More About Me & A Few Tips

Hey guys! SO many ‘about me’ tags and new girls asking about tips, so I wanted to do an entire blog post dedicated to it.

It feels really weird that 18 thousand people follow me and so many want to know more about me, but it’s also really cool because I genuinely consider my “followers” as friends. Like I am not a religious figure, let’s just refer to you guys as friends.

 

Some k8 FACTS

• My name is Kaitlyn and I do not, in fact, go by Kate.

• I am 24 about to be 25 on April 29^th (Taurus to a fault)

*I feel like I am filling out a MySpace survery rn*

• I bought my first home last year, all by myself. It felt really cool, and it still does. It’s definitely a lot of responsibility but I love having roots. Also, independent girl power.

• I don’t know that I have a favorite animal, but ever since my earliest memory I have loved them all. When I was 13 I chose to become a vegetarian and then around 19 I added fish back into my diet.

• I work a corporate job that I continually grow in and I am so excited to see where I will be within the company in 5 years.

 

 

OKAY now to the fitness facts/tips

Background story:

I was always average size and weight until I reached my biggest size in early college. I then decided to make good use of the gym membership I was paying for and actually got into really good shape. I still partied a lot (a lot) and made poor food choices but I did work out consistently. However, I was so unhealthy mentally. I thought I had to constantly have male approval of my body for it to be considered healthy, beautiful, sexy, etc. I continued working out and being physically healthy and mentally unhealthy up until I was about 22. I would stand in front of the mirror when I was PMSing and cry and cry and cry because I was bloated and I felt fat. That is SO not okay! if you do that, email me right NOW and let’s talk about how we can get you out of that thought process. I then went through a pretty devastating break up… I always take break ups hard because I have a very soft heart and we had been together for a while. Through our break up I learned that I was at fault and it was because of my anger issues that we broke up. I sought professional help in this and it actually helped me to see that alcohol was a deep seeded issue in my life and is where I started to ease my drinking habits (although I continued to binge to a point of scary) and I learned coping mechanisms for my anger.

I then was at my largest EVER. I went to the doctor and weighed in at 200 pounds. But I had learned to love myself. I had a new boyfriend who was different in a way I couldn’t put a finger on, yet. Before meeting him I had learned more about myself than I ever imagined I would at my age. I had accepted that I could feel sexy at any size and shape and I did. Most people think you need to lose the weight and THEN you get to love yourself. I am here to tell you to ditch that mindset right MEOW. Love yourself at step 0. Feel worthy right this second because you seriously are. You offer this world SO MUCH, who gives a rat’s actual ass if you don’t fit into society’s beauty standards right this minute? You deserve to be healthy but you also deserve to be happy. K?

Fit Girl’s Guide only propelled me into deeper self-love. HOLLA at those girls for spreading a message that is so important I cannot even emphasize it enough. I did my first round starting April 20^th, 2015 at a start weight of 177 and I am now almost done with their Bootcamp program and I weighed in at 139 (and it was evening!) most recently. It’s been really cool to see myself change so much on the inside and then see that reflected on the outside. I want that for you. I want you to focus on your inside changes just as much as your brain wants you to focus on the outside.

 

How do I stay motivated?
I really don’t have a cut and dry answer. I see this as a lifetime journey. I have no real “end goal” just small goals along the way that are constantly being met or being changed and I just go with the ebb and flow as best that I can. It's really important to set goals for yourself, btw. Attainable ones as well as bigger ones that may take a while! I went on vacation in October last year and did not hold back from eating one thing that I wanted, and it was hard to get back on track with my eating when I returned. And I just accepted that, got my shit together when my mind was ready, and that was that. You will have setbacks. You just have to adjust your mind to understand that you are not giving up no matter what, you will always get back on the wagon, train, horse? Whatever metaphor you want to use. Just don’t ever give up completely.

 

What tips do I have?

HAVE FUN. Good lord. If you hate running? DO NOT RUN. Guess who hates running? Me. Guess who doesn’t run? Yeah, me. There are endless options for strength and cardio, please do not pigeon hole yourself and get frustrated with something you don’t think is fun or worth your time. Now, I am not saying you don’t think working out is fun therefore you don’t want to work out at all. Not how that works, actually. Step outside of your comfort zone and there will be something that genuinely makes you happy and makes your body happy and healthy. I love to dance? Have you met Dr. Katy yet? She just realized her love of barre and she goes like, ALL THE TIME. What if she never would have went to that first class? What if I never would have gone to Zumba?

 

 Other random tips

 

Please do not scroll through Instagram and think your progress is less than. Everyone is generally just showing you their best shot, regardless of how real they try to be. Even I am guilty of both sides of this at times. Swear. I am the worst about comparing myself to girls on Insta and their awesome progress and bodies. But I am working on breaking out of that.

 

Don’t use the word cheat. It’s not a CHEAT meal, you are eating a meal that you want. Just like the other meals that day were meals you wanted, and that’s why you ate them. You aren’t ruining anything by enjoying a meal out. Maybe you want to look in to counting macros? Seriously, google anything that isn’t working for you. Educate yourself on the many options out there!

 

Eat better, NOT LESS. Do not eat under 1,200 calories and I am not kidding.

 

I find it incredibly easy to stay on top of my nutrition. I never really struggled with saying no. Confession: up until I started bootcamp? I HATED working out. Even when it was the workouts I enjoyed, I still would think about how much I would rather be couching it up or just relaxing in general. Seriously, that quote about it becoming a habit after 30 days or whatever? Well it took me like…. 7 months. So, like I said, just don’t give up. Fake it until you make it. No idea why everything clicked into place when I started bootcamp but it definitely did. Now it’s just something automatic I do every day and I feel off or weird if I don’t work out. And weirdly, I haven’t missed a single planned bootcamp workout. JUST DO IT, Nike are trillionaires because they are right.

Hope this helps and sorry it ran kind of long - I have almost been into this fitness thing for a year now so I have a lot of growing pains, stories, tips and just general passion to share!

I think tomorrow I will do a post on how I meal prep for my boyfriend because I have been getting a few questions about that as well!

XOXO