Staying Motivated and Patient

Its National Hot Dog day!!!!!!! Woohoo! ok lets get down to it.
I'm not gonna lie, its pretty easy to lose motivation! Last week I went on a business trip to Las Vegas and was blessed enough to get to spend some quality time with my family! The only bad part is with working all day and family time, I had ZERO extra time and energy to workout for the entire 4 days while we were there. Now that we're back there are tons of excuses I can use from my excuse archive:
I'm tired
My house is a wreck
My child was up crying for over an hour in the middle of the night
I need to do yardwork
I need to do laundry
I need to play with my child
I need to give time to my husband
I need to cook dinner
I need to work
I really just wanna sit here


All of these are extremely valid reasons as to why I don't have time to workout. I mean I should get a break too right? Wouldn't you wanna play with that little cutie? On the flip side...every time this happens I get in a funk! Why? I'm not feeling as strong or as confident as when I am taking care of my body. Anytime I take a few days off it is that much harder to get going again. It has been really difficult to get up early to go workout after having only worked out in the evening the past 4 weeks. I need to re-create my habit!

There is a lot of differing information as to how long it takes to form a habit, the most well known time period is 21 days. Where on earth did we get this number? It came from a book written over 20 years ago, but that's beside the point. New information tells us it can take anywhere from 18-132 days to create a habit and no you don't have to go that many days consecutively. 18-132 days! That's 66 days on average, a little over 2 months of consistency. What this means is, if you miss a day in trying to start a new habit, don’t put yourself on a guilt trip. Just keep trying; you’ll eventually get there, but don't let this be an excuse either. This is the ever popular saying of health and fitness is a "LIFESTYLE" not a diet. It takes some time to create a habit and on the flip side it can take JUST as long to break that habit. So whether you are trying to eat 4 servings of fruit everyday, or walk 20 minutes a day, keep trying. You will eventually get there. And don’t get discouraged if it takes more than 66 days. We hear all the time give it 12 weeks! Well.....give it 12 weeks of consistency and you WILL see results. Nothing fancy or magical about it.

Its easy to lose motivation when you have a million things going on, but use all your avenues! Posting gym selfies are motivating! You get to see your own results as well as use it as some type of accountability. Join a support group with your friends who have common goals. Make yourself a poster with motivating and encouraging words! If your partner is not on board with you on your journey you must pave the way on your own. Set reminders on your phone that give you a message of encouragement. There are tons of ideas on Pinterest for things like this as well! Ex. Take 2 jars, if your goal is weight loss then for every llb loss put the amount of marbles or something else in 1 jar and for each 1lb you lose move it to the empty jar! This gives you visual accountability. ! WRITE OUT YOUR GOALS If you do not have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish, it can be overwhelming and you will set yourself up to fail.

On another note, I've been on a salad kick this week, so we have been having salads for lunch! I've found a salad dressing that is not only healthy, its down right delicious! I highly recommend giving it a try! Salads can have hidden calories so be aware of how many "goodies" you're putting on your salad.


I put my workout for today in the workouts section! My intention is to complete it outdoors! Wish me luck!
Until next time, try to spend a full day without a single complaint...you will be amazed at how quickly your thought processes will change for the better! Happy Wednesday!!

Attitude and Its Effect on...Well...Everything

Well...as usual, quite a bit has happened in the past 2 weeks, my husband was injured during a corporate challenge event which turned out to be quite a serious injury. 6 days after the initial injury he had surgery to repair his Achilles/Calf. He had suffered almost a complete separation of his Achilles from his calf muscle. I am so relieved he was able to get it taken care of especially before Football season started, but when the Dr continuously reminds you that the injury was in a less than Ideal spot, you can't help, but worry just a little for future health. He told me he had wished the Achilles had torn closer to his ankle so he could attach tendon to tendon and get a stronger repair, but due to the positioning of his injury he will need a longer recovery time to ensure the muscle fibers heal in addition to his Achilles. During the first 3 days of "injury shock" (ex. omg I can't believe he got hurt why did you even play blah blah blah=Injury Shock) it's easy to start to feel sorry for yourself and I won't lie I sure started to!

