The Road to Starting Back Over…

Normally when I become more active writing blogs and then suddenly disappeared it has always been because I was either too lazy or too busy to keep up. Sadly that has not been the case for the last 2 months.

Back in April (hard to believe it has been that long), one of my shoulders was giving me a hard time. This has happened before and I usually resort, as I did this time, to just focusing on lower body work. I did a week of that and then one day I woke up and my knee was in excruciating pain. It hurt to walk, to sit, to stand…to function really.

I can talk until the cows come home about foot pain, shoulder pain, ankle pain, etc but I had never had any problems with my knees…EVER!

I thought maybe I just had some tissue buildup that I could work through with the foam roller and taking it easy.

Except…

It didn’t work. That entire next week I was in pain all the time and any movement aside from what I had to do was limited. When I realized it was getting better, I slowly started to sink into a mild depression.

I don’t consider myself the perkiest person in the world, but I am pretty positive, and very optimistic but if you take away the one of the most important things in my life…exercise and more importantly extreme exercise…I found out the hard way I sort of lose my way.

Two weeks of hanging low and sinking deeper into a slow depression, I finally snapped out of it and got back on the road to starting over. I reminded myself that I can still move, and I need to, even if slowly.

It has been a painful (literally and figuratively speaking) road. I went from PR’ing in some of my lifts and feeling good a few months ago, to literally being on the recumbent bike for 20mins before my knee couldn’t take it any more. Slowly I have been able to rehab the area and I am back to being able to do some more intense workouts. Still not squats or lunges, and getting down and up off the floor is still a challenging process.

I realized along the way I am used to having a little ache and working through it, instead of fixing it. This whole experience has made me go right back to the drawing board and take the time to fix some important movement patterns in my body that I had been ignoring.

It is humbling to not just take a step back but start back from scratch. Today was actually the first day I got done with a workout and didn’t feel like my knee was gonna freeze up on me and I thought what a perfect day to start blogging again.

I have had enough conversations with so many of you and hear all the time of the ‘glory days’ or pre-this or pre-that and now I kinda get it.

I am not one to spill my own beans but I wanted to share my experience because I know someone is either there or has been there. Starting over is tough, time consuming, humbling, and honestly depressing sometimes but if you don’t start back over you become stagnate and stop growing. It doesn’t matter if it’s fitness, family, relationships, weight, business, etc, it’s not healthy to stay in that place.

Starting back over may mean some big decisions and it may mean you have to put your adults underpants on but I promise you will be better because of it and you might actually surprise yourself when you get to the other side at how strong you really are!

Start back over!

 

Stop beating yourself up!

Why do you keep beating yourself up? Seriously why?

I know you are frustrated that you ate the cookie, or had another glass of wine but beating yourself up about it isn’t going to help anything.

Sometimes you have to learn to celebrate the small successes you have. I know they don’t seem like much but maybe they are.

Maybe you did have the extra glass of wine or the cookie, but maybe you also got in all your cardio this last week and maybe you finally took your vitamins for 5 days in a row. It’s so easy to lose sight of what we are doing right for what we are not doing right.

There was a good stretch of time where I beat myself up all the time for my small infractions. I would binge (yes, I even I would binge eat) or skip a workout and would feel horribly guilty in the hours or days that proceeded. I would go to extreme measures to make up for it, when in fact all I was doing was reinforcing this terrible guilt cycle.

Once I finally accepted that I was going to make mistakes and those mistakes didn’t define me, nor did they mean I needed to pay penance for days on end, I actually was able to move past them much quicker and on to better decisions.

See when you get trapped in bad decisions, either making them or making up for them, you are using precious time that you could be using to make better decisions.

Next time you make a bad decision, acknowledge that you made it, ask yourself why you made it, learn from it and move on. When you accept that you will make mistakes but those mistakes are only blips on the radar you are giving yourself back so much time and energy.

So really, stop beating yourself up!

 

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Who have you told?

Early on in my fitness journey, I thought I could do it on my own. I had been successful in losing 10lbs with a few small changes and thought the rest would be similar.

Boy was I in for a rude awakening!

After those first 10lbs everything became a little harder and much more difficult to stick to. When the weight wasn’t coming off as quickly and I had to make bigger changes I was finding it easy to go back into my old habits. I finally had a come to Jesus meeting myself and got a personal trainer. I really couldn’t afford her and I was scared to death but it was the best decision I could have ever made.

It wasn’t the best decision because she had a wealth of knowledge about health and fitness.

It wasn’t because she had an amazing physique.

It wasn’t because she made working out bearable.

But it WAS because she provided me with accountability. 

I was responsible to someone other then myself and that is what keep me going on to lose 75lbs and keep it off since then.

Even now as a personal trainer, I still have a coach. I still have people I am accountable to. I have told people what I want, and they keep me focused on my goals and take my hand through the challenges.

