New month...new you!

What are your goals for the month of February? This is the shortest month of the year. So plan to rock out this month. This is also the last month before my 1 year fitness anniversary. One year ago in March is when I changed my life forever. I want to finish strong. So in my mommy fitness group I made two calendars for the month. Join us and follow along with either one or both of the calendars. If you have any questions about any of the exercises leave them in the comments and I will get back with you. Rock out this month with me! 

 

Fabulous Friday!!

I like to look at my journey and see where I was and how far I have come. I try not to look at where I still want to go, but hey I am human. In my mommy fitness group one of my fellow mommies asked the question what are your fitness goals? I can think of some different things like run a race, do the mud run, do pull ups etc...but what am I working towards? What are my ultimate goals? I know I am not going to be losing weight forever. So I know that my goals will not stay the same. What is that perfect weight or physique I am trying to achieve? I say oh I want the scale to read this number, but does it really matter? I am much healthier at my current weight then when I was about 40-50 lbs lighter years ago, I showed you all the pictures yesterday. So when do I stop trying to actively lose weight? At what point do I say yes this is enough. I think that I am now taking my focus off of weight loss. Yes I would still like to lose some weight, but I am more concerned about my overall health. I would like that toned muscular physique, less body fat more muscle. So while I am working towards this the fat will continue to come off, but my focus is more on building muscle. I believe I will be changing up some of my training routines. I already focus on weight training more, but I think I will be researching some ways to increase that some.

I enjoy doing races, but in the end I am not a runner. What joy am I getting over paying a lot of money to run somewhere that I could do for free? So I do not think I have the desire anymore to try to run a marathon. I am getting ready to do a mud run, I am excited and nervous about this. I will be doing a few 5k's, but I do not think I will really sign up for more than a 5k. I don't know what the future holds and perhaps I will eventually run a marathon, but right now I can say I am not a runner and I am not training like one. I have all the respect in the world for runners. I thought I wanted to be a runner, but the more I train for things I find running is just not my forte. I actually, and this will be in the way future when I have much more confidence, would be much more interested in a fitness competition. That is more in my lane. Something like competing in weight lifting etc... So we will see in the future if I achieve this goal or not.

The other main goal I have is to educate and help train others. I would like to look into in the future becoming a nutritionist, don't worry hubby not as my main career but as a side project :). I think eating properly is the most important thing about a healthy lifestyle. I would love to be able to help teach people how to do this. I know I did not know how to eat properly. I had to do research and teach myself the proper ways. I am still learning and improving my nutrition all the time. 

I also would love to, and once again not as a main career, train people. I do not ever see myself being a personal trainer in a fitness club or anything, but I would love to be able to help train people and help them realize their goals just as I have done. I started my blog and my Facebook page for these reasons. I love inspiring and helping others. It actually helps me stay inspired and motivated.

I always love hearing other peoples goals. Please feel free to share any of your goals with me. I would be more than happy to try to help you achieve them in anyway I can. Also any tips you have for me in increasing my strength training are more than appreciated.

Fabulous Friday

My son started school this week. I was not happy about him going back to school. I miss him while he is gone. :( Of course his first day of school we walked him in. It was a dreary, rainy day his first day, but we still walked him in. He was so sweet and held my hand down the hallway. He even let me kiss him goodbye in front of his classroom. I think it will break my heart when he will no longer let me do that. I felt much more confident this year walking him in than I did last year. I just feel so much better about myself.

Do something today that makes you feel fabulous about yourself!

Workout Wednesday

I think it is important to have a variety in what you eat. That will help keep you interested in the healthy foods you are eating, and you will want to keep eating them. I think it is just important to have a variety in your workout routine for the same reasons. If you are doing the same exercises all the time you will get bored with them, and want to stop doing them. Now we all know that I prefer strength training. That is what has gotten me to my goals, but the other evil (for me it is evil :) ) end of the spectrum is cardio. One great and fairly simply form of cardio is running. You do not have to have a lot of money to do it, belong to a gym, have equipment, or a training partner. You just grab some shoes and go outside and run.

Even though I do not like cardio I will never deny there are benefits from it. That is why I do incorporate it into my routine as well. I try to run when I can even if it is just for 15-20 minutes at least I got some in. I know a lot of people say that running is a great stress reliever for them. You can just get out there by yourself, and be alone with your thoughts. It is great for your cardiovascular health as well.

We cannot deny those are all great benefits. The best thing to do in running is try to incorporate interval training in. Run sprints you will definitely get that heart rate going. You will improve your mood, burn calories, and increase your cardiovascular health.

 

 

 

I try to do 45-60s of running then 75-90s walking. Repeat this for at least 15-20 minutes. You will get in a great workout for sure. If you can breathe at the end of it go for more :) Obviously you are not going to get off the couch today and run a 5k for your first time running. So just like with everything else take your time and do it at your pace. Start with a program like couch to 5k or something similar. Here is an easy routine to follow to get you started as a runner.

