It's Been a Struggle

The last fews weeks have been tough ones to say the least! They went  something like this:

March Break  - Hooray a solid week at home with my chicklets!!

Reality - O develops croup, E is super bored because all of her friends were in Mexico. R- gets to ride horses. Mamma house bound and grumpy.

Then that same week my MacBook died :(  Which meant no work, no blogging, not even face book. Although the break was a little nice I was definitely stressed out. A new Macbook wasn't in the budget and I was sure I had lost years of files and photos (I really need to start backing up more often).

Another Blizzard then a cold snap of -20C. Nothing dampens your mood more than -20C after you have made it out for a few runs outside and when you have half marathon training plans So I dragged my butt to the treadmill and ran a solid 10K for the St. Patty's Day virtual race for 13 in 2013. My time was terrible. 72 minutes, but I got in completed on the very last day!

The next week was a total blur as O was still sick, this time with an ear ache, Dr. appointments, hair appointments and finally a 2 day skating seminar with Canadian Champion pairs figure skaters Eric Radford and Meagan Duhammel. The girls had a blast, but it was a long 2 days.

The seminar was followed but a 2 show skating performance that all 3 of my lovelies participated in. They were terrific and had a ton of fun!!

Finally, it was Sunday. I usually have a crossfit workout at the fire hall, but I was dragging my butt and I knew I wouldn't be able to give it my all. So, I chose to rest and went ice fishing with my family for a couple of hours.

When Monday came around I knew I had to get my butt into gear and pledged to earn 1 extra exercise point for SBBC. It was simple just add an extra 10 minutes of exercise! I was off to a terrific start with a solid 4 mile run. All I had to do was stretch. Only it wasn't that easy. It turns out the rumbling in my tummy wasn't runners revenge it was the stomach flu. 36 hours later I managed to pull myself out of bed to the couch and tried solid food again.

By Thursday, I managed to run errands and get in a 40 min walk, at long last warm weather had come to Red Lake!!

So definetly not the March I had hoped and planned for, but I did learn a few things!

1)I am totally lost without my own computer, sharing doesn't work well for me.

2)I am not very nice when things start falling apart.

3) cold weather and delayed spring doesn't bring out the best in me, I really ended up in a miserable, dark place for a couple of days.

4) A few weeks of spotty workouts won't totally derail me, I haven't gained copious amounts of weight and hopefully haven't lost of lot of strength. This is most likely due to the fact that I continued to sneak in short, but hard cross fit workouts when possible.

5) My kids do need to come first, especially when the are sick or have exciting opportunities ( I already knew this, but its good to reaffirm it)

6) probably the most important - I didn't quit. I struggled. I fell down. I certainly faltered but I didn't let it derail me!!

The moral of this story is:

Motivation

Hey there,

I need of a little motivation to help you get moving?

Here are some of my favourite pics from tumblr that show why women need to LIFT.

You know that I love to lift heavy weights and CROSS FIT! I totally believe that strength training will make huge changes to your body. Don't be afraid of looking manly, only large doses of testosterone will do that!

I love this one!!

She is so strong!

:)

Don't be afraid to pick up some weight, and don't feel that you need to use 5 lb weights forever either. Got over wanting to TONE and start putting on some muscle! You will love it!

Do you lift?

Do you lift heavy?

Conventional or Cross Fit?? 

Workout Recaps

Last Monday was the official start to the Spring Bootie Buster Challenged hosted by Amanda over at run to the finish. I loved the Holiday bootie Buster so much that I knew the SBBC was the thing for me to do.

Each day we earn points for eating 7-9 freggies (fruits and/ or veggies) drinking water and moving our body. The big goal over the next 7 weeks is that we bootie busters will develop life long habits,  while challenging ourselves and maybe win a prize while we are at it.

I think I had a pretty solid start to my week. I hit all my targets for water and freggies and got in a decent amount to exercise. I was a little light on Wednesday which should have been a 45 min run plus stretching, but due to family obligations I only got in a 20 min cross fit workout. I also never found time to do the workout of the week - WOW. This stinks because the Wow is a double whammy - you earn points for the exercise and a bonus point plus you can do it all week long if you want. Its definitely on this weeks to do list!


Here is what my week looked like:

Monday - 4 mile run plus stretching, simple out and back towards Madsen. It was hilly and cold. I through in telephone pole intervals to challenge myself.

