My Journey to a Healthier Life

I haven’t posted much the last year…and that has been pretty much how my “Journey to a Healthier Life” has been…pretty much sporadic and, at times, non-existent.  Yeah, I have worked out four or five days every week but I have fallen back in the trap of bad eating habits.   Well..that changes today!!  I am focused and determined!  By my wedding anniversary on April 27, 2012…I will be back to the size that I was in 2005…before the miscarriages…before the paralized vocal chord and damaged trachea…before the 18 months of steriods…before all of the other excuses that I have had for gaining weight! 

So…you guys know the drill…I use this blog as a journal of my journey.  It helps me to stay focused and hopefully will help others that are going through the same struggles that I am going through. 

The new year seems to always bring resolutions to get healthier, lose weight, start working out, etc.  So many of my friends have said “after the first of the year….” or “starting Jan 1….” — well…the time is here!!   Who wants to go on this journey with me??

I have started a facebook group called “Journey to a Healthier Life“….Join if you are interested in being involved in discussions about how to get healthier in 2012! 

I have been so busy lately that I just haven’t had time to post.  I am working hard everyday and trying my best to keep up with my training between basketball games, softball games, tennis, and everything else that is pulling me in a million directions.  Since my last post, I have run a couple 5K’s…one trail run and one through the streets of Charlotte…and I really like trail running a lot better.  I think I may sign up for another run this weekend at the US National White Water Center if the first game of our softball tournament is scheduled for later in the morning.   Yes, I have a softball tournament this weekend….in Huntersville. 

Here is my training schedule for this week…

Monday — Power Hour at Sally’s Y at  5:30pm — kind of like a boot camp…it is a lot of fun.   Then a softball game at 9pm

Tuesday — Run the trail at Sally’s Y — it is about a 2.5 mile loop of trails.  Then softball game at 7:45…and maybe basketball at 7pm (hopefully we have enough that I can just watch)

Wednesday — Fitness Together for strength training

Thursday — Run the trail at Sally’s Y

Friday — Workout at home…push ups, sit ups, etc

Saturday — Either Fitness Together for strength training or Run in the 5K Trail Run at the white water center.  Then a softball tournament all weekend

Sunday — REST…and then softball tournament

It is going to be a crazy week with work…but I am scheduling exercise in as an appointment during my evenings.  I have to be ready for our Crazy Mudder this fall!! 

For more info about the Crazy Mudder…visit http://crazymudder.com.

OMG…so much has happened since my last post.  I can’t believe that it has been almost three months….wow.  So, I have had another birthday…had the flu…had a stomach virus…continued my workouts at Fitness Together twice a week…worked out Sally’s Y on a weekly basis…attempted to go to one of my friend’s FitClub’s once per week…played several softball games and a tournament…ran a 10K…and now I am getting ready for the Rugged Maniac 5K this coming weekend. 

Life is good right now.  I just ran my first ever 10K over the weekend and I am happy with the fact that I finished it!!  My time wasn’t great but for my first 10K, it was ok.  I learned a lot and I will do things differently next year but that is for another post!!  Here are a few pictures of the weekend!!

See the full gallery on Posterous

This week…I have the Rugged Maniac 5K.  Wish me luck!!  I hope I can figure out how to climb a 7′ wall before Saturday!

It’s a new year and with the new year comes resolutions…I want to lose weight…I want to get healtier…I want to push myself harder than I normally push my self…I want to run in a 10K…I want to compete in a mud run and actually finish…and there are many more.   I have had most of these same resolutions every year for the last 10 years and I have never fully achieved any of them.  When I try to do it alone, I initially have drive and dedication but I find myself getting bored quickly and I don’t seem to push myself as hard as some one else would…most of the time because I just don’t have faith that I can go to that next level.  So, that is where a personal trainer can help! 

