I would like to share with you my goals for the next 9 months. If you read my “Summer Fun”  blog you know that my boyfriend is being deployed and we are having a contest. The contest is to see if each of us can meet our own personal goals by the time he comes home which hopefully will be June, regardless that is my goal month. 

I have written down all my goals on a piece of paper and taped them to my counter top so that I can see them every day. I went in much detail with my goals. This is how I set my goals up:

1- WHAT –I wrote down exactly WHAT I wanted to achieve. I am a Crossfitter so I have goals beside each skill such as gymnastics like ring muscle ups, pull-ups, bar muscle ups ect. I also have a weight goal next to each lift. (Side note, it is a REALLY good idea to write down and keep track of ALL your work outs, times and lifts. If I never did that, it would be very hard for me to know where to start with my goals. Now if you are just starting, no worries, make sure you write down EVERYTHING you do in your work out. Write down lifts, number of reps, amount, how long it took you ect. This is VERY important for many reason. Most importantly to see if your routine is working. Are you improving? If you are great, if you are not…then you can go back and see what you need to change. )

2. HOW— I was very detailed on how I was going to meet each of these goals. This I believe is one of the most important parts to achieving your goal. If you simply have a goal, it will be hard to achieve it because you don’t have any direction on where to go with those goals.

My biggest challenge for my “how” is going to be getting up in the morning to work out. For the last 5 years I have been working out after work. It got me through the day, and through out the day I was excited to go to the gym. However, the unfortunate part was that number one, I was pretty exhausted at the end of the day. Number two, I could easily talk myself out of going to the gym. Or number 3, I had appointments that took precedence. Work also would take over too at times. To be true to myself, and see how much I really did go to the gym (because of course in my head it was “everyday”). I marked on a calendar each day I went to the gym. I did this for about 3 months to get a good average. Well, my everyday, was more like 3 times a week. That is A LOT different from everyday!  The funny part is, I wondered why I wasn’t increasing weights in my lifts or getting that muscle up…hmmm maybe it’s because I was only going to the gym 3 times a week. Now, don’t get me wrong, 3 times a week is great! Better than most people in this world who are sitting on the couch and don’t move at all. However, for me to reach my lofty goals I need to be at the gym way more than that! 

So, my friends, being to the gym at 5 is going to be a HUGE challenge for me! HUGE!! But, I know in my heart that if I want to meet these goals I have to go in the morning. Going after school will just not cut it because with my schedule (and laziness) I will not make it more than 3 times a week. 

The other part of my how is my nutrition. I am most comfortable with this how in my goals. Don’t get me wrong, it is going to be a challenge. But, the cool part is that I know exactly what to do and how to do it:) This summer I didn’t do horrible by any means…well for the most part…lol…but let’s just say that if I want to increase weights in my lifts I need to focus on my nutrition way better than I have this summer:) 

I have found that preparing my meals for the week on the weekend is MUCH needed for me. My week is so crazy that I just want to come home be able to pull something out of the fridge and eat it.  I basically found out that making 3 meals for the week works great. I usually make something in the crockpot, in the oven, and then on the stove top:) I also make sure to have lots of snacks ready for example, grapes, carrots, celery, almonds, Lara bars, apples and almond butter etc. I bought a big enough lunch box that fits all my week’s worth of lunches.  It actually works pretty slick! Don’t forget about snacks during the day at work too:)

3- DATES– What is the magical date that I will have that 6 pack:) If you don’t have a deadline, you will never reach your goal. I know that by June I want to meet my goal lifts and body fat %.  I also wrote down each month from now until June and where I would like to be at during those months. I only wrote down the rest of August and September for now, because I would like to re-evaluate in a month to see how I am doing and what my body is capable of doing. This way I will know more realistically what my body can achieve in a month’s time.

