A. Create it? You’re either born with curves or you're not!
B. Waist train it alllllll day baby!
C. Build your back (and glutes!) making your waist smaller in comparison
The answer is….C!
If you didn’t know me back in the day ya girl did NOT have a natural curvy figure by any means. My fat held mostly around my stomach and hips, so I was honestly the reverse of an hourglass figure lol
Wanna see where I started my journey? SWIPE to see where I came from 👉🏼
If you’re in the same boat that I was, wanting to revamp your physique and rearrange your curves, I’m going to tell you exactly what I did ✨
✖️LIFT. HEAVY. OFTEN. Training in progressive overload and tracking your workouts will make all the difference here. Implement some sort of training program where you’re lifting weights at least 3x per week. (just because we’re in the *new normal* at home right now doesn’t mean we can’t still train hard!)
✖️TRAIN ALLLLL DA ANGLES. Lat pull downs, pullovers, barbell rows, db rows, rear delt flys--ALL OF EM. Don’t rely on one movement, one day of the week to get you there. (also tons of credit to deadlifting since that’s made a huge difference in my growth)
✖️GO SLOW! Anyone can take a heavy weight and use momentum to swing it around, but if you can’t control your weight, feel the contraction, have the right mind muscle connection throughout the movement, drop the weight, do it effectively and up the weight when you can do it right!
✖️EAT. Eat in a surplus. Hit your protein. Prioritize fuel. No more missing meals or *forgetting to eat* if you want to grow!
✖️BE PATIENT. Muscle growth takes time, these photos I’m showing you of my journey are of YEARS of work. Years of hitting my protein goals, training 4-6x per week, always training in progressive overload. This process is slow but it is so worth it.
But the good thing about an hourglass figure is that most of us don’t have one, most of us want one, and we all can build our own, even if God didn’t bless us with that snatched waist like JLO naturally ⏳
Ready to build your curves the way you want them?
Do the numbers 16:8 … do they mean anything to you?
If they remind you of dieting, then you’re probably familiar with Intermittent Fasting or IF for short ⏳
IF took the world by storm a couple years ago and has been all over the place ever since. Odds are if you haven’t tried this, someone in your circle has.
So what is it? ✨
IF is a strategy that cycles between eating and fasting hours, and most commonly is used to help in weight loss as a dieting strategy
How does it work? ✨
First step here is choosing when your eating/fasting takes place. Most common cycle is 16:8 which stands for 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours eating normally. This tool works when during those 8 hours, we’re not eating any more than we normally would in a day.
Think of it like this:
You usually have breakfast at 8, lunch at 12, dinner at 7, and a bedtime snack at 10. If you implemented your eating window from noon-8pm, you would eat lunch and dinner as usual, while skipping breakfast and your late night treats, which creates a calorie deficit by lowering your intake.
*IF doesn’t work during our 8 hour window we’re slamming our pie hole full of everything in sight!*
Who’s it for? ✨
IF is for anyone who can do it consistently. If this is something you can stick to long term, this might be a good tool to embrace. Keep in mind: no strategy works if we’re not consistent
My advice? ✨
I’ve used this strategy during cutting phases to help curb hunger (also while tracking macros) and have embraced this while traveling to help me indulge but not go haywire. This works for me in phases, but in my everyday life, I would rather just eat when I’m hungry, whenever that is.
If that’s first thing in the morning? Awesome.
11pm bedtime snack? You got it.
The second you tell me that I *CAN’T* do something for whatever reason...it’s the only thing I want to do. So for me, this is just implementing more structure than I like in my everyday life 🤷🏼♀️
If I can just track my macros to make sure I’m in a calorie deficit and eat whenever I’m hungry? I’m alllllll over that 🥳 #flexibledieting
Have you tried IF? If yes, how did it work for you and your lifestyle? ✨
💡 What if you treated your energy like money? Would it change what you spend it on? 💸
I made a post yesterday explaining the importance of making sure we’re not spreading ourselves too thin and how to make sure we’re always taking that extra TLC for US that the end of the day
BUT since then I’ve been thinking: the same rules we’ve follow when it comes to our money are no different than how we should treat our mental energy.
Think of it like this:
💰 With our money, we can only spend as much as we have.
💴 Before purchases we check in with our budget to see if we can make it work.
💵 Will we have to sacrifice paying any of our bills to have said thing/experience?
