Daily Insight - Are We Crazy Or Determined?

FT Run Group (L-R) Christy, myself, and Jennifer

Today was a very long day at work! We found out last Friday about 16,000 of our members cards went out late in the mail and so our phones were ringing off the hook of members wanting to know where their cards were. Most were understanding, but had a few angry ones and as the supervisor I get those calls. Usually they just want to vent to someone who has some type of management title, because once I allow them to vent and say what they have to say and then I proceed to tell them the exact same thing the rep just told them they calm down and are fine by the time the call ends. Just with that alone I had several times I needed to meditate but unfortunately didn't have that much time. So, I made sure to use my lunch break to get away from it all and then I did have a couple moments that I took a few minutes to shut my office door and just close my eyes. And it seemed besides this, we also had one thing after another come up out of my control, so I just dealt with them the best I could as the issues came up. And I also kept in mind, that as chaotic as it was for me my team was feeling it even more because they were getting all the back to back calls. They are a great team!

But, that was work and when I left work at 4:00 I left work there and went to go do some running intervals. And let me tell you, I wasn't smart at all! Totally didn't realize the temps would be 39 degrees and I had on capri workout pants so legs were cold, forgot my gloves and hat, not even my headband that covers my ears. The only thing I did bring was a sweatshirt. And then I wasn't sure if anyone else would show up, I mean it's 39 degrees! But sure enough my two faithful girls, Christy and Jennifer, walked in to join me! But they were smart, they had on long pants, gloves, hats, hoods, jackets, and bundled up. As we start walking to warm-up I'm thinking to myself, this is nuts, but we all three agreed we have goals to meet and we all three are getting back on track and knew we needed this. So we were out there a total of 30 minutes and half way through I thought, either we're crazy or we're determined. Some might say crazy, but I'm going with determined! Now before I get all the comments and lectures on being safe and the cold can be dangerous, just like I get when it's hot. We're all three pretty intelligent, and we know when to push or to back off, but all three of us knew we would be fine continuing our run intervals. It's important to push yourself, but also listen to your body and know when to stop or let up. Today we were all cold, but that was it, and I know the three of us would not have continued if we thought it was dangerous. So, we ended up having a great run! See our picture above? We are smiling! :)

After the run, since I hadn't bought my new workout and food journal for the new quarter, I decided to stop at Walgreens to look for a journal. Typically I just find a journal type book with blank lined pages, usually like a composition book, and each day I write down my meals, workouts, and my core4. Well, I came across this journal and on the front it said "Start Each Day With A Grateful Heart" and I assumed it just had blank lined pages. And I thought, this is perfect, a great quote on the front as a daily reminder for me to be grateful for my life and what I have. But, then I opened it and I got soooooo excited! It's like the perfect journal for me. I had no idea how much it cost because it was in a random spot on the shelf, the only one there like it, and I couldn't find the tag to match it; but it was so perfect I didn't even care how much it cost. I thought to myself, why am I trying to locate the price when I've already decided I'm buying it regardless of what the price is. So I walked up to register, excited for my new journal, and happily paid whatever price rung up. Why is this journal perfect for me and why am I so excited? It has everything I need! I hope you can tell by the pics below what the pages entail and how this was so perfect having everything laid out that I need to keep track of daily.

The center picture (left side of page) has a spot for me to write the three things I'm grateful for today. Then a spot for me to write my goal to live fit for today. And then one thing I appreciate about my strong body. And then I get to rate my day on my workouts, nutrition, and my mood! This part here is a great way to hold accountability for myself. Then it has a fit tip!

The right picture (right side of page) has a motivational quote each day and then blank spaces for me to log my meals and workouts!!!!!

Told you! Perfect journal! I know you're probably thinking I'm crazy because I'm getting so excited about a journal, but for me this has been what has kept me on track while at FT. I have workout and food journals going back about four years and this one has even more tools to help me stay on track and motivated!

Now to end with the three things from my day that were good and that I'm grateful for!

1. Michael, the owner at FT and one of my trainers. These past couple days he's really helped me get refocused, back on track, and helped me feel better about some things that I've been questioning and even some anxiety about some changes. I'm grateful he's my mentor and for his friendship.
2. My team at work. They work hard and they do a great job. I know I don't express my appreciation as much as I should, but they all go above and beyond to do the best job possible.
3. Being able to lead the FT Run Group. It might just be a few of us right now, but I'm grateful Michael allows me to schedule these runs and lead them for myself and for our clients. It helps me stay accountable and it allows me to help others as well.

Daily Insight - Meditating/Journaling

Well, real quick I want to explain what my goal is for my being, which is part of my core4. I'm trying to get back on track and one of the things this past month I've gotten out of doing is meditating and journaling. I notice a huge difference in my mental and emotional being when this happens, and it tends to cause chaos in other areas of my core4 (body, balance, and business). Of course one of the main reasons for meditating and journaling is to work through the rough spots which is necessary, but I want to also make sure at the end of the day I'm reflecting on the things that went right and were good in my day. Because we all know life tries to get the best of us sometimes, and no matter how crappy our day might seem, we can always find the good. And one of the things I really want to do is get back to my blog daily, which is basically online journaling. So, I'll have my journal like I normally do so throughout the day if something triggers me that I need to work through I can start writing all those thoughts and emotions down; but at the end of the day I want to reflect on the positive. And then I want to be able to share that here to not only help me stay on track and motivated, but in hopes that if there is someone who can relate (especially if they are struggling), that it inspires and motivates them to keep going.

