Fit Test Friday & a Weigh-In

This week has been a great example of that statement for me. As I looked back at the month of August, I just saw a big, fat FAILURE across my forehead. The month started out strong, and then the illness came. Instead of controlling my eating and attitude, I quite simply let myself go to hell in the health department. Not the brightest decision when you're unable to physically workout. Top that with no-scale and my "what the hell" attitude and I was really expecting the worst. 

I weighed in for the first time Wednesday morning expecting to see a 5-10 lb gain. Instead, I saw 171. It's a gain, yes. But a very small one and I was so relieved! I'm making Friday's my official weigh-in day, so I stepped on the scale again this morning.

Boom! Water weight gone, and down 2.4 for September. My goal is to hit 163 by the end of the month. A pretty big goal, but I'm going to do my best to get there. Hard work pays off. I really haven't adjusted my calories, other than to eat better quality food. 

Now for Fit Test Friday!

A loss in the weight department, and an increase on the Fit Test makes for a great week! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and come back to link up with us on Monday!

Fit Test Friday

Dun Dun Dun... Fit Test Friday has arrived. Although, it's really not that exciting this time around being as it's just my starting numbers and there's nothing to compare it to. Regardless, I can already tell I'm going to enjoy this additional method of tracking my progress. The scale and tape measure can only tell you so much. Regularly performing a fit test really shows you where you at. It gives you the opportunity to see all your hard work in black and white. Not to mention, when the scale and tape measure are at a stand still, fit tests are great motivators to not give up. Which, lets be honest, is exactly what I need lately. So... let's get right to it.

-- One --
First things first (in case you missed it earlier in the week), here's the actual Fit Test. I made it using some of my favorite moves, and ones that I really want to improve on.

And my starting numbers:

I'll be doing the actual test on Monday's and sharing on the blog every Friday, for now. My one mile warm-up was extended to 2 miles since my running buddy begged to go longer. However, my 1 mile time was 9.54 minutes with my 35 pound buddy and jogging stroller. 

If you would like to try the fit test, here's a blank tracking sheet.

-- TWO --

This will be going in the crockpot at lunch. Mmmmm. No, it's not overly healthy. But I'm allowing myself a bit of a splurge tonight.

SOURCE

If you haven't checked out "Damn Delicious", you need to. Yum.

-- THREE -- 

It's time. Potty training. The day I've both dreaded and looked forward to is coming. We're starting to buckle down and get serious with it next weekend. Overall, I'm one of those very laid back mothering types. I don't get worked up if Wyatt doesn't do things where, when, how other kids do. I don't stress or worry about every little thing. Not that there's anything wrong if you do. That's just not me. I'm a go with the flow kind of person, for the most part. However, potty training is a whole different story. So, keep your fingers crossed for all our sakes and sanity. Oh, and if anyone has any awesome tips, I'd love to hear them.

-- FOUR --

Tomorrow is the big day! My first ever, official 5K race. I'm neerrvvoouus. Ridiculously so. Not only is it my first race, but I'm going by myself. This is a big deal in my "stepping outside my comfort zone" goal. Big. 

While on the running topic, I have a question for runners out there. When you up your mileage, how do you handle the hunger? I've upped my weekly mileage quite a bit these past two weeks now that we have the jogging stroller, and I am starving. Constantly. 

-- FIVE --

Go check out Amber for information on Get Your Shit Together September. I am so excited for this! I lacked motivation with my plateau in July. Then, I spent most of August sick. So, the extra motivation and challenge will be perfect!

Don't forget to link up with us next week for Motivation Monday! Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

W.O.W - Ab Workout and Fit Test

 Sometimes we have to do things we just don't want to do. It's a simple lesson that our dear parent's started pounding into our brains before we even entered Kindergarten. "It's a part of life... deal with it." That's abs for me. I despise ab workouts. Post c-section, that is even more true.

C-sections reek havoc on the abdominal muscles; that's no secret. Two and a half years later, and I still have a lot of numbness in my mid-section as well as the occasional pain around my incision. But, it's tolerable and something I'll probably have to deal with forever. No biggy. However, when I do an ab workout, I feel like my abs are being ripped to shreds. Honestly, it's a very strange sensation and I've yet to figure out how to put it into words. If you're a c-section mama, maybe you can relate and know what I'm talking about. Or, maybe I'm just a giant sissy.

Anyways, I dread working them. Who wants to do something, knowing about 2 seconds in you're going to feel like you're being ripped apart? Definitely not this girl. I avoided ab workouts until recently for this reason. But, like my mama taught me, "it's a part of life... deal with it." No pain, no gain, right? They aren't going to heal themselves. Nor am I going to wake up tomorrow and they will magically be just like they were.

So, now that I've whined and cried about it, I'm going to share one of my favorite ab workouts with you today.

 

Toe touches are the devil himself, in my opinion. I'm still trying to work up to being able to do 25 in a row without having to stretch out. I'll get there eventually! Practice makes perfect. (something else my mama taught me.)

---

I did my starting fit test Monday night. I was dripping sweat by the end, so I take that as a good workout! I'll be sharing my results on Friday for "Fit Test Friday." If you try it out, let me know how it goes! I've made a tracking sheet if anyone is interested in joining me.

If you have any questions about what moves are, or are curious about modifiers, just let me know

Motivation Monday - Fit Test

It's time for another Motivation Monday! Grab a button and come link up with us.

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For the first time in what feels like weeks and weeks, I am excited and ready for this Monday! Thursday night I started feeling like myself again, and each day since I have felt better and better. Which couldn't be better timing since my first official 5K is this coming Saturday!

I've done well with my plan to  incorporate more cardio into my schedule for the two weeks leading up to the race. I purchased a jogging stroller last week on a whim, and quite honestly thought that Wyatt was going to hate it. He's a busy little guy and usually has to be up running around. To my amazement he LOVES it! He begs to go for a run every night, and there's no turning down that sweet face, so we've been getting quite a few miles in!

It had been a month or so since my last long (for me) run and I wanted to get at least one in this month, so my mom watched the munchkin for me Saturday morning. I managed to finish 5 slow and painful miles. Overall, it was far from my usual pace, but I know I'll get back there! After Wyatt's nap, