Happy to be Healthier

Feels like I’ve been hopping Goodlife’s so much this year. 🐰

I stopped going to the GoodLife in Waterloo when I finished my undergrad this spring so I moved back to the gym near my house then my family moved and now I’m moving into school! All goodlife’s but in different cities! So much change over the past few months but going the gym has always been a consistent aspect through it all!

Trying to still crush goals on crutches!

Last weekend I was playing tennis and sprained my ankle. Although, the recovery has felt long and slow, I am grateful to have come to the gym today.

If you know me, you know that I strive on being productive, so when the doctor demanded rest, I didn’t really know what to do.

Maybe this was a sign that my body needed to rest and slow down a little bit, as I really haven’t for a while. This week I spent time watching Netflix for the first time all summer and sleeping in, and organizing myself for school.

All week my dad would say “was today better than yesterday” and I would reply yes (lol), then he would say “then tomorrow will be better than today” and that is the motivation I am holding on to through this recovery!

Just here to remind everyone that the scale isn’t always your best friend!

Over the past two years, my weight has fluctuated and the scale has been all over the place BUT now, after more than 2 years of taking the gym seriously, I am now the same (even slightly more) weight than when I started.

From a perspective of being scared of the scale, this may be very disappointing but I’m actually quite proud. My body fat is 8% lower, my clothes fit nicer, I can lift heavier, and I have more energy even outside of the gym.

Check out some pictures of me prior to working out to now, my current physique. I now carry more body fat than I did a few months ago, but I have a flexible lifestyle and my hormones are more stable. For me, this is most important!

Happy Tuesday friends!


@ Cambridge Hespler 24h GoodLife Fitness

Ohhhhh 👋🏼, remember me?

Grateful to have had the opportunity to go on 2 awesome grad trips since finishing my undergrad in Kin in April.

5 weeks of travelling and 4 weeks without stepping into a gym was different but I’m getting back into it with more motivation and more of an appreciation for the ability to go.

The gym was surprisingly not on my mind and I was proud to have been able to take a break and focus on the places I saw, the people I met, and the moment I was in!

It was a once in a life time trip, and I have my whole life to get back to where I was. And in fact, getting “out of it” has provided me with more exciting goals to reach and maybe the opportunity to turn the 🍝 🍕 🍨 into more muscle!

Today marks my last day of my undergrad classes! I’d be lying if I said that attending 4 years at Laurier had no impact on my health. These last few years have been growth-central and this school and my kin program have contributed to that immensely 💛

A non-exhaustive list of what I’ve learned:
-Physical activity is important for everyone in different forms (students, seniors, people with disabilities...)
-Physical activity and healthy nutrition aid in controlling energy levels, productivity, and mental health.
-Change is always hard at first but soon it becomes routine and comfortable. I’m trying to remind myself this as a take on a new path come fall.
- Balance is key. You cannot study all the time, and you cannot party/socialize all the time, but both should be accepted into your schedule.
-Not all friends are meant to be roommates, and realizing what you deserve is key.
-Trying your best is all you can do. Often this works in your favour, but when it doesn’t, you learn and move on.
-At a good school and in a good program, you are NOT just a number. Getting to know profs is fun and makes the experience so much easier.
-Meal prepping saves so much time in the long run and has helped me to much the last couple years.
- I am so grateful to have had this opportunity and I am excited to see what is in store for me, and all my fellow graduating golden hawks 💜💛

Are you interested in topics regarding body image? Do you like dogs? Are you interested in my fitness progress over the past couple months? If you said yes to any of these, please check out my second blog post! Yes, the post discusses them all and their relatedness!

https://happy2behealthier.home.blog/2019/03/14/poodle-or-a-pug-both-perfect/

What way to the beach?? 🏝

Check out my first blog post. How to live a balanced healthy lifestyle while on vacation. https://happy2behealthier.home.blog/2019/02/25/its-okay-to-vacay/

Let me know what you think, I’m new to this!

Tropical outfit in the tropical land🌴

Working out on vacation because it’s what I like to do and vacation is all about doing what you love, right? &&& all the extra food is fuelling my workouts!

Happy Valentine’s Day!!💗

Take today to tell those who you love how meaningful they are to you. Your significant other, your family, your friends, your pets, and of course yourself.

How cool is it that we are all so different yet love is something we all have in common? It comes in different forms, and in different capacities, but it is an innate feeling we all strive for.

Sending you virtual hugs 🤗

Happy Day💙🗣

My favourite day because I love seeing people come together to share their stories of how they’ve been effected by mental illness (either directly or indirectly, and both negatively and positively). So, allow me to share a portion of my story with you! Swipe if you’re interested!

Don’t be the elephant in the room (even though the elephant in my room is hella cute). Let’s work together to end the stigma. I am here if you need someone to talk to today, or any day. YOU are worthy enough. And YOU are strong enough to overcome the obstacles you face.