Tuesday - Cross fit workout - 7 rounds of: 7 push press, 7 crunches, 7 burpees. Followed that with planks ( i am so trying to improve my core strength) push ups and stretching.

Wednesday - Cross Fit Mama's Hope for Kenya - 12 mins AMRAP - 50 squats, 30 push ups, 15 pull ups. I got 3 rounds of the squats and push ups and 2 rounds of pull ups. Stretched and hit the road.

Thursday - more Crossfit. I gave the Cross Fit Mom's 13.1 WOD a go. It is a far cry easier than the the official Cross Fit 13.1 WOD and is mainly designed for pregger or postpartum mothers. But what can I say I am not an elite athlete and cross fit is about scaling workouts. I did the intermediate workout because I had never done a snatch before and didn't want to hurt myself or my living room.

13.1 WOD

12 burpees

15 snatch 45 lb

12 burpees

15 snatch

12 burpees

15 snatch

12 burpees

Again I did some core work (I found a great workout from Women's Health that used a kettle bell. Followed by more stretching (stretching is an easy point, plus it feels so good!)

Friday  - REST!!

Saturday - My first 6 miler. I ran to the gun club and back. The roads were nice and clear and I maintained my HMP of 10:30 quite well ( I know it probably looks super slow, but thats life!)

Sunday - Fire Hall Workout - Richard planned a doozy! We started with a great warm up then paired up. Tim and Rich and Renee and I. We worked at partners with one person starting and the second waiting for the first to finish before starting. We finished all 3 rounds before going to the next exercise. I am feeling the effects of DOMS today!!

3 rounds:

 8 dead lifts - 135#

pushups to failure

1 min rest

10 push press 45#

20 kettle bell swings 26#

1 min rest

20 wall balls 14#

ring rows to failure

1 min rest

20 weighted walking lunges 10 # each hand

dips to failure.

I spent a good portion of the day stretching out my hamstrings and hip flexers!

I hope you had a terrific workout week.

I have this week planned and hope to get 3 solids runs in along with 3 cross fit workouts.

What do you have planned?

Motivation

Hi Again,
I know its not Monday but I thought we could all use a little MOTIVATION!

Today's theme is ditching the SCALE! We are not a number, we are the sum of all of our parts and should never define ourselves by the number that pops up on the scale.

I would be lying if I didn't hop on my scale once every couple of weeks. And I would be lying if I said I didn't wish the number was just a little lower.  But its time to put those scales away and focus on the real results we get from eating well and working hard.

Here are a few of my Favourite Pics from the internet regarding ditching our scales:

I hope these motivate you as much as they motivate me. 

Do you weigh yourself often?

If not how do you measure your progress? I like to go by how my clothes feel.

Gratitude

Today's challenge for Healthy sELF is to list 20 things for which we are grateful for. While this can seem really tedious or silly, it is actually a terrific activity. Recognizing the "good" things in our lives helps to foster a healthy positive mindset that allows us to move through life feeling happier.

Here is my list:

20 Things for which I am Grateful

1. My husband - he honestly loves me for who I am and supports me in almost every thing I do.
2. My kids  - they keep me on my toes and the true reason I live my life.
3. Hot coffee - see #1 and # 2 
4. Flexible job - it allows me the time to take care of my kids and myself.
5. Portable technology - specifically my iphone and garmin.
6. A warm house.
7. Readily available knowledge at my finger tips.
8. Fantastic coaches and teachers - they make my life easier while supporting my children's growth and development
9. Friends - in person and online.
10. Heated seats - winter mornings and trips to and from the arena are pretty chilly in Northern Canada!
11. woollen mittens 
12. Moms who send me authentic maple syrup at an incredible price!
13. Dads who support me in so many ways
14. Workout Buddies who encourage and push me to limits I never thought possible!
15. My Day Planner - it keeps me sane!
16. Great books - that take me to far away places and times and help me escape.
17. Really hot showers after a hard workout.
18. My safe little town - where I can run free without free for myself or my family.
19. PVR - this may seem funny, but it has made me a better person!
20. LOVE - as corny as it sounds I am truly grateful for the love in which I am surrounded by each and every day!

What are you grateful for??

Monday Motivation

Yup, It's Monday  again already. Its hard to believe February is almost over! Not only that BBB is almost over :(  This is my last week with the Best Body Boot Camp and I intend to make the very most of it. While I certainly have great workout habits, I sometimes struggle with food temptations.  So, for today's MONDAY MOTIVATION I stole  compiled a few terrific tumblr pics that will help me make better choices in the kitchen.

