Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
What Motivates Me...
Chrissie
So, the other night when I was doing my workout, about halfway through I was so tired and winded. I wanted to quit so badly. That's when I looked around at my walls and saw all of the items I have stashed around my workout room to keep me motivated and to remind me why I'm doing this....again. I wanted to share some of those things here.



This one motivates me for several reasons. First, it reminds me how proud I was of myself for what I accomplished. Second, it reminds me that I can do it again! Now that I know it's possible I'm less likely to give up during the hard times. 


This one motivates me probably more than any other photo! At the time of the Spartan Race I was actually dissatisfied with my midsection despite all of the progress I had made elsewhere. After the race and when I look at this photo I only see and remember what my body was able to do that day! Absolutely amazing!! It motivates me to get back to where I was because I want to do this again....SO BADLY!!



I took this picture the day of the Spartan Race after I got home and washed the mud out of my hair and face. My hair wasn't styled and I had no makeup on but my smile says everything I was feeling inside. I don't think I ever felt as beautiful as I did that afternoon and it was all based on achievement, not looks. 


This photo was after one of my P90X yoga workouts that I totally nailed! That's a hard, long workout and I was so proud that I was finally able to perfect it. Plus, my shoulders looked pretty nice here, lol. ;)


This one reminds me that fitness is a journey not a destination. Every day is a chance to start over or keep going. It also reminds me that I'm not alone on this journey and the special friend who made this for me is cheering me on the whole way. 



The last two are pretty self-explanatory but I know that my dreams and desires are possible with God on my side and that I am always in the process of transformation. I may not be where I want to be at this particular moment but the process is meaningful and will ultimately become something beautiful. 

What kinds of things do you keep around to motivate you?





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Time For a Bit of Honesty
Chrissie
I said I would update my fitness journey. Well, here's the truth of it. In the picture to the right of here that shows the start of my fitness journey, I weighed 194. That was the heaviest I had ever been. Going for full disclosure here; I'm now at 201.



Yep, you read that right. I gained it all back plus some. Now, I can sit here and make all kinds of excuses up about the how and why. The truth is that it was easy and I got lazy. When I quit my job, pulled my daughter out of school, lost my grandfather, and moved AGAIN, my routine got lost, I hit rock bottom, got lazy down there and now here I am. That's it. 

I've made several short-lived attempts at getting back on track but I've been unable to maintain the intensity that I start out with. To add to my misery I felt like such a failure and so unworthy of calling myself a Beachbody coach that I abandoned the people I had promised to lead because I was so ashamed of what I had let happen to myself. Be all of that as it may, I am starting over again. The only difference this time is that I'm holding myself accountable here instead of privately where my excuses and failures can't be seen or known by anyone but me.

So, here's my Day 1: Les Mills Pump: Pump & Burn



I was going to start P90X (because I loved the results I got from it last time) but spent over an hour trying to get my Beachbody On Demand to work on the Fire Stick, then the Roku. Finally gave up on it and plugged in the old DVD player but it was so late at night by that point, I decided to go with a shorter workout.

So, last night I started P90X: Week 1, Day 1: Chest & Back



And tonight should have been W1D2: Plyometrics.....but instead is Les Mills Combat: Combat 30. At my current weight, Plyo would have left me with killer shin splints so for cardio days, I will supplement with Combat, which is my soulmate workout. LOVE, love, love Combat.



My nutrition isn't perfect yet but I'm working on it day by day and I'm finally at a point where I'm tired of waiting for everything to be perfect at the same time. It's time for baby steps a day at a time. I'm making no promises other than that I'm going to do my best every day. So, there you have it! The ugly, vulnerable truth. Who's ready to dig in with me? 
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The Power of a Powerful Why
Chrissie
The amazing Team I am privileged to be a part of is currently holding their leadership development class, Coach Basics (training for new Team Beachbody coaches). I am re-taking the class as well because I have new coaches enrolled and I like to be part of the training with them. It's a really wonderful "boot camp" for new coaches because the first part of the training really helps to guide them through all of the basics of their new business and get them off to a great start. Day 2 of the training focuses on the development of a strong, emotional WHY. If you have ever been through a goal-setting class or done much professional development training, you will know this is a common theme in anything to do with personal achievement. If the reason you want something is strong enough and there is some deep emotional component atttached to it, you are more likely to reach your goal than if you didn't really have much thought invested in your goal. We teach very much the same thing to our fitness challengers. You have to have a deep, emotional reason for wanting to lose weight, get healthy, or get in shape or you won't be serious about sticking with your fitness and nutrition plan through the difficult times.

So, my WHY has pretty much always been the same but seems to intensify as time goes on. So, tonight as I was preparing my assignment, I realized I have never publicly shared my WHY for doing what I do. Yes, I believe it is my calling to help women learn how to regain their self-esteem and God has provided many avenues for me to do this: Esthetics, Electrolysis, my various social media sites and groups, and now my challenge groups via Team Beachbody. What a blessing!! But my WHY...is much more personal and emotional. It is the driving force behind everything action I take each day. My WHY is the big picture behind each goal I set. So, I want to share with you what I shared with my leadership group because I think my WHY is the same as so many other moms out there who may not know there is a better way. There IS a better way. I can show you a better way. 


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My 'WHY' as a Team Beachbody coach is a collective of many mental images but can be summed up in one word: Freedom.