More often then not, in all areas of life, we have something we want to accomplish but we don’t tell anyone. We keep it to ourselves. We are too afraid that if we get a coach, or just share what we want with someone that we will fail.

The reality is…you might!

But you are much more likely to succeed if you are accountable to someone. Don’t be afraid of sharing your secret with someone, you might be pleasantly surprised at how much it helps you reach your goals.

So who have you told?

Intentional…

At the beginning of this year, I meet with my amazing mentor and we went over goals, etc for this year. One of the biggest goals for me this year was seemingly simple, I wanted to be more intentional with my life.

 We all have our dirty secrets. Mine happens to be getting caught up in my to-do lists or ‘busy work’ and never really moving the dial ahead. It’s my safe place and it don’t require a ton of effort. Sure the things on my list might be challenging but the risk is low.

 The tougher part is being intentional about everything I do and doing the right things at the right time to reach my personal and professional goals.

 Since the beginning of the year, I have committed to getting up earlier then I usually do to have time to meditate, stretch my body, enjoy a cup of coffee, write in my thankful journal, read for 10-15mins and then fill out my daily intentions worksheet. I wont look at my phone or computer until I am done with all of that. So no emails, no Facebook, nothing that can take my away from being centered and focused. I don’t want other peoples emotions, information or ideas in my head to start my day off with.

Wow, what a difference being intentional about my mornings has made. Instead of jumping into the email word, or randomly doing things, I know exactly what I need to accomplish and have a clear head to do so.

The great part about being so intentional is you really do get so much more done and your daily rituals are so much easier to stick to.

When I wasn’t doing this, I was still getting in all of my workouts but my mind was elsewhere while I was doing them. I was constantly thinking about everything I still needed to do. Now, I am present and engaged with each moment of my day. I get to enjoy conversations, people, and experiences so much more because I know what my intentions are for that day.

I wanted to share the sheet I have come up with in hopes that it may be helpful. You certainly don’t have to use it, and you can change it up to suite your needs but try using it or some variation for a week and see if it helps!

Just click on this link to access it…Daily Intentions

Be intentional this week…with your time…with your money…with your day…with your relationships…with your health…with your family…with everything!

The one thing for results…

I recently read a book called, ‘The One Thing’ by Gary Keller. The whole premise of the book talks about our need to focus on only one thing or at the most two but no more.

This whole idea of multi-tasking is not working and we are actually self-sabatoging our results when we play with too many balls in the air.

I got to thinking this is really true for any area of your life, including your health and fitness. Most people try to swallow the whole enchilada at once (no pun intended). They get the cool new running shoes, cute LuLulemon outfit, decide on their 5 day workout routine, but all the expensive ingredients for juicing, slip in a yoga class here and here, and so on and so on. Until 3 weeks later they are overwhelmed and toss in the towel.

What if we approached health and fitness a little different. What if we choose to lock in on only one habit before we moved to the next one.

What if we decided to take one step at a time….

Example:

You want to lose 30lbs. I’m gonna be honest, there are a lot of moving pieces to that journey but what if trying to do them all at the same time you put all of our effort into only one to start with. So for the next 30 days you are going to make sure you get in all of your water every day. You didn’t worry so much about what you ate, or if you skipped a workout, but you put all your focus on that one thing.

Fast forward 30 days and you decide to start getting in 3 days a week of cardio for 30 days.

Fast forward another 30 days and you decide to make sure you are eating 5 meals a day.

So on and so on!

6 months go by and you have created an entirely new lifestyle for yourself and the habits you need to lose the 30lbs are in place. I’m not a betting woman, but if I were, I would probably put money on you having already achieved your goals by then because these habits have already been locked into place.

So try this experiment out for me…

Write down a goal. Doesn’t matter if it is health and fitness related, financial, relational, spiritual, etc. Write it down!

Next list out all the habits it would take to reach that goal. Literally everything, including things are currently doing and/or not doing.

Then rank them in order of compliance. 1’s are easy to implement and might be something you are already doing, just not regularly, 5’s are a bit harder but with some extra effort can happen and 10’s are things you are not currently doing and you think would be hard to implement and stick to.

Start with a ‘1’ for the next 30 days. It may be an easy one but commit you will do it for 30 days. Every 30 days, keep the old habits going but add another and commit for those 30 days you will do it.

By the of a year you will be a completely different person with a totally new way of life in what ever area you decide to commit to.

Results….just one step at a time!

 

 

Building Healthy Habits

I recently finished a book called ‘The Power of Habit’ by Charles Duhigg. If you haven’t had the chance to read it, I am begging you to put it on your list. He really takes the time to break down how habits are created, why we keep them and most importantly how to change them.

Choosing to become healthy is really all about habits. It’s about routines, activities, and choices you make on a daily basis. It’s about changing a negative habit into something positive.

The book talks about a habit loop that we all are experiencing every time we do something. The loop: person A has a cue that triggers the habit, habit happens, and reward follows.

