Love your body

O.K.  I did not fall off the planet.  As I look back on the last three months, I realize there is no way I can recap everything!  Here is a quick summary since December 18.  I had a birthday!!  I love birthdays and I hope to always be happy and not care about my age with each passing year.  Live it up!  Here we are on my birthday run to Sunshine Cafe.January was long, cold, and snowy.  My sweet sister came out to stay with me for 2 1/2 weeks with her 3 kids while she had a surgery.  I was Doctor Holly for awhile.  Her 7 year old was recently diagnosed with diabetes and that made everything a little more complex, but I loved having her visit.  She lives far away in Connecticut!  I’ve skied, but not nearly enough.  Here are a few pics. from a trip with my brother and another with friends!  Love to ski (:

Then, my 10 year old daughter has been in several too many cheer competitions.  One of them taking us to the beautiful city of Portland!  We had such a great time.  A few of my friends came with their daughters too.

We saw many sights including Pittock mansion, Old Town, Portland LDS temple, and my favorite, Multinomah falls!  We ate at wonderful local restaurants trying everything.  I should have taken pictures of the food!  We had gourmet salads, sushi, curry, thai, mexican, italian, and of course we had to try the famous Voodoo doughnuts and the best ice cream store in the world, Salt and Straw.

We even made time to teach a HIGH class and go on a dreamy, rainy run!  It was tough to go home! 

Right now, I’m keeping busy with kids plays and activities.  Hopefully I’ll be more consistent on posting from here on out!  Spring is in sight and has given me new energy.  My healthy topic for the day is this:

A friend of mine sent this to me and said it reminded her of me.  I’m so glad!  This is why I work out.  Of course I have my own body image issues, I think everyone does, but focusing on the positive is always my motto.

Quick story!  My heart just broke in a million pieces this weekend.  I came home Saturday night and went to talk to my 15 year old daughter in her room.  I could tell something was wrong.  This week we decided to start a healthy challenge together with some of our friends.  We made many wonderful goals and rules to follow.  Some of them were exercise 30 minutes every day, no eating after 8 p.m., 3-5 fruits and veggies a day, and no junk food such as cookies, candy, chips, etc…Well, when I asked my daughter what was wrong, her eyes filled up with tears and she said, “I just want to eat what I want, when I want, and not worry about it.”  Oh my complete sadness to hear her say these words!  Our precious daughters are in a world of high body image ideals and expectations.  Media and people all around them tell them they need to look a certain way and what they should be doing to look prettier, be skinnier, and have everyone like you.  How I hope and pray she continues to grow up with confidence and happiness when it comes to her appearance.  We had a good talk and both cried and I told her to stop the challenge right then and there and that we would modify it to fit her needs.  I’ve been doing things like this for years and I didn’t realize that it would be too much for her to take all at once.  Remember as you embark on your own fitness journeys to make a plan just for you and only you and to set realistic goals.  Don’t compare yourself to anyone else.  If and when you mess up, do not beat yourself up about it.  Start fresh the next day and keep going.  I’m a pro at starting and restarting (:  If you can find one small thing to improve on each day then you’ve made your goal.  Love your body.  Eat.  Focus on the positive.  Never give up.  Smile.  You are unique, beautiful, and perfectly perfect just the way you are!     

Tips to stay motivated through the holidays!

November 10th and winter has arrived at our house!  Today I was thinking about what motivates me to exercise.  I know the way I think is not the norm so I was trying to think about the average person and what would help motivate them.  Two things came to mind.

The first was feeling good about your body.  You don’t have to be in the perfectly fittest shape to love your body right here and now.  When I feel good about myself I want to workout more.  Get rid of the negative thoughts about ANY body part.  Focus on what improvements you are working on and forget the rest.  For example, I thought the dumbest thing the other day.  Someone gave me a compliment on my arms and I instantly thought, “Well, what about my legs?”  They must not look good since they didn’t mention them.  OH!  Never do that!  I LOVE Demi Lovato’s new song, Confident!  Check it out:

Second motivator and almost more important than the first is to have a good support group or just ONE friend!  Today my friend and I taught our HIGH FITNESS class and we had our best turn out yet.  I looked around the room and almost every person had a friend there.  When it’s cold and 6 am, you need that!!

Crazy Fitness Friends!

