Plymouth Rock n' Run 10k

 

I think that we found a new Thanksgiving tradition... run away the calories before pigging out! This race was so much fun and just right around the corner from home.  I definitely think that the 10k is my favorite run. 6.2 miles is perfect length and I was even able to push myself to beat my Personal Record!  It was also fun to see all of the turkey and pilgrim costumes and see all of the families running together.  The best part for me was watching my boys race and really enjoy it.  I am so happy to see them to be motivated and excited to exercise.  Next year we decided that Daddy, Jacksen and Grammy Karen will run/walk in the 5K together! ; )

 

Here is a great little video of the boys crossing the finish line.  Jack came across about 8th place, but I feel that if he would have started in the front of the pack he could have been top 3.  This boy is FAST!  Justus was hilarious.. first off the way he swings his arms when he runs is too cute, second he looses a shoe right at the finish line!  All of the parents were shouting for him to leave the shoe behind, but he was determined to put it back on and cross.  It was too cute for words.

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite part about any run is crossing the finish line and seeing the smiling and proud faces of my loving family!

 

 

 

The boys getting ready to start their 1k through Yorba Regional Park! 

 

 

 

 

They were so proud of their medals... 

 

Surf City 10k/10 Miler

Happy Sunday Friends!  I started my day running in the Surf City 10 Miler along with my pal April, who ran in her first 10k, along the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach. It was an awesome race and I felt the best that I have been in months!  To me, there are certain steps that I go through when doing any type of group race:

1. Mentally preparing the days leading up to the run
2. The starting line
3. Miles 1 thru 3
4. Miles 4 thru 7ish
5. Miles 8 +

  

Mentally Preparing - For those of you who are familiar with Huntington Beach, you know that from Beach Boulevard up to Bolsa Chica is a really, really long journey in running terms. I kept thinking to myself.. Holy crap that is a long way to run, let alone turning around and coming right back. But I knew how beautiful it would be and kept a picture of the beach and ocean in my head. For me, I always need to do a final long run about a week beforehand that is within 1 to 2 miles of the race goal. That helps to mentally prepare me by providing the confidence that I need to know that the race goal is doable. I also try to eat healthy and get plenty of sleep the night before.

 

 

Starting Line - My morning breakfast always consist of the same thing before a long run. It is a PowerBar Protein, a banana and a half a cup of coffee. The caffeine really helps get my blood flowing. I try not to drink too much water so I don't have to pee during the race (nothing sucks worse!!). We arrived when it was still dark and I found my spot next to the 10 minute mile pace sign.  I looked around at all of my fellow runners and started to get that adrenaline pumping when the countdown begins. You start off with a very big huddle of people but then slowly it all scatters out and as everyone finds their pace.

 

Miles 1 through 3 - This is kind of the warm up for me as my body starts to adjust to the road and realizing the shock that it is in for. These are not easy miles as your body adjusts to the pavement and running pace. What I tend to do when I am running with a large group of strangers is look around for a particular person who has a similar pace as myself. I give these people nicknames in my head and they became part of the Jaime Running Team. : )  For this particular run I had Mr. Baldy with awesome calves, the black-haired TuTu lady, and the Blondie with orange shoes. They became people I would see throughout the run and helped me keep my pace.

 

Miles 4 - 7ish -  For anyone who runs longer than 10 miles you know that these are the magic miles. Your body sort of hits a groove and they are relatively quick and easy to get through. I was pacing with Mr. Baldy and he was a great pace setter for me. I was super proud of myself at Mile 4 when I was running along side the 10 min mile pacer!  My time was exactly 10 minutes.. but she quickly sped ahead me near the halfway mark.  Around mile 5 I spotted Mr. Foxy... Don't worry honey it was not like a love at first sight... he was literally dressed up like a fox complete with a nose, tail and ears! That annoying song "What does the Fox say?" instantly jumped into my head and Mr. Foxy helped me get through miles 5 & 6 quickly because I was laughing to myself thinking of my kids dancing around to the song (if you have not seen it, check it out YouTube). Mile 7 sucked because that's when I hit the climb up near the HB cliffs. But luckily I found Mr. Baldy again and got my pace right back up.

