HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT & MOTIVATE YOURSELF!

Hi Friends!

Today is Shelby’s first guest post of the year! If you have no idea what I’m talking about, Shelby is my new assistant and BFF (read more here) and she will be helping me out with my channel and blog going forward. Along with that, she will be posting monthly on my blog about all the topics that inspire me about her! She has been a serious inspiration for me and driving force behind my channel and blog for years. She’s been the most supportive of everything and has seen all my ups and downs so it was only natural that the first person I hire would be her!

I wanted her to have her own guest post because she’s truly a remarkable person and women. She’s a #girlboss in many ways and I know she can inspire so many of my readers and followers. I met her in college and she became President of our sorority, but beyond that, she excels in her banking career, motivates me to have a healthier and more balanced lifestyle, gives me the best fashion advice, and seriously makes me laugh unlike no other! For her first post, I practically begged her to write about her lifestyle change within the last year. I’ve seen her go from unhealthy eating habits (much like my own now;) to working out every day, eating a completely different meal plan, and her transformation has been so incredible to watch. Not only that, but last year she was basically my coach in helping me lose all the baby weight after having Annabelle so I contribute any weight loss I’ve ever had to her easy meal plans and attainable workout plans she has set for me. So, onto Shelby’s post!

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Hi Everyone!!

For my first post I wanted to do more of a lifestyle post and let you all in on some big changes that have happened to me in the past year and a half.

So to start, let me take you back to the day I decide to make a change: February 21^st, 2017. I had just turned 25 and I had returned home from my birthday cruise. I had a wonderful time and was excited to see my friends and family to celebrate with them all. I had a Nordstrom package on my doorstep and it had been a dress I had ordered to take on the cruise but didn’t arrive in time. I tried the dress on to head out to dinner and immediately started crying. It was an XL and it still did not fit. I had been steadily gaining wait for a few years before this moment. I had recently ended a really bad relationship and I was trying to pick up the pieces of my life. I realized in that moment I needed to better myself and take care of myself to fully get over this person and become a better me. So on that day, I started a diet and decided to work out more regularly.

I will be real with all of you, changing your lifestyle and the way you think about food and exercise is really hard. It is a struggle every day, until it becomes a habit. Over the next 6 months I stuck to a very strict diet of very low carb and no sugar. I created a plan that works for me and I pretty much stuck to it. I didn’t eat out a lot, I brought salad for lunch, ate protein shakes for breakfast and usually a smoothie or juice for dinner with some sort of protein. I started working out 3-4 days a week for an hour and after about 3 months I really started to enjoy going to the gym. I picked up spin classes and have recently joined OrangeTheory. I now look forward to my gym time, I look forward to the hour and a half I have to myself without any interruptions. The eating healthy part was much harder to get used to, but I knew that if I kept up with it I would continue to lose weight and overall look and feel better on the inside and outside.

I wanted to share my daily meal plan in hopes that it can help you as it helped me. First off, invest in a large reusable water bottle. You need to be drinking water constantly throughout the day. My favorites are this HydroFlask and this BKR. For breakfast I either have a protein bar, protein shake, or cereal with fruit. For lunch I have a pre-made salad from Trader Joes or a grocery store. For dinner I have either a smoothie or if I go out to dinner some sort of meat and veggies. I do snack a bit throughout the day I usually have a banana, celery with peanut butter, nuts, dried mango, or string cheese. The main thing about losing or maintaining wait is making sure your calorie intake is the same or lower than the amount of calories you burn throughout the day.

One of the things I discovered I love to do is hike. Before I would probably complain and make some excuse as why I didn’t want to go on a hike with friends, but now I am the one probably suggesting it every weekend. I enjoy being outside surrounded by a beautiful view and talking and laughing with friends. What I love most about hiking is that there can be these quiet moments when you are making your way up a large hill and once you reach the top and look at the view you’ve realized you have accomplished something you thought you may have not been able to. I urge everyone to find something they enjoy doing and become passionate about it that is when you will see the real change.

So now almost a year and a half later, I am still on that kick. I have those cheat days where I will go to In N Out and have a cheeseburger and fries, and some days I skip the gym and go to happy hour, but what I have learned over the course of this, is that you need to start. You need to start putting yourself first, taking caring of yourself, and making your own happiness your priority in life. This is what I mean by a lifestyle change, it is overall, it is not just your outward appearance it is how you think about things & yourself as a whole. I am not going to say I am perfectly happy with my body but I am so content with how I look and more importantly how I feel about myself. I know I will continue on this lifestyle change for the rest of my life. Every day, month, year, getting better and better at eating healthy, working out, and creating my own happiness.

I hope you all enjoyed my first guest post on Hayley’s Blog. If you have any questions please leave me a comment below or you can reach out to me privately at my Instagram: @shelbylynnwyatt or email me at shelby@hayleypaigeblogs.com