Tag Archives: body image

Why Do You Exercise?

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

No seriously, why?

Do you exercise to get rid of the muffin top?

Do you exercise because your thighs are rubbing together?

Do you exercise because you ate too much over the holidays?

I pulled this out of an article in Time magazine, special for all of you that answered YES! to the answers above…

“In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless,” says Eric Ravussin, chair in diabetes and metabolism at Louisiana State University and a prominent exercise researcher. Many recent studies have found that exercise isn’t as important in helping people lose weight as you hear so regularly in gym advertisements or on shows like The Biggest Loser — or, for that matter, from magazines like this one.

The basic problem is that while it’s true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued. Exercise, in other words, isn’t necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder.

Oh there are many benefits to exercise, such as: health, energy, vibrancy, a good sex life, better body image, less stress, better sleep, etc. So why do we (mostly) never say that we exercise for these reasons?

Do you think that if you exercised for the above mentioned “healthy” reasons to exercise that you might approach exercise differently?

Would you perhaps take a walk and enjoy your neighborhood whilst peeking in windows to see if people’s Xmas trees are still up, or would you go to the gym for yet another grueling/boring/monotonous 45 minutes on the Stairmaster?

Would you perhaps put on your favorite dance mix, clear the living room and go crazy with your awesome dance party moves, or would you put in that generic strength training video that you have watched twice and can’t stand listening to the instructor or looking at her outfit.

I have talked to countless people that have exercised like crazy only to find out that they have gained weight (me, multiple times), and I have talked to even more people that have traded in their rigorous routines for activities that they truly adored and lost weight (me again).

It can be scary to give it all up and trade it in for something new.

Read this awesome blog post from one of my favorite bloggers and see if she convinces you!

Read this article from New York Magazine!

I like to exercise now because it makes me feel alive. I like the way my leg muscles feel after a long walk. I feel sexier after a yoga class. I know that my heart is beating, my blood is pumping and my body is working the way it is supposed to. As soon as I started doing the exercise that I wanted to do I began to feel this way. Oh yeah, AND I’ve lost weight! Before it was a different story. I used to feel nauseous, exhausted and ravenous after a workout. I used to dread working out, every single time.

What kind of exercise would you be doing if you weren’t exercising to get skinny?

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Posted in exercise, favorite posts

Tagged body image, exercise, weight loss

How to be absolutely perfect in only ONE HOUR A DAY!

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

>>>via

Sorry, it’s not gonna happen, but studies have shown that the average woman spends about an hour a day thinking about the size of her body, the amount of exercise she has gotten and what she has eaten that day…All in the name of achieving perfection. And sadly, this starts at about the age of 12. If you average this out over a lifetime you will see that we waste about 3 solid years of our lives thinking about how much we suck. There are no words to describe how ridiculous and sad this is. Imagine your day, does it look anything like this:

♥ One minute debating whether to have a scone and “be really bad” or have a sugar free muffin and “be good”. Now you spend two minutes berating yourself for choosing to “be bad”

♥ Five minutes figuring out what you have in your closet that doesn’t make you look pregnant. Five minutes finally picking out some things that will do. Two minutes spent thinking about how you need to lose weight to fit into your clothes.

♥ Three minutes looking at your face in the mirror and wondering why your face is broken out, you have bags under your eyes and your crows feet are getting ready to take off.

♥ Three minutes thinking about how you want to be thin for next summer. Two minutes thinking about what you ate yesterday and one minute thinking about what you will eat for lunch.

♥ Two minutes thinking about whether you should have the vegetable soup or the enchiladas that you really want. One minute thinking about how hungry you are after you eat the soup.

♥ Four minutes reading an article about how skinny all the celebs are right now. One minute being angry at yourself for reading such nonsense. Five minutes thinking about how you can’t believe that women waste so much time on this nonsense.

♥ One minute standing in line at the coffee shop wondering which sugary coffee drink has the least amount of calories.