 

Miles 8+ -  This is when I always have to dig deep. My legs are heavy and painful. I actually found April right as I passed the 8 mile marker. I paced behind her for about half a mile before I finally caught up to her and grabbed her hand. I scared the crap out of her, but the motivating smiles we gave to each other was wonderful and kept me going hard during my last two miles. Crossing the finish line felt great and I felt strong even though my legs felt like they were going to fall off. I found Mr. Baldy and thanked him for being on my team even though he had no idea who I was!  : )

 

For this run I would like to thank my running buddy April, Sunny Hills Class of 1994 Runners, and Gwen Stefani. Without you guys I could not have made it through the 10 miles!!

Back on the running wagon!

Soooo...I admit, that I did fall off the running wagon for a bit, but I have now made the mental and physical decision to climb back on!  After my first Half earlier this year, I checked it off my bucket list and said to myself "OK, now I can chill for a bit.."  But, just a bit turned into too long and I got lazy!  I came to this harsh realization very quickly when my Half buddies completed the LB Marathon yesterday!  Miranda (aka The General) ran in her first Full Marathon!  KICK ASS!  And Sarah did another Half!  I cheered them on from Endo.. but was thinking to myself the whole time.. I should be there with them. : (

I have been doing an occasional run here and there, averaging 4-5 miles.  I decided to give myself a goal a few months ago and signed up for the Surf City 10k/10 miler with April on 10/28.  I signed up to do the 10 miler, knowing it was totally doable and a great goal to get me back on track.  BUT.. a few weeks ago I was painfully getting to only 6 miles so I said to myself.. "it is OK, I can just do the 10K instead of 10 miler if need be. " I am NOT happy that I gave myself this out and I have since retracted that internal and cowardly statement. 

After yesterday, my lesson to everyone out there is "NEVER give yourself an easy out!!"  This statement is so simple and can apply to everything in your life.  When faced with any challenge, never give yourself an easy out.. focus on the goal and just keep telling yourself that you can do it, no matter what!!

Another motivating part of my day was reconnecting with some old SHHS buddies on Facebook.  We are all coming to the realization and shock that next year will be our 20 year reunion and it is crazy to think it has been that long!  A few of us share this love/hate relationship with running and have made a vow that we will all meet up on Cinco De Mayo 2014 to do the OC Half Marathon together in honor of our 20 years!  I thank you Kevin, Jennifer and Heather for helping me climb back on my wagon!  Just knowing that I will be doing that Half with you next year has given me that extra push that I needed.  It even helped me realize that I can do the full 10 miler in 2 weeks with no excuses.  This morning I got up, walked my son to school and did a very painful 8 miler on the hills of Yorba Linda.  It SUCKED.. but we all now what the best part of hard run is.. the finish line. : ) 

This is for you guys:

"Make LOVE not WAR!  Hit the Bed, not the Floor!  Love is Good, but Sex gives More, we're the CLASS OF 94!"

Heather - "94-94-9-9-9-9-94!!"  LOL

Week 3.. Continued

Well normally at this time I am discussing my progress of the previous week and looking forward to the fit week ahead. This time I need to take a little detour and complain about a super stressful week of work. I knew that becoming a Division Manager over 213 clerical staff would not be easy, but this week took the cake on pushing  me to my limits!  On a positive note.. I have been there for almost 6 months and this is the first time I disliked the position!  Thanks to my wonderful boss (Mo) for keeping me sane!!  My week of fun included -  walk outs and door slams in the middle of my meeting, accused of discrimination and lack of understanding, and rounding off the week with a team ganging up and refusing to sign mandatory paperwork.. good times!

So far in these 3 weeks, I haven't had a huge impulse to cheat on my diet but half way through this week I just needed some relief. So thank you to my friends (CW, Ed, April and the munchkins) and Don Jose for providing me with two wonderful margaritas and a very nice dinner.  It was much needed to get me over hump day...