#1 rule in my opinion, choose more foods without label than with labels.

So easy, so simple!

These two pics bring to mind Brendan Brazier's  Thrive Forward Program

He promotes healthy eating and choosing nutrient dense foods over empty calories.

I highly suggest checking out his site for great tips and videos.

In the end being balanced is the most important key to "diet".

I personally don't believe in "DIETS" only because I don't think they work, especially for the average person. While a lot of people have jumped onto the "clean" or "paleo" bandwagon ( and that's great for them) I know that I cannot sustain any restrictive diet long term, which in turn sets me up to fail. I simply follow what I call a "traditional" lifestyle. I eat as much whole food as I can, including wheat and dairy (I have no food sensitivities and I feel for those that do). I cook my meals most of the time and bake weekly. I try to avoid sugary or processed foods when possible, but I do indulge once in a while. 

I hope these tumblr pics help motivate you into make great food choices. Have a terrific week :)

Do you struggle with food?

Do you follow a specific diet?

workout recap

Since we are now in the last 2 week session of BBB
I really wanted to go hard and give it my all. Now is the time to really see what I am made of.

I decided there were going to be no modifications or substitutions done this week. I also made it my goal to seriously put in an effort to reduce my sugar/ fat/ sweets in take. I really just want to see what kind of results I can achieve when I put in a whole hearted effort.

Here's a breakdown of my week's workout.

Sunday - As always Sunday is our Cross Fit session at the Fire Hall. Our usual coach is taking a break due to family needs (he has 4 kids!!) So I modified a great workout of that I found here. This site has amazing workouts that are tailored to meet the needs of busy mammas like myself. SHe also scales the weight to make it more manageable as most mammas are not as strong as typical CrossFit athletes.
2 rounds of: 
20 deadlifts 95# 
30 wall balls 
20 ring rows 
30 box jumps 
20 SDLHP 20 kg 
30 burpees 
20 push press 45# 
30 walking lunges

We were DONE at the end! I always love how this tough workout really sets the pace for my week.

Monday - I did 4 rounds of BBB strength A. In this workout we had to superset a strength move with a 20 sec cardio boost. The cardio boosts included : 180 squats and high knees. The strength moves inlcuded: pull ups, push ups, and a few others. Because I chose 4 rounds of this bad ass workout I was able to opt out of the additional cardio. Its much more preferable for me to keep going and push through the extra rounds and not have to do something else afterwards.

I also snuck in a short 2 mile ski with the kiddos in the afternoon :)

Tuesday - Turbofire 45 Fire workout. In order to really push myself I knew it was time to try some of the harder Turbo fire workouts. This one was not a total hit workout but she included several fire drills that had me dripping with sweat by the end. I will really be able to up the intensity once I get a handle on the choreography.

Wednesday- It was a hard day for me. I had Dr. Appointments, vehicle maintenance, parent teacher interviews and kids  manage. I wasn't able to get my workout done during the day so I saved it for that evening. Although I was really tired I forced my self to push through Strength B with Rebecca.  Again it was design for 4 rounds of 5 sets of 2 supersets. This time the cardio bursts were mountain climbers and bench hops. Since I don't have a bench I opted for box jumps (just as tough in my opinion). The strength moves included: down dog push ups (my fav) two arm fly and bench dips with a kick.

Thursday - Back to Turbo Fire, this time I did a 30 min Hiit session! IT WAS INSANE!! But I made it through and loved it!!

Friday - Tim had the day off so I quickly ran through 1 round of strength C - ladders of strength and burpees!! Then we went out for a 4 mile ski! It was incredible. The temp was perfect and the trail had just the right about of rolling hills to make it work but fun.

Saturday -  REST!!! (much needed too)

Today Also marks the start of my HALF - MARATHON Training. While I am not running today I am changing m weekly workout schedule to fit in 3 weekly runs. I am hoping that 2 short runs plus 1 long run and 3 strength session will be the right thing for me right now. I will miss Turbo Fire, but I may add a short hiit workout now and again.

As for my food goals. I made it 4 days so far without dessert. It was Becca's 14th birthday yesterday so there has been cake and jello and lots of snacks kicking around. But I am trying and I did make it Sunday through Thursday without a treat, so that is real progress for me. Baby steps right!

How was your week?
Did you push harder than usual?