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Blog Withdraw

Posted in Daily struggles, Family, Fitness, Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

It hasn’t been that long….but, it feels like it!!

This has been a crazy weekend, starting with our winter trip to the zoo. Before you have me committed, let me explain!!! There was a really nice giraffe lady that told us to come in the winter because many of the animals are more active and vocal during the cold months. So…we decided to brave the cold….and it was WORTH it!! Not only did we learn that our (<–yes we’ve staked claim) giraffe has finally become pregnant, but holy crap the animals were relishing the cold weather. The lions were playing…and growling like crazy, the elusive red panda was playing in the snow, oh and we learned the zoo has a Starbucks. It was fantastic! Not to mention…no one goes to the zoo when it’s cold so we practically had the place to ourselves. 🙂 We learned the birds created this beautiful 200lb nest in the atrium, which we’ll be posting pictures of, and when the cold became too much there were plenty of indoor exhibits to warm up in. 🙂 By far, it was one of my favorite trips to the zoo.

Aside from that, we also had my sister’s birthday and birthday party. Talk about chaos….*groan*. Currently, we are working on science fair projects…right before bed time. -.-

I failed slacked on my eating and workout plan. BUT!!! Tomorrow is a new day and we’ll be right on track again. Early morning run down will go as follows: 5am alarm, 15-20 min of yoga, 1mile run, 1st day of Insanity, then of course…..breakfast!!!! Oh..did I forget to mention my brother put Insanity on my phone so we could transfer it to the computer…? I will start it tomorrow, and I’m taking weekly photos that I may or may not post on here. Eff it….we’ve all been there right? By this time next year…the goal is to be the healthiest I’ve ever been in my life! Fit and strong…not skinny fat, not underweight, not starving.

I make it a point to let you know when I screw up as well as when I’m doing well, so that you know you’re not alone. The key idea is to stay positive and never give up. So you ate that extra slice of pizza….evaluate, learn, and keep going!

Hopefully everyone is having a great weekend!!!

–T

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Falling off the Bandwagon???

Posted in Daily struggles, Fitness, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Well, get back on that proverbial bandwagon….don’t just lay there in the dust!! Don’t beat yourself up either, it’s ok to slip up. Your training yourself to become healthier and it doesn’t happen over night. Just take a deep breath and grab some water….start again. I would say start over, but that sounds so dooming and technically you are not starting over! You’re still going. 😀

Let me share yesterday’s experience with you….

Once upon a time….wait…wrong kind of story. My bad.

I woke up ohhhh, about an hour late!! Rushed to grab a quick breakfast, throw on clothes, and run into the out the door. I made it to school ten minutes late, realizing I forgot a lunch and snacks. *doh* Since I’m in school from 7 am to 3 pm, this was my biggest mistake of the day! By the time I finally got home my tummy hated me….I ate candy, cookies, an apple and two helpings of dinner. Feeling guilty and bloated, I didn’t even work out. -.-

Buuuut, today is a new day and I had the breakfast of champions!!! My water is ready….and as soon as the kids hop on the bus, p90x yoga will be kicking my ass. I’ll do an extra session of working out this evening and call it a day. My rest day for the week turned into yesterday so I’ll be working straight through the weekend. Improvising is my best friend.

Next time you feel like you’ve slipped, don’t let it be permanent!!! Drink lots of water to flush out your system, and make better choices from then on. Never give up. 🙂

Until next time

–T

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Progress already!?!?!

Posted in Daily struggles, Fitness, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Obviously, when you start working out, after a few sessions YOU can notice progress. Like, when you can wake up in the morning with out exhaustion, or it’s a little easier each time to do those lunges, OR you just feel a million times better all around. Being my third week of training myself…I never thought other people would start noticing differences! D says to me the other day…..your sides are way smaller…..me: REALLY! 😀 Thanks babe…….D: And your stomach….Me: 😀 <–super cheesy grin, no words needed. So I am doing something right after all! Oddly enough, because she seen those small results, it makes me want to push harder! If within three weeks she can really see differences…imagine what I would’ve had if I had done that extra something. 😛 I should’ve taken before and after photos….:( But, I suck. Sorry.