 

Now onto my fitness plans...I really feel that it is not feasible or pleasant to be a drill sergeant, patrolling your life, eating habits and exercise 24/7.  We all have our stressful moments in life where we just need to let loose and enjoy ourselves. So that being said I had a pretty undisciplined week, but was still able to exercise 5 days and eat fairly well. I chose to NOT weigh myself because I didn't need anything else to add to my frustrations. : )

 

Next week is my final week of the 4 week plan and then I will move on to maintaining a "healthy as possible" lifestyle and periodically provide you updates.  I'm very satisfied with what I'm doing and encourage you all to just try and focus on eating healthy and exercising each day. It doesn't have to be an everyday thing but the more you do it, the better you will look and feel. And with that, here with my favorite fitness meals of the week...

 

Lunch or dinner - Weight watchers low-fat turkey taco soup (450 calories).  This is my fav to throw into the crockpot and slow cook all day and also enjoy left over.  One of my Bunco girlfriends provided me the recipe (http://www.food.com/recipe/weight-watchers-low-fat-taco-soup-157732)

 

 

Lunch - any salad with grilled chicken.  Here is the new Chix-Fil-a grilled chicken salad and it is super yummy (approx. 280 calories)

 

Week 3...

Week 2 is always a hard one for me, I am so tempted to cheat and PIG out!  And because of this tough week, I did not loose any weight. : (  It is frustrating, but that is why Herman always tells me to NOT focus on the weight and concentrate more on how you feel, look and how your clothes fit.  Great rules to live by and I do feel great, my abs look strong, did lots of weight training and running this week, and clothes fit just fine... keep thinking happy thoughts!!!  And now I will focus more on week 3 coming up...

 

This week April and I signed up to a 10 mile run in HB on 10/27.  Going back to my very first blog entry(http://jaimesgirlthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/01/why-i-run.html), I firmly believe that finding a motivation point is very important in your fitness goals.  It is what keeps you moving and accountable.. I know that I have to maintain my weight and fitness for next 2 months to accomplish this run.  Glad I have a good partner.. go April!!

Favorite fit meals for the week -

Breakfast - Simple breakfast at my desk, Greek yogurt, banana and coffee.  Only 250 calories!

Lunch - I have a new found LOVE of my Panini maker that my Momma got me for Christmas.  I use the little wheat sandwich roles and make grilled turkey, provolone and Ortega chili sandwiches that are amazingly good.  Add a side salad with lite Italian dressing and this is under 400 calories!

 

Dinner - Ground Turkey tacos with low sodium taco seasoning,  grilled peppers, white corn tortillas and homemade Pico de Gallo, side of black beans and this yummy dinner is only 500 calories!

 

Week 2..

Hello Everyone!  Today marks the end of my week 1, and things are looking great as I enter week 2.  The first few days of a disciplined diet are always tough as your mind, body and stomach adjust to smaller meals.  But, after a few days you get into a grove and it is exciting to see the changes in your body.  I am very happy to report that I have lost 3lbs this first week (Yay for my lost pounds counter moving!!) Chris has lost 5lbs and I am very proud of him for giving up his most prize possession.. beer. : )  Way to go honey!  I have incorporated 4-5 days of exercise (thank you April for an awesome 6 mile run this morning!) and am feeling great!  I just hope I can keep it going and complete the full 4 weeks... 

 

 

I thought it would be fun each week to share my favorite fitness breakfast, lunch and dinner from the previous week.  I am still using MyFitnessPal (www.myfitnesspal.com) to track my daily calorie intake to maintain 1200 a day and it REALLY works!   Kudos to Tracy and April who have also started using it and are already seeing the pounds start dropping off!

 

 

Fav Breakfast - Almased synergy shake and a piece of fruit (approx. 325 calories).  This is my favorite powder shake (www.almased.com) that you can buy on Amazon for about $27 a bottle.  I mix it in my blender bottle with vanilla almond milk and a few dashes of cinnamon and it really tastes like melted ice cream.. yum!  But the best part is it keeps me feeling full..

 

 

 

Fav Lunch -  I am sure many of you out there who work full time have this same battle.. eating healthy lunches.  Here is one of my all time personal favs, Vietnamese Pho soup with rare steak (approx. 375 calories).  It is soooo tasty, especially on colder days, and really fills you up. 

