Tag: fitness

Posted on

2020 Goals — Here We Go AGAIN!

January for me seemed to fly by — I have already started working on my goals for this year.

I have seen/heard a lot of people coming up with 20 in 2020 lists, so I decided that I wanted to do that as well — at least for a couple things:

I will read/listen to 20 Books in 2020. I will go to 10 new restaurants in 2020. I will try 10 new recipes at home in 2020. I will go on on monthly date nights. I will practice SELF LOVE. I will blog. I will run (Ragnar Sunset, Grandma’s Marathon, and Ragnar Relay – so far). I will have a gratitude practice.

I have started reading/listening to books already this year — I have completed at 5 books so far this year. All of them so far have been on audible, because that is easier for me to do with my busy life, but I’m still getting it done. The books that I have listened to so far have been Mindset by Carol Dweck — so so good talks about the differences between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset and helps you try to find the ways to get out of a fixed mindset and into a growth mindset. If you love the Netflix show You then you would love listening to or reading the books You and Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes. They were really easy to listen to and the first book was pretty close to Season 1 of the show. These two definitely kept me engaged and I literally couldn’t stop listening. Another fun read was The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines it was such a sweet book and it was fun learning more about their story of how they came to be, and the bonus of the audible version was that it was read by both of them. #couplegoals Another book that I listened to was Not a Diet Book: Lose Fat. Gain Confidence. Transform Your Life. by James Smith — very informative in all the ways. I first learned about James Smith from one of my best friends, she sent me his instagram and I started following him and would watch his story and have listened to his podcast. He really knows his stuff, and I loved listening to him read this book on audible.

As for my other goals, I have tried one new restaurant Momo Sushi in Minneapolis, such an amazing “cheat” meal!! I love sushi so much, just in case you didn’t know that about me. We got a sous vide for Christmas and we have made quite a few different meats using that (chicken — so juicy and steak). I would count that as one of my new recipes, because it was a new way of cooking. 🙂

The monthly date nights have been working well, because we have made a plan with another set of parents from our daycare that we switch off with them one weekend each a month, and they take our kids one weekend and we take their kids another weekend. So far it has worked out, and the kids have had a lot of fun.

Self love and gratitude is an on going work in progress for me — I am trying to get back my confidence in myself and figuring out my balance of fitness and being a wife and mom. I would say this year is off to a much better start than last year. Last year I lost weight and felt great and so confident, but I was becoming addicted to going to the gym and would be so upset at myself if I cheated even the slightest bit on my diet — my diet was very restricted. This year I started training with Okon Fitness, and I am in love. From the weekly check-ins not only looking at weight, but also measurements, and photos it has made a world of difference on my mind. They are also part of an app where there is a group of strong women that are part of the program and we motivate, inspire, and lift each other up. It’s such a great feeling.

The running — well in October of 2019, I was planning on signing up for Grandma’s Half Marathon in Duluth — well by the time I got around to signing up — that race was FULL, so I just decided to go for it and sign up for the full. Why would I do such a thing … you might ask. Well, I LOVE, like literally, LOVE Duluth and Lake Superior, and I have always heard that if your goal/dream doesn’t scare you a little bit then its not big enough — well needless to say — I’m scared for June 20, 2020. My goal going into this is to finish, I don’t have a time that I need to beat or anything like that I just am going for the experience and the challenge. Fun Fact: When my husband, Dan, and I were up in Two Harbors in April of 2019 we randomly met this great girl and her friend at a small town karaoke bar. Her and I connected so well that we became friends on Facebook, and started following each other on instagram. Each time that I’ve been up to the north shore, I have met up with her. Her and her fiancé are letting us stay with them for grandmas marathon weekend!! So excited to get to know her more!

The Ragnar runs — a group of my crazy FXB people #teamstupidstuff decided to run the sunset Ragnar as well as the full road Ragnar running from St Paul all the way up to Duluth. Again — I’m so scared, but so excited at the same time.

I will blog this year! I am making that promise to myself, the only way to get better is to practice…so here I go.

Posted on

10K Challenge Complete

As some of you know, I completed my 1 year long 10K challenge at FXB this month.  As a perfect way to end 2018, I decided to share with you my one page essay that I wrote on how FXB has changed my life, which was something required for the 10K challenge. So here goes it…

When I first started FXB (October 2017)

At the end of my 10 week session (December 2017)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“There are so many ways that Farrell’s has changed my life.  Where do I even begin…at the beginning I suppose. I have never had a lot of stability in my life.  When I was younger, I was always moving to a new house or school.  I have also been overweight my whole life.  When I got married in 2011, I had joined a gym near my house, and had some success.  Then I got pregnant. After having Killian, I wasn’t able to fit the gym in my schedule without taking time out of spending time with my baby, so I quit.  I gained some more weight, and then lost a bit on my own.  I then got pregnant with my second child, Porter. During the pregnancy with Porter, I tried to keep my eating more in check, which helped a little. After having Porter in May of 2017, I felt very depressed about how I looked and had a very poor self-image.