💸No? Awesome! Then let’s get it!
💳Yes? Bring on the penalties, overdraft fees and calls from the bank, because these choices have consequences.
⚡️With our energy, we can only spend as much as we have.
✨Before committing to others and events, we need to check in with our internal budget to see if we can make it work.
💥Will we be sacrificing a part of our wellbeing by doing it?
💫No? BEAUTIFUL, send it my way!
☄️Yes? Bring on the frustration, the resentment and stress from giving parts of US that we don’t have, these choices have consequences too.
Invest in things you care about.
Save on things that aren’t important to you.
Check in on your account status often.
Picking up what I’m putting down here? We only have so much to give to others and we need to be conscious and mindful of where that energy goes
Want a few ideas on where to start building up your internal income? I GOT YOU! 🙌🏼 *swipe* to see 19 things you can do to give yourself a mental payday ✨
What’s something that sucks the energy right out of your day or something that gives you a bonus check? ⚡️ My withdrawals come from being too social without recharging where my deposits will come from spending quiet time alone totally unplugged 🤟🏼🖤
Charging your phone? Not optional. Refilling your gas tank? Nope, not an option either. Recharging YOU? …..*crickets*....
Coming from a girl who’s ran out of gas like 3 times in her life I can attest that not a single one of those things are optional lol 😅
When it comes to the things in our life that need to be refilled or recharged: they don’t mess around.
The gas in our tank, our phone, our fridge, our nails, lashes, our cup of coffee…these players mean businessssss girl!
But why is it that whenever we translate this mindset to our mind + our body, the idea of recharging becomes a *sUgGeSTiOn* ? 🥴
Hear me out here:
🔋 everything we do in a day either drains our battery or charges our battery 🔋
📉 The tasks that drain our battery might be running errands, working or washing our hair. These are usually things we have to get done, that we might not always like or things that make us feel totally wiped
📈 Then we have tasks that charge our battery like journaling, working out, reading a book or taking a bath. These are usually things that we enjoy, that make us feel happy and full afterwards
❕ RECHARGING IS NOT OPTIONAL ❕
When we’re not taking care of US, we’re only giving ourselves and everyone around us a *fraction* of our awesomeness instead of the whole dang thang.
...AND YOU ARE PRETTY AMAZING! How dare you not bring all that awesome to the table!? ⚡️
We have to stop ignoring our own internal gas light and *low battery* notifications and take our internal well being seriously 🧘🏼
To be able to show up daily with your best self in tow, you need to make sure that you are recharging when you need to, to be your most powerful version of YOU 🌈
What is something you do or are going to start doing to recharge your batteries? ⚡️I’m a big fan of quiet time ✨ if you’ve got a bath or a book or a cup of coffee, I’m allllllllll over it 🤓 📚
THE POWER OF CHANGING YOUR IG FEED
Want your instagram feed to change your life? BECAUSE IT CAN YALL 🖤
Wether we like it or not, social media has a big influence on how we view the world. How we think, what we feel, what we say and what energy we bring into our life.
Take a look at who you're following and what they bring to the table. Are they building you up? Are they teaching you a new skill? Bring a new perspective to the table? Making you feel like LESS?
If we really are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time around, who are the 5 people that you're spending the most time with? I can bet that ESPECIALLY right now, some of those 5 people are coming from social media.
Be mindful of the content we consume. Be aware of how who we follow affects our mindset. Be in tune with what your feed brings to the table 🤟🏼 Anyone using their spare time to do a declutter of their IG feed?! I've done several of these over the years to really fine tune who I follow and why I follow them, and man I'm so glad I did!
QUICK: if you had to pick one to eat right now, would it be: wings, mac n cheese or ice cream?! 🍦
Over the last 7 years, I could’ve served you ice cream from Colstone, mac n cheese from Keystone or wings from Roosters or Topgolf...my apron and I have been around the block. Where are my FOH workers at? 🙋🏼♀️
COVID19 has shaken up the lives of all of us right now. This time last year Lance and I were both waiting tables, getting ready to move across the country. If we were both laid off unexpectedly there’s no doubt we would have a lot of fear. No time is a good time to be faced with financial uncertainty and a whole lot of extra time to think about it.