 He was now unable to put any pressure on his foot for a total of 4 weeks and had only the help of some crutches that are less than comfortable. I began to think of the load that was suddenly thrust upon me and things I take for granted daily. My responsibilities not only included helping him get around, but my normal duties increased. He could no longer watch our daughter in the morning so I could get my morning workout in. He cannot chase her, cook her breakfast, carry her into the room to change her diaper or anything remotely close to it. He cannot make his own breakfast, get his own water or put his own plate up let alone mow the lawn, take the trash out or even do his favorite activity, workout. As you can see its really easy to feel sorry for myself or maybe blame him for something he had no control over. I started to feel like all my goals were on the back burner because my caseload increased. Had I stopped to think about how he was feeling? The amount of pain he is in? The fact that he is unable to do the ONE thing he loves most? The one activity that clears his mind and truly looks forward to? What if it were me? How would I feel knowing I can't help? What has he ever done to deserve these thoughts? I sure wouldn't want someone angry at me! So I ask again...why blame him and punish him for something he cannot control? My attitude needed to change...pronto, so I started to think of all the positives.

I am so grateful he has been able to spend so much time with our girl every morning. She loves to snuggle right next to him in our bed and watch her PBS shows before its time to go to "school". I am so grateful for the time I have been able to spend with him. He's been home everyday when I come home! Something I know won't happen in just a few short weeks when Football camp begins. I am so grateful for the conversation we have been able to have. For learning how to use the weed eater, blower and all the levels of the mower. For learning how to grill various types of meat and the best way to stain the deck. Despite his setbacks he still tries to do his best everyday to help, even tho I play Dr. Wife and yell at him to leave his fork on the table! :)  (Now some of these things could very well have happened eventually if he hadn't been hurt, but I like to think probably not.) As soon as I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I was able to be what I committed to be...a wife, for better or worse, in sickness and in health. He just happened not have his full health. How selfish was I? Even if for 1 day...shame on me.

Your attitude can have a huge affect on everything around you. We have all experienced it, either that one person who is always a "Debby downer" or who always has something to say about someone or there's always some kind of issue or tragedy happening in their daily life. Its draining, but it is also easy to absorb and begin doing it yourself.  Let us not harden our hearts because someone treated us wrong or things didn't go our way. Learn and let go. When you CHOOSE to think positively your entire life changes for the better. You CAN achieve your goals. Choose to be happy and have a positive attitude in all that you do. Stop negativity in its tracks, it is easy to blame it on our environment, but you know what that is? Its an excuse. Excuses are spread like wildfire. Stop making excuses for yourself. Don't let your mind defeat you. Having a healthy mind and healthy attitude are just as important as a healthy body! We are all human, we all have bad days and we all need a solid vent session. Just keep striving to be better everyday, and the results and happiness will soon follow.

The Emotional Effect of Weight Loss and The Stages of Readiness

Its been 2 weeks since my last post, and boy has it been busy! Simply due to how I have been feeling emotionally these past 2 weeks, I feel like I need to touch on the importance of actually being READY to make a change in your life. This not only applies to weight loss, but for anything you are "hoping" or wishing would happen in the future. There is a reason why we always hear, "no one can make you change, you have to want it for yourself." There are a lot of things that I thought I wanted, but it turns out I wasn't even ready for the change I was longing for. Over the past year it has been a huge emotional rollercoaster for me personally on my path to get back in shape, achieve some personal fitness goals and get to my goal weight. I know my body pretty well, so its relatively easy for me to pinpoint the weight range that I am comfortable with emotionally and physically. I say this only because it is important not to focus completely on the scale when it comes to achieving your health and fitness goals. I have 2 photos pictured with dates 1 month apart...would you be surprised to know that I haven't lost a single pound in 1 month, but my stomach is noticeable smaller and I am beginning to see some changes in my back and collarbone area as well.

Although the scale didn't move this is one reason why I am such a huge fan of documenting your progress in pictures. I lost some BF % which is a goal of mine and lets face it, I definitely needed to! One of my goals has been to see some muscle definition, because it has been something that I've been lacking. I was very excited to see my abs start to come in, my quads peaking through, my biceps finally showing some curve and my shoulders rounding out a little. The 2 pictures listed below were taken last week. You can absolutely tell the difference between a flexing photo and non flexing photo!

