Re-Motivation Tuesday

Sorry folks! I have been Missing in Action and I know a few people were ready to put my face on the side of a milk carton but never fear, I AM BACK!

With the school semester starting at work, things have gotten crazy and so I was swamped with students, stories, and the tasks that i had to complete. Now that that has settled down a little bit, we are back with a new week full of challenges and stories that need to be dealt with.

This post comes a day later than usual but that's because I was hiking down in Southern Illinois yesterday and exploring nature or something like it. Humidity was in full swing as we took to the trails and did as many loops as we could handle before lunch and then we were off to the next park and exploring trails without maps.

This is one of my favorite quotes and I keep it close to my heart in all that I do in life, workouts, and faith. It's amazing how that first initial moment is the scariest and then it gets easier as you go.

Motivation Monday

This past week I was in Colorado visiting my mom and stepdad. Being in the altitude was something that I knew would affect my runs and marathon training but I figured that I would push through it. Oh man, talk about a struggle. I started out my 14 mile run on the treadmill in the office. At mile 7, the treadmill stopped working, I BROKE IT! Geez. So then I took it to the outside. I found a 2-mile loop through the neighborhood but it was characterized by a major hill that i dreaded. But i pushed through. I had to stop and walk several times but I completed my run and felt awesome at the end. I didn't even look at my time since I knew that my time would suck but I completed it which was the big thing.

Keep it up!

relax before bed with these 5 simple moves

Many people have a hard time shutting off their brain in the evening but these five moves from Fitness will allow you to seek out a more restful sleep.

Upside Down Relaxation (2 minutes) 
- Sit facing a wall (or your headboard) with your butt about 6 inches away from it.
- Lie back and extend your legs up the wall.
- If this is too intense a stretch for your hamstrings, slide your butt farther away from the wall.
- If it's not enough, scoot closer.
- Let your arms rest by your sides, palms facing up, and breathe gently, feeling the stretch in the backs of your legs.

Winding Down Twist (1 minute) 
- Sit cross-legged on the bed and exhale as you place your right hand on your left knee and left hand on the bed behind your tailbone.
- Gently twist your torso to the left.
- Allow your gaze to follow, looking over your left shoulder. Breathe deeply, then return to center and repeat on opposite side.

Nighttime Goddess Stretch (2 minutes) 

- Lie on your back with knees bent.
- Place the soles of your feet together, then let your knees fall open, forming a diamond shape with your legs.
- Rest your arms on the bed.
- If you feel any strain, elevate your legs by placing a pillow underneath each knee.

Child's Pose (2 minutes) 
- Sit up comfortably on your heels.
- Roll your torso forward, bringing your forehead to rest on the bed in front of you.
- Lower your chest as close to your knees as you comfortably can, extending your arms in front of you.
- Hold the pose and breathe.

Rock-a-Bye Roll (2 minutes) 
- Lying on your back, hug knees in to chest.
- Cross your ankles and wrap both arms around your shins with clasped hands.
- Inhale and rock your body up to sit; exhale as you roll back.
- Continue for 1 minute, then roll back, extend arms and legs, and drift off to sleep.

Several of these are moves that I can be seen doing while cooling down from a cardio workout so why not do them when trying to "cool down" from the day. Sweet dreams!

Motivation Monday

Trial and Error is the story of my life right now. I am working in my marathon training schedule with a new job and all kinds of new opportunities that keep coming up to me. While exciting, it is forcing me to really buckle down and schedule my days out. My long runs are constantly switching days and will either be Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday based off of what is going on. I wish that the sun came out earlier so that I could do my long runs before work instead of after. But oh well. We push on. The key to my success has been perseverance and maintaining the course set before me.

5 months later...my transformation story

March 2012
A week after starting the challenge

Who would have guessed the difference that a few months can make. It's been 5 months since I made the decision to change my life and get to healthier me. In March I decided to take on a 90-day Beachbody challenge and use all of "those tools" that I would read about in fitness and health magazines to find a healthier me.

I ordered the TurboFire Challenge Pack with Shakeology and made the commitment to try it out for 90 days. Instead of looking it as a 90 daunting days of working out, I made the decision to look at it as one day at a time. I made a food journal page and bought a small notebook to tape these pages into so that I could carry it with me in my purse. I scheduled my workouts for mornings, 5am!! And then it began. I took my starting measurements: Weight 164lbs, Chest 38", Right Arm 11.6", Left Arm 11.6", Waist 36.6", Hips 42.8", Right Leg 24.8", Left Leg 25". My pant size was a 14 approaching 16. I wrote these down and committed to never see numbers like this ever again.