Over the last few months, I have been going to Fitness Together in Davidson and training with Andrew and Michelle.   They hold me accountable…they make sure that I am doing the exercises correctly…and they push me harder than I would push myself.  Today, Andrew was my trainer and during the session, I thought I would die but when the session ended, I didn’t die…I actually felt a rush because I had just finished what I thought was a tough workout.    He pushed me beyond the limits that I would have normally gone and I am sure that I would have never come close to working out as hard by myself as I did today.   We started with three rounds of 10 burpies, 10 push ups and 10 lunges per leg as our warm up.  We went right into three exercises with no breaks…starting with 21 reps, then 18 reps, then 15 reps, then 12, reps, then 9 reps, then 6 reps, then 3 reps.  The first exercise of the set was kettle ball/ dumbbell swings.  We started out with 25 pounds for the first four rounds and then we went up 10 pounds for the last three rounds.   The next exercise was tricep dips and that was followed by dumbell squats.  When we got finished doing 12 reps of each exercise, Andrew said ok…we are going up 10 pounds on the weight for the next three rounds on the swings and squats!!  I thought….”Oh CRAP!! I could barely do the weight that we had before”…but he knew that I could do it and guess what…he was right!!   This is just an example of what happened today however this is the way that it is every session…when I leave my workouts at Fitness Together I feel like I could conquer the world!!!

So, if you are like me…you start off the new year with all of these resolutions to get healthier or to lose weight, but you find yourself with the same resolutions year after year, think about giving Jeff at Fitness Together in Davidson a call and just see if what they offer will work for you!!!  I know that it is working for me!! 

Fitness Together Davidson — 704-895-6044

Synergy…the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.   This has been my approach to a healthier life.  My goal is to be healthier…lose fat…have increased endurance….be able to run…and so on and so on.  In the last few months, I have used multiple “forces” or “agents” to help me on my journey.  I have learned that one thing alone will not help me attain my goals…it will take a combination of many things to get there.  So, what are the “agents” and “forces” that are working for me??

1. First and foremost is Fitness Together in Davidson — Jeff, Andrew, and Michelle have been awesome!!  I need the direction and support that they provide to me and I love the one on one training that I receive at their studio.  Within their sessions, we work on strength training and focus a lot of time on strengthening the core muscles — which I really, really need!!  They also have provided me with a nutrition plan and guideline of what types of exercises I should do on the days that I am not scheduled for a session with them.   They encourage me to spend two days per week with them doing strength & core training, two days a week doing a high intensity workout, and two days a week doing a low impact workout, and maybe just going for a walk or something the 7th day.    If it weren’t for Fitness Together and Jeff Heal, I don’t know that I would ever have made it to do the rest of the list of approaches.
2. Second, is high intensity workouts at Maiden FitClub…I have found that I just don’t have the motivation to do the high intensity workouts at home.  I push myself harder when I work out with a group or with someone else…I guess it is the competitor in me.   Maiden FitClub is just a group of friends that get together at one of the local churches and workout to the Insanity or P90X DVDs….and the best part…it’s FREE!!   Thanks to Tracy Aldridge for including me in his weekly workouts!! 
3. Third, is Low Impact Workouts — running or interval training….this I should be doing a couple times per week and it is something that I can do at home but I definitely have a hard time sticking to a routine when it comes to these workouts….I hate running and I get bored.  I make so many excuses for not going outside and running or doing some kind of run / walk interval.   This is the one I definitely need to work on because it is one of the “forces” that I will need to help me succeed in attaining my goal of a healthier life. 
4. Fourth, but definitely not least…nutrition.  Again, I have to thank Jeff Heal and Fitness Together for providing me with nutrition and accountability program that makes sense and is definitely something that has been easy to make a natural part of my life. 

Over the last 18 weeks, I have noticed when I am dedicated to doing all four of the approaches above, I have been very successful and I feel so much better.  The first 10 weeks, I stuck with the plan and utilized all four of the approaches…all of the time…and I lost 15 pounds (lost 20 pounds of fat and gained 5 pounds of muscle) and dropped 19.5 inches!  The next 8 weeks, I found myself sticking to two or three of the approaches but not all four at the same time and the results have not been as good.  When I do not eat healthy, I just feel bloated and blah and I really don’t want to workout.  When I don’t do the low impact workouts, I can tell a difference in my endurance and in how I feel.  So far, I have been very consistent with the first two approaches but I can only imagine how I would feel if I left those out of my week…it would NOT be good. 

So, for me to achieve my goals for a healthier life, I know that I need to make a conscious effort to keep the four approaches a part of my daily life.  I need to schedule the low impact workouts into my week just like I do the Fitness Together workouts and the high intensity workouts…and it needs to be non-negotiable.  And I need to make sure that, everyday, I have healthy food choices available so I don’t find myself just grabbing something quick because I am hungry….or so I don’t start skipping one of the five small meals I eat each day and then pigging out at the next meal.  