     

There are a TON of factors that come into play especially for women when it comes to weight loss. Did you know your hormones and emotions really DO have effect on your weight loss or weight gain? This is just one reason it is important to have a healthy mind as well as a healthy body. I have had one heck of a time losing the last 5-10lbs that I have been trying to lose and I have no doubt in my mind this is due to my mental state. A nice little example is my lack of self-control was the snacking rampage I went on yesterday! It was like I was a bottomless craving pit and I didn't even care. My mind has been clouded with insecurities, worry, guilt and thoughts of upcoming change. As women we are constantly thinking about what needs to be done or who needs you right this second. It has been scientifically proven that men don't have this problem. We are biologically wired to constantly think and worry so it is easy to begin to let the daily tasks and struggles weigh you down physically and emotionally. I can't tell you how many times I've done that! Until we have completely healed from the inside out and stop making excuses for yourself, you cannot expect to accomplish your goals in health and fitness. I'm not a huge TV watcher, but my husband and I do have a few shows we watch. Our ABSOLUTE favorite TV show is called Extreme Weight Loss on ABC. This is one of the first shows I have seen that not only focuses on weight loss, but they actively dig deep into each individual to find the root of their issue, to free them emotionally of the chains weighing them down. There is some interesting research that shows that people who successfully change their behavior go through a series of five stages-and usually cycle through these stages three to four times. You can read a little more about it here with Stages of Readiness for Change. I am thankful to my fellow fitness professional Sophia G for link!

I tried a few new recipes this week, including some Paleo muffins that will be SURE to keep the cravings away! I had to stop myself from devouring them during my snack rampage since it kind of defeated the purpose right? Be on the lookout for new recipes in the recipe section!

Until next time, keep pushing towards your goals, no matter how big or small they may be. Learn to love yourself, don't compare yourself to any one else. There is only 1 you! Only you can make the change.

Milestones and the Journey Awaiting...

Last week my husband and I celebrated 5 years of marriage together. The past 5 years have been some of the best so far in my life! I feel more whole and complete than ever before. What is sad to me is throughout the first 3-4 years of our marriage I couldn't tell you how much negativity I encountered regarding marriage. Now don't get me wrong, I think the people who were sharing the negativity, didn't exactly realize they were being so pessimistic. Just a few examples of some of the things I've heard:
"Oh you just wait until after the first year when the honey moon stage wears off!"
"How long have you been married? Oh just wait until the 3 year mark! You may not be so happy then"
"Oh man 5 years is when it gets bad, just wait til you get to that 5 year mark!"
"Add a kid in the mix and tell me how happy you are"
"Oh, you're married?...are you happy?"

It is so disheartening to hear so many people speak this way, it wasn't just a few people here and there, I got a comment like this at least twice/week while working at the gym coming into contact with so many people. I also have friends who are terrified to get married because they are told to "settle" because they are no longer 20 years old. Who put an age on when one can marry? whether you're 19 or 65 don't ever settle for anyone less than who God has for your life. I am no expert on marriage, but I do know that there are so many moving parts. You have to be 100% in it. Some say its a 50/50 relationship, I truly believe its 100/100. People say "you're not the person I married", I honestly hope I'm not the person my husband married 5 years ago. I would hope that in the last 5 years we have grown together, changed together, matured together and grown to love and respect one another even more.  In the back of my mind I've been "waiting" for that HUGE fight everyone says I'll have eventually, and who knows maybe we will, but for right now, it hasn't happened yet. When you hold an open line of communication with your spouse you are setting yourself up for success. I have been so blessed to have had so many positive role models in my life when it comes to marriage and parenting. All you can do is your very best and keep striving to be better and better each day.

Now back to fitness right!? Our anniversary consisted of a solid gym date followed by lunch, a nice long walk, some cheesecake factory cheesecake and ended with some rented movies and our fluffy couch while Dakota was in daycare. We planned our day to allow for whatever we wanted to eat, but not before we got a solid lift session in. Now I'm not saying be strict and go binge, that is not a healthy practice. Eat what you want, but in moderation. I crave cheese its, cheesecake and pizza just like everyone else, but it is not something that will get me where I want to be. I can't eat whatever I'm craving and complain I still look the same. Make the conscious decision to move forward, take control of your body and your health. Gain the confidence you need to uplift yourself and others and realize it takes time. Justin and I decided to extend our clean eating challenge for the unforeseeable future while scheduling a cheat meal every 10 days. It isn't sensible to give myself a fitness/weight goal and only give myself 2 weeks to get there. It took longer than 2 weeks to put it on, so its going to take longer than 2 weeks to get it off. When you take the time to eat right and exercise you're going to change your body for the long term. there are no quick fixes. A friend of mine sent me a quote today that I will leave with you. This can pertain to any goal you have, fitness or non-fitness. No one can force you to make the right decision. Only you can.

