Motivation

A dear friend asked me this week, "How do you stay motivated?"   I was honest and told her it's not easy for me.  I struggle with staying motivated every single day. I fight my runs, I fight the foods I should be eating and I fight the need to workout.  I think we all struggle with our motivation.  It's human nature to want to be lazy and expect something from nothing.  Ultimately, you have to dig deep to find whatever it is that pushes you forward and leads to your success.    

My motivation comes from having a purpose.  Not a goal per se because I have missed plenty of those but having something to train for or something to accomplish. Right now the driving force is a half-marathon in Kauai a) because it's my first major race post-injury and b) it's freaking Hawaii who wouldn't be motivated for that!  I am also motivated to keep my weight in check so I can go zip lining.  It scares the ever loving shit out of me but it's something the old Brigitte would never ever think about.  Pray that I actually can go through with it!  Therefore, 3 days a week I drag my butt out of bed at the crack of dawn so I can run and beat the heat.  I never start without having a mileage goal in mind.  Then I work my tail off to reach it.  A big goal broken up into easily accomplished steps keeps me motivated to get out and do it again!  Today's goal was 9 miles!  I killed it!  In the big picture, I am one run closer to handling this half successfully! 

     

My weight loss has been all over the place and sure that has impacted my motivation to actually eat right.  I spent the last year making excuses about why I could eat crap rather than focusing on eating better.  I mean I was training for a half surely I could eat that entire bag of chips. My poor trainer gave up trying to change my stubborn ass.  She also knew when to force me to stop whining and get my act together!  So now I am making a concerted effort to eat better and make wiser choices.  It is still hard not to eat the entire house after running like a mad woman but now I am trying to make it food that will help my body fuel and heal rather than just fill me up.  I am working hard to eat more fruits and veggies.  It is so difficult but I am giving it my best effort!!  It helps that I have been able to drop almost 10lbs this first month back on the wagon!!  See motivation!    

 

I love strength training!  Really, I do.  But I hate doing it by myself.  If I didn't have Kate pushing me or giving me something to follow I wouldn't pick up a weight at all.  My motivation to lift comes from the group workouts and my trainer.  And now I am digging deep to try harder and do each exercise better than before.  There has always been a time when I just went through the motions and I am trying to give it 100% each time!  My muscles need it but more importantly my soul needs it!   

No matter where your motivation comes from hang on to it and use it to propel you to succeed at every goal you set.  Dig deep and remember, you never regret doing a run or workout but you will regret not doing it!  And do what you love.  Life is too short to do things that aren't fun or enjoyable.  I'm going to keep pounding the pavement for as long as this body allows me!

 

Here is the menu for this week: 

Sunday:  Turkey Burgers

Monday:  Salsa Chicken (crockpot)

Tuesday: Baseball Game (Champions Club, sigh)

Wednesday: LO

Thursday: Fish  

Friday: LO

Saturday: LO

No update next week!  I leave on Sunday for my church's mission trip.  I'll have to fill everyone in on that excitement upon my return!! 

Some weeks are just ho-hum

This week has just been blah.  No particular reason!  I knew my weigh-in would be off.  Last week I WI at 9am which is way outside my norm and this week I had my favorite visitor (not).  I just have more work to do and that's okay.

My trainer was on vacation and I found out how lonely it is to work out by my onesies.  I don't mind running by myself but being at the gym without any of my girls is just weird.  I did it though and survived!  However, I don't want to make a habit of it!  I need the audience, lol!  It's funny how you start to depend on people and look forward to seeing them.

My training is going well!  Did my first 8 miler in months!  It felt fantastic but boy was I drained.  It took every ounce of energy to make it through my run.  The legs felt like jello.  However, my endurance is getting so much better.  I only walked about 5 min of the whole 100 minutes I was running! I mostly did that so I could consume my GU chomps.  I'm out of practice and walking makes it easier to chew!  I felt pretty darn proud!  I've come a long way since sitting out for almost 3 months.

Not much to blog about.  See still feeling blah!  Here's hoping for a more perky week!            

 

Here is the menu for this week: 

Sunday:  Fish Tacos

Monday:  White Bean Ckn Chili

Tuesday: Grilled Ckn

Wednesday: LO

Thursday: Fish  

Friday: LO

Saturday: LO

Inspiration in every corner

Mission ReFocus is in full swing!  And no just for me.....   

Before I start blabbering on about my week, I want to share about my friend Melissa G!  I am so proud of her and what she has been able to accomplish so far!  Melissa decided a couple months ago to begin running.  She would send me messages wondering when does this get easier and can I really keep this up?  I assured her it does get easier.  Keep at it and every time out will feel a bit better than the last.  She called yesterday to brag that she can now do 35 mins straight!  WOOOOOO!!  I can't even put into words how excited I am for her or how proud I am of her successes.  She has worked so hard to become this healthier version of herself!  Notice I said healthier and not better!  She is already an amazing person who is reaching every goal she sets out to accomplish!  I never realized how much my talking about running has meant to someone else until Melissa said thank you for inspiring me.  It's weird to think anyone looks at me for inspiration.  Little does she know that I get so much inspiration from her!  I love you, my friend!  Thank for making me a stronger person!

