A Different Kind of Challenge

Usually my challenges are geared towards fitness and focusing on healthier eating.  But starting tomorrow I have a new challenge on the horizon.  It's called The October Dress Project.  The challenge is this:  you wear one dress everyday for the entire month of October, yet you change it each day by using things that you already have.  The point of the project is "less is more" and "be thankful for what you ALREADY have."  So often I have felt like I "needed" a new outfit or pair of shoes or piece of jewelry (you name it!), when in actuality I have a closet full of more than I need!  Lately God has been speaking to my heart about this (and excess in general) and I knew it was time for me to participate in this challenge that I've known about for 3 years.  So now I'm all in!  And I'm excited to see what I learn through this!

Side note:  I will NOT be working out in my dress AND I WILL be washing it often!!  (These were the two things my husband was most concerned about. :) )

Pictures coming soon!

My Top 5…What Inspires Me To Be Fit! #3

Have you ever heard your kid say something that you knew came straight from you?  Little eyes are always watching, little ears are always listening.  Our kids will imitate the things we do.  So what kind of example will we set for them?  Hopefully, a HEALTHY one!  This brings me to #3...these little guys inspire me (and my husband) to be the best we can be.  Because they are noticing how we live.

For example, my husband has the same routine.  He chooses a Beachbody Challenge.  He gets up early and heads out to the garage to do his workouts, where he gets super sweaty. (The boys usually wake up sometime during his workout.)  He comes in, mixes up his Results & Recovery Formula and drinks it while he showers and starts getting ready for work.  When he completes a challenge we celebrate in some way.  The last time we went out to dinner (which is pretty rare around our house.)  So, the other day my little one, Bennett,started running laps around the outside of our house.  At first I thought he just needed to get some energy out.  Then he said, "Mommy, see how sweaty I am, even my clothes are wet."  (Hmm, just like Daddy)..."I better go get my special drink" (which for him was a Danimal), then he said, "I'm almost done with my challenge, maybe we can go out to dinner this weekend."  He was acting out what he sees Daddy doing!  Little eyes are watching, little ears are listening.

Recognizing that I am setting an example for my children in how I live and model healthy choices is a responsibility I take seriously.  Not only do I want to be fit enough to keep up with them, but I want to be a good example of what a healthy, balanced life looks like, so that hopefully they WILL imitate it.  Because I want the best for them.  I'm encouraged when I see things like this...

which is my son's drawing, "Mommy working out in front of the TV"...or when my kids ask for a "healthy" snack (which sometimes comes out "healthry"), and when my older son happened to be next to me and saw when my friend posted this...

and he asked, "Mommy, is that last green one standing you? Because I know you don't quit."

Little eyes are watching, little ears are listening.  What will they see?  What will they hear?  Don't just teach them about being healthy, SHOW them.  Then everyone benefits!

My Top 5…What Inspires Me To Be Fit! #4

The other day I was talking to someone about health and fitness and in a jokingly, yet in an excuse-giving way, they said, "Well, in the end, we all die from something."  My reply was, "It's not the dieing I'm worried about, it's the living!"  This brings me to my number four inspiration, the idea of LIVING FULLY.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be on seven different medications when I'm older.  I don't want to be so out of shape that I can't keep up with my kids or enjoy time with my husband.  I want to be able to go on hikes up really tall mountains, because I've seen the view from up top (and it's worth the trip!).  I want to be able to swim and walk and jog and play without completely loosing my breath.  I want to...

One of my favorite people was a man named Benny Phillips.  He has passed away now, but he was my sister-in-law's father.  What I remember most about Mr. Benny was that he always knew the best fishing spots, and he always told me to never stop doing.  He would say "when you stop doing, you stop living, and when you stop living, you start dieing."  What wisdom!  Mr. Benny lived a long and active life to the age of 89.

Now, I know that you can do everything in your power to live a healthy, fit life and still end up with a terrible disease or illness.  I know this can happens...but what if it doesn't?  You could die tomorrow, or you could live to be 100!  Only God knows the number of our days. So here is my personal challenge for living fully...approach relationships as if I'm going to die tomorrow and my health and fitness as if I'm going to live to be 100.  Do I do this perfectly all the time?  No.  I'm human after all.  But it's a goal I'm consistently striving and praying for (with God's help).

