Couple Things....

Okay, so first things first...I have found a few comments on my blog posts that are incredibly inappropriate.  I don't think any of you are putting them up...I think they're from some kind of hacker something.  I just wanted to bring it up because if you have seen them before I've been alerted and deleted the nasty comments, then I apologize and I in no way support those comments.  Alright, that's done.

Now for the other thing.  I think I focus too much on what I haven't done yet instead of what I have accomplished.  During the Burn Phase of ChaLEAN in March, I was rockin'!  14 pounds in 4 weeks - more inches than I can count on both hands - going down three notches on my belt (needing to use by belt!) - building some strength again (hello push ups on my toes!!!)....and then April's Push Phase happened.  Now, it's not that the Push Phase isn't good - it's amazing.  But instead of doing a self high five and saying to myself, "14 pounds!  You are awesome!" I focused on my not yet flat tummy and my still non-brazilian booty.  Where did that get me?  Well, let's see...skipped workouts, nutrition cheats EVERY day and no movement on the scale.  I have talked about this before, and I need to start listening to myself.  It's time to pat myself on the back.  It's time to stop looking at where I THINK I need to be, and instead focus on doing the work and being happy with what that gets me. 

Are ya with me? 

Oh, and I'm thinking of breaking up with my bathroom scale and only weighing in at my Weight Watchers meetings.

Court

What.

Is Up?

So I've been neglecting my blog.  I've mentioned it before that when I put too much on my plate, I just abandon my plate.  I didn't think I was trying to do too much these past couple of months, but I guess I have been between my workouts, working my GEICO job, my personal trainer class, working on my Team Beachbody coaching, blogging and trying to keep up with my friends and family.  I've been getting a bit overwhelmed which leads to me doing the cut and run.  So I'm slowing myself down a bit - two things I must do every day other than keep up with my peops are A) live the fit life by working out and eating clean and 2) blog about it. 

Well, I fought that stupid "But I don't wanna workout" monster today.  I just don't get how I can be uber gung ho until about 2:30 in the afternoon, and then that ridiculous voice pops in my head and I just want to curl up on the couch and snack on non-fit life snackies.  Oy.  What is that about?  But I pushed past that LAZY voice, and got my workout done (and did not snack on loads of little chocolates).  Even when that LAZY voice hung on through the whole workout - I kept on going.  I just kept reminding myself of how great it feels when the exercising is OVER.

In other news, I'm getting some sweet calluses on my hands from lifting weights.  I'm actually pretty proud of 'em.

So how are you?

Court

Well hello self-sabotage, thanks for stopping by, now GO AWAY!

I've been easing up on my clean eating and workouts slowly but surely.  And all I have to say about it is, UGH!  What is that about?  Why do I do that?  I start to see success so I start to ease up on the discipline.  In my first five weeks of ChaLEAN Extreme, I dropped 14 pounds.  Hooray!  Then week 6 I ended up with more "Whoops!" days that "Yeah!" days.  Oy...luckily, I'm nipping it in the bud right now instead of giving up.  So I'll get to the end of my round of ChaLEAN Extreme and I won't be able to say I was perfect all the way through - whatever, who's perfect anyway?

So I'm back on track, and I feel great aside from my weird little sore throat thing that's happening right now. 

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Court

Little Bit Overwhelmed

Hello hello hello. So I have this horrible habit...when I get overwhelmed, I tend to just stop. And yes, I know it's silly. Anywho, this last week at work has just been CRAZY! I am happy to report that while I've been neglecting my blog, I have NOT been neglecting my workouts. I am successfully into Month 2 of ChaLEAN Extreme - the Push phase. And this phase is a total monster - the goal is to hit muscle failure at 6 - 8 reps which means heavy weights and lots of cursing. So far I'm down 10 pounds and several inches - woot woot! I'm just taking it one day at a time...which I will start doing with my blog too. :)

Do you have any bad habits that you need to work on?

Court

Progress Update!

