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

The Great Debate

We all know social media is a place that breeds senseless fights and arguments (most recently about the color of a certain dress).  We also know that social media is a place where people tend to air their laundry, whether it’s dirty or clean.

Two of my friends posted statuses on Facebook, living at the two ends of the spectrum.   Friend 1 said that we should be careful about what we post on social media because we could unintentionally hurt someone else.  Our achievements, relationship milestones, and perfect selfies may cause other’s insecurities to bubble up.  Friend 2 said that it shouldn’t matter what we post.  We should be free to proclaim any happenings in our lives without fear that we are upsetting someone else.

So, where do we draw the line?  Should there even be a line?  I’m interested in hearing more views.  Do tell!

The Almighty Hashtag

I don’t usually use my blog to “teach” a blatant “lesson”.  BUT, recently I’ve noted way too many of my fellow social media users misusing hashtags.  Now, maybe they don’t care how they use hashtags in their posts.  Maybe they just like seeing the little # symbol sprinkled in their post.  Maybe they just haven’t been educated on how to use a hashtag. Yet, it still irks me that such a tiny symbol can’t be used correctly.  Well, friends, let me show you!

Firstly, a hashtag is defined “(on social media sites such as Twitter) a word or phrase preceded by a hash or pound sign (#) and used to identify messages on a specific topic.”  Think of a hashtag like a search tool.  Do you want people to find your post and get more views?  Then use a hashtag.  Want to join a conversation on a specific topic?  Use a hashtag.

My job is to maintain the social media sites for the resort I work for.  I constantly use hashtags to bring new eyes to various posts that I update.  On my personal Twitter page, I want to bring more eyes to my page and blog, so I use hashtags like “blog” or “WordPress” so that people searching those terms will come across whatever I post.  Recently, Facebook has added a hashtag feature but with sites like Twitter and Instagram which are more geared towards reaching the public, hashtags seem to be more helpful.  So, unless you want a lot of strangers seeing your personal Facebook post, refrain from using hashtags.  They’re great for business pages though!  

Another great rule of thumb is that hashtags serve no real purpose if your page is private.  If the purpose of a hashtag is to bring people to your page and view your posts, how can they view your page if it’s private?  This is one thing that really bugs me.  DON’T DO IT!  It just adds weird clutter to your posts.

Don’t use symbols in your hashtags, either.  It breaks the hashtags, rendering it useless.  For example, the hashtag #ADog’sLife is incorrect, while #ADogsLife is correct.  It’s not grammatically correct, but it is correct in the world of hashtags.  Numerical units can also be used in a hashtag (#TaleOf2Cities)

Also, using nonsensical hashtags like #OmgIJustLovePizzaItsMyFavoriteFoodEverYumYum is SO wrong!  Why not just type that as your post in the first place??  If you do need to use multiple words in a row, make sure you capitalize words as you normally would (#SeeWhatIDidThere).  It makes the hashtag MUCH easier to read.

Don’t use too many hashtags in your posts.  It makes you look spammy and makes the overall post hard to read.  I try to stick with 1-5 hashtags depending on the message I want to convey.  Many sites will even cut you off after you use too many!

Examples: Are you watching #TheWalkingDead right now? / What should I make more dinner? #vegan #CleanEating / Check out all this snow! #Blizzardof2015 #Winter

You’ll see that following these simple rules helps bring more views to your social media sites.  If that’s not the intent you want, then stop using hashtags.  Plain and simple. 🙂

The Selfie

The older you get, the more you realize that the way you look is a reflection of how you treat yourself.
– Hope Davis

You see it everywhere:  The girl or guy extending their arm just so that their smart phone can catch the light properly.  They smile. Make a face.  Pout.  Put up a peace sign.  Call others to join in.  Or look around to make sure no sees.  They inspect the photo.  A filter is chosen.  The post button is clicked.  And just like that, someone’s portrait is available for all to see.

While the selfie is so popular, so is the hate of the selfie.  Instagramers warn their followers, “Forgive my selfie!” or “I NEVER post these”.  Selfie-takers are judged and get eyes rolled at them.  We judge them for being “vain”, “self-absorbed”, and “society-centered”.

But, I see the selfie as something different.  With the amount of self-hate that drowns society, we should be glad that someone had the courage to show us their portrait.  That’s how they view themselves.  They feel beautiful at that moment.  They want to show you their new sunglasses, their new shirt, their new new hairstyle.  And perhaps, their new found confidence.

As someone who stills deals with confidence issues, I love being able to express my beauty through social media.  It’s not about fishing for compliments, but rather proclaiming, “Here I am, world! I may not be your classic definition of beauty, and maybe you think I’m superficial for posting my selfie, but hey, here I am.”

Selfies tell a story if we’re willing to look close enough.  What’s your story?