To be perfectly honest the physical part comes way more easily for me than the relationships part does.  Sometimes it's hard to ask for forgiveness, to say "I love you," to give a heartfelt "thank you."  I hate crying, but when I start speaking from the heart, tears usually follow.  God is helping me with this, because I don't want to avoid saying or doing what needs to be said or done at the risk of a few tears.  Relationships require more strength, energy, and self control then doing P90X and Insanity combined!  But they are so worth it!  And they are the other key component for living fully.  Because, let's face it, we could be fit enough to climb that mountain, but having someone there to share it with makes it all the sweeter.

So get out there...Be Healthy, Be Happy, Build Muscles, Build Relationships, and LIVE FULLY!

Beachbody Challenge- Insanity

I have now completed my next Beachbody Challenge, Insanity!  My goal upon starting was to improve my cardiovascular fitness, and Insanity certainly fit the bill.  However, during the first week of workouts I thought (multiple times) "WHAT have I gotten myself into!?!"  But, thankfully, about a week and a half into it, something clicked.  My body adjusted and I was (as Shaun T says) "in it!"  I am so glad I didn't give up during that first week, which I've unofficially named "shock week."  Believe me, at times I really wanted to.  But by sticking with it two things happened... 1. I got the results I was after and 2. I started LOVING it...at least the first month's workouts.
Then month two rolled around with Max workouts (because Insanity is not insane enough!)  Once again I had a shock week. Once again I questioned if I could do it.  I thought, "Maybe I'll just repeat the first month...that's 60 days of Insanity, right?"  But I knew that wouldn't be right.  I wanted to complete the program, not just a number of days.  So once again I had to dig deep and stick with it.  Thankfully, I didn't give up (do you see a reoccurring theme here) because once again my body adjusted and I was able to finish the entire Insanity program!
To measure progress every two weeks I did a fit test.  I would sometimes get discouraged and wondered if I was getting anywhere with all this sweat and hard work.  But then my fit test would come around and the numbers astounded me!  And that was all the motivation I needed to keep going.  I knew it was working!
So here are the results of my first and last Fit Tests.  For each test I did my maximum number of reps for each exercise in one minute...

Exercise                                    First Day                          Last Day
Switch Kicks                             55                                      126
Power Jacks                              47                                       64
Power Knees                            64                                      100
Power Jumps                             25                                       45
Globe Jumps                              8                                         13
Suicide Jumps                            17                                        21
Push-up Jacks                           16                                        32
Low Plank Oblique                    26                                        52

So, as you can see, it worked and I achieved my goal!  And now, especially now, I'm so glad I didn't give up.  DON'T EVER GIVE UP!

My Top 5…What Inspires Me To Be Fit! #5

#5 My Mom

Today is my mom’s birthday, so I thought it the perfect time to start my inspiration series, beginning with her.  Here is my favorite picture of my mom.

Isn’t she beautiful!  She was about 25 years old in this picture.  And I tell you, she is just as beautiful today.  If  I’ve learned one thing it's that true beauty comes from within and my mom has a heart full of love.  And I have always loved her.  Neither one of us are perfect, but love covers over our imperfections.

My mom inspires me to be fit.  All throughout my life I’ve witnessed her honest struggle with her weight.  I’ve watched her loose up to 80 pounds, only to gain it all back and then some.  I’ve watched her hopes rise as she tried a new pill or diet.  I’ve watched her try exercise programs but be unable to stick to them.  As weight and health choices added up over the years, I’ve watched her suffer from serious medical conditions including a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery.  But thankfully, the Lord has brought her through it all, and she is still here with us today.

Thinking back over her life, there were a lot of things against her.  She was a single mom and time was not always on her side.  She was so busy working and taking care of everyone else, she put herself last.  She had very little support (which is a key component).  Exercise was never a consistent part of her life, and we lived in the south where fried food and butter were (and still are) glorified.  It happened very innocently actually.  Just being busy, finding comfort in the wrong things, a little here, a little there, and before she knew it, she was overweight and unhealthy. 

And I had the potential to go down that very same road.  You see my mom could follow a diet for a little while, but that’s the thing about diets, they are viewed as a temporary change, not a lifestyle change.  Somehow (through a series of events that I will share throughout my blogs) I learned to live and embrace a healthy lifestyle.  Has it always been easy? NO!  Do I have days where I just want to be lazy?  YES!  Have I always been fit?  NO!  Do I have the same struggles as everyone else?  YES!  A healthy lifestyle is something I learned.  I didn’t get it genetically.  I wasn’t raised by a health-nut.  I’m just a regular person.  I’m my mom’s daughter.  And she has always wanted the best for me, so for her I will be my best.

Here we are today:

She’s still beautiful.  She’s learned a lot, even in the recent years (especially since her heart attack).  And she still has her struggles.  But I love her just the way she is! And she loves me!  And she believes in me, and that gives me more strength than she will ever know.