I just had to share my joy!!! 🙂 Now it’s time for my 30 minute interval run….ai-ai-aiyyy.

–T
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Step Off that Scale!!!

Posted in Daily struggles, Fitness, Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

For those of you who are trying to lose weight, do you catch yourself running to the  scale often?

…….STOP!!! The cardinal rule is to only weigh in once a week to track progress. When you are working out and building muscle….sometimes those numbers don’t drop like they’re expected too. Do NOT get discouraged…you are gaining muscle weight while you work out. On top of noting your start weight, you should be measuring key areas of your body, along with body fat percentage. With body fat…unless you have a scale that tells you all the fancy stuff, you would need calipers. Or go to a gym and have them do it for you. 😀 If those numbers aren’t changing then…you need to rethink your workouts and eating plan. But, if they are changing and the scale’s not….you’re doing fine!!!

(Here’s an explanation on how to measure your body with a tape measure.)

http://www.livestrong.com/article/267099-how-to-measure-body-parts/

The only reason I bring this up today is because I caught myself hopping on the scale every morning. (Old habits die-hard) As my brain started doing that thing it does….you know over working, thinking too much, becoming paranoid…..I had to reality check myself! I’m not even trying to lose weight! Goals are different for me these days….muscle, strength, flexibility, stamina, health…..not skinny, size zero, sickly, and bony. So trust me when I tell you, I know how easy it can be to slip from reality. You just have to remind yourself of what you’re doing this for!!! Stay positive, write down your goals, and every once in a while reality check yourself! Find someone who will motivate and push you in the right direction.

Things to remember: 1lb of fat takes up more space than 1lb of muscle, but 1lb of muscle weighs more than 1lb of fat.

I believe in you, and so should you 🙂

–T

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*Disclaimer*

Posted in Daily struggles, Fitness, Life, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I don’t know if that’s the right title for this, but I felt like I should share a little bit of my history with you. Reading my blog, I probably sound like some tree hugging, yoga loving, nutritional nut job….well I am. HAH! But, it hasn’t always been the case. It took a long time for me to get to the emotional place I am at now, and I had a lot of help along the way. My wife was my number one fan and contributor to getting me on a healthy track. She saved me in so many ways, I’m not sure she even realizes it. I’ll try to put this all in a nutshell so you don’t have a 3 page load of nonsense.

In high school/middle school years, I struggled with my body image.( You know those awkward teenage years where things aren’t really growing in to each other, and other things are….well just plain awkward.) Living in a home that placed high value on size “skinny”, I started skipping a few meals here and there. We all know where that leads. Having kids only worsened my self-esteem. I HATED my body and I didn’t have the courage, willpower, drive, or whatever word you want to use, to do something about it.

In 2007, I joined the military. You want to talk about working on fitness….holy cow!!! Oh, and they make you eat in training. Slowly I was feeling better about myself, but not nearly where I should’ve been. (Looking back at pictures, I go holy hell look at that booottyyy!!) Once I got to the part where I could workout and eat whenever I wanted….I stopped…doing both for the most part. I kept running for a while, but it does no good when you’re suffering nutritionally.

Then I met my beautiful, loving, crazy wife. She made me happy….I still struggled with my image and eating, though. By the end of the first year she started realizing I was only eating with her. (oops) I had gotten down to 115-118lbs at 5’3″, with absolutely no muscle strength. I was “skinny fat”. Actually, I looked pretty disgusting. Let me tell you how bad I felt all the time too!!! I was tired, grouchy, lethargic, bored, moody, depressed….I had a hard time focusing at work and balancing my family life. D was a persistent woman though, she was always encouraging me and telling me I was beautiful. We had so many talks about self-esteem, food, and the list goes on. I cannot tell you at what point I decided to believe her, but I did and ohhh boy did I start eating.

