Running, Amazing Shoes, and a 12 week keep the holiday weight off fitness plan

Hello!  Happy October!!  Love this month.  O.K.  it has almost been a week now since my latest 1/2 marathon!  Sorry for the delayed report.  I was slightly nervous for this run because of my injury and I felt like I wasn’t in the best running shape.  The  weekend turned out perfect except for I could have been about 18 minutes faster (:  I finished in 2:00!  The course was beautiful, weather was perfect, and I loved finishing!  I was a little sore for a couple days, but I jumped right back into my normal workout routine on Monday and I feel great!

This week I started running with my 14 year old daughter!!  I’m so happy about this.  We ran 3.2 miles.  We want (or I should say I want us) to run two days a week!  I also ran my favorite trail with my friends!  One thing that’s good about me is I’m stubborn and ultra committed.  I’m going to take one of my runs every week to be my improvement run.  I’ll do the same distance faster each week (:  I also want to work on hills more.  Here are the photos from my latest runs!

Next up!!  My favorite shoe to report on!  I stubbled across this shoe from someone else who bought it.  I did a little research and noticed people were raving about it.  The best part is you can buy it on Amazon for as low as $28.00 right now.  Click HERE to see all the color selections!! It’s called the PUMA Women’s Pulse XT Geo Cross-training shoe.  I do a lot of high intensity jumping and moving laterally and these are the comfiest shoes with the perfect amount of stability and cushioning.  I’ve already bought two pair!  Here I am looking rather sporty in them (:

Well!  My 12 week Oxygen Challenge is coming to an end so normally I say to myself, What’s next!  Well, major improvements is what’s next!  I was good with the workouts, but the eating was another story!  I follow and read about so many different workouts and fitness that it can get overwhelming in my brain at times.  As with everything, I need to simplify!  Here is the official 12 week plan!!

Start Date: Monday, October 12.  I’m not off the wagon right now, I’m just starting it on the 12th because that is 12 weeks till the end of the year!

Diet: Healthy, clean eating.  Small portions.  Fruits/Vegetables.  Protein.  Supplements.  Tons of water.  No white flour or white sugar.  Once in awhile I’ll eat a little white flour.  I’m reading labels and nothing over 6-7 grams of sugar per serving.  No eating after 8:00 p.m.  I’ve done all this before (: nothing new.  Here is the NEW twist!!  I’ll eat this way 9 out of 10 days.  I’ll pick 1 day in 10 where I can eat treats!!  Only on this day will I eat whatever I want guilt free and then the next day, I’m back on 100%.  The rewards are definitely worth it!!

Exercise: Throughout the Oxy Challenge I kept looking at Jamie Eason’s 12 week Show Me The Weigh program.  It’s on bodybuilding.com HERE.  The best thing is she posts every exercise in video on Instagram!!  Like this:

So, I’ll start with week 1 and not miss a day (:  I’m going to keep track of weight and measurements once a week too.  The biggest thing I want to stay true to is the 9 on 1 off eating approach.  100%  I’ll keep you updated!

Well, I gotta get going!  Time to run with my daughter and her motivation is waning!  To end, I follow this girl on Instagram.  Her bod will be my goal (:  She leaves motivational quotes all the time too.  This one is good, but my favorite one she said recently was, “A lot of people wake up on Mondays with a sense of I have GOT to get myself together.  By Wednesday, they can’t wait for the weekend to engage in the things that made them hate Monday!  Don’t let this week own the rights to your motivation!  You dictate the terms!!  Have a GREAT one!!  WORK HARD FOREVER!

What to eat before a run

Happy Memorial Day and Happy Birthday to my cutie pie girl!

We had plenty of time to celebrate all weekend.  The kids have loved the tramp, we had a fun BBQ with family, enjoyed the sweetest cake ever made, shopped, made pizzas, played in the sprinklers, had cousins over.  I’m ready for bed.  5 am comes quick!  My workout will be fun tomorrow.  I’m thinking we need to run up my basement stairs and down my steep driveway for part of the workout (:  They’re going to love it!