Hello hello! So I am so excited - I have finished a solid two weeks of ChaLEAN Extreme Burn Phase which means I have pushed play on my workouts EVERY DAY! Yeah baby! And I have been drinking my Shakeology every day too (more on that tomorrow). Yesterday was my measurements day, and I'm pretty excited about the results so far so here you go:

Weight: down 6.7 pounds
Bust: down 1/5"

Tummy pooch: down 3" - woot woot!

Hips: down 2"

Upper thigh: down 1" each leg

Lower thigh (just above the knee): down .5" each leg

I didn't lose any inches on my arms, but I'm seeing more definition so I'm happy with that. And today I did 10 push ups on my toes before having to modify to knee push ups. Love it! Two more weeks of Burn phasing, and then I'll move on to the Push phase.

Overall, I'm feeling great. My clothes are fitting more loosely which is awesome. I am fighting the exasperation of the part of me that wants instantaneous results, and gets discouraged when I'm not immediately "glamazon buff woman." Just have to keep pushing through and doing the work - the results will follow!

Keep pushing play!

Court

Do It Anyway

I didn't feel like working out today. At all. So I told myself that I at least had to do my weight circuit for the day, but could skip the cardio. I got my workout clothes on, and pushed play...pouting the whole time. [Insert temper tantrum here.] Chalene always talks about giving her just 5 minutes to get you into the mood for a workout - and this is the first time in a long time that I've pushed play even though I REALLY didn't want to do it. And guess what? By the time the 32 minutes of weights was over, I was ready to do some cardio anyway. The whole rest of my day was better because of it too - the Courtney grumpypants that woke up this morning was definitely gone!

So yeah, sometimes just showing up is enough because by the time you get moving, you just want to keep moving. Give it a go!

Court

Utter Mortification

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, but I've been nursing my wounds. And by wounds, I mean wounds to my self-esteem. At the time, it was AWFUL, but in the end it has pushed me to workout and eat clean every day since so maybe it's a good thing it happened? In the words of Monk, here's what happened:

Location: Personal Trainer Class

When: Thursday, March 11

Small back story: So I may have developed a mini crush on a guy in my class. Just so happens we have managed to become partners in class. Normally, this is a good thing. This was not a good thing on Thursday.

The mortifying story: My teacher comes in to class with a huge grin on his face, and a pile of little flat boxes in his hand. He says, "We're learning how to do body composition testing today! And we're going to practice on each other!" My heart sunk. If this was last year, I would have said, "Let's go!" But this wasn't last year, and we all know I've put on a bit of weight these past few months. I briefly considered developing an illness that required me to go home, but I wasn't fast enough. And you guessed it, my crush turned to me, and said, "Come on partner!" So getting to know each other involved him pinching the fat on my tricep, thigh and tummy pooch to find out just how much fat I have in my body. At least I'd worked out for the previous five days so I had an ounce of oomph in me to survive it. Overall outcome - I have about 20% more than he does, and I wanted to run home to hide under the covers with a monster bag of peanut butter M&Ms.

The silver lining: Instead of turning to M&Ms, I phoned a friend and we ended up laughing at the ridiculousness of 'the incident.' And seriously, do these things just happen to me??? Also, instead of using this as an excuse to give up, I've been using it to push myself through my workouts and make good food choices. I now have a full 10 days under my belt - woo hoo!

Have a great night!

Court

Negative Input

There is a lot of negative talk out there, and it's hard not to listen to it. You eat unhealthy foods, stop exercising and gain weight - you get a negative response from your doctors, and your pants. Granted that's a helpful negative response, but what about the flip side? You start making healthy food choices, working out and losing weight, and then you start getting negative jabs from random people. I think they're jealous negative jabs, but come on!

Here's what happened to me today:

While sitting at work, just minding my own business, I decided it was time for a snack. So I pulled my apple and almonds out of my bag, and thought, "Yay me!" Then this woman in the building walks by me, and says, "Look at you eating your apple! Where's your donut? You should be having a donut instead - ya know, all slathered up in butter. Yeah, you need a donut." Are you kidding me? What in the world is up with that?! Now let's reverse it - say I was eating that donut all slathered up in butter, do you think she would dream of saying I should be eating an apple instead? Good grief, it's hard enough to tune out my own negative self talk.