♥ One minute trying to talk yourself out of ordering dessert with dinner. One minute going over everything you ate all day and coming up with a way to justify it.

♥ Two minutes thinking about how little willpower you have. Three minutes going over how it’s no wonder that you don’t look good in a bathing suit. One minute promising yourself that you will be good all day tomorrow.

Does that sound about right? When it’s all spelled out does it seem like a completely idiotic waste of time? Do you want to make some changes in how you choose to spend your time? I know I do!!

If this post strikes a chord with you then you are going to freak out over my next class! Seriously, it’s going to be great and I want you in it. If you aren’t on the mailing list then get your bad self signed up already!!

XO…Julie

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Posted in body image, favorite posts, self love, weight loss

Tagged body image, self love, sparkly self love, weight loss

How to lose weight the Sparkly Self Love way…through glittery platforms, burlesque and good champagne!

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Grace Kelly being awesome

So I realized today that I have spent the last year studying at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition learning how to coach people on how to lose weight and eat right, among many other things. I have also spent the last year taking care of a baby and starting yet another new business! I think during that time I forgot to apply everything I have learned to my own life. I love myself and my body more than I ever have, but it’s time to say goodbye to the baby weight once and for all. Would you like to join me?

Here are the only things you need to do to lose weight, and dieting is absolutely never allowed! If you follow these steps you will lose weight. I know, the hard part can be staying on track, but this time I want you to think of this as a way of life. In life we are constantly learning and evolving. This way there is no falling off the wagon, only learning interesting lessons along the way. And so we begin…

Crystal Renn being hot

1. Love and accept your body and know that you are absolutely perfect right now, this minute, today. I can’t stress how much more important this is than any other diet tip you will ever hear in your life. If you are going to lose weight it must come from a place of love and acceptance. When you lose weight due to self hate and utter revulsion it doesn’t make for a happy thin person. Read these articles for a little extra inspiration (one, two, three).

so delightful

2. After you have mastered step one (seriously, this won’t work unless you at least start to master step one!), it is time to envision your ideal future self. Take 5 minutes and truly get to know her. What does she wear, what does she eat, what kind of exercise does she do, what is her life like, you get the idea. Only after you have truly become this woman in your mind (it could take 5 minutes, it could take 20), I want you to choose 3 words that represent this future woman and her life. Some examples might be: Delight, Freedom, Romance, Joy, you get the idea. Write these 3 words on post-its and put them everywhere as your secret little reminder. Write them on your bathroom mirror in lipstick! I put mine in my car, my daily planner, my bathroom mirror and the front door! For extra credit (and results) you would spend a few minutes every day envisioning the woman that you would like to become.

3. After you are in agreement with the first two steps you are ready for this one. Write down everything you eat in the most adorable journal that you can find. All I want you to write down is what time you ate, what you ate (quantity not necessary) and your hunger level. This is to be done without judgement, which is why it will be fairly ineffective until you get down with the first two.

Here is an example of how I would like you to use this food journal, an honest to goodness example from my life last weekend.

7:30 – some pieces of cinnamon roll – not hungry but had to eat before we left the house.
10:00 – apple fritter from top pot – a little hungry
2:00 – leftover pizza – a little hungry

What? I went to nutrition school? The reason I use this example is that we all encounter some variety of this in our lives. The normal reaction would be to start yelling (internally) at myself about how it’s no wonder that I haven’t lost the baby weight yet. I need to go on a diet immediately, which I’ll probably fail at. Basically, how much I suck. There isn’t a shred of sparkly self love in that approach.

Here is the sparkly self love response to that day of interesting food intake:
That is so adorable that I ate like that this morning. Truly adorable.
What was going on with me?
Do I want that to happen again?
No? What could I do to prevent it next time.
Yeah!!

The act of writing your food down will automatically cause you to be aware of what you are eating. You would be surprised how much we all eat when we are completely zoned out.

4. Here are the food rules you have all been waiting for:

Be aware of what you are eating.
Eat food that makes your body feel good most of the time.
Stop eating when you are satisfied.

