Our fate is not defined, by right we choose it.

Elyssa / 19 / Arizona fitness & bodybuilding future NASM CPT

[ourfateisnotdefined]

Two and a half years difference. Same weight. This is my current "before and after", but it's a bit different than you might expect. Someone asked me a month or so ago what my goals were and I said if I had to quantify a number, it would be to lose about 20 pounds because I was over 140 at the time. But after looking at these photos it really changes my perspective. I weigh 138 in both of these photos. The photo on the left is from about 2.5 years ago, the photo on the right from today. I've gone through a lot of ups and downs over the past few years. I lost a lot of weight and gained a lot of muscle, then gained back weight and lost a lot of muscle that I had put on. I still have a lot of work to do to be content with where I'm at, but I hope this provides a good visual reminder to not give a second thought about the number on the scale when you know you are feeling and looking better.

[doodleandletters]

[ourfateisnotdefined]

Kodiak Cake protein waffles!

1/2 cup Kodiak Cake Power Cake mix 1/2 cup Silk unsweetened vanilla almond milk 1/2 scoop Cellucor Red Velvet Cake Whey 3 tbsp. egg whites 

Topped w/ melted peanut butter, blueberries & Walden Farms SF syrup. The batter has about 30 grams of protein, 35g carbs and 5g fat.

[samxcamargo]

If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.

unknown (via love-inspire-universally)

[ourfateisnotdefined]

I haven’t been on here in so long but I’m finally back!

I’ve been out of the gym for months and I’m finally ready to get back into it again. Looking at all of my old before and after pictures has me disappointed that I lost all of that progress but has also motivated me to get back to where I was but to also keep going this time.

My boyfriend and I just bought a new house (our second) and are so much closer to everything and no longer spending hours a day driving. 

We just signed up for a membership at LA Fitness which is 1000x better than either of the Anytime Fitness locations we were going to for a while. We have one about a mile from our house, and another two miles from our house that is on my way to/from work.

[ourfateisnotdefined]

I definitely fell off track for a while and almost completely stopped going to the gym for a few months. I lost quite a bit of muscle over the past few months and definitely gained some fat. For weeks I would constantly tell myself that I needed to go to the gym and just do something but nothing could motivate me. I was eating like shit again and having issues with binging. Now that I’m really following iifym, if there’s something I really want, I can have it as long as it fits. A lot of times I’ve found that the foods that I usually binge on aren’t really worth fitting since it tends to eliminate a lot of volume in my diet. The more I think about the fact that I “can’t” have a food, the worse it gets for me so if I really want it, I’ll have it in moderation.

I finally stopped telling myself I “had” to go to the gym and just decided that I wanted to do it. The past three weeks I’ve been tracking my macros very successfully, with the exception of going out to dinner a few nights with my boyfriend’s family. I’m learning that the most important thing is making nutrition my #1 priority and that training comes second. My biggest mistake before was placing very little importance on what I was eating and thinking that I could out train a bad diet. I was more concerned with what protein powder I was buying and what new pre workout I should try, and what other supplements I should be taking. 

I’ve been making lunches to take to work a couple times a week. I’ve been motivated to do it because it keeps me on track, but also because bringing my lunch allows me more time to relax on my lunch break and mainly because it saves me money.

I haven’t really even been tracking my workouts too much. Eventually I want to get back into a more strict 5 day a week training program, but for right now I’m just going to the gym when I want and doing what I want. Lately that has been about 4 days a week. Sometimes I go to the gym 3 or 4 days in a row, sometimes I take 2 days off in a row. Just depends how I’m feeling. 

I don’t place as much of a priority on posting fitness things on Instagram or on here. I still read a lot of other’s posts because I follow a lot of motivating people, but for me I needed to take the focus off the unimportant aspects that were hindering my ability to make progress and be in the gym for the right reasons (for me). 

[living-fitness]

[life-itself-is-a-quotation-blog]

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.

Dale Carnegie (via life-itself-is-a-quotation)

[ourfateisnotdefined]

Haven’t really been on here in a while.

