Author Archives: Justine Bate

A health and fitness enthausiast who always seeks for an adventure.

Preventing Relapse in a Health & Fitness Journey: COMMON TRIGGERS TO WATCH OUT FOR

Preventing Relapse in a Health & Fitness Journey: COMMON TRIGGERS TO WATCH OUT FOR

A relapse in a Health & Fitness journey means you quit exercising, stop eating healthy, let things get into your head again, etc., it’s basically falling back into your old habits. 

Living a healthy life and being consistent with it can be difficult if you’re just starting out. Let’s not sugarcoat it. A RELAPSE IS INEVITABLE and I think it is one of those things that makes the journey a bit challenging.

So, I’m sharing with you the common causes of relapse in a health and fitness journey you should watch out for. Remember these and stay ahead of the game.

  1. Emotional Triggers
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Emotional triggers include stress and anxiety.

We all know that life can be SO stressful sometimes, wait, no, probably most of the time.

But when a person – who is living a healthy life – becomes overwhelmed and doesn’t know how to cope with negative emotions, it can lead to relapse. 

Stress can cause emotional eating, loss of motivation, and the inability to cope with life’s challenges. 

  1. Social Triggers
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This means that a person can be influenced by other people he / she is with most of the time.

For example, having friends or family members who always invite you to eat at fast food restaurants or ask you out for drinks every week.

We sometimes feel the pressure of giving in because, of course, we don’t want to let those people down. But it’s also because of always giving in that makes social triggers a powerful cause of relapse.

It’s not that you shouldn’t spend time with them anymore, but when you are just starting to live a healthy life and still figuring things out, it’s important to have a circle that will be supportive of your decisions and choices.
 

  1. Environmental Triggers
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Experiencing relapse because of an environmental trigger can happen when a person travels a lot, moves into a new city, starts to become very busy at work, or any environmental change that can affect your Health & Fitness routine.

Other examples of environmental triggers include: if you live nearby a gym or not, if you have access to a grocery store, if you have a decreased or increased time to exercise, if you have the luxury to cook your own meals, and so on.

SO…

Expect RELAPSE to happen. It’s normal and it’s good because in this way, you will know if you really have the determination to live a healthy life and stay committed to it.

Remember, everything is DIFFICULT before it gets EASY. Soon, you will be able to prevent yourself from having these triggers and avoid relapse completely.

Journal Prompt Ideas for Self-Discovery and Self-Improvement

Journal Prompt Ideas for Self-Discovery and Self-Improvement

The pandemic and the lockdown really messed up my mental health. I had a hard time dealing with my emotions that I kept venting out, ranting, and worse, complaining.

But overtime, I had enough of it. It was very unhealthy and not only that, I was a burden to the people I always talk to. I was LEGIT spreading negative vibes for months. Not only to them, but to myself, too.

So I started looking for ways to express my emotions in a HEALTHY WAY.

Suddenly, I fell in love with journaling because it was a way for me to express what I NEEDED to express.

After several months, not only was I being able to express my emotions healthily, but I was journaling for self-improvement and self-discovery, too. 

So if you wanna do it too,  you might find it difficult to structure your journal at first. I even didn’t know what to write. I kept changing my daily journal prompts because there’s a lot of things I want to record.

So I’ve come up with quick journal prompts or writing prompts for adults about life and can even be journaling prompts for beginners.

1. To-do List

Your to-do list is basically the things you need to accomplish for the day.

This will help you organize your tasks and gives you an idea what your priorities are. This list gives your day a direction so you feel grounded and know what’s ahead of you.

In making this list, it’s ideal to have this a day before so that when you wake up the next day, all you have to do is carry out the tasks.

This list is a journal prompt for self-improvement in such a way that you’re creating strategies to achieve your goals.

2. Goal for the Day

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After having your to-do list, think about what you want to achieve from those tasks. Get something out of those. Maybe better organization? completing all tasks? learning what to prioritize?

But your GOAL FOR THE DAY can also go beyond your tasks. Maybe getting 10,000 steps, saving some money, stretching, or maybe even getting in touch with a friend.

Setting daily goals gives you a short-term motivation for a long-term vision.

3. An Affirmation

Photo by Tara Winstead from Pexels
Photo by Tara Winstead from Pexels

An affirmation is a very important daily journal prompt.

