Tag: goals

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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.

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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.

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Believe …

….Deep Breath….

The past few weeks have been very empowering and emotional for me.  The first week of this month, I started running.  For those of you that know me, I am definitely NOT a runner by any means.  I ran a mile outdoors and only stopped to walk once.  I was so proud of myself. I couldn’t believe that I did it. My close friends and family members were really proud of me too.

The next morning I got a text from my husband saying that he ran a mile — I inspired him to get out there and do it. I was very happy for him and kind of excited to see what new aspect this could bring to our lives. When I got home that day, we decided that we would start running together 2-3 times a week.

On the 4th, there was a 4K run/walk supporting Hope4Youth, which I had known about for about a month.  I was too afraid to sign up to do the run/walk — even though I totally could have just walked the whole thing.  There was a group of friends from FXB doing the 4K, and one in particular, Marilee, thought I had signed up.  She called me wondering if she needed to pick up my registration packet…I told her that I hadn’t signed up for the run, because “I can’t run a 4K” and “No one will go as slow as me” and “I’m scared”.   Marilee has always been a huge supporter and told me that there was nothing to be afraid of, and that I didn’t have to run any of it if I didn’t want to.  She also told me that she believes in me and that if I couldn’t do this 4K that she would get me out of my comfort zone and do a 5K with me.  We hung up the phone with each other, and I thought about it for about 5 minutes or less — I called my mom to see if she would be able to be home to watch the kiddos, and called my husband, Dan, to see if he wanted to run the 4K.  Everyone said yes…with that I called Marilee back and she signed me and Dan up for the race.  She was so excited for us to do the race.

When I got home from work, after talking to Marilee, Dan and I decided to go running.  My thoughts were that we would run a mile and be done — his thoughts not so much. We ran the mile (I ran the whole thing without stopping!! FIRST TIME EVER!) and then started walking and talking.  As we were walking, I decided that wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be and we decided to do another mile.  I ran that mile without stopping too.  I was so proud of myself, I’m still tearing up a little typing this.  I made a goal in my head that I was going to run the whole mile and then I did, even though I didn’t think I could. That was proof to me that if I get out of my own way, I can do anything that I put my mind to.  All I have to do is believe in myself!

When it got to race day, I was nervous.  All of my FXB friends just kept saying you will be fine. You got this.  We went to the starting line up and started the run.  I ended up running by myself, but that was OK with me because then I could just run and focus on my breathing.  When I got to the 1 mile marker I hadn’t stopped — I said to myself, “I can keep going”.  I kept going — I definitely thought about stopping, but told myself that I didn’t need to.  I was still breathing and pacing myself just right — I got to the 2 mile marker.  I nearly started crying — this was the first time EVER that I had run without stopping for that long. “I have gone this far — there is only .5 miles left — I got this”.  The finish line was just in reach — I heard Marilee, Dan and some of the others cheering me on — I pushed harder.  I ended up passing the finish line at 29.02.  I felt amazing, I cried. I couldn’t believe that I did it!!

I ran a 4K without stopping, what else could I do that I had previously been holding myself back from…only time will tell.

I really enjoyed running — I decided to make some running goals for myself:

Run a 5K by mid July.  Do the Rugged Maniac with Marilee in September.  Run a 10K by October… and the biggest goal… Run Grandma’s 1/2 Marathon in 2019.

“Yes I can!”  All I need to do is believe in myself.  If you have any running tips, tricks, or must haves let me know in the comments below!!

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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.