Alrighty!  I’m committed to serious goals this week.  Exercise and eating will be ABOVE ON!  This morning’s workout was just what I needed.  I have to admit I made myself sick and ate too much birthday cake.  I got up and went to the gym and did a back and ab workout and then met a few friends for a run!  I have to laugh!  We ran a little later than usual, it was hot, I didn’t eat because I was burning off birthday cake, and who do I wind up running with?  My friend that is 12 years younger than me and my 3:00 hour marathon speedy pants friend.  I was singing the song “Which one of these things doesn’t belong” in my head!  Yes, the run was hard for me today!  I did talk to my speedy friend about what she eats before a run!  If she goes out for an average length normal run she drinks a muscle milk.  She’ll also have toast or a banana.  She loves POWERBAR products.  She specifically mentioned this applesauce.

I’m going to experiment with a few of them.  I need to be faster!  I’ll let you know how this week goes on Saturday and if I reach my goals that are in my head (: I’m excited to RUN with the weather so nice.  We got our patio furniture out and my husband brought home several flower baskets.  I love it!  Keep working hard every day!!

Workout song of the day!

The Phoenix-Fall Out Boy

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!

 

6 Triple set killers

Happy Workout Day!!  This morning I was up with my 5 am crew.  And I didn’t sleep well…arghh…I’m not following my need for sleep this week!  I will be taking a nap today (: I put together some of my favorite exercises that I did on my trip in Florida.  I was so sore!  This is pretty intense and takes about an hour with little breaks.  All over body love!

Well!  I’m counting down the days till my marathon!  My cute little kids were asking questions about the race. They understand what happened a year ago and that this is a pretty big deal.  They were acting a little nervous and so I asked them if they were worried about me and they said they were.  Oh!  That hurt my heart a little.  I tried to explain to them how I’d be fine and that everything will be more secure this year.  My cute 11 year old wants to wear his Boston Red Sox t-shirt on Monday.  I’m also meeting up with a childhood friend that lives in Boston.  It’ll be great to know someone who lives there and to reconnect.  It’s amazing how you can always turn to dear long time friends no matter how much time has passed.

I’ve been trying to decide what apparel memorabilia I need to purchase from this experience (:  I guess every year Boston has a color theme.  This year it’s orange and blue.  The most popular thing to buy is the jacket.  I guess everyone buys them yet many of my friends bought them and never wear it.  I saw this cute hoodie that I think I’d rather have!

  That’ll probably be it.  I’m also questioning these cuties too!  We’ll see!

I’ve been watching the weather and as of today, the forecast is 57 for the high and 44 for the low.  PERFECT!  My friends were teasing me yesterday about putting up a sign proclaiming my race in Boston.  They kept going with the idea and said they’d put it in a high traffic area and find some swimsuit shot of me.  I know they WON’T do that really (: We were laughing so hard as my face turned red from embarrassment!  I like being low profile, sorta.

O.K.  lastly and totally unrelated but not really.  Tonight we’re going to Il Divo.  I’ve found out that most people haven’t heard of them!  Jaw drop!  Amazing and most beautiful voices.  Here is one of my latest favs of theirs.  This is sung with Michael Ball who is incredible too.  Maybe it will be on my marathon playlist!  Enjoy and be happy for Spring time!!  Summer can’t come fast enough for me!

 

 

Weekends happen

HELLO!  I over packed my life a little too much this weekend and I was seriously out of it all day on Sunday!  Saturday I ran a 65 mileish relay race in Park City, UT.  I have a few pros and cons of this race.

PROS: Beautiful fall weather, running atmosphere, good company, sweet t-shirt.

CONS:  Too cold and late in the season, too small (I was confused with the course and got off track one time), my life is too busy right now.

