I am so excited to introduce my next challenge on YouTube; ENGAGE! This challenge will be Glutes focused, with strength training, cardio, and core included. Be prepared to work! This challenge will run for 8 weeks as we work on developing strong Glutes and pushing ourselves to continue building our upper body. There will be 6 days per week of workouts, but the sixth day is an optional bonus day. Take rest days as you need them and commit to showing up! I will include modifications for exercises and low impact options for all cardio movements. It would also help me a lot if you would Subscribe to my YouTube Channel!
I am so excited to begin this Glute building journey with you! If you have questions along the way, please message me! I am happy to help however I can. You might be sore a lot, you will definitely challenge your body, and if you consistently show up, you will get stronger. I also have a private Facebook group if you want daily accountability or to connect with other people doing this program. message me for the link! Let’s do this together!
*workouts will be available each day at 12 am EST.
May is almost here, and it is time for another challenge! For the month of May, we will have one strength exercise and one cardio drill each day. If you are new to these challenges, just do your best. Rest when you need to but challenge yourself. Download the calendar if you want to know what to expect each day.
How often do you weight yourself? Is it monthly, weekly, daily, or hardly ever? Up until this past month, I weighed myself about once every month or so. Not very often and really more to just see where I was at. I feel happier that way. However, for the past 28 days I weighed myself everyday to do a little experiment. Let me tell you what I found:
1. I hate the scale. It’s not because I’m scared of what it will say but more about the mental games it plays on me.
2. It changes so much! On a day to day basis I went between 1-2pound changes.
3. I realized how much pressure I can put on the scale to tell me what I want to see and feel so defeated when it doesn’t.
4. The scale and the way my clothes fit don’t always line up.
5. I won’t ever weigh myself daily again! Not ever!
So, let’s get to the reason behind this experiment and what it taught me. I get messages on a weekly basis about the scale. What should I weigh? How do I lose weight? Why isn’t the scale moving, when I workout so hard? These are all questions that people ask a lot! I get it! You put work into losing weight, working out, and doing your best to be consistent, but sometimes the scale doesn’t budge. How can that be? I wanted to show people how inconsistent the scale can be.
The scale is a tool. It can be helpful and show you patterns, BUT it does NOT tell the whole story. It does not tell you if you gained muscle. It does not tell you if you are retaining water. It does not tell you if your bowels need to be emptied. It just tells you a number. That’s it! That number can be based on so many things, and yet we tend to live our lives stressing about it. What will it tell me today? Will I be happy or sad?
I wanted to weigh myself everyday for one month to show you how much it can change on a day to day basis. In order to lose one pound of fat, you need to burn an extra 500 calories per day or 3,500 calories in a week. You need to be in a calorie deficit. To gain one pound of fat, you need to consume an extra 3,500 calories in a week or 500 per day putting you in a caloric surplus. On a day to day basis I did not consume an extra 500 calories or be in a caloric deficit of 500 calories, but the scale says I was.
Here is how my weight fluctuated from day to day:
Day 1: 139
Day 2: 138.4
Day 3: 137.6
Day 4: 137.8
Day 5: 138.6
Day 6: 137.8
Day 7: 137.2
Day 8: 138.2
Day 9: 138.8
Day 10: 138.2
Day 11: 138
Day 12: 137.8
Day 13: 138.4 (feeling bloated)
Day 14: 138.6 (feeling bloated)
Day 15: 139.2 (bloated, cramps)
Day 16: 138.8 (bloated, cramps)
Day 17: 138.4
Day 18: 138.4 (period started)
Day 19: 138.8
Day 20: 139.4
Day 21: 139.4 (period ended)
Day 22: 138.4
Day 23: 137.8
Day 24: 138
Day 25: 138.2
Day 27: 138.2
Day 28: 138
I also tracked my period and symptoms leading up to it to monitor what the scale said and how I was feeling. If you look through the numbers from day to day, I ranged between 137-139 lbs. I did not lose or gain fat from one day to the next. I actually tracked my calories and macros for the first 5 days, and I stayed in my range, so the changes in the scale were likely from other things. If I had just weighed myself once or twice in that month, I would likely see that I was down 1-2 lbs.
So what can cause the scale to fluctuate? Here are some common things that can change the number on the scale: when your last bowel movement was, if you are retaining water, if your muscles are sore from a hard workout, you had more salt the previous day, your hormones, and higher carbs the day before. Those things don’t necessarily mean that you gained body fat.
When we use the scale, we need to use it as a piece of information and not as something that defines us. Does it show is a trend? Are we consistently gaining or losing weight? How does that information relate to how you feel or look? Do your clothes fit differently? Do you see more muscle definition? Have your measurements changed? We need to collect information from more than one source.
In the past year, I have gained 8 lbs. That was hard to swallow at first. But then I had to look at other things like seeing more muscle definition in my body, having more endurance, feeling more powerful, and still wearing the sane size clothing. How much does that 8 lbs matter? I lift heavier then I did last year, I feel stronger and more mobile then last year, and I feel motivated to keep working hard. Did I gain more body fat with lean muscle mass? Maybe 🤷♀️. But I definitely gained muscle and strength.