I also understand that this is a journey for me to be a better athlete. I know that I am already a healthy women and know that a certain body percent is NOT going to define me nor is a certain weight on a barbell. With that said, having goals to be a better athlete is also healthy! In 9 months, when I am a better athlete than I am now, I know I have hit my goals!

Feel free to read more about how to make goals and achieve them by clicking any or all of the links below:

New year’s goals revisited 

How to keep and achieve your New Year’s Resolution

Checking your goals

Until next time…get those goals written down!

Would you rather…

Friday was so dang nice here in the lovely world of Pleasant Hill, Iowa.  It really gave me smiles when the sun was shining and there was a hint of spring in the air. It also reminds me of why I want to always be healthy even in the dead of winter. Summer time is when I can go outside and be active. If I don’t stay healthy in the winter then I have to use part of my summer to get back in shape, why would I do something like that? It just makes sense to me to always stay healthy all year round. I am thankful to be healthy when I want to go for a bike ride, hiking, kayaking or when my gymnasts want me to show them a certain skill or some young whipper snapper thinks they can out run me. (I am not kidding on this one either. I teach 6th grade and last year we were outside on a nice day and one of my students thought he could beat me in a race…guess what he was wrong! Just saying! )

There is NEVER a good time to start a new healthy life style! NEVER! There will ALWAYS be a holiday, a birthday, some kind of celebration, a stressful day at work, kids, friends, social time…must I go on…However, those are the reasons why you need to eat healthier! Sure you can eat a piece of cake on a birthday or celebrate every once in awhile. But what about all those other days?

Here are a few ways that I have found to be true with the majority of people. Which do you think would work for you?

1. Go all out! Do something like Whole30 and go cold turkey. Pick a date and start. Get yourself prepared. Not just prepared as in food, but also in your mind. Whole30 is an amazing program. It is not meant for you to do it the rest of your life, but it is a great way to organically clean out your system and really learn about your body. You want to lose weight? Do whole3o!
2. 80/20 Meaning you are good 80% of the time and 20% you can eat off limit foods. This basically is saying that you can have a cheat meal IF you are true to your 80%. A lot of people like this and can live with this rule because they don’t feel cheated out of their favorite food.
3. Some folks just simply want to take it all slow. Meaning start small. Depending how healthy you are to begin with will determine where you start. It may just be starting as small as getting in some kind of exercise every day, drinking more water, taking a daily vitamin, cutting calories, taking fish oil, drinking less soda, eating less sugar, or whatever it may be to help you reach a healthier you.

Keep in mind, #1 will get you quicker results but will take a lot more dedication than #3. Not saying that the last one is easy, I am just saying that with whole3o it’s not just drink more water and doing a little exercise here and there. It’s all in baby! BUT…you WILL see change in your body and the way you feel within 30 days!

It’s your choice my friend. When a friend comes to you and asks you to go for a walk this summer, would you rather be able to say yes and enjoy the day or not able to because you are so out of shape that you can’t. Would you rather be able to go for a hike in the beautiful majestic mountains with your family or friends or say no because you are on some kind of medication that is not going to allow you to? Would you rather go for a bike ride on a beautiful gorgeous summer day or have to stay home in bed because you don’t feel well? Would you rather go on the boat with your friends and family and enjoy a day of skiing and feel comfortable in your own skin or have to say no because you feel out of shape and embarrassed to be on a boat in a suit?  The choice is yours.

Until next time…be thankful that you are in shape:)

Keep After it!

It is now the 15th day of the new year! How are your goals going? Are you getting exhausted by changing up your schedule because you are hitting the gym more and doing a little bit more cooking? You are not alone! This is normal but don’t give up! Remember why you started this new journey. You want to look and feel good. Like I mentioned before, this is NOT going to be an easy task. It WILL be a challenge. Everything that is worth it in the end is ALWAYS a challenge. If it was easy, you would not feel a sense of accomplishment in the end. You would not learn anything through the process. 