Fitness Gadgets...Are You In The Zone?

I'm usually not one for too many fancy things when it comes to working out, but there is 1 item that I believe could be your make it or break it item when it comes to reaching your goals! What is it? Why thank you for asking! A Heart Rate Monitor!

Now, During these last few weeks, I have been getting up early to work out and eating clean with the exception of very few cheat meals. Now I've already talked about how each cheat meal has been awful, made me break out and upset my stomach. It's important to find the right balance of food and workouts. For me this has been difficult to find out how much I should be eating vs. how much I am working out. 3 Days/week I actually workout twice. I teach my Group Exercise class in the evenings in addition to my morning lift session. I have been trying to be diligent and trust the process, but the one thing I was missing was my heart rate monitor. I decided to strap it on yesterday morning, just to see how high my heart rate was getting during my lift sessions and HIIT sessions. There is no doubt I have felt fatigued, so of COURSE my heart rate was where it needed to be right? WRONG. I found out my heart rate was NO where NEAR where it needs to be for my HIIT training, therefore I have not been able to be as successful in accomplishing my goals! No wonder! I had the opportunity in College to find out that my actual max heart rate is 201 so I can better get an idea of where I need to be.

Finding your target heart rate is essential for training in the proper zone to be more efficient with your workouts. Here are the steps you can take to calculate your own target heart rate zone.

1. When you first wake up measure your resting heart rate for 60s (or 10s multiplied by 6)
2. Next determine your Max heart rate with this simple formula. Take your age and subtract that from 220
3.  Plug in the information to get it figured out!
Target Heart Rate = [(Maximum Heart Rate – Resting Heart Rate) × %Intensity] + Resting Heart Rate

I will use mine as an example for 50% of my max and 85% of my max. I am 25, my most recent resting heart rate taken at the doctors office last week was 50bpm with my max HR being 195 according to the calculation. (220-25)

For a 50% Target Heart Rate: [(195 − 50) × 0.50] + 50 = 122 bpm
For a 85% Target Heart Rate: [(195 − 50) × 0.85] + 50 = 173 bpm

You can see that my target heart rate has a very wide range 122-173bpm. For my HIIT sessions my heart rate should be closer to 170-180 rather than 122. This has been my missing ingredient! I'm not sure why I stopped using my monitor in the first place, but I am excited to get it moving again! I use a Polar HR Monitor. With any Monitor you want to make sure it is accurate and of good quality. If it doesn't come with a chest strap, I'm sorry, but it may not be that accurate.

On a side note, I think my cute adorable little child is turning into a crazy animal! People always tell you this happens, but they are so cute you just think, "nahhh not my little cutie!" We are excited to see this crazy lady grow up!

 I have a friend whom I have known for about 9 years now who has been completing her own Clean eating challenge with her family. She has some great clean and delicious recipes as well if you want to take a look! Check out her blog here I have also added a few extra snack recipes in the Recipe Section!
Until next time, try to do 1 random act of kindness this week. Maybe no one will know you did it, except the person you did it for!

Death By Food

This weekend was fantastic, I got to meet my newest nephew, see a large portion of my family, reconnect with college friends, see my old roommate and make some new friends! This weekend was also the end of 2 weeks of clean eating. I lost a total of 4lbs so far, but the biggest thing is I can see a difference in my muscle definition and my digestive system. This is a good sign we are on the right track to where we want to be! Justin and I were REALLY looking forward to our cheat meal over the weekend, but he doesn't really experience cravings for things like I do, so I think I was a little more excited than he was. My mouth was salivating just thinking about eating bread!
Let me tell you, I didn't expect what happened next. It turned out to be the worst weekend for my body. Almost immediately I could tell my stomach was upset, I just assumed it would go away...did it? No way, as the weekend progressed the more bloated and sick I began to feel. It wasn't that feeling of "oh I'm going to get sick" it was a distinct feeling my body was telling me to STOP giving it processed foods and sugar. By the end of memorial day we began the trek home late at night so Dakota would sleep the whole way home, and Justin and I couldn't help but say..."I cannot wait to eat clean again."
It was truly amazing to see how my body began to react to the food I was putting in it. My face started to show some blemishes and my digestive system was trying to kill me slowly from the inside out. As delicious as the food tasted, I can honestly say I do NOT want to eat anything for dinner besides Chicken and veggies. I did not take a picture this morning, to give my body time to detox a little bit today and rid itself from that bloated feeling, but I will be taking one this week to properly document the positive changed my body is making.