I still wasn’t eating healthy, I was just eating….whatever I wanted….everything I wanted!! Because I knew no matter what D would always be there, and I started believing that the only opinion that truly mattered was my own. Both of those things are so very true….but, I started putting on weight…like the bad kind. I got up to almost 140lb, which is by no means heavy or fat! But, when you’re not working out or eating the right kind of foods, the weight is just pure fat. I started to get that feeling again….panic….clothes weren’t fitting, I jiggled, I didn’t have much more energy than before…..then I told myself to shut up. Remember those two things I realized? Yeah, they still applied!!! So I decided to work on my eating habits and my fitness habits….and here we are today. I’m 134.4lbs (give or take), some of my jiggle is more of a bounce now hahaha, and I feel great!!! Every day I get stronger and stronger…..I’m rarely tired or lethargic…..I no longer try to be “skinny” (or twiggy, whatever you wanna call it)….I try to be fit, strong, healthy, a good mama, and a good wife. My family keeps me going, and I should keep going for them! Besides….what would they do with out me ;).

Every person has their own struggles, so don’t get discouraged!!! The only person who can make positive changes in your life is YOU, and you have to want it for the right reasons. 🙂

 

Until next time

-T

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Workout Switch-up

Posted in Fitness, Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2013| 2 Comments »

My rest day was so long! I did end up going out for a short walk….I made it all the way to the drive way before I realized the snow would not let me go anywhere. Even today the snow is absolutely relentless. Instead of doing the runner’s thingy that was planned for 5am, I had to improvise. To become a good runner you need cardio and stamina, so I quickly made a list of exercises that helped from the Army and created a circuit. The list is as follows: Do each for 1:00 with 20 sec rest

-Jumping Jacks (go hard!!!)

-Mountain climbers

-Speed-skaters

-Jumping Jacks

-Plank (every runner needs a good core)

-Squat Jumps (as high as you can go)

-Jumping Jacks

-High knees (fast, fast, fast)

-Run in place ( fast fast fast)

-Jumping Jacks

-Jump Rope

-Reverse Plank

-Toe Touches

-Jumping Jacks

I did one round of this because it’s kind of long. Then I went to my Brazilian butt workouts. (The goal for today was to work on my abs down) Once I finished with that, I did P90X ab ripper!!!! Then I completed another circuit…sort of, by then my legs and hip flexors were in absolute muscle failure, but I pushed myself to do as much as I could until I couldn’t do anymore! Remember, your mind gives up before your body does. Tell yourself that every workout. When it starts to hurt, push harder!!! Of course, I had to do some major stretching after that. I concentrated mostly on my abs, hips, and legs to help prevent injury. All in all today was a great day for me. 🙂

Until next time,

-T

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Sunday is the Day of Rest

Posted in Daily struggles, Fitness, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 3, 2013| 5 Comments »

So you guys know yesterday I woke up praying to not have to work out. Determination shone through and I busted my a** through a one hour workout. How come today, which is supposed to be my rest day, I’m itching for some cardio and strength training? Maybe it’s like a reverse psychology thing….”you can’t work out today” “Psh, watch me”. Just to reaffirm the need for my rest day, I decided to look up a few sites and see what they had to say…LiveStrong says I better bench myself for the day if I want my muscles to repair. UGH! FINE! According to them, you need about 48 hours for muscles to repair…which is why most workouts have you in a different muscle group everyday. Looks like I will be hitting the books and doing some homework for the day. (The wifey will be so proud of me 😀 ) Now, I also learned that light exercise can be ok on a rest day….but, since I have no idea how to “light” exercise, I will be breaking for the whole day.

Tomorrow is a new week, and I’m so very excited because I start my runner’s training. Snow or no snow I will be hitting the pavement with my sister-in-law! Week one is a 20 minute walk each day (mon-fri), doing 4minute intervals of speed walking to 1minute intervals of pace walking. Since I haven’t been a runner in about ohhh, 3 years, I want to make sure I condition my body right. The goal is to be able to run a 5k by June, and a half marathon by August. There’s also a lot of charity walks my sister and I are planning to do. We have the Red Cross Heart Walk, Breast Cancer Awareness walk, and I believe there’s another one somewhere in the middle that I can’t seem to remember……gah! I hate when it’s right there on the tip of your tongue….and you just can’t grab it. LOL!! The point is, when you want to do something you need to set goals for yourself. Don’t blow anything out of the water…like, “in three months I want to ride my bike across the country in 4 days”.  Set one major goal to reach in a reasonable amount of time, and smaller goals that will help you achieve the big kahuna. So, my major goal is to run a half marathon. Smaller goals: Make it through each week without quitting, run a 5k, be able to run for 20 minutes with no stops. <—I can achieve those in a decent amount of time and they will help me get to my half marathon!

