THAT Feeling

You know THAT feeling. THAT feeling you get when you pushed yourself harder than you thought you could, did things that you didn't think you could do, got THAT motivation back and had someone BELIEVE that you could do it.
THAT happened yesterday. 1 year ago today I was in a friends wedding, following a horrid night of food poisoning, but it was also my lowest weight I have been at in my weight loss.
Yesterday I attended a Zumba and a bootcamp class. It probably was the hardest class I have ever done and it motivated me so much. I want THAT feeling back. I want THAT feeling of sweat upon sweat (as Adriane put it), I want to have THAT felling of every muscle in my body hurting. It is an AMAZING feeling.
I definitely fell off the wagon in the last 6 months or so, but being in that room with such amazing people, who push each other and support each other motivated me. After class I felt amazing, sore and tired but amazing. A, I LOVE you for challenging me, pushing me, motivating me, kicking my ass and making a difference. I HATE you for challenging me, kicking my ass, and making me wake up in pain the next day. But it's the LOVE/HATE relationship that keeps me coming back for more. That keeps me wanting more and more for myself. I am beyond happy at where I have ended up. It was a rough road to get there, but I have found where I am happiest to be pushed and to work hard. Thank you for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself, for seeing in me what I couldn't see. Like I said yesterday, YOU motivate me and make me want to work hard and get back on track. PLEASE continue to be on me and call me out when I need it. <3

FROG

At our Annual Girl Power Fitness Christmas Party, we gave out awards. One award was designed to be an award about "me". I asked my 13 year old niece what we should call it. What do people think when they think about me. She said: "3 things, Frogs, how much weight you have lost, and how much of a skittle you are" (1. I am slightly obsessed with frogs, and skittles refers to what we call ourselves because of the bright colored clothes we wear). I didn't want to just call it a frog award. I wanted it to stand for something. So came the FROG award:

Finding

Resolve to

Overcome Obstacles and

Grow

The award description read:

The decision to take back what belongs to you is a choice that no one can take away from you. Living life on the sidelines is not for them and they have their head back in the game. They know life isn’t a journey, it’s an excursion of their lifetime. They know that Healthy knows no size and that healthy is beautiful. Jacob Held said, “We can’t escape pain; we can’t escape the essential nature of our lives. But we do have a choice. We can give in and relent, or we can fight, persevere, and create a life worth living, a noble life. Pain is a fact; our evaluation of it is a choice.” So watch out world she’s coming through.

I nearly cried reading the award for many reasons. I saw myself in that award. Those words were what had happened to me. I didn't want to sit on the sidelines. I didn't want life to pass me by, but at the time, I was. I was back to old habits, I wasn't eating right, I wasn't working out like I should and I wasn't treating my body the way it deserved to be treated. I can either keep going that way or I can do something about it. Im choosing to do something about it. No more sitting on the sidelines. No more watching everyone else taking that control. Not anymore. Hello 2015. Have we met yet? I have a feeling we are going to be good friends.

Ow Factor

This weekend… Flew by.. and was filled with the OW factor… what's that you say? That when you get your butt handed to you by taking 5 classes at Girl Power Fitness by the Amazing Adriane. I can't say enough about you. Your encouragement, motivation and drive mean more to me than you will ever know. I can't imagine this adventure without you! It has been way too long since I have done a class with you, never mind 3 back to back on Saturday, and two back to back Sunday- which also followed an AMAZING 3 hour Cumbia Zumba JAM session.
Needless to say I got in my steps this weekend!
I've been working hard the last two weeks. I have been running/walking 2 miles or a half hour on the treadmill in the mornings before school. I have keep good on my promise of getting a minimum of 10 miles in a week and attending at least 1 additional class a week and I have continued to sing. I am having a hard time with my 10th goal- trying not to stress as much and number 13 -not worrying about the number on the scale.
I stress a lot- not as much as I used to but still I find myself worrying about things that I don't have any control over. Keeping busy helps but it's the quiet moments that I start thinking too much.
Now number 13. I have been busting it out. Working it out so hard and not seeing movement on the scale is killing me. I want to see the results. I want to see that number going down, and it's not. I can feel my muscles hurting. I know I am pushing my body hard. Getting up in the mornings before school, working out, and attending extra classes aren't paying off but I know that…

In the mornings I take my tablet and headphones and head down stairs to the treadmill. I hate the treadmill. I don't mind running outside, but something about running on the treadmill just is boring to me. Maybe its because I'm by myself, or maybe its because it's so early. This week shopping at the Dollar Tree and found some posters. I decided to decorate downstairs a little.