This one is from 3 years ago!  My besties on a cold winter run.  Why oh why would I want to run in the dark and cold if I didn’t have my friends pushing me along.

Here are a few other ideas to keep you from gaining the dreaded holiday weight!

• Keep up with your workouts!  No matter how busy you get, don’t miss your workout.  When you stop exercising you start eating more and more of all the tempting food that’s everywhere this time of year.
• Eat healthy food often!  Don’t let yourself get too hungry and whatever you do, never go to a holiday party on an empty stomach.  Drink a big glass of water and eat something small before you go.  A little bit of protein and veggies is your best option.

Lastly, I have an amazing lower body/glute and ab workout for you to try brought to you by my favorite fitness gals, Amber Dodzweit and Jamie Eason.  I’ll be doing this tomorrow with my friends!

Have a wonderful day and stay warm.  I’m off to make lunch for my son and his friend now (:  Work Hard Forever!

Get fitter and healthier this summer!

Hello and Happy First Day of Summer!!!

Today was a successful and accomplished day!  I’m writing this between 2 baseball games so I’ll be quick!

Last weekend our family went camping for 2 days with my brother and his family.  When I say camping I mean 40 minutes away up a beautiful canyon sleeping in tent trailers and having my brother and his wife cook for us!  I love camping so much! (:  I did contribute the SMORES which I have to admit I went a little overboard!!  I really need to kick the habit of pigging out on the weekend.  This is the funniest thing!  One of my healthy challenge participants emailed me her weight loss success on her Garmin!!  It’s FANTASTIC!!

Now take a look at mine!

What the heck is wrong with me!?  That giant spike is 3 days!  Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (:  I have to say though I don’t believe it’s all REAL weight, whatever that means, because when I get home I lose about a pound a day for a few days!  SOOOO my new goal for the rest of the year is… to only have 3 TREAT days a month!  I have officially murdered my New Year’s Goals so now that I’m half way through the year I’m only going to work on this ONE goal!  I think that was my problem, I had too many goals!  What I really want to work on is recording EVERYTHING in MY FITNESS PAL.  When I want to eat too much of everything, I don’t record it (:  I don’t think I could handle seeing 5000 calories on one day!  I have also been ULTRA diligent with my Jamie Eason weight workouts.  Haven’t missed a day in 3 weeks except for last Saturday when we were hiking!  And once again after a strict clean diet, weightlifting is where it’s at!  I really need to cut out cardio next week because my stupid achilles pain flares up every time I do cardio!  I sat down and mapped out my SUMMER WORKOUT SCHEDULE!  This is like Christmas for me (:  Some days I’m sure it won’t be this exactly.

MONDAY: Track weight workout/High Fitness

TUESDAY: Weights/High Fitness

WEDNESDAY: RUN/Weights

THURSDAY: High Fitness/Weights

FRIDAY: Weights/High Fitness

SATURDAY: RUN/Weights

On some of those non running days I will add 20-30 minutes of interval sprints on the treadmill.  When I say weights, I work a different muscle group every day.

This is an example:

Monday:Biceps/Triceps/Abs

Tuesday:Legs

Wednesday: Chest/Abs

Thursday: Shoulders

Friday: Legs

Saturday: Back/Rear Delts

O.K.  Summer is much easier for me to workout since I don’t have to worry about my 6 year old.  He has brothers and sisters galore to play with him.  I thought of something so PROFOUND the other day.  I discovered that when I start to crave something that is not very healthy to eat, it is because I AM HUNGRY!!  Amazing!  So!!  What do I do?  I stop what I’m doing a grab some food out of the fridge and eat yummy healthy food!  After that I am fine and I forget about my cravings!  So, EAT!!  Just for fun, here is what I ate today from My Fitness Pal!

My Dinner!

I only have one small body fat percentage point I want to lose!  I’ll post the whole page of this body composition deal they do at the gym!  It’s interesting and motivating!

Well, I need to be off!  I’ll end with pics from the trip!!  So FUN!!  We especially LOVED the hike to Lake Mary and were surprised by all the snow!!  Ha Ha!!

