Fall down 6 times get up 7

It doesn't matter how many times we fall down.  It only matters how many times we pick ourselves back up and keep pushing forward.  I won't ever say my fitness journey has been easy or even that consistent.  There are days that I don't want to workout or run or even eat healthy.  The trick is that you can't beat yourself up too much when you fall down, even if it's completely your fault.  You need to say "I made a mistake, but I will keep pushing forward".  I have had one of those weeks.  I was supposed to start week 3 of the TRX force workout, and I was really excited about it.  I underestimated how hard it was going to be. I tried week 3 day 1 and was quickly discouraged about 1) how much more difficult it was than I thought it would be and 2) that I just did not have the upper body strength to get through it, even with modifications.  Previously I would have scrapped the whole deal and not really gone back to TRX, but the new and more determined me said lets take this week to regroup and we will start weeks 1 and 2 over again, and do them again and again until I can safely move on to week 3.  This week was going to be difficult anyway since on Wednesday and Thursday when I would normally be in the gym, I had a Mother's Day breakfast at the school with my daughter and then Jury Duty. 

Fitness is not easy. Being healthy is not easy, especially not in the beginning. There are going to be days that we are thrown a curve and might not get our workouts in.  All we can do is try to make smart decisions the rest of the day and maybe sneak in some short workouts, even if it's only a few squats or calf raises.  This week, my healthy decisions were to try and get my diet and macros under better control.  For some time now I have had issues with my body not wanting to get rid of food, specifically bread/carbs.  I made a pit stop into Total Nutrition to see what I could do about it, short of cutting out carbs altogether.  Even though I know better, it was good to hear feedback and reaffirm that I need to take care of my insides as well as my exterior.  I have never done a cleanse before, but that is the direction I decided to go, to try and give myself a jump start.  I also am making sure that I give my muscles what it needs before and after my workouts.  I have never been good about taking vitamins or tracking what I eat, but this is me, getting back up and recommitting to track what I put into my body and make sure I'm giving it what it needs.  I know that it won't be easy, and I know that there is still a possibility of my falling down, but I will continue to get back up.

The Arena

I watched a motivational speech today by Greg Plitt and it really inspired me.  He said "I failed is better than what if, because what if never entered the arena".  Each of us has our own arena, our own battles and struggles that we go through.  Failure in life is inevitable.  We all have small set backs.  It really doesn't matter how many times we fail as long as we keep stepping into the arena.

Every one of us walks a different path.  Our struggles are different, our bodies are different and our muscle structure is different.  There is no one-size-fits-all plan for weight loss or fitness.  The way we lose weight is as individual as we are.  What works for my neighbor may or may not work for me.  

Making healthy decisions for weight loss and fitness is not an easy journey.  The sooner we all realize and embrace that the less we will be ourselves up over not reaching results as fast as the celebrities or models in magazines.  Fitness is not a race or competition.  The only person we should be in competition with is the person we were yesterday.  If we ask ourselves each day what we can do to take care of our minds and/or bodies the happier we'll all be.

I know that this seems a little jumbled today, but I just have so much bubbling up inside.  I'm so excited about my fitness journey, including all of it's ups and downs.  My path has been anything but straight, but I've learned a lot about myself, the process and what I'm capable of.  I haven't even begun to tap into my full potential, and I know that with the support of my Husband and my family I can achieve that.

Numbers are misleading

Over the course of my fitness journey, I have had to remind myself that my level of fitness is not defined by the number on the scale.  I received a compliment this morning from a neighbor that I see in the gym frequently about my looking thinner and that my face has slimmed down.  My immediate thoughts went to the number on the scale.  Pictures though as well as the way my clothes fit tell a different story than the number on the scale does.

Eating healthier and increasing my number of workouts is starting to pay off.  I don't run as many miles as I did before I strained my achilles, but I'm doing pilates and weights which seem to be changing the way my body looks and feels.  I've increased the weight on my upper body work from 10 pounds to 15 pounds and increased my leg press from 60 pounds to 72 pounds and plan on upping that to the next plate next week.  All of those things are progress, even if the scale doesn't show it the way I would like it to.

The point is, keep going.  Just because we don't see the expected changes reflected in the scale, chances are we will see those changes in the way our clothes fit, the way we feel and our levels of energy.

It's the little things

It's been a pretty busy month, and while I can't say I've been super consistent, I did find some motivation last week when I saw a link for the #workitout100.  Thankfully my sister had already started the challenge so I could see it. I officially started the challenge on Monday, but really began on Saturday.

So here are my current stats:

3/26/14

Weight: 142.4

Body Fat: 26.6%

BMI: 24.8

Obviously those aren't huge changes, and that's okay.  My goal is to make this a complete lifestyle thing and not just a "let's get down to 125 as quickly as possible" kind of thing.  Those types of goals have a higher failure rate, and I want this to be a permanent change.

Because of the achilles injury I've had to mix things up a little, which is good.  I'm taking it slower getting back into running and increasing my mileage so that means I can supplement with other types of workouts.  I'm getting consistent with my weight training workouts and I started the Blogilates Beginner fitness calendar.  Doing all of those things allows me to be flexible and work muscles that tend to be neglected with just running.

