Showing posts with label motivation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label motivation. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your dream body!

It's low carb day and that means one of my favorite cardio workouts, but first I wanted to talk a little about motivation.

Yesterday I shared a post on social media that said Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they worked on it every single day!

That’s what I want you to remember when you are working toward your dream body. You have to work on it Every. Single. Day.

I don’t mean you have to work out every single day, but you do have to make choices that will help you get to your goal every single day.

In the FASTer Way to Fat Loss® we emphasize that you if you follow our plan, a combination of straightforward nutrition and effective workouts, you will burn fat FAST. You will see big changes in your body composition FAST.

But it still takes time. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your dream body after just one day of sticking to healthy choices. You have to start and then you have to be consistent.


You have to eat whole foods every day. You have to move every day. You have to engage with others who have a similar goal every day! In other words, you have to work at it every single day until you reach your goal.

They say it takes about 2 months to develop a new habit. If you are consistent for 2 months, you can train your body to burn fat, you can remove all the junk from your body and you can build up the mental grit to make living a healthy lifestyle, like the FASTer Way to Fat Loss®, your new habit!

I hope I’ve motivated you this morning to make healthy choices! Let me know if I have in the comments!

My waitlist is open for my next round of FASTer Way to Fat Loss®. Click here for more info, including FREE guides you can download.



Sunday, July 29, 2018

Weekly Wrap - Never Never Never Give Up

It's that time in the summer when things really start to heat up around here. It makes it hard to want to do anything, (except hang out in the water) especially workouts. I know that there are no shortcuts to results and that if I want to stay fit (and get fitter), I have to push on. Fortunately there were signs that reminded me to never give up and by the end of the week, I was feeling really good! Here's my Weekly Wrap with Holly and Wendy.

Use my affiliate link to learn more about the FWTFL program here.

Interval Training:
Monday's outdoor Tabata workout was a tough one and my body was not a happy camper afterwards. I think I was suffering from a little dehydration stomach cramping. Tuesday I used the motivation from my new Lorna Jane tank to bounce back and had an awesome treadmill hill repeat workout. PS - I shared some treadmill workouts for non-runners here.


Strength Training:
This week's workouts on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday were all pyramid sets: when you start out light and gradually increase the weight while decreasing the reps. I really liked this method. Each rep felt more effective because I wasn't trying to power through with heavier weights. I am beginning to really feel my muscles working in my upper body. I still have a lot of work to do in my legs, but two separate compliments this week reminded me that the work pays off.


Active Rest Days:
On Friday I took a sunrise walk along the beach, but Sunday! Sunday mrC was back from a trip and we took the SUP boards out for an amazing paddle. I love when we sit down and just float, talk and take in the views of where we live. It was a great way to wrap up the week!



Do you use your workout gear as motivation?





Sunday, November 27, 2016

The Struggle Is Real: 5 Ways to Overcome Low Motivation

I have goals for myself. Lots of them.

EAT HEALTHY

DO MY WORKOUTS

STRETCH/FOAM ROLL

PLANK EVERYDAY

Simple Hydration bottle on sale here!

My goals might sound familiar to you. And, maybe you struggle to stay motivated too. It's not easy to do everything we want and deal with every day life at the same time. Sometimes I'm too busy. Other times I'm tired. Many times I'm just lazy. The struggle is real.

Here are five things I do to stay on track:

Join challenges - I LOVE challenges! I'm far better at completing my planks or doing yoga if I sign up for a challenge, especially one that is on social media. When I see other people posting about the challenge, it motivates me not to skip the day. I'm never too tired or busy to scroll my Instagram ;)

Plan ahead - food prep saves me from making bad food choices especially when I'm too tired to cook. If I have healthy snack choices at my finger tips, I'm less likely to grab a bag a chips and devour them. Smart Popcorn is my biggest weakness!


Schedule workouts - I literally write it on the calendar. If I plan my workouts like an appointment, chances are greater that I will follow through. I used to schedule running meet ups, now I plan out hikes, SurfSet, sprints.

Do it first - As soon as I wake up, I put on my workout clothes and then I workout before I do anything else. Sometimes my workout is in the living room and sometimes I'm waiting for the gym to open. I'm just more likely to do my workout in the morning.