So, today overall was a really great day! The only thing that I had that I wasn't looking forward to today was my new year assessment. It was one of those things, because I know this past month my nutrition and cardio have sucked, that part of me wanted to do it but then part of me wanted to remain clueless. But, when I went in this morning, Michael did the assessment and after we weighed and did measurements, he reminded me that I needed to get out of my own head and consider this a fresh start. I can't change the past month, but I can choose how I move forward and I can either be pissed about the weight I've gained this past month or I can choose to be happy, get back on track, and do what I know I'm supposed to do. So, that was my mediation and journaling today and I realized I'm too hard on myself. I know I didn't do what I was supposed to do this past month, but I do know what I need to do to get back on track. So, I'm giving myself permission to let go of what I can't change, allow myself to be happy with what I have accomplished overall, set my new goals and focus on those, and more importantly remember that I'm doing this for me. That everything I'm doing is making me a better person physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Also, to explain the inserted picture, I've decided to start taking a picture the first of each month as a way to track my progress from a visual aspect. Many times when I'm working towards a goal I notice a big difference in pictures, which is why I like it when my trainers take pictures. The first of each month I'll take a new picture, and then compare it to the ones before. I'm also making these my profile pictures on social media because I think it'll be a great reminder of my progress when I start to hit those bumps in the road.

Now to end with three things that were good about today.

1. I got to see Beckett and Marley, and as usual the little things mean so much to both them and me. Like running a lap around the building with Beckett and then listening to Marley tell me all about the play-doh Barbie video she was watching.
2. Even though I was off work, I had several hours of peace and quiet to myself. This allowed me to create space for myself easily and I binged watch Netflix and just enjoyed relaxing.
3. I got the rest of my meal prepping done for the week, have my Herbalife supply for my shakes, so now I'm back on track with my nutrition.

Happy New Year 2017

By the time December rolls around I think the majority of us are all in that mindset, "I'll be glad when this year is over." We start to think of all the things we want to either start doing, do better, or change come January 1st because we see this as a fresh start at a new year.

But, the downfall to that in my own personal opinion, is that allows us to start reflecting on everything that we view as negative or things that aren't good in our lives. Which, isn't a bad thing, because we should reflect on these things some so we do know what we need to change or work on. But the problem that I think a lot of us tend to fall into, and it's what I recently have done, is we stay in that mindset and focus only on what all went wrong this past year and then we just start looking forward to the end of what we are now thinking is a shitty year instead of remembering all the good things that happened and the great accomplishments we have done.

I'll use my own personal example. This past month I really have struggled to stay positive, motivated, and even contemplated leaving Fitness Together where I've been for almost the last 6 years. I had myself convinced that I needed a fresh start, not necessarily in my actual workouts or my nutrition, but in my environment and even working on certain relationships that are very important to me. I thought maybe this would help, but this would be a drastic change and just not sure if I'm ready for that or if it's the right thing. I know there needs to be some changes, and I know leaving FT isn't really the answer, but I just wasn't sure exactly what I needed to do. But, instead of talking to the people I needed to, I just chose not to deal with it which made it worse so then I started the last week of December in that mindset, and just because the past month I've gotten off track, gained some of my weight back, that I just can't wait for this year to end. Fortunately I have a great mentor/friend/trainer in Michael at FT, and he seems to know when he needs to reach out and tells me what I need to hear, so last week we had a quick chat about discussing some changes. We discussed briefly about what those changes will entail, but will discuss more in detail later on. But it was enough for me to know that even though the changes will be outside my comfort zone mentally and emotionally, it will allow me to grow as a person, help me utilize other sources/people to improve in my health and fitness journey, as well as help those important relationships grow and be better. After our chat I immediately felt better, but after a couple days of meditation and journaling I started to realize these changes will be good for me and I actually am looking forward to them.

I realize this last month I've allowed myself to get inside my head, I've allowed my emotions to control me to where I wasn't happy, and even was telling myself this year just needs to end so I can start the new year off strong and get that fresh start I need. So, these past couple days I started to reflect on my year, forgetting about what I feel has been bad, and just looking at what I've done and accomplished. And that's when I realized, not only did I accomplish several small goals, but two major goals in one year! I worked hard for two major goals and I accomplished both of them, including exceeding in my running goal! In the inserted picture you'll see I'm wearing a medal and then I'm in the ring with another girl. I started training in May at a boxing gym to participate in a spar, as well as started training to improve in my running to run in 5K races as well as a 10K race. In regards to my spar, I trained hard for that and I ended up accomplishing that goal. I got in the boxing ring and went three 1-minute rounds with another girl for my first official spar. I had so many emotions, as I was anxious, scared, excited, nervous, but once I was done I was proud of myself. But, my running, that's where I really exceeded in my goal. I had set out to be able to run a 5K without walking. I accomplished that goal the first race in July. I did a couple more 5K races and then ran a 10K race. But, what I didn't think I would do is I decided to start training for a half marathon. And not only did I get through the training, but I completed a half marathon race! I mean, I really never thought I would ever be able to do that, but here I am ending the 2016 year off by saying I've had my first sparring event and I completed a half marathon, as well as several other things that I haven't given myself credit for doing.

So, as I'm getting that fresh start for 2017 I'm looking forward to the changes that will help me be a better person and grow. Not just in my health and fitness journey, but mentally and emotionally, as well as my relationships with others and even myself. Just remember, it's okay to look at the things you don't like; but don't lose yourself in focusing on only the things you want to change or improve on, and remember the things you don't want to change and all the great accomplishments and progress you have made. The one thing I'm going to work on this year is just celebrating my victories, no matter how small or big they might seem, I'm going to celebrate them and give myself credit for my accomplishments.