What Do You Weigh?

Hi y’all! It’s been a minute since I’ve blogged. I miss it. There’s something so cathartic about penning my thoughts…even if it’s just for me to read back to myself.

The last several months have been incredibly busy. My husband and I have been enjoying our free time together, even trying out archery. My job as a Social Media Manager takes up a lot of my time, as a job does. And I’ve consistently been in the gym.

2017 was a good year, self confidence-wise. I grew stronger, and focused on living in a positive mental state even when life got rough. Because, oh boy, those rough patches will really sweep that rug from under your feet.

2018 has been interesting, so far. I’ve encountered some situations where my sweet little bubble of positivity BURST wide open and in flooded anxious thoughts and in crept an attitude of pettiness. In a moment self despair, I cried out to God and asked Him what to do. He answered with, “JOY”. That was my “aha” moment. Why should I let circumstances that were unfair or out of my hands determine how joyful I was? So, that’s been my focus the last few months.

And the same outlook has applied to my ongoing fitness journey. I found myself wondering, “What next?” I absolutely LOVE my time in the gym, so I didn’t want to scale back my gym time just because I had reached my goal weight. After doing research, I decided to try and gain more muscle slowly by increasing my calorie intake and increase my weight lifting. And that’s been a fun journey! I really do like seeing my muscles grow and become defined. I’ve never felt as strong as I do now!

Of course, my days of self-doubt still creep in, but with a JOYFUL mindset, it’s been much easier to combat those negative feelings. I recently found a neat campaign called I WEIGH, created by actress Jameela Jamil. Jameela saw the destructiveness of labeling women by their weight or dress size. If you’ve read through my blog, you’ll notice that I’m passionate about women finding their self worth and value in their wholeness. That’s why I love Jameela’s campaign so much: she’s found a way to allow women to celebrate their achievements and goals on a platform that is usually shrouded with “fit teas” and pics of “women’s ideal body types”.

My hope for you, dear reader, is that wherever you are in your life, you remember that who you are is much more than numbers on a scale or what people say about you. What do you weigh?

Working on My Fitness, You’re My Witness.

It’s been a little over 8 months into my fitness journey. It’s been a busy several months and I haven’t blogged in a hot minute. (Hey! Keeping up good eating habits, working out, making moolah, getting enough sleep, and keeping up relationships is a lot of work!) My health goal was to: 1. Lose at least 10 lbs. 2. Begin to build muscle. 3. Gain overall strength. 4. BE CONFIDENT and AWESOME. 

To recap the start of my journey, check out my original blog post on my fitness journey. I wanted to reach my goals before Stephen and I went on our first anniversary trip to the Dominican Republic. Thankfully, I reached my weight goal and then some within a few months. I spent the next little while before the trip increasing the amount of weights I was lifting during my gym sessions so I could tone up. You can see my steady progress in the pictures below!  

Now the the trip has passed (which was AMAZING), I’ve tried to be more lenient within myself regarding my diet and gym time. Instead of going to the gym 5-6 times a week, I now try to go every other day, or 3-4 times. I’ve still been slowing increasing my weights and adding in heavier machine exercises to my workouts, as well as decreasing cardio. In order to make sure I’m fueling my body enough to build muscle, I increased my calorie allowance by nearly double. Surprisingly, that’s been the most difficult part: keeping up with the amount of calories I have to consume each day. I used a nifty app on my phone (S Health) to track my meals and make sure I’m meeting my calorie intake, as well as water intake, sleep cycles, daily steps, and exercise routines. It’s actually a great way for me to have a well-rounded view of my health and makes it easy to manage day-to-day health info.  

It’s been nice not having to be as strict with my diet and exercise, although I really enjoy my gym time and I look forward to reaching new goals! 