 

 

 

Fav Dinner - My husband is an amazing cook and I am very lucky because he actually enjoys cooking for my family!  Turkey meatballs is a favorite of the entire family.  I substituted the pasta for extra yummy veggies with a little sauce and parmesan to make this an excellent low calorie dinner (approx. 500 calories).

 

 

4 week program - Week 1

Good morning and Happy Sunday friends!  I know it has been a while since my last blog post, but I have been busy enjoying my summer.. traveling, eating, drinking and having LOTS of fun with the family!  SO, now that the trips are over I have to take some time to balance out the damage that I have done to my body and mission to health.  My trainer Herman always says to me "Jay, it is OK to have fun, eat and enjoy life.. as long as you are willing to do the TIME!"

 

Today I am officially putting myself (and Chris by default) on a 4 week program to lose a minimum of 8 pounds of summer weight (notice my fitnesspal weight tracker on the right is down to 0 pounds.. sad face).  I want to use my blog as a means of tracking my progress.. so I hope you will support me in my mission. : )  Here is my justification for doing so... I have tried a 4/5 week program in the past and usually I find myself cheating, heavily, by week two. I really need the accountability of documenting my weekly habits and progress it to all of you. Whether I have two followers or 100 followers who read this.. I am going to hold myself accountable to you. If I log weekly, I will find myself being more dedicated to the cause. So here is my plan:

 

1. I'm using FitnessPal tracking app to maintain 1200 calories a day.
2. Weight training twice a week. I have to see Herman, who will also hold me accountable for sure!
3. Cardio training minimum of twice a week - hiking, elliptical or running.
4. Status updates on my blog to make sure I don't fall off the wagon!!

On a happy note.. my family really did have a GREAT summer!!!

Never Give Up!!

When it comes to exercise it is so easy to come up with excuses for NOT doing it.. let's face it, most of us have many other things we would rather be doing in our lives!  So during my fitness "journey", to quote the most popular phrase in The Bachelor, my motto has always been maintaining by never giving up! 

At the end of 2012, I got a little cocky and decided to drop out of my personal training program. I was able train for the half marathon in January and that was a HUGE personal accomplishment and check off the bucket list. But after that I really lost my motivation somewhere.. I got lazy and comfortable, which did not make me happy.  I decided to go back to Herman at LA Fitness and beg for him to take me back (which wasn't too hard!). I signed back up early March and WOW my body was in for another shock.  The harsh realization of diet and exercise is that it is such hard work to get the weight and inches off, but SOOOO easy to get them back on!!  UGH!  So, the first thing I realized that I had to do which is check my status, by weighing in and getting my measurements, something none of us like to do! I found out that in my 5 month off I had increased by too many inches and added some pounds.  It was quite frustrating and I got really pissed off. 

At this point many of us feel that the easy thing to do is just give up... And think to yourself "well I'm already gone so far down hill that I might as well just stop trying..."  But let's go back to the getting pissed off stage. I think that is a very important thing for us to feel. In getting pissed off you get yourself motivated to get back into shape. So what I decided to do in March is FOCUS and WORK HARD.  I went back to twice a week with Herman and also started running again (it is SOOOO easy to loose it!!)  I'm proud to say that I have gotten  back down to where I was in October. It is so rewarding and is the best feeling ever!

I know none of us I want to be measured and weighed then have that feeling of guilt and frustration. But I want to stress it is a necessary evil in order for you to reap the benefits of exercise and healthy diet.  No matter how far you have fallen...Never give up friends!!!

The Mud Run 4/20

Chris and I just finished our first 5k Mud Run yesterday as a team.. Mucky Mom and Dirty Dad!  It was the Temecula Mud Run and Wine Festival (http://www.temecula-mudrun.com/). Now I'm not going to lie, I first read about this and saw that it included running, wine, and getting dirty with my husband.. My 3 most favorite things in life, and I was quite excited. ; ) Now, the hard part was convincing my husband to do his first race with me...

 

Chris has always been very healthy and fit from the lifetime in soccer and more recently by maintaining our house, huge yard and pool all by himself.  But I knew he needed some work on his cardio and breathing to get through a course like this one. So once I talked into doing the run we decided to work on our cardio by going on family hikes in Chino Hills State Park right up our street. It was so much fun for us to do this as a family and hiking up those hills, most of the time with the boys on our backs, was the ultimate training for both of us.

