PROVE YOURSELF!

O.K.  I’m back…again!  For the next month (July 4-Aug. 4) I will blog every day!!  Once again I’ve conjured up a little challenge in my head and since my 20 YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION is in one month, I figure there is no time like the present to get my butt in gear.  I have been living in the party/vacation/eat whatever I want mode since March and I need to start PRACTICING WHAT I PREACH!

So, PROVE YOURSELF!  I saw this phrase at the gym today during a super tough weight workout and it made me mad that I haven’t stuck with my healthy eating over the last couple months.  I’ve been a competitive soul since as far back as I can remember and I enjoy pushing myself!  

Today, I ran a 4TH OF JULY 10k with my sister!  Loved it, of course!  However, I always wish I ran faster.  I haven’t gotten the official results back, but I finished in just under 48 minutes.  The highlight was pushing past a girl I was keeping pace with and beating her in the end (:  Later on, I went to the gym with my husband Rob where we did an hour long chest, shoulders, and plyometric killer workout!  

People might think I’m obsessed with exercise.  It is my hobby of choice!  Some might like to golf, read books, work in the garden, watch t.v., or whatever…I like to SWEAT!  Over the next month I’m going to post everything I eat and everything I do for my workouts.  Don’t think I’m crazy!  Mostly, I want to be accountable to me and NOT CHEAT!!

I need to post the workouts Rob and I have been doing over the last month.  They are THE BEST!!! 

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!  STICK TO YOUR GOALS!  HERE IS A PIC OF MINE!

Abs Recipe

BELIEVE…in yourself.  Believe that your hard work and undying efforts will PAY OFF and you will see a difference in your body.  I found this AB RECIPE the other day.  It’s from the website fitwithwendy.com.  Lots of helpful motivational exercise and nutrition tips.  Achieving your fitness goals involves several areas of lifestyle habits.  It’s not just about eating CELERY.  It would be good to read this ab recipe often to remind myself of all the areas I need to work on:  Sleep, water, decrease stress, exercise, better food choices etc…STICK WITH IT.  Patience is the hardest one of all!!

INGREDIENTS (partial list): 

water, r.e.m. sleep, protein, whole eggs, fish, SACRIFICE, poultry, lean red meat, beans, vegetables, eating at least 4 times per day, steamed broccoli, healthy fats, olive oil, flaxseed, fish oil, CLA, walking daily, avoiding alcohol, stretching daily, avoiding beer, eating small portions of dark chocolate 85% +, no added sugars, limit or no dairy, drink more water, avoiding foods and snacks that come in bright colored boxes and packages, lifting weights, pilates, yoga, jump rope, CONSISTENCY, swimming, dedication, stretching, drink more fresh water, eat lemons, eat apples dipped in almond butter, flexing, eating often, eat every 2.5 to 3 hours, avoid binge drinking, avoid white bread, white carbs, avoid starchy carbs after 4pm, eat more healthy fats, veggies and proteins, avoid yogurt with sugar added to it, avoid diet sodas, diet products, light products, and reduced fat products, PATIENCE.

 

6 Weeks to Summer Bod Challenge!

O.K.  Here it is!!  I am in GREAT need of this.  I have to stop eating candy and desserts at every meal!  I tried something similar to this plan a couple years ago and it was AWESOME!!!  This is how it helped me!!

• increased energy
• never had a fat day
• lost weight
• happier
• clothes fit how I wanted them to fit

For 6 weeks we will keep track of 7 Healthy Habits every day.  You will get a point for each one earned.  So, that is 7 points per day, 42 points per week, and 252 points total.  To earn the REWARD at the end you must fulfill the 7 healthy habits at least 95% of the time.  That equals out to 12 Freebies!  Way too many I think.  Strive for 100%!!!  Everyone can set their own goal and make their own reward.  My goal is to lose 5-7 lbs and to work on lean, tight muscles, and to fit into all of my clothes comfortably!!  I think we should all have a GROUP reward and then you can make your own if you’d like.  After it’s done I want to have a luncheon at City Creek with everyone who stuck with it 95% of the time.  I’m going to treat myself to something at the mall too or Lululemon (my fav)!  

7 DAILY HEALTHY HABITS

• 64 oz. of water
• 5 servings of fruits and vegetables
• 25 grams of fiber
• Exercise 6 days a week
• Don’t eat anything that has more than 6 grams of sugar
• Record everything you eat
• No eating after 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. if you stay up till 11:00 p.m. or later

A couple optional healthy habits are:

• 7 hours of sleep 
• Vitamins and supplements
• 1 meal off a week

I figured out the points for 6 days a week with 1 day off.  So, one day a week you don’t need to keep track of anything.  Have a nice break!  The only thing I want everyone to stay strict on is the EATING part.  Which I believe is the most important part.  You don’t need to record everything on your day off, but do not eat whatever your heart desires all day long!  Let’s make it a goal to have one TREAT MEAL one day a week.  That means you can eat whatever you want for one meal!