Reward myself! - Yes! Bribery still works at 45, haha. Seriously though, having something to look forward to helps sometimes. I keep a WISHLIST board on Pinterest so that I can pick something out if I reach my goal.

Today's Workout:

Once again I headed out to the fitness center as soon as it was open and I did another sprint workout on the elliptical.

Sprints - 15x, 20 seconds work, 20 seconds recover ---> ready to bump up my sets to 20!
Planks - 2x, 30 seconds each forearm, right and left sides
Bridges - 30 second hold, 20 single leg lifts x2, 30 second hold

Weekend mornings at the fitness center are peaceful. There are only a couple other people there compared to weekday mornings when almost every machine is taken.

On my way to the fitness center, I made a drop in the letter box. I love mailing Christmas cards. Here in Discovery Bay it is so much easier to send and get mail (hint, hint!!). I don't usually get them out this early, but they have a long way to go to the USA!


Sidenote - another thing I struggle with living here is getting my groceries home (when mrC is working). There's no loading up the car and pulling into the garage anymore. There is a delivery service, like in China, but I haven't set it up yet. So, that means carrying the bag(s). Today I found myself doing some elevator yoga to balance the weight of the bag.



What keeps you motivated?
When do you mail your cards?
Do you use a grocery delivery service?









Saturday, May 14, 2016

3 Ways I Get Motivated in the AM and Feasting

I know it's not always easy to get up early for a workout. When I was working, Saturdays were reserved for those since my weekday workouts were after school.

To help make sure I got myself out the door, I developed a couple tricks to increase my odds of staying motivated.

I pack my gym bag the night before so that no matter how slow I'm moving in the morning, at least that part is ready to go out the door on time.


As soon as I get out of bed, I put on my workout clothes. Even though I might just be enjoying a cup of coffee, I feel ready to go. Eventually.


My favorite way to stay motivated in the morning is to read inspiring blog, Instagram, and Facebook posts. Nothing like seeing what you have been up to all day while I was sleeping in China to get me in the workout mood.



The workout for today was total body strength. The arm exercises are seriously killer for me (except maybe triceps dips) and with a bum knee, I have to modify some of the leg exercises. But I get it done and it feels good.



After breakfast mrC and I rode bikes to do some errands. I got a mani and pedi while he went to the bank. Then we rode to Charlie's, an international grocery here in Shekou, where I scored big. The best find was some granola (you'll see when you check out my lunch), but we got a bunch of goodies there.


What I ate on FEAST day

First, let me say that this was my best food feast day so far. It makes a big difference to feast at home.

Breakfast: banana pancakes, grapes, and coffee
I researched lots of recipes, pulled a little from one and a little from another, and crossed my fingers. They were really, really good. I can't wait until the next feast day to have them again.


Recipe:

1 mashed banana (I did not mind having some lumps)
2 whisked eggs
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/4 vanilla

Combine all ingredients.  The mix is very liquidity. I used approximately 2 tbsp scoops to make smaller pancakes. It was pretty easy to flip them this way. They cooked just like regular pancakes, about 1 minute per side.

The next time I might add some protein powder and see how they taste.

Lunch: leftover quinoa pizza bake and smoothie bowl
I've been thinking about this bowl ever since our weekend in NH with the girls. I just made my regular smoothie then added the toppings. Yum!


Dinner: gluten free spaghetti and meatballs, salad, water
mrC makes really good pasta. I wanted to be hungrier so I could eat more, but by this time I had nearly eaten my daily calories.


Macros: It was the most carbs consumed on feast day and I went over my calories, but not by 50% as is the goal.


It's crazy to think that just a couple of weeks ago, this was my normal day. Everyday. No wonder I wasn't seeing any changes even though I was working out everyday. Learning how to fuel my body has been nothing but positive, except of course, trying to be dairy free :)


How do you get moving for a morning workout?



Friday, April 22, 2016

Never Give Up GIVEAWAY!!!

Life is good. 


We drove to New Hampshire this morning for our weekend with the girls. First we stopped to see Dr Bri. I was lucky enough to get an appointment at the last minute so he could assess my heel issue. Basically I have achiles tendinitis. After some Gratson and ART, he applied an anti-inflammatory patch with directions to let it rest. 


