Getting Stronger in Week 13

Wow! It's hard to believe that I've stuck to my fitness plan for this long!  I am super determined to eat clean & work out often with only 80 days left until my 30th birthday!! I want to enter my 30s looking fabulous & I feel like I'm well on my way.  Sometimes I look at myself & think that I look the same as when I started this blog but I definitely receive comments about the changes (mostly from my wonderful hubby) & I'm well aware of the fact that I can lift so much more than I could three months ago.

My Instagram fitfam continues to keep me motivated & my Fitocracy friends provide great encouragement in keeping me on track.  I keep finding more & more recipe ideas as well as ideas for workouts from looking at my feeds.  One of the fit women I follow on Instagram encouraged me to participate in flexfridays to show my progress.  Her encouragement reminded me that I haven't taken or posted photos of my progress in a long time.  So...December 1 I will have what I call a "like it or not photo shoot".  Part of me wants to wait for everything to look perfect before I share more photos but I know that many other people benefit from seeing their progress photos so I will take some photos whether I like it or not & hope for the best!

My family continues to encourage & support me in my fitness goals.  My mom tweaked the Thanksgiving dinner menu to include more veggies & less of the foods I can't eat this year.  My Hubby is being super supportive & spots me at the gym even if he isn't lifting.  Both of my sisters are attending bootcamp, looking great & helping me stay motived! Check out my wonderful Hubby & Sister logging some serious mileage at the Turkety Trot on Thanksgiving.  I am so proud of my Hubby.  This was his longest race to date!  I am so glad he had Elisa there to run it with him!

Pre-race:

Halfway - 4 miles in:

Ryan crossing the finish line:

Elisa crossing the finish line:

Week 13:

• 10.1 miles walking
• 2.5 miles running - My plan is to increase distance by half a mile per run each week.  My right leg is finally feeling good & I don't want to mess it up.
• 4 hours of weight training - Say what!?  I had a few days off from work & have been cooking less due to Thanksgiving leftovers - both of which freed up time for me to work out!

Perspective in Week 11 & 12

Something happened to me in the last couple of weeks. I had a bit of an existential crisis & came out the other end of the crisis with a new perspective. I really needed to step back, see what I was investing myself in & re-arrange things based on what I want to be invested in. Sometimes it feels like I'm in control of my life & sometimes it feels like life is dragging me where it pleases. I spent a good deal of time thinking & re-evaluating & I'm ready to move forward with renewed excitement & determination. There are some aspects of life that seem to always fall into place & there are some aspects that really require determination, planning, effort, time & energy. My faith, my loved ones and my health are absolutely central to how I handle the rest of life & how fulfilled I feel in life. If I'm serious about giving these things the amount of investment & attention they deserve, it is not going to happen in little chunks of time here & there - these central aspects of my life require day in and day out attention. With that, here are some recent thoughts on each & their affect on Fitness Health & Happiness:

1) Faith: I listen to podcasts by Alistair Begg at least a few times a week. Each sermon is about 20-25 minutes long and my drive to work is 30 minutes long so I usually get a sermon in on the way to work. This week I faced a real challenge. I listed to a sermon on called The Power of Proper Thinking & it really challenged me. In particular, the sermon centered around Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Hearing that made me stop & think about what it is that I put through my mind on a daily basis. Do I put in positive things? Do I think constructive thoughts? Do my thoughts expose envy instead of encouragement or hatred instead of understanding. In large part, we are the sum of our actions (how we treat ourselves and how we treat others) but the actions are all born in the mind. If we really want control over how we act, we need a good firm grip on the driving force, which is the mind. I spend silly amounts of time wasting mental energy on things that don't matter. I need to focus that mental energy into things that are for my benefit or for the benefit of others. I need to work on sowing the thoughts that will turn into positive action and good mental, physical, emotional & spiritual health.

2) Loved ones: I am married to a wonderful an amazing person. I am so thankful for the fact that I have a self-less & devoted husband. It exhausts me just thinking about all of the things that he does for me/for us. Although he would never complain to me about it or demand special treatment, he does not get the praise or attention that he deserves. Sometimes I just seem to forget that my best friend in the world is right here in the house with me & that I should get the most of it. I know my mom has told me this before, but sometimes it takes time for things to sink in. When Ryan invites me to do something with him, I need to do it. I need to recognize that I'm being invited into a shared experience & not turn down that invitation to do something else - especially when that something else ends up being something so silly like reading gossip websites and not something more constructive! I have a renewed focus on sharing experiences with Ryan. He has done so much to adopt my interests. He eats healthier because I'm here, he runs because I got him started on running. He actually has thrown himself into running so much that he walked 3 miles & ran 17.5 miles this week & is running the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving!! I am so incredibly proud of him & I am so happy that he has really integrated something that I enjoy so much into his lifestyle. want to reciprocate & show Ryan that he is worth the mutual effort by participating in his interests & by expressing my gratitude for the things he joins me in. I sometimes feel gratitude right there in my heart but I never tell him! I want him to know it.