March 2017

March 2017

April 2017

May 2017

July 2017

Fabletics Review

I’m really trying to be better to my body! As I shared in my last blog post, I have committed to eating healthier and getting my booty to the gym. While I enjoy going to the gym now, I always had to choose from 3 old sports bras, shorts from 9th grade, and tattered tank tops. Since I work out more than 3 times a week, I was constantly having to wash my workout clothes so I would have something to wear. I’ve heard a lot about Fabletics from Kate Hudson’s cutesy tv commercials and their fab (see what I did there) social media ads. At the time I joined, they were having a new membership deal where purchasers would receive a 2-piece outfit for just 10 bucks. Seeing as their retail prices range from $40- $100, it was pretty good deal. Too good to pass up. So I joined. 

The good: The new sign-up deals are awesome. I ended up getting my 2-piece outfit plus another tank top on sale. I calculated the total retail for all 3 items and it came to $150!!!! I only paid $24 ($10 promo, $10 sale shirt, and $4 shipping). There are also a lot of options to choose from, so there are patterns and styles for everyone. The leggings fit well, length-wise.

Pretty cute Fabletics outift overall

The pants have the cutest pattern, but their so compressed OMG

The bad: The subsequent prices are pretty steep. You’ll pay anywhere from $39-$69+ for outfits after you sign up. And Fabletics is a subscription service (it actually operates under the shoe service Just Fab). So, each month, you have to log-in and skip the month so you’re not charged. If you do forget, you can use the credit to buy items down the line. Regarding the actual quality of the clothes, it’s not bad. However, the compression of the leggings is so strong that my legs have a hard time breathing during my workouts. The size small shirt is also way to big, so I have to tie it up.

The shirts is a small but still incredibly lo g making it hard to move around freely when working out

The fab: The items are cute and they really help put you in the mood to workout. A lot of consumers complained that they had a hard time cancelling their membership (versus just skipping individual months). I had to work up my nerve to call because I didn’t want the Fabletics rep trying to sell me into not cancelling. But, it wasn’t difficult at all. The rep was super nice and just asked why I wanted to cancel. And that was that. She mentioned that I always have the opportunity to re-join.   

Final Verdict: If you have a crazy active lifestyle or just feel the need to have 12 or more workout outfits delivered to your door each year, then Fabletics is for you. Obviously, since I cancelled my membership, Fabletics isn’t the route for me. My sister recommended Forever 21’s workout stuff, so I did place an order with them for 60 bucks. I got 3 sports bras, 1 pair of leggings, 1 pair of shorts, a jump rope, and a yoga mat. I was really impressed with the quality and would rather spend 60 bucks on a ton of workout gear rather than the same amount on 1 outfit.

Here’s my ultra cute Forever 21 outift. Much for comfortable than the Fabletics one.

But, here’s to continued growth, strength building, and healthy living no matter what I wear to them gym 🙂

2016 In Review

So, woah! Here we are again at the end of another year. It’s been a crazy one for sure! 2015 was an awesome year: I got engaged, got a new job, and made leaps and bounds in my personal growth. (You can read all about 2015 HERE). 

2016 was shaping up to be an even better year: Stephen and I were getting MARRIED, I was excited for new opportunities at work, and I was looking forward to even more personal achievements and challenages. Here are some highlights from the past year and what I’ve learned from them:
1. The Wedding: June 18, 2016 was probably one of the best days of my life. The day went off without a hitch and I’m so glad Stephen and I got to commit our lives to each other in front of family and friends AND enjoy a big party afterwards 🙂 The wedding taught me that you can never have too many people that you love all in the same place. You can read about the wedding HERE plus some of my planning tips and tricks,

2. Being Married: Before getting married, so many people told me that marriage was hard because you have to make the constant desicion to love your spouse. For Stephen and I, we haven’t found that to be true (because we already did that!). Maybe that’ll come down the line, but we’ve found that marriage, for us, means we have to look internally and have a self-assessment before attempting to resolve whatever issue we’re having. Yes, this means compromise is a HUGE part of marriage. But, I love being married to Stephen. We have such a fun, silly, honest, and meaningful relationship. I’m so excited for our future.

