It's never easy is it...

So there's a few things I struggle with (okay "few" is an understatement, but for now I'll only force you to hear about a few).

I miss indulging in chocolate and sweets. And you know what? I hate that I still want to indulge. Now by "indulge" I mean seriously sitting down and eating. Not just a snack here and there. I still do that. The first year I started eating healthier I went almost a year with very little chocolate. Something snapped though and I've never made it back to that control. And honestly there are times I do INDULGE. A couple weekends back I made some yummy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies (the real recipe name is Soft Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunkers – doesn't that just sound yummy – here's the link http://www.whatmegansmaking.com/2012/07/soft-peanut-butter-chocolate-chunkers.html) and I'm sad to say that I ate more than I bothered to count. So we're talking probably more than 1 dozen. But mmmmm they were delicious!! Of course then I was mad at myself so I had to spend the next week trying to break myself of the sweets habit again. The only good thing is that it does remind me how hard bad habits are for people to break. Now I get that my sweet tooth isn't the worse habit in the world. But if it's so hard for me to give that up I can begin to understand the struggle people go through in trying to give up other addictions like smoking or drinking. I guess it's a good thing that I've developed this healthier attitude because when I do indulge a bit too much, I feel guilty and try to get back on the wagon. I'd hate to give up the benefits I've worked for over a little cookie (okay a seriously delicious cookie, but still…). And in dealing with my own "addiction" I have learned more patience and understanding for others who are trying to kick their habits.

Another issue is watching my 8-year-old daughter already looking at her body and thinking she's fat. Have I somehow contributed to this??? That's a question I constantly ask myself. When I started on my new and improved lifestyle I was trying to lose weight. However I honestly did need to lose it. I am continuously talking to my daughter and explaining that I'm exercising and eating healthy just for that reason… to be HEALTHY. My mom died from breast cancer. She was diagnosed when she was 41. You know what? I'm 41! But I'm hoping that by trying to keep fat cells at bay and staying physically fit that I'm discouraging cancer cells from ganging up on me. I'm also hoping to keep a healthy heart. I regularly explain this to her. But there's so many "pressures" from TV, movies, and even kids at school. Seriously?!! When did kids start worrying about their weight and body image at this early age?! These are the times I wish I had become a P.E. teacher. Not that I would be able to do much good, but it's nice to think that maybe I would have been a good influence. But instead I'll just work to keep the lines of communication open with my girl and hope she can help her friends. I've explained eating disorders to her and how dangerous they are. Maybe if we keep talking about it she'll know what to watch for if one of her friends ever has a problem.

And then there's the issue of keeping my family happy and not feeling neglected. There are times I know they get frustrated with my lifestyle change. The kids honestly do quite well with it. They don't love spinach but they do love salads! So it's an easy supper to just have everyone make their own salad. Our oldest loves smoothies with me on school mornings now (I'd share during the summer but he gets to sleep in!). And he's decided to get fit and stay fit. A lot of that's for playing sports. But I'm not complaining. Shoot – he's the one that beat me in the 5k last weekend. I totally did not see that one coming! Guess I better pick it up, huh?! But sometimes I worry that taking that hour each day to workout takes away from family time. I try and fit it in after the kids go to bed but then I'm usually done and ready for bed myself. And since my hubby's a night owl he wishes I'd stay up longer. This summer I'm trying to do my cardio at work either during lunch or right at the end of the day. It is nice having those nights free. My husband knows that I get pretty crabby if I don’t work out so he's really good about it. But I know there are times he gets tired of it too. And he doesn’t want to eat all the healthy food I eat. So I have to make sure there's a variety of food in the house or it looks like I only shop for my likes. Ugh!!! Do you have trouble if your family isn't as on-board with your lifestyle? I'd love to hear your tips on keeping it balanced.

Alright so I said I'd only list a few and when I was in school we learned that "a few" meant three. So I'll stop at three (for today anyway). On a positive note I totally rocked it on the elliptical today. Well I don't know if I rocked it, but I LOVE training on the elliptical. Someday my dream would be to have my own elliptical at home. Actually my dream would be to have my own real workout room J

Running Backwards...

When I think of the phrase 'Running Backwards' it makes me think about struggling to keep up. Which honestly is how I feel on a good number of days. You've obviously noticed I haven't been posting - mainly because I felt like I wasn't able to post from my heart. I was struggling to stay on top of the daily routine and felt that sadly, maybe this blog wasn't where should I focus any time. I'd really like to keep up with the blog and am going to try it again.

