Friend or Foe.... here we go...

Hey There…

So tonight I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine (or at some points its better known as my enemy…hee hee). This is my scale (pictured to the right). For most of my weight loss journey I have lived and died on this scale. Weighing once a week I would only be happy if that number went down and I did everything in my power to make sure that happened (which, well, we all know of the success I have had in that).

But these days I hold myself to a much different standard. Yes it’s still important to me to keep my weight in check and my body healthy, but now I have a different goal in mind….a goal that keeps me from falling off the wagon when the number on the scale doesn’t quite meet my liking! So I guess it would only be appropriate now to introduce you to another friend of mine…. Pictured to your left is the bib I wore during the first half marathon I ever ran. On it I’ve written my official time for that race which was 2:36:12. In just three months I will be attempting this race again… and in this second go round I have but one goal. That is to beat my previous time….but not just to beat it….to smash it out of the park!!! I have three months to lose 30lbs and beat my legs and body into submission….and honestly I actually believe I can do this!

So for those of you who haven’t realized yet what exactly all this “training” I am doing is for….now you know…so jump on board and get moving with me (by the way I am naming March “make it happen” month…so one way you can join me is to create a goal that you want to reach by march 31st and then work your ass off over the next few weeks to reach it….but more on that some other night).

Jess

Oh and I almost forgot. Remember way back in January when I posted that picture of my workout calendar where I write out what I did for workouts in order to keep myself motivated. Well here’s a picture of this month’s calendar (to the right)...as you can see I started the month out slowly (so slow in fact I wasn’t doing anything) but over the past few weeks things have finally gotten back on track)!!! Here’s hoping March looks even better!!!

The Excuse that makes me want to SCREAM (and I am NOT a screamer)...

Hey Guys…


So I am about to head into a nine days stretch at work where I have to work 8 of those nine days and therefore I wanted to jump on here and post something just in case I can’t get around to it the rest of the week (and well cause let’s face it… I’m a girl and I like to talk)!

Anyway, today I want to talk a little bit about excuses….or actually just one excuse that I hear over and over and over again from friends and family about working out. I cannot tell you the amount of times I hear in my day, “well I can’t work out because I don’t have a gym membership” or “I can’t work out because I don’t have equipment”. That is the biggest lie in the world! You do not need a gym membership or any fancy equipment to get a good work out…and I am solid proof of that!

Most people assume that since I’ve lost so much weight I must be the queen of the gym. The reality however is that I HATE going to the gym. In fact I am pretty much intimidated by everything in there (I don’t really know how to use most of the machines and I always feel like everyone is looking at me even if they aren’t, which is just…well…. awkward). When I first started out losing weight I did two things in particular. One, I walked (and I mean walked. I would grab my headphones and walk out the door not to return for at least an hour) and then I got one of those cheap little foam steps that are like a foot off the ground and I’d just stepped off and on it for hours at a time (I know it sounds boring…but I would either watch TV while doing it or make a game out of it by trying to beat how many steps I could take per minute).

Now a day’s I’ve moved on to running, biking, elliptical, weight training, and my all time favorite (all though quite a killer workout) stair climbing/running (I prefer to do this down at the local high school track but in the winter it’s kind of hard so I do a hundred sets on the staircase pictured to your right….so really it’s nothing fancy). With the exception of using an elliptical (which I was lucky enough to get for a birthday present two years ago) and a bike the only real equipment I use is my own body weight and dumbbells (which are completely affordable). So I don’t want to hear any more about this “I can’t cause…” business! You can DO it! You should do it! So get out there and DO IT! No excuses!

Jess

Getting back in the right mind set... week 1 of training!