Over the last few weeks, I am starting to see small changes in my body.  I will be taking more progress photos on Monday so hopefully those changes are more noticeable.  The best part about this journey is that I'm feeling muscles that I haven't felt in a while and I like that sore feeling.  I'll of course keep updating, but I wanted to post today because progress is progress, even if it's small. And, even if you fall off the wagon a little, it's okay.  In the long run, it's not how many times you fell down that matters, it only matters how many times you picked yourself up, dusted yourself off and kept moving.

Spring

It seems like spring is a time for new beginnings. I don't really think that it was coincidence that I was discharged from physical therapy on the first day of spring as well.  This is a chance for me to begin with essentially a clean slate.  My running future can be whatever I want it to be. I have the tools to make it successful.  

It took injury for the need for strength training to really sink in. I need to make time to take care of and strengthen my muscles as well as stretch them.  I still identify myself as a runner, not a weight trainer, but it won't be neglecting the weights anymore. I've been doing a pretty good job over the last few weeks, I just need to set up a system that will work with a normal training schedule and set time aside for stretching/yoga and strength training. I know that it will be a challenge, but I know that it will be really important if I want to run without injury.

So, here is an update on my progress. I have not been that good about tracking my macros, but just it being in the back of my mind has helped me to make better food choices than I was before. I probably weigh myself too much, but part of me is still checking for how my body responds to certain foods. I weighed myself again this week and while I was a little disappointed that I had gained a half a pound, I had lost another .3% of body fat. Basically I'm adding muscle. This just goes to show that the number on the scale is not always a good indicator of progress.

I will of course continue to update on how things are going. I really want to work on my consistency in my strength training workouts, which will mean finding something that I can do with the limited equipment I have.  Happy running!

Checking in

So 9 days later and I figured I would check in. Was not very good over spring break and didn't follow my diet. Thankfully I still have a one pound weight loss. Today looked like this:

2 mile run

3x10 leg press -72lbs

3x10 DB chest press -10 lbs

3x10 DB two arm rows -10 lbs

3x15 Russian twists -8 lbs

3x20 Jumping jacks

Weight: 143

Body fat: 26.9%

BMI: 24.9

My body fat has decreased by .4% which is not a big loss! but my short term goal is to get down to 24% so I'm well on my way. Now that I'm back to my normal schedule I'm hoping that I can really start to make some progress.

2014 - Fitness Reset

I have not given up on the Marathon, but finishing 2013 and starting out the year with Achilles tendinitis and a calf strain didn't do anything to help my fitness goals. So, to get myself back on track now that I'm able to run a little more (still doing physical therapy) it's time to start addressing what I eat.  I've been doing a lot of reading about diet and weight training lately and I came across IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) and some of it makes sense.  I know that I should be watching what I eat anyway and I'm finding that my body is sensitive to a couple of different foods. 

Now, the hard part is trying to plan my day as much as possible.  It seems that IIFYM works best when you can plan ahead. For instance, I know that this evening I will be eating pizza and cupcakes for my daughter's birthday, so I should plug that info into my fitness pal so I know what I have left for lunch today. I know that I won't be able to stick to this 100% and I'm okay with that.  This is just a way for me to get a handle on my nutrition while I'm getting my mileage back up.

This being March 1st, I felt like this was a good time to start fresh. Today was the last day in my weight training week so the workout was this:

Seated Leg Press: 3 sets of 10 - 60lbs

Dumbbell Bench Press - 3 sets of 10 - 10lbs

Dumbbell Bent Two-arm Row - 3 sets of 10 - 10lbs

Russian Twists - 3 sets of 15 - 8lb medicine ball

Since Sevrine and I are running a 5k tomorrow I did not run today like I normally would on Saturday.  Next week though it will be nice to see what a typical week will look like.  My weight routine is one that I was able to find online and is a true beginner weight workout.  Workout A is above and Workout B is 3x10 dead lifts, 3x10 Lat pull-downs / pull-ups, and 3x10 over-head/military press. Next week is BAB. 

Beginning today, my goals for 2014 are:

* Lose 19 pounds
* Run 5-6 days per week (lower mileage and build so I don't piss off my Achilles)
* Stay healthy/injury free
* Cut out soda gradually
* Strength train consistently
* STRETCH

I'm sure there are more things that will go along with that, but as of right now, those are my fitness goals.  I know that I will need to revise these goals as well over time since lose 19 pounds sounds good, but I may look better with 19 pounds of fat loss and putting 5-10 pounds of muscle on.  The number on the scale is more a pride thing I think for a lot of people, so while that is the immediate goal, it may not get me the shape I want.

March 1, 2014
Weight: 144
Body Fat %: 26.9
BMI: 25

Goal
Weight: 125
Body Fat %: 24
BMI: 22

They don't seem like big goals, but I think that I need to shoot for what I think is reasonable.  I don't want to set myself up for failure, so we're going to do this slowly and readjust goals bases on not only the way I look, but the way I feel.