Fit Pregnancy

I had a vision in mind when I found out I was pregnant that I would be able to stay fit throughout my whole pregnancy. I learned quickly though that you never know how your body is going to react to all these changes. I always imagined myself as one of those glowing women on the cover of Fit Pregnancy still working out and eating healthy. However, my first trimester was a trying one and I completely fell off the workout wagon for a good 6 weeks. I had extreme nausea and threw up constantly (sorry for the detail), but it’s true. I lost 7lbs during the first trimester and had no urge to eat, which means I had barely enough energy to get through a workday. Around week 12 things slowly started to turn around for the better, some days. I would try my best to go for walks, and my wonderful husband bought me a prenatal yoga DVD by Gaiam. On the days I ate well and had some energy I did what I could. I learned to be lenient with myself, and not be so critical. I’m on week 21, and feel myself getting back to normal. This past weekend we had friends visiting from San Diego, and it felt great to spend time with them and walking all over Seattle for two days. Some of the lessons I learned while being pregnant-

• Baby is the first priority and as long as she is growing strong & healthy do your best to maintain your health also
• You can’t be so tough on yourself, be lenient
• Don’t expect to follow a strict workout/diet regimen
• Listen to your body, if you have been throwing up all day and can barely have the energy to finish a work day, don’t expect to fit in a workout
• Lift, but not as heavy. Go for higher reps with way lower weight, and focus on more body weight exercise
• Focus on stretching, I highly recommend prenatal yoga. Not only has it helped me stretch, but it helps me really tune into what my body is actually feeling.
• Let your body eat what it craves, but make sure if it’s an unhealthy try to find alternatives. For example, I had terrible chocolate cravings so I turned to dark, natural chocolate!
• If you haven’t been working out ask your doctor if you can start. With the beautiful weather of spring all you need is a brisk 20-30 minute walk to get you going. Then make sure to stretch after.

Brazilian Butt Cardio Workout

This week I’ve decided to step up my cardio, especially my morning session. I felt like I wasn’t getting the most out of my sessions because I wasn’t really focused on intensity. I would use this time to catch up on How I met Your Mother on Netflix, or browse through facebook or pintrest. I also felt myself getting bored. I needed a way to amp up my routine!

Of course I turned to Pintrest, and I found this interesting high intensity routine, originally posted on SuperSkinnyMe.com. I do this routine as instructed, but repeat it twice for a total of 45 minutes. This is one difficult workout, by the end of my routine I’m crazy sweaty! GROSS!

However, I’ve seen great improvement with making my cardio sessions more intense. I feel like you don’t need to follow this exact formula, but when you focus on increasing your intensity by pace or resistance with some recovery breaks in between- it helps you power through a routine, making cardio sessions more effective, and challenging.

How do you change your cardio sessions/routine to keep you mind and body engaged?

Will you try this high intensity interval training? I’d love to hear from you!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Stretching

Happy Monday!

Like most people I find myself sitting for the majority of my day-during my long commute and being at work. Being seated all day can tense up muscles. This can lead to headaches, pain, and stiffness in our bodies. It is essential to stretch!

Stretching helps prevent a multitude of injuries, stress, and strain that is caused by sitting. It’s a simple solution and can help improve your overall well being and aide in relieving soreness from working out! Make stretching a part of your daily routine

I found this on the Greatist! Six essential stretches all day desk workers should do today!

 What are some of your favorite stretches?

The power in setting goals

I believe there is sheer power in setting goals. I’ve learned over time that whenever I didn’t set new, attainable goals I lost my motivation. Without motivation I lost a sense of direction and detoured from the ultimate goal I set with my trainer 14 months ago.

When I first started my weight loss journey I wanted to lose 45lbs. My trainer told me to make a smaller goal, but just keep the bigger goal in mind. This helped me not to get overwhelmed since 45lbs seemed nearly impossible during the days I could barely do body weight lunges. I started by setting 5lb increment goals.

Today, I’ve met the ultimate goal of losing 45lbs, but I have now set a new goal to lose 7 more, bringing me to my ideal goal weight. This month has been intense with so many changes, but keeping this small goal in mind has kept me on track and has kept me motivated!

Below is my alarm, A daily reminder of my new goal!

Speaking of changes, I have great news to share! This month my husband and I bought our first house. We are so thrilled! However, I knew there would have to be some financial sacrifices, and to me it was not being able to train with my personal trainer. I only had three sessions left. I wanted to thank my trainer for all the time and knowledge he shared with me, so I sent 24 Hour Fitness a short thank you letter last Friday. I described a little of my history, and success I had while training with Spencer.