I have always had a difficult time coming under authority but it all came to a head after my first daughter was born in 2004 and I had to return to work when she was only 6 weeks old. Everything inside of me rejected the idea of spending 8 hours a day inside a tiny, windowless cubicle shuffling papers for a man whose wife got to be home with her kids while my sweet baby was being raised by a stranger. I spent my lunch breaks in the restroom sobbing. In desperation, I signed up as a Mary Kay consultant, my first exposure to Network Marketing. That amazing company introduced me to the wonderful notion called personal development. I began using my 8 hours to listen to endless training and teaching tapes by the most phenomenal and inspirational women in Network Marketing. I basically filled my head with personal development for 40 hours a week for months on end. It was then that I began to see what was possible. I could see that there was freedom outside of my cubicle walls. And I wanted it very badly!

It wasn't until Team Beachbody was introduced to me that I discovered the perfect vehicle for that freedom. The word freedom here embodies many different types of freedom for me. Freedom from the dead weight of a dead-end paycheck-to-paycheck job, freedom from a nightmarish traffic commute, freedom from mediocre, average, and ordinary, and freedom of location. Financial freedom is a BIG one! Freeing my family from the debt of student loans will be a dream come true for me. But the really HUGE freedom, the one that hits the emotional hotspot for me is FREEDOM FROM REGRET.

Let me tell you something. I have memories of my oldest daughter in her infant to toddler years playing dress up and singing and dancing in the living room. I have memories of her wearing her Little Mermaid swimsuit, wearing giant water wings, posing in her favorite sunglasses. I have all kinds of memories.



I have memories of my 2 year old son's fluffy cloth-diaper butt pushing his dump truck up our driveway as fast as he could, chubby legs flying out to the sides.




That little girl is about to be 10 and my son's legs aren't chubby anymore. My youngest daughter is about to turn 3. 




The pain that I feel at the thought of missing any part of what little remains of their childhood just about kills me. That pain is called regret. I refuse to regret missing out on the shortest, yet most vitally important part of their lives. I want to have those snapshot memories. And I want to have them while being free from debt and obligation. I want my husband to be free to choose whether or not he wants to work away from home. I want to be free to take my family and make new snapshot memories on the fly. I want FREEDOM. I want it for my family. 
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I know so many of you reading this can relate to that sinking feeling. That overwhelming sadness at having missed out on something that you can never, ever get back. If you can relate, this is what I want you to know: There is a better way. And even if you don't find it through Team Beachbody, go find it. Go find it!



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P90X: Finishing Up
Chrissie
Once again I have let time get away from me. I had intended to blog my P90X experience and now I am almost done with P90X! It has been a trying experience to be sure. And a long, drawn out one at times as sickness, injuries, and other setbacks have delayed me. But I haven't given up and I think that is what is important to remember. Sticking with it and moving forward. No matter how long it takes me to finish, staying with it is what produces the results. I see people too frequently think they have to start all over again when setbacks occur, and, listen to me.....they always do!! If I had to start over every time I had a delay, I would NEVER finish. I'm in it for the results, not the perfection of sticking to a schedule. The schedule is there to help you and guide you, not rule you. 

So, speaking of results!! I, obviously do not have "final" results yet but I took some photos a couple weeks ago to mark my progress so far with P90X because I just "needed to see" tangible evidence that this program was working. Here's the thing I have learned about P90X: You will most likely not see dramatic weight loss right off the bat or even from week to week. The victories you see with P90X are mostly non-scale related. I haven't lost a lot of weight with this program, not like when I was doing Combat. BUT, I have lost 3 pants sizes!!! I can wear a fitted shirt and not have side-belly spillover!!! I have muscles that I have never seen before!!! I have stamina that I never had before, I can wear clothes I haven't been able to wear in years, I look better in my wedding dress now than when I wore it on my wedding day!!! Those things are immeasurable. So, here are my pictures from recently while we await my "final" pictures. 


So, in two weeks I will be done with this program and I'm trying to decide what program I will be doing next. P90X3 comes out in only 2 more days and I would LOVE to do it because it's all the hype right now and there will be a lot of groups forming for everyone to work out together. That's super exciting!! But we have lot of household dynamics changing at the current time and I don't know if a new purchase is wise. I have two programs that I haven't done that I am considering doing FIRST. In which order, I am not certain. We have Focus T25 which is an incredible program and we also have the Ultimate Reset which I really "need" to do to learn how to eat better and really bust through this plateau. 

So, I have been considering doing the Reset first after the beginning of the New Year and once we get moved into our new house! Yes, new house!!! So, Mike and I put a contract on a (new to us) house and if everything goes smoothly, our closing date is set for January 3. What better way to break in a new kitchen than with the Ultimate Reset and cooking wholesome delicious foods in it? 

These are exciting times for us and a little scary too. I turned in my notice at my current "away from home" job and am working it out through the end of the year. We are buying a house and moving. And now I feel called to homeschool my children, which when I really think about it answers more questions than it raises. So, I am praying about all of these things and exploring all of the possibilities. Ultimately, I know that He is in control and my job is to follow His will to the best of my ability. It doesn't always (read, rarely ever) make sense to my head what He is asking and where He is leading but it always turns out amazing. And it always gives me much to write about!! 

In the meantime, I will continue with my workouts and my wonderful, amazing challenge groups! Watching what God is doing in others' lives through those groups amazes me daily!! Trust me, if you have a desire for change in your life healthwise and fitness-wise, message me and I will help you. It is what I love to do. And the results speak for themselves. 


Here are some recent pictures of the shenanigans the kids have been up to. :)






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