Proper nutrition is Key in what fitness goal you have, you have the power to mold yourself into exactly what you want it to be. The question is will you? Don't let anyone/anything turn you off your path!

I did not try any new recipes this week, #1 we just got back from our weekend trip, #2 we just loved our spaghetti squash Pad Thai so much we really wanted it again!

Happy Tuesday all!

Overcoming Obstacles

Week 1 is done! I would be lying if I told you all my cravings are gone...because they are definitely not! I have not weighed myself this week yet and I don't plan on it either. I can tell differences without the scale, for instance, I noticed more muscle definition while working out (finally!), I am no longer bloated, and I feel better throughout the day. Those are fantastic non-scale victories.

Today I worked out my legs and let me tell you I have a love hate relationship with leg day...not only because it challenges me with weights, but because I have such bad knees I need to get through it mentally rather than physically. I have arthritis in my left knee (yes arthritis at 25) as well as what is known as "chondromalacia" this is just a big word for..my knee-cap doesn't want to track my knee joint correctly. According to the orthopedist and my Physical Therapist, all I can do for it is rehab it, but I am not actually injuring it even though I feel pain. Both of these conditions combined leaves me with excessive pain and a nice excuse not to get my workout in or to not push myself as hard as I should. I decided I don't need anymore excuses, I encouraged myself with all the reasons why I was working out in the first place as the pain would zing through my knee telling me to stop, but I press onward. What is the point you ask? We all have obstacles we face everyday, some take more time to move than others and some we are allowing to be our way out...our "excuse" to not finish what we started. Everyone's obstacle is different and overwhelming to each individual. Find what motivates you and push forward, think of all the reasons you CAN do it rather than all the reasons you can't. I have those reasons too, I'm tired, the house is a wreck, I have no help, I need to cook dinner, I have a screaming child at my feet wanting me to hold her, I have friendships to maintain, I need to spend time with my family..etc. The list can go on forever. All of these things are apart of life. We cannot simply put a pause on life so we can achieve our goals. Your goal may be school related, fitness related, family related or anything really! It doesn't matter what your goal is, take the necessary steps when needed to achieve those goals. Every second of every day matters. Every decision you make forms your future, think about the decisions your making and take a step in the right direction to move toward the future you want and don't blame anyone else for your shortcomings. Its taken me a year to lose the baby weight from Dakota and I am still working on that, but that was my choice. I chose to convince myself that it was "too hard" as I ate pizza and drank wine (side note these are OK with moderation) while complaining that I wasn't comfortable in my own skin. It doesn't work that way.

I am a big believer in finding someone to be in your corner. My husband is my biggest advocate. He supports me in everything I do. When I tell him I am heavier than I want to be, he just tells me I'm beautiful, but he will help me to whatever it is I would like to do. When I told him I want to start eating better his response was, "well lets do this together then, I will eat what you eat and I'll be on your butt so if you wanna do this lets do it right." It IS hard when your spouse/partner does not see your goals as important, but that shouldn't stop you. Find a group or a friend who DOES support and encourage you every step of the way and if you don't have one. You let me know! I will be that person for you, because you CAN achieve anything you want.

This week I decided to try a new Recipe...Its called Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai and boy was it yummy! Its hard to portion size when something tastes so good, but not impossible :) You'll find the recipe in the recipe section.

Before I go I will share with you a few other things that happened during my first week of clean eating. On day 2 I was already tempted with cookies, wine, lemonade and bread! All of the wonderful things I love. On day 3 someone brought little baby cupcakes into the office and of course what I wanted to say was.."they are only baby cupcakes, 1 isn't going to derail me!" Let me tell you on both those days I said no. For me 1 will derail me because this is not only a physical challenge, but its a mental one. I chose not to give in and I felt so proud of myself. This was SUCH a small victory, but for me it was monumental! Other happenings? My sister turned 17, one of my best friends had her little boy Jase and I gained another nephew this week Mr. Logan Parker Murrell!! My heart is full.

So many wonderful things happen around us everyday, make the most of your day, fill it with love, honesty, and hard work for we do not know what day will be our last.