Hey, babe!
Thanks for stopping by and taking a moment to find out who’s behind Fit Girl’s Diary.
My name is Monica May and I’m so excited to e-meet you!
The first thing I would say about myself is that I’m a fitness trainer, nutritionist, healthy food lover, I like to move and jump a lot aaaand I am a totally weird human being :)
I’m in love with taking care of myself and putting my body through hell and fire for many years now.
And it’s been an AMAZING ride!
It all started when one day I woke up and realized I wasn’t feeling comfortable in my own body.
I just snapped – this is it, I’m going to take control over my body and I won’t let my mind be the boss.
I can do this!
I did it – so can you!
I’ve been there, I’ve struggled to lose weight and even when I thought I’ve done everything right, I always ended up disappointed with no results.
Until I finally managed to do it.
I can’t wait to share exactly how I got fit, with all of you.
Sometimes that missing piece of the puzzle is just someone to believe in you.
Someone to cheer you up, to push you when you feel like quitting, and to give you a “I’m proud of you” speech when you kick ass!You just need is a helping hand and support, because everything else is already inside you.
And I know that not everyone has that support, so through this blog I want to help all of you who want to go for it and change their life.
Just remember – you are not alone.
You have support.
You have me, and my diary – WE BELIEVE IN YOU.
So girls, if you were looking for a sign THIS IS IT.
Find your reason and make that change today.
Love yourself enough to start living healthier, become your own superhero and crush every single goal out there.
And remember, I’m here for you, always.
Love,
I think your site is great and very motivating. But- what’s the deal with all the boob and booty shots of girls everywhere? At first I just thought you were really into yourself but the photos are not even you!? I just feel a little distracted by all the “sexy” pictures you have. It takes away from the content. Bravo to you though- great site and great info :-)
Jessica, I really appreciate your opinion. I’ll work on this from now on. Btw, this is the only picture of me.
Other than that, I am so happy you like my blog. I’ll try to improve myself in the future!
All the best! :)
I find the pictures motivate me as much as the read!! Nice site :)
I like the pictures as well. They sort of give me something to aspire to.
I agree. I’m totally into nutrition. I’m not into porn.
Hmm.. I haven’t come across any nude photos on this site. Just photos of women dressed in workout clothing. :)
I don’t think it is porn at all. I agree that the pictures are motivating. I’ve been strength training for 2 1/2 weeks now because of this blog. Before every workout i look through all the exercises and the pictures inspire me to do my best each and every time. Thank you and keep up the good work.
Dear Jessica,
Thank you so much for this great comment!
This is so inspiring for me, to see that more and more girls start working out and find inspiration in my blog!
Keep up the good training!
Ps: I’m planing on doing videos of the workouts, and I hope I can do that in the next few months! :)
Love
Monica
I love this blog and have recommended it to some of my friends. I find it helpful and very educational. I love the recipes as well. As far as the pictures of all the amazing strong women; I love it!! I think its a great motivator! I hope to look like one of them soon, hopefully. : )
Dear Jennifer,
You’re gonna be the best version of you, I promise you that!
Thank you so much for this great and inspiring comment, it means a lot to me that I can reach more and more girls to change their lives!
You’ll get there, just keep going!
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me any time, I’ll try my best to help you!
Love
Monica
Some fitness memes and motivational photographs are often sexualized.
Not necessarily her fault though.
Content is key.
Photography is subjective.
Monica, this is a wonderful site with lots of great info and inspiration. I appreciate the supportive, nurturing, best friend tone you take in your posts, but I pretty much agree, Jessica about the pictures you feature. They don’t motivate me because they all feature skinny, toned, “perfect” young women, many of whom seem quite bony.
I’m thinking your target audience for this blog is probably women in your own general age range, but I wanted to let you know that I really enjoy it, and I’m a 47-year-old divorced mom of teenagers who is overweight, and just had ACL reconstruction about 5 weeks ago. Oh! And I’ve smoked for over 30 years! (Yeah, that’s a habit I’m breaking very soon, so don’t harp on me. LOL)
Exhaustive research since my surgery has led me to (finally!) take steps to get myself into better shape so that I don’t just steadily fall apart as I age. I have no interest in a gym membership I’ll eventually get bored with using, so I purchased a good exercise mat (the thick gymnastic type rather than the flimsy yoga type, because fat chicks just need more padding under them when exercising!), a Swiss ball with a stability ring that it can set inside of, a mini ball, some resistance loops in varying strengths, and some ankle weights that you can adjust the weight of (from 1 lb. to 5 lb. in .5 lb. increments). These items were a one-time expense (as opposed to an ongoing gym membership), and let me cram in any bit of exercise I can during a busy day, bad weather, nothing clean to wear to the gym, whenever.