And she inspires me as a coach.  I want to be that support for others...that support that my mom never had.  And here’s what she doesn’t know…often if I’m doing something in my workout that is very physically demanding I think of her, and I keep going.  I do it for her.  Because she never wants me to go through what she has had to go through.  I do it because at this point in her life she can’t.  In that moment, whether she knows it or not she gives me strength.  Thank you, Mom, for being an inspiration.

Jason's Success Story

I am both excited and filled with pride as I post today’s blog!  It’s my husband, Jason’s, success story!

In January of 2012 Jason bought the ever popular P90X home workout program.  He set a weight loss goal, did the 90 days, and got incredibly fit while reaching his goal. His workouts were long and hard.  He usually did them at night after the kids were in bed.  Still he managed to remain consistent, but it came at the sacrifice of time with me.

 

However, after the 90 days he started relaxing.  Then life set in and he got really busy at work, and started stress eating.  He’s also working on his Masters degree and there were a couple of semesters of really tough classes.  In a matter of months (9 to be exact) he had put back on all the weight he had worked so hard to take off with P90X, plus a few extra pounds.  Then it came time for his yearly physical, and for the first time in his life he received a bad bill of health…high cholesterol.  It was a wake up call.

Right before this I had decided to do a Beachbody Challenge, ChaLEAN Extreme.  It was something I had wanted to do for awhile, so when I get some extra money for Christmas, I finally stopped making excuses and committed.  That was the point that I also decided that if this was going to work for me I needed to get up early, before my children.  It wasn’t easy…definitely an adjustment, but I quickly got used to my new morning routine and actually started looking forward to that time. 

At no point did I nag Jason about what he was doing, I just consistently stuck to my program (and my challenge group was giving me awesome accountability).  It didn’t take long before he started noticing that this new routine was working for me.  He knew he needed to do something, but there was no way he could handle an intense workout like P90X before the sun came up.  Besides he wasn’t even sure if the whole morning workout thing was going to work for him…he is NOT a morning person.

We started researching programs that may fit his needs and he finally decided on Power 90.  The workouts were short, approximately 30 minutes.  The exercises were basic, no major jumping, no crazy pull-ups.  It was doable!  Even early in the morning!  So he set his goal and began.  It didn’t take long for him to adjust and quickly he started feeling better and seeing results.  The morning routine enabled him to get it done with little distractions, and kept his nights free for relaxing, dealing with whatever life threw our way, or simply hanging out with me. :)

Power 90 was 90 days, just like P90X except the workouts are about half the time and not as extreme.  And guess what happened?  He lost MORE weight this time than he did before!  And the best part of all is he has created a new routine that really fits into his life and has become a true lifestyle- not a temporary thing. 

So how did he lose more weight with shorter, easier workouts?  One word…nutrition!  First of all, he started drinking Shakeology everyday for breakfast.  He replaced his snacks with healthier choices, and his meals (lunch and dinner) remained the same.  He also tried to not eat late at night (most nights :) ). 

If you asked him, he’d tell you it wasn’t that hard.  Just one day at a time, one meal at a time, one workout at a time.  Add in a little motivation and a lot consistency and there you have it…success!

So here are his results!

Measurements

                                                Before                          After               

Chest                                        38 in.                            37 ½ in.

Upper Rt. Arm                       13 ½ in.                        13 in.

Upper Left Arm                      13 ½ in.                        13 in.

Waists                                      38 in.                            34 ¼ in.

Hips                                         40 in.                            37 ¼ in.

Abductors                                39 in.                            38 in.

Thigh (Rt.)                                22 ½ in.                        22 in.

Thigh (Left)                              22 ½ in.                        22 in.

Body Fat %                              24.4 %                         12.7%

Weight                                     177 lbs.                        162 lbs.

A total of 15 lbs. and 11.7% body fat and 10 inches overall!  I’m so proud of him!  He was gracious enough to allow me to show his before and after pics.

  Day 1

  Day 90

  Day 1

  Day 90

That's my man...I love him!  So what's next for Jason?  I think he may have been bitten by the Insanity bug.  He's been watching me do it, and he's gonna give it a go! :)

Beachbody Challenge- ChaLEAN Extreme

Three months ago a box showed up at my front door.  Inside it were a few books about strength training exercises, nutrition, and some recipes.  There was a packet of DVDs containing 18 different workouts.  I also received a thigh toner, resistance band, and a fat calibrator.  There was a box of chocolate and green  powders that I would mix up in a blender and start drinking daily.  Simple as these things seemed, I didn’t know they were about to change me from the inside out.