 

The Mud Run was crowded and HOT!  I think we were both having second thoughts when we arrived and considered going straight to the wine and beer tent.  But, once we got our numbers and saw the crowd getting pumped at the starting line, we quickly joined in behind the 10:00AM wave of runners.  The obstacles were SOOOO much fun, I seriously felt like I was a contestant on Survivor.  We stayed together the whole time and helped each other through the deep swamps, over the trees/mud mounds and muddy army crawls.  It was such a blast and experience completing the race as a team.  I would highly recommend it to anyone and we definitely plan on doing it again next year with more couples and family members!

 

 

Grandma Theresa watched Justus and took great pictures of us during the race.  When Dusty saw us climbing up the giant mud mound, he ran to us and wanted to climb it too.  So we pulled him up to the top with us and he finished running the last leg with us.

 

  

Super cute picture of little Justus running along side his Daddy.  He was just as proud and satisfied as we were crossing that finish line.  As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I fully support and encourage family fitness and will have both of my boys run in this race with us next year!

 

 

Eating right!?!?

I am sure that many of you out there are just like me and have tried just about every fad diet there is - Atkins, NutraSystem, even the Cabbage Soup diet?!?  The thing is.. sure they may work for the short term but what is most important is the LONG term.  We all LOVE to eat, there is no denying that.  It is a good thing for me that I at least feel guilty when I splurge on the "GOOD" stuff for too long.  As I mentioned in a previous post - MyFitnessPal  (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/) is my favorite way to track my food and daily calorie consumption.

My brother n law is a professional hockey player and has been training and maintaining a healthy lifestyle his ENTIRE life.  He also has a blog and I need to give him a shout out because I want to share some of this quotes from a recent post because I truly believe in his words.

From Mark's Blog (http://markpopovic.blogspot.com/):

There is a reason main stream diets make their plans so complicated and detailed: They want to sell books, advice, so-called shortcuts, and a dependency on their products. The way of eating I am suggesting is simple, straightforward, and is the only way to have long-term success.

Here are some tips to help you transition to this way of eating:

* When planning a meal, make your vegetable or salad your main dish. Meat and grains are your side.
* Snacks should be whole fruits, vegetables, and/or nuts
* Don't drink your calories. Water is what your body needs. Your body has a good way of telling you if you need more water: your pee should be clear!
* Treat bread, sweets, and processed foods like you would alcohol...it's okay once in a while, but you wouldn't drink all day, everyday so don't make these foods a staple in your diet.

Now as for me and how I maintain my eating with continuing exercise - it is NOT a simple task with my busy life.  For me I have to set what I consider my "Motivation Points."  I need something to motivate myself to be more mindful on what I eat (using MyFitPal as my tracking guide).  Here are some examples of my Motivation Points that I try to find for myself at least ONCE month:

1. An upcomming run or exercise event that I PAID for
2. Being measured by my personal trainer.  This is the best one for me because nothing makes me feel worse than going up a few inches after all my hard work!
3. A vacation or hot date with my husband
4. Anything else that I want to look my best and focus hard on feeling my best too!

Try to find your own Motivation Points in your life!  Trust me, when the time comes and you feel great about the way you look.. nothing feels better or more rewarding!! : )

Motivation for the Family

It really makes me so happy to motivate my children to be active and healthy. Now just by their very nature two toddler boys are extremely active. But what I've noticed with my boys is they really take notice when they see me run, exercise with weights, and always stay active as much as possible. While we are at the park I try to do exercises with them and teach them how to keep your body strong. The really embrace it and love doing exercises with me.

Growing up in my family we always went camping, to the beach, water skiing, boating, etc. The point is that we were always outside and running around.  My sister and I were really involved in competitive dance team.  And my brother was in football. My parents always encouraged us to be strong and healthy in everything we did and I really thank them for that! ♥

In this day in age with a happy meal being so convenient and childhood obesity on the rise I just wanted to stress how important it is to teach our little ones good habits very early in life.  Trust me, I am totally guilty of feeding my kids crap, but at the same time I also try to push and encourage the healthy stuff too.  I just wish they would eat it!! 