What kind of negative talk do you have coming at you? What do you do to ignore it?

Court

Motivation Monday!

"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." -Theodore Roosevelt

Today is all about the excuse busters. It's Monday, and Monday is one of the hardest days for me to stick to my goals. So like yesterday, I'm going to be prepared for that voice to chime in with the thoughts of "You need to relax after work not workout," or "Just stop at the store on the way home. Who wants to eat healthy food after a day like today?"

Here are some of my excuse busters:

Excuse: I'm just so tired.

Buster: Yes, that's great. But aren't you also tired of your jeans "shrinking" every time they come out of the dryer?

Excuse: I just don't feel like working out.

Buster: Oh yes, but won't it feel so amazing to reach my goals?

Excuse: I already blew my diet today so why bother working out?

Buster: All the more reason to make my workout count! I can't undo the munching, but I CAN do the work now and create success instead of creating failure.

What are some excuses you tell yourself to keep you from reaching your goals? I encourage you to write them down along with an excuse buster to help you when those excuses pop up.

Have a great Monday!

Court

Keepin' Track

First things first...I started a brand spankin' new fresh round of ChaLEAN Extreme this morning. I'm doing it right this time too - fit test and all! I've been skipping the fit test in my previous attempts because I was thinking, "Eh...whatever." WRONG! How do you know how far you've come if you don't have a starting point to compare? That and the fit test is like a big giant stake in the ground that says, "GO!"

Along the lines of the fit test, I'm going to be diligent about logging my measurements, my accomplishments with increasing my weights, and my progress with cardio training. I found a log from April 2009 from the final phase of ChaLEAN Extreme (that I never finished, but that's another post), and can you believe that on the line for Tricep Pushups I had written "12 reps on toes." Shu-huh?! On my toes??!! Tricep pushups??! Those are the hardest ones in my opinion, and I completely FORGOT how much strength I had built. I honestly can't even remember doing those. I can however remember the year before when I face planted just trying to do one regular push up on my toes.

So log it! You might think that just doing it is enough, but writing it down helps you stick to the path to success. How do you know how to get to where you're going if you don't know where you've been or where you are now? I certainly can get around town a lot better with a mapquest print out in hand showing me my starting and end points. And you don't have to be all fancy schmancy with a log book if you don't want to - just hit up the grocery store and buy a composition book - Target even has ones with fun designs!

Sneaky Fitness

I like to watch TV. I have tried to shave down my list of shows that I can't miss...but it's not happening. I did successfully cut out CSI: Miami a few months ago after one of most LAME episodes ever, and I almost fell back into it this weekend. Thankfully the episode I almost watched was the SAME lame one that made me stop. As soon as I realized it I just pushed a button on the remote to get me as far from that show as I could get. And guess what I found: the Home Shopping Network with a segment on the Urban Rebounder. I have to admit it...I totally want one now. Not to replace my normal workout DVDs, but I could use the rebounder WHILE watching my tv shows to get in some sneaky exercise. Yes, I've heard people talk about doing jumping jacks or running in place during commercial breaks or doing different exercises during each segment, but ugh. I do have a little stepper that I use sometimes (note to self: must use little stepper more often), but how much more fun would that be on a mini trampoline??? One guy was doing plyometric lunges and high knees on it instead of just wimpy little jumps. Good on my joints: check! Extra bounce in my steps: check! Laugh at me all you want, but I'm tempted...really tempted.

And I do have a tax refund on the way....hmmm..... :)

Court

Happy February!

This gem popped up in my e-mail this morning on Jillian Michaels' newsletter Losing It! with Jillian Michaels.

Resolutions Going Off Course?
Have your daily workouts begun to slip? Has your food intake gotten way out of hand again? Maybe the problem is with those New Year's resolutions you made exactly one month ago. If you've already blown them, they probably weren't realistic to begin with. Don't throw in the towel. Think about what went wrong and then work on ways you can fix it. Chances are you need to break your big resolutions — like lose 40 pounds — down into several smaller goals with milestones. Need some help tweaking them? Check out what one of my teammates said recently about why some resolutions don't work and how you might salvage yours.