JANUARY-STILL KEEPING MY RESOLUTIONS

Happy Groundhog Day!  We’ve had such a mild winter that I don’t even mind having more winter!!  I’m finally back from nothing (: just been busy and working through January!  Today’s post will be a report on my New Year Goals.  Yes, I still remember them.  I’m giving myself a B.  My goal for January was to only have treats on ONE day.  My other two goals that I’ve made for myself have some conflicting difficulties with them!  I made a financial goal to only go out to movies twice a month, but then I told myself that ONLY at the movies could I have candy and an ice cream (:  Not a good combo right?  Cuz if I wanted a treat, I said, “Let’s go to a movie”  I think 5 was the number for January!  Yikes.  Oh well, new month!  I’m back to only two movies for the month.  I have to say however, that my little movie treats did nothing to derail me.  I didn’t gain weight and I got right back on after the movie.  My successes for the month are 5 lbs. down (that’s just because of a little holiday indulgences) and better muscle tone.  I’d like to push it a little more for February.  My one week goal for this week is NO GRAINS and NO EATING AFTER 8:00 p.m.

O.K.  here is my speech on weight loss for the day, not that you haven’t heard it already.  It is almost everything WHAT YOU EAT!!!  I have worked out like a maniac for many years and ONLY when I combine my workouts with clean eating do I see changes in my body!  Lately, I’ve been addicted to this super intense cardio workout called HIGH, which I just got certified to teach!!!  Yay me!!!  It’s the best cardio for me and I love it.  I also lift weights 4-5 days a week and run.  Yes, I workout a lot!  1 1/2 -2 hours a day.  That is normal for me and I like it.  Eating well gives me more energy and I feel better, but even with this intense schedule, I’d be doing it in vain if I wasn’t eating well.  In other words, WASTING MY TIME!!  Don’t stray too far from the CLEAN and HEALTHY eating path!

When I first started personal training, one of my clients asked me to train her and she said, “I need to lose X amount of weight and get in shape, but I can’t do what you do!”  I’ve been thinking about that a little.  Already she is giving herself an out.  I thought, well I should give her half of what I do and then of course she’ll get half the results.  If you want to do it, DO IT!!  No excuses AND it is WORK!!  A work that you will come to LOVE!!!

Enough of the soap box.  I’ve found a new hobby that I can’t get enough of.  SKIING!!!  I need a bumper sticker (not really, I have too many already) that says, I’d rather be skiing (:  It gives me such a RUNNER’s high I call it.  I went with my friend last week and I told her one of the  reasons I love skiing is the feel of the environment and the positive happy energy of the other skiers.  It reminded me of the feeling of race day when you’re surrounded with a crazy bunch or endorphin seeking runners!  Love it!!  It has made the winter months so much happier for me.  Here I am with my cute daughter.  I need to take a few action shots next time!  I’m not really good either (:

I’ll end with a few more pics. from the last couple weeks.  This one is me and my bestie teaching HIGH for the first time (:  We love to match!!

And a colorful church outfit!!  Skirt is Boden and top is Ann Taylor.  Boots are Express.  I have many workout outfits I need to share too.

One of these days I’ll get it together and be more consistent again with my fun blog.  Right now I’m just getting through the days.  Never a dull moment around our house!!  Something is always keeping us on our toes such as my 16 yr. old slamming his car into our house last night (: Oh the lessons we learn…Have a wonderful day!!  Keep at it!!!  It’s worth it!!  GO FOR GREATNESS!!  This is for my football kids!  My son was a little sad his team didn’t win last night!

 

Be specific and accountable to lose weight

O.K!  I have given myself a new goal.  Shocking I know!  I had a few triggers get to me this week with my St. George trip, husband buying my favorite non healthy food, neighbors over for dinner…the list goes on and on.  Here is my new PLAN (:  I’m still working on my Great in 8 challenge.  We have 3 weeks left of that.  This one is an add on to keep me motivated.

First of all, it’s important to be SPECIFIC when attempting to lose weight, gain muscle, eat healthier, or whatever your fitness goal is.

My goal is to lose 5 pounds.

 I’m going to eat 100% healthy for 25 days.

 I will keep a food journal of what I eat every day.

A friend of mine has a goal to be more toned or lower her body fat %.  For her, I suggested she up her protein and lift HEAVY weights 6 days a week.  I told her to have a CASEIN protein shake every night.  It’s an easy and yummy way to increase protein.