 

Here are a few helpful tips that I use to help things go more smoothly:

1. BE PREPARED! I cook all my meals for the week on Sunday. I make my meal plan out and make my list of what I need to buy on Saturday. Then I hit the grocery store on Sunday and begin cooking.  You choose what day works for you.  Yes, it takes time. But, I only have one mess and one clean up for the entire week. When I get home, boom! I have meals for the week. 
2. I also make sure that I have all my veggies cut up for the week and place them in good sealed containers.
3. Healthy snacks such as a variety of nuts, fruit, and boiled eggs available.
4. I use my crockpot A LOT! 
5. I pack my lunch for the entire week and take it to work with my on Monday. I use a big ol’ thirty-one cooler.
6. My work out bag is packed each night. As soon as I come home from the gym I unpack my workout bag from the clothes I wore for work (I change at work to go to the gym) and then I pack for the next day. 
7. You will always see a bottle of water with me. 
8. Call me crazy, but I also have a small section in my closet for what I am going to wear for the week. It takes time and effort to think of an outfit.  I am not a morning person, and if this is already thought of and laid out for me in the morning…well my friends, that just saved me about 10 minutes! 
9. My workout bag contains everything I would need at the gym. Again I have a thirty-one bag that has pockets on the outside of it. My jump rope, lacrosse balls, wrist wraps, water bottle, deodorant, weightlifting belt, shoes, an extra pair of socks, weightlifting shoes, workout book, and whatever else I need. This way I don’t have to worry about what I need it is all in my bag. 
10. A set schedule for the gym. My friends and family know when I work out. I schedule all appointments around my gym time. If you do not have the same work schedule every day then each week sit down and make your work out schedule. Tell your family what it is so that they know to schedule things around it. We are all busy, but if you schedule in a work out just like you do with everything else, then it will more likely happen. If you don’t schedule it now, you will be forced to schedule doctor appointments later.  

These are just a few ways that help me to make life go easier. The biggest thing is to BE PREPARED! I can not stress enough how important that is. Our lives are just too hectic during the work week to have to deal with food and all the extras. Be ready for the week on Sunday night. 

Until next time…keep at it you are worth it!

Winter activities

I love snow falls! It’s so pretty…well when I am snuggled up in bed with a hot chocolate. It can also give some folks that depressing, yucky, cold, want to stay in bed feeling. So I have brainstormed some ideas for you to do with family and friends while also burning calories.

 

 

• Ice skating
• Sledding
• Kayaking (so pretty when snowing)
• Snow shoeing 
• Hockey
• Snowmobiling
• Cross Country Skiing
• Shoveling Snow
• Making a snow man

Until next time…don’t let the cold control you…control the cold!

 

The secret of health

 

What’s the secret every one asks? Do you have a pill that I can take? You mean I really have to exercise? I actually can’t eat the whole piece of pie? You can’t mean to tell me that I can’t stop at McDonalds every morning for breakfast. But, I can’t afford the healthy stuff. 

These are all questions and statements that I hear that baffle me sometimes.

What’s the secret every one asks? The secret is stop eating all the junk food you have been eating and get your butt off the couch and get some exercise in your day! Bottom line! There is no secret about it. The less bad calories you eat the better off you are. The more you move the more your blood flows through your body and the better off it is!

Is there a pill? Sure there are lots of pills. Talk to your doctor and see if there is one that works for you, but I will also guarantee that he/she will also tell you to quit eating all the junk and to get moving!

You mean I really have to exercise? Yep!

I can’t eat the entire pie? Nope!

You can’t tell me I can’t stop at McDonalds every morning for breakfast. Nope you are right, I can’t tell you to do anything. But, I can tell you the facts about McDonald’s foods and how you can be spending that money on healthier foods at the grocery store.

But, it’s expensive. Nope, it really isn’t. If you shop smart you will even save money:)

What motivates me?