3) Health: Overall health is always the goal. The desire for good health is a given. No one asks "why do you want to be happy" or "why do you want to be healthy". Although reasons may be given for wanting health, health is a thing to be desired in itself. If you get bogged down in the details when trying to be healthy, it is hard to ever be pleased with yourself. I love logging workouts because it reminds me that I am making that effort and that I am progressing. It is not the individual little workouts that are the real accomplishment, it is the fact that they add up to an overall picture of strength, endurance & efficiency that really matters. I fear that too many people never develop a love for their health. We crash diet. We injure ourselves by pushing too hard & not listening to our bodies' need for rest. We go to all sorts of extremes, fads & quick-fixes when what we really need to work on is building a huge composite of healthy choices that is built on determination, planning, effort, time & energy. Good health is an awesome reward but it requires a long-term consistent commitment.

I feel great after clearing my mind & focusing in on the essential things. I hope I don't soon forget this moment of mental clarity & that it carries over to the practical aspects of reaching my goals!

Week 11
Travelling chaos to New Orleans & Wisconsin. I will be better prepared next time I travel!

Week 12
Still no running but my leg finally feels better!
Walking - 11.9 miles (bam!)
Weight training - 2 hours (Less sessions but I really pushed myself with heavier weights!)

Encouragement & Motivation!

Let's face it, being health isn't easy. People who look great tend to provide the same response when asked their "secret": Eat clean & Exercise often.  Lately I've come across so many great resources to serve as my source of encouragement and motivation in keeping up with the two-prong road to health.

1) My family & friends: The people that care about me & that want what's best for me are always there cheering me on, reminding me to take it easy when I'm hurt, ensuring that I see my doctor regularly, etc.  My loved ones serve as a great driving force in helping me stay healthy.

2) My set goals: It is always easier to train with a goal in mind whether that goal is a particular race, a strength goal (I'm currently maxing out my pushups every week!), or whatever else you might be working towards.

3) Complete strangers: This is something I had taken for granted until recently.  I have started following other fit people's blogs, Instagrams, facebooks, etc. and it is a huge help in keeping me motivated.  When I woke up Saturday I totally wanted to lazy around in bed for a while, but flipping through my Instagram feed motivated me to get my butt out of bed and start lifting.  I felt awesome afterwards!  I also love that Instagram is such a quick easy source of recipes!!  I've prepared several dishes this week based on recipes I found on Instagram & have posted the recipe, a link to where I found it, and a photo of my version of it below:

Loaded Sweet Potato or Yam from fitmencook.com.  This did not satisfy Ryan's sweet-tooth at all.  He requested marshmallows & ended up using whipped cream to sweeten it up.  I put a little honey on top instead of the Stevia listed in the recipe.

Salmon that I made up today.  I used to coat with mayonnaise to hold in moisture but I've started using egg white instead. It works well!

Turkey Omelette Cupcakes (or Loaves) from fitmencook.com - although I removed turkey & added prosciutto & included cheese as a side for those members of the household who do not follow the paleo diet ;-) This doesn't look like much in my photo (the photo on his site is amazing) but it was delicious - especially for something filled with vegetables & protein.  This is a great meal to start the day off right!

Although I can point to many inspiring people to follow, I highly recommend following these two:

1) Instagram: thebettyrocker / web http://thebettyrocker.com/  She posts great workout ideas AND recipes. Her Instagram & website are great resources for strength training exercise and for gluten-free recipes.

2) Instagram: fitnessandfaith / web http://fitmencook.com/ This guy posts a great variety of recipes including some which are paleo friendly & I love that he is committed to his faith and & that it informs his perspective & his goals.  The sweet potato and omelette cupcakes are his handiwork.

Week 10

NO RUNNING!  I need to fully recover first.
Walking - 6 miles

Bootcamp - 2 hour 40 minutes (still focusing on arms due to my injury, but bringing in my legs a bit)