The Beauty Movement 2016: The Beginning of an Era

I was asking The Lord last night about my business, and how to refresh and inspire my ladies. I absolutely love coaching, but I can get stuck in the "to-do's" and all the back work, and forget my purpose. I'm always asking my ladies about their "why": why do you want to get healthy, why do you want to reach your goal...because we can have all the "how's" in the world, but until there's a reason for the how, one can often lack motivation and commitment. 

Last night my "why" hit me like a freight train. I originally wanted to start coaching because I needed that sense of community, and I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. I wanted peace and security, and I wanted to use my passion - health and fitness - to inspire others. And you know, I did that. It worked. I have that community, peace, and security. I have been using my passion... but I needed it to go deeper than that.

This is the year of victory for me - victory over health issues, victory over insecurities, and victory over the way I see myself. In 2010 I battled an undiagnosed eating disorder. I restricted calories to the point that my small frame was 96 pounds. I remember getting on the scale one day, weighing 98 pounds, and feeling fat. I remember looking at my stomach wondering how I could get it smaller, tighter, flatter. I remember worrying when my size 00 pants got the slightest bit tight because I was bloated. I would cave and eat a food from the "no-no" list, and even just the slightest taste sent me in to a whirlwind of guilt. I exercised obsessively, counted every calorie, and weighed myself several times each day. I was tired, frail, and unhealthy, but I felt that if I controlled my food and my exercise, I could control my life. I felt accomplished when I dropped another pound because I was finally "in control".

My sense of accomplishment faded as reality hit. I knew I needed to gain weight, not because I was going to become more and more sick, but because I wanted people to stop asking if I was ok. My mind and my body were not healthy. I would get weird glances, and friends were asking my family if I was alright. I was in denial of my circumstances, but now realize the severity of the situation. My “why” for that time in my life was this: I felt ugly. I felt unworthy. I felt undesired. I felt like if I didn’t fit the mold of the girl on the cover of the magazine, I was unlovable. The physical met the emotional, and I felt that controlling my body meant I would turn the tables on my emotions and I would feel beautiful. Worthy. Desired. Loved.

Last night my “why” for my business was answered with a gentle word from The Lord: "beauty". Chills wash over me as I write this, because THIS is the beginning of an era. I now know my reason.

I want a woman to see her self worth. I want a woman to feel loved, desired, secure, and beautiful. I want her to see and feel how much The Lord desires her and how she is made in His image. I want a woman to go to sleep each night feeling strong, knowing she did something amazing and so healthy for her body. I want to help a woman find a healthy relationship with food and break the chains of emotional eating and food-related guilt. THIS is the end of an era of Satan’s chains on us women. This is the Beauty Movement 2016.

But, I can’t do this alone. I need you to join this movement. I’m looking for self-motivated, fitness and health-oriented women to mentor ladies in a private online accountability setting. Training will be provided and you’ll work with me one-on-one as we help end the trend of obesity and promote a trend of beauty and self worth. Join #thebeautymovement2016 here. Or if you have more questions, those can be answered here. 

If this post resonated with you and you need that help, accountability, and motivation on your health and fitness journey, please reach out to me! I'm always looking for ladies that need or want that help...because after all, it's why I do what I do. <3 Contact me here for more information, or if you just need someone to pray with you.

I hope & pray you feel beautiful today.

Love, 

Anna

I Can't Believe I Just Ate That. Now What?

So you ate Christmas dinner. Then a piece of pie. And egg nog. Then a piece of cheesecake. And dang it, you already blew your diet, so why have another piece?

Wrong.

We’ve all had those days where we stuff our face and then think, “Oh my gosh, what did I just do?” If you’re like me, you beat yourself up about it, and get so frustrated with yourself that you dip in to a slump and eat more because you’re upset.

Be kind to yourself, emotionally and physically. I tend to beat myself up for so long if I “mess up” with my nutrition. Several years ago I struggled with an undiagnosed eating disorder. I would slip up on my “diet” and would punish myself by further restricting calories throughout the day and running and exercising that much harder and longer. It was terrible. I was unhappy with myself and hated my body, even though I put so much work in to it. I was 95 pounds at my lowest, and my tiny 5’5” frame was frail. Believe me when I say that I understand. I’ve been there. Give yourself grace on this journey. We’re not perfect, and we’re not meant to be.

With that said, here are a few steps on what to do if you do binge eat.

1.     Put down the fork. Walk away. Think and say to yourself, “I will not have any more (insert food here).” Walking away and verbal acknowledgement is the hardest part!

2.     Drink a glass of water.

3.     If it’s evening time, go to bed. If it’s the middle of the day, find a distraction: go for a walk, run an errand, vacuum, etc. Do something that physically removes from the location and gets your mind off of the food.

4.     The day after you binge eat, wake up, drink a glass of water, and do 45-60 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio activity.

5.     Throughout the day, eat lots of greens & drink lots of water! Try eating a vegetarian diet for the day, as meat is more difficult for the body to breakdown. We want to flush as much of the gunk out of your system as possible.

6.     Stop eating an hour earlier than normal, in the evening, and go to bed an hour earlier. This gives your body that time to play catch up J

…and no matter what, LOVE YOURSELF.