• About Us
    • The Team
    • Contact
  • Beauty
    • Hair
    • Makeup
    • Skin Care
    • Fashion
  • Healthy Living
    • General Health
    • Fitness
    • Weight Loss
    • Healthy Recipes
    • Natural Remedies
    • The Keto Diet
      • Keto for Beginners
      • Keto Meals
      • Keto Snacks & Sides
      • Keto Desserts
  • Family
    • Marriage
    • Pregnancy
    • New Baby
    • Parenting Tips
    • Kids Activities
  • Special Needs
    • Autism
    • Anxiety
    • ADHD
    • Depression
    • Sensory Processing
    • OCD
    • ODD
    • Selective Mutism
Menu
  • About Us
    • The Team
    • Contact
  • Beauty
    • Hair
    • Makeup
    • Skin Care
    • Fashion
  • Healthy Living
    • General Health
    • Fitness
    • Weight Loss
    • Healthy Recipes
    • Natural Remedies
    • The Keto Diet
      • Keto for Beginners
      • Keto Meals
      • Keto Snacks & Sides
      • Keto Desserts
  • Family
    • Marriage
    • Pregnancy
    • New Baby
    • Parenting Tips
    • Kids Activities
  • Special Needs
    • Autism
    • Anxiety
    • ADHD
    • Depression
    • Sensory Processing
    • OCD
    • ODD
    • Selective Mutism
Instagram
Pinterest
Facebook
Twitter
Search
Close
  • About Us
    • The Team
    • Contact
  • Beauty
    • Hair
    • Makeup
    • Skin Care
    • Fashion
  • Healthy Living
    • General Health
    • Fitness
    • Weight Loss
    • Healthy Recipes
    • Natural Remedies
    • The Keto Diet
      • Keto for Beginners
      • Keto Meals
      • Keto Snacks & Sides
      • Keto Desserts
  • Family
    • Marriage
    • Pregnancy
    • New Baby
    • Parenting Tips
    • Kids Activities
  • Special Needs
    • Autism
    • Anxiety
    • ADHD
    • Depression
    • Sensory Processing
    • OCD
    • ODD
    • Selective Mutism
Menu
  • About Us
    • The Team
    • Contact
  • Beauty
    • Hair
    • Makeup
    • Skin Care
    • Fashion
  • Healthy Living
    • General Health
    • Fitness
    • Weight Loss
    • Healthy Recipes
    • Natural Remedies
    • The Keto Diet
      • Keto for Beginners
      • Keto Meals
      • Keto Snacks & Sides
      • Keto Desserts
  • Family
    • Marriage
    • Pregnancy
    • New Baby
    • Parenting Tips
    • Kids Activities
  • Special Needs
    • Autism
    • Anxiety
    • ADHD
    • Depression
    • Sensory Processing
    • OCD
    • ODD
    • Selective Mutism
Instagram
Pinterest
Facebook
Twitter
Search
Close

Weight Loss

15 Leg and Glute Workouts | Whether you workout at home or at the gym, prefer to use weights (dumbbells, barbells, or kettlebells) or resistance bands, or need no equipment workouts you can stream from anywhere, this post has the best exercises to help you tighten and tone your legs, butt, and thighs. We've included 10 exercises, including squat and lunge variations, glute bridges, and dead lifts, as well as the best videos you can stream for free so you can workout anywhere!

Tighten and Tone: 15 Leg and Glute Workouts for Women

How to Get an Hourglass Figure | If you want to know the secret to a small waist with curvy hips and a bigger butt, this post is full of diet and nutrition tips, as well as 5 hour glass workout ideas to help you see results fast. While you probably won't achieve an hourglass figure in a week or even in a month, cleaning eating coupled with the right exercise moves is key! If you're up for the challenge, use the tips and ideas in this post to create a routine to get you to your goals!