The journey began with my friend Rachel coming over in the morning to do the workouts with me but then schedules got crazy and she couldn't anymore. This is a point when many would "fall off the wagon" but I made the conscious effort to keep on and so kept pressing play on my TurboFire workouts. I loved doing the workouts because they were fun and after a month of doing many of the routines, I found that I was able to focus on my form and make sure that I was doing every movement correctly. After 2 months of TurboFire I decided to start training for a half-marathon which then turned into a full marathon. I am up to running double digit numbers as my long runs and have crossed over to being one of those people that takes cold/ice baths after my long runs.

Working out is not the key to my success and transformation. Diet was a major part of it too. People who know me will tell you that I love tasty food and ABSOLUTELY refused to deprive myself of anything that I wanted to eat. I began following blogs that provided tasty food that was healthy. I was not afraid of google searching for healthy alternatives. Myfitnesspal became my best friend when out at restaurants because I could quickly look up food caloric contents so that I would be able to make informed decisions when eating out or traveling. As a part of the Beachbody Challenge I was also using Shakeology which i found curbed my desire for sweets as well as helped with recovery and keeping myself healthy while working out. While it is investment, it pales in comparison to where I was before in terms of my health. To this day, I have my Shakeology every day. My favorites are Chocolate Mocha or Strawberry Lime. Delicious!!

At the conclusion of the 90-day challenge which was in May, I was down around 15 pounds as well as noticed that I was gaining what has been deemed as "Turbo" arms and some tightening in my midsection. I was still wearing a size 12 pants but there was definitely some "saggy butt" going on in these pants. I submitted my results to Beachbody and received my TurboFire tank for completing the program.

I focused on my marathon training for a few weeks and then I was ready for a new challenge as well as was approached by a few people to help them on their fitness journey. I took a break from Beachbody programs to focus on helping others and it led to me helping out with a 5K training group at my church which is currently entering its 3 week of a 10 week program. I am so proud of all of the participants. With this program underway an opportunity to become a coach for Beachbody and help out others on their journey was given to me. I signed up and bought Brazil Butt Lift(BBL) which has produced some great results in people who have completed the program. I am using it on "no run" days so we shall see the changes that it produces after a month. My measurements when I started BBL, one week ago, were Weight 147lbs, Chest 35", Right Arm 10.5", Left Arm 10.5", Waist 31", Hips 38", Right Leg 21", Left Leg 21". I am currently wearing a size but I think that I will be going down a pant size in another month since these are starting to get a little loose.

Overall weight loss in 5 months is...

17 pounds and 23.4 inches 

and I'm still going.

There are not more bulges on my side and I feel confident in wearing a skin tight t-shirt dress. 5 months ago I would have worn Spanx underneath as well as covered it up with a sweater so that no one could see my stomach/hip bulge.

Faith, Commitment, and Fun have gotten me to this point in my life and I couldn't be happier. Thanks for reading my story. ~Lovebug

Motivation Monday

This was one of the first bible verses that I looked at when planning the 5K training and bible study group that I am helping with at church. Even though it has been 3 weeks, I am still holding tight to this passage for it truly keeps me focused on the path ahead.

Today is an 11 mile day for me in my marathon training and this morning I was only able to get 8 miles in before it was time for me to get ready for work. So I already have a date with myself to bust out the last 3 miles this evening. It would be so easy to fall into the... well I already did a run this morning so I don't need to do another 3 miles this evening... but that would only be cheating myself. Where did cheating myself ever get me... oh that's right, heavier and unhealthier. Never again will I cheat myself out of the plan set before me.

Motivation Monday

I started Brazil Butt Lift today and 'Oh my word' was I sweating up a storm. I am so excited to see what kind of changes happen around my mid-section with the program. Squats are my new best friend apparently.  I took my starting photos and measurements this morning and I am so excited to say that I have broken through the 150 lb barrier. I have 4 more pounds to lose and then I will be at my goal that I set on Team Beachbody when I started doing TurboFire in March.

Marathon training is going well and tonight I will be running 10 miles. I can't believe that I am at the 10 mile mark this week. I had to switch up my schedule to accommodate for my new weekend job at the dog kennel. This week I will post a story from this weekend and how thumbs truly separate the human and dog dynamic.

I can't even begin to express how excited I am about this new challenge in my fitness life and love that you all are her with me for the journey.

Interested in learning more about my Beachbody journey or trying it out for yourself? Visit my website or message me for details.