1. Exercise! I found a gym that motivates me in a healthy way. The people are like my family. We all cheer each other on and encourage each other and understand the discipline. I look forward to the gym every day. You need to find something that works for you. A lot of gyms have a free week. There are a lot of exercises that you can do at your home or even outside.
2. Work out buddy! When I don’t want to go to the gym, I think of my work out buddy and how she will be there and if I am not she is concerned. I need that:) Find a friend that will be your accountable friend.
3. Clothes! I love cute clothes:) Especially work out clothes. When I have had too many sweets or just falling off the bag wagon and my jeans are getting a little tight, I get on line and look for something fun for me to buy. However, I don’t buy it until I have achieved my fitness goal:) Right now it’s a pair of yoga pants!
4. Food! Finding new recipes and trying them out! I love doing this. I am not the best cook in the world, but when I find a new recipe and it turns out delicious, I get excited! Find some new easy healthy recipes and give it a try!
5. Inspiration! I love to be inspired by others and I love to inspire others:) My mom has always been my inspiration, however lately she has been even more of one (if that’s possible). She has taken it upon herself to lose 40+ pounds by taking her dog for a walk every morning on a bike trail. She use to hate to exercise, but now loves her walks! She is eating healthy and loving life! People like this inspire me to want to be a healthier person and to help others to be healthier too:)
6. My health biz! How can I not be healthy and own my own health biz….that’s just like saying that I am a swim coach and can’t or have never swam before in my life…it just doesn’t make sense:)

Do I get lazy once in awhile? Yes

Do I want to give up? Yes

Do I eat off limit foods? Yes

BUT….

Am I human? Yes

Bottom line that I have learned over the years about health…

Get rid of all excuses, change up recipes every so often, and simply enjoy exercising and be thankful that I CAN exercise!

Until next time…find out what motivates you!

Cast is off…watch out world!

Well my friends, my cast is off! I got it off about a week ago! Way excited about that! The first full day that it was off I reported back to work. It worked out perfectly actually.  I am a teacher and we had to report back to school Tuesday and I got my cast off Monday. So that worked out well. The doctor said to put a little bit of weight on it and when it hurts to let off. So that is what I have been doing and it is going great! I can walk a small distance with my boot on. School starts tomorrow and I rented a knee scooter so this will be interesting. We will see what 6th grader wants to race me! So much fun! I have had so much support this last week going back to work. Friends helping me in my classroom, getting groceries, driving me places and so much more! Thank you to all the prayers and good thoughts! Keep them coming!

My injury has also taught me a lot of life skills. Click on this post to read how an injury really isn’t an injury it is something that happens to force you to slow down and think about your blessings. As mentioned in that post, I am really looking forward to heading back to the gym. You can read that post to understand why I chose not to go back to the gym while in a cast. Now I am not in a cast, but in a boot in which weight barring is acceptable. I will go back to the gym and work my way up very slowly. This too is going to be extremely hard for me, for I am a very competitive person.  However, I know that if I push it I will be right back to where I was at and I would rather not do that…lol:) 

Every year I write year end goals. One of my goals has been to do my first ring muscle up. Isn’t it ironic that I hurt my lower body so to speak and I must only work on upper body:) Therefore, I have a goal when I go back to the gym! Life is good:) I also need to get back on track with my nutrition. I have my goals on a sticky note on my computer. So every time I use my lap top my goals are staring me in the face.  My goals include to prepare meals for I know that helps me tremendously through out my busy week to not reach for the processed foods. I am also going to take some supplements for muscle gain called CLA 500. This is a supplement that supports lean muscle retention. I will also continue taking my Double x from Nutrilite and drink my water. There are so many healthy eating plans out there which I am blessed that our world can choose what best works for them.  I have done Whole 30 and I like that because I now know that my body doesn’t run well on wheat and dairy nor sugar. Before Whole 30 was introduced to me I did a nutrition plan that allowed me one cheat day. I have also done 100% Paleo as well as 80/20 Paleo. I have done many cleanses that helped me to jump start my healthy eating. All of which have been mentioned are wonderful ways to get anybody’s BODIES back at it. I am going to do Nutrilite’s Super Green Aloe Shots to clean out the old system to get my body ready for healthy greens again:) It’s just two shots, one in the morning and one at night for 2 days. Heck I can do that! Click here if you want more information on that. I have chosen to basically do 80/20 Paleo route to get me back on track. That pretty much means I am going to eat Paleo for 6 days and then have a cheat day on the 7th day. It worked for me before and it will work for me again.  I also do better when I have support. This last week when I was back at work a lot of ladies were telling me that summer was hard this year in the food world and they were excited to loose some weight. So I reached out to them and we all decided that the first day of school is when we are all going to start back at eating healthier. We are all really excited to get this thing going! 