This past Monday I was offered by the district manager 10 free sessions to help me accomplish my goal of my last 7lbs that will bring me to my ultimate goal weight! I’m beyond ecstatic and can’t thank 24 Hour Fitness enough! I have more motivation than ever, and I can’t wait to see what I can do in the next couple months!

PS-Thank you to my readers that have stayed with me throughout my sporadic blog posts, I promise as soon as we are settled into our home I’ll be dedicating a lot more time to Heartland515!

THE IMPORTANCE OF VACATION!

I’ll be going on vacation in a matter of days! I’m super excited for this trip. I’ll be celebrating my 25^th birthday in Hawaii with my best friend. We’ve planned-shopping, eating, hiking, spa time, manicures and pedicures, but most importantly relaxation! The ultimate girls trip!

This is my first trip solo, without my husband. I felt guilty at first knowing I’ll be in paradise without him, but he encouraged me, and he told me it was imperative that I go. We discussed the importance of this vacation; and he emphasized a few key points-

• My dedication to my weight loss journey has taken an incredible amount of time, dedication, and relentless hard work. I need a break.
• My day is tightly scheduled, and I’m constantly focusing on other people. I need time for myself to be able to unwind and relax.
• Today he sent me an article from PSN, on the importance of spending time with girlfriends. It said, “Failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking!” . This really hit home for me. I’ve spent a lot of time isolated from friends because I couldn’t eat out. I was so focused on reaching my weight loss goal; I felt one meal was going to derail my process.  I now realize one meal won’t derail me. I must keep a balance between-work, family, friends, working out, and eating healthy, but most importantly my happiness.

I also heard a study on the radio that discussed how, as women it’s hard for us to take solo trips (without our significant other or family), but it’s essential to our overall well-being. This trip is definitely more important than I realized. I can’t wait to see my best friend. I can’t wait to come back home feeling refreshed, relaxed, and to spend time with my family. What I’ve learned also is I need to reconnect with friends back at home also.

Ladies, do you go on solo trips? How often and where do you go?

One Year Ago

Exactly one year has passed since I had my life changing heart procedure. Looking back at my very first workout with my trainer on June 28, I couldn’t even finish a set of body-weight lunges; to the progress I’ve made Today has been immense.

The strength I’ve built over time has only been because of what God has done for me. Without HIM I would’ve found every excuse not to workout or get healthier. I felt this was God telling me to change my life, this was my second chance and there was a reason he saved me.

Sometimes we find every excuse to not do something; when you know in your heart you should be focused on making every effort to change some aspect of your life.  Set new goals, create a bucket list, use it as a guide for the way you live your life. Don’t set your dreams on a backburner and wake up one day realizing how much time has passed. Sometimes it takes a drastic event to change your perspective on life. Don’t let struggles or hardship be a reason to stop your journey, but fuel you in the direction you need to go.

I’ve been so blessed by two amazing trainers that help guide me to where I am today with a healthy diet & tough workout regimen. I’m officially a personal training success story with 24 Hour Fitness!

This is my official before & after. I hope to scan in a better quality asap :)!

What are your goals this year? Don’t wait until new years to set a new resolution!

Eating healthy at Disneyworld-Research phase 1

I’ve been doing a TON of research on eating healthy at Disneyworld, because our trip is less than 4 weeks away. The number one tip/advice I have found when it comes to eating healthy at Disneyworld is to prepare to have plenty of options.

I plan to research each parks dining options and find at least 3 alternatives for lunch & dinner. We plan to eat breakfast at our timeshare and buy snacks at Costco when we arrive to save time & money. I’ve looked at the below blogs, with extremely insightful information.

• Disneyfoodbblog–Great list of lunch & dinner options at each park, a list of eat this not that snack alternatives, and tips to eating healthy.
• Allears.net–You can find the price lists, and up to date menu for every dining service in the parks.
• Passporter–A great resource for planning & this particular article sums up the best tips to eating healthy at Disneyworld
• Disneyworld’s official site-Of course going to the official site gives a more in-depth perspective on different dining options/information that may not have been mentioned in the above sites.

My plan is to post my perspective meals I can’t wait to try once I’m at Disneyworld per park that would be a healthy, and satisfying option. Researching phase 1 of many?

If you have any advice on eating healthy not only at Disneyworld, but on vacation in general, please let me know!