The second part that’s necessary in being successful at weight loss is to be accountable to someone.  Find a trusted friend to cheer you one.  Send them your weight every week.  Many times we keep our weight loss secrets to ourselves and when the opportunity arises to eat a few donuts we have no one to stop us.  I gave my husband strict guidelines that he is not to buy kettlecorn, Backer’s cake, Pizza Factory breadsticks, or homemade cookies from Cutler’s or Paradise Bakery.  I have a big list.  Candy is no longer an issue for me.  I’m thinking of cutting out all treats for my 2015 goal since the no candy one was easy.  That’s a toughie because I love to bake.  What I really need to do is learn to only have ONE!  I’ve yet to master that skill.

I have one last helpful tip after you’ve reached your goal.  Reward yourself!  My reward this time will be a new ipod.  I have needed one for a long time.  I can’t even read the screen on it!  I’ll probably post my food journal once a week too.  Sorry that might be boring but it’ll keep me honest and on target.

Make it a great day.  Run fast, lift heavy, and be happy!  I heart SUMMER!!

 

This is what I’m doing

OK!  Happy Day 22 on my healthy challenge.  This is when I need to dig deep.  I’m notorious for stickin’ to a plan for 2-3 weeks and then going back to my treats (:  I need to find another motivation.  The Memorial Day weekend doesn’t help much with a birthday to celebrate too!  I’ll keep busy and get creative with my food.

This morning was another greatest and best run up Elephant Rock!  My friends and I always say this is one of our favorite places.  We had quite the group this morning and then ran into 2 other girl power groups on the trail.  We decided to go directly to the rock, which we don’t usually do.  I wish I had better pictures of us on the rock.  They were taken way zoomed up and with bad lighting.  I couldn’t salvage them.  This is what I got!

I think I’ll make a quilt with all my pony friend photos one day!  It even started raining half way through which made it even more perfect.  This weekend we are home working on house projects and havin’ parties.  We got a trampoline yesterday!!  It was a surprise.  Our kids are at good ages.  I’m hoping we have a great outdoors summer this year!

Alright, back to my healthy challenge!  Here are a few examples from the official checklist.

5 fruits and vegetables each day

Only two treats per week

64 oz. of water every day

45 minutes of exercise 5-6 days a week

No eating past 8:30 p.m.

We also have a few personal and spiritual points to do each day too.  I think every body is different in how it responds to nutrition and exercise.  I’m going to think of my weak areas and tighten them up.  I need to work abs more.  I gotta get in control of my bread and treat fettish.  And I need more sleep.  Sleep should really be on the list.  I really love getting up early.  This morning our run didn’t start until 6:30 a.m. and I felt like I’d slept in!  What I have to learn is to get to bed or better yet, get my kids to bed!  Here are this week’s goals:

Only two CARB servings per day.

AB workout 3 times a week

7 hours of sleep each night

I’ll end with two more photos of the day.  I don’t mention my little doggies too much in my blog, but I had to snap a photo with my Henry dog.  He got attacked by another dog in the neighborhood yesterday.  I’m so glad I didn’t see it.  The dog had him in his mouth by the scruff of his neck and was whippin’ him around like a doll.  My poor doggie.  I was able to give him some ibuprofen in some cheese today.  He’s hurting.  My sister will be giving me a call on this one.  She LOVES dogs!  Then, my daughter and I were laughing at our hair this morning.  She got my hair.  This is it!  Curly underneath and frizzy straight on top.  Lovely!

Have a spectacular and healthy weekend!

Happy May! Make new goals!

Happy MAY MAY MAY!  Today was beautiful!  May and June are my favorite months of the year.

I love the ANTICIPATION of summer.  To anticipate something has to be one of the best feelings!  As I start my new healthy challenge I want to add a few EXTRAS to the mix!!

1. Spend Less.  No more extra treats, food, and fun buying.  How boring and strict of me!
2. Read the book WONDER to my kids each night.  My Mom is raving about this book and says every 5th grade boy needs to read it!  It’s been awhile since I’ve done this!
3. Work in my yard for an hour 3-5 days a week.  We’re getting ready to re-landscape the front of our house.  I’m looking forward to designing my flower bed, planting pots and hanging baskets.  I’ll be posting pics!

Today I took my two littles and friends downtown to look at all the flowers.  We had a great time!  I took lots of pictures.  I know I should be a photographer (:  I’ll fill you in on new workouts and healthy eating habits on Monday.  I need to cut sugar out of my life forever. That’s all I can say!  I’m exhausted.  Kids were all over today.  Have a wonderful and happy weekend!!

 

Never never give up!

