Fit Gal Chal



Hey there Friends! I'm seriously so close to getting out of here it's not even funny! I'm so excited to be done...Let me tell you, it's been an adventure, but it's an adventure that I will be happy to see come to a close.

As you know by now, each Monday I have been gone, you have heard from a lovely guest posters as part of this series. Well, t
oday I have another IRL (that's in real life) friend Chalyn. She was one of my coaches back in the day when I was on the team. She helped me conquer cool things like this.



She is a huge inspiration to me and I hope that you get a lot out of the advice that she has for you today!


Hey there!! My name is Chalyn.. say whhaaaa!!!?? You say it like “Shall. In.” Make sense?? Okie dokie then! On with the post! I am a complete health and fitness fanatic and quite honestly I am a little NUTS!! =) but I am okay with that so you should be to I am a Body Building Bikini Competitor and I am on way to reach my goal of becoming an IFBB Pro… aka a “Professional Bikini Girl”… I know.. sounds weird.. but it is something I am completely striving for!! You can follow my journey on Facebook (just go“like” me) and also check out my blog

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As you find yourself inching closer and closer to your body fat loss goal, you might find that

your cravings are growing at an even faster rate. Earlier you had no problem fending off passing desserts, drive-through stops, or late-night eating, but now you feel like it's a whole other ball game.



This is quite common and expected whenever you're on a fat loss diet because of the shifting hormone levels in the body that are trying to get you to eat so you don't starve to death. The body senses that you're getting leaner and leaner - something that it doesn't especially like, and now it's going to do whatever it can to get you to start eating.
So... hold up..I am telling you that as you lose the weight/fat% that you want to lose... your body is going to fight against you and try to make you eat to back track on all of your progress... YEP!!! That is exactly what I am saying.. UNFORTUNATELY...






3 tips... from bodybuilding.com

  1. Ask yourself if it is HUNGER or  a CRAVING...
Are you feeling quite weak or light-headed? Both of those are symptoms that it likely is hunger talking. If you're not, it could be a very strong craving that's causing you to feel something like hunger.



If it is hunger, then it's time to assess why you're hungry. When was the last time you had a meal? Some people find that they can go longer periods of time without eating while others do better eating every couple of hours. Try and figure out what type of person you are and then adjust your diet accordingly.

In other cases, the real reason you might be experiencing hunger is because you are eating too few calories on an ongoing basis. Often when very low calorie diets are followed for an extended period of time, hunger will begin to get to an extreme level.
Usually a good way to offset this is by performing periodic re-feeds, which are periods of much higher calorie eating supplemented with your regular low calorie diet plan.
Other times, it may just be that you should increase your overall calorie intake higher, which would then allow you to deal with this hunger. In some situations doing so won't even hinder fat-loss since when you are eating far too few calories, this can actually slow the metabolic rate right down.
So have a look over what your current situation is, both regarding how you've eaten that day and how you've been eaten for the last few weeks. You can then uncover some additional factors that could be coming into play with this hunger.
Obviously it isnormal to feel hunger at some point or another, but there are strategies you can use to minimize it, which will help keep cravings at bay.
2. Find a Healthy Substitute






If you realize after doing the hunger assessment that you aren't really all that hungry and you just want a specific food, then it's time to look at things from a different perspective.

Since you aren't hungry, you know the drive to eat is purely psychological so you need to combat it in a much different manner. Ideally you're going to want to try and find a food that you can eat instead of the one you're craving that will still satisfy the desire in question.
There are a numberof different options that you can substitute, many of which will taste quite similar. Here are some quick examples of foods you may be craving and what you could eat instead:




As you can see, with some creativity there are a wide number of options you can choose from to help conquer your cravings.
Each person typically has their own specific food that they tend to crave the most....(for me it is ANYTHING SWEET), so obviously this will bevariable and you'll have to think for yourself what will be mostimportant, but you should be able to come up with some reasonable substitutions that will keep your taste buds happy and serve you well nutritionally speaking.
3. Decide when to GIVE IN...
Finally, in some cases the craving is just going to be so strong that you simply aren't going to be able to replace it, regardless of how creative you happen to be.
In this case, then it may just be smart to give into the craving and eat what you desire. If you don't, chances are it will nag away at you until you do finally give in and when you do, you may not be able to practice as much self control as you otherwise would have.
You should train yourself to only have a dessert (or whatever food you crave) when you are absolutely sure that the calories are worth it. If you do this, you'll find that you aren't giving in all that often anyway and when you do, you truly enjoy it.


