Monday Motivation – It’s a whole new year

I decided that with a new year starting, it was time to change things up a bit here on the blog.  Instead of my Friday Fitness posts, I felt that Motivation Mondays were the new year to do things around here.  As much as my fitness and healthy eating are a big priority still, I felt that my journey was more a reflection of my motivation to be a better “me” overall.

I also decided that this will not be a weekly post, but bi-weekly.  I found that trying to post a weekly Fitness Friday a little bit stressful.  I didn’t want to just post for the sake of posting and not have any real, worthy content.  Every other week is probably a little more manageable to get decent, readable content out there.

2017 is a biggie for me, as I will be turning 45.  Eeeks!!!  It’s about time I really focus on what I want in life and how I can achieve it, as I am not getting any younger and it won’t get any easier.  I want to make 45 my best year yet and this is giving me the motivation to eat better, continue my fitness routine (or even step it up a bit) and see what else there is out there for me to improve.

Like 90% of the population, I started 2017 with my “got to eat better and workout more” resolution.  I have been doing okay so far.  Not the best, but not completely horrible.  But today, with the boy back to school and I am starting to get into the groove of working from home full time, I can really move forward and get things going.

I am a creature of habit and when my day to day routine goes off track, so do I.  So hopefully this week with routine returning, my motivation and success will return as well.  One of the biggest ways for me to keep on track is to put my workout clothes on as early as possible in the day so that when the time comes for me to workout, there is no excuses, I am ready to go!   I also need to ensure I am wearing my Fitbit.  I have been really, really bad about getting my steps in since way before the holidays, so I need step it up.  Pun intended.

 

I talk about my Fitbit a lot, and if you don’t have an activity tracker, I totally suggest you look into getting one.  They are so motivating and it really shows you how active or inactive you are each day.  If you don’t know much about trackers, you can check out this article that compares and rates some of the more well know trackers out there.  They can be a bit of an investment, but again, totally worth it you are looking to get moving and motivated.

There is that age old saying “you are what you eat”.   As much as one exercises, if you are eating way more calories then you are exerting, there is no way you are going to ever lose any weight.  I decided to try following the 21 Day fix program.  I started following it loosely last week and this week I am really trying to really stick to it.  It has been a total eye opener in that I truly do not have a well balance diet.  I am way to carb heavy and never get enough protein. I am really trying to change this and hoping it will be a huge help in my weight loss journey.

I know that eating well and exercising rank highly on a lot of peoples New Years Resolution list, and I hope that if you are one of those people, that you are staying on track and keeping motivated.

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Fitness Friday – How Exercise Helps My Mood

Yesterday I woke up pissed off.  And as the day progressed my mood worsened.  Blame it on the insensitivity of people in this world, blame it on my lack of sleep, blame it on the fact the holidays sometimes get me down, blame it on the fact I haven’t been getting to exercise as much as I have wanted to lately.  Regardless, the tone of my day was set as soon as I woke up.

I felt like no matter what the day brought me, nothing was going to make my mood any better.  Sadly, on days like this, I often wish my day away so that I can wake up hopefully in a better mood the next day.  Life is too damn short to be wishing it away.  I need to do something about it but being stuck at the office all day, I knew there wasn’t much I could really do to improve my situation while there.

My son was going to be with me that evening and the last thing I wanted to do was subject him to my grumpiness.  I needed to come up with a solution before I got home.  I had to look at some of the reasons I was initially blaming for this bad mood.  I can’t really change the fact that I have had to deal with insensitive people in this world.  Although, I could just choose to ignore them.  I can’t take a nap at work, so sleep would have to fix itself that night.  The holidays aren’t going anywhere fast, so again, just ignore that as much as I can.  So the only fix that seemed to be viable was the exercise.

After a few minutes of pondering, I knew that if I really put my mind into it, I could fit in some time to exercise that evening while my son was playing a game on his tablet.  I could throw in an exercise dvd that I had and sweat away the grump.  I know in the past, exercise has always lifted my spirits when down in the dumps, so I knew it would probably help in this case.   Even just planning the exercise time made me feel slightly better.

Being overly tired when I got home, I was almost happy to wallow in my grumpiness instead of working out but that wasn’t the example I wanted to set for my son.  So I got him set up to play and I got the dvd player going.  My mood started to lift almost instantly.  That, and the fact my son was laughing at me made me laugh too.

By the end I was in a completely different frame of mind for the rest of our evening together.  I need to remind myself that as much as some days I really hate the thought of working out, I need it.  My body needs it and my mental health needs it.  When something as simple as a short workout can greatly improve my mood, there is no need to go thru life grumpy.

Fitness Friday – The body is talking to me

I will be honest, I don’t have much to talk about today as my body has been telling me to take it easy this past week.   Between being a Mom, working, blogging and trying to have a social life, I have over programmed myself these past few weeks.  Things were starting to catch up with me and the body was complaining.