O.K.  Time to get serious here.  I have a few clients that are eating healthy all the time and exercising every day.  Why are they not losing weight?  Today one of them even said something like I’M READY TO GIVE UP!!  Ouch!  That hurt my ears! (:  I typed in NEVER GIVE UP on Pinterest.  My favorite sayings popped up!

There are multiple influences on losing weight.  What works for one does not always work for another.  Everyone has opposite views on weight loss.  It’s dizzying!  One thing for certain is losing weight is NOT EASY!  If it was, everyone would be doing it! 🙂

I’ve summarized one of my favorite fitness icons program for exercising and losing weight.  Jamie Eason Live Fit.  This is killer and it you follow it and I mean FOLLOW IT to a T, you will lose weight and gain energy!  I asked my girls what the hardest thing was about losing weight.  First answer: PATIENCE.  Second answer: FOOD.  I asked some others what their tips were for losing weight.  After the stress and flu, I got portion size and clean eating.  I can’t stress enough that DIET is everything in losing weight, second is WEIGHT TRAINING.  As you age, you lose muscle mass, stop burning as many calories, and put on weight.  Keep building your muscles and feeding them clean food and protein.

Alright, off my soap box.  Here are the workouts I’ll be doing for the next two weeks.  Jamie Eason Phase 2 weeks 1-2 .  Here is her nutrition plan.  Print it, stick it on the wall, buy everything you need and do it!!

We had a great workout today at the church!  Lots of sweating goin’ on.  I’ll post it on Wednesday!  Happy eating and exercising.  You can do it!  No matter what!

 

2 week countdown

One post before we take off for Florida tomorrow!!  I have a few 2 week goals that I REALLY want to keep!!!  I haven’t been as committed with my nutrition or exercise believe it or not!!  Sooooo…this is it!

2 WEEK HEALTHY GOALS

• Sleep 7-8 hours every night.  This will be #1!!  I think my sleep deprivation effects my running more than anything else.
• ONE treat day.  This Thursday night in Florida.
• Run 4 days a week plus my Jen Jewell workouts.  I miss my weights and these are some of my favorites.
• Healthy clean eating and lots of water.

Sound easy enough!!!  YES!!  Here are the workouts I’m doing.  My running will be heavenly since this is taper time.  I’m also going to work on a super nice tan too!

Also, two pictures to share for the week!  The first one is me with my daughter and a friend at a wonderful church meeting and the second is a SWEET gym outfit.  ZUMBA day!!  Keep working hard!  Stick to your goals and be HAPPY!!!

OH!!  P.S.  I have a new song to add to my playlist for my RUN on the beach!!!  Love it! (:

 

Be YOU!

I need to simplify my mind.  It’s difficult to figure out how to balance my passions and my ME’S!!!!  Many times, people try to please others and act a certain way to fit in with whatever group they are in.  I know I do that.  Sometimes I downplay my crazy eating habits or hide my obsessive exercise fetishes.  From today on, I need to be myself.  My BIG problem with achieving my fitness goals is my contradictory FAVORITE THINGS.  In a nutshell,

 I want to be the BEST RUNNER!!

I want a LEAN MUSCULAR BODY!!

I have 5 kids.  How can I be a good Mom and be BUFF?

And I’m addicted to sugar.

WOW!  I probably have more than that I know.  My eating habits are what need to be CLEANED UP!!!  Yes, I love treats, but YES I love how I feel MORE when I’m eating healthy.  SOOOOOOOO…no more sugar for me…EVER!!!  (:  I’m going to have  a 42 day challenge and when I’m done, I’m going to buy these awesome shorts that remind me of STARS and I’m going to go run up a mountain*  I’ll be done around May 17th and if I reach my goal sooner….I’ll get a top to go with them!

 Back to BASICS goal plan:  

1-Weigh myself every day 

2-Jamie Eason weight training 6 days a week

3-Food Diary

4-No eating after 7:30 p.m.

5-AVOID white flour and white sugar

My goal is to be at 129 (:  One of my good friend’s is good at calming me down and telling me to relax and SMILE!  Life is short.  LIVE IT and LOVE IT!!!

Encourage Lift Be Happy and Move!!

P.S.  I taught my class again last night.  What a fun class!  They LOVE to work hard.  It’ll be a fun adventure!!  Have a Warm and Happy weekend.  STay Healthy!