You will find out at the end of 6 weeks you will be sick of recording everything you eat, but you will have also turned all these daily goals in to real HABITS which is the only way to lose weight and to keep it off.  Make it a habit and stick with it for the long haul! 

Here are a few tips and tricks that I do that you might find interesting.  I am going to start my challenge with a 2 day juice fast (starting tomorrow, Saturday April 7th).  On Monday I will do a 3 day low calorie diet.  I follow the Cleveland Clinic diet.  It gives me a kick start to eating less and makes me more conscious of what I’m eating.

 Other things I love are: Jamie Eason’s Live fit combo pack, Green Tea HP, Muscle Milk after a hard workout, and protein bars.

Click on the sites below to get more help and info. on all of the above:

Jamie Eason’s Live Fit Combo Pack

Livestrong.com

High fiber foods

Juice fast

Smoothie recipes

Cleveland Clinic Diet

I strongly suggest making your own progress chart to keep track of each day.  Follow a website like livestrong.com to keep track of your eating.  They are the BEST!!  You can easily see how many calories you’ve eaten and track your progress with the fiber, fruits, and vegetable servings etc.  I will make a post at the end of each week (Sunday) for everyone to comment and POST their point totals for the week.  Please add any other tips, recipes, and suggestions!

A comment about exercise.  Step it up!!  If you run, run faster, longer, and with more hills.  Do at least 3 hard weight and cardio workouts a week similar to what I post on this site.  Another website I like with great workouts is gppfitness.com.  You DO NOT need to workout for 2-3 hours a day.  You DO need hard, super intense interval workouts.  Many boot camp classes are GREAT.  

WE WILL OFFICIALLY START OUR 6 WEEKS ON MONDAY, APRIL 9TH AND IT WILL GO THROUGH SUNDAY, MAY 20TH!!!  LET’S DO THIS!  GOOD LUCK!

Motivation

My foot is making me mad.  I’m not very patient.  One week and it still hurts.  I need serious motivation because I haven’t been eating well or exercising.  If I can’t get running this week I will get biking and lifting and eating completely strict.  A few photos like these HELP a ton!!!!  Kick some TRASH for me this week!!!  

                                                                   

Running Friends

You’ve laid your running clothes out the night before and set your alarm for some obscene hour in the 5:00’s and no matter how early you get to bed, when you hear that annoying ringing in your ear your first reaction is to….hit off and roll over and go back to sleep, RIGHT??  This is when my #1 MOTIVATOR comes in…FRIENDS!!!!!!!!  If you do not have a running buddy, you are missing out!  For years I ran solo with my ipod of hundreds of songs and I thought life was great.  I found a few other girls that ran and my first reaction was that I’d be too slow for them and that I would have nothing to say to them, or it would be too hard to talk anyway.  Quite the opposite occurred.  I was slower in the beginning, but running with someone faster pushed my level up a notch and I got used to running faster.  As for the talking part, that has never been a problem.  Get a group of 5 busy Mom’s together and you could talk for 20 miles, easily. I look forward to meeting my friends to run or go to the gym.  I’ve almost become dependent on them, in a good way.  The other day I set my alarm to go to the gym solo and I can’t tell you how different my mood was.  It was much much less exciting and I started to think of every excuse in the book to delay my exercise for the day and I LOVE TO EXERCISE!  So, my #1 advice for anyone trying to lose weight or get into a regular exercise routine, FIND A FRIEND!!!!!  You will LOVE it so much more and be more motivated to stick to your plan when you know you have a friend waiting for you in the cold dark!!

This is a good time for me to post about my exercise friends because I NEED to take a break from my workouts.  This is not by my own choice but because I clumsily stumbled on the road while running a few days ago and my right foot completely gave out and crumbled beneath me.  So sad.  The pain got worse as I limped home, not even a mile out.  I was planning on an 8 miler.  Disappointing.  So, I am off my feet for awhile with a very swollen and bruised foot.  I have a compression sock on that covers my whole foot and ankle and I’m taking Aleve.  My Mom tells me to go in to see if it’s broken, but it doesn’t hurt as bad 2 days later so I’m guessing it’s not broken.  I have been injured plenty of times before and every time I hate it, especially when I’m on a training schedule for a marathon, but THIS WILL ALL BE BUT A BRIEF MOMENT!!!!!  I’m going to eat better than ever and still do some weight training.  I thought of posting a picture of my foot, but it was so ugly I couldn’t do it.  I feel like I have the black foot like Adam Sandler in Mr. Deeds.

Here are a few pics of my exercise friends over the years.  THEY ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!

Trail runs...soon!

            

Snow or shine!

Girls weekend. Park City 1/2 marathon

      

Family 5K and stayed together the whole way!

1st Marathon ST. GEORGE!

Running friends!

Turkey Trot 10K in the single digits!

 

Relay run in the beautiful Sun Valley Mountains. SO SO FUN!!!!!

         

We met in the Bahamas when we both needed a running buddy. Still friends!