I had just begun my journey with my first Beachbody Challenge.  My goal was to tone up and gain strength throughout my body.  Therefore I choose ChaLEAN Extreme as my workout program.  At the time I thought I was a pretty healthy eater (but I really wasn’t).  And I used to be very athletic, but for the past six years (since having children) my only consistent form of exercise had been walking.

This challenge blessed me in so many ways.  It helped me feel alive again.  It helped me start setting goals for myself again.  I love motherhood, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes as a mom you can find yourself in a very lonely place.  My challenge group gave me a sense of belonging.  I couldn’t wait to meet with the group each day and the friendships that formed inspired me.

This challenge changed my body.  I set out to get stronger and through it I gained three pounds of healthy muscle and lowered my body-fat percentage by two percent.  I was thin to begin with, but I was NOT fit.  I liked to say I was thin and squishy.  But, all joking aside, I was weak and I was feeling it.  The weakness of my abs was affecting my back with pain.  It was easier for me to injure myself because my body was not equipped with muscle to handle the daily strains of life.  I started to wonder if trips to the chiropractor were just going to be a new way of life for me.  I could only see that getting worse with age.  By the end of this challenge my arms and legs were tone and strong.  I lost an inch and a half off my waist which had been somewhat of a problem area after two pregnancies with two c-sections.  Overall, I feel stronger than I’ve felt in a very long time.  Consequently, dumbells became my new home decor. :)

This challenge helped me become more conscious of how I was feeding my body and through it was equipped to make better nutritional choices.  After about a week of drinking Shakeology I noticed that my daily craving for sodas had disappeared.  I became more aware of how I would mindlessly eat, and I started putting more thought into the quality of the foods I was choosing. (No more snacking on Twizzlers while watching a movie with my husband.)

My family has also benefited.  My children are being influenced by the daily example I’m setting to make exercise and nutrition a priority.  Now healthy living is part of our everyday conversations and life.  My husband, who has never been a morning person, was inspired to start getting up early to workout since he saw how it was working for me.  Putting it off till later in the day only increased the probability of not doing it at all.  By doing a simple half hour exercise routine in the morning (Power 90) and drinking Shakeology for breakfast he has already lost 8 pounds in 5 weeks (his goal is 15). 

  

But the biggest thing of all has been that this challenge helped to change my mind.  I’ve learned to speak to myself in a positive voice.  I’ve learned to love the skin I’m in and to be more confident.  And the most important thing I learned is that I’m not alone.  Support is surrounding me and I’m ready to take it.  I used to be afraid of accountability because I was afraid of what it might require of me and I was afraid of failure.  Not anymore!  Accountability is the silver lining and the relationships formed are what make it sparkle. 

In 90 days I’ve gained a new perspective and I’ve replaced some bad habits with some very good ones.  In 90 days I’ve built muscle in my body that makes everyday tasks easier and safer to perform.  In 90 days I’ve renewed my mind and I’m now on track to a healthier and happier life.  90 days….it’s a long time, but it’s a short time…for me it was enough to set me on a different path.

Physical Results:

Before

After

 It's hard to tell the difference in my arms and legs from these photos, but where they were soft, now they are firm :)

 So what's next on the agenda...