I hadn't seen Dr. Bri since finishing my menisectomy rehab and moving to China a year ago, so we talked about my knee issues and not running. He knows my history and basically said that I will eventually have a knee replacement. He also said that I don't need to give up on fitness, and that yoga, hiking, and biking are all very good options for me.

This made me think about the book that I just finished, In Her Eyes. The main character lives 100% behind the mantra never give up. In his story he risks a lot to go after his dreams. 



The author of the book, Wesley Banks, has generously offered to let me give away a free digital copy of his book so you can read for yourself what happens to a Ben as he chases his dream. 

To enter, leave a comment telling me one of your dreams/goals that you hope to never give up.

I will pick a random winner and announce on the blog on Monday, April 25, 2016. To receive the digital copy, I will need your email address.

We headed to Portsmouth after having some lunch and hung out with the girls on the decks. It is such an amazing thing to see them in their adult lives. We are so proud of them.


Tomorrow we are all going on a road trip up to Maine.

I can't wait to spend the whole day with them!












Monday, June 2, 2014

Training Truths: 4 Ways to Stay Motivated

Last week mrC left for ground school and will be gone for three weeks. One of the hardest parts about having him gone is facing run days and still getting myself out the door...alone.


Tuesday - Beyond the fact that mrC wasn't around, there were lots of reasons I was tempted to put off this run: questionable weather, busy day at work, hunger...but I changed into running clothes and that helped get me out the door. Even though my legs felt heavy, I'm happy with my run and excited that my fast last mile streak continued one more run! (9:24, 9:09, 9:15, 8:55)


Thursday - Considered putting this run off until Friday until I saw the weather forecast. Running on a gorgeous day is far better than in a downpour, even if I was tired. While my legs were not happy with the hills, my final speedy mile streak continued! (9:18, 9:02, 9:27, 9:00). I felt so good after that I even did some planks (it's been awhile).


Saturday - After a fitful night's sleep, I woke up feeling sluggish. Worried I would be struggling at SurfSet, I drank some VEGA Sport Sugar-Free Energizer to help boost my energy for a better performance. It was just what I needed for an awesome workout.


Saturday - I cannot resist a run on the beautifully paved Manchester Trail, so even though I was running low on energy after SurfSet, I knew that the scenery of the trail would perk me up. Despite a major blunder when I paused my watch at a light and forgot to restart it, I was happy with my pace - even if my last mile wasn't super speedy this time (9:23, 9:23, 9:25, 9:11, 10:49, 9:37).


What quirky tricks do you use to keep yourself motivated?






Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Put Some ZOOM in Your Training


The start of summer can have different effects on our fitness routines. Some people are motivated and charge full steam ahead into their training and workouts. Others may be feeling a little lazy and fighting the urge to relax on the beach instead of get up and move. Then there is always so much more to do in the warm fabulous days of summer.


Whether you are ready to jump in or need a little motivation, the Zooma Cape Cod Half Marathon/10K is a perfect way to do it.
"ZOOMA is a national women's race series that takes running and celebrating to the extreme. ZOOMA half marathon and 10k or 5K races are followed by a fabulous post-race party with massages, wine, music and more!" 
When you sign up for Zooma Cape Cod you get access to Train Like a Mother training plans as well as opportunities to attend training runs sponsored by City Sports - Back Bay location in Boston.


This race is the perfect opportunity to get together with all your girlfriends. You can train together, run a race together, and then party on the Cape together!  


As a Zooma Ambassador I can offer you a discount on the Cape Cod registration. All you have to do is enter the promo code CCAMB8 to get $10 the half marathon or $5 off the 10K. The price increases on June 23 so hurry to get the best deal!



You won't regret registering for this event. Zooma offers tremendous support through the blog, their Facebook page, and Twitter.


How do you stay motivated during the summer?


Wednesday, June 6, 2012

National Running Day

 
June 6 - National Running Day is a day for people to declare their love and passion for running as well as make resolutions and set new goals. I made a bold move last year.

Most runners will tell you that every day is running day, and I agree.

However, setting aside a day to come together to celebrate and encourage others who may be just beginning their running adventures can be an awesome experience.

The National Running Day website has some great suggestions for celebrating, but all you really need to do is get out there and run.

Pin this if you ran or plan to run today!











Happy National Running Day!

How will you celebrate?
I'll be running with my BRF after school today!

Why do you run?
I run because it makes me smile and keeps me fit.


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