Motivation Isn’t Constant

March 16, 2015March 16, 2015 / ktbuchs87

On the surface, motivation seems to be a simple concept. It is a drive that pushes us towards our goals. It’s good to have motivation. People want it and look for it in many places. There are motivational speakers, videos, books, podcasts, sayings, and workshops. Some blame the lack of motivation for not achieving what they want and some have such an overabundance of it that they want to spread it around to others.

I think motivation is a little more complicated than a simple drive that propels us to what we want.

There are many different kinds of motivation. There is the motivation to get started, to keep going, and even the motivation to stop when we need to. I think this is what can frustrate people when they want to become healthier. They think that all motivation is the same and they look at others who seem to have an endless supply and don’t realize that those people have to work just as hard to be motivated towards their goals.

I can tell you from personal experience that the reasons I am motivated to stay healthy today are vastly different than the reasons I was motivated to start years ago. It’s also a lot of work (and yes, even after all this time it’s still work) for me to stay motivated to keep pushing towards my goals. There are days where I don’t want to workout at all. I think about the run I have planned or the weights I have to lift, and I feel like staying in bed or watching TV instead. There are times when I just want to eat a whole cake by myself instead of the healthy meal that I have planned. I used to worry that those feelings and lack of motivation were a bad thing. I thought that I was giving up or failing and I felt guilty. I tried to shove those feelings aside and convince myself that I was constantly motivated and constantly being healthy.

Over the years I’ve learned that those feelings are just fine and in fact they’re normal.

I’m a human being and I am going to lack motivation at some points in my life. Motivation isn’t in an endless supply for anyone. Even those people who seem to have it day in and day out struggle to keep it going. There are going to be days when being healthy is the last thing on your mind, where working out is going to be at the bottom of your list, and getting whatever food you may find in your belly will be the top priority.

Don’t feel guilty like I did about that.

Motivation is meant to be renewed every day. It is meant to be strengthened as you go along. It’s normal for it to fade every once in awhile and it’s ok for you to have to work to get it back. That’s what makes you a human. I used to feel like everyone in my life would judge me if they knew how I felt on those days that I had zero motivation to do anything healthy. I was suppose to be an example of good health. I put myself on display through this blog and my actions and I didn’t want to let anyone down. I’ve learned that pretending to be perfect is a bigger let down to people than showing them I’m just like everyone else.

I have my good and bad days just like you have your good and bad days. The fact that I pick myself back up and get back at it is what defines me more than my occasional lack of motivation.

If you’re feeling like you’re a failure because you haven’t been as motivated lately, or haven’t had any motivation at all, stop. You’re a human and you are doing the best you can. You get start fresh every single day, so start today and strengthen your motivation for you and your health.

Advice… With A Grain Of Salt

March 9, 2015March 9, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Like many people, I spend a good amount of time on the internet. One of my favorite sites is Pinterest. I like scrolling through all the recipes, memes, workouts, and numerous other things that people pin. The other day I ran across this written on a pin under the Health and Fitness section: “Honey and cinnamon cleanse every morning, on an empty stomach, half an hour before breakfast, and again at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup water. If taken regularly it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also drinking of this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body, even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.”

Yeah, right.

Just not true

Most people who read that would probably disregard this “helpful” hint and move on to other things. But there are others out there who are looking for any way to lose weight and might cling to this bit of advice as a magic bullet. Everyday I see one thing or another out there in internet land that is just plain wrong, but sounds just good enough to maybe work. There are lists of negative calorie foods (these do NOT exist people!), exercises that will burn 500 calories (maybe if a person is a certain weight/height/body type), and numerous cleanses that promise everything from weight loss to higher test scores (did you know that your body does a fairly good job of cleansing itself every day?).

All good foods, but they do NOT have negative calories

I’m not going to sit here and debunk every single crazy bit of advice that is out there because that would take way too long and you would get bored. I just want to caution you to take any health advice you read on the internet with a grain of salt. Even things that I write aren’t meant to be taken as the hard and fast truth. I am not an expert, I just relate my experiences with you in hopes to help you find your own way. I want you to be careful because I know what it’s like to be desperate when it comes to my weight and body.