My goal for 2011…to remember to use the synergy approach daily in my journey to a healthier life. 

I had a great workout with Michelle at Fitness Together in Davidson last night.   The goal was to do three rounds of seven different exercises in under 40 minutes….lunges with jump squats, backward high knees for 60 seconds, backward kicks w/ resistence bands, suspended push-ups, some kind of dead lift exercise for shoulders (wish I could remember the name), speed skater, and sit ups on an incline with punches across my body.  I made it through the three rounds with time to spare so we just kept on going and almost made it through a fourth round.  The toughest exercise for me was the suspended push ups…I felt so awkward but I made it through each round…whoohoo!! 

I love it when I leave my workouts feeling great about what I accomplished that day…thanks to my trainers, Michelle, Andrew and Jeff, for pushing me to be better!!!

How do you attempt to eat healthy during the holidays…from Thanksgiving until the end of December?? 

My family is from the south and every holiday meal consists of southern cooking.  For those that don’t know southern cooking, let me tell you…it isn’t healthy…something has to be fried….about 10 different casseroles…mashed potatoes….green beans cooked w/ fatback…yeast rolls and/or biscuits…pumpkin pie….pound cake…pecan pie…red velvet cake…banana pudding…you get the picture.  So multiply that times at least two meals at each holiday and it equals disaster for someone trying to eat healthy.  In addition to that, between Thanksgiving and Christmas there are about 10 holiday parties which adds more unhealthy foods to the mix. 

I know I can’t avoid all of the “good” unhealthy foods, so I have set a limit on what I will eat during the holiday meals and I will do my best to eat as healthy as possible at every other meal between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  

Someone told me last night that if you just maintain your weight during the holidays, you are doing good…but I want to do great.  I want to get rid of fat and even though I don’t think I can make it to my original goal by the end of the year…I do plan to lose at least 5 pounds this month.

And as always…exercise will be the key this month…Fitness Together twice each week, hopefully start running with the girls (Jill, Melissa and Tammy) at least once each week, FitClub with Tracy, Debra and Bonnie at least once each week….and working out at home the other days.  

By the way…if you want to get a jump start on your new year’s resolution to get healthy…call Jeff Heal at Fitness Together in Davidson at 704-895-6044.    Be sure to tell him that I sent ya.  :)

Well, since this is Thanksgiving week, I can’t let the week slip by without talking about the things that I have to be thankful for…

1. I am so thankful for Jeff, Michelle and Andrew at Fitness Together for helping me stay on track and for pushing me to work harder. 
2. I am thankful that I am able to work out at Fitness Together two days per week.  To acheive my fitness goals, I definitely need the one on one training and support that they provide.    
3. I am thankful that I have a great group of workout buddies for the days that I don’t go to Fitness Together…Tracy, Debra, and Bonnie at Maiden FitClub. 
4. I am thankful that I have a supportive husband that can grill chicken and salmon better than anyone else I know…now, if I could just get him to workout with me too…:)
5. I am thankful that I have awesome parents and grandparents that have given me the opportunity to experience so many things in my lifetime.
6. I am thankful that I have a wonderful family that has instilled in me good solid values and has given me a foundation for my walk with Christ.
7. I am thankful that I acheived many of my fitness and health goals in the first 10 weeks that I worked out at Fitness Together….now, it is time to focus on the next goals. 
8. I am thankful that Shane and I both have jobs that we enjoy. 
9. I am thankful that I am still able to play and coach sports…sports are my passion and have been for as long as I can remember.
10. I am thankful for all of my friends and family that will read this post and continue to encourage me on my journey for a healthier life.

There are so many more things that I am thankful for…however I don’t think I have time to type them all and you don’t have time to read them all…:)

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving….

I had my 10 week assessment tonight….here is what Jeff Heal from Fitness Together has to say about it…

I want to send a huge Congrats to my friend Leslie Howard Auton who has been working with us for the past 2 1/2 months. She has lost 15 lbs, dropped 6% bodyfat, she has gained 5 lbs of muscle and lost 20 lbs of fat. She has lost a total of 19.5 inches and 6 of those inches were from her waist alone. Great job Leslie!! I am so proud of you for you commitment and hard work. Keep it going girl!!!!