The biggest reason for that being the fact that I’m not working out anymore the way that I used to. My first four or five months of being in the gym (early last year) were the best. I was consistent. Dedicated. Motivated to go every single day. I had a pretty specific goal in mind and I worked toward it every day. Then a lot of things in my life changed & I reached the point where I was pretty happy with how I looked and felt. And that’s where I am at this point in time. Although I certainly don’t have my “dream body” by any means, I am comfortable and content with where I am. I am really struggling to find the motivation to continue training the way I was before. I’m trying to find that passion again but I just can’t seem to.

[ourfateisnotdefined]

hey hope you're well! i just had a question about food! i'm worried i'm not eating enough calories a day: currently exercising x6 week (with P90x) and eating 1200 calories a day of clean foods. but i've been exploring various websites and with their calculations a variety of them have said i should be eating 1400 calories per day. is this a big difference? i'm just worried if i eat more i won't lose weight as easily (i've never eaten big portions anyway). what are your thoughts? thx in advance!

With as much exercise as you're doing, as well as just considering BMR, it doesn't sound like 1200 nor 1400 calories a day is enough. Depends on what your metabolism is like, your gender, age, height, etc. but that isn't a whole lot of calories. I generally recommend using iifym.com to calculate what you should be eating as a starting guideline. It takes time to find out what works best for you body, but I can definitely tell you that eating TOO little will likely hinder your weight loss goals more than eating a few hundred more calories a day.

[bestbodybuildingpics]

[buzzfeed]

Women try jeans in one size, but different brands.

[ourfateisnotdefined]

I hate shopping for jeans. Technically I'm probably around a size 0-2 and I still cannot find jeans that fit me. If they fit me in the thigh/butt area, the waist is HUGE. If I find a pair that's actually my correct waist size, I can't even begin to fit them over my legs. I work at a consignment store where we get in hundreds of different brands/sizes and I still have yet to find a pair of jeans that genuinely fit me.

[un-derlying]

Has anyone tried PB2?

Quite tempted to order it - don’t know if I should go for chocolate or regular or both?? I’m quite wary with ordering stuff off the internet so… Anyone got any reviews of it?

[un-derlying]

ok all you guys have done is like this how does this help me

[lyricfanatic]

I have pb2 with chocolate and it’s great! I live it and I use it on mug cakes, apples, bananas… try some!

[ourfateisnotdefined]

I’ve only tried the original so far but I really like it! Haven’t tried it as just peanut butter only adding water. But it is delicious in protein shakes (in a blender or just mixed with powder) and oatmeal too! I don’t normally shop there, but I bought it at GNC for around $5 for a container of it.

[ourfateisnotdefined]

hey, glad to see you're back online and getting back into your routine again! i have a couple questions regarding exercise at home: i don't have nearly enough money to get a gym membership, and was hoping for some tips for what i can do at home? i wanted to tone my arms, bum, and the tops of my legs mainly, but my stomach is also something i'd like to flatten more as well. any ideas or online routines you could link me too? keep up the great work, and thank you in advance! :)

Thank you! Feels good for things to be getting back to normal. :)

As far as at home exercises, do you have any type of exercise equipment at home? Dumbbells, exercise ball, bands, etc. Even a few pieces of equipment can really change the dynamic of your routine.

I actually did a little bit of searching online and found this article: http://greatist.com/fitness/50-bodyweight-exercises-you-can-do-anywhere which actually has a bunch of great exercises you can definitely do at home! 

[uhmeliamay-deactivated20150305]

sometimes even i can’t tell whether or not i’m being sarcastic

[whisperintoass-deactivated20200]

[ourfateisnotdefined]

You are such an inspiration! It's so amazing to see you getting healthy and strong instead of trying to get skinny by diets and pills. Love your blog! I've been lifting for 13 years now coz of back pain and it gave me so much more than being painless

Thank you so much! Since I started working out and getting into fitness it has made such a huge difference in my life, even outside of just how I look. That's amazing that you've been lifting that long & it has had such a positive impact :)