I have focused on short full-body workouts that often involve high intensity interval training, and I’d like to note that if you’re NOT in great shape (or, yeah, a smoker… shhhhh), you CAN, in fact, break a sweat in a discouragingly short amount of time.) The actual intensity of HIIT will vary greatly from individual to individual, and it takes very little exercise for someone starting out in a health “ghetto” to become fatigued, and actually see results. Some day, I might be in a nearby neighborhood of YOUR level of fitness, but not anytime soon. But ya gotta start somewhere, right?
Anyway, I wanted to both thank you for your blog and your encouragement, AND point out that we’re not all where you are–nor will some of us ever be. Some of your assertions (e.g. “you can’t break a sweat in a 15-minute workout when the first 5-10 minutes is warm-up”) just aren’t true for all people. As for the photos, I, personally, would be much more motivated seeing healthy women of all ages, who don’t look like they’ve been air-brushed to be on the cover of Cosmo. (Does Matt choose the photos you feature? LOL) I appreciate the look of a naked, hard-earned body as much as the next person, but the photos just seem like gratuitous filler since they often have nothing to do with the topic. I mean, your great low-budget grocery list (a super useful, yet pretty unsexy topic) contained mostly shots of skimpily-clad models with their hands in their hair or their shirts pulled up. Even the one photo that featured what I think is a bowl of fruit, had said bowl provocatively perched on a bony hip, between a bare midriff and lace-clad crotch. …Really? Even when I was a LOT younger, thinner, and in decent shape, I never looked like the pictures in your articles–I’m just not built that way. How about just using photos of the topics themselves, like a clothed healthy woman in a grocery aisle, or an artful shot of some healthy produce and spices? Maybe even have an area where readers can post before-and-after shots of their journeys to health and physical fitness. Some of those readers may indeed be Cosmo-worthy, but I’m betting a lot of them will be more realistic-looking, yet just as healthy, lean, and fit.
Sorry for the verbal spewage. LOL I dunno… Obviously the photos that put off people like Jessica and me DO motivate others… How about a better mix of sexy, bony, slim-hipped bodies mixed in with photos that actually illustrate the featured topic, and showcase some imperfect yet healthily toned women, like say someone with a flat stomach AND big hips, for example.
Just food for thought. In any case, thanks very much for sharing your journey and your knowledge, and for being a source of encouragement to those who need more of it in their lives.
Laurie,
I’m so sorry if I have offended you in any way, demotivated you, and made you feel the way you do.
That’s not my goal.
I don’t tend to motivate one group of girls over other, trust me my only goal is to help people get healthy, fit and change their lives, no matter their size.
As you can see in my recent articles, I started taking photos of me instead of just randomly adding photos of other girls I find online.
All of the photos I add are my photographs now, or my closest friend’s, since I want it to be my work – all of it.
I even have a few posts with my not so fit nor skinny girlfriends, here’s one example: https://fitgirlsdiary.com/2016/10/13/diamond-legs-and-brazilian-butt-lift-workout-30-lower-body-workouts-for-your-butt-and-legs/
I can’t change what I was doing in the past, when I was just a beginner to blogging and fitness, but I can definitely change what I’ll post in the future.
I try to improve myself as time goes by and I really hope you girls can see that, since I really do it for all of you.
For me, it’s not your body that matters, it’s the mindset.
If you want to be healthy and change your life, that’s more than enough for me.
Thank you for your comments and hope you’ll keep reading my blog.
Love,
Monica
Hi Monica May, I was amazed by your delicious menu advice and dedication to fitness. Are you near Pretoria? How can I contact you for a Skype meeting. Agenda: Become a model.
Have a look at our site, and you tube clip.
How tall are you?
Carmen
Hey, I just read your comment! Thanks a lot for even thinking that I would be a model. Your site is great, just modeling was never my thing.
Best wishes to you!
I really enjoy your site. it’s simple and gets right to the point. I like the photos, brings more motivation.
Thanks! I’m glad you like it! Stay motivated and fit! ^^
This is by far, my favorite fitness site!!! xD Love it
Oh, I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks a lot!
Monica
Hello Great blog :) however is this your only pic? With all you fitness and health information you provided. I would of thought you would post some progress pictures. Rather then fitness women on the Internet. Have you notice any changes since this last pic above you’re post “About me?”
Thanks Natasha
Hey Natasha,
Well I really don’t want to expose myself and that’s why this is my only picture here.
I have pictures of my friends progressions, and they are in the workout programs category. This is an old one, so yes I have progressed since this one :)
However I’ll consider posting some these days
Thanks to you, and all the best!
Monica
I loveeeee your page! This is my first time visiting and I found you through pinterest! Keep up the amazing work and I will be visiting this page more often! Thank you!
Oh that would be a great addition. When I first got started I googled all the moves to make sure my form was correct!