This past week, I still made it to the gym twice and was eating mostly healthy so it wasn’t a complete loss.  However, it was pretty evident that I needed to slow things down by Wednesday.  I woke up with an ear infection and upset stomach.  When my body needs a break, there is no subtle hints, it tells me loud and clear.

Making sure I stay on track and getting my exercise in, drinking lots of water to stay hydrated, making wise food choices and getting quality sleep are key.  Sure this all sounds good in theory but I need to make sure I actually do it.

I know with the holidays quickly approaching, I need to listen to my body and get the rest that I need now so that I am not sick then.  It doesn’t mean that I am going to live like a hermit and not do anything, I am just going to make sure that I am being much more cognizant of what my body needs and wants.  It’s always so hard to stay on track during this time of year and I know that I won’t even be remotely perfect, but I am going to really make an effort this year.

The New Year is always a fresh start for a lot of people.  And this year it will be for me as well.  There are a few changes I already know that are coming my way and I am looking forward to them!

Fitness Friday – I am feeling like a fraud

Not going to lie, I am feeling like a bit of a fraud these days.  Not only to myself, but whomever actually reads these posts.  The past 2 weeks have been so far removed from being “Fit”,  it isn’t even funny.

The gym and I have been complete and utter strangers.  It’s like we have never met or we’ve had a bad break up.  We don’t see each other at all anymore it seems.  And I almost feel like I was the one who got dumped, because I have no idea why we aren’t seeing each other.

Maybe it’s the change in the weather or life has been just a bit more busy than usual, but my motivation to get to the gym is gone.  My motivation to do anything is gone.  I think the fact it get dark so much earlier now makes me just want to hibernate.  With it Daylight Savings time this weekend and the clocks going back isn’t going to help either.

All the things I have been telling myself and you that I would keep doing no matter what, have gone out the window.  I used to be almost obsessed with getting my 10k steps in each day.  Realistically, I don’t think I have gotten the full 10k steps done in the past 2 weeks.  One day I didn’t even bother to even wear my Fitbit.

I stepped on the scale this morning and it hasn’t moved.  No loss, no gain.  So in retrospect, this is a good thing.  I was not expecting good things to come from me stepping on that scale.  Any sort of gain would have probably made things even worse.  My only saving grace these past few weeks is I have been sticking to my #FitMamaPlanner.  The past 2 Sunday nights, I have sat down and planned out my whole week’s worth of meals.  It helped a lot with my grocery shopping.  I didn’t buy things I didn’t need.  Although most importantly, I think most nights when my motivation was at it’s lowest point, it gave me the guidance to cook what I had planned and not hit the drive thru.

So what does this actually mean?  Why I am I even bothering to write this down?  I told myself that if I was going to write a “Fitness Friday” segment, I was going to keep myself accountable to myself and to whomever is reading this.  I am feeling like a fraud and I don’t want to.  I don’t want to write some sort of garbage to make it look like I am this wonderful Mom who is keeping fit ALL the time, keeping on track and not having a bad time.  Let’s get real, I am having a bad time.

BUT, this morning when I stepped on that scale, it gave me a bit of a wake up call.  I hadn’t fallen too far off that wagon.  It was still in sight.  And although I have been feeling sluggish and my body has been reminding me that I am not treating it well, I can recover from this set back.  I can do this.  Never give up!

So to everyone reading this rambling, first off thanks for listening.  I guess it’s ok to fail once in a while.  Recognizing the issues and doing something about it is the key.  So time to rekindle the romance with the gym and feeling better about this journey.

Fitness Friday – it’s all in the planning

So I think I finally have gotten the exercise portion of my fitness journey on track, now I REALLY need to tackle the eating portion.  This isn’t my first rodeo, I know that it doesn’t matter how much you exercise if you are eating way more calories than you are burning.  And not planning what I am eating is my biggest downfall.

I am forever seeing posts about people meal planning.  And when I see them, I know I should be doing more.  Previously, I would semi meal plan for the days my son is with me.  I use this plan to help me buy groceries and that is about it.  When my son is with his Dad, it’s game over and that  is where the problems begin.  Without a game plan in place, the drive thru window becomes an easy substitute for a good, healthy meal.

So last week, I received this amazing #FitMamaPlanner from Acorn & Coco and I decided that I would give meal planning a go this week.  OK, so it has been less than a week but so far it seems to be helping out a lot.  On Sunday afternoon, I sat down and filled out each day with a menu for the entire week.  The planner has a section for a grocery list which is very handy.  I made sure I accounted for all meals, even my son’s school lunches.

