Accountability

First I have to give a shout out to the amazing Chris for making over my hot mess of a blog that hadn't been redesigned in 2 years. Thanks again Chris, you rock!

One more thing... a quick PSA before this post: I am NOT a fitness expert, nor do I pretend to be one in real life. These are things that have worked for me, and resources/tools I've found to be useful. I am not a personal trainer or dietitian, or anywhere close to either.

Ok now that we've got that out of the way, we'll get to the good stuff. Most of you know I've been on a weight loss journey of sorts, since July 1st. My starting weight was around 165 when I stepped on the scale in January/February; today the scale reads between 135-137 depending on the day. I still have days where I can't believe I accomplished my goal (weight wise), and completely surpassed my physical goals. My two favorite tools are 'My Fitness Pal' which is an app I use on my phone, you can also access it from the computer, and my second favorite is pinterest. I have an entire board dedicated to health and fitness, with a catchy little Fergie inspiration title: Workin' on my Fitness (sing it with me, G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S (and yes when I spell that word I sing that song)). My fitness pal is an app/website that allows you to input all of your personal fitness goals (height/weight-goal weight), and then you keep track of what you eat daily, and also your physical activity such as workout classes, running, walking, etc... I highly recommend it, such an easy way to hold yourself accountable.

I have been very fortunate along this journey, I've had a lot of people cheering me on, and for that I'm so grateful. It makes a HUGE difference when you have people holding you accountable. I will get random texts, emails or Facebook comments/messages from people telling me I've been an inspiration to them. I smile from ear to ear when I hear that, because 6 months ago I would have NEVER in my wildest dreams imagined I'd be influencing anyone when it came to health and fitness. A few days ago I proclaimed my new found love of green monster smoothies (click that for the recipe) on Facebook and Instagram. Today I opened up fb to see one of gf's from high school had said she tried it out thanks to me, and she loved it. A few other people wrote me to say they tried it and loved it also. I can't take credit, it's definitely not my recipe, but I'm glad people are trying it and loving it. If you replace one unhealthy meal you would have eaten with this smoothie, that's one step closer!

Cleaning up your eating is a HUGE part of changing your life style. I'm going to stick with what I've been calling it all along- a lifestyle change. It's not a fad diet, something that I'll give up on, or any other failure catch phrases you can think of. I'm in it for the long haul, baby! I'm not going to pretend I always eat clean, because I don't. I enjoy the occasional splurge, and I finally came to terms with the fact that I can't beat myself up for enjoying something that isn't good for me from time to time. Food is such a taboo issue for women, you don't want to reward yourself with food, but you also don't want to deprive yourself from the things you like to eat. Moderation and making better choices is a KEY factor! Replacing things like regular milk with almond milk, ranch dressing for a balsamic based dressing, white rice with brown rice. Those are little things you can do that shouldn't be a huge sacrifice (unless you LOVE ranch like I do, then it seems like life or death). So many things we eat are processed and just flat out horrible for us. That's why kids are hitting puberty at such a young age, people get sick so often. They even over process milk so much that they've removed all the good bacteria that we need. I plan to do an entire post dedicated to eating, feel free to offer any input you may have. I love second opinions :)

Sam has been one of my biggest inspirations, especially with running. She spent quite a bit of time on me (amidst all her law school finals) the other day giving me lots of pointers. I'm glad she feels like I'm knowledgeable enough to ask me about my clean eating habits. I have to credit my friend Kristen for being a huge running inspiration also. And my gf Jamie who keeps calling me skinny, I could kiss her! Ha! I'm less concerned with being skinny, and more focused on being physically fit. I want to be able to kick my husbands tail if need be ;) (j/k babe).

I've been focusing a LOT on my arms, here's a few shots I took the other night before I went to boot camp class. Push ups have been my best friend, and worst enemy. I'm trying to lose that jiggle that us ladies love to hate.

I never thought I would ever be a runner, and still use that term VERY loosely. I'm working towards being a runner is how I should word it. I ran 3- 5k's in the past 2 months, and felt great about it. I'd like to step up my training and train for a 10k and eventually a half marathon. I've heard from lots of runners that the biggest motivation is signing up for a race. I think the Route 66 Marathon (half for me) next fall is my goal, with a few 10k's between hopefully. 

I'm fortunate enough to have one of my best friends as my workout partner. We slacked a few weeks ago and skipped the gym for a few weeks, but momma is back and kicking butt! Ashley and I did the Color Run in early October, the Capitol Craze (which is super similar to the warrior dash) late October, and the Rescue Run the weekend of Thanksgiving. I feel like I got a little stronger every time, which is all that matters to me!

I've got some ideas cooking up with a few of my favorite bloggers for some health and fitness link ups, and am also interested in maybe having a few of my girlfriends guest post their journey's for me. Who would be interested in participating?!!

I am definitely proud of how far I've come, and know I still have a ways to go, but I'm on the right track, and that makes all the difference!