I agree. I wish there were some ” real pictures” the Photoshoped super edited pictures tend to make your blog look gimmicky and turn me off of reading it, which is sad because I think you have an amazing blog and a lot to offer here. I think pictures of real people that we can relate to are so much more effective and motivating. They also help us to shoot for reality. I will be back to read more, however I would be back regularly if the grammar improved and if the pictures changed.
Monica,
I game across your site on a Pinterest post. Your guidance and information on fitness and nutrition is very helpful and inspiring. I have tried to eat moderately healthy and exercise for the past 30 years. Now at 52 I find that I need to be revived and I need to work harder. I am going to follow your exercise and eating tips and believe I will see the needed results from them.
Thanks so much for sharing your journey and all that you have learned!
Dana Chaffin
Madison, GA
Dana,
I’m so happy that you find my blog inspiring!
This is a big motivation for me, so thank you a lot for this wonderful comment!
Keep going!
I also saw this via a pin on Pinterest and as others have mentioned it is motivating and there was something I read that really opened up my eyes! I often just go the gym and just hit the machines basically like a robot with the “I guess this is what I should be doing” type of mindset. Now I know by reading your post that there is more to that. I have flagged your page and it will definitely be one I will visit often. I just hope it doesn’t “die off” as other pages/blogs I’ve seen where I’m like this is awesome and then months go by with no new posts ???????????? so please continue to provide info. Thanks ! Maggie ~Boston , MA ~
Dear Maggie,
First of all thank you for your kind words, I am really flattered! :)
I am so happy that you find my blog inspiring – that means a lot to me.
Don’t worry about dying off, because it won’t happen – I promise.
I run this blog as a full time job for now, and I really hope that it grows enough so that I can continue with it years from now.
I’m posting once in every 2-3 weeks now, but I make sure the posts are loaded with every single detail you need – quality not quantity.
So I hope you come back again, and like what you see :)
Ps: I’m coming soon with a 1 year workout program, that will change lives and make history! It will have videos and pdf files with the exercises…
All the best
Monica
Nice site. However, it would be very helpful and much more inspirational if you would show your own body rather than stock photos of other women. Just sayin’.
Yes I know that.
That’s why in my upcoming workout program that should come out at the end of this week, there will be a before and after photo of me.
Wait for it :D
Here’s my new workout program, you can check my before and after photo: https://fitgirlsdiary.com/2016/01/15/breaking-fat-formula-the-best-weight-loss-program-for-women/
Let me know what you think :)
Your blog inspires me so much! PLEASE keep posting and updating. This is by far my favorite blog on the internet!
Dear Ashlee,
I’m so happy that you like my blog :D
Tonight is coming out my next post, wait for it, you’re going to love it!
Love, Monica
Monica,
Perhaps you can help me out, if not you one of your readers. It is very challenging to come up with adaptations with recipes and exercises. I am allegoric to tree nuts. I am over 65, have had double hip replacements, and live in the bush. All groceries are ordered online and flown in. So I pay for air freight ($40.00 per pound for any fresh fruit and vegetables). Other groceries come by USPS.
Now that the ice is melting I can once again walk safely outside.
I am so un-motived to get up and move though. I learned some terrible habits during the past 5 years while undergoing my multiple hip replacements and being so extremely limited on what I physically could do. Now that I have the all clear to workout (with my hip precautions in mind of course), I just don’t know where to start besides getting outdoors and walking.
NO: there is no gym, pool, medical care etc. It is a village of 350 people, with a few gravel roads, if that helps with a picture.
Any help would be ever so greatly appreciated.
C
I have to say that your story moved me – it’s so inspiring that you are going through all of this, and you still want to work on yourself and make the best out of it!
You should be proud of yourself, for being so strong – you’re fierce!
And these are not just compliments, these are facts.
I know how hard it can be when you go through hip replacement, especially when living in a small village, since my granny went through that same condition.
So, thank you for being the inspiration you are, and for sharing your story with all of us.
I can recommend workout such as light yoga or cardio, that you can find on YouTube – just type “home cardio workout at home”, or “yoga for beginners”.
Find a workout you like the best and take it from there.
You can try light hiking, and fast walking now and then too.
Also, I would strongly recommend taking vitamins and minerals, and quitting sugar for good.
Starting from sodas, cakes, sweets and bad carbs, you should quit all of them and start focusing on healthy fats, proteins, fibers and greens.
And please, feel free to contact me whenever you feel like you need some advice, or just want to chat – I’ll be happy to hear from you.
Hope I helped, all the best!
Thank you so much for your quick reply and compliments.
I am going to use your article about sugar with my culinary arts class, and challenge them to look at how much sugar they consume while I do the same.
I’ve learned, small baby steps, for me physically and for my students when teaching them new concepts.
You should definitely do that!
An average person consumes approximately 100 grams of sugar a day, and the body needs no more than 25 grams.
So we all have to make sure to be more careful with the amounts we intake on daily basis.
