FASTER WAY TO FAT LOSS || WEEK ONE

FASTER WAY TO FAT LOSS || WEEK ONE

FWTFL IN SIMPLE TERMS + WHY ROUND TWO?

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After sharing a bit about our “why’s” behind starting our journey with Faster Way to Fat Loss, we thought we would explain a bit more about what this program is all about in easier terms to understand.

The FWTFL program has two components: nutrition and workouts.  Back to the basics - eat well and work out and you will lose weight, right?  Well, that is where this system varies a tad from traditional calorie cutting.  Each day you are given guidelines for how to eat that day.  For example, one day is low-carb day, one day is regular calorie day, EXTRA calorie day, etc.  This helps our bodies go from sugar burning to fat burning and helps us ladies finally burn all that stored fat that is so hard to lose. Can we get a HALLELUJAH?! The program doesn’t tell you what to eat precisely but instead teaches you how to balance and adjust how much fat, protein and carbs you eat each day. It puts you in control which is what creates long lasting lifestyle changes.

The FWTFL workouts are designed to build lean muscle and are super lifestyle friendly with versions for home workouts and gym workouts.  Like we mentioned in the first blog, Ty loves going to classes at Sweat (and Liz is slowly but surely joining Ty in that love affair).  Ty asked our awesome trainer, Valerie Smorol, how to incorporate those classes to fit the program and she coached her on what days to go to Sweat and which work outs could be done from home.  Neither of us really love working out but the good thing about this program is that you can still see results even if you just stick to the nutrition side! Liz can attest to this because during the first round she didn't do a single exercise (because #lazy) and when she was following the program well she could see the benefits of the nutrition portion for sure!

The bottom line is that this is the most lifestyle friendly way we have personally found to hold ourselves accountable but still not deprive ourselves of nights out with friends, chocolate chip cookies and, cough cough... wine.. because DUH.

 We are going outline more tips on nights out, traveling and grocery shopping trips as we get further into our series!  We have learned tremendous amounts about what we can and cannot eat on certain days and that is one of the main reasons why we have continued onto Round 2 of FWTFL!  It truly is a great way to live your life and still feel like you’re in control of what you are eating.

We both want want to take good care of ourselves so that we can be confident + content in our skin as well as cultivate healthy ways of living that enable us to love our people well in all the ways that matter most - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We are so grateful for this program and the way it is helping us cater to that type of investment when it comes to becoming our best selves for the sake of the legacies we're building.

Next week we'll be back with updates on how the first two weeks (really three if you count prep week) have been + how we're feeling moving forward. As of now, we're off to pop some champagne (because YES YOU CAN DRINK IT ON THIS PROGRAM! THANK YA JESUS!!) to celebrate some of our very favorite people - Ty's littlest is 3 today + Liz's bestie just bought her first home! So much to celebrate (our favorite)!!

CHEERS TO THE WEEKEND! We hope you find something sweet to celebrate as well. Xo!

Love ya gals!

- Ty + Liz

REAL TWIRL WEDDING || TALARA + CHRIS

REAL TWIRL WEDDING || TALARA + CHRIS

Hey hey loves! We're back again with another gorgeous Real Twirl Wedding to share with you all! This has been so much fun sharing some of our sweet bride's special days with y'all. We hope it's just as fun for you guys as it is for us. Today you're getting the treat of getting a glimpse into Talara + Chris's lovely wedding day. Talara is a talented wedding photographer herself so we knew that we wedding would be full of precious, thoughtful details and all kinds of beauty. Sure enough, her wedding made our hearts absolutely swoon. We're so excited for this feature and have no doubt you'll be inspired and encouraged by this sweet, joyful bride of ours!

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1. Can you give us a glimpse into you & your hubs's love story?

Chris and I have actually been friends since we were freshmen in high school. Little did I know but he had a crush on me all through out high school. Our love sparked our second year of college. We got together and never looked back sense. We both say we wish we could have dated way back in high school so we could have had even more time together. But, I am a firm believer that God creates everything in His time and high school was just not our time yet!
We dated for 4 years before we got married and now we have been married for one year!! It's been incredible! We have been through a lot of things most people don't go through in their first year of marriage but we have loved and supported each other 100% throughout it all!