BUT even though I’m no longer bringing trays of food out of the kitchen, I’m still bringing a whole lot of OPPORTUNITY to the table for you regardless of your situation ✨
◻️ FREE GUIDE. I dropped a 46 page guide, packed full of a 4 week home workout plan, how to workout with household items, nutrition help, mindset and affirmation exercises and so much more! This is free to EVERYONE and link is in my bio to grab it while it’s hot 🔥
◻️ APRIL CHALLENGE. This month in my free FB group *Livelite Free Facebook Community* I’m holding a challenge,FREE to join + PRIZES at the end! Goes from April 1-15th and gives you an opportunity to meet some awesome women, have some added accountability + get moving 💃🏼
◻️ NUTRITION COACHING. I keep a handful of spots on my roster for women who feel comfortable with training, but needing more accountability in the nutrition department. Sounds like a perfect fit for you? GOOD! Because I’ve opened up a handful more of these spots this month 🙌🏼
◻️ FREE 15 MINUTE CONSULT CALL. My #1 goal in everything I do is to help serve YOU, and offering you a space to ask questions about your own health and fitness journey is another way I can do that. No strings attached, just a way to get clear cut information quickly 💯
Now you have time. You have an opportunity. You have FREE + AFFORDABLE RESOURCES EVERYWHERE. All you have to do is go for it 🙏🏼
The other day on my story, I asked you all two questions.
1. What have you done MORE of recently?
2. What have you done LESS of?
I was thinking I would get silly responses, that would hopefully bring some joy into your day. But what happened instead was way better than that.
When asked what you’ve done more of, here’s a few of the answers you all sent:
🤍yoga, exercise
🤍prayer, self reflection, self care
🤍spending more quality time with my son
🤍leave my phone in another room until my babe goes to sleep, loving it.
🤍been more kind to and had more fun with my husband
When I asked what you’ve done LESS of, here’s what you said:
🖤eating out
🖤washing my hair
🖤wearing less makeup
🖤less obsessing over my schedule and planning everything to a T
When push comes to shove (even in a state of a national emergency) look at what you’re prioritizing. Love. Connection. Exercise. Personal development. Family. More meaning. Less background noise.
Isn’t it sad that it took a pandemic to give us a wake up call?
In the midst of an incredibly challenging and heartbreaking period, the light within this experience is that now we have the one thing that we’ve always asked for. Time. ⏳
But the funny thing about humans, we always want what we don’t have. The extra sleep you wish you could have, the opportunity to learn a new skill or to pursue your passion project. Now you can. It’s here. It’s right in front of you.
Use this time to your advantage. To study, to create an Etsy account, to paint that picture of their dog. It’s up to you to take this opportunity to do something you love. You just have to choose to act.
What’s something you’ve done MORE of and LESS of since this COVID-19 whirlwind started? ❔
I’ll go first; I’ve done more creation (ebook coming out tomorrow!), more connection with family and friends, more quality time with my husband and puppies 🤟🏼and a whole lot less laundry since I’ve been living in my comfy clothes 24/7 🥳
POV: you’re the Amazon guy bringing me my adjustable dumbbells 📦👀😏
Over the last week I have been having intense DB withdrawals. Like I was longing to feel the gritty metal bar and smell iron and dirt on heavy handles lol (anyone who follows me who doesn’t workout just labeled me as a sociopath LOL)
In all seriousness though, I was GEEKED to see these on our front step today.
If I had to choose one piece of equipment to use every day for the rest of my life, it would either be a squat rack (to hit the deadlifts obviously haha) with dumbbells being a close second.
With a squat rack being pretty unrealistic to fit in our apartment, I opted with this $70 adjustable dumbbell/barbell set instead, so I could get even more funky with these at home workouts in the coming days 🤓🙌🏼
If you had to choose one piece of equipment to workout with everyday, what would it be? As long as it’s not a shake weight...we can talk😉
We all have an opinion on at home workouts, which I get. If I had the option to go to the gym or lift from my house? I for sure would pick the gym.
...but that doesn’t give me an excuse to just vibe for the next few weeks because *i wOuLd rAtHeR bE aT tHe gYM* …. 🥴
Back in my sorority girl days, there was a phrase I heard so often, it’s now ingrained in my head: “you get out what you put in.”
Apply that phrase to anything that you do: grades, your relationship, hitting your macros, saving your money, training in your living room.
✖️I’ve always applied this mindset to my fitness goals: when I train as hard as I can, I get stronger, grow muscle, and have the shape I want.
✖️Or when hitting my macros: when I plan my day in advance and execute accordingly, I’ll hit triple 0’s every single time.