Inspiring others sounds amazing :)
I actually very much like those pictures, they motivate me. Keep up the good work.
Thanks a lot :)
I am so inspired by your site already. I came across it on Pinterest! I have been working out since the last week of December and I weighed in at 134, now down to 120. Of course I want to be fit and tone however, currently I’m now just working on losing body fat so I stopped the weights. I started running this week and let me tell you it’s not easy! I also love sugar and can’t get rid of the baby belly from now 3.5 years ago! Help! ????
Hi Trisha,
I think that the Breaking Fat workout program will give you great results.
You will have to work really hard if you want to make big changes, so don’t worry to push yourself.
Also, make sure you quit that sugar for good!
No matter how hard you work out, if your diet is full of sugars – you’ll honestly never get there.
So please consider quitting these bad sugars, and here’s something that might help: https://fitgirlsdiary.com/2015/09/15/giving-up-sugar-the-team-up-technique/
I love this site, Monica! Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us. I have been going to the gym, but just recently have started to get comfortable using weights. So excited to follow your excersise and nutritional tutorials.
Thanks!
Maryam
Maryam,
So happy to hear from you, I wish you great results! :)
My problem w sugar has gotten way better though. I guess I really have a problem w fancy coffee from Starbucks ???? Help
Hi Monica, do you have a you tube channel where it’s much easier to understand how to do the workout coz reading it may not the same with doing it..
Thanks
John,
No I don’t have a channel, but I have a few videos here on my blog, in my Breaking Fat workout program.
You can find them here: https://fitgirlsdiary.com/2016/01/15/breaking-fat-formula-the-best-weight-loss-program-for-women/
I found a post of yours on Pinterest and I love how motivating and well explained your site it. I’m also starting my fitness journey with one of my best friends! I’m excited to read more of your stuff and I will be a frequent visitor!
p.s I don’t know if you know this but at the beginning it says “when I started couching myself”. Did you mean coaching instead? I just thought you might want to know ;]
your site *is*.
See? We all make typos sometimes!
Iynn,
I’m so happy you got inspired by my diary – it really means a lot to me!
That’s my goal, to inspire and to motivate others, so that more and more people start getting healthy and fit.
I wish you all the best results in the world to you and your friend, and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns – I’ll be more than happy to help :)
Also, thanks for the ps :D I guess what I was trying to say is “when I became coach, myself…” – when I personally became a coach..
But it sounded a little wrong, I agree with you hahaha :) Just corrected that, thanks a lot <3
Hey! I just wanted to say I’ve been reading the articles on your website and I really love what you’re doing here. I like how concise and to-the-point your programs and articles are. There are no grand, exaggerated claims, and the content is realistic. I have been so frustrated looking through other fitness websites and becoming hopelessly lost with all of their jargon and bro-science. They make it seem as if muscles are impossible to come by, when really our bodies are perfectly capable of achieving the look we want. Your website is realistic and is for real girls, and this has quickly turned into one of my favourite websites for training. Keep up the great content, girl!
Kye,
Thank you again, for your amazing comments, you made my day girl! :)
All that I want is to help girls get healthy and fit, and I’m so happy when I see that people cherish my work – the feeling is priceless!
Thank you a lot for being so nice, and if you have any questions or concerns, lease feel free to contact me.
Love,
Monika
Thank you so much for creating this amazing blog! I have been dying to find a clear, concise strength training plan to start gaining muscle. This blog made me even more excited to start my journey and I feel more committed then ever! Thank you again for sharing :)
Tina,
I’m SO happy to hear you like my blog and find it inspiring – it means the world to me!
I’ll keep sharing everything I know with all of you, my only goal is to promote health and fitness.
Hugz, girl <3
I love your blog, thank you, I will be following. I am 48, and 40lbs over weight, joined the gym today. Your blog is the easiest, straight forward, enjoyable info I have found searching the web. I feel like I have the inside scoop. :)
Stacey,
I’m so glad to hear you find my blog helpful.
If you ever need help with anything at all, please feel free to contact me – I’m more than happy to help.
Love <3
You rock and roll just because that’s what you do, keep on doing what you do. Well done & stuff..
Thanks so much!
Comments like this just make my day, so thanks you from the bottom of my heart! <3
xo
Hi, how do I know if I’m eating enough? It’s just overwhelming … do I go by total calories or fat grams? I’m working out twice a week with a great trainer and focusing on weights but I just don’t think my daily diet is working. Thanks!
Jennifer,
I totally understand. Weight loss can be so overwhelming. I know I was so confused and overwhelmed when I fist started exercising and dieting.
I’d say – just focus on eating healthy foods.
I was constantly obsessing with numbers and counting calories, and eating less, when all I had to do was eat the right foods, and that’s it.
If you are still not sure, make sure to check out my meal plan: https://fitgirlsdiary.com/my-meal-plan/