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2. What was it about your dress that made you realize it was "the one?" Was it what you expected to love/wear? Favorite memory from dress shopping/Twirl?

I knew way before I got engaged that I wanted to go to Twirl to pick out my dress. I didn't even book appointments anywhere else because I was confident I would find "the one" at Twirl!
I knew I did not want lace, I wanted something very elegant but whimsical!
The Hayley Paige collection was pretty well all I tried on because I loved them all!!
I had it narrowed it down to two! Honestly I could see "the one" in either of them! One was a lot thicker than the other and since I had an August wedding I went with the more lightweight one! Which couldn't have been a better pick because I could "TWIRL" my heart out on my wedding day and I did!!

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3. What is your favorite memory from your wedding day?

My husband would definitely would say the Southern biscuit bar during cocktail hour. But I would have to say the rain! It POURED down rain during our ceremony! Guess what?! It was All outside too!! I know scary right?! But it was actually perfect!
It had been thundering for 30 minutes before the ceremony started but not a drop of rain so we proceeded with the outdoor ceremony instead of moving it under the tent!
As soon as my father and I took our first step onto the aisle it started to rain and it rained harder and harder but all my husband and I could do was laugh and say it was perfect! Our guests scurried under umbrellas, under their dates' suit coats and some sat and got soaked just to watch us say "I do." The moment Chris and I kissed and faced the crowd it quit raining! You can't make this stuff up folks! God showed up on our big day and he showered us with love!

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4. What has been the best thing about marriage so far?

I would say never having to leave each other! We hated the dreaded goodbyes each night leaving each other's home. We always said we just wish we could just never leave one another! I don't want to say it's like a big sleepover because marriage is tough. But it is fun to wake up and go to sleep next to the person I love most in this world!

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5. Any pieces of wisdom or advice you'd like to share with future brides, engaged gals, or newlyweds like yourself?

Enjoy this time and Be Kind!
Being engaged or newly married is truly such a special time. So many new things are happening and so many exciting, sweet and unforgettable moments are being made! Hold on to them!! I'll never forget when Christ and I were fixing our new home we just bought we cooked a pizza in our new oven and it started smoking (I have now been told most new ovens do that the first time they are used). Chris and I freaked out and thought we had almost just burnt down our house! Moments like that are ones I want to hold on to forever!
Be kind because there will be so many people wanting to help make your day so special and it may seem overwhelming and it may seem like too much help but just be kind and say thank you! All it shows is how much these people love and care about making your big day a perfect one!

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Talara + Chris's Dream Team of Vendors:

Photographer: HOPE TAYLOR PHOTOGRAPHY

Venue: THE GARDENS OF HICKORYLAND FARMS

Hair: LARRY BUCHANNON

Makeup: VICTORIA PHILLIPS

Planner: RAYNA WALLEN -ALWAYS PLANNED

Florist: RAYNA WALLEN

DJ: Matt Krupp from SELECT SOUNDS KY

Caterer: SASSY SPOON CATERING

Gown Designer: HAYLEY PAIGE

Gown Retailer: TWIRL BOUTIQUE

Videographer: MEGAN ANGEL

Cake: Lisa Wilhite Gregor

FASTER WAY TO FAT LOSS || PREP WEEK + OUR WHY'S

FASTER WAY TO FAT LOSS || PREP WEEK + OUR WHY'S

Hi friends! If you caught our Instagram stories last Friday then you know that we started our second round of an amazing wellness program called Faster Way To Fat Loss on September 11th. We are so thrilled to take y'all along for the journey with us this time around. Today we are sharing with you our "why"s for doing the program + then next week we'll be diving into explaining the program a little deeper so you're not totally clueless about what all this is about. So WELCOME to this journey towards cultivating realistic wellness in our lives!