Having daily affirmations is the way for you to fight negative thoughts and overcome any challenge you might encounter.

Repeat your affirmations and believe in them. This way, you’ll see the difference in your reactions and you’ll start to see changes on how you deal with stress.

4. Daily Reflection

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Your daily reflection is basically your journal prompt for self-discovery.

You go back to your day and ask yourself what went well, what your challenges were, how you handled them, and what emotions you had.

This ables you to track your emotions and actions. Rather than just always acting on your tasks and your goals, reflecting on your ways gives you another perspective on how to do or react to things better in the future.

So…….

If you’re journaling to get to know yourself, start with these quick journal prompts.

There’s no right or wrong way when it comes to journaling, as long as you are able to provide yourself a safe space for your thoughts.

Happy Healthy Living!

Justine.

THE COMMON REASONS WHY YOU’RE NOT SEEING RESULTS (in your Health & Fitness journey)

THE COMMON REASONS WHY YOU’RE NOT SEEING RESULTS (in your Health & Fitness journey)

If you’ve been trying to eat healthily and exercise every single day for the past few months or ESPECIALLY years, you know that the most FRUSTRATING thing ever is NOT SEEING RESULTS.

It’s really a bummer seeing other people lose weight, gain muscles, or have abs in just a few months. This may want you to ask yourself why isn’t it happening to you.

Let me tell you something, it’s either those people have coaches or trainers OR they simply know the secret formula to achieving their fitness goals. AND IT’S OKAY if they have either.

But to those who don’t have coaches and don’t know what that formula is, it can really be discouraging.

And what happens when we exert so much effort and not see results? It’s either we GIVE UP or we GO FOR SHORTCUTS. It’s either we want quick results or we don’t do it all anymore.

Now, it’s these two reasons that hinder us from achieving our health and fitness goals. But let’s talk about WANTING QUICK RESULTS (because, duh, we shouldn’t expect results if we choose to not do it in the first place) and how this leads to NO RESULTS at all.

When you want quick results, you become desperate. You suddenly want to do EVERYTHING without taking some things into consideration like…

is this diet safe for me?

is this sustainable?

is this the healthy way?

Now, I’m telling you, right at this moment, to stop WANTING quick results while it’s still early because if you don’t, there is a VERY STRONG POSSIBILITY that you might or will be doing these COMMON REASONS that affect your progress:

1. YOU’RE NOT EATING THE RIGHT FOOD

Because you want results immediately, you don’t do your own research on what’s the best food for your health and fitness goals. Instead, you just go for WHAT YOU THINK is BEST for you and sometimes we base this on the most common “diet foods” we know: no carbs, low-fat drinks, fat-free snacks, sugar-free biscuits and juices, energy bars, and so on.

Eating the wrong food REALLY SABOTAGES a healthy diet that prevents you from achieving your goals.

2. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT EXERCISES YOU SHOULD BE DOING

Aside from not knowing what food to eat, another reason why you’re probably not seeing results is you’ve been doing the wrong exercises.

it’s important to know the exercises that best fit your health and fitness goals. Maybe you want to gain weight, but you keep doing cardio for hours every day and don’t lift weights. Now, instead of gaining weight, you will lose some of it.

3. YOU’RE COPYING SOMEBODY’S METHOD TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL

This is probably the most common thing a lot of people would do. Now, it’s okay to ask your fitspirations of someone who’s been on their Health & Fitness journey for years about what they eat, what they do, and how they do it.

But instead of gathering information and learning from them, we do what they do. And a little reminder: our bodies are different. What works for others might not work for you.

4. YOU FORGOT TO GIVE UP SOME BAD HABITS THAT AFFECT YOUR GOAL

So here’s the thing, it’s not just food and exercise that can help you achieve your health and fitness goals. So, you may be eating well and exercising regularly, but if you’re still sleeping late, not drinking enough water, not handling stress well, or other destructive habits that you don’t notice you’re doing, then, you’re wasting some of your effort.

So in conclusion,

No matter what your health and fitness goals may be, you might want to have some healthy changes on how you look, how you feel, or how you think, your daily habits (even outside your health and fitness journey) determine your success.

Happy Healthy Living!

Justine.