I knew that I needed something to get me out of this rut, because it wasn’t good for me or my family.  In October 2017, I realized that there was a FXB right by my house, so I emailed Cindi and she had me come in for a free trial class — it was LEG DAY!! I loved it.  The people there were so welcoming and I knew that this would be a right fit for me and my journey… I wasn’t too sure how my husband would handle the price of it though.  I went home after that workout, and told him how amazing it was at FXB, and then I told him the price — he was, as he always is, very supportive.  If I want or need to do something to better my health and wellbeing, then he is always on board. That was an amazing feeling.  The next day, I was officially a 10 weeker.

Now that you kind of know my story, let me tell you a few ways that Farrell’s has changed my life.  For starters, I have stability.  I have a gym family that inspires, and pushes me to do my best every day.  I have come out of my shell, A LOT!  I have told some of my FXB friends that I’m a shy person and they don’t believe me — because what they see is this happy, dancing, and laughing girl every morning. I have gained so much self-confidence, which has not only shown itself in the gym, but also at home and at work.  I’m a new person, and I love it.  During the summer I went on a two-week vacation to Branson, Missouri with my family, and I truly missed FXB.  I couldn’t wait to get back to my stability and routine that I had going on.

Another way that FXB has changed my life is the fact that my kids know about working out and eating healthy thanks to the good example that I am showing them.  Killian knows where my gym is, and points it out every time we drive by, and says he wants to go there someday.  I feel like I’m showing my kids, and my husband that if you put your mind to do something then you absolutely can.  I love having goals and crushing them.

A couple goals for myself throughout this 10k yearlong challenge was to become an instructor of either strength or kickboxing, and I became an instructor of both. Another goal I had set for myself personally was to be 160lbs and be 25% or less BF.  I accomplished both of those goals at my final weigh in.  I’m so proud of myself, it brings tears to my eyes.  FXB is so amazing.  The relationships that I have made, the changes I have made in my life, and body, the example that I setting for my family, just everything.

What a year, I’m so happy that I challenged myself to complete this whole year of changes to myself. I can’t wait to see what the next year will bring. I know that one of my 5 year goals is to own my own FXB! ”

The end of my year long commitment to myself (December 2018)

I will continue my fitness journey, because it doesn’t end here. I haven’t figured out how I want to word my goals out yet, but I will think about that over night, and hope to post a new post about 2019 goals later this week.

Posted on

What has been going on with me

Hello all!! Sorry I have been MIA for a while.  So much has happened since I last made a post… where do I begin….

Well, at the end of the last FIT challenge at Farrell’s, there was a training that came up to become a kickboxing instructor.  I was scared, but I decided that now is as good a time as ever.  I have taught 6 full classes on my own and have a few more currently on the schedule.  So far I love instructing, it brings out a more outgoing and confident side of me.  Sure I’m a little nervous every time I put that microphone on to teach a class, but once I get started its all good.  I am so thankful for all the people that believed in me, even though I didn’t.  It sure makes me feel so happy that I have such a large number of people that push, inspire, and motivate me to do my best.

Since I have started instructing kickboxing at FXB, it has motivated me to start thinking about yoga more often, and possibly work on finding the courage to teach that — even in a community ed or just for fun setting.  I have my certification.. maybe now is the time to do something with it.

Well, after I completed the first three kickboxing classes, we went on a family vacation to Branson, MO to visit family friends. I was excited to have a vacation, but also not excited to miss my morning FXB workout for 9 days in a row — especially since I had not missed a workout all year.  I know that it is good to have balance, and I think it was good for me in the long run to have a vacation from FXB — I was able to sleep in, and we all know how great sleep is for you!

Our vacation was great, I worked out a couple times, but definitely not as hard as I would have back home — at least I was getting activity in.  I was even able to get a couple small runs in which felt really good, since I had kind of fallen off the running wagon.  Which brings me to now, last weekend a good FXB friend of mine talked me into signing up for the Twin Cities 10 mile drawing.  How it works is if your “team” is chosen in the drawing, then you are able to run in the TC 10 mile. I kept telling her how nervous I was, and that I couldn’t run 10 miles… that’s almost a Half Marathon.  She consistently would tell me to stop telling myself that I couldn’t do it, she also told me to believe in myself, because she does. Well to make a long story short — our team was one of the many chosen to run the TC 10 mile.  Let the training begin!