This past weekend our whole family ran in a local 5k. This was a first as my husband really does not enjoy running and yet volunteered to sign up so that we could all participate. We had a great time!! Our 13 year old had an impressive time of 23:07 which included beating me! Our youngest ran at her own pace but finished in a tie with Daddy! She wasn't too happy when he stepped across the finish line a step before her, but didn't complain once she realized their times were identical. I was equally as proud of our 10 year old son who finished just a minute after me. He hadn't run regularly since the beginning of May when running club finished at school and yet he still kept a pretty quick pace. It was fun having the entire family take part!! Of course the kids were just as excited for the community parade that happens once the race is finished.

But back to the phrase 'Running Backwards'. I was taking a walk with our daughter Monday night and we started talking about the 5k again. I was asking her if she had fun and how much of the time she stayed with Daddy. Turns out she ran at her own pace and they just happened to finish together. As we were walking she turned around and started to run backwards. She told me that Saturday during the 5k she ran backwards part of the time and even spun around as she was running. "It was fun Mommy!" It made me realize that  running backwards doesn't always have to be a bad thing. I, especially, need to slow down and just enjoy things for what they are. Yes there's still a lot of work that needs to be done but maybe we can find more ways to have fun while toiling away at those daily tasks.

I wish I had seen her spinning around as she ran the 5k. It would've brought a smile to my face. Just listening to her tell the story brought joy to my heart!

So for those of you that have hung around during this long absence of posts - thank you. I hope you'll stick around. I'm not promising any particular schedule for the posts but am hoping to post from the heart on a more regular basis. Why do I exercise and why is it important to me?? Those are the ideas and thoughts I hope to convey through these posts.

If you're running today - go ahead and run backwards for a while. If nothing else it adds a touch of fun to your exercise routine!

Unexpected Rest Days...

If you've read my blog for a while you know that I rarely schedule rest days. I don't schedule them because inevitably something happens that causes a rest day. That's what happened yesterday. Jordan had a soccer game in a neighboring town so we were out a little longer with that. We got home, had supper and then he & I headed to Urgent Care center. His hand was stepped on and his pinky was bothering him. As parents and athletes, neither his dad or I felt he really needed to go in. But he was in some pain and thought it should get checked. A few hours later we confirmed nothing's broken, but he's got a splint and has to be careful. Anyway... by the time we got home I had some things to catch up and so it became a rest day. I DID my cross-fit workout - don't even think that I skipped that :)

Tonight Jadyn & I did Hiit20 while the boys were at youth group. It just makes my heart happy when she wants to exercise with me! I finished the night with Chest & Back (P90X) and then the cross-fit workout. I'll have to let you know how my shoulders feel in the morning :)

I was trying to push myself tonight but some of the push-ups were harder tonight than they were last week. I am not good at those decline push-ups. The pull-ups went good though. I love it when I feel like I'm getting stronger.

I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open so I'm going to give in and call it a night. Live Healthy - you're so worth it!!

Thanks for keeping me accountable

Did you read my post on October 1 with the challenges for the month? You are keeping me accountable to those two challenges! The hardest one has been not snacking after 8:00 pm. If I didn't workout late most nights it might not be so bad. But after working out I always seem to want something to eat. I've been eating one serving of fruit but limiting it to that. And some nights it's REALLY HARD!! Like last night... let me give you a tip. Don't watch Cupcake Wars while you're not supposed to be eating!!

Are you doing the challenge? What do you think of the cross-fit workout? Tonight I was tired but knowing it only takes 3-5 minutes helps me stick with it and just do it! Anyway, I can only blame this on being tired but I was doing the first set of sit-ups (25) and all of a sudden realized I was at 40!! I must've been thinking about the quick workout I do at work that has 40 sit-ups. I couldn't believe I had done that. Go figure!!

Tonight's workout before the cross-fit workout was Ab Ripper X (P90X) and Hiit25. I'm still doing my own hybrid and it's kind of fun! I probably should have done weights tonight but stuck with cardio. My current "gym" doesn't have any heat and with the current cold spell I was COLD!! About the time I finished the Hiit workout I was finally warming up a bit. I'm not sure how this is going to work for the winter :)

Keep at it - whatever workout it is you're doing. Another Monday is in the books!!