Having everything planned ahead of time and ensuring I used the accompanying grocery list to ensure I had everything available has been a real help.  I am trying to make sure I stick to my guns and follow along.  Every Friday, my office mate and I buy our lunch for making it thru the week alive (LOL) and I even planned for that.  We don’t decide until the day of on where we will eat but I planned the rest of the meals that day around to keep on track.

My goal this week is to not eat out or hit the drive thru unless I have specifically planned it and stick to my meal plan for the week.  For example, we have an event next week and dinner will be eaten out.  Put it the planner and work around it.  I can really understand how this works for people in the long run both in a weight loss/maintenance kind of way but also in a financial way.  Hopefully I will see a not only a difference on the scale but in my bank account as well.

This week has been somewhat slack exercise wise just due to other commitments but hoping to step it up this next week as well.  Still using my #everydamn day motto and at least getting my steps in.    Wish me luck!

Disclosure:  Although items in this post were provided to me, all opinions, comments and photos are strictly mine.

Fitness Friday – Finally some progress!

I don’t know about you, but I have been dreading the thought of summer being over.  We’ve had such a nice, mostly sunny summer and I just don’t want it to end.  In addition to the lovely, warm weather, in the summer you can wear those nice flowy dresses.  They keep you cool through those hot, steamy days.  But even better, they are so forgiving if you are up a few pounds from over indulging at the plethora of bbq’s and patio parties that go along with a great summer.  Come fall and winter, I tend to skip the dresses and revert to the warmth that pants and jeans can provide.  But they are not so forgiving.  One day, they can fit perfectly and a burger and fries later and I can feel like I am a stuffed sausage.  And that is just not a comfortable feeling.

So this week, when the temperatures were a bit cooler I knew it was time to dig out the pants.  I was dreading it, to say the least.  But man oh man, was I surprised.  The pair of pants that used to fit me on a good day, but definitely weren’t buffet eating pants, were actually big on me.  It felt amazing.

For weeks now I have been really struggling.  I haven’t seen much movement on the scale and I definitely had not been as committed to working out and eating right as I had been earlier this summer.  It was such a great feeling to know that I was making progress.  It has definitely given me motivation to keep going and work even harder.  I really pushed myself when I was able to get to the gym this week and I continue to ensure I get my 10K steps in every single day.

Life over the past few weeks has been crazy busy and I haven’t been able to devote as much time to my posts as I would like.  Luckily, the madness is pretty much over and I can get back on track in all the different facets of my life.  Can’t wait to see all the progress that comes along with it!

 

Fitness Friday – Who wants to join me?

Another crazy busy work week but I really tried not to let it get the best of me.  Got the boy back to school so check 1 thing off on the list of getting back into our normal routine.  Now I just need to get work under control.  I see the light at the end of the tunnel and things should hopefully be a little more normal next week.  If there really is such a thing as normal in my life.  🙂

I have been really thinking about my fitness journey and thinking the one thing I am lacking is constant accountability.  Sure, I write these posts each week and a few Instagram pics but that is about it.  So it got me to thinking that perhaps I would start a Facebook group where people on similar fitness journeys could be accountable to each other and share our ups, downs, tips and tricks.  It wouldn’t matter what diet or exercise plan you are on, it would just be about like minded individuals getting together and counting on each other for support and a place to celebrate our achievements.  Anybody interested?    If you would like to be a part of this, message me and I will add you to the group once I get it set up.

Going to keep this week’s post short and sweet and promise for a much better update next week.  With the hopes of a calmer week, I will be able to devote more time to my post and to my journey so I have something to report on.  Thanks everyone for your continued support and kind words.

Fitness Friday – A new outlook to end the funk!

I have to admit, it’s been an absolutely CRAZY week and I wasn’t even sure if I was going to get a post out this week.  However, I knew that not posting would make me feel like I was letting my funk get the best of me again.  Besides, I have a new outlook on my fitness journey and now better time than the present to move forward and start working towards the end goal.

In last week’s post, I talked about how I was in a funk.  I am not going to lie, that funk is lingering much longer than I had hope it is on it’s way out.  Last weekend, I was at a community event and a  friend that I  hadn’t seen much over the summer came up to me a gave me the nicest compliment.  She said that she had barely recognized me when she was walking up and I was looking great.  It was those words that made me feel like the work I had been putting in was amounting to something.  Maybe not a lot, but at least people were starting to notice.  It was those few words that lifted me up and pretty much out of my funk.

Like I said, it has been a crazy week.  At my work, it has been the busiest week of the year.  This week always is.  It definitely played havoc on my motivation to eat right and work out.  I knew this week would be this way so I haven’t been beating myself up about it.    As much as I hate to even think that summer is coming to a close, I will be glad to get my son back to school this next week and get back on my normal routine.  I never realized until now how much I was a creature of habit and the summer always throws me off.