✖️Or now, having a bomb at home workout: when I use the tools that I have to work effectively and seek resources to help me to learn how to train in my living room, I can still get in a DOPE workout in.
When we put our 100% effort into something, we will ALWAYS reap the benefits! 🤍
If you’re stuck on what to do or how to train at home, DM me! I have tons of free resources I would love to pass on💌
My pantry currently looks like a 1st grader grocery shopped for me 😂🧇🧃🥜🍪🥫
My shelves are full of fruit by the foot (iykyk), cinnamon toast crunch, hawiian sweet rolls and protein bars LOL 👅
When we hit Kroger up last week, a lot of our go-to items were sold out. Like my high fiber tortillas...WHAT. THE. HECK. Houston, we’re going to have a serious issue if you start messing with my digestion.
WHO: “wash your hands, social distancing”
Us: *BUY EVERYTHING* (especially pizza rolls, meat and TP lol) 🧻
Can anyone relate to having the most random food in your house right now? 😂🙋🏼♀️ If yes, let me know what the weirdest thing you have on your shelves is!
Past me would have thought that not having my usual foods on hand would mean an excuse to go haywire on my diet for the time being, to pick up this healthy lifestyle again when it was easier.
NOT ANYMORE SISTER! With tracking macros, as long as I have a carb, fat and protein source? I’M GUCCI. Goals? Consider them hit ✔️
✖️Going out to eat with friends? No sweat.
✖️Date night at the movies? Yessir!
✖️Foods you usually buy flew off the shelves? It’s fineeee
If I was on a meal plan, or a “DO NOT EAT THESE FOODS” program, I probably would’ve panicked if I couldn’t get what I needed this past week. Then have to choose to go to different stores to find what I needed or be forced to “fall off” my program. PSA: that’s not sustainable🤷🏼♀️
This is a prime example of WHY I’m all for that flexible dieting lifestyle. It’s a fuel focused but eat-whatever-you-want, one-day-at-a-time plan of action. 🤘🏼
80-90% fuel focused, 10-20% LIFE focused.
Tracking macros gives you nutrition knowledge that you’ll use through and through to fall back on. It requires you to care about/learn the WHY you’re eating what you’re eating and what’s IN the foods you’re eating 🤓
Once you learn how to do that? YOU’RE SOLID GOLD BABY. ⚡️
No night out, restaurants closing or empty shelves will stop you from reaching your goals 🙌🏼
Now excuse me while I go eat freezer veggie pasta and cottage cheese while I hit my macros for the day 😂🍝
*SOCIAL DISTANCING APPROVED GAME TIME* 👇🏼
Look at this picture. Now look for something black. What do you see? Probably my camera lens or my gym bag, anything that’s black works.
Now look at the picture again. But this time look for something white. What do you see now? Maybe my pop socket, watch band or the beats in my bag.
This might seem a little silly here, but I’m about to explain to you why I just made you play an IG version of I spy.
When I told you to look at the photo for the black items, that was easy right? They were right there in front of you, you just had to *SEE* them. But while I had you look for the black items, odds are you didn’t notice the white items, did you?
Why? The white items were always there though, weren’t they? You just weren’t focusing on them.
Whether you’re a glass half full or glass half empty type, we all can agree that the cup isn’t full, but it’s about the perspective we have when we look at the cup. 🤷🏼♀️
“You get what you focus on, so focus on what you want.”
I challenge all of us and myself included, now more than ever to focus on the good 🌈
We might have to dig a little deeper and be a little more mindful right now to notice the positives around us, and THAT’S OKAY. No matter what, there’s ALWAYS more good than bad in every situation. ✖️YES, we might have to work from home, BUT you get to work in your pj’s! (best part of the job)
✖️YES, we might not have all of our normal foods right now, BUT getting creative never hurt anyone
✖️YES, we might be playing hookey as a nation right now, BUT *good news* all that time you’ve never had enough of? YOU JUST HIT THE JACKPOT!
We CANNOT control every situation. We can’t control how many black or white items are in the photo, how much water is in the cup we’re debating about, we can’t control any of it. But we can choose what we put our time and energy into.
When we focus on the good, the good gets better! Every day is as good as we make it. We can’t control the situations we’re in, but we can always control our reactions.
Here’s to being a light for those around us and focusing on the GOOD in every day 🤍🤟🏼