Happy May 1st everyone! I can’t believe how fast time flies!

What happened?

I honestly don’t know what happened this month, but I realized I haven’t blogged since April 3^rd? Wow, what happened? Let’s recap-

• I continued my strenuous workout plan
• Maintained my diet
• Gave myself more free days then ever
• Felt completely burnt out and sick the weekend of April 6-8, just as I felt I was getting back into the swing of things.
• Bounced back the following weekend
• April 14 we went to Rick Steves’ spring travel festival! Even more excited at the prospect of going to Europe for 2 weeks (hopefully in September!)

• Enjoyed the amazing town of Edmonds, and enjoyed brunch at Chanterelle (I highly recommend this place)
• Walked along the water with my love in Edmonds
• Drove to Seattle later that day and walked even more along the pier, and enjoyed meeting new friends at Pike’s place-This was the first sunny weekend in a long time here in Seattle; we made sure to make the most of it!
• April 22^nd we went to the NPC 2012 Emerald cup. Amazed at all the dedication and hard work these athletes put in for this sport! I also saw my previous trainer Larry, I haven’t seen him since October, and his reaction to my progress was the best.

To sum this month up, it was everything I needed-time with family, friends, and motivation to work harder than ever. Hopefully I can stick to a steadier blogging schedule, this time! I hope to post results soon, I weigh in tomorrow. YIKES!

Finding Balance

Finding balance, it’s much easier said than done. When I first started my journey it was easy to say no to temptation. It was easy to avoid people and places that I knew would be detrimental to my diet and sidetrack me from my goal. However as time passes it’s getting a lot harder to avoid people, places, and situations because a part of me misses them.

This weekend I was completely burnt out. I was sore, achy, and tired. When I thought of walking into the gym and lifting another weight, I just couldn’t get out of bed. I missed lazy Saturday’s with my family. I missed not having a schedule. I wanted to also take my sister out for her birthday without the stress of counting calories. I wanted freedom from my daily grind. So I let myself. I took Saturday and Sunday off,completely. I didn’t go to the gym or log calories on myfitnesspal app. I felt guilty…but then I realized I really, really need this.

I need to let go sometimes. This burnt out feeling I have wasn’t from the weather. It was internal. My mind needed to relax, in order for my body to completely recover. Since July, I’ve been really adamant about getting in my workouts, logging calories, and being very strict on myself. I was at a point where I needed to step back and re-focus on your goal on why I started.

It’s easy to find motivational quotes that push you through a mental barrier, but sometimes just relaxing and letting your mind go is what will fuel you for the rest of your journey. I enjoyed my weekend with my family, sans Iphone app and gym!

I realized this weekend it’s all about balance. Enjoy time with family and friends, but still find healthy alternatives, like meeting for coffee and sitting outside, instead of eating at a restaurant. Schedule a hike with a friend, instead of a movie. It’s all about balance. It’s a long, and life changing journey, but it’s worth it when you discover new strength.

I’m ready to refocus and reach for my goal-

My goal is to be 8-10 pounds lighter in 7 weeks, before I go to Disneyworld for my nieces 2^nd birthday!

Motivation

Lately, I don’t know if it’s just the weather, but I’ve been feeling a little burnt out. My workout schedule is intense, and I think my body is finally feeling its effects this week. I’ve needed an extra dose of motivation daily, and again I turned to my best friend PINTREST :)!

Here are some of my favorite images…

 

To sum it all up, everything good takes work, a lot of work. Find what motivates you. Find a bigger reason to DO something than NOT. Motivation is turning negatives into fuel that fires a passion deep inside of you. Motivation is something that will be the driving force behind any goals you may set for yourself. The only thing limiting you is your mindset, not your body. You’re body can be pushed beyond anything you can imagine, as long as you try. There will be days when you feel more exhausted than others, rest; then refocus on what motivated you to start. It’s something greater than anything that can stop you.

I’ve had to remind myself this week that it’s OK to feel exhausted, and to give myself a mental break from counting calories. I’m looking forward to the weekend when I can catch up on sleep,and enjoy a free meal with my sister. I can’t wait to celebrate her birthday! I also had to refocus my purpose on why I place so much importance on health and fitness. It’s beyond weightloss, but getting stronger and looking forward to a long life with my amazing husband. Look beyond the numbers, and keep motivated towards your ultimate goal.

I’m looking for great results in April! I’ll be posting my results from March soon. I have great news to share :)!