SO, be a good role model for your children and show them how to stay healthy and away from things that can hurt them.. such as smoking (Heads up.. I may get on my soapbox in a future blog about this as I am currently watching someone I love dying from this awful addiction)  :-(

Anyways..I wanted to share this cute little video of my boys mimicking one of my regular workout routines. It really warms my heart to see them do these types of things and I hope you enjoy it.

 

 

 

My Fitness Pal..

How do I do it maintain a "healthy-as-possible" diet? My number one recommendation to anyone is any type of calorie/nutrition tracking app for your phone or PC. This works in the same way as Weight Watchers without the cost of membership.  My pick is My FitnessPal: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

This online community and app is the BEST and FREE way for holding yourself accountable on what you eat.  Here are the basics of the app:

You log your daily meals and FitPal does the rest.. calculates the calories, carbs, fats and proteins to help maintain a well rounded diet.  The most amazing part of this app is that is has virtually every meal you will eat stored in a nutrition database.  I have been using it for over a year now and yet to enter something that was not in there. 

You will find that using this type of app forces you to eat better and smarter because you will NOT want to add that cheeseburger and french fries and take up your entire calorie allowance for the day! Here is an example of my breakfast:

There is a grand total at the bottom that tracks for the entire day.  I set myself a max of 1200 calories a day and try to stick to that as much as possible.  The beautiful thing about FitnessPal is it also allows for you to track your daily exercise and add those calories to your total!  For example below, I gained extra 287 calories thanks to a workout.

 

Below is the exercise page, it also has every type of exercise you can think of and calculates the amount of calories you burn.  This is my favorite part because I love seeing those calories burned being added to daily allowed calories I can eat. : )

 



Juggling Act

SICK SICK SICK!  That is how I have felt these last two weeks, with no energy, body aches and congestion and it is not fun.  I am toooooo busy to be sick but my body had something else in mind.  Now I finally feel that I am on the mend so I can go back to focusing on living and am even planning to go for a 5 mile run today!

But I have realized one very simple thing while being sick... Life is hectic!  Everyday seems like a new challenge and new adventure as a crazy, busy family of 4.  There so many times that I feel like my life is a juggling act with sooo many important aspects that need my undivided attention which is so much more difficult when I am not feeling 100%:

• working full time and trying to move forward in my career
• being a good mother to my 2 boys
• being a loving wife to my husband
• Everything ELSE!
   

It is really hard to find time for myself which is equally important as everything I mentioned above. If I am not happy with myself, how can I possibly make those around me happy!?!?  I would like to take the time make a vow in this blog post...

I vow to always find time to take care of myself!  At this point in 2013 my goal is to maintain the weight loss and toning I've been able to accomplish with my body,  I vow to continue to run and continue to work out as much as possible.

I've had a few rough weeks that have been very, very hard for me to find that time. No matter what you do in your life we all experience those days that you just have TOO many things to juggle.  But please try to make a similar vow to yourself like I have done.  If you too gone a couple of days/weeks/months without exercising or doing something to make yourself feel better STOP and DO IT.  The end result can only be that you will feel much better about yourself.

Thank you friends and family, these blog posts motivate me in my own personal life more than you know..

Personal Training - My mission

Hello to all of my family and friends and thank you for signing up to follow my thoughts. Today I am targeting my thoughts to my Fellow Mommas out there. I don’t know about you guys, but the main three thoughts that whirled through my head constantly after having my boys were as follows (not always in this order):

1. I never thought I could love someone so much!
2. Will I ever sleep again?
3. Will I ever get my A$$ back into shape??

So, after about a year or so after my second son was born # 3 definitely became the focus in my mind. My hubbie and I had just picked up the family and moved to Yorba Linda, AKA The Land of Gracious Living. Now, even though I have lots of friends and was familiar with the area it was still a culture shock for this La Mirada gal. Already feeling a bit insecure about my weight and body.. going to Target or even the grocery store became intimidating for me because the majority of the YL ladies are Amazingly and Totally Beautiful.. ALL of the time!   Now, some of my closest buddies live in YL and please do not take this as an insult, on the contrary I am thanking you because it helped get my butt into gear and start doing something about the horrible “feelings” of insecurity I started having.