Those are the only food rules I am going to give you. If you are a woman over the age of 20 you have probably read a dozen diet books. We all know what’s healthy and what’s not healthy. We live in our bodies every day, so if you pay attention you will know what foods make your body feel good. Some people can’t tolerate dairy, some do fine with it. Some people lose weight on a low carb diet, but there are plenty that don’t. Stop listening to diet fads and start listening to your body.

There is nothing “wrong” with any food. You will quickly find that some foods should be saved for special occasions and others are meant to be eaten daily. The key is to savor everything you eat no matter what it is. If you want to eat croissants every day then that is fine, but put it on the best plate you can find and sit down and enjoy it. If you do that I bet you’ll find that you enjoy them more if you don’t eat them every day.

Remember the low fat diet craze that many of us are STILL trying to follow? They have now proven that a low fat diet will make you gain weight over time, yet there are still tons of packaged foods that say non-fat or low-fat on them, and we think we are being “good” by buying them.

so hot…

5. Move your body and make it fun. Move your body because it feels good, and not because you are supposed to do it. There is a form of exercise for everyone. I promise you. Don’t believe me? Perhaps there are a few that you haven’t tried that I happen to think are awesome! Read this post for a little more…

I think Burlesque, Qoya, Nia and Pole Dancing are the most kick ass ways to get in shape and have more fun in an hour than you ever thought possible.

Yoga is divine and there are so many types of yoga to try! My favorite right now is My Yoga Online, it is an online yoga class site that has every type of yoga imaginable. You can also choose to search by class length time, so if you only have 15 minutes you can easily find a class.

Have you ever heard of walking? It’s a miracle activity! I do my best creative thinking when I’m walking alone. You can always listen to a “book on tape” if you don’t feel like thinking!

Lady Glitter Slingbacks from Christian Laboutin

6. And finally, go buy yourself something really, really pretty. It could be a tiny trinket or an extravagant bit of happiness. This will serve as just another reminder that you are amazing, and you deserve to have the very best…Right now…Exactly as you are. Try to wear or carry this new item with you as much as possible, consider it a talisman of sorts. This step may not seem important but it really is, now is the time to step up and enjoy who you are. Stop wasting another moment of your life thinking otherwise! By the way, these might be an easier alternative to the Laboutins, and this necklace would be a sweet choice!
..

a little glittery fairy dust for you

I could go on and on for the next few months on this, there is a lot to say, but truly it all stems from these 6 topics. Start working on them slowly and it will all come together. If you rush into it all at once then it will turn into yet another plan you didn’t stick to. Savor these steps like a glass of extremely expensive champagne.

I am deep in the trenches of working on my new online class A Lovely Venture, but I am already planning my next project which will be all about this awesome topic. Be patient though, what I’m working on is going to be phenomenal so I can’t rush it!!

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Posted in body image, exercise, favorite posts, self love, weight loss

Tagged body image, diet, exercise, pleasurable weight loss, self love, sparkly self love, weight loss

Lady Crushes – An enticing new series

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

Lady Crushes will be a series of interviews of the ladies that have rocked my world in one way or another. This is my way to sneak in and share a taste with you of what makes them so damned awesome. Enjoy! xo. Julie

My dear, sweet Tonya Leigh just has to be first up on my list. If you could hear her adorable Southern twang you would be hooked too! Tonya is a fearless leader of women that want to lose weight without sacrificing even one eency-weency bit of pleasure. I initially started working with Tonya as a bit of a research project, and holy cow she has turned my life upside down. Yes I am eating better and my clothes are looser…But even more importantly, I feel connected to my body in a way I never have before. Tonya is doing an online immersion that starts in a little over a week. If you are a smart lass then you will head over there pronto and sign up for the program. Seriously. I am so excited for it to start that I can hardly stand it! And now on to the interview…

What REALLY turns you on about your life?
A cup of coffee enjoyed early in the morning on my back deck with my hubby and dogs. Travel intoxicates me; it expands my soul. I am REALLY turned on by a delicious meal shared with people I love. Moving my body and feeling strong makes me feel amazing as I walk through life. Music gets my juices flowing and my daughter lights me UP! A sunset and sunrise that symbolizes another day to live is HOT!