I have to say that I wasn’t looking forward to this run.  I jumped the gun when I said yes when really I should have been home.  It was a long 12 hour day!  I even had my husband pick me up before our last leg because I wanted to attend one of my closest friend’s 40th birthday party,  which was on the complete opposite side of the mountain range!  It made for a fun adventure and yes I’m proud that I fit it all in!  I didn’t take too many pictures.  When I’m with my usual friends I love taking LOTS of pictures.  We’re all funnly competitive!  I’m looking forward to running Ragnar with them next JUNE!  Here we are very cold at the first of the race and a shot of me in the cute shirt!

I have a yummer menu item to share too.  My job was to bring chicken salad for pitas.  I pulled out a recipe I hadn’t made in years.  I got tons of compliments about how yummy it was and how I cut the celery up super small (:  Sorry I don’t have a pic.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

3/4 c mayo

1/2 t ginger

1/2 t salt

1/2 t onion powder

3 c cooked chicken (I used rotisserie chicken)

1 1/2 c red grapes chopped

1 c celery chopped

3/4 c sliced almonds

Combine mayo, ginger, salt, and onion powder.  Add to chicken, grapes, celery, and almonds.  Mix up and eat!

I said last week I was going to post my weight and a picture each week.  I don’t have a picture of me to share, but I found a great one of Lauren Fleshman in my Runner’s World magazine!  

She’s an amazing olympic runner and owns part of a new running clothing line called Oiselle.  I thought her body rocked and I’m now motivated to run faster and eat smarter.  I picked out a few things too!  I love love the long sleeve t with the birds on it.  On the back it has another bird on the shoulder and it says “fly”.  I’ll add these to the list (:

It was difficult to eat super healthy when I was gone all day on Saturday racing and partying!  My weight this morning was 135.  Not my favorite number, but I can get it down easy peasy!  I think when I weigh myself everyday I have more control.  If you mess up, don’t fret over it.  Get back at it TOMorrow!!  Have a happy cozy day and RUN hard this week!!

4 day cleanse

Happy Monday!  What an excellent and perfectly relaxing weekend.  Last week from Tuesday-Friday I did a short 4 day cleanse.  I don’t think of it as a cleanse really.  It’s more of a reset diet button.  Sometimes I get tired of myself giving in to eating too much and this 4 day diet reminds me to take control and get back to eating healthy.  Here it is.  I found this diet from gppfitness.com:

The GPP 4 Day Cleanse (the “Reset”).  Each day adds to the next.  So, on day 3 you can have your fruits and veggies, PLUS your 24 grams of CHO, Plus your water – get how it works?  Here it is:

Day 1 – Drink half your body weight in ounces of water.
Day 2 – 24 g of CHO drink (we suggest within 15 mins of your workout).
Day 3 – 5 servings of fruits & 5 servings of vegetables (Google it). + 24g CHO drink + H20
Day 4 – Add 24 g of protein + fruits & veggies + CHO drink + H2O

It’s pretty intense.  I’m used to crazy diets so it wasn’t too bad.  Yes, the first two days are liquids, mostly water!  Keep busy (:  Day 3 and 4 were pretty easy.  For breakfast I had a cup of broccoli with salsa and a banana!  Lunch was a big salad.  I made several green smoothies and threw together a vegetable soup with whatever veges I had around the house.  I used green onions, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, and zucchini.  I cooked them in a pot with chicken broth.  On Day 4 we went to lunch and I had one of my favoritest yummiest soups from Rumbi and a small salad.  The chicken in the soup was my protein.  I need to make this soup at home!!  It’s a chicken tortilla coconut soup.  YUM!  

Anyway, after all was said and done, I felt pretty skinny.  I think you lose mostly water.  I still exercised through the 4 days, but not at such a crazy intensity.  On Saturday, I weighed 132 and that was before any working out.  I usually like to weigh myself after a hard workout.  I’m hoping for 130 or 129 by this Saturday.  This week I want to continue eating well.  No sugar or white flour and no eating after 7:30 p.m.  I’m going to up my workouts for the week too.  More cardio and weights.