I haven’t been running as long of distances as I should be at this point, but at least I’m running some.  My goal for the TC 10 mile is just to finish the race — I will not beat myself up if I walk/run the whole thing.

Along with that training, a new FIT challenge has begun at FXB.  This time it is FIT Olympics.  We each pick a few categories to “compete” in and there will be prizes for the winners as usual.  I also decided to go in on a small challenge with some of my girl FXB friends based strictly on weight loss. So far, I have been running at least twice a week as well as being more strict with myself on food.

Also, in regards to being a Kickboxing instructor, every class feels different to me, and the more classes I teach the more comfortable I am.  I love every second of it, I have a lot of fun doing it and hope that the FXB members taking my classes have fun taking my classes too.

I am so thankful for my fitness family, they are amazing and are always lifting me up.  This morning 4 of us ran 1.59 miles before LEG DAY… well it turned out to be my fastest mile time ever 10 min 15 sec — all because when you work out with others you knowingly and unknowingly push each other, and that’s what makes it so great!

Find things in your life that you enjoy, and that you can be with others — find balance in your life between work and play.  I haven’t been blogging as much as I originally wanted, but I WILL commit more of my time to focus on this blog — my next post will be something in regards to food. YUM! 🙂

 

 

Posted on

Personal FIT challenge results — and learning moments

I have so many thoughts and emotions going through my head so I figured I would just write it all down.  Those that know me, know that I don’t have a lot of love for myself, and I never really feel proud of myself.   I am working on that. It is really hard for me to take compliments.  Also, when I make goals and then don’t reach them by the time I have set out to reach them — I get disappointed in myself, and kinda beat myself up.

The most recent FIT challenge has just come to a close.  The goals that I set for myself were the following:  Lose 10 lbs of weight, and down 2% body fat.  Well — what actually happened was I ended up down 9.1 lbs of weight, and down 1.9% body fat.  I should have immediately been really proud of what I accomplished, but I wasn’t.  Why??

We are all our own worst critic.   I feel so lucky to have so many close friends and immediate family that tell me all the time how great I’m doing, and that I’m amazing. When they tell me these things, I usually just brush it off, probably roll my eyes, and say thanks.  To all of you — I’m sorry that it is so hard for me to take compliments.  In my heart, I really love having others notice my progress, because it feels really good.  However, in my head — I don’t BELIEVE in myself, so therefore not in agreement with the compliments. I am working on this, because it really does all start and end in your mind.  Believing that you can do it, believing that you deserve it, and believing that you will get it.

The next FIT challenge starts in approximately 5 weeks —  a lot of changes have already started in my mindset.  I will be proud of myself through all of my accomplishments — small or large.  I can do this!! I’m half way through the 10K challenge through FXB.  I want to win this!  I need to buckle down my nutrition and have very minimal cheats.  I know that I need to tweak a couple things with my nutrition, but I also know that I have the support to help me kill these last 6 months of the 10K challenge!!!

More to come soon about other new happenings in my gym life. Stay tuned 🙂

Posted on

Goals before 30

Well, its a new month and I just turned 29 on April 4th.  There are so many different big and small goals that I have set for myself to accomplish by the time I turn 30.  I have already started working on some of them, and I’m aware that some of the bigger ones I may continue working on for years.

I know it isn’t the normal time of year to talk about goals or aspirations for the year ahead, but I figured now is as good of a time as ever — so here are some of the things that I would like to work on for the year ahead —

  • Read at least 1 book a month — preferably something in regards to personal development or health/fitness/wellness. Some of the books on my list to read:  Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, How to get out of your own way by Tyrese Gibson, and You are a Badass by Jen Sincero.  I would love to hear some personal development titles from you.
  • Be around 25% Body Fat — When I started at FXB in Oct 2017, I was about 47% BF, after the 10 week challenge, break, and an 8 week challenge I ended up at 37% BF.
  • “Get out of my own way” — This will most likely be an on going goal for a while, but I will definitely be working on this a lot this year.  I have built invisible walls that are holding me back in a few aspects of my life.  I plan to break down those walls.  I want to become a more confident person all around, but especially at work.
    • Another goal that goes along with the above is Love Myself more — everyone around me sees me as a great person — I just need to see that and believe in myself.  I have been told that I need to “believe to achieve” — so that is what we will do.  It won’t happen over night, but the more I practice it the more it will become natural as with anything.

These are just a few of the things I will be working on accomplishing or at least making progress toward achieving by the time I am 30.

Posted on

This is just the beginning

Long post ALERT. 🙂 I decided to start out talking about my fitness journey so far — where I started and how far I have come.