That is when I had to do some serious soul searching.. when is a full-time-working-mother-of 2-toddler-boys-wife going to find time to exercise!??! For me, it became my lunch hour because I was (and am) WAY to dog-ass-tired to do anything in the evenings after a long day of work. I started going to the LAFitness near work twice a week just to get some momentum. That is when I saw Herman for the first time. Herman changed my life...

Herman is a Personal Trainer at LAFitness and after we met and I learned his philosophies on health and fitness I quickly signed up for his twice a week program. He taught me so much about targeting certain areas of my body and more than anything.. held me accountable!! Herman was all business and very professional as well as completely supportive and encouraging. He understood that I was only there for 30 minutes twice a week, but during that time I was ALL business and he took my goals very seriously. Here is what I learned in my 15 months (16” total body mass and 5% body fat loss!!) with Herman:

1. It is the best motivation to have someone hold you accountable - when I worked out alone I would stop after I got tired.  With Herman, I did not stop until it HURT!  If you are NOT a lil bit or majorly sore then it was NOT a good workout.
2. Do NOT constantly weigh yourself.. go by how you feel and how your clothes fit (or in my case what my husband was saying!)
3. I CAN workout 3-4 times a week and actually enjoy it!
4. Doing monthly measurements is a good thing! (I will go into more details about this when I address my eating habits in a future blog..)

I know that Personal Training is not an option for everyone because of the money it costs.. but NOT because of the time it takes. I firmly believe that you can always find the time to exercise. You can employ some of these same techniques I mention above even without a trainer. Pick something you enjoy, mix it up but always find time for yourself at least 3 times a week, make sure you are occasionally sore and have your husband/friend/significant other hold you accountable and do monthly measurements to see those results! It CAN be done. : )

Inspiration..

My Personal Trainer (Herman) sent out a mass email to all of his clients and I just had to share on my blog.  I plan to dedicate a full blog entry to him and how he changed my life.  But here are his inspiring words he sent yesterday:

Once you start, just don't look back; forward forever and backwards never. This is the general concept that I promote as well as I believe in. This is the idea for once you begin your workout program, full speed ahead!!

Today I ran in a half marathon, 13.1 miles, with a client of mine, Jaime. Although we were separated and met in the end, we both MADE IT to the end. This was her very first half marathon & it was a struggle, but with tears of joy in her eyes, Jaime stepped over that finish line as proud as a lottery winner. You see Jaime NEVER used to run before we began training. But once she started & her weight just fell off, she was hooked. ;-) She started in small events and just increased, forward forever, backwards never. This is the very same philosophy you all MUST develop, in order to reach your desired goals in fitness. This is what I would like for you to do.

Go to Jaime's blog & read her inspiring story. And keep those bodies moving & be positive & driven. ;-)

The Half..

Well, the day finally came.. The Kaiser Half Marathon in Irvine and I am so pleased to say that I finished!  I even met my goal.. which was To FINISH! (time was 2:27)  Let me just say that I have not experienced anything that exciting, emotional, painful and personally satisfying since my two boys were born.  Here is the breakdown:

Marathon menu:
Dinner night before - Poke bowl with some ahi tuna for protein and rice for some carbs.  It did me RIGHT!
Breakfast - Cup of coffee, Snickers Marathon bar, banana and Ibruphrophen for my bum knee.  Word of advice.. limit the liquids before race time cuz there is nothing worse then having to wait in line for the Port-a-potty in the middle of a run.
During Race - Water bottle full of NuUn electrolyte tablets and 2 frozen mini-snickers (Thanks for the advice Jen Truba!)
After race - I was so nauseous! My body was ALL screwed up but luckily CW helped me out with some Cheez-it crackers and Banana and toast (Thanks Sarah!)

The Anticipation
Just like with my C-sections, the days leading up to this race were nerve racking!  Was I ready? Could I do this?  Am I crazy!  But all of the build up just added to the experience for sure.

