Patience is Love

I suck at yoga.

I don’t want to HAVE to practice.

I am a perfectionist, inherently prone to over criticizing myself.

I suck at yoga, which is exactly why I need to stick with yoga.

 

I found myself feeling so frustrated and embarrassed with my body at my last yoga class. I was thinking, why have I kidded myself into believing I am fit and I can’t even do a proper Warrior I? I almost felt tears well up in my eyes because I hate feeling singled out or critiqued. THAT right there says more about the root of the issue. It isn’t that I do or don’t suck at yoga, it’s that I still haven’t fully allowed myself to just BE. To learn. To grow. To be challenged. To appreciate. To be present.

 

Everyone has to start somewhere. Every professional was a beginner. Every yogi flowing right into a one legged crow or crazy headstand definitely didn’t just show up being able to do those things properly. Whatever your “yoga” is, know it’s okay to feel discouraged for a moment because it is human nature. But let’s pause long enough to appreciate our bodies for where they are, let’s pause and allow ourselves to be beginners. It does not undermine who you are, your worthiness, your strength.  Have patience with yourself – it’s part of the journey. Our bodies do SO much for us and if you are reading this you have chosen to honor your body. We can’t truly honor our bodies if we are getting frustrated and considering giving up. We (i) have to show patience.

 

I suck at yoga.

I don’t want to HAVE to practice.

But I will anyway, because I am allowing myself to learn, to be challenged, to grow, to prosper.

I am a perfectionist, but I am done criticizing myself.

I suck at yoga, which is exactly why I will honor my body with patience and do the yoga.

XO

Vegan Say What?

I have actually been getting a few questions about how I made the switch and I realized I never really gave a reason or back story as to why I was switching my diet. Doing a blog post let’s be longer winded and hopefully this will help some of you lovelies out on your own journey!

 

My earliest memories are of my deep love of things that cannot speak. I seriously remember having so many imaginary friends, having entire conversations with inanimate objects, and fiercely loving all plant and animal life. I was just born with this yearning to make everything feel loved, especially the things that aren’t getting love from other places. I would try to repair severed worms, I would scoop dead birds off the pavement and bury them (needless to say my mom never knew about those instances).

Vegetarian

When I was 13 I made the decision that I wasn’t going to eat meat and because I did most of my cooking for myself, my mom agreed she would buy vegetarian substitutions for me. I immediately cut out beef, pork and turkey. I took a bit longer with fish and chicken. Fish was the last thing to go. I ate a lot of imitation products back then and obviously wasn’t really concerned with ‘clean eating’ because I was a teenager and that wasn’t the kind of household I was brought up in. I still ate eggs and dairy but never drank or used milk.

I was VERY passionate about animal rights. I signed every petition. I saw every question about my diet as the start of a debate. I felt very deeply that I needed to spread the message about what was happening to the Earth and to these animals because of Big Agra and cattle farming.

 

As I got older, I let my passion for animal rights fizzle. I just stopped caring and educating myself on the issues. When I was around 20 or 21 years old I reincorporated fish into my diet because I thought I needed fish oil. Little did I know that the reason eating fish made me feel better was because I was not getting any proper nutrition (and fish really wasn’t helping as I would go on to gain more than 50 pounds).

 

Vegan

Fast forward a bit and I am 25, I have fallen in love with health, nutrition and fitness. I started finding plant based accounts on Instagram and my interest was piqued. I started reading books on vegan nutrition and lifestyle (Main Street Vegan, The Kind Diet, The Idiot’s Guide to Plant Based Nutrition, Forks Over Knives, The Starch Solution) and watching a few documentaries on Netflix (Forks Over Knives, Cowspiracy) and I felt that old flame blaze again. I felt really disappointed in myself, why didn’t I make the switch sooner? Why did I stop loving? The answer was that when I stopped loving myself, my ability to love and help others stopped, too. I let that disappointment go and decided on May 1^st that I was officially vegan.

 

 

Things I have noticed so far:

Pros

My nails are a lot stronger, and are growing faster, as is my hair (crazy right? Big Agra would like for you to think the opposite!)

My bowel movements are again very regular and pain free, bloating and gas are now to a normal minimum!

I am developing a MUCH healthier relationship with food (should I do a blog post on this?? Would anyone find it helpful to hear about my struggle with undereating?)

Trying lots of new and yummy foods and recipes!