I like eating way too much to drink these things for my meals

I was once the impressionable consumer who saw numerous commercials promising that I could lose weight quickly with just one pill! It was like a miracle. All I had to do was take a pill and all my weight problems would be solved. I would finally be happy and look amazing. I bought into the lie. Thankfully my mom found my hidden stash of weight loss pills, essentially just caffeine in pill form, before I seriously hurt myself.

I think I’ll do this instead of that other workout…

Don’t let your desperation cloud your good judgement. I knew deep down that one pill a day wasn’t going to make me lose weight, but I wanted to believe it badly enough to try it. I know better now and I always do my research with any health advice I read or hear. Ultimately you have to do what is best for you and your body. If you’re confused or something sounds too good to be true, dig deeper. Talk with medical and health professionals and make sure that you are helping instead of hurting yourself.

The internet can be a great thing, I mean where else can you spend all day looking at cat photos? But make sure that it isn’t your one and only source for health information. Take any advice you get from the internet with a grain of salt. And a funny meme.

Try not to laugh at this

Have a great Monday everyone!

Monday Funday

March 2, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Ok, so Monday isn’t really all that fun but maybe if we say it enough it will be true. Probably not, but let’s pretend.

Last weekend my husband, Adam, came down with a cold/cough/sore throat and was out of the game for a few days. We took him to the doctor, got him some meds, and he is on the mend. I thought I had escaped whatever bug he had but Friday morning I woke up with a tickle in my throat and by Saturday my nose was running like a faucet. Yesterday my head was all congested and I just wanted to be able to breathe through my nose. Luckily I didn’t get hit as hard as Adam, but still, it’s no fun to have a cold.

My feeble attempt to try and breathe through my congestion. Also I look HOT

So I spent this past weekend trying to take it easy. Keyword here: trying. I know that I need to rest to get better faster, but I am really bad at just sitting around. I like to be accomplishing something at all times, it’s something I’m working on.

In my “resting” state, I spent some time in the kitchen on Saturday coming up with a few new recipes for the blog. I have a few that need some tweaking, but I did manage to come up with a new soup and it really hit the spot for someone with a cold.

When I did finally manage to sit on the couch, Adam and I binged on House of Cards. If you have not watched this series, run to your TV/computer and watch all of them now. The Underwoods are deliciously ruthless and evil and I love them. It’s one of those situations where you know it’s wrong to cheer for them but you can’t help but hope for them to come out on top. This season so far (we’re about 6 episodes in) has been pretty good and I can’t wait to see where it ends up. Also, is it wrong for me to want to be as badass as Claire Underwood? I mean in one episode the woman threatens a country with war on the toilet in the women’s bathroom at the UN. That’s ballsy right there.

In between the awesomeness of House of Cards, I also watched a few episodes of Chopped. Obviously I love watching cooking shows and Chopped is one of my favorites. While I was watching I realized as much as I love to cook and create dishes I would never make it past the appetizer round. I would get so stressed and would probably just throw up my hands and cry in the corner. I like to take my time in the kitchen and there is no way I could come up with something edible and creative in 20 minutes. Oh well, I’m sure someday Food Network would come up with a show where I would have unlimited time, unlimited ingredients, no judges, and I get to make whatever I want, right?

Hopefully this cold goes away soon and I can get back to my normal routine. But let’s end this post on a high note with a picture of my adorable cats, because who doesn’t love pictures of cats? Crazy people, that’s who. Have a happy Monday everyone!

Olaf chilling to the max and Dot allowing him to be near her.

How did you spend your weekend? What’s your favorite show of the moment?

The Art of Nothing

February 23, 2015 / ktbuchs87

There was a time when I was an expert at doing nothing. I could spend weekends sitting in my room on my computer looking at nothing with the TV on in the background watching nothing. I could lay in bed for a whole day with nothing to occupy my time. At times, nothing dominated my life.

In recent years that has changed, partly because I started to make an effort to try and do something with my time. I was tired of wasting my life away on nothing. I realized the joy and fulfillment there was to be had by accomplishing things. It felt good to cross a task off my list or add a new talent to my repertoire. As much as I had liked being lazy and letting nothing take over, I liked having something dominate my time much better.