Finding a Way

I left off with the beginning of the present day.  The athlete inside finding her way out again.  It was a bit trickier at this present stage in life because things had changed so much.  The key for me was finding a way to exercise at home, which took awhile for me to figure out because I always thought that would never work for me.  I had made myself believe that working out at home would be boring, or I'd be too distracted, or not motivated enough.  I was used to being a gym rat.  The gym had worked for me in the past, so why was it not working now?  One word...childcare. 
First of all, it was a constant struggle to even get to the gym with two kids in tow.  Then once I got there they would start crying because they didn't want me to leave them in the childcare room.  That made me feel bad, both for my children and the workers.  Then there was the fact that I was paying by the half-hour for childcare, so I felt rushed (not energized) throughout my workout.  I was constantly watching the clock.  And if I happened to run into a friend, well forget about talking, I had to get this workout done because I had not a minute to spare.  It was not, in my opinion, what the gym is made for.  I found that I was very inconsistent with my exercise because of all these issues and when I did make it in, low and behold, nine times out of ten, my kids would catch some sort of illness and that would set me back even more.  The cycle of inconsistency went on and on and on.  Plain and simple, it wasn't working!  But in my mind I had already decided that working out at home wouldn't work either...I needed to be outside. 
So I strolled.  Occasionally jogged, but mostly walked.  And that was good, it was something.  It just wasn't enough.  I knew it.  My body knew it.  But I wouldn't give home fitness a chance.  My mind was made up...so I thought. 
Then one day my husband decided he was going to try P90X.  It was the new craze and people were getting insane results from this program.  He set up a little home gym in our garage with some dumbells, a pull-up bar, and the laptop to play his DVDs, and then he went to work sweating.  He invited me to join him.  I declined.  Over the next three months I continued strolling and taking my fitness level no where, and I watched my husband completely transform his body in 90 short days.  But not only that, he started eating healthier.  He was in a better mood.  He was energized.  And I noticed.
Well, summer came, school was out, and my, then, five-year old was home.  Strolling had finally taken it's course.  My son was simply too big to be pushing around in a stroller.  I wasn't going to ask him to do that.  Upon realizing that my one consistent option was out, I knew I had to do something.  So I decided I would just do the P90X DVDs.  I mean they were just sitting there while my husband was at work.  I thought I would probably hate them.  I was wrong.  I loved them!  And for the first time in five years I started feeling muscles I had forgotten about.  I started feeling motivated.  This program wasn't boring, it was energizing, and it was doable!  I could do it at home while my children played.  If there was an issue I could press pause.  I quickly started seeing results and that motivated me even more.  I knew I  had finally found what I needed.
So I started looking into the company Beachbody (the one who sell P90X).  It turns out they have tons of workout programs, and basically everything I needed to get on track and start living a healthier life...to start being the best ME that I could be.  I was hooked!  "Brilliant, why didn't I think of this sooner," I thought.  I guess in life that's just how it goes sometimes...at least for me.

From the Beginning

     This is the first entry in my new fitness blog!  For me fitness has been a steady lifelong experience, like a long walk.  Sometimes the walk was more like a jog, a run, or even a sprint.  Other times it was a stroll, a meander, or a skip.  And yet other times it was a dance, a twirl, or even a splash.  But it seems that shortly after birth I began moving, and I've had a love for it ever since.  My body simply works best when I use it!
  
     I remember as a child, my mom could see the energy building up inside me, and would send me outside to do laps around the house.  Finally, she put me in gymnastics and I discovered my first sport.  I loved gymnastics... the tumbling, the bars, even the balance beam (which was a little scary).  And boy did it make me strong!  I could do more chin ups then the boys at school and even beat a few of them at arm wrestling!  After six years of being a gymnast, I decided I wanted to totally switch gears to soccer (that's what all my friends were doing).  So I traded in my leotard for shin guards.  I liked soccer, but I wasn't very good at it.  I kept at it, though, playing on my high school team as well as on a travel team.  One day I was in regular ol' gym class and I was talking to my coach about soccer and how I didn't love it, and after listening to me he said, "Sounds like you just love running...you should go out for the Cross-Country team."  Brilliant idea!  I don't know why I never thought of it myself.  So that's exactly what I did and I found a new sport to love.  I ran Cross-Country and Track the rest of my high school career and even earned a scholarship to run at a college, but turned it down so that I could stay at home and go to Florida State.

     After high school, I was introduced to Step Aerobics, and for nearly a whole year I didn't run at all, but did Step like crazy.  Then one day I decided that I wanted to go out and run again.  In my mind I could easily run five miles without a thought, and cardiovascularly I could too (because of all the Step Aerobics).  But running and step are two very different exercises, as I would soon find out, and quickly I ended up with an injury (young and stupid, I know).  Ever since then my approach to running has had to be ever so cautious...it takes very little to flare up that old injury, even to this day.

     But I continued to run (with care), and as an adult began learning new sports such as biking, mountain biking, snowboarding, snow-shoeing, swimming, and strength training.  I even completed a triathlon!  However, mostly during the past five years my consistent form of exercise has been walking.  After my two sons were born life changed tremendously.  My body changed as well.  I slowed down a lot. I rarely missed my morning stroll, it kept me sane...kept me balanced.  But most days that was all I did.  And I am thankful for that time.  Time to slow down, be with my kids while they were little.  Enjoy life at a slower pace.  Thankful, yes...but inside me that athlete was calling....was waiting ever so patiently....and one day it came forth screaming!  But life was different now.  Could I ever be the athlete I once was?  Plus, I was getting older...starting to feel some of those aches and pains.  Could I satisfy the me within in my present life?  Thankfully, the answer was yes, I could...and it was much easier than I had ever imagined.