I tried to start the weekend off right by hitting the gym.  Friday evening of a long weekend, the gym was pretty empty so it made me feel even better about myself being there.  Next step, whilst doing our back to school grocery shop, I am going to make healthy choices to start the school year off right and not give me any temptations in the cupboards for me.   I know that by the way I have been feeling the past week or two, my body is craving the healthy choices again.  I don’t want to let it down.

So luckily, it only took a few kind words to give me the motivation to get out of my funk and with my normal routine soon to be back in my life, I can happily say that I am moving full steam ahead to reaching my fitness goals.

Fitness Friday – Fitting in Fitness

This past week I have been visiting my family out of town. I am sure you can all relate when I say that vacations and fitness often do not go hand in hand. Finding the time and motivation to stay on track when you are not on your normal routine can often be difficult. For me, on a regular week there are times it is hard to stay on track, so when away it can be even harder.

This week, I tried to focus on fitting in fitness in smaller units. Instead of an hour workout, I tried several 10 minute increments. Whether it was running up and down the stairs or walking places instead of driving or a few squats here and there, I was consciously trying to get exercise in when I could. Even when I took my son to the local pool, I made sure I was doing a few laps or running on the spot in the water while he played. A little bit adds up when you consciously think about it.  Luckily, I was also able to fit in an Aquafit class there as well.  I also have to thank Pokemon Go this week as we did quite a bit of walking around town trying to  “catch them all.”

Food, however, wasn’t the easiest to keep on track.  I was on vacation, so of course I was tempted on a daily basis to indulge.  Thank goodness for the MyFitnessPal app for keeping me pretty much on track.  Recording everything I was consuming made it much easier to realize when it was time to pull back to reigns and snack on some veggies sticks instead.

While away, I probably spent 90% of my time in my bathing suit and for the first time since I can remember, I didn’t feel like I needed to cover up.  I was perfectly fine walking around without throwing something over my suit.  I am finally starting to feel comfortable in my own skin.  Sure I still have a bunch of weight to lose and my legs have way more cellulite than I would like but such is life.  It was even to the point that I was comfortable enough to ask my Mom to actually take a photo of me in my bathing suit.  And, I wasn’t even horrified with the result.  I was actually quite ok with it.

Getting back into my normal routine after vacation is never easy but this time I am more determined than ever to stick with this health/fitness kick.  Back to healthier eating and back to the gym for me.  Wish me luck.

Weekly Accountability

Exercise:  2 x gym visits, 1 x 45 minute walk, 1x Aquafit class
Food Management:  Stayed on track 5 of the 7 days (Not always the best choices but will do better this week)

This is also the final week the Team #fabFITbloggers are a part of the Kindness in Demand July fitness challenge.  I am excited to see how we stacked up!!!

 

A Single Mom’s Pity Party

The other day I had a party.  Guest count = 1.

It was one of those days when I just wanted to wallow and feel sorry for myself.  I wanted to think about everything that I wasn’t happy about in my life and about and be miserable about it.  I didn’t want to put on my smiley face and pretend everything was perfect.   I didn’t invite anyone to my party, I didn’t want them there either.  I wanted to feel even lonelier and having people there wouldn’t help.  I didn’t want to leave the house.  I just wanted to be 100% miserable!

My very own personal pity party!!

What was I so upset about?  I was sick of feeling alone, I was tired of seeing everyone else with their significant others all happy and loving and I didn’t have my own person, I was missing my boy as it was Daddy’s weekend, I was mad about that whole situation and how there is nothing I can do to change it, I was tired of constantly feeling tired,  I was tired of losing the same 5lbs only over and over again, I was tired of looking in the mirror and not being happy what I saw, I was unhappy about not having enough money ever, I was tired of feeling like a broken record with my complaints to my family and friends, I was tired of seeing all the bad things happening in the world on TV.  It was everything and anything.

And then, like a kid’s birthday party, it was over in a couple of hours.

I got up, brushed myself off and said “damn it, get over it”.   Sure, everything isn’t picture perfect, but I have so many things in my life to happy and thankful about.

I have:

1. A son who is my absolute world.  Just thinking about him brings the biggest smile to my face and warms my heart.
2. A family that is always there to listen to me and love me, no matter what.
3. Friends that listen to my broken record and always make me feel welcome.  No 5th wheel.
4. A roof over my head, food in my belly and clothes on my back.
5. A job to go to each day so I can provide for myself and my son.
6. My health and so much more……..

There are so many others out there that can’t say they have some of or any of these things, so I am truly blessed.  Dwelling what I don’t have, doesn’t solve anything and is no way to live life and definitely not a kind of life I ever want my son to be subjected too.

It was a great party that I needed to have and now it is over.  My only last complaint, I didn’t get a looty bag at the end of this party.  😦