Until next time…eat those greens and get to the gym!

Body Reset

Anyone ready for a reset? I sure am….wowzer… usually in the summer I have an opportunity to focus even more on my health, but apparently not this summer (stay tune for that story:P ). I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just need a mind and body reset. Maybe you have all figured out by now that I am not the body builder, don’t own my own gym, I am a teacher and working out is not my life but my stress reliever, I promote healthy eating because I know what healthy eating can do for a person, and I know how hard it is to always eat healthy and stay fit, and of all things….I am a realist. I love learning about the latest research on nutrition and health and passing it on to my followers. From what ever I have read and learned, I give advice knowing that YOU will make the decision that is right for YOU! I love motivating others to live a healthy life style and realize that not everyone is perfect. I also know that there are a lot of temptations out there and hope that my blogs will encourage others to believe in themselves to not always fall into the temptations. I believe that for your soul you need to indulge every once in while. I also believe that you can make healthy decisions any where you go for all of your life. In addition, I believe that for some people using good, healthy products will help them to have a healthy start in resetting their bodies. For some people, they don’t need that and just decide to cut all the junk out and that is their restart. I have done both ways! Whole 30 was an amazing experience and I know that it is not meant for a life time, but it definitely will reset your mind and how you look at food. I highly recommend doing whole 30 if you have not already experienced that.  I have done a few other challenges to help me as well. All have worked wonders:) This time I am going to do a little bit of each:) The products shown below are by Body Key from Nutrilite. The Aloe shot is all natural to revitalize your body in a natural way. Prepare your body for a new way of eating. Click here for more information. The Carb Blocker is a life saver. I take these whenever I must indulge in some carbs.  I honestly don’t feel the bloating when I take these. Click here for more information on those. The Slimmetry also helps with fat loss. Click here for more information.

 

 

Of course, you always want to exercise and eat healthy when wanting to lose weight that is a given. However, these products will for sure help the process along.

Another point that may help restart, is to get a group together and be accountable to each other. That ALWAYS helps me! Get to the grocery store and stock up only on healthy foods. Set your calendar so that you can make it to the gym. Get plenty of sleep and water and you are golden!

Until next time… get a restart 🙂

 

Top 10 inexpensive summer activities

 

1. Go for a walk or run on a bike trail or anywhere for that matter.

2. Ride your bike (or borrow one) on a trail or mountain bike on a new trail.

3. Swim laps in a friend’s pool.

4. Do push-ups, sit-ups, plank holds, squats against the wall, or any other body weight exercise.

5. Use paper plates (click here for u-tube on how)

6. Use stairs for running up and down.

7. Play soccer.

8. Play Frisbee.

9. Play football.

10. Play tennis, volleyball, basketball, softball….

The sun is shining and summer is here! Get out there and be active!

Until next time… create an inexpensive exercise for yourself!

 

Speak Success…

“We cannot become what we need by remaining what we are.” – John Maxwell

Mr. Maxwell says it well 🙂 We cannot gain health if we are unhealthy now and continue to be unhealthy.  Health is not going to greet you on the couch, but it will on your bike or on the trail as you go for a walk.