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TY'S WHY:

I am an emotional eater.  I always have been.  If I’ve had a bad day…I want comfort food.  If I’ve had a great day…I want to go out and celebrate and eat (and drink) lots of yummy food!  In my younger years that lifestyle was easier to keep up, but now that I’m in my later 30s and have two little one, it makes it much harder.  

Also, let’s talk about throwing kids into the mix of trying to find time to work out, meal plan and cook healthy meals.  It. Is. Not. Easy.  I always take little bites of whatever they are eating and find myself justifying treats with them all of the time. 

I took the first step to getting healthier last November by starting classes at SWEAT in Lexington, a boutique fitness studio featuring cycle, barre cardio and yoga.  I have never been a girl that loves to workout.  I pretty much find an excuse to not go (it’s raining, my big toe hurts, I want to go drink margaritas instead), but Sweat has genuinely made me excited to go to class and give it my all for one hour.  When I set goals for myself in 2017 one of them was to take more time for self-care.  Sweat has been one of those items on my checklist and I am so glad I got over the intimidation factor and joined!

Now enter FASTer Way to Fat Loss (cheesy name, but great program).  My best friend had been participating in the program and saw tremendous results.  She and I are total opposites in that she loves to work out and be healthy.  I immediately brushed it off that it would be too strict for me.  I mean, what the heck are macros anyway? I had other friends that also joined and participated with SmoFitness and she also raved about the program.  I knew I needed to do something to take control over the number that kept creeping up on the scale, so I decided to try it.  Oh my gosh, I am so glad that I did!  Through these next few posts we will outline exactly why we love this program so much.  My main reasons are that it doesn’t tell me that I can’t ever have a particular food item.  You make the program work for your lifestyle.  It helps give you a team to cheer you on and celebrate your successes and that tells you it’s ok if you fell off the wagon for a day. 

I’ll share more about my first round and why I decided to continue with the program and share it with you next time! 


LIZ'S WHY

Things to know about me: I am a FABULOUS initiator of things but TERRIBLE at follow through. I started a running club with friends in college and quit two weeks in when mother nature struck. I've done two rounds of Whole 30 + one round of Advocare but never fully completed any of them. I ran a little over half of a half marathon. Seeing the pattern here? Ha! Having good health + wellness has always been a desire for me but actually creating sustaining habits + routines has never been a success. I also love a good glass of wine or a cold beer and if a program/diet tells me I can't have those things.. I'm not a happy camper. #InnerRebel?? ;) I started round one of FWTWL and didn't do well with it. Not because the program isn't awesome (because it is!) but because I had some really tough life stuff happen in the midst of it and that just totally threw me off and I never really got back up. This time around, I'm going into it at the heaviest I've ever weighed in my life (I blame eating my feelings during deep grief) and am more motivated than ever to get back to a place where I feel confident + happy in my own skin. I want to cultivate healthy rhythms in my life that cause me to take care of myself well. I turned 26 in August and although I know I'm still "young" I can tell that my body doesn't maintain or shed weight like it used to so I'm really ready to start taking care of myself in a way that will sustain me in the long run. FWTFL has been the first program I've ever done that makes me believe that I can live a normal life + still make significant changes to my health. I'm excited for y'all to be on this journey with us.. plus I need this little blog series to be my accountability because again... terrible at follow through. Ha!


Hearing a little bit of yourself in either of our why's?! If so, share with us below where you find yourself in your fitness/wellness journey and let us encourage you + cheer you on! This journey towards wholeness is a tough one but it is so worth it. It's worth it because when you look at it through the lens of how you're cultivating your legacy then it adds a significant + beautiful weight to it all. Taking care of ourselves is important + meaningful and we want to cheer y'all on in that truth as we preserver in believing it for ourselves as well. We want to live long, meaningful lives (Lord willing!) and we've got to take care of ourselves in order to do so.

So thanks for stopping by + listening to bits of our hearts. We're really looking forward to sharing this journey with you guys. We'll be back next week with more details about the program and why it's been so great for us. We hope y'all will tune in then!

Until then, have a great weekend!

Xo,

Ty + Liz