Please remember, I am not depressed, I am not anxious, I AM Allie who struggles with depression and anxiety, but I am far greater than letting either define me, and so are you!

Thank you for reading, and to take this special day one step further. I will be donating an extra 50cents for every person to comment “ ” on this photo 💙

Hello MTV, welcome to my gym bag!

Was cleaning out my gym bag this morning (finally) and thought I’d share my gym necessities and fav items!!

From left to right:
-Shaker bottle with pre-workout (taken before workout to help with energy and endurance) and BCAAs (to help with muscle recovery, provide electrolytes, muscle synthesis)
-one serving protein packs for when I need to go somewhere after a workout and need to refuel myself
-fitness journals: tracking all my weights lifted, calories burned in workout, and duration, serving as something tangible to work towards improving. And to see progress, I always go back and compare the
-liquid chalk and workout gloves for grip and to reduce calluses. Perfect for days with exercises like deadlifts that put a lot of grip strain on your hands. Gonna try to incorporate these during rock climbing too before I destroy my palms lol
-Air pods with my fav music blasting as my escape from the world. Fun fact: I listen to country and motivational music usually rather than upbeat music like most do🤷🏽‍♀️ I also carry other headphones in case the AirPods die (worst fear!!)
-lip balm bc I always have my tongue out and lick my lips when I’m focusing and in the winter my lips get hella dry
-tape: for hanging up my motivational quotes and reminders in the change rooms
-the lock I’ve had SINCE HIGH SCHOOL
-workout resistance bands and lacrosse ball that I incorporate for activating muscles and losing them up, especially during my leg day warm up
-measuring tape: bc the scale doesn’t always do the best job showing progress so I take measurements once a week for progress tracking
-MENS deodorant (works so much better) and men’s socks for my big feet, anyone else🙋🏽‍♀️? I used to always forget socks so now I just keep a pair in there (or for days like today when I get a pile of snow in my boot and soaked my sock while clearing off the igloo—see today’s story ❄️)
-training shoes: my adidas are strictly for the gym cause I refuse to get them dirty. Converse are for lifting days, used to just go to my socks, but I’m new to the converse use!

Hope you enjoyed my tour😜!! What’s in your gym bag?

Simple reminder😊 not just to be awesome, but to acknowledge your awesomeness and to be proud of it!!

How were you awesome this week? I would love to hear and celebrate with you 🎉

I was awesome because.....
-I was consistent in my nutrition and fitness
-I was there for my friends going through a hard time
-I looked on the positive of hearing difficult news

It is so great to be modest and humble, but it is important to recognize the good you do too. SHOW YOURSELF OFF SOMETIMES. GIVE YOURSELF A HUG 🤗

10 year challenge.... 2008-2019.

It’s never too late, my friends, to transform your fitness and health! just because it’s “always been that way” doesn’t mean it always has to!

Why did I think it was a fun idea to hold a snake tho, for real??

Wanted to try something new🤪....these will hopefully be the before photos of some new ones in the future!

Had so much fun trying something new and challenging myself in a non-typical way. Honestly I was laughing at myself every time I would drop, and it was a good reminder to myself to not take things so seriously😜. It also allowed me to focus on my breathing and being present in the moment, as I was very concentrated😌.

I challenge you to try something new, physical activity or otherwise, and I love to hear how it goes💗

@ Goodlife Fitness

HOW TO START YOUR DAY TO SET YOURSELF UP FOR POSITIVITY🤩

-take time to make yourself a yummy, healthy, and pretty breakfast: this sets the tone for the rest of the day. A rushed breakfast= a rushed day, but a cared-for breakfast=a day full of worthiness

-ENJOY the breakfast from above. No phones, chew slow, and appreciate what’s on your plate🍽

-try to eat MINDFULLY. My favourite is to hold the fork with my opposite hand 🍴

-think about 3 things you want to achieve for the day ahead. Write them down or make a commitment to yourself.

I’d LOVE to hear how you start your morning. Happy Sunday friends ☀️

Recipe is on the next slide, blended it all then poured over a frying pan. EASY PEASY.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS🥳🥰!

Hope everyone had a safe and fun night surrounded by those who are special to you. When trying to come up with a punny instagram caption, I originally decided on, “thank you, next year”, but realized that that doesn’t apply to me because I am so grateful for what 2018 brought to me, yet I’m so excited for what 2019 has in store🌱.

I made this craft to hang at the gym to serve as little reminder to those working towards New Year’s Resolutions, but I thought I’d share it with all of you!

You don’t need to change every avenue of your life, you don’t need to change anything at all, but I would argue that everyone can do something to bring more joy into their own life.

No matter what you are hoping to change or improve on, please remember to not be so hard on yourself, make changes to make you feel better about yourself, not to be a failure or feel overwhelmed.