"I think that you need to visualize what you want every day using little things. That little dress or those `perfect' jeans that don't fit — buy them or pull them out of the closet and try them on every time you don't want to work out or you want to eat ice cream. People don't realize that little goals are what is going to get you there. People make these huge resolutions, but don't decide on the way they are going to accomplish them. It is very difficult to wake up at 3 a.m. [to work out]. I would think that you just need to get on a consistent schedule where working out is something you do, just like going to work. Just find a time each day that works the best. For me it is easiest to go right after work. If I do this I don't have the chance to get occupied with cleaning or to get busy with something else. Taking a gym bag to work makes me have no excuse to go home first." – bree66

Don't let yourself get stuck before you barely even start. Get motivated again — and get moving! You won't regret it when the pounds come off and the results of your hard work pay off.

I don't know about you, but my resolutions are WAY off course. I haven't been looking at the small goals - I've been too focused on where I am now instead of where I want to be. Well, today is another 1st...it's the 1st of a brand new month...and I am recommitting to my goals and focusing on where I'm headed.

Happy Monday!

Court

A Little Bum Bum Among Friends

For some reason, I bought Brazil Butt Lift thinking it would be a bit of a fluff workout. I was so wrong...and I have a witness! Thursday night, one of my dearest (and fittest) friends came over to experience Bum Bum with me. I've been telling her about it these last few weeks - how I thought it would be easy, but instead was in for a painful surprise. This Bum Bum workout is just go go go for a full 30 minutes, and made my glutes hurt like no workout has done before.

I don't think she fully believed me. Well she does now! And it was a fun way to hang out instead of heading out for beer and yummy nachos. We laughed while we tripped over ourselves (and one of us face planted mid-lunge), and recovered afterward with some stretching and a chat fest.

So lessons learned: Don't assume a workout with a name of Bum Bum will be a fluff workout, and think outside the box when it comes to getting together with friends. Who says you have to sit around and eat yummy but junky food?

Court

The 5AM Workout Experiment

I am not a morning person...at all. When that alarm goes off I can justify more sleep over just about anything. Why I have decided to start getting up early to do part of my workout before the work day is beyond me. I guess it's because I have an easier time sticking to my clean eating guns if I get a bit of a workout in first thing. It's easier to pass on the sweets cravings by telling myself that I wouldn't want to waste my early morning hard work.

I did successfully manage to roll out of bed this morning with time for a 30 minute Cardio Axe (ah-shay) from Brazil Butt Lift. Here's how it went:

5 AM: Alarm starts ringing, I stumble across the room, hit the snooze and fall back into bed.

5:04 AM: Second alarm starts beeping. Repeat previous stumble.

5:10 AM: The first alarm goes off again. Why am I doing this to myself? Oh my gosh, I should just keep sleeping a little bit longer. But it would only be another 30 or 45 minutes...how much of a difference is that much sleep going to make? But I love sleeping...and my bed is so cozy...and these are lame excuses. Just get up already!

5:12 AM: I finally get out of bed.

5:20 AM: Workout clothes are on, water glass is full, and I am pushing play!

5:23 AM: What am I doing? My body doesn't like to move like this so early. Maybe I can just curl up on the floor....

5:25 AM: You know, this isn't so bad. This is a pretty sweet way to start the day.

5:50 AM: Workout is done. I feel awesome!

And that was my 5 AM Workout Experiment. I'm going to try it again tomorrow. This will get easier...right?

Court

Lost...and Found

I've been feeling a little bit lost lately. I can't put my finger on it exactly. Is it just getting used to my life in Alaska and getting situated again? Is it missing teaching my Turbo Kick classes? Is it facing another set of holidays without my dearest Nan? Maybe it's all of it, but I do know that I need to stop focusing on the negative and start looking for the positive in the every day. Why is it that I can rave reviews all day at work, but it's the one negative comment that just repeats over and over and over in my head? Silly? Yes!