My hope is that when I have friends come over they might write messages on the white board, and that I can look at the posters and messages and the running might not be so bad.

2014

2014. What a year.
New Job- which I feel in LOVE with, continued good times with Girl Power Fitness, met new friends who have become part of my extended family. Tried new things, took trips for business and pleasure. Met my new niece- who I LOVE to death, and got food poisoning-wouldn't recommend that… I set off saying 2014 was going to be my year, the year that things changed, and even though I didn't necessarily do what I had planned on, I wouldn't change it. The steps I took were the steps that needed to be taken and will help me move on to 2014.
Are you making new years resolutions? Don't make such lofty ones. Make them smaller and manageable.
Loose weight or Attend at least 1 workout class a week. Which is more manageable? Which will hold you more accountable? Find a friend and commit to that one class a week. Prepay and make yourself go. I know I don't waste my money so I'm going to go.
No Sugar or Cut back on sweets. I'll tell you, if you cut out something you enjoy you are going to become resentful and quit more easily.

My goals:
1. Attend 1 additional class a week.
2. Get a minimum of 10 miles in a week.
3. Run a minimum of 2 5ks.
4. Take one "me day" a month.
5. Continue to sing.
6. Ride a HUGE roller coaster that makes me want to pee my pants.
7. Visit the ocean.
8. Write at least once a week.
9. Be open to new experiences and not run away from them.
10. Try not to stress as much.
11. Learn how to follow knitting/ crochet patterns and expand my skills
12. Attend a paint night
13. Not worry so much about the number on the scale- but how I feel.
14. Get up on waterskis.
15. Make more memories with the people I love


So lets get ready and make 2015 even better.
What does 2015 have in store for you?

Constant reminder

This morning I woke up, not only is it a great friends birthday, but it also is the anniversary of the day I hit a special moment in my life. 2 years ago today, I officially stepped on the scale and had lost 100 pounds. It was a very exciting day.
When I woke up this morning I started at my closet door. There hangs the workout clothes that I used to wear when I started zumba almost 4 years ago, my favorite black dress pants that were at one time almost too tight, and my goal pants. The pants I want to fit into -soon. I look at them every morning when I wake up and stare at them when I go to bed. The are a constant reminder of how far I have come and where I want to go. There were the apart of my Fit at 5 interview.
A lot has happened since that interview, but the one constant since then has been the love and support from my Girl Power Fitness family. They are always there with me, for me and make me want to do better, try harder and work more!
New year is coming and I am more than ready to get back on track. What is your new years resolution? Whatever it is, please do it. Follow through and make a change for you! Find the friends that will always have your back and love you and push you and want better for you.

Food

In times of stress I used to do one of two things. I would either eat- and eat a lot or I wouldn't. Both are bad. As I have traveled along this journey I think back about food. Yes Zumba®, Personal Training, and classes with Girl Power Fitness have been a huge part of me loosing the weight, but food also has played a role in it as well. 

At first I didn't change what I was eating that much. Overtime I had to. I was stuck at the same weight for months. I was working out, I was eating healthy, I was doing everything right I thought. I started working with a good friend, who is also a personal trainer. We changed how I ate and when I ate. We had to play with foods. I didn't know that even those foods I thought were good for me might have been causing me to maintain (and sometimes gain) weight and not loose it. Did you know that if you are "sensitive" to a food your body blots? By eliminating foods I was eating and adding them back in and closely monitoring my weight and workouts we were able to find what foods I should try to avoid or limit. It was amazing. I lost nearly 40 pounds in the time I worked with her. 


Over the last year since stopping the personal training I have gone up and down. Right now, I am up. The truth? Summer vacation hit and I stopped eating on a schedule. I attended cookouts and gave in to those cravings and I'm paying for it now. I have to own up to it and move forward. So its back to planning my meals, pre-making lunches for school and planning my workouts, telling my friend and personal trainer friend and following through. 

No excuses. Excuses don't yield results. Work does.