Race Morning
It was F-ING COLD!  The 4 of us piled into my warm Yukon and headed to Irvine at 7am where it was a balmy 37 degrees.  We parked and walked to the starting line along with 5 thousand of our closest Kaiser friends to stretch and mentally prepare for what was in store for us.

The Race
We started off with the group and the first 3 miles were difficult because everyone was so sandwiched together.  I felt good, warming up, thanking my playlist and peptalks for motivation. NOTE - The Endomondo app we use lets your friends and family send peptalks directly to you while running via text to voice.  Here were my favs during this race that helped me out:

From my amazing supportive Husband "Good luck babe, we love you!"
From Jacksen: "Hi Mom I love you and I hope you go to the finish line first and hope you win the medal of being the first!"
From Miranda (aka The General) " U are freakin awesome! Pump it up and finish strong!"  "You are almost done, we kicked this marathons ass!"

Miles 4-6 were great and I had a good groove.  My only complaint was the hundreds of high school who ran students were annoying - 1)because of their endless supply of energy 2) they didn't understand running etiquette and keep darting across the track in front of me and looking back for their buddies!

Miles 7-10 I had to DIG DEEP!  The thing about running is it is totally a mental sport.  I had to daydream about anything and everything - Chris, the boys, my girlfriend JR (lost to breast cancer) who I dedicated this run to.. the point is, you put your mind ANYWHERE else but the race and the PAIN!

Miles 11-13 - Ate my snickers, drank my drink but man THE PAIN, oh the pain!  My knee was hurting and each one of my legs felt like they weighed 100 lbs and the finish line felt like forever away.. but I dug VERY DEEP with everything I had inside me.

The Finish
The most emotional part (holding your baby for the first time..) Knowing you finished, met your goal and did not give up.  Seeing my family on the left under the finish line, holding signs and waving.. I couldn't stop myself and the tears came flooding out.  Then after the finish line I find my 3 running buddies and we shared a group hug and moment of glory that will last a lifetime.  I am so proud of us!!

Final Thought
I am sooo glad that I did the Half Marathon.. once.  I am thinking that I am much more of a 10k girl! : )

Why I run..

I had a dear friend from High School send me a note on Facebook asking about my tips and how I started running.  She was inspired when she learned that I have been training to run in my first Half Marathon this Saturday.  I was very happy to hear that I motivated a fellow Momma to do something so challenging!   It was not the first time I have been asked about my work out habits and I decided that I would like to start a blog to share some stories about how this full time working Momma got herself into SHAPE! 

I am going to start with my running story first, even though this is definitely not where I started working out, nor ever saw myself actually.  Summer of 2012 I decided to do a stroller 5k down in HB.. thinking of course this will be easy with a stroller as my crutch!  Man was I WRONG, not only did that 3 miles feel like FOREVER.. some of these ladies out there were sooo intense with their "racing" strollers and kick ass bodies that I thought to myself.. I want to be where they are!  And with that I started running, did a few more 5Ks, an 8k trail run and a 10k.  My biggest challenge is yet to come as I prepare for my first Half Marathon this Saturday.

Now, one thing I shared with my girlfriend is that I do NOT love to run..most of the time while I am doing it I think to myself.. WHY am I doing this!?!?  But what I do LOVE is to finish, to meet that goal that I set for myself and the sense of accomplishment it gives me...it is SOOO addicting!! Here are my tips that I gave to her when first starting out with a new running career...

1- Start small.. the hardest miles are the first 3 and after that your body just gets into a groove.
2- Create the perfect running playlist - I have mine on my phone strapped to my arm that gets me pumped (Gwen is a must!)
3- This should actually be #1.. find a running buddy.. someone who will hold you accountable and keep you motivated!
4- Give yourself goals and stick to them.. go to www.runningtheusa.com/race and pick a race to sign up for. When u have a goal coming up it will keep you motivated and not let you quit! I try to do a run every 2 months.
5- Track your progress online. Me and my buddies use www.endomondo.com installed on our phones to track our miles using GPS and we can all see eachothers progress and encourage.

Anyways, this is just a start of some of my girl thoughts.. I hope there will be more to come..