How to Get an Hourglass Figure: 11 Tips and Workouts for a Sexy Body

60 Healthy Make Ahead Breakfast Ideas for Weight Loss | From breakfast bowls, sandwiches, and breakfast casserole ideas to freeze, to overnight oats, smoothies, and muffins, these meal prep breakfast recipes are easy, healthy and delicious! Whether you follow a high protein, low carb keto diet, eat only low calories foods, or you follow a more specific diet (paleo, Whole30, vegetarian, or vegan), there's a recipe here for you! Enjoy these at home or on-the-go!

60 Healthy Make Ahead Breakfast Ideas for Weight Loss

5 Best At Home CrossFit Workouts for Beginners | Whether you're looking for no equipment workouts, or workouts with dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, and a medicine ball, these fat-burning, full body WOD workouts have it all. We've included an EMOM, HIIT, and AMRAP workout, with options to help you squeeze in a quick upper body workout with abs when you're short on time. Perfect for men and for women, these CrossFit workouts at home will help you lose weight and build muscle!

5 Best At Home CrossFit Workouts for Beginners and Beyond

7 Full Body Medicine Ball Workouts | Working out with a medicine ball is a great core workout for those who want a flat stomach, but it can also work other muscle groups, including your abs, arms, glutes, and legs. If you're looking for beginner medicine ball workouts for men and for women, you can stream these fat burning videos at home! They include a mix of strength training, cardio, and HIIT, helping you burn calories while also tightening and toning your muscles!

Strength Training at Home: 7 Full Body Medicine Ball Workouts

21 Desserts Under 100 Calories | If you're looking for quick, easy, and healthy desserts that won't ruin your weight loss goals, we've curated the best of the best! This collection includes recipes for people who follow a vegan, keto, and/or gluten-free diet, with tons of guilt free, sugar free, low calorie desserts to choose from. Whether you prefer chocolate, peanut butter, strawberry, or banana desserts, cookies, muffins, brownies, cheesecake, or ice cream, we've got something for everyone!

Guilt Free and Delicious: 21 Desserts Under 100 Calories

5 Core Strength Workouts You Can Do At Home | Perfect for women, for men, for beginners, and beyond, these core strengthening exercises will improve your balance, stability, and posture, tighten and tone your abs, and they are perfect for back pain! If you want flat abs, you can do these core exercises at the gym or at home with little to no equipment, and if you're looking to strengthen your core after baby, we've included a 10-minute workout you can start after pregnancy.

How to Strengthen Your Core: 5 At Home Core Strength Workouts

5 Fat-Burning Low Impact Workouts for Beginners | If you're looking for workouts you can do at home that aren't high intensity, but will still allow you to break a sweat, burn calories, and burn fat, these full body low impact exercises are for you! Whether you're new to fitness, recovering from an injury, have bad knees, bad hips, or a bad back, or you're looking for workouts you can do after surgery, these are the best of the best!

No Excuses! 5 Fat-Burning Low Impact Workouts for Beginners

7 Shoulder and Back Workouts for Women | Whether you're training at home with no equipment, or lifting weights at the gym, working your shoulders and back helps increase range of motion, prevent injury, improve posture, and enhance strength and performance. And sculpted shoulders are sexy, too! If you're looking for shoulder workouts and/or back workouts for women to tighten, tone, and get rid of back fat, grab your dumbbells and give these a try! We've included no equipment options too!

Sexy and Sculpted: 7 Shoulder and Back Workouts for Women

10 Morning Workout Motivation Tips | If you're looking for a little inspiration to help you get up early and get in a good sweat sesh to kickstart your day, we're sharing our best morning motivation tips to help! Whether it's a gloomy Monday or a lazy Saturday, these morning motivation tips will help you create daily routines to increase your energy, boost your metabolism, feel happier, sleep better, and lose weight fast! If you want to know how to get up early and workout, these ideas work!

No Excuses! 10 Morning Workout Motivation Tips to Get You Out of Bed

10 Trampoline Workouts For Weight Loss | Whether you have a mini indoor trampoline in your basement or a big full size trampoline in your backyard, there are tons of ways you can use it to lose weight. Jumping is such a great form of exercise, and we're excited to share our favorite trampoline exercise tips and routine ideas for beginners and beyond! The benefits of having a trampoline aren't just for kids - the offer a great way for adults to squeeze HIIT and cardio in at home too!