Instead of zoning in on the bad parts of the day, I'm going to start writing down at least three things that make today great. It could anything from getting back in touch with some friends I've been missing this past year, but didn't quite know how to open up to them about why I kind of dropped out of touch. I know, you pick up the phone and dial, but I pretty much dropped out of touch with everything for awhile. I had friends who didn't let me disappear, and others that just didn't know what was happening. But there's always time to get back in touch...and hopefully they'll understand and welcome me back with open arms. Or maybe it is as simple as a good movie, an awesome work out or just something that really makes me laugh.

So today is my first day of looking at the positive again. I think it's going to be great!

Court

It's Not a Diet...It's a Lifestyle Change

Ok, so I'm not a huge fan of Day 4's exercise in motivation from this 100 Days of Weight Loss book. It talks about recognizing your "narrow road" for losing weight, and your "wider road" for weight maintenance. For some reason, my first instinct was to write ice cream on the wider road column...but that's why I'm back at the beginning of this whole process AGAIN. I get to my goal, and jump on the "I'm thin and healthy! I can eat whatever I want! Pile on the ice cream! I don't need to work out anymore!" And then I'm not at my goal anymore. Ugh. And double ugh.

My opinion is that you should just have your healthy road. Throw in the extra yummy stuff in moderation, but just because you're nearing your goal doesn't mean you should suddenly switch gears and just go nuts! My goodness! I have no intention of ever going back to my old way of eating. Food is fuel, and having a cheat meal here and there is okay with me, but I'm sticking to my clean eating plan for life. Limit the crap (processed foods), increase the good foods (fruits, veggies, whole grains), get in the exercise and there you go. Once I reach my goal, then I'll be able to eat more of the good stuff, and cut back on the cardio. But that's really going to be the only change for my weight maintenance. I've never actually maintained so that in itself will be quite the adventure.

Stop thinking about being on a diet and depriving yourself of the foods you enjoy. My weight watchers leader in Oregon would always say to give yourself two small bites of something if you really want it. That first bite is the dynamite bite, and the second is the "oh yeah, that's good" bite. After that, it's really not as exciting. It's true for me!

Have a great Monday!

Court

Get It Done

Today's exercise in motivation is a continuation of the last post in regard to being interested as opposed to being committed to your goals. There isn't a magic formula. It's simple: When you are committed to reaching your goals, you just get it done. Take your mood out of the equation, and just focus on getting the job done.

Why is it that exercise is almost the one thing that consistently gets the boot because we're too tired or not in the mood? There are other things in my life that I do on a daily basis even if I don't feel like doing them. You know, going to work on a Monday, putting my make up on in the morning, take a shower, etc. My friends will tell you that the days of me without make up are few and far between. It's not that I wake up in the morning excited to go through the routine of getting ready in the morning, but I just do it. There's no question that I'm going to do it (unless I've hit the snooze or turned off my alarm and wind up with 2.2 seconds to get out the door!) I just need to focus that same "get it done" attitude to working out!

Here's an interesting list for you from 100 Days of Weight Loss by Linda Spangle that might a bit eye opening.

People who are interested in losing weight

• Stick with it until something better comes along
• Take action only if they "feel like" doing it
• Need to see results in order to stay motivated
• Blame people or circumstances for their struggles
• Easily give up when they face challenges

People who are committed to losing weight

• Stick with their plans no matter what
• Take action whether they feel like doing it or not
• Assume that if they stay motivated, results will follow
• Take responsibility for their own actions
• Keep going in spite of challenges or setbacks

What category do you fall under?

Court

Decide. Commit. Succeed.

These three little words mean so much, and the key word is commit. I'm sure you've decided many times over that you want to change your life...and I'm sure you've decided what it is that you want to change in life just as many times. I know I have. Just being interested in making a change isn't enough. You have to commit yourself before you can get anywhere near succeeding.