I don’t actually miss the things I thought I would (ice cream, sour cream, cheese)

 

Cons

It is true that it is more difficult to go out to eat if you live in a rural area, but even in West Virginia we have a hand full of awesome restaurants that provide vegan options. AND there is an app for that! Which is great for people that travel a lot.

I can’t have Siggi’s anymore

 

Tips

Read as much as you can. Books, articles, blogs. If you aren’t a reader, totally hit up the documentaries! And YouTube is also a great resource for fast facts.

Determine based on your personality type how to go about it, baby steps or diving right in. (Main Street Vegan is a great read for how to approach both of these)

Don’t worry about “messing up” – there will be growing pains as there are with anything. If you accidentally eat something with an egg in it, it’s ok. Lessons have to be learned! I was reading an article from the Cleveland Clinic on pros and cons of switching to a plant based whole foods diet for health reasons, it gave a list of 5-6 pros and the ONE con was that it is easier said than done. This is true, you have to really be mindful and it does take more effort. But aren’t you worth that effort? Isn’t Mother Earth?

April Goals

At the start of this blog, I made sure to mention I am terrible at blogging! Life always gets in the way or I run out of inspiration on things to write about.


Focusing on a word per month was feeling daunting and I was feeling like I needed more time to reflect and work on particularly important characteristics to me.


I have been trying to focus on posting more quality than quantity images to my account but in turn, I have missed sharing so much. It's therapeutic for me to get things off my mind or off my chest. I also feel the same about this blog! I have been writing things in the notepad on my iPhone, instead!






April Goals:


Work on overanalyzing. I over analyze situations because I am truthfully afraid of what will happen if I am not prepared for it. Overplanning is killing the magic in big and small moments because I feel like I have to prepare myself mentally and emotionally for each and every given outcome. It's mentally exhausting. I want to take time to let go of this unnecessary anxiety I have developed.


I want to work on stepping into growth and stop staying put in safety.


I will continue to downsize material possessions.


I will manifest compassion and patience with others, especially at work.


I want to focus on further educating myself on nutrition. I have lots of ideas swirling around in my head about this. I am starting by checking books out from the library.


I want to continue focusing my vibrations into positivity.


I also want to get better at food photography! Maybe get a book from the library or look into a class possibly online or in person.


I want to continue my 0 workouts missed into the BBG 1 program!

Humility Cont.

More and more I have come to realize that humility is so closely entangled with religion, it is hard to break them apart.


I also found some writings of Nietzsche. He views humility as a strategy used by the weak to avoid being destroyed by the strong.


I think it is safe to say that humility is multifaceted and can be interpreted in many ways. For me, I just want to make sure I am keeping my pride in check while having a strong sense of self.


XO

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

Walk the Walk

In today’s society, it seems, humility is solely piggy backed upon religion. Most internet searches will return Bible verses and steps to take to “become humble in the Lord”.

 

Also an associated search is, how to hump yourself.

 

This is a bit of a tough word. Everyone says “be humble. Humble yourself. Have humility. I feel so humbled.” But there isn’t a lot of explanation as to exactly what that should look like. But we all know what it DOESN’T look like.

 

I have noticed, lately, that I am trying to lay off on correcting people unless I know them well enough for them to know my intentions. I am trying to focus on spreading positivity and light and the important message of finding joy wherever you are.

 

What is your experience with humility?

Always Right

It’s really hard for me to be wrong. I am one of THOSE PEOPLE that are “always right”. I see your grammatical and typographical errors. It’s hard for me to really, truly, hear someone else’s viewpoint on something I care about. (Sometimes, even things I don't care about) 

This is where I will struggle the most with humbling myself. I need to realize that I am not ALWAYS right. I need to open my ears to new ways of looking at things. Just because it's my knowledge or my viewpoint does not mean it is without flaw or that I shouldn't be open to refute.

My boyfriend is my best lesson in this. He is so different from anyone that I would have ever dated. He has some crazy ideas that he spouts off about and I love him, so I listen. It has really shown me, in these past two years, that I am capable of shutting up long enough to let someone else give their view and I am even capable of agreeing with them and shifting my own opinion on some things.

When I put up the wall of “I am right, period” – it’s only me who is missing out. I am cutting off connections and knowledge that I could be gaining. They are just as worthy of being heard as I am, and that is a lesson I need to remember.

XO