So friends, don’t let the scale dictate how you feel about yourself. Use it as a piece of information you collect along side other factors. Use it as a way to monitor progress without letting it define you. Use is occasionally knowing that it tells you a number and not the whole story. Let’s focus on how we feel, how strong we are becoming, and how our clothes fit more than what the number on the scale says.
Are you ready for a new workout program to challenge you for the month of April? This program will be a little different from past months. We will have total body workouts, mobility & agility training, core training, cardio and barre. Wow! We have a lot going on this month! This month I want you to really focus on building your strength, endurance, mobility, and commitment to your fitness. We are doing this together!
If you are joining me for this challenge, I’m offering a private Facebook group for community, encouragement, accountability, and a place to share your journey. This is for anyone who is regularly working out with me and wants to connect with other women who are doing the same workouts. We will be cheering each other on and sharing our journey. Message me if you are interested.
Below you will find the calendar of the workouts for this challenge. You can print this off and follow along! There are 5 days per week of workouts and a bonus 6th day for anyone who is interested. You can take your rest days as needed.
Are you ready for a new challenge? Starting on April 1st, we have a new challenge on my Instagram page! Each day you will have a new exercise to complete. There are only 30 days in April, BUT we are going to May 1st, so we have 31 days in the challenge. We will target a different area each day, get stronger, and hopefully build a new, healthy habit! Go at your own pace, take rests as you need them, and don’t give up!
Download the schedule if you wan to see what is coming each day. I will post a demonstration on Instagram everyday, so you can see how to do each exercise. Let’s do this together!
I have a new workout program for you launching on February 28th! Each day I will release a new workout on my YouTube channel including strength training, cardio, core, and specific strengthening workouts. This program will have 5 workouts per week, with an optional 6th workout focusing on strengthening specific areas, such as, knees, hips, and back. There will also be an additional cardio workout for fun and core workouts you can add to any workout. The program will also include one Barre workout per week! We have a little more variety this month!
During this program, I am also recommending that you really take time to focus on self-care, intentional eating, and working out with purpose! I have included a calendar, so you know which workouts release on which days, and a log to track your goals and self-care. Of course it is totally optional! I will also be running a fun lower body challenge on my Instagram page if want to add on an additional exercise each day. So much going on! Choose what works for you!
If you want to add on the Lower Body Challenge I am running on Instagram, here is the calendar for that:
Thank you to everyone who has been following my monthly challenges since December! I hope you are feeling stronger! Welcome to anyone who is going to join for the first time! I am so happy to have you on this journey!
Having a challenge to work through is a great way to stay motivated and committed. This challenge is a great add-on to your daily workouts, requires no equipment, and can be done at your own pace.
I will post a demonstration of each exercise every day on Instagram, so be sure to follow me there.
One of my amazingly talented followers made this beautiful calendar for the Love Yourself Challenge. I am truly in awe of how lovely this calendar is! Enjoy this wonderful gift to keep track of your workouts. Click on the image to download the PDF version of the calendar.
One of the hardest things to do is love ourselves. I mean truly love ourselves. Love who we are, love our gifts and talents, and love how are body was designed. For the month of February, we are going to find something different each day to love about ourselves, while we take care of our bodies with a new set of workout challenges. Are you in? We start on Monday, January 31st!
I am also adding a nutrition guide for this challenge, so you can love yourself through healthy eating. Working out is great, BUT nutrition is the most important, and often overlooked aspect, of getting healthy. You have probably heard it said that you can’t outwork a bad diet, and that is pretty much true! This month I want you to focus on nourishing your body with healthy and nutrient dense foods while we work on building lean muscle mass. Will it be hard? Yes! Is it worth it? A hundred times yes! The nutrition guide is just a guide. It is to help you get started on your journey, but it is not a replacement for meeting with a registered dietician if you need help. I am a nutrition and weight loss coach, but I am NOT a registered dietician. That means I can help you create a healthier lifestyle, coach you with your nutrition, and teach you about better food options. However, I cannot create a meal plan for you or give you specific advice if you have dietary issues. That is outside of my scope of practice. I am happy to answer questions, give you ideas and suggestions, and I offer one on one nutrition coaching for a small fee.
In addition to focusing on nutrition and loving yourself, we have our daily workouts! For 30-50 minutes 5 days per week, plus an additional stretch day, we will work hard, build muscle, and show up for ourselves. All you have to do is push play! The workouts are free on my YouTube channel. All I ask is that you Subscribe to my channel, follow the workouts in the order they are presented, and give me a thumbs up if you complete the workout. I am also asking that you comment in the comment section what you are going to love about yourself that day. Of course that is optional, but I want to cheer you on and get to know you better!
I also have a calendar for you, so you know which workouts you are doing each day. Take rest days as you need them! The calendar also tells you what equipment you will need for that workout. I try to keep the equipment requirements minimal, so that everyone can do them, and I offer modifications where needed. You can do these workouts as a beginner or more advanced person. Start with light weights if you are new to strength training and go heavier of you have been with me for a while. I do my best to keep the exercises simple but challenging. I hope you love it!
So are you ready to join me? We start Monday, January 31st! Below are the nutrition guide, Reading labels guide, and calendar!
juliejonesfitness.com 
