Back at the Gym + Inspirational Figures

It felt so good to be back at the gym today! It sucks to fall off the bandwagon so many times, but every time I get back on I'm a stronger person :)

Here is how I looked after 3 weeks of not lifting and enjoying the festive feasts.

Today's workout was inspired by Fitness Barbie Lauren gleisberg's workout.

Lat Pulldowns - 60 lbs 

Reverse grip lat pulldown - 45 lbs 

Seated cable rows - 57 lbs 

Bent over rows - 40 lbs 

My favorite part of the body to work is the backs, so I decided to do a back workout to give myself a good pump to start things off.

The idea of focusing on building one major muscle group for a certain period of time really attracts me, although I don't know if spending extra workout sessions for just one month will show evident change in ex. my back muscles. Definitely something I'll consider though!

On another note, today I am grateful for my #fitfam and my Instagram community. Someone in particular I want to mention is Miss Lauren Gleisberg (who also happened to have released her 12 weeks at home workout ebook, and I supported her by downloading my own copy).

What I was most interested in was hearing Lauren's story. She's such an aspiring person - a truly amazing individual! I am so glad to have came across her Instagram, because I have learned so much from her!

Aside from the health and fitness related topics, she has definitely opened my mind on the outlooks of things - how one sees things. Is your glass half full or half empty? Are you thankful for the things you have, or do you constantly complain about the things you don't have?

One of the reasons I started writing entries about things I feel gratitude for is also because of Lauren - her influential, positive, and vibrant personality makes ME want to be a better person - the better version of myself.

I hope after reading this, you too will take a few minutes of your time to ask yourself: what am I thankful for? What are the things/relationships I have that have really impacted me? What can I do to show others that I appreciate what they do for me?

That's all for tonight!

Cheers!
Xoxo

Yogi Tea Quote: Gratitude Journal Entry

Tonight's yogi tea quote writes "May your inner self be happy and secure".

The first thing that came to my mind was inner peace and yoga.
My long time friend Alyssa is a strong believer and advocate for yoga. She occasionally tells me things about yoga, it's benefits, and how it can help build one's body and mind to be stronger. I listened to what she said, but I don't think I 100% fully understood the things she meant until the first day I tried out yoga with her.

Man, that stuff is hard. If you ever thought that yoga seems easy, boy are you wrong. It takes so much focus, energy, balance, and flexibility to accomplish even the simplest moves. Even though we were taking baby steps during our class, I was still sweating up bullets and feeling breathless and falling down throughout. But by the end of the session, when we took a few minutes of time to ourselves to just lay down, and clear our minds, that's when my inner peace kicked in.

I felt so relaxed, so weightless on my shoulders - I almost drifted off into sleep. Through that experience I understood why Alyssa and many others practice yoga. It really does bring inner peace and happiness. And when you have peace and happiness within you, you will slowly feel more secure, confident, and strong.

To wrap things up, tonight I feel gratitude for the many great friends I have in my life. Never under estimate what a simple friendship and the simple things your friends say or do can affect your life. It may not seem important at that moment, but somewhere along the road, you reflect back on what they've said and done, and realize how it's slowly changed your life.

Alyssa has moved away last week to pursue the next chapter of her life, and I'd like to wish her the best of luck in her studies and where-ever yoga and yogi tea takes her next!

Cheers!
xoxo

Selina :)

Yogi Tea: Quote of the Night

Slowly over the last couple weeks, I’ve started to look forward to my cup of Yogi Bedtime tea before bed. With each tea bag comes a little slip of paper attached on the string with a quote. You may have seen me post a few of these on my instagram. 

Tonight’s quote is “Inspiring others toward happiness brings you happiness.” 

I think these little quotes are great. They make me reflect a little bit about the day and something related to the quote. It makes me appreciate things more, and be grateful for many things that I probably take for granted. 

And that’s exactly what I told myself I’d work on in the new years - to be more grateful, thankful, and to try and write these things down and share it with my blog readers. 

I had a really tough day today. It was the first day back to school, and like most people I was definitely not in the groove. I felt tired, sluggish, and nothing close to energetic. I had to study for some exams I have in the next couple weeks, and it hard to get back into the habit of things. I took a break and went out and had a nice steak dinner with my mother, but before that, I was very down, feeling depressed, and snappy at times too. 

But my mom, being the great mother she is, didn’t pout or yell back at me for being snappy. Instead she apologized (even when I was wrong), and just told me to back to focusing on my studying. My mom is the most selfless person I know. Everything she does, she wants the best for me. If I could grow up and learn half her traits and be half the mother she is for my kids, I’m sure my kids would appreciate it too. 

So while I’m sipping on my yogi tea and trying to figure out how to express my gratitude... I thought of this. I am so thankful (yet can never thank my mom enough) to have my mom in my life. She makes so many sacrifices for me, all because she wants the best for me. She supports me 100% in all the things I want to do, but isn’t afraid of telling me her true opinion on things. 

The yogi tea quote also reminded me that everything I’m doing now is to help me reach my goal (personal trainer and nutrition dietitian). Even though studying doesn’t bring me happiness at that moment, when I am able to do what I want to do, I will experience happiness then. And it’s then that I can bring happiness to others too - both mentally and physically! 

So if you’re ever feeling lost, depressed, or confused - sit down and have a cup of tea, and just reflect upon what you’re thankful for <3 

Cheers 

xoxo

Selina :)