Do me a favor and write down your WHY. Why do you want to be healthy? Is it simply to feel better, to live a long healthy life, to be able to have energy to play with your kids or is it to have energy to be a rock star at your job! Maybe it’s to sleep better at night or to be able to handle stress more effectively. Whatever it may be for you write it down!

Next write down WHAT you will do to achieve it.  Successful people speak and believe in themselves. Write down your ultimate goal on a note card as if it already has happened and speak it out loud everyday. For example, I lost 20 pounds in 3 months I did this by training for a 5K and staying on a healthy eating plan. This is just one example of speaking what you want. When you truly believe that you can accomplish what you want and speak it every day, it WILL happen. Try it and see what happens.

The third thing I suggest that you do is write down exactly how you are going to achieve your goal.  For example, if you are wanting to run your first 5k do some research on how you need to accomplish that goal. Make a schedule to what you need to do each day to achieve that goal.

Last but not least, each week make sure you are looking back at your schedule and see if you need to make changes. Your schedule is not set in stone, you may have to change it, that’s ok. As long as you are doing something to achieve that goal, you are golden!!

Another idea would be to ask someone to get on board with you. Someone who can help you be accountable.

Until next time…if you don’t like what you are doing.. change it:)

 

Being honest here…

Be consistent! Do you really want something to happen? Be consistent! You want to lose weight? What are you doing to make that happen? Sitting on the couch and watching T.V all night, I am sorry is not going to cut it. Do you have a MOTIVE? Do you know WHY you are wanting to lose weight? Are you doing if for YOU or someone else? Are you being HONEST with yourself? Are you making a FOOD LOG to really see what you are putting into your mouth? Do you have someone to answer to that will help you be ACCOUNTABLE?

Don’t create excuses! Don’t blame it on someone else! You are the only one that can change YOU!

Sound harsh? Good 😛 Listen to me now… Do you truly understand that it IS up to you? No matter what your life is like, YOU are the only one that can change your actions and your behavior? Do you REALLY, REALLY understand that? Because until you do, you are not going to get very far. You are always going to create excuses! Do you feel you are not worthy of feeling good about yourself? If not, why not? You are a very special person and every single person on this earth has a purpose and is designed to feel good and look good! That includes YOU! Have you ever thought that maybe the reason why you eat the way you do is because it makes you feel good? If so, then maybe you should start a journal of what is going on in your life and try and work through those. You may just see yourself losing weight before your very eyes:) Or because every one else in the world thinks they know what is best for you? But do you realize that YOU are the only one in your own body and you are the only one that knows what is right for your body. If drinking milk is what is best for you.. then do it! If drinking milk makes you feel like dog dodo then don’t drink it! If paleo is right for you then do it! If doing whole30 is right for you, then do it! If eating healthy for 6 days and having the 7th day a free day works for you.. then do it! If simply cutting down on calories is right for you.. then do it! My point is simple.. FIND what works for YOU and not what works for your neighbor! Quit complaining about your weight and how you feel IF you have done nothing to do about it for a long period of time. Give yourself TIME to lose the weight and make changes! If you tried millions of diets and nothing has worked. Maybe the issue is the word DIET! You are right diets do NOT work! You need a life long nutrition plan! The mind set of a “diet” is not going to help you! Start small but be patient with yourself! Don’t give up after a month, 2 months, or even a year! The more weight you have to lose the more time it is going to take. It wasn’t over night that you gained the weight so why do you think it is going to take an over night sleep to lose it?

Did I get your attention? Good! Don’t mean to be harsh here, but I think many people in this world NEED to throw out the excuses and make a plan of what they are going to do about their weight!

Don’t get me wrong! I think a lot of people do struggle in this world on losing weight! However, I have found that who ever gets rid of their excuses finds success! Every single time…when they realize their excuses and they get rid of them…they succeed…guaranteed! Try it and see what happens!

Until next time… get rid of all your excuses and you will be amazed at your results!