Chez FitMercy

In the Pixar movie Inside Out, the premise is that each person's brain has several characters inside, who act out individual emotions.  The movie captures the “inner drama” of the average person.  After all, sometimes it feels like we have different “characters” in our head.  In fact, sometimes it feels like being ourselves is a team effort.  Who’s on your inner team?  For instance, your helpful “inner team” members might include:  The #1 Fan: “Hey, you did a great job there! High fives, superstar! YEAH YOU!!!!”  The Planner: “Don’t forget to make your lunch. And you have a 3 p.m. meeting, so pack an apple.”  The Always-There-For-You Friend: “Sure, this is tough, but no worries — we can do this. I’ve got your back.”  The Adventurer: “Ooh! A new exercise! That sounds fun!”  Your not-so-helpful team members might include:  The Doomsayer: “You are never going to succeed. It’s pointless.” The Negotiator (aka...

An English saying goes "birds of the same feather, flock", this means that like minds attract. It is very unlikely that people one makes friends with are opposites of who we are. We naturally align with people that we love things about them, it doesn't have to be all the qualities anyway. On our journey to fitness and a healthier lifestyle, we need help greatly. Help in form of people, ideas, information etc that will draw us closer to our destination than where we started.

Today, take a look at YOU... Just look at ALL you have accomplished! Be PROUD of YOU! YOUR hard work and persistence are paying off! Keep UP the GOOD work! Yes, YOU can do anything you put your mind to do! Google says, pride is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of one's close associates, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired. It is the consciousness of one's own dignity. Wikipedia however talks about pride as an inwardly directed emotion that carries two antithetical meanings. With a negative connotation pride refers to a foolishly and irrationally corrupt sense of one's personal value, status or accomplishments, used synonymously with hubris . 

SMART Goals pinterest A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants (some of which we've included in parenthesis), SMART usually stands for: S - Specific (or Significant). M - Measurable (or Meaningful). A - Attainable (or Action-Oriented). R - Relevant (or Rewarding). T - Time-bound (or Trackable). For example, instead of having "To sail around the world" as a goal, it's more powerful to say "To have completed my trip around the world by December 31, 2015." Obviously, this will only be attainable if a lot of preparation has been completed beforehand! Further Goal Setting Tips:  The following broad guidelines will help you to set effective, achievable goals: State each goal as a positive statement - Express your goals positively – "Execute this technique well" is a much better goal than "Don't make this s...

Starting today, eliminate the belief that things always go a certain way or that you never stay with your goals. Whenever those doubts creep back in, immediately give yourself this new message:

Thank God it's Friday, this is for laughs as we start the weekend.

I received a mail this past week with a request to discuss the above topic. It's not a very sensitive topic because I am more result-oriented than checking style out during or after a sweat session but I think I got interested along as I wrote. I am a stylish person in my own little way (we had that since we were little), and I think I can be crazy with labels. I love anything that I need to buy to be close to the best if not the best, I window-shop a lot maybe it's the reason I stand out for buying quality. It's in me to save to buy the best not for a show off but I believe that buying the best will save you of future unnecessary expenses (I have tested and tried that on several occasions). I become more conscious of kitting up for my workout sessions and probably answer a few questions so you understand my style.

When we talk of personality, we are referring to who you really are , what stuff you are made of, what you do as habit or attitude effortlessly or sometimes without thinking. For example you can never advise an extrovert to start talking because it is done without thinking neither will you force an introvert to socialize since he won't bulge. In the psychological world, they have a lot of classifications that I am not delving into in this post. I will be referring you to some quiz (at the end of the post) where you can find out where you belong and what you can do to help achieve your healthy goals. Did you wake up 4:30am everyday to get some runs in and after a week you were either exhausted, bored and uninterested in it any longer? Were you in a monthly challenge and your schedule did not see the light of the 5th day? Have you tried Yoga and you wondered what the slow motion is all about? Did you register in a gym at the beginning of a year and you wondered why t...