I have always been a bigger girl, even when I was a kid I wore “husky” pants, and then growing up I was always in a 10-14 size pants.   I was interested in soccer, but I only played rec soccer through North Metro Soccer Association during the summer.  Through high school, I had a couple instances where I joined Lifetime and would go there a few times a week and get some cardio in on the elliptical, and I would lose some weight, but once I stopped I would gain it all back and then some.

Before my husband and I got married in 2011, I was doing a TON of cardio and sometimes lifting light weights — my dress was a size 14  — I didn’t fit in it when I bought.  I wasn’t too concentrated on what I was eating — I was trying to work out enough that I could eat whatever I wanted. (This is not what you should do, but I didn’t know.)  When I think about it after the fact, I think I probably shouldn’t have added that much extra stress on myself before my wedding, but I did it!! I was able to fit in my dress for our wedding.  After the wedding, we went on our small honeymoon and ate and drank whatever we wanted.  I then gained the weight back and then some.

These two instances above were not very balanced as you can see. My husband and I lived in Ramsey, MN at the time and were just enjoying life by eating and drinking whatever we wanted.

In 2013, I wanted to start trying to get pregnant.  We got pregnant nearly right away, but I ended up miscarrying at about 8 weeks.  I was devastated.  All I kept doing was thinking it was all my fault because I was unhealthy.  I was a size 16-18, and almost 250 lbs.  I knew I needed to do something,  it was then that I joined Koru Fitness in Ramsey.

I loved working out at Koru.  I loved the people, the atmosphere, and the workouts.  It was then that I fell in love with group fitness.  Since Dan and I didn’t have any kids yet, I ended up going to Koru nearly every day.  Some days I would do up to 3 classes.  I was starting to see changes in my body, but I still knew that I needed to get my nutrition more balanced and under control.  Fall of 2013 is when I decided to join Weight Watchers.

I really enjoyed weight watchers, because it held me accountable to have to weigh in every week with someone and also it helped me start learning to track all of the food that I ate.  When I started weight watchers, I was still working out a lot at Koru.  The pounds started to fall off.  I ended up making it under 200 lbs, I was so proud of myself and I felt so good.  That was all made possible with learning how to balance my diet with my workouts.

Summer of 2014, I got pregnant with Killian. I worked out a little bit, but was generally too tired to work out. I also had to stop weight watchers.  I started eating whatever I wanted — whatever my cravings were — ice cream, cereal, and crackers.  After having Killian in March of 2015, I tried to start working out at Koru again and tracking my food myself using MyFitnessPal, but I couldn’t get fully back into either of them.  I felt like I was missing out on something with Killian if I went to workout in the evenings before he went to bed, and the morning classes weren’t early enough for me to do before going to work.  It was with sadness that I had to cancel my Koru membership.

We moved in to our current house in Coon Rapids, MN in May of 2015.  I re-joined Lifetime Fitness and would work out there sometimes late at night and sometimes early in the morning, but I couldn’t get into the groove of things.  I was never certain what workouts I should do, I knew I needed some type of group fitness.  That is when I fell in love with yoga.

In January of 2016, I decided to pursue the 200hr yoga teacher certification.  I’m so glad I did.  I learned so much more about myself, I met amazing people that I probably would not have met otherwise, and I learned more about how to balance my life.  Yoga has taught me so much more which I will have to share in another blog post. 🙂  I planned to start auditioning to teach yoga at a gym in the Fall of 2016, however in late summer I found out that I was pregnant with Porter.

Being pregnant with Porter, I was able to keep my pregnancy weight gain a little more under control. I was smarter with my food choices, because I didn’t want to gain the 65+ lbs that I had gained with Killian.  Also during my pregnancy with Porter I was having to chase Killian around which was my exercise.

After having Porter in May of 2017, I was starting to feel more and more like I was just going to be fat the rest of my life. I was feeling very down on my self, and new I needed to be able to find a way to balance fitness, food, and my family.  I looked close to home for a gym and came across Farrell’s eXtreme Bodyshaping in Andover, MN.

In October of 2017, I started the 10 week challenge at FXB.  My starting weight was 231 lbs.  I love the instructors, the wide range of class times, and especially the workouts.  Through the 10 weeks, I learned more about nutrition and was able to get my eating back on point.  I had a cheat meal once a week and didn’t have to feel bad about it because it was on my plan the rest of the week.  I ended the 10 week challenge in December at 213 lbs.  In my 5am class time, I made so many friends with current people going through the challenge, and also FIT members.  I felt very accomplished for how far I had come, but I knew I had more to lose so I decided to join the year long 10K challenge.

I will be posting more posts regarding each challenge along the way of the 10K challenge, so be sure to sign up for email notifications for when I make a new blog post.

I am so happy with how much I have learned about fitness and nutrition on my journey so far, but it is just the beginning. I have so many goals that I am currently working towards. 🙂 Thanks for reading!!! 🙂