The Your Level Fitness Podcast 032: Chat with Lainey
Where’s the best place for listeners to connect with you?: Instagram: @laineylynnfit
What’s one habit you do almost daily?: I think that my most consistent habit that I do daily and feel like it helps me, personally, is to give myself positive pep-talks, positive vibes, self-love, grace....whatever you would like to call it. Honestly, I'm hardest on myself so this is just a reminder to myself daily to keep moving forward.
What’s one of your normal routines?: One of my "normal routines" would be drinking water throughout the day. I make sure my water is right in front of me so that even if I get busy, it's so close that I have no excuse not to drink it.
How long did it take for the above routine to stick? : I can't say for sure how long it took because it's been a routine for so long but I can say that the transition to drinking mostly only water was difficult. As a kid, there were no rules on the amount of soft drinks I would consume so obviously that bad habit carried as an adult. I used to drink mostly soft drinks until I really committed to my weightloss journey.
Describe your weight loss journey.: It's a wild ride but I'll try to be brief. I was overweight probably from middle school all the way into my adult life. I would try and try because others (parents, sisters, etc.) would tell me that I needed to but it never clicked or really, I never believed in myself enough to make it a reality. But life has a way of pushing reality in your face, even in cruel fashion. In November of 2013, my Mom passed away of Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer, 2 months after diagnosis. My world truly shattered. Throughout the next year, I got up to my highest weight of 265+ lbs. The week of her one year death anniversary, realizing how fleeting life is, I joined a fitness bootcamp which was totally out of my comfort zone. I took it one day at a time and eventually I was down 110 lbs. But, life happens, after having my son & being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder 6 months into being a new Mom, I gained most of the weight back. Finally, in July 2019, I made a commitment to myself to do it again. This time using Crossfit as my fitness choice and flexibility in nutrition (trying to follow Macros). I just hit the 70ish lbs loss so I'm excited about that. It's a lot slower this time but I'm fine with it.
What’s a skill you developed as a result of working through your weight loss journey?: I would definitely say that the weight loss journey helped me develop my ability to choose to step out of my comfort zone knowing that many times, there will be huge benefits and wonderful experiences as a result.
What has that skill led to outside of weight loss?: I feel like most of my life was spent in my comfort introverted bubble, not really experiencing things because I was fearful of what others thought. I thrive with having new experiences, meeting new people, etc.
What have you learned about yourself over the last year or so?: I've learned that it's ok to want and value different things that maybe I didn't care about before. There's nothing wrong with it. When we know better, we do better.
What advice would you give to someone working through their weight loss journey?: In my opinion, no one diet or fitness routine is right. Find what you enjoy and be consistent. Motivation is fleeting but discipline wins everytime. And honestly, when you show up on your hardest days (for whatever reason it may be hard - physically, mentally or emotionally) that's where change happens!
What resources would you recommend listeners check out?: I really just find people or pages on IG that inspire me. But, I used to use bodybuilding.com because it has videos for every exercise you could think of and I really liked it because you can choose the muscle group you're looking to work. One other resource for my people who want to become runners, I used the app C25k by ZenLabs. (Couch to 5k)
What are you working on now?: My Crossfit gym just opened back up so definitely working on weightlifting again which I'm so excited about! I'm trying to be consistent with meal prepping.
Is there anywhere else you’d like to point listeners to? Please provide link if possible:Bodybuilding.com - https://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/finder
C25k by ZenLabs - phone app
MyFitnessPal.com
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