Step It Up

I love the chats I have with my trainer during workouts.

No, really.

Ok... mostly.

We have a good time.  She gives me crap for eating crap.  She punishes me for not working out enough. You know the drill.  This week was no exception.  The only difference was tonight... I got homework.

As in - this is what you're doing for the week and before we start our next workout, you're weighing in.

Bah!!! She's on to me! It's good - for her. For me - I'm scared. ;) So here's this week's homework in case you were wondering:

Monday - W/ Michele
Tuesday - Praise Moves (Christian yoga)
Wednesday - Home workout provided by Michele
Thursday - 3 mile walk
Friday - OFF
Saturday - 30 min workout video
Sunday - walk or off

On my off days I'm to do work with the foam roller - stretching and such. So it's time to get off my duff. Oh - and quit eating crap.

Pretty sure I'll be starving by New Years.

Clean Up

You know there are times in your life when you need to clean house. Most 'normal' people do this in the spring. However, I'm very much at that moment. I feel like my life is chaos.... Unorganized... Cluttered. I don't know if it's the crazy year we've had or what. Starting today I'm cleaning house.... Starting with the closet and dresser. Getting rid of clothes and stuff I don't need or use.

Might include some phone numbers. Maybe some conversations that need to be had to get off my chest. We'll see what the coming weeks bring, but I hope that this will accomplish at least some sense of order. And keep me from getting depressed and "funky" during the remaining winter months.

What tips do you have for avoiding the winter funk?

Starting the year off right.

New Year, New Word

For the last couple of years I've selected one word to focus on for the year. I didn't pick one for 2014, but have decided to do one for 2015.

My word for 2015 is STRONGER.

The verse to go along with it is:  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”   Joshua 1:9

I'm not necessarily going to voice goals or anything, but will be sharing struggles and successes in my life as a whole.

Cheers!!

Faith & Fitness Week In Pictures

They had a photographer come out one day and take pictures of us in the gym, plus some of my own. This is such a small, small taste, but I hope you enjoy!!

Leg Pressing 260 pounds

At the end of the week with Austin & Ken

Jenn, me, and Vanessa getting ready for our nutritional session

Our swim teacher, Kelli

Water workout!! I'm probably concentrating on not drowning. ;)

Our beautiful group, including trainers!

Me and trainer Charline

John kept telling me if I locked my knees one more time he was going to slap me...
And he would yell at me when he couldn't hear me breathing... :)

Faith & Fitness Week: Food

Wow. I didn't realize I hadn't finished posting this. :) So a month later... lol

I have to tell you, this was truly my first experience where healthy food could be SOOOO good!! There were several things that we had during the week that I've been scared to try, so I was excited about that.

Here's the new stuff I tried:

French Toast - Multigrain dipped in egg whites. We had it with berries and sugar free syrup. So good!

Quinoa (a grain, like rice). I would definitely buy it to make for myself and cook it in a low-sodium stock to give it more flavor.

Salmon - I've wanted to try it forever, but when you eat somewhere, you don't want to pay for it, just in case you don't like it! This was seasoned with tomato-basil Mrs. Dash and it was YUM!!! I could have five things... but I think that would defeat the purpose.

Egg White Omelet w/ spinach and cheese: They do one whole egg, and then some egg whites. I never thought egg whites could taste so good, but this was yum!! They also suggested cooking it just like you're frying the egg and having it with whole wheat toast or english muffin -- we had this one day also.

Kashi Go lean Crunch - I had mine with skim milk. I loved this cereal, it tasted like the puffs I had as a kid. :)

Other than those things, we had chicken, salad, brown rice, and veggies galore. :) I learned about some different things, some I already knew about, but it confirmed I need to try them!

PB2 - powdered peanut butter, good for shakes, but you can add water to make it paste-like.

Oatmega Protein Bars - Organic, with not as much sugar. Have to buy them on amazon.com, because apparently they only sell them in Texas.

Plain Greek Yogurt - Typically I buy the flavored ones, but they gave us ideas on how to make them good without the added sugar, etc. 

Since coming home I have been eating egg whites - yesterday for breakfast I had egg whites, one piece of toast, and a tomato. I also learned that when you snack, if you have a fruit you need a protein to go with that. At camp we always had string cheese or almonds with apples or a banana. I miss that little bubble when I didn't have to count anything and it was all portioned out for me! It was so easy -- but I guess if it was easy, everyone would do it. :)

Faith & Fitness Week: Our Trainers

I cannot praise our trainers enough! All of them were so attentive and amazing! I was blessed by each of their stories for different reasons. It was appreciated and didn't go unnoticed how vulnerable they were with us all throughout the week. Whether it was stories during meals, or sitting with us one-on-one to go over different things.

The trainers of the week were (pictured left to right):

John: Is the 2013 Mr. America... yes, a body builder. He has such an amazing heart for God and is completely focused on the person he is helping. He forced (I mean pushed) me to leg press 260 pounds at the end of the week. He took time to learn about us so that he could know enough about what we could do.

Laurie: I was so blessed by her spirit! The very first night she took me aside and asked if I wanted to talk. I was a tad intimidated, but said yes. Again, she asked so many questions so she could learn about us and our struggles. She taught us a lot about at home workouts. No more excuses of you can get to the gym!!!

Charline: I love this lady! She is a Team Beachbody Coach. Her story spoke to me so much and she was such an encourager. She did the very first workout with us and I'm sure was a little scary for her, too! :)

Kelli: Is actually the wellness director at Southwestern Assemblies of God University (where this event took place). She took time out of her busy schedule to do water workouts with us and even help out during the various sessions.

Alex from this season's Biggest Loser was also there to help us throughout the week. She did an amazing job at teaching us what she learned while on BL!

Faith & Fitness Week: Gains and Loss

I'm sure this is the first of many posts about Faith & Fitness Week, I'm just so unsure of where to start.

Let's start with what I lost.

1. According to their scale -- 4 pounds, Sunday night to Friday morning.
2. My Fear -- I don't feel intimidated by things I can't do or things I've never tried.

Now, what did I gain?

1. A greater sense of peace about where God has me headed. Every morning we did prayer walks where I literally prayed and worshiped the entire 45 minutes. Then every night we had service and small groups. Never have I been with God so much! I can't even describe to you what it feels like to finally have HIM in the center of this journey.
2. More confidence to try new things -- I did two spinning classes!! It was never something I wanted to try. I thought I was going to die 5 minutes in, but I did it... TWICE!! :)
3. I found my love for the water -- Every single day we had a water workout. When I was younger (before I gained my weight), I LOVED swimming. I was a fish! As I gained weight I was in the water less and less. Kelli, our swim instructor, even told me I was great in the water. 
4. Great friends -- A new support system community that were great spending time with and have been great encouragers since I got home!
5. Knowledge about working out, eating, and my faith.

There were so many aspects to the week and I'm going to go into detail about them, each in their own post, because there's so much I want to share!

Stay tuned for more!