service.  Forbes has an outstanding article on why having a mentor is the best investment you can make for your brand.

4. Practice Everyday

  Listen, you want to be the best in your field?  You have to practice at it everyday.  The people who are truly successful at what they do fully emerge themselves in their interest  They find ways to prioritize their dreams and goals.  For me I HAVE to shoot all the time.  When I’m not shooting I feel like I’m having withdrawals.  Also, I’m subscribed to a ton of magazine.  I study magazine ads and editorials by looking for trends and studying lighting.  I also use Facebook as a resource.  Personally, I like a bunch of groups that deal with boudoir and photography.  I read blog after blog several times a week to get better at what I do.  I have to see what people are doing and how I can be that much better than them.  In fact, I  shoot with friends over and over again so I can test out different ideas, techniques, and editing styles.  Photography and boudoir are my life.  This is what I’m into.

 You have to be FULLY and I mean FULLY commit to whatever your craft is.  To do that you MUST practice this 8 days a week.  What do you mean there are only 7 days in a week? I say this because when it comes to perfection of what you do there are no days off.

5. Make A Goal or a Challenge

The best thing you can is challenge yourself to get better. For example, I knew I was struggling with the fitness thing.  I have a full time job and I do the photography full time.  I began to notice that my dog and I were both packing on the pounds… but I just let it go excusing my lack of exercise on having no time.  Then one night I  read an Instagram post from one of my favorite Dallas personal trainers that changed my outlook.  Ngata Fitness always  gives Instagram followers background information up of the people he trains.  He does this because he wants to prove that no one should have an excuse for being lazy and not live a full life.  

One of his clients is a  lady who is a mother of of 5 who works two jobs AND still has the time to go to school full time pursuing bachelor's degree.  If that wasn’t enough on her plate she was still able to find 90 minutes in her day to work out.  Yes, she looks amazing.  So honestly… what’s my excuse?  That’s why for the next 100 days I challenged myself to walk at least 1 mile. I know, that doesn’t sound like a whole lot… but it’s a lot better what I was doing before, not a dayum thing.  

To to do this challenge I had to find ways to prioritize everything in my life.  I’m not trying to be the best runner in the world.  I just need  to make sure I am running so I can foster a healthy lifestyle.  In fact, if you want please join me on the 100 day challenge click HERE!

6. Separate Yourself from the Self Doubt 

Even the best of us fall victim to that voice of self doubt in our head.  Self doubt is the biggest dream killer since the dawn of time.  However, we have to remember a couple of things in order to conquer self doubt.  

One, a lot of people give up on their dreams because “It will take too long” and they feel like they are going to fail.  Listen, the time will pass anyway.  Why don’t you do something that's going to help build a beautiful more peaceful life for yourself?  Why waste time doubting yourself?  Sometime the first thing you have to do is just jump in feet first.  

Two, don’t place hurtles up before you even start the race. Listen, the race is not going to be easy, but let other people put up roadblocks.  Don’t put the roadblocks up yourself.  Doubting yourself is a form of self sabotage. If you are really serious about your goals then you need to let go of that voice in your head and push full steam ahead.

7. Never Become Complacent

 YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! in my Nicki Minaj voice! NEVER become complacent with yourself.  A big part of being a hater is seeing someone doing something different and innovative while you lag behind because your still doing the same ole thing.  Being flexible and embracing change will help you to become more innovative in your style and approach.  Elite Daily had a great article on why complacency will ruin your life.

What do We Do when We have Our Own Hater?

As a bonus I have to include one of my favorite stand up bits by comedian Katt Williams.  It’s about haters.   Katt Williams lets us know that we should not be distracted or intimidated by our haters we need to own them.

In the End...

I know this article was super long, but I hope these 7 ways helped you figure out how to stop being bitter and gave you ideas on how to get better. Please don’t waste your time hating on the next person.  In fact, do yourself a favor by congratulating them on a job well done.   Study the moves they made an then figure out how to do it better. Fuck being bitter.  Bitter doesn't make you smarter, faster, or more popular.  However, getting better does.  

I know this was a long one, but I have a CONTEST connected to this post.  I’m the comments below please let me know which point you liked the most or let me know a point I may have missed.  The winner will get a free $50 gift certificate to Victoria’s Secret!  Contest ending July 31st at 11:59AM.

July Boudoir Fitness Month

Your health is the most important thing you can have.  

Sometimes we only realize this when we get incredibly sick.  However, we should keep in mind that whatever we place in our body today will affect us tomorrow.

The Last 10 Pounds.

One of the most common excuses I hear from women for why they can't do a boudoir session right away is because they just need to loose that "last 10 pounds." While I don't agree with that statement I do understand it. 

Being healthy is important because it helps you both physically and mentally.  This is what our July focus is boudoir fitness.  

I also wanted to note some changes.  Instead of posting three times a week.  I will now be posting Monday - Thursday beginning next next.  However, during this 100 day running period on every Friday or Saturday I will post a review of my workouts and running schedule.  I will also review what I ate and I will be perfectly honest with you.  I'm also debating on if I should do a before and after shot of my body.  In fact I will probably just do that.  I will even announce my weight to the world.  At the end of this exercise I will write a full post on my experience.

 
Some of the topics we will discuss include how food is the most important element to your fitness regimen, the best exercises for your target areas, why you won't bulk up while exercising, and other amazing topics.  

I can't wait until we discuss this more in the future!

If I'm going to be honest with you guys I have to tell you that I'm already 11 days into my hundred day challenge.  This 100 day challenge is to make sure that I at least walk 1 mile everyday for the next 100 days.  I need to start becoming more accountable when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle.

I can't wait to do this journey with you guys and see what we look like after 100 days of focused fitness.

In the comments below please let me know if you like to join me on this 100 day challenge!