  Hey peeps..what up?!?!  So it's been a pretty busy week for me but  I finally got back into training mode and have been killing it in workouts as well as getting my nutrition under control.  I've also been taking more time to focus on me....which has involved spending more time away from my sister and more time focusing on things I enjoy (like bible study, friends, and running).  It seems like for the first time in a while I am finally being able to tackle my dream of running on all four cylinders this year!
  So one thing I've learned this first week in training (cause lets face it, if the journery is the destination then I better be learning something along the way) is that the basics really are important!  I am one of those people who will skip out on stretching in order to save time, or will run as soon as I am done eatting for the same reason).  Twice this week I was reminded just how much these things are a no-no.  For one running directly after eating not only gave me the worse side ache ever...but also made for a miserable run, at a slower place, and just all around fustration.  And then on the two nights where I tried to skim out on my stretching, I woke up the next  morning so sore and stiff that my body didn't even want to get out of bed.  SO incase you are wondering....there is a reason the basics are the basics!
  Oh and another thing that I am going to try out this week is this one a day vitamin that dissolves in water.  Since I've been young I've always had a really hard time swallowing pills.  However lately I have been extremely tired and think it probably comes from the fact that I don't get nearly enough of the vitamins I need from my food (for example I'm not a vegan but I don't enjoy meat..so I know for sure that I lack iron).  So when I saw this in the store today I thought it was worth the try.  I'll keep you all updated on whether or not it makes any difference.
  Well for now this is all, gotta get some sleep considering most days this week I've been up way past my bed time to watch the olympics (can you say "Go team USA!"....way to inspire a nation)!
Jess

Just a little pep talk!

Hey Friends!


So I don’t know about you but I am a HUGE fan of the Olympics! There’s just something about watching normal people push their bodies to extremes and then prove the impossible possible! The thing is, we only see a tiny fraction of what it takes to stand on the podium with a gold medal around your neck (hee hee… I act like I would know) and it’s those moments…the ones that nobody sees that really inspire me! In fact in the words of Apolo Anton Ohno "If I have given my all and still do not win, I haven’t lost. Others might remember winning or losing; I remember the journey." You see it’s not about the moment in the spotlight….it’s about the blood sweat and tears you leave on the gym floor when nobody is watching!

Jess

Why is it?!?!

  So I am not nor will I ever be the kind of person who actually looks forward to working out.  Infact I am actually more so the type of person who absolutely dreads the idea of it until about half way through a workout session, at which point I switch from dread to excitment at the idea that it's almost over.  So why is it that almost every time I work out as soon as its done I think about how I should do it more often.  It's like the euphoria of actually accomplishing something clouds my judgement and I automatically start thinking about getting up early the next day to do it again or planning my schedule better so that I can figure out how to fit in more regular workouts.  Sadly that feeling only lasts about an hour or two and by morning I'm back to dreading my workouts and finding every excuse in the book not to fit it in.

 Now if only I could find a way to bottle my post workout motivation...then not only would I always find myself on track...but I would also find myself quite rich...hee hee

The opposite of worry is….

By nature, I am a worry wart….always have been and probably always will be. Call it an in ability to trust God or an overzealous need for control…but none the less I can stress myself out on the drop of the dime over some of the most needless things. In terms of weight loss….well that can just wreak havoc for me. I mean we all know that stress produces cortizol which leads to belly fat. But for me stress also leads to a need to eat…food is comfort to me…even though ultimately in the end it becomes anything but.

Lately I have been finding myself stressing out so much …almost to the point that I have this constant ball of tightness in my stomach (like a stomach ache or ulcer)…and then it hits me….the only thing that I can truly control in this life is my body (which includes everything from my emotions to my weight). I have control over what I put in my mouth and ultimately I have control over whether or not I work out. I can control how much weight I lose and how much I gain but the amount of effort I put into this journey.

Now don’t get me wrong…I see I am treading a very fine line here. I mean we all have read how this kind of behavior and/or thought process can lead to all sorts of eating disorders. But what I am saying is…it’s time to take some of my power back. I feel like in so many ways life has once again stolen bits and pieces of me….and I’m slowly reverting back to this place of not knowing who I am and what I am capable of. It’s time to change that….it’s time to take back some control….it’s time to show life that it can knock me down but it will never knock me out!

And that’s my personal pep talk for the night…hee hee!

Jess