3. Personal Growth: Ugh, 2016 was a hard year for me and my body image. If you spend time with me, you know that I’m constantly preaching that self-worth and value lies in God and your personal view of yourself. This means that no other person should determine how you feel about your body, goals, dreams, etc.  I preach this so heavily because I’m preaching to the choir! I have to remind myself almost daily that I am not who the world says I am. I’ve always dealt with insecurities: my acne might be flaring up, women have told me my body type isn’t “womanly” enough, or I might be comparing my achievements with those around me. But this past year brought an insecurity I’ve never dealt with: my weight. When I moved across the country for college, I think I weighed 85 lbs. Slowly, throughout the past 6 years, I’ve gained weight and was happy with where I was. I had finally “filled out” and was a healthy weight, but for some reason, one day I woke up and thought I weighed too much. For months before the wedding, I worked out 7 days a week, hoping that my image of myself would change. When I made comments in passing, everyone around me said things I wanted to hear “Juana, you look GREAT!” “Juana, you are a skinny Minnie!” “Work out?? You don’t need to lose weight!”. But, for some reason, my body still bothered me. I wasn’t sure where the disconnect was happening and this is still an area I’m trying to figure out. I’m still trying to overcome whatever insecurities come my way, but I’m remembering each step of the way that I’m fearfully and wonderfully made. I’m sticking with making positive and healthy descions for my body, mind, soul!

2016 was a wild ride! It’s not a year I’ll soon forget. But, there are some AWESOME things I’m looking forward to in 2017!

1. My sister’s WEDDING! It’s going to be off the chain and I can’t believe she’s getting married! #WillardYouBeMine

2. Stephen’s and my 1st wedding anniversary. We’re trying to plan a fun getaway! #BlessedToBeBrown

3. Improved self-image.

4.  Continued oppurtunities at work and in my personal life.

Here’s to 2017!

That’s YOU! ⬆️💋

Follow me on social!

Instagram: @JuanaHelena

Snapchat: @Juana_Helena

Twitter: @Juana_Helena 

5 Things You Should Never Say to Thin People

I’ve been petite and thin my whole life.  While I definitely struggled with self-image issues, my weight never fluctuated.  I don’t consider one body type better over another, but growing up with snarky comments about my size always made me wonder if I was womanly enough.  I needed curvy hips and a JLO booty.  I needed to be softer and less angular.  Were boys even looking at me?!  Then, as I grew older and more comfortable in my skin, I realized that women come in all shapes and sizes.  The tall, thin teacher?  Pretty.  The short girl with spiky hair at the mall?  Lovely.  The curvy co-worker with blonde hair?  Just amazing.  Each with their own unique beauty and personality.  Even as I began to have these realizations, the words from interactions past still made me cringe.  In a world where politically-correctness tends to overpower free speech, I wondered if I was being too sensitive.  But, no, I’m here to tell you that you you just gotta be more mindful of the things you say.  I’m here to tell you 5 things NOT to say:

1. OMG, girl, did you even eat today?  We need to get a hamburger, or three, in you!

For your information, I did eat today.  Stop shoving food in my face.

2. You don’t even have to work out.

Tell me that again when sweat is pouring down my face after a morning run.

3. Are you, like, anorexic?

This is seriously the worst question.  Anorexia is a serious issue and should not be taken lightly.  So, don’t go around asking every thin person if they have an eating disorder.

4. Do you have to buy kids’s clothes?

Yes, yes, I do.

5. You need to put some weight on you.

And you need to brush your teeth more.  This is the body God gave me.  I take care of it the best I can.  This statement makes me feel like my body isn’t good enough. And I’m not okay with that.

The photo above speaks volumes to me.  I hate the posts that pit Marilyn Monroe against a skinny actress and say, “When did this become this?” implying that skinny girls are aren’t real women.  So why can’t a woman be just that: a woman?

Hi, I’m Juana.  And I’m a woman.