Get Fit at Home: 10 Trampoline Workouts For Weight Loss

How to Look Better on Zoom and FaceTime | If you're looking for tips and tricks to make you look camera ready on video calls on even your most disheveled days, we've got you covered! From makeup tips and hairstyles to make your face look slimmer, to clothes that compliment your best features and outfits that flatter, to figuring out what colors make your best features pop instead of washing you out, to knowing the best poses and camera angles, these ideas work!

How to Look Better on Zoom and FaceTime: 17 Tips

10 Inner Thigh Workouts To Do at Home | If you want to tighten, tone, and strengthen your inner thighs, these are the best workouts for you! We've included no equipment workouts, as well as exercises that use basic equipment like ankle weights, an exercise ball, and resistance bands. From quick and easy 3-minute workouts, to standing exercises, to barre workouts, to advanced 10-minute routines, you can mix and match these based on your ability and schedule!

Tighten and Tone: 10 Inner Thigh Workouts To Do at Home

15 Home Gym Ideas | If you're looking for DIY tips and hacks to help you transform a small space in your bedroom, basement, or garage into a home gym, we're sharing 15 budget friendly ideas to inspire you! These cheap home gym essentials and simple home gym organization ideas will help you tighten and tone your body while also getting in a cardio workout without leaving your house! From tips for transforming small spaces into a gym, to gym equipment swaps, these hacks are a dream come true!

Home Gym Ideas: 15 Tips for Creating a Home Gym on a Budget

40 Low Carb Cocktails for Weight Loss | If you're trying to lose weight and don't want to give up alcohol, you're in luck! Whether you're organizing a girls night in or you're on the hunt for low carb drinks to order at the bar with your BFF, we've curated 40 of the best keto cocktails that are simple and easy to make, taste good, and are (relatively) guilt free! From vodka, to gin, to tequila, to rum, to whiskey, to bourbon, there's a drink here for everyone!

Weight Loss and Alcohol: 40 Low Carb Cocktails to Indulge In

9 Weight Loss Vision Board Tips and Ideas | If weight loss is on your mind and you're on the hunt for motivational tips and tools that will keep you accountable to your goals, we've got you covered! We're teaching you how to make a vision board for weight loss, including goal setting ideas, step by step tips for curating photos, words, and quotes to bring your vision to life, and tons of inspiration to make the law of attraction help you in your weight loss journey!

Goal Setting 101: 9 Weight Loss Vision Board Tips and Ideas

30-Day Insulin Resistance Diet Plan | If you're looking for food lists, recipes, and a menu plan to help you create meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and snacks that help with insulin resistance, we've curated 30 days of recipes to keep your insulin and blood sugar in check. We've included a range of recipes from different dietary needs, including low carb, keto, paleo, vegetarian, and vegan options. If you want to lose weight, these recipes are a great place to start!

Weight Loss That Works: 30-Day Insulin Resistance Diet Plan

40 Healthy Avocado Recipes for Every Meal | If you're looking for new and exciting ways to incorporate avocado into your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert, we're sharing 40 of the best ideas to inspire you! From a fruit and veggies smoothie, to guacamole and mango salsa, to a simple pasta with avocado and lime, to avocado keto brownies, these ideas are equal parts easy, filling, and delicious. And they're great for weight loss, too!

Nutritious and Filling: 40 Healthy Avocado Recipes for Every Meal

5 Powerful Plyometric Exercises for Beginners | Do you want to take your cardio to the next level? These fat burning plyometric workouts will help you boost your power, speed, and endurance while also burning calories. These exercises will also help you build muscle, which will boost your metabolism and help you lose weight. Great for runners who are looking for speed and strength training, these HIIT workouts require minimal equipment (a jump rope and box step at most!).