Fun, quick and healthy plate to bring to your next Christmas social!🎄

Plus having veggies in reach at a social gathering is perfect for when mindlessly eating while socializing with others. High in volume and nutrients but low in density...eat more for less🥦🍅

Christmas morning breaky❤️💚

It’s all about the people around the table not what’s on the plate...but it helps when the plate is fun and healthy🎄

Wishing you all a happy holiday with your family. My family went around the table and shared one thing they were thankful for this year💝

A few weeks ago I asked you guys what you wanted to accomplish before the year ends and received GREAT responses. My own goal was to donate my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths👩🏽 so happy I could donate 10.5” to an awesome cause

This is no doubt my favourite gift I will be giving this holiday season, and I’m so excited to hear who will be receiving my hair and I hope it makes them feel better in their journey that caused medical hair loss👩🏼‍🦲

@ Cambridge Hespler 24h GoodLife Fitness

‘Tis the season for yummy holiday treats🎄

My favourite has always been PC’s candy cane with fudge crackle ice cream so I decided to make my own healthified version

In the blender:
30g vanilla whey
50g skyr plain yogurt
100ml unsweetened vanilla cashew milk
100g frozen banana
Small splash of peppermint extract
3 ice cubes
1/2 teaspoon guar gum

THEN...fold in:
1 crushed up mini candy cane
15g Lily’s sugar free dark chocolate chips
Drizzled with chocolate syrup (cal free)

For 1 bowl:
335 cals
36g carbs, 9g fat, 33g protein

I get the question a lot of how to modify recipes, and the answer is to look at the ingredients of foods you love, and modify what ever you don’t want to consume, and experiment, experiments, experiment!!

Before I create my intentions and goals for 2019, I thought it was first important to reflect on 2018.
For most people it’s easy to come up with things they want to change for the year ahead (which is great to do too!!), but it requires more thinking to pick out the good of the current year.
I challenge you to do this within the last remaining days of the year, I promise you, your pen/pencil/marker will be flowing✍🏼
#2018

Exam season has me thinking about school alll the time, even while at the gym

As I’m in the midst of studying for my genetics final exam, I started thinking about “survival of the fittest” and what the fittest traits of our future will be. The “fittest” organisms are those that best survive in the environment and thus produce offspring. We have selected for giraffes🦒 with long necks, and finches🐦 with long beaks... Doesn’t it only make senses that in today’s world the “fittest” people are those who can avoid the high prevalence of chronic disease (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, anxiety disorders, cancer)? And if through eating healthy and being active we can decrease our chance of getting these chronic disease, then we can be the most fit for the environment/our world, right?

Just another reason to increase your health to its full potential. Be the 🦒 with the long neck, even when there’s lots of short-necked giraffes surrounding you with so many temptations.

Exam season has me thinking about school alll the time, even while at the gym

As I’m in the midst of studying for my genetics final exam, I started thinking about “survival of the fittest” and what the fittest traits of our future will be. The “fittest” organisms are those that best survive in the environment and thus produce offspring. We have selected for giraffes🦒 with long necks, and finches🐦 with long beaks...

Doesn’t it only make senses that in today’s world the “fittest” people are those who can avoid the high prevalence of chronic disease (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, anxiety disorders, cancer)? And if through eating healthy and being active we can decrease our chance of getting these chronic disease, then we can be the most fit for the environment/our world, right?

Just another reason to increase your health to its full potential. Be the 🦒 with the long neck, even when there’s lots of short-necked giraffes surrounding you with so many temptations.

You are like a plant🌱

You cannot look or feel like the top photo all the time, sometimes you’ll resemble more of the bottom photo, but you will always bloom again and grow back stronger if you don’t give up on yourself and continue to try

Like plants, it’s hard to see a brighter future sometimes, but the more we cycle through the hard times, the more luscious we are when we blossom

Happy to be Healthier updated their website address.

Truly believe that everyone can benefit from physical activity, so today I sweat for a good cause; to help remove barriers for kids with disabilities in participation.♿️ 🧩💙

Photo and rant inspired to the song “Follow Your Arrow” by Kacey Musgraves (would recommend giving it a listen!!)
The photo on the left was from 2 years ago, probably at my heaviest, and the photo on the right is from just last weekend.
The girl on the left had been bullied for being “fat” whereas the girl on the right has been questioned if she eats. Both social interactions are equally as hard to hear, despite being completely different extremes.
No matter what you do, there’s going to be people who judge, question, and/or not agree with what you’re doing, but remember you’re doing things for YOU, not for them, so do what ever the hell makes you happy and what feels right for YOU, not what is right for others or society pressures.
Following my arrow in my health and fitness journey and grateful for those who are coming along the journey with me, while understanding it’s not right for everyone!