Sleep, wellness, and Fitness

Hello Ladies,

How's your fitness journey coming? Well, I have to say proudly that mine is in FULL EFFECT and I am so excited. I have my schedule set up, I revamped my "Pussy Palace" aka Queendom Room/Home gym. I implemented a dancer pole and I've been doing some outdoor cardio in addition to my routine. 

However, I still have one vice still yet to overcome... I admit I do not get enough sleep as I should. As a matter of fact, I am literally writing this blog because I just got home from work (graveyard shift) and I can't sleep. I tend to have the worst sleeping patterns and mainly because of my work schedule. 

That may have to change. 

Ladies, we NEED our beauty rest...

As a matter of fact, here are some sleep factoids and research.

According to The National Sleep Foundation (NSF), along with a multi-disciplinary expert panel, issued its new recommendations for appropriate sleep durations [WASHINGTON, DC, (February 2, 2015)].

• Younger adults (18-25): Sleep range is 7-9 hours (new age category)
• Adults (26-64): Sleep range did not change and remains 7-9 hours

“This is the first time that any professional organization has developed age-specific recommended sleep durations based on a rigorous, systematic review of the world scientific literature relating sleep duration to health, performance, and safety,” said Charles A. Czeisler, PhD, MD, chairman of the board of the National Sleep Foundation, chief of sleep and circadian disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Baldino Professor of Sleep Medicine at the Harvard Medical School.(https://www.sleepfoundation.org/press-release/national-sleep-foundation-recommends-new-sleep-times)

At my age, I should be getting around 8 to 9 hrs sleep, but it is so difficult. As soon as I get home I have to take off my work clothes, wash my makeup off my face, jump into my pajamas and try to relax my racing mind.

I mean am I the ONLY one that is dog tired by the end of a work night, but comes home and is restless and mind racing? This is such a common occurrence for me that it's like hard to actually break the habit. Crazy right?!

So anyhow, I need to work on this issue, maybe see a specialist. It is said that apart of losing weight is getting a proper nights sleep allowing your body to recharge and repair. 

(Google Stock photos)

Being sleep deprived also raises cortisol levels that make your immune system vulnerable to any viruses around. We all should be wary of hurt we cause our bodies by not getting enough sleep. Your body depends on it. If you can not get the full amount, at least try to get as much as you can. Maybe short an hour or two. 

Sometimes when I lie in bed sleepless and restless. I pop my Power Beats earphones on and Bluetooth some meditation and nature sounds through my Spotify. It many times works when I do not have enough time to try a sleeping aid (Pill). Trust me, it does help out a bunch. 

As a matter of fact... I better get to bed and so should you.

Stay motivated and take care of your lovely self.

xoxox Angels😇

Back at it AGAIN!!!

So yeah, there has been some time in-between where I "relapsed" back into my old ways. What I mean by that is every now and again we fall off the "fitness wagon" and end up right back where we start. Weight gain and demotivation happens very quickly when one quits her workout regimen. This happens to many women that tend to get "busy" or otherwise tied up in life's errands and events. Going to university was one thing that halted my progress. Simply because I was more engaged in getting good grades and keeping my GPA up. Writing endless thesis papers and meeting homework deadlines was all I was worried about. 

Then came the stress eating because my female flag football team had disbanded after our championship win. Most of the ladies on my team were military service members and many their female spouses. So if you aren't familiar with Military life, services members, their spouses, and their families tend to move or "relocate to different places throughout his or her time in the military. Which means making new friends is a common occurrence and well as indefinite. We tend to move all over the continental United States as well as overseas duty stations. 

The ending of our league, work-study, the pressures of student life, and eventually relocating myself; led to the halt in my fitness journey. I know things like this happens a lot to other females all over the world; as we are busy and may also have others that depend on us to keep things afloat. 

However, it is most likely that time mismanagement led to us ultimately pushing our fitness journey out of the picture. That's what I did. Now it's time to get back in the game and drop this college and poor lifestyle weight. I know I can do it because now I have a goal and a plan to reach it.