The trick to changing a habit is figuring out the trigger, and finding alternative habit that creates the same reward.

Sounds easy right? 😉 If only it were! But don’t give up hope because it’s totally doable.

So here is your homework for the week…

I want you to find a habit that you are currently doing that you want to change. Only one habit. Too many and you will lose focus and run the risk of changing nothing. I want you to experiment and every time you have the urge to engage with that habit, write down what the cue is. It could be a time of day, something you are watching, something you are eating, a person, etc. Write it down on a note card and keep track of it for about 2 weeks.

Now here is the harder part…

You have to figure out what reward you are really getting. Now on the surface it may be one thing but I really want you to take some time to see what is really going on.

The book uses an example of the author trying to change the habit of getting a cookie in the middle of the afternoon everyday. He thought it was because he really wanted a cookie, but when he started to replace and evaluate why he was doing it, it became clear he was really just looking for an opportunity to get up from his desk and visit with other people. The cookie was just the path to get there.

Check out this video put together by the author on his experience with this…

 

The habit of health is the most important habit you will ever have. A healthy body, translates into a health mind and a healthy world.

If you need help with trying to build healthier habits, please let me know!

http://www.mealprepblueprint.com

 

 

My Story…

Life takes you in all different directions. Back when I started this blog it was a means to share my thoughts and then it morphed into my training log and then, sadly, into nothing.

Well I am back at it and I have a lot more clarity…well for now anyways ;)!

As I was pondering on how to make my way back into the blogging world, I realized I have never really publicly shared my story, so grab a cup of coffee and sit back…

I grew up overweight. Like, I don’t remember time I wasn’t eating junk and ashamed of my body overweight. I won’t go into too many details by my dear grandmother adopted me at a very early age and bless her soul, she wasn’t a cook.

What did that mean for a 9 year old…McDonalds at least 4 days of the week. No lie!

Reading and video games were far more interesting to me then playing outside and I grew up in a sever hoarders home so I was too ashamed to bring friends over to engage with.

Fast forward to high school where I was becoming more aware of my weight and it’s internal, and social ramifications but I had no earthly idea how to change. My aunt bought me a gym membership at one point and I remember sporadically attending but walking around aimlessly for a few days before giving up entirely.

I started working at a bakery my senior year and you can only imagine what that meant for my weight and ultimately my self-esteem. I tried numerous time to run around my block but would give up at the end of the street because I thought my heart was going to burst open and I was going to die.

College was the straw that broke the camels back. It wasn’t the freshman 15, it was the freshmen 30 and on and on. One day I will share more of the emotional and mental side of all of this but for now we will keep it simple.

I don’t share this part with most people but my transformation was spared by an ex-boyfreind who didn’t want to date any more because I was the “fat girl.” Now hindsight I can look at the whole experience in a very positive light because it was when I changed my life but in the moment it was gut wrenching.  My weight had consumed my life and now it was destroying my relationships.

I knew I needed to do something, so I joined a local gym and got my first personal trainer. I can still remember those first couple of sessions. It was hard…uncomfortable…painful…and the task seemed impossible but I just kept going. Little by little the weight started to come off and for the first time in my life I felt good about myself and finally introduced the word confident in my vocabulary.

13 years later and I have lost 75lbs and still keep it off.

I wish I could tell you the story was easy. I wish I could tell you that making the smart, health decision is always the easy decision. I wish I could tell you that I never have days I don’t want to work out. I wish I could tell you that my body feels 100% all the time. I wish I could tell you the story is complete because I’ve lost the weight.

But I can’t tell you any of those things because…

The story is hard sometimes. I want to eat french fries and pizza sometimes instead of a salad. I want to go take a nap sometimes instead of workout and the story is still a daily choice, not even close to being finished.

I can tell you that deciding to become healthy was the best thing I have ever done in my life. I can tell you as a result of losing the weight, and keeping it off I feel like I can accomplish almost anything. I can also tell you that you can do it too.

Start your story today…

Subscribe here for tips, tricks, and the real story on staying fit and healthy!

 

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Day off

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A1. DB Split squat @3111; 8/leg x 4; rest 1 min

Didn’t have DB at box I was visiting/Used 26lbs KB instead

A2. Tempo Back Ext @41X2; 8-10 x 4; rest 1 min

B1. Single Arm OH DB Walking Lunges; 6 steps ea arm x 3 / 30sec rest

Didn’t have DB at box I was visiting/Used 26lbs KB instead

B2. Wall Walks x 3 / 2:00 rest

C1. Powell Raise 12,12,12/60sec rest

I have a 5lbs plate

C2. Anchored Sit-ups 25,25,25/60sec rest

+

4rds

20 Unbroken wall ball shots #14/9ft

rest walk 30s

30 DU

rest walk 30s

With the breaks it took me exactly 2mins for each round