It is two weeks and two days today that I had been planning and journaling. In these few weeks I can call myself a planner , woohoo! Planning also called forethought  " is the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve a desired goal" . I love this definition because of the these words ' thinking ' ' organizing ' and 'goal',  since that's what I have been doing, although not the deep kind of thinking but the just-do-it type. I mean all I do each night is just know what my workout plan for tomorrow is and I get everything ready including Plans A, B and everything to Z. I wake up each day not planning to finish the whole exercise in my journal but as much as I am satisfied with while there is still time. I write the meal plan for the next day including my snacks in my journal and for the past 16 days, it's been worth it. Every night I end the day completing my workout or writing how the day had been food-...

I weighed in this morning at 170.2lbs and that is a gain of 0.6lbs this week. I did well because I had NSVs . I feel so proud of this achievements and I know that the scale will soon move towards the right direction.  NSV means Non-Scale Victory , it is very important for everyone on a weight loss journey to imbibe this as a culture if they want to ever make a headway. It is often said that the scale nor the numbers on it does not determine what success you have. I agree with this and I think it is fact even though it is easier to feel bad and misbehave after any weigh in that shows an unfavourable number. 

When I first started my journey to weight-loss in 2010, one of the easiest exercises for me was running. I loved the environment way back when the morning breeze will blow on my face as I was doing the 5k training. No gadgets to measure my pace, heart rate or speed, I just ran. I did high speed, easy pace and some walking till I am done for 30 minutes every other morning. I was also not alone because I met guys who love to run too. Fast forward to 2012 and we moved to another place where running was almost impossible (not safe enough). I had to register in a gym very close to the office and my passion for running continued and I even became the leader of a running group on sparkpeople, yay. 2014 I was posted to another department that made going to the gym practically impossible, I tried to adjust my schedules but it looks like every adjustment tightens the space harder. Since last month I have been following a blog Katie Froster's  runsforcookies which sparked running ...

I had a Fitbit activity tracker two years ago and it got lost never to be found again. I got a new tracker but not a Fitbit this time, it is called I5 Smart Bracelet . I realized there are hundreds of such activity trackers with no popular brand names that are out now for our use. I ordered my own tracker from AliExpress at a cheap rate of about $20 (N6,000.00) approximately. When it arrived in the mail, I sincerely did not know what to expect considering the cheapness of the product, I was preparing my mind for the worst ranging from a hyper-counting of my steps, to a faulty band, low battery etc. But with over two weeks of consistent use, I had really been surprised and impressed. Surprises : 1. Not different from the Fitbit I had 2 years back 2. Steps counting are almost near accurate (fitbit was not exact either) 3. It was not ambiguous 4. Battery life is quite reasonable (chargeable) 5. The color was just perfect for my skin. 6. There is a buzz feature t...

Yesterday Wednesday, was my Challenge weigh in day (Mondays are my official weigh in day) and as I stood on the scale and the number 170.4lbs (77.4kg) was staring at me, I was rather unhappy and wondered what went wrong between Monday (167.4lbs) and Wednesday. 5 things happened: 1. New workout plan started on Monday 2. White Bread on Monday diet 3. Fried Plantains (4 slices) on Tuesday 4. Reduced steps on my tracker for Tuesday 5. Post TOM week Some of the above could have been responsible for a 3lbs gain in three days. I was sad because of this but I did not allow it to dampen my morale to stop moving forward. Irrespective of what happens on your weight loss journey especially when it is negative e.g. a binge week, a gain or a workout rut, you have to tell your mind that there is another opportunity to be the best. Do not over-flog the issue and be in despair, just brace up and know that you can do it. It's within this ups and downs that lies your success, o...