Would you join me? If so, let me know in the comments and send ya girl some motivation. We CAN DO IT together. No more stopping, no more excuses and no more "letting it go". I owe it to myself to take care of my body and to make sure I make time for self-care. Fitness is apart of self-care, not just facials, bubble baths, and massages. But actually taking care of every aspect of ourselves. To be able to live our BEST lives and to ensure that cater to our minds, bodies, and spirits.

To help me on my journey and to keep myself more accountable I have finally started my lonnnnngggg awaited YOUTUBE channel and I'm super excited to share it with you ladies. 

I am working on my editing from my cell, so please be kind lol! I also will input reminders in my schedule to post blogs about my journey and post on other social media sites with my progress. Make sure to also follow me on Instagram to see what I am eating, what supplements or new equipment I am using, any advice I have, as well as my daily lifestyle happenings. 

This is my plan to help me on my journey and to become better at time management. 

PRO-TIP: You should also implement a schedule to help you with your fitness journey.

xoxox Angels😇


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Meal prep time #fitchicks

Hey there gorgeous bodies,

I'm here to talk to you about meal prepping. Yes, I know it seems like a chore, and sometimes it may be. However, it can be convenient when you need it the most and you're running on little time!

When I do meal prep to try to look up things on the internet mostly on Instagram because I follow a lot of pages on Instagram. Such as motivation pages, workouts, healthy meal ideas, and prep. I also follow Pinterest for ideas! (Easy right?)
Some days I just do not feel like cooking or I'm running on little time to make delicious healthy meals for myself and my family. Sold by mill prepping that ensures that I get the proper nutrition that I need for the week or month and it ensures that I eat anytime I can on time without skipping a meal.

I know it's a busy life it's hard to keep up with eating properly or even eating at all. Some of us have families with children or pets or work school etc. And we just don't have the time, but you have to make time at least for yourself if not for the whole family. Women gain and lose weight harder than men, and children are just as vulnerable for malnutrition.

So to avoid this meal prep is your best ensure bet, to getting the proper nutrition that you need and that your body will crave. Try doing some Tupperware dishes that are low in sodium, high in protein such as meat and a vegetable or some type of slow-carb such as sweet potatoes or brown rice. (That's for dinner)

For lunch, you might want to stick to some type of fruits and vegetable mixes as well as nuts or a protein shake.

And for breakfast, you might want to meal prep also making lean sausage, turkey bacon some type of egg, and grain such as oatmeal, grits, and whole wheat pancakes or a bagel or English muffin!
*plain yogurt with fresh fruit is a plus*

For snacks in between, make sure you eat small and pay attention to calorie intake and pair with 8oz. Of water. *Each meal 8oz. of water.

Reminder: try to stay away from the box and processed food as well as high in sodium deli meats and items with little to no nutritional value.

Make sure you do different moderate exercises daily, with one or two rest days.

Remember you shouldn't have to do a major diet to get major results, because most of the time major results and fast results End in weight gain even more than you lost. This is a slow and steady pace is not a race to lose weight or fat, extreme diets are the worst on the body especially for women younger and older.

I know this may seem like a challenge and a lot of us are running on budget but just make sure when you are shopping you pay attention to labels as well as prices and there are some substitutions for things that are overpriced that are healthy and I assure you you'll be on the way to a fun, healthy, and exciting weight loss as well as fat loss and muscle gain.

Women need to know not to be afraid of muscle games because muscle weighs more than fat and the more muscle you have on the body the less fat that you have to carry around! you don't have to be a muscle head to have muscle but you can have lean sexy muscles that define any and every part of your body no matter what nationality or ethnic group you belong to! 

Remember this is for you this is for your health and this is for us women with limited time in a 24-hour day best wishes to you and I hope all you bodies or staying fit and I'll see you next time.

Please subscribe to my blog as well as my YouTube page coming soon body by angels: as well as my Instagram page: which is up now for more motivation meal preps and workouts

I'll see you later bodies! Xoxoxo
~Angels

Weigh in on your WEIGH INS!

 HAVE YOU WEIGHED IN THIS WEEK?