...when you give in... then GIVE IN!!

If you're only half enjoying it and the other half of you is riddled with guilt over eating this particular food, you really aren't doing yourself all that much justice anyway.

When you are going to give in, do it and savor every moment of it. If you do this, you'll kill that craving in its tracks. Keep in mind that diets don't have to be 100% rigid. A good diet should have room for flexibility.
Here are some things that I do to try and kick a craving..

  • drink tea... myfavorites are Chocolate Tea and Coconut Chai!! Both are unsweetened and delish!!
  • Go for a walk or to the gym
  • look at before photos so I can see how much my healthy choices are paying off
  • Call a friend
  • Make healthy substitutes-- protein oatmeal (cook oatmeal, stir in a scoop of your fave protein powder...mmmm!), protein pudding (scoop of protein powder, 1TBS fave sugar free pudding mix, little bit of water, stir, put in fridge or freezer till reached desired consistency)
*** Also... Pay attention to WHAT you are craving.. your body may be trying to tell you something!!! :) 
yayyyyy!! Let's conquer cravings!!







Want to see more from Chalyn?! Well...I'm not surprised. She's pretty awesome. 




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Blogiversary

Happy Blogiversary to me!

When I wrote my first post on March 23, 2012 my entire life story was different.

Today I am not engaged and planning a wedding. In fact, I'm not even in a relationship...I am not going to be a Marine (at least not yet...we'll see about that later.) I'm not anything like I was when I started this blog and that was only a short year ago!

I can't believe it. Well I can, but seriously, it's crazy.

I don't have much to say today. I just want to thank everyone who has been following me since the beginning, new followers, family, friends, twitter peeps, Facebook friends, and everyone who has made me feel like I'm not wasting my time putting all of my crazy words out in the universe to be scrutinized.

I'm just so happy that I stuck with it!

Thank you my wonderful faithful readers that have stuck with me all this time, future followers, and everyone else who has been so supportive of what I write, how I write, and my way of life!
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In Real Life Friends


As you know by now, I'm in basic training! I'm probably having fun! You probably also know that every Monday, posts are going live that are written by my blog friends as a part of my "While I'm away" series. Well, today, I have a blog friend and IRL friend to introduce to you! I'm so excited about this it isn't even funny!

Hillary and I have known each other since...Oh I don't know the 8th grade I think it was. We both had the hots for the same boy and we both had some incorrect notion that we didn't like each other!  Luckily, things have changed a lot since then. She went and grew up and got married! Over at her blog, she talks about what it's like to be a newly wed and her other wonderful adventures with her new husband!

I really look up to her and it is a pleasure to introduce her to you today!


Hello! I’ve never guest posted before. I wanted to be a famous writer when I was younger, but
that dream shriveled when I entered the world of due dates and outlines. Blogging is such a
reprieve. I’m really glad mass sharing of feelings that should probably kept private was invented.
There is nothing more exciting than knowing my craziness is being broadcast across the internet
for the world to see.

If you happen to check out my blog you’ll find a lot of nonsense
about my struggles as a newlywed. I don’t want to blab on and on about it, but I basically got the
hottest most amazing guy in the world to marry me somehow. Yep.

On to my actual post! I debated for a long time what to write about, but I've finally settled. If
I have the chance to reach out to a lot of people, like by guest posting on my old buddies blog
while she’s off kicking butt in boot camp, I would want to say this:

To thine own self be true.

For those of you who aren’t weirdoes and don’t have this memorized, that is from the play
Hamlet, by Shakespeare. I’m not a Shakespeare fan, and by no means am I a Polonius fan. But I
love the message. Here’s why.

I grew up wanting to be an Astronaut. I said screw you to common sense and I went for it. A full
ride military scholarship and a top tier university acceptance letter later. It was within reach. I
pack my bags and move across the country, I get a uniform, and I become the luckiest person in
the world. But after a while I realized that while I was doing everything I’d ever wanted to do,
a part of me was missing. So I gave it all up, and now I’m home with my husband. I feel more
fulfilled now than I ever have before. I’m glad I was brave enough to let go of what I thought I
should be, to become who I am.