 

 

 



So go grab your shoes and raise that heart rate!!

Treat yo self!

I decided to treat myself yesterday because I felt very happy about myself, which I haven't in a long time. Looking at my progress I realized how far I've come. I still have a long way that I want to go, but I can see some progress and it made me feel good.

I know I shared both of these pictures here, but looking at them side by side made me feel good about my journey so far :) So with that good feeling we have to treat ourselves right. Well instead of going and celebrating in an unhealthy way I decided to do so in a healthy way. Last time I got some new running shorts, this time I went for something fun too. New shoes, a girls favorite thing right :)

I'm excited to wear my new treat to myself!!

So make sure you treat yo self too!

Shout out!!

My SIL and best friend, Megan has been working very hard on her fitness. She has found her love of running. She has done several 5k's and is going to sign up for some more in the next few months. She typically tries to run 6-8 miles a week. She also does water aerobics twice a week, and a strength training circuit 2-3 times a week. She has lost 20lbs and 2 pants sizes so far. She is looking forward to reaching so many more goals. She uses myfitnesspal to log all of her meals so she knows she is meeting the right requirements for her eating. She is also trying to get more water in each day. She has gained a lot more confidence from this. She started out a few months ago doing a health challenge at work, and has continued on her own journey. Her co-workers have been very supportive to her through her whole journey. She also has a great group of family and friends that surround her to help support her. She is a great inspiration to everyone that knows her.

 

Doesn't she look wonderful!!

 

 

 

 

If you would like a shout out for your fitness journey please e-mail me @sadie822@hotmail.com. I would love to give everyone a shout out for all their hard work.

Fabulous Friday

We went to my sons orientation for school today. I felt much better about myself this year than I did last year. I still have a lot of goals for myself that I want to achieve, but I have come a long way.

Seeing our picture from last year to this year has definitely helped my confidence and motivation.

Fabulous Friday (Even though it is Saturday :) )

I was sick yesterday, and did not get to post my Fabulous Friday post. Today we went to a welcome home party for my cousin returning from Afghanistan. It was a great party. We got to thank my cousin for his duty, and welcome him home. We also got to see family members that we do not see all the time. I felt so much better there today than I did the last time I saw some of them.

Both of these pictures were taken today at the party with two of my beautiful babies.

Throwback Thursday

My son will be starting 1st grade in a few weeks. I am excited for his first day. I remember last year taking him for his first day of kindergarten. We were all so excited for it. Of course we walked him into his classroom that morning and took pictures. I was so excited about them, but now I can hardly even look at those pictures. I of course love them because it is documentation of my baby's first day of school, but I wish I was not in them. I am much more excited about taking pictures with him this year for his first day. I know that I am not where I want to be, but I have come a long way in a short time.

I am so happy that I will never be this big in my pictures again. Seeing this picture motivates me to reach my goals even more. I am excited to post our picture from his first day of school this year. I think I will be much happier with it.

Motivation Monday

I know that motivation is key to living a healthy lifestyle. I go through periods of time where I do not feel motivated, and have to try to re-motivate myself. Luckily I have great family and friends that are always there for me when I need them. I hope you all have that in your lives too. The best thing to do is to surround yourself with positive people who believe in the goals you set for yourself.

This is my biggest problem with motivation. I have come a long way on my journey, but I know there is still so much more I want to accomplish. I do not look at what I already have accomplished. My husband reminds me of this all the time. I focus on what areas I still need to work on. He has to tell me to stop that. Look at what areas have changed so much. I have been trying to focus more on that. So that I can be comfortable with where I am, and also to keep myself motivated to go even further.

The scale is not my friend

I have a love hate relationship with my scale. I love when I see the numbers go down, but when they don't change I get so frustrated with myself. Fortunately since I have been on my journey over the last few months I really have not seen them go in the wrong direction, but sometimes I do not see it change fast enough. I was weighing myself like 5 times a day every day. I was becoming obsessed with it. So I decided a few weeks ago to stop weighing myself. I am trying to tell myself the scale does not matter. I am trying to focus on my NSV's (non scale victories). I think as women we are taught that thin is beautiful. So we focus so much on being that small size and small number in order to be pretty. It is ingrained in us as young girls. It is a hard cycle to break. Healthy is what is beautiful not skinny. The number on the scale is just a number on the scale. My goals began as wanting to be a specific number, but I am learning that really does not matter to me. These other things I am accomplishing are far more important. I hope that my daughter never worries about what the number on the scale says. I want to teach her from a young age that she is beautiful and strong. It does not matter her size. What is important is that she is healthy. The best way for me to do that is to lead a good example for her. I don't want her to see me worrying about my number on the scale. I want her to see me eating healthy foods and living an active healthy lifestyle.