Strength and Speed: 5 Powerful Plyometric Exercises for Beginners

10 Full Body No Gym Workouts | Perfect for beginners as well as fitness gurus who are looking for at home workouts they can do when they can't make it to the gym, we've curated a full workout plan complete with videos you can stream anywhere to help you tighten and tone your arms, legs, core, abs, obliques, and glutes. If losing weight is your goal, strength training is key, and these workouts will help you target specific parts of your body while also getting in some cardio.

Get Fit at Home! 10 Full Body No Gym Workouts for Weight Loss

Weight Loss After Menopause | The hormone imbalance that occurs during the transition to menopause can lead to many uncomfortable symptoms, and is often to blame for a slower metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and weight gain. If you want to know how to lose weight during perimenopause and menopause, exercise alone won't help. We're sharing a list of the foods you should eat and avoid for weight loss - and to help manage the symptoms of menopause - for a healthier, happier you!

Weight Loss After Menopause: 14 Foods to Eat and Avoid

Page1 Page2 Page3 Page4 Page5
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram

Follow Us On Instagram

@Merakilane / #merakilane

‘HOW YOU DO ANYTHING IS HOW YOU DO EVERYTHING.’ —Jess Sims
.
While some people love reading self-help books or listening to inspiring podcasts, quotes, mantras, and song lyrics are my jam. I spend hours upon hours scrolling through my social media feeds each week searching for motivational quotes and sayings, and I copy the ones I love most to the notes app on my phone so I never forget them. 
.
I have a quote and lyric for pretty much every feeling and occasion, and if you follow me on stories, you know that I try to share something motivating and inspiring every morning. 
.
I’ve recently been using short quotes/mantras to help me stay focused. Mantras are typically used in meditation, but they are also a fabulous tool to help you stay grounded. The idea is to pick a word or phrase with meaning to you, and each time your mind starts to wander, you repeat the mantra over and over to bring yourself back to the present moment.
.
I use mantras to help me stay productive with work, to keep me motivated when I want to push myself during my workouts, to stay present when I’m overwhelmed and trying to do too many things at once, and to stop me from ruminating about the things that make me stressed and anxious. 
.
If you’re looking for inspiring quotes and mantras to help you stay focused, present, and calm, here are some of my favorites!
.
‘Be present where your feet are.’
—Unknown
.
You don’t have to. You get to.
—Jess Sims
.
Easy is bullshit.
—Christine D’Ercole
.
Feel the burn, step closer to the fire.
—Emma Lovewell
.
A setback is an avenue for a comeback.
—Alex Toussaint 
.
Hold the vision, trust the process.
—Unknown
.
No challenge, no change.
—Robin Arzon
.
Acknowledge the fear and do it anyway.
—Emma Lovewell
.
Impossible is just an opinion.
—Paulo Coelho
.
Treat your body like it belongs to someone you love. 
—Hannah Marie Corbin
.
Fix your ponytail and try again.
—Unknown
.
👇🏻 What quotes and mantras keep you focused and present when you’re overwhelmed or anxious?
‘ALL GREAT CHANGES ARE PRECEDED BY CHAOS.’ — ‘ALL GREAT CHANGES ARE PRECEDED BY CHAOS.’ —Unknown
.
f you’ve been following me on stories, you know we moved to a new house a couple of weeks ago. I was going to document the whole thing, but moving during a global pandemic in a city that is completely locked down with a child in virtual school is… 🤪
.
This was the biggest move I’ve ever undertaken, and my Type A personality really struggled with how little control I had over everything. Lists and schedules are my jam, but it seemed the harder I tried to keep things on track, the quicker they fell apart.
.
I eventually decided to just embrace the chaos. I allowed myself to let go and just enjoy the excitement of it all and it ended up being the smoothest, most enjoyable move I’ve ever experienced. We’re still waiting on furniture deliveries and have lots of painting to do, but since no one will be visiting us for months (years?!) on end given the state of the world right now, there is absolutely no pressure.
.
And that feels great.
.
If you’re struggling, here are 4 things that helped me find order in the chaos that has been our lives for the last several weeks:
.
✔️ EXERCISE. I start every single day with a hard workout to get those feel-good endorphins flowing. It makes me feel accomplished, helps me work through whatever is on my mind, and sets the tone for the rest of my day.