For awhile this attitude served me well. I was doing a lot of good. I excelled in my classes, I added new and healthy habits like exercising and eating well, and I was focused on helping others and not just serving myself. But soon a trade off happened. I started to feel guilty if I wasn’t always doing something or on the go. I feared slipping back into my lazy routine and worried about nothing creeping back into my life. I didn’t want to go back to being the lump in front of my computer or TV.

So I kept on doing something.

Even if that something was just standing up and pacing back and forth, I made sure I was involved. I made sure that nothing never occupied my time again. And you know what?

I got tired.

Go figure. If you’re always on the move and never resting you’re going to get tired. I seemed to think that I was the energizer bunny and could keep going and going. I let my fear of my life and habits of my past control my actions in the present. It was another time that I needed to learn about balance. You can’t just jump from one extreme to the next. You shouldn’t be well versed in the art of nothing, but you can’t be the master of the art of everything for long without burning out.

It’s ok to sit on the couch and relax for a few hours.

It’s ok to go for a long run in the middle of the week.

It’s ok to enjoy a book in your favorite chair for an afternoon.

It’s ok to kill a really tough strength workout.

All of these things make up a balanced life and that makes up a healthy life too. Don’t let one side of the scale dictate your life. It’s not an easy job and it’s something that I still struggle with daily. I have to tell myself to take a break, to sit down and relax. I don’t have to always be on the go.

Whether you struggle with doing too much or not doing enough, focus on taking small steps to find the right balance. You won’t always succeed and there will be days that you will have to pick yourself up and start over again. That’s what being human is about. Trust yourself enough to know that you are doing your best and next time you will do better.

Your Body Isn’t A Mannequin

February 9, 2015 / ktbuchs87

I have spent a lot of my life not liking the way I look. Many of my younger years were full of low self-esteem and poor body image. Like many girls, and boys for that matter, I felt that I didn’t measure up to the standard of beauty.

As I’ve gotten older I have gotten better but I still have my days/weeks where I feel like I don’t look like I want. My stomach is too flabby, my thighs have seemingly gotten bigger overnight, and my arms aren’t as strong as last week. What I see in the mirror doesn’t match up to the image in my head. I’ve had one of those weeks this past week and I’ve learned something.

My body does change from day to day and week to week.

My body is not going to stay exactly the same every minute of every day.

My body isn’t meant to be like a robot or mannequin and never change.

And this is ok.

There are so many factors that go into how our bodies look from day to day. What we eat or drink, what workout we have done, what the weather is like, what clothes we wear. With so many variables there is no way that we can keep our bodies exactly the same.

For someone who has struggled with body image issues, this can be a tough lesson to deal with. I sometimes get into the horrible habit of looking at pictures of models/athletes and longing to have their perfect bodies. What I often forget is that the image I look at is just picture of one point in time. That is how they looked at that minute, it isn’t how they look every single day. I shouldn’t compare myself to those moments in time, especially since they have been styled and edited to look perfect at those particular moments in time.

Don’t get frustrated if it seems like your body isn’t consistent with what you think it should look like.

Are you eating real and whole foods that give you energy and nourish you?

Are you moving your body in some way each day?

Are you working to improve other areas of your life not just your body?

Then you should be proud of your body for allowing you to do all those things.

I’ll leave you with this thought. A few months back I was at my parents house for some family event I was in the kitchen with my mom, dad, and husband. Somehow we got onto the topic of body image and I said that girls sometimes just have “bad-body days”, days where we just aren’t happy with what we see. My mom nodded in agreement, but my dad and Adam kind of just looked at me confused. I asked my dad, “Don’t you ever have a day where you look in the mirror and you don’t like your body?” He answered with, “Sure, but I don’t let it control my day. I just move on and work to improve it.” I asked Adam the same thing and he agreed with my dad.

I had never realized it could be as simple as that. Yes, there is a big difference between men and women when it comes to body image but I think we can all benefit from adopting my dad’s mindset.

Don’t let your body control your day. Work to improve it and move on.