The first month tagged #ProjectScaleDown was a huge success, save three days within the 31 days when I was down with flu I worked out every single day and I had a 4.2lbs loss to show for it, if I lost 4.2lbs consistently for 12 months I would be 50.4lbs less by December and trust me that is way beyond my weight goal of 145lbs.  I followed all the instructions as I spelled them out in my first blog this year and I am reaping it's benefits because the scale is going down. This is February, the month of love and I will love to give some love to this body. No stress, just some walking comfort for my body. I am intending to walk this month, 6 days in a week till I can attain 10,000 steps per day i.e. 5 miles approximately. I have my calendar designed and ready to be executed just like I did in January .  I have concluded tagging this year's challenges as #ProjectScaleDown , this is the hashtag you will follow on twitter and then the mini hashtag defines the month...

One of my little secrets is that I hate going down when exercising, I mean any type of exercise that will make me either be on my back, bend my knees so much, sit down etc. If you ask me I dislike exercises such as lunges, squats, lying bench press etc. Find below some wonderful workouts you can do while standing and still break a sweat. Core : Upper Body : Thighs : I love Shaun T so much when it comes to working out without getting down. I can fully recommend this video (Hip Hops Abs) for a crunchless exercise. STAND UP AND JUST DO IT

Hey friends, Source:  American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Are you trending? Check me out 1. Wearable Technology (I have a Heart Rate Monitor and presently saving for a Fitbit Flex) 2. Body Weight Training (Like push ups, lunges, squats etc. It's what I do more times because I don't have many of the exercise equipment available.) 3. High Intensity Interval Training (Most of my workout videos incorporates interval training.  My favorite fitness trainers like Shaun T, Jillian Michaels and Tony Horton bares HIIT in all it's glory) 4. Strength Training (ST is my favorite type of exercise ever because my heart beat rises slowly and stays within a range at a point, I always love the feeling) 5. Personal Training (I have a personal trainer, yes I do have one. He is more of a friend than a trainer and because of that I get too muck slack, he won't just shout at me.) 6. Exercise and Weight Loss (I really do exercise for fitness ...

I write a lot about my physical fitness but because I love being fit on all sides of life, I am writing about Dreams today. Not the ones you have when you are sleeping but those that you do have in your full consciousness. We sometimes refer to them as 'ambitions'. These are conscious thoughts of what we wish we will become sometimes in the farthest or nearest future. Thoughts that fantasize us a lot and most often we fashion our lives towards such dreams, we walk and work towards realizing such dreams in our daily pursuit and struggles. I have had lots of dreams in my little years of life, from marrying an IT expert ( I did not pursue that but it came ), to having 6 kids ( ouch! ), to becoming a superman like " batman or batgirl "( lol ), to living in a big house and having a large kitchen ( wow ), to becoming a part of the Sesame Street Crew and the dreams are endless What are your dreams? Have they been realizable? How much effort are you puttin...

I am growing stronger.  With  little little modifications I maxed out with the Cardio Challenge yesterday at a little over 7 minutes (yay). I am so far from weight-less today at 75.6kg (+0.3kg) bad weighing day. I know it is TOM That I maxed out after 7 minutes yesterday is my NSV for the week and I am proud of myself. I have decided to include at least 1 mile walk with the days of Insanity just to create space for the next round of Sparkpeople Biggest Losers Challenge (it is a 12 weeks long challenges, weigh ins and competitions).  So pending the start of the challenge in two weeks, I will be including daily 1 mile work (that is 6 miles per week).

Hey Friends, Today should be great save the pains I had. The pains were not too bad but it kept me irritable and inactive. It was a church member's wedding and I could do nothing beyond the ordinary to help in service and arrangements. In the midst of this I had a walk, like a 15 minutes walk. (That counts as my workout for the day and I tag it ACTIVE REST) I did not do any deliberate workout today because there was just too much to do within a little time. So after this post, I will be going to have my daily 5 mins jump rope interval dose, (I loved the streak). I have been doing it and I have been enjoying it and who knows 5 minutes becomes 10 mins and on and on. Good news I have a new crush on beachbody.com and trust me I am loving every bit of it. Unlike fitness blender who normally have it slow but intense, beachbody has it fast, furious and insanely intense. Unfortunately, getting to download on YouTube is almost impossible because their videos are not even there, my...

This is where I am now; I wish to move here soon;