If you’ve been around my site long enough, you’ve seen me chat about my weight loss and exercise journey. Today, I’m going to chat about the importance of Will Power in Healthy Living, as well as introduce you to a new Online Fitness Club called M5 Fitness.
“I want YOU to get FIT!” Says the image above.
This is what I looked like, 6 months after my fourth baby:
I was tired of the struggle, but worked hard at exercising to shed some baby weight. I just wanted to eat whatever I wanted (funny post about that HERE).
Then a year later, I ran a half marathon with my friends, and that helped a little more.
In the past two years after a big weight loss, I’ve really wanted to keep and maintain a healthy weight. I’ve had to fight with the devils in my head every day since then. Fight to eat better. Fight to exercise. For anyone that thinks the battle is losing the weight, it doesn’t end there. Once I lost it though, by golly, I was bound and determined to keep it off. It felt so good to be smaller!
That is where the battle for will power really began.
Exercise became something that wasn’t an “if” but “what” and “when.” I like to mix it up with a variety of exercise methods. When possible, I like to include my kids.
Plain and simple: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So I’ve got a plan every single day of what I’ll do before the day hits. (There are days I don’t stick to the plan, but I still have one!)
More recently, I’ve decided I really want to get toned. I’ve kept my weight at the same place for two solid years (fluctuating up from time to time with vacations and laziness, then brought it back down).
I have turned into a cardio junkie. Unlike 2 years ago, I now LOVE getting my heart rate up, and sweating like a pig, because it tells me I’ve done something productive. I get immediate results. I’ve had a workout buddy that we generally meet to exercise a few days a week, and on the other days I have to figure out what to do by myself. I’ve recently realized that cardio+resistance is what I need to do for a more complete workout.
Unfortunately I have this awful mentality that if I don’t do a full hour of cardio, then it’s not worth doing even 20 minutes. I HAVE GOT TO RID MYSELF OF THOSE THOUGHTS. Even 20 minutes is SOMETHING, it’s habit forming, its helpful.
But back to the toning. This is the year I get toned, I keep telling myself. I’m now 25% through the year, and I’m at about the same place as I was on January 1st. Boo hoo. I did a full month of at-home cross fit workouts, which was great, but I really missed the cardio feeling. It definitely got my heart rate up at times, but I needed a balance. AND I needed a buddy! I’ve got the answer for myself (and maybe you?) today!
I’m excited to share with you today a new Online Fitness Club that I’ve recently joined called M5 Fitness that covers all kinds of options. It’s so versatile and can cater to most any needs. It’s basically an at-home virtual gym with tons of videos for whatever you are looking for: weight loss, cardio, resistance, yoga, 5k training, etc. This online total fitness club is $20 a month (but if you refer 2 people you get it for free).
You can choose a program from the sections below, or select a time/level/tool as in the next image.
Here is what they say:
It is the only online program in the world that offers a complete solution to get, maintain, and improve complete fitness. They offer incredible online workouts, nutrition coaching, all natural supplements, and success coaching all tied together with social interaction and accountability.
Here is an up close look at the video page, I love that it’s kinda like a choose your adventure situation!
You can select your workout based on the right column: beginner, cardio, core, etc. Or you can select based on an instructor that you like, or if you have only 15 minutes and you just need to do SOMETHING quick. OR based on the equipment you have handy. I love options, but the options aren’t too overwhelming.
I LOVE my resistance band, and I love that I can click on that tool, click on 30 minutes, and have several video options like this image below.
Something I love is that this new/up and coming Fitness Club site is that they will constantly be adding new videos, this is just the beginning!
Another aspect of this program that I really like is that it’s not JUST exercise, but there is nutrition coaching that helps guide ways to eat more healthy.
And who doesn’t need a little inspiration that comes with success coaching? I added my .02 cents in pink below, I love the line: Creating sustainable fitness habits starts in your head.
It’s all in our HEAD! If I’ve learned ONE thing in this weight struggle that we ALL deal with, it is that it is ALL in our head. It’s our will power to get up and take action, or let it define how we perceive ourselves to not have control over food and a healthy lifestyle.
Another facet to the club is the supplement section. I used to drink Slim Fast shakes. I LOVED the convenience, and it really felt filling to me. When I realized how many sugars and unhealthy carbs they contained, I was sad and eventually gave them up. I’m really excited about M5 fitness products such as this meal replacement shake:
It’s 180 calories and 20g of protein. I haven’t tried it yet, but when I do, I’ll tell you more about it! Other pre-workout and vitamins also sold in their store.
I love the calendar feature, I said that I wanted to train for another half marathon, and it had a complete exercise program for me. I plugged in the days, and it mapped out what I should be doing each day to prep for it–amazing!
If you don’t want to map it out so specifically, and just choose something new each day, you can simply report your workout whether it is in the system or not, and it’s a way to be accountable or “check off” that you exercised that day. It even syncs up to a Garmin device if you have one.
M5 Fitness also had a great way to make exercise SOCIAL by having teams with friends. I created a fitness team called: Team Duke. If you want to join, once are a member of the site, type in: 185 as the code to join the team! Then we can cheer each other on as we head towards our goals.
As I mentioned above, it’s a $20 a month membership, but if you refer 2 people (and they stay as members) it’s free! You can even EARN money if you refer more people after that! It’s even got a 10 Day free trial, so give it a shot!
I’ll share this “before” image again, hoping that someday I’ll have something more firm to share. I don’t see immediate results with toning (besides soreness), but I have to be more patient!
To sum it all up, I love this quote below: The best investment you can make is in yourself. FIND the time. Sacrifice the money. TAKE control of your health.
One of my current favorite quotes to my kids when they tell me, “I can’t help it, it’s how I am” is this: “The natural man is an enemy to God.” We can learn to control those natural tendencies (urges for too many treats/dislike for exercising). We may not want to, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t. (Believe me, I’m not perfect, but I keep telling myself these things).I know this is a lot of information, I hope it all makes sense! I wanted to cover every facet of this site.