So what exactly does it mean to just be interested? Well, you work your plan when it's convenient. When something else sounds more fun, then to heck with the plan! You know what I'm talking about. ;) You depend on the results to push you, and once the results start to slow, then you start to "cheat" just a bit more here and there until you have crossed state lines right in to Off the Plan Land. (Yes, I just came up with that all by myself! Self high-five!)

What then does it mean to be committed? Well, not to steal Nike's catch phrase, but when you're committed to your plan, you just do it! No questions, no stupid excuses...you just stick to it no matter what. So you have a little cheat one day - it's not the end of the world when you are committed to your goals because you just keep going. When you don't have enough time to work out, you make time. When you don't have the support to help you, you find the support (I'm always available). When the results slow and you hit that plateau, you change things up and blast right on through!

So what's it gonna be? Are you ready to commit? I know I am! Today's exercise is to write down some different ways that I am going to stick with my program, no matter what. Here's how I am committing myself.

I am going to change into my workout clothes as soon as I get home from work before I even have a chance to find something else to do.

I am going to guzzle the water even if it means duct taping my water bottle to my hand so that I stop leaving the house without it.

I am going to stop thinking that it's me against the world, and start reaching out to friends when I need help.

I am going to make sure I get plenty of sleep at night so that I have more energy through out the day and less chance of the after lunch slump.

One last thing....HAPPY FRIDAY!

Court

The Past is the Past

Day One of my 100 Day Challenge is here! And today's exercise in motivation is about letting go of past failures because they really mean diddly squat. Yes, it's true...just because you have failed in the past doesn't mean you are going to do the same this time around. The key is learn from those past failures. Be aware of them, and figure out what you're going to do to have different results now.

The first step is to identify the negative behaviors that have hurt your success in the past, and then decide on a different ending. The book, 100 Days of Weight Loss, uses the phrase, "I used to ______, but now I ______." Here's my list of five.

I used to get overwhelmed by stress in the middle of the day, and the first solution would be chocolate and throwing healthy eating out the window, but now I remind myself that living a long and healthy life is really important to me. Instead of reaching for chocolate, I take a quick walk outside to get some fresh air and give myself some time to clear my head.

I used to use being tired as a lame excuse not to exercise, but now I tell myself to just do at least 15 minutes. If I'm still feeling blah after 15 minutes, then I can stop and get some rest. (Chances are I won't still be feeling blah.)

I used to set my expectations of success at being perfectly on plan (which usually ended up with me going in the complete opposite direction of said plan), but now I pay attention to the progress I am making, and give myself high fives for the small accomplishments along the way. If I fall off the success wagon, then I just dust myself off and keep on trying.

I used to get overwhelmed at the idea of living the fit life for the rest of my life (I really love chocolate), but now I'm learning that being healthy does mean that you can eat chocolate and other goodies in moderation. Eating just a little bit does not mean a free for all pass for the chips and salsa.

I used to get discouraged by my ultimate goals (and I don't even know if they were good goals), and give up because it's TOO hard, but now I take it bit by bit. I just focus on 5 pounds and one dress size at a time, and once I'm there I reevaluate where to go next.

How about you? Do you have any negative behaviors or past beliefs that are holding you back?

Court

100 Days of Motivation

I've been hanging on to this book 100 Days of Weight Loss by Linda Spangle for a few months now. What is it? Well, it's pretty much a 100 day workbook to get yourself in the right directions of your goals. It's geared toward weight loss, but I'm pretty sure you can gear it toward any goal. My goal is to move my life in a healthy and positive direction - the fit life if you will. I know I can get myself a bit overwhelmed sometimes (and try too hard to be perfect)...and then I just run and hide from it all. Yes, kind of like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand. Now I've tested this tactic many times, and it most certainly doesn't make you healthier, or make your pants any baggier, or have you miraculously wake up one morning in the best shape ever.

So what better way to dust off my little motivator book, and actually get through the 100 days than to put those 100 days up here?

Now for the only rule: Under no circumstance am I allowed to start over at Day 1 if I miss a day. Ideally, I'll make it through in 100 consecutive days. If I miss one, then I just pick up where I left off. I can do this!

Check back tomorrow for Day One!

Court