.
✔️ ENERGY MANAGEMENT. I do all of my most pressing tasks when my energy is high and my mind is clear, and save all of the monotonous, mindless stuff (think: responding to emails, meal prep, folding laundry) for the evening.
.
✔️ NEVER TOUCH SOMETHING TWICE. Once I ‘touch’ a task, I deal with it then and there so it’s taken off of my plate, rather than ’touching’ it multiple times and allowing it to take up extra energy and mental space. This is one of the best productivity tips I’ve ever read and it’s been a life-saver for me lately! 
.
✔️ DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT. I struggle the most with this, but the last few weeks have been a great exercise in challenging a lot of my Type A tendencies.
.
👇🏻 How do YOU stay on track when you feel overwhelmed?
‘SELF-CARE ISN’T SELFISH.’ . If you met me I ‘SELF-CARE ISN’T SELFISH.’
.
If you met me IRL, you’d probably [hopefully?] never know I suffer from anxiety, and would likely assume I’m just a high maintenance, high strung, Type A personality. All of those things are in fact true, LOL, but what you may not realize is that each of those traits of mine are the result of years of feeling anxious and worried and stressed.
.
I grew up at a time when we were taught to keep our struggles to ourselves, and when I think back to grades 3 and 4 when my anxiety was at it’s absolute worst, it pains me to remember how much I suffered in silence. I feel proud that I was able to overcome some pretty tough stuff on my own, but I refuse to let history repeat itself.
.
I will not raise my daughter in a world that stigmatizes mental illness.
.
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 38% of Canadians say their mental health has declined since the start of the pandemic, and people already struggling with their mental health were 2 times more likely to say their mental health has declined further. 
.
One of the biggest hurdles for anyone suffering from mental illness is overcoming the stigma. It is the number one reason why people living with mental illness do not seek help.
.
Today is #BellLetsTalk day and Bell will donate 5 cents to Canadian mental health programs for every applicable text, local or long distance call, tweet or TikTok video using #BellLetsTalk - all at no cost to participants beyond what they would normally pay their service provider for online or phone access. 
.
MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS.
.
Let’s end the stigma.
‘STOP TRYING TO CALM THE STORM. CALM YOURSELF, T ‘STOP TRYING TO CALM THE STORM. CALM YOURSELF, THE STORM WILL PASS.’ —Unknown
.
My daughter went back to school virtually today, and while the Type A in me is excited we’re back in some kind of routine, I had forgotten just how chaotic and impractical distance learning is. A province-wide internet outage took down her teacher within 2 hours, shattering any hopes I had of grabbing a little time to myself to get caught up on all of the work stuff I’ve been putting off for the last 3 weeks. I’ve dried tears, prepared snacks, provided new Zoom logins, helped with grade 4 math, and I even made paper plates out of construction paper for a last minute craft.
.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
.
All is good in our world again, and soon we’ll dive back into those math problems and whatever else is on tap for homework before I retreat to my office to print off tomorrow’s agenda and worksheets. We’ll all play Roblox before dinner to help us unwind after a crazy day, and I’ll stay up later than I want to tonight trying to get caught up because I know tomorrow will bring more unforeseen challenges, and I hate starting my day feeling behind schedule.
.
Parenting in a pandemic is extra messy, and if this sh*t storm has taught me anything, it’s that we need to give ourselves a hell of a lot of grace right now. There will be days where we’re super productive and get through everything on our never-ending ‘to do’ lists, but there will be many more days where we feel like we’ve accomplished absolute nothing.
.
It’s on these difficult days that we need to remind ourselves that our most important job right now is making sure our kids are healthy and happy, and that they feel safe and loved. When they look back on this time, they won’t remember if the house was clean and the laundry was folded, how often we ordered takeout, or if we gained weight. All they will remember is how we showed up for them - even on the days we were struggling to show up for ourselves.
.