Life sucks like a vacuum sometimes. But if you trust yourself, you will find yourself amidst the
garble. Each of us has a hard fight to win. I have no doubt that you can make it, though.

So that’s it, that’s all I wanted to say. Well, I think so anyway. Just know that you are who you
choose to be, and at your core, you are an amazing person. To thine own self be true :)

Like I said in the beginning, I write about my experiences as a newlywed on my blog. If you ever
need a laugh, some tips on how to plan a wedding for under 4 grand, or an idea on what to do for
this week’s adventure, feel free to stop by. And keep reading this blog! Katie is one of the most
fantastic people I know. She’s much tougher than I’ll ever be, and I look up to her.

Have a great day.

-Hill



Living In Paradise


How's it going blog world?! Welcome to another installment of "While I'm away". Currently, I'm running around, singing cadences, doing side shuttle hops, and learning how to be a soldier, so in my absence, I've got some lovely ladies taking over my blog each Monday!  

Today, Jane is here to tell you about her world! She is a military spouse that I have been following for a while now. She has been a huge influence on me as far as my blog goes and has been a great bloggy friend! I hope that you all enjoy her blog as much as I do!

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I'm Jane from Taingamala! Taingamala is a made up word my husband and I use with each other that means I love you. It's the place we strive to be in our marriage and I blog about our adventures to that place. Love, dating my husband, recipes, decor, crafts, living in Hawaii and more!

 

Living in Hawaii has been a dream for me. I fell in love with the state at 15 and it never took its hold off me. The laid back attitudes, the island breeze, the sunny days, sand under my toes, crystal blue water. I thought I would share a few of my favorite sites on Oahu.

This was totally my husband's idea to take a kissy beach sunset picture. 

Gorgeous, no? What's even cooler is this is the entrance to a secret hidden beach you can't see from the road.

I could never get tired of a view like that.

My favorite beach on the whole island. Also, happens to be the first beach my husband took me to when I moved here.

World class snorkeling adventures with eels, octopus and dozens of fish.

Now you've seen a little into my world living on a tropical island paradise.

Want to see more from Jane? I'm not surprised! She's the greatest!


    



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The Impact of the Warriors


I'm on the last leg of my journey in Basic Training! I'm so excited to be done with this and be able to call myself a soldier! This stuff is hard, but I'm really having a good time. I'm definitely ready to get home and relax...Sadly, that won't be for quite some time still!

In the mean time, I have my good blog-friend Mrs. K staring in my "While I'm away" series here on the bliggity. I've been reading her blog forever and I'm quite excited to have her on the blog today! I'm so lucky to have all these great people who were willing to take over my blog while I'm off getting ripped and becoming even more awesome than I already am!

I'm kidding...(but not really...) Now I'll stop yapping and let you all ready about Mrs. Ka dn how she found herself plopped into the center of the military world!

Hi, there! I'm Mrs. K and I'm so happy to be taking over this space for the day! As Katie embarks on her new journey with the Army, I thought I'd reflect on my own journey with the U.S. Military. Her story, of course, starts with a lot more bravery than my own. Mine started with a blind date...
I had recently graduated college and was leisurely enjoying my last summer of freedom before I joined the ranks of the working class when my sister told me she wanted me to meet someone. Immediately, I thought, "Why does everyone want to set me up with someone?" I was fine being single. I tentatively agreed and found myself staring into the eyes of a tall and intimidating Army Officer over dinner weeks later.
Years (and a shiny new ring and two beautiful children) later, I can see what an impact this community of warriors has had on me. I learned to be strong and self-sufficient. My husband was gone for weeks and months at a time. I had to feel comfortable making big decisions about our family. I had to take control when most married couples would make decisions together. I also learned that the old saying is true, "Distance makes the heart grow fonder." Out of all the lessons I learned during my husband's service, the most important has been that I'm better with him. To steal lyrics from Jack Johnson, "I'm better when we're together." Life is so much more enjoyable when I've got him by my side and this is one of the main reasons he decided to get out of the military. Now that we have children, he wants to be around even more.
So join us over at MrsKandCaptainJ.net and follow us on our next journey- transitioning back into civilian life. I hope to see you there!


Want to see more from Mrs. K?

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