Today we are shining the spotlight on 26-year-old Monica Taylor (@the_oma_life) from Northeast, OH. Monica has always been very interested in athletics, science, and more recently health and fitness. Although she is currently working in corporate America full time, she still makes time to not only pursue a personal training certification but also some fitness modeling on the side. So what’s her story? Well, back in high school Monica was in fact an athlete, but due to stress and lack of self-care she became very unhealthy in college. Looking at pictures of her wasn’t the same because she could barely recognize herself. Not just that, but Monica also found trouble in taking part in activities she once succeeded in, she couldn’t even participate without being winded, and worst of all her blood pressure and cholesterol were too high. It was at that moment Monica realized it was time to finally take care of herself.
She decided to start her weight loss by counting calories with caloriecount.com. Along with counting calories she started out 4-6 days a week, first doing a lot of cardio then once informed about that benefits of lifting she incorporated that into her plan as well. Monica did not limit her exercises, to keep her interested she tried a variety of workouts form boot camp to kickboxing, even home workout DVD’s. Food-wise, she started out eating mostly homemade whole foods and on occasion she ate sweets/processed food. By eating whole foods, Monica was able to easily stay full on reduced calories, and allowing occasional less healthy splurges prevented her from eventually binging. All in all, she made sure to never cut calories too low to ensure that her metabolism stayed up even when she was trying to lose fat.
When asked what kept her motivated, Monica responded by saying she was mostly motivated by the picture she had in her mind of how she wanted to look and feel. She also looked to others in her family who struggled with their health and knew that she didn’t want to be in that position when she got older. Monica’s motivation’s also included surrounding herself with like-minded people in support groups and social networks to help cheer her on. In addition to the previous listings, she used a very strategic yet simple method where she broke main goals into smaller ones—daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly, to celebrate each small win instead of focusing on how much farther she had to go. “What I think was very important was to not focus on the scale only.” That’s right! Monica decided not to solely focus on the scale because while it may be a good guide in some ways, it doesn’t tell the full story. She decided to pay attention to non-scale goals such as how clothes fit, how much stronger she was getting, and her health improvements, just to name a few. That is what kept her proud and motivated her to keep going even if the scale wasn’t moving. In the moments that she felt discouraged or felt like she fell behind, she reminded herself that the time would pass anyway whether she reached her goals or not, so she might as well keep going or else she would regret the time wasted.
Along this fitness journey Monica acquired an exercise routine which consist of doing a fully body weight lifting workout 3 times per week and some type of interval/circuit training (which usually consists of lifting lightweights or her body weight) or some type of sprinting intervals (going fast for a period of time and slowing down for a period of time) two days per week. And to top it off she gets two days of rest per week. As far as her meal plan, as stated previously she eats mostly whole foods including: fresh produce, whole grains, dairy, eggs, fish, unrefined oils, and natural sugars. Occasionally she’ll eat food that falls of that category, however she makes sure that no matter what she consumes, it is mostly plant based and that she also meets her nutritional needs for the day.
Monica has admitted that overtime her mindset went from being focused on weight loss to becoming focused on her overall health. Her eating habits today are a complete lifestyle change, mostly cooks her own food with simple whole ingredients packed with nutrition, and she has also made the choice to not eat fast or processed food very often. Her workout schedule is no longer just fat/weight loss oriented, but more to keep up the health of her entire body. Overall Monica is taking small initiatives to stay active in general like taking the stairs instead of the elevators and walking during her breaks.
In order to maintain her figure, Monica will continue to stay active and eat healthy foods like she is doing now. She will continue to pay attention to how clothes fit and get regular check ups, most importantly she will not let herself slip to the point where she doesn’t look or feel the way she wants. I asked Monica to finish the sentenceConfidence is Me because… She responded: “Confidence is Me because I took control of my life to become healthier and stronger, and I could find something beautiful about myself every step of the way.”
A Confident Love From Me To You
Xoxo, Yanika & Kayla
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