If the return to reality has you feeling overwhelmed today, stop trying to calm the storm. Take a deep breath, get present in this moment, remind yourself what’s important, and focus on that instead.
.
We’ve got this. 💙
BACK TO REALITY… . Are you ready to get back at BACK TO REALITY…
.
Are you ready to get back at it?
.
While we’ve certainly been busy organizing, packing, and getting our new home ready and didn’t really relax as much as we’d hoped to over the holidays, I’ve enjoyed operating at a slower pace the last couple of weeks. We’ve stayed up late, slept in a little bit each morning, had too much to eat and drink, and enjoyed a break from routines and schedules. 
.
Toronto is currently under lockdown, so my daughter is going back to school virtually tomorrow while my husband and I continue to work from home. It’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work and I’m excited to get back into a routine. The time away from my computer helped me reset and recharge, and I feel like I’m starting 2021 with more realistic expectations of myself. And that feels good.
.
2020 was definitely not my favorite year, but when I look back at the last 12 months, a lot of really great things came from it. It gave me more time with my husband and daughter and brought us much closer than our busy, pre-2020 lives would’ve ever allowed. It helped me reconnect with friends I had lost contact with due to the craziness that is being a working mom. And it helped me form amazing new friendships that I will cherish forever.
.
I know 2021 is likely going to be just as challenging - if not more so - as 2020 was, but for the first time since becoming a mom, I finally feel like I have a tribe of people around me. I feel less lonely than I’ve ever felt in my life, which is hilarious since we have been holed up in our house for ~10 months, but it feels pretty amazing.
.
I’m not sure where I was going with this post, but suffice it to say I’m ready to caffeine and conquer! ☕️
‘ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LIFE. KNOW THAT ‘ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LIFE. KNOW THAT IT IS YOU WHO WILL GET YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, NO ONE ELSE.’ —Les Brown
.
I think we can all agree that 2020 was the absolute shits, and I know we’re all looking forward to a chance to start fresh in hopes that the universe will be a little kinder to us in 2021. 
.
Of course, our lives aren’t going to magically go back to the way they were at 12:01 am. It’s not easy to be positive right now, but instead of getting stuck in the suck, remember that the only thing you have control over is your attitude.  You can continue to feel sorry for yourself and mourn all the ways your life has changed, or you can straighten your crown and focus on all of the good things happening in your life.
.
If you dig deep enough, you’ll see that there is so much to be grateful right now.
.
And if you can’t think of anything that you feel proud of or that brings you joy, then it’s up to you to create it. Accept responsibility for your life. Stop making excuses and be the change you want to see. 
.
Instead of thinking of 2021 as another year of lockdowns and restrictions while we wait for vaccinations to take place and herd immunity to take hold, look at it as an open book. 
.
12 new chapters. 365 new chances. 🥂
‘BE PRESENT WHERE YOUR FEET ARE.’ —Unknown . ‘BE PRESENT WHERE YOUR FEET ARE.’ —Unknown
.
What do you do when you have downtime?
.
I haven’t had time off since last Christmas. We hit the ground running in January as we were planning a 2-week family vacay in March and wanted to do ALL THE THINGS beforehand so we could unplug and enjoy the trip. Our vacation obviously got cancelled, and we’ve been on autopilot ever since. I feel like the pandemic has either made people really busy, or extremely bored. There’s no in-between!
.
My team and I have been busy working ahead over the past couple of months as I really wanted to unplug and unwind for a few weeks over the holidays and now that the craziness of Christmas is over, I don’t know what to do with myself!
.
I’m caught up on This Is Us, we finally watched The Undoing, I’m almost done Open Book, I’ve done a lot of drawing on my iPad, I’ve had a lot of wine, I’ve eaten a ton of chocolate, we’ve played games, I’ve done my nails…and I’m bored, lol. But unless I find something else to do, I have to face packing up this house (we’re moving, ya’ll!) and I can’t face that just yet.
.
👇🏻how do you unwind?
Copyright © 2020 Meraki Lane Inc. · Site by Lennox Creative Co.
Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Disclaimer