So weigh-in is important for a motivational and informational for one's self!
So one question for you guys that's kinda worrisome lately. That question is when do you all start to see progress from your workouts? I know muscle weighs more than fat, but I'm having a hard time with that fact...
simply because I am not used to my weigh these days, but I'm making a conscious decision to lose this "prison of a body" of mine..lol

My last Sunday weigh-in Jan. 19, 2014
173.2 lbs

So I weigh a little bit more and when I first started working out and I think it's because I'm gaining a little muscle, however, I am not able to see it yet.

So I also keep picture logs on what I am looking like after every weigh-in!

One of my gal pals from my football team THE LADY STINGRAYS; we made a pact to do this every time we weigh-in to keep us on track.

Having a workout buddy is great and helps us to reach our goals, so my suggestion once again is to try to find one...and sweat it out!

My goal and yours as well should not be to just lose weight but to be fitter and gain some muscle. Many people go wrong on this because in their head it's all about losing weight and forgetting about the bigger goal to be in shape.

Yes, I know the joke "ROUND IS A SHAPE", and as funny as that may seem, it's not the shape we are looking for RIGHT?  We want to be fit, live long and be comfortable in our skin.

Taking care of one's self inside and out should be your ultimate goal and something to strive for.

So WHAT'S YOUR MOTIVATION? What quips do you use to keep you going?

Let us know.

Make sure you weigh it in and keep track of your progress.

Make sure to to check out my youtube channel coming soon!

xoxoxoxox

-BodyByAngels😇

New Year, New You!

Happy New Year to you ALL!!

So getting in to shape is not the easiest thing to do, and Bringing in the New Years with a Resolution to "change one's self" seems easy than actually committing to doing it.

Well what I hope to get out of starting this blog is a community of  people whom are tired of just putting it off, and trying a little each day to not just follow a corny, unrealistic Resolution of losing large amounts of weight, starving, and lifestyle changes that do not fit every ones level of style.

I want the ones, that are willing to learn with me, teach me, and help each other become a better version of ourselves.

I plan on doing this by engaging in with you all on a personal level and keeping it light and fun to get not only fit; but healthy!

I always recommend talking to your Physician and or doing your own research to help "US" reach our common goal!

SO let's embark together on a New Improved self, teach each other and learn how we can better take care of "US" inside and out!

With that being said You can also go and check out our youtube channel bodybyangels for daily workouts, training ideas, and tasty recipes.

Plan to a fitter you

Schedule Your Days

If you make a schedule every day for your everyday life errands, why not add your workouts to your daily routine! What I mean is as exactly what it sounds like; when you go to make a calendar schedule or and day planner schedule, make sure you add your attended workout.

I don't mean every single little work out information, but just a generalization of what you plan to work out that day.  For example, Say you have written down...


Monday- work at 8;00am to 1:00pm, arms and back Day, walk dogs

Tuesday-Legs and glutes Day, work from 7am to 12pm,

Weds-Cardio

Thurs-Abs and core

Fri-Cardio/Zumba, work from 9pm to 5am

Sat-yoga, walk dogs, family night

Sun-off

Or however, you like to plan your days/weeks/months out!
and try to switch which days you do what, and rest days.
You can also go as far as meal planning/logging if this helps you make smart and healthy choices, but we'll get into that in the next blog.

I don't recommend weighing your self every day, but try to do it every end of the week or every other week.
Remember muscle weighs more than fat, so don't get discouraged when your weight seems to not be going down, you may be building muscle which will lead to "killing" fat. I have to remind myself of that a lot LOL!
Also taking a start weight photo of your self at the beginning of your start date. Then another as you see more and more results to keep track and plus self-motivation.

Putting a picture of your self of what you used to look like on a board, wall or refrigerator can help you also to your goal.
Or a celebrity or sports figure that you would like to look like.

Be careful and take caution on which person you wish to look like because most pictures of them in magazines are photoshopped and may be unrealistic.

Here are some pics of my self today before a workout!

And here are a few after, just some fit posing!

I do both home and gym workouts. (Not in the same day though)

Keep up the hard work, grab a partner, make it fun, and enjoy the journey to a better you!!!

Let me know your Fit-aspiration!

xoxoxoxox,
BodyByAngels