Best of luck!!!  Try not to go crazy after the diet.  You’ll want to eat everything in site!  Remember how tough it was to get through and you don’t want to reverse that by over eating.  The worst things I ate after the cleanse this weekend were kettle corn, rice krispy treats, and pizza.  The pizza was a super healthy thin crust pizza so I felt better about myself.  That is a HUGE improvement for me!  I’ll be even better this weekend!

O.K!!  My house is in dire need of a major cleaning job.  I better hop to it!!  Here is a quick picture we took on Saturday with my handsome boys.  It was General Conference weekend.  I took my 2 sons and a friend to hear the speakers in person at the conference center.  One time during the session I looked over and all 3 boys were leaning back sleeping (:  Super comfy!  Lots of great inspiring music, words, and counsel.  Wonderful!

I have to include a song of course for Monday music.  Katy Perry has a new album out in a couple weeks!  Here is a sneak preview of one of the songs on that album.  I love all her music!!  Go for many runs through the beautiful fall leaves this week!!  Be happy (:

What’s on my mind

New month!  I always like to change up my picture and background!  I have a lot on my mind these days.  I don’t know how I organize my brain sometimes!  I have thoughts about EXERCISE, NUTRITION, and FASHION today.

EXERCISE:  My gym is revamping the personal training department, which is GREAT!!!  It will be a lot more organized and professional.  I’m looking forward to being more involved and increasing my clientele.  I also decided to start up my MOM workouts again.  I volunteer and teach a boot camp class at my church.  I thought about dropping it, but I miss seeing my friends and I enjoy putting together workouts!

NUTRITION:  Ahh, my nemesis!  Currently, I have a very determined spark in me!  I’m doing a 4 day cleanse right now and already on DAY 3.  I LOVE it!  That is very crazy to say because I’m starving, but sometimes I really need a kick in the pants.  I’ve been a slacker for too long.  Healthy eating this whole month!  One treat day on…HALLOWEEN!!!  I’m a candyaholic!  I’ll post the details of my cleanse on SATURDAY when I’m all done!  Good nutrition is REALLY the MOST important healthy impact you have on your body!!!

FASHION:  I follow this cute girl’s blog called Pink Peonies.  She has great style and the way she displays her blog is so pretty.  One problem with her site is most of what she models is WAY over the top expensive!!  I was shocked when I liked one of her tops

and discovered it was only $36.00.  The website is called ShopSosie.  SOOOOOOO cute!!!!  Here are a few things I LOVE!  I’m wanting long tops lately to wear with leggings and boots.  They have tons!

I also want to change my hair color soon!  I’m not a blond nor do I wish to be one.  I found this color from a friend of mine who is amazing at coloring hair.  She will have to try it out on me!!  Slightly daring?

 That’s all for today!!  I have a busy night with kids all over the place.  Enjoy the fall leaves and breathe the yummy air.  Life is beautiful!!

I love this!!  My LIFE!

What’s the ONE most important advice for weight loss?

HI and Happy Monday!  My sister and I were discussing weight loss the other day and she asked the question, “What is the ONE most important advice for weight loss?”  Most people have tried everything and most people still want to lose weight.  Soooooooo…what do you think the #1 weight loss tip is?  My husband immediately said SUGAR.  I think that’s way up there on the list, but I have to say that DEDICATION or CONSISTENCY is the #1 BEST advice.  Find a plan that helps you lose weight and STICK TO IT!!

This bod looks like serious dedication and consistency to me!

MENU for the week is clean eating all around.  I’m going to do THE BURST CYCLE DIET for 3 days.  It’s super strict, but it motivates me to eat better.  This will be a busy workout week as usual.  Saturday was a 10 mile run with my friends.  The weather is looking UP and our numbers are increasing!  YAY for running outside!  Tonight I am teaching a BOOT CAMP class at our gym.  I’m thinking kettlebells and burpees (:  My FAVS!  Mondays are always a good day to regroup your goals and start out strong.

Here is a YUMMY menu idea for the week that I found HERE. 

And lastly, a bit of MUSIC to help you HIT THE WEIGHTS!  Workout WEDNESDAY next post.  Run HarD aLways**

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.

 

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!