 It has been brutally hot and humid but we got rain tonight!!  I hope this cools things off for a bit.  Perhaps, I won't have to pray for snow while I sweat gallons during my runs this week!  I've had enough of 100 degree weather.

Yesterday I ran the Hannibal Cannibal 5k.  This race is torture!  There's a hill that goes up like 630 feet.  It is brutal.  But we all have so much fun doing it every year!  I am pretty sure no matter how much I train my time is never going to be great on this race.  I'm okay with that.  It's more important to finish strong.  It also reminded me that I really need to start running more hills.  Yuck! 

This morning was my long run for the week.  90 mins of pure humid hell!  My allergies are horrible because of the rain and I feel like crud.  And some how I pulled out 7.10 miles.  It was amazing!  I was so excited when my Garmin hit the 7 mile mark.  There was fist pumping and some skipping.  I think the people on the trail thought I had lost it!  Debatable!  I was really starting to doubt myself and my ability because my runs have been so rough.  I'm behind in mileage and my pace is crawling.  The weeks were ticking off before Labor Day.  Panic was starting to set in.  This run couldn't have come at a better time.  I am feeling much better in my ability to make it through the Kauai Half-marathon without having a nervous breakdown!  6 more weeks until race day.  I am right were I need to be and couldn't be prouder that I didn't let the doubt take hold!  Now to keep focusing on the weight loss so that I can shave some time off!  

I am doing well at writing every thing down.  I am trying to make better food choice.  All I can do it keep focusing!  Sometimes I wish this part was easier.  I struggle with food every day.  I can go run or swim or strength train so much easier than I can step away from food.  It sucks. I have to weigh myself this coming week.  My Kate (trainer) is on vacation.  Also means, my workouts are all by myself too. Kicking my own butt isn't as much fun.  Downloading some new music to help make it easier!!! 

Here is the menu for this week: 

Sunday:  Stuffed Peppers

Monday:  Honey Chicken

Tuesday: Grilled Pork Chops

Wednesday: LO

Thursday: Fish  

Friday: LO

Saturday: Wedding reception....damn no carbs after 2pm is going to bite me in the ass. 

Weigh-in Week 2

Happy Independence Day! 

I lost 5 lbs this past week but there should be an asterisk next to it.   Normally, I weigh in around 6pm and because of the holiday I did it at 9am.  I am sure this will make a huge difference in next week's stats.  But for now I am basking in the thrill of it! I did work really hard at watching what food I ate and upped my physical exercise!  

All I can do is keep at it!  

Also no more french fries the day before a run because my body went into craptastic mode.  Ugh!  

The Skinny Rules

This heat is rough. It's hot inside and out! At least I'm cleaning out the pores with all this sweating! 

I've done a good job of writing down everything I've eaten. Now I'm focusing on eating better. Bought tons of fresh fruit and veggies and I promise to actually try to eat them. It's not something that comes easy to me. It will make for a fun new challenge. 

Running is coming along. I am tired of lugging around an extra 40 pounds. So if nothing else keeps me motivated the pain in my knees will! Long run today produced a 10k! It wasn't fast, it wasn't pretty but I did it in 80 degree weather. That was 6am! I even did 2 miles of hills in the beginning! Go me! 

I started reading Trainer Bob's new book, "Skinny Rules". It's not really teaching a seasoned dieter anything new but I think it's presenting the ideas in a way that can be better followed and thus reinforcing what we all already know. I've only made it through about 5 of the rules and trying to incorporate each into my plan. Simple changes like how to better keep hydrated and add more water or include protein at every meal to stay full longer are fairly easy. Like I said nothing new. But sometimes we forget the basics. I know I need plenty of water but do I actually do it? Well no. Can I remember to drink a full glass before each meal? Well sure. That seems easy. So now I am trying to continuously fill my glass in addition. Small steps that can make huge changes. 

Here is the menu for this week: 

Sunday:  Buffalo Chicken Mac-n-Cheese 

Monday:  LO 

Tuesday: Chicken Veggie Skewers 

Wednesday: Brats and corn on the cob 

Thursday: Fish  

Friday: Hannibal for the Hannibal Cannibal 

Saturday: Baseball game = those damn pulled pork nachos :)

 I know, I know Mac-n-cheese really? I said I was easing back! I was actually pretty good and split my serving in two so it felt like more! I'll share the nachos...maybe!