OH!!! I almost forgot to share that yesterday I, once again, started not smoking. Well, I’m trying. I’ve done very well!! D has been a major help by kicking my butt every time I whine for a smoke. All together I may have smoked one cigarette yesterday and so far none today. This is a major step in my progress to getting healthy. The only thing I noticed is I get food cravings…dun dun duuuun. I broke down a little yesterday and had a handful of Reese’s Mini’s……but, when I ate them I was like “ew”.  They didn’t even taste that good anymore! 😀 So, I started drinking a ton of water to fill my need for a craving. I find that it’s a lot easier for me to control urges when i have a water bottle on me at all times because sometimes they’re just boredom. When I start fidgeting with my water bottle and drinking it, the urge goes away. It’s like magic, except more useful :D.

How do you control cravings?

Replace old habits with new ones: Every time I want to smoke I’m going to do 50 crunches, leg lifts, or a 1 minute plank. That should help with the ciggy craving and sculpt my abs! 🙂

Now, it’s time for me to do some homework and ….not smoke, or work out, orrrrrrr eat garbage.

 

food-cravings-1-291x300food-cravings-2-300x288 <—what are you craving?

 

 

Until next time ❤

-T

 

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Burning Means Earning

Posted in Daily struggles, Fitness, tagged , , , , on February 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

This morning was another obstacle. Staying in bed to sleep until noon seemed so much better than working out in the am. Not to mention, every muscle in my body is on fire! When I woke up I was contemplating today being a rest day…..then I said to myself…rest days are on Sunday’s. That’s only one more day away, so I woke up at 8:30a and did my yoga….added a little p90x abs, and you know what? By the time I was finished I felt so damn good that I dont even remember why I wanted to skip out!!

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Until next time
-T

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HOLY MORNING CRAZY!!!

Posted in Fitness, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Ever have those mornings where everything goes wrong one after another?? Yep….that was me today. Even though I woke up late I still planned my day accordingly. My morning Yoga was the only workout I could fit in before school. So, the “adjustment” plan is to get home around 3:30 and do HIIT workouts until 4pm followed by some intense core and arm strength training. Then I’ll repeat yoga and maybe take the dog for a walk with the kids.

So, sometimes your schedule will get messed up and things will go all cray cray….don’t worry. Have a plan B! Do extra things throughout the day that will help with that missed workout blues. Force yourself to sit straight while tightening your core on the drive to work….better yet if you can, walk to work! Waiting for a copier?? Do calf lifts!! (I’ll post a link to some great at work excersices at the end of this blog.) Right now, I’m in the library at school….doing a V-sit while I type this. It’s the little things that will make all the difference in the end….<–that’s what I tell myself when I feel whiney. 😉 I have to remind myself it takes 21 days to form a habit…keep working, keep working….

Breakfast: Banana peanut butter smoothie (YUM)

Snack: Almonds

Lunch: turkey, lettuce, tomato, hummus on whole grain wheat bread (hummus is a great sandwhich spread and way healthier than mayo!!!)

2nd snack: cottage cheese with strawberries

 

It doesn’t seem like a lot when I write it all down, but I’m pretty much eating every two hours. Then for dinner I eat around six and drink lots of water until bed. So far it’s been a week with my healthy eating and I’m feeling more energized, fuller, and less “blah”. I’m also still learning a lot about the right foods to eat, and what does what for what. (<–Say that five times fast…..readyyyyy…..GO!!) Is there a nutritionist in the house? Even though I don’t have all the good for you stuff, I still make a gallant effort to eat healthy. Benefits are already noticeable and I am in LOVE!

Oh snap, it’s almost class time, I needed to get in one more blog!!! Gah!

http://pinterest.com/brockcomm/workplace-workouts/ <—As promised 😀

 

Stay focused!

-T

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