Truly, life itself, is a huge aphrodisiac. I call it “French Kissing Life.”

What is the passion you had that drove you to start your business?
I am passionate about living a fabulous life – delicious foods, sexy health, fabulous people and the freedom to live your truth.However, I was unable to discover my own passions when I was engrossed in “fixing myself” through dieting, therapy and other modes of transformation.When I finally said to myself, “Hey, life is fabulous and you’re not so bad yourself,” and I started treating life as my playground to explore and grow, I discovered what it means to live a passionate life.Now, I guide women to create lives, bodies and businesses they love.

What daily rituals do you have that keep you juicy, alive and sparkly?
I love rituals, and for me, they start as soon as I open my eyes and end when I close them at night. However, my 3 most important are:

1. 10 Minute Morning Ritual - each morning, before I start packing lunches, checking e-mails or getting ready for work, I spend 10 minutes thinking about the woman I desire to be in my life, and from that question, I think about what I want to accomplish. Many women have it backwards. They think about what they want to “do” in order to “be” something, and then they feel overwhelmed and out of sync. Always start with how you desire to feel first, then allow your “doing” to come from that place.

2. Exercise - Daily movement is as important to my day as a shower. It wasn’t always so, but over time, I discovered the absolute delight of being a woman who moves a lot. Now, on the rare occasion that I don’t exercise, I can feel it not only in my body, but my attitude and productivity. It’s as important to my business as my accountant, and that’s saying a lot!
Plus, moving is sexy. Movement will make you feel very juicy and sparkly. Moving is a form of celebration for life and your body.

3. Nightly Ritual – My nightly ritual is probably the most important of all, because it’s a way to set myself up for a fabulous next day. First, I create my next day’s plan with this one question: what would I love to create more of tomorrow. It could be love, health or more writing or a combination of a few things, but I am very aware not to put too much on my plate. From this question, I’m able to sketch out my next day’s tasks, which also includes a rough menu of what I’ll eat.

Then, I wash my face, brush my teeth and say something fabulous to myself in the mirror and offer up 5 gratitudes. Regardless of what’s happened in my day, I always feel cleansed after performing my nightly séance, and it’s a perfect way to set myself up for a great next day.

When you are stressed out, and life is pulling at your heartstrings, what tool do you use to turn that around?
Well, I use to head straight to the fridge and binge out and spend days caught up in a toxic cycle of binge/repent/repeat. However, through various tools, I discovered a delicious way of handling life’s problems that leave me feeling nourished, not disgusting. Here are my favorite two. They’re not fancy, but they are highly effective.

#1 Turnaround – The Question
I ask this question that seems to always turn a “bad” situation around:
What’s beautiful about this moment?
Whether I’m arguing with my daughter, stuck in traffic or behind on a deadline, this question immediately shifts me to a place of love, gratitude and wisdom.

#2 Turnaround – Movement
The second thing that I do is move my body. When I get out and get active, I’m in the moment and in the moment, I’m always just fine. And, usually, just the act of moving can begin to turn negative energy around.

What is the #1 piece of advice that you would give your best girlfriend about how to lead a pleasurable life?
It’s super important to have a diverse pleasure portfolio of things that bring you pleasure and excitement, and commit to making those things a part of your daily life.
If you are like many women, and you’ve lost touch with what turns you on, then your first step is to go on a pleasure scavenger hunt and notice what delights your senses.
It’s also super important that all your pleasure doesn’t come from food, because you’ll end up overindulging, and that’s not pleasurable at all.
Life is most beautiful when high quality things are enjoyed in moderation and with gusto! And, I have found some of the most pleasurable things are often the most simple to enjoy.