Giving yourself little incentives

Do you ever give yourself small incentives for achieving goals? It sure can make it easier to achieve big goals if you break them into small pieces. This Saturday our oldest son has a soccer tournament. Their first game is at 9:00 am and of course the weather is going to pretend it's winter. Today's high was in the mid-70's. Tomorrow's high is supposed to be in the mid-50's. So the temperature at that first game will probably be in the 40's. Brr....  Why am I telling you all of this? Because I've been "saving up" my calories this week to have a nice warm flavored coffee Saturday morning!! It's helped with my goal of not snacking at night, as well as keeping me on track with healthy snacks during the day. So - do you do crazy things like that??

I am still doing good with no snacks at night. I tell you what though - it's really hard for me after I work out. And during the school year I usually work out once the kids go to bed. I always want something when I'm done. So this week I've had one small helping of fruit. I feel that I'm still meeting my challenge by eating healthy and only having one helping.

Tonight was a soccer game and then roller skating party. Another busy night in our home. Once the first two kids were in bed I did my challenge workout. Our oldest was still up doing his homework so I did that workout because it's so quick. I switched up the pull-ups - 1 pull-up, 2 chin-ups, 3 pull-ups, 4 chin-ups, 5 chin-ups. I figured that would be good :)  If you don't have a pull-up bar feel free to modify the workout. Do push-ups or tricep dips. You can change the numbers too.

It was cardio night so I did Fire45.  I do enjoy that one!! It's a fun cardio routine. I did the Stretch10 tonight as well. It was massage day at work (I'll have to explain that in another post) so I thought I should keep stretched :)

I'm hungry!! But I won't give in. I will however go to bed! I read once that when you're tired, you eat more. So when you want to eat at night, you should just take that as a hint to go to bed! Sleep well - tomorrow's Friday!!

We've made it through hump day - yay!!! Between family, kids and school, and work, it's already been a long week. I'm tired today. The kids seem to be tired too. In fact Jadyn fell asleep in the van while we were picking up the boys from church.

This morning I did a short energy burst workout and my shoulders were a bit sore when I did the jumping jacks. It kind of makes me laugh to feel jumping jacks in my arms like that. You'd expect them to be simple or to be tiring in the legs! But I'm still feeling that Chest & Back workout from Monday night. I did some push-ups and just bade it through 20.

I'm happy to say I've stuck with the October challenges on my workout calendar. Granted it's only the 3rd day of October, but I'm focused on meeting this goal and not giving up. The funny thing... the hardest one to stick to is "no snacks after 8 pm". Tonight I made some pumpkin muffins for the kids and realized they were coming out of the oven at 8 pm. I couldn't even try one!

Because it was a busy night I didn't start working out until about 9:00. I did Abs10 (TurboFire) followed by the cross-fit challenge workout. I wanted to make sure and fit that in before my regular workout. Tonight was Shoulders & Arms (P90X). Some of those shoulder exercises were tougher. Especially the 2nd round of each one. But it's done and I could shower as soon as I got home because everything else was already done.  Now if I could find a few extra hours in a day to catch up on some sleep.                                       

Be positive. You can do anything!!

Another day, another workout. Today at work I did some push-ups and had some sore shoulders from last night's workout. Even doing jumping jacks was a little rough. And yet - it felt so good :)

Did you print out the calendar I posted yesterday? The days are left blank so you can fill in your own workouts. You can join my challenges if you want. Today I'm still on track! I've had my 80 ounces of water and am doing good at not eating snacks tonight. And it's been tough - I made brownies for the kids and was going to eat a small one (it was just before 8:00). But some friends stopped by and they didn't leave until after 9:00 so I couldn't have one. SAD!! But I'm going to do this. I'm going to get back on track with my healthy living!

Tonight I did Kenpo Cardio Plus followed by the cross-fit challenge workout on the calendar. The pull-ups tonight were incredibly hard. I did manage the first 6 without a stool, but then had to get the stool to finish up. Don't feel bad if you use a stool for all your pull-ups. That's how you'll increase your strength. And eventually you'll be able to do some without a stool.

Be positive when you talk to yourself. Yesterday when I was making the calendar and adding the challenges I started to type that I would attempt to do the cross-fit workout each day. I realized what I had typed and changed it to "I will do". Don't give yourself that option to fail. You can do it and you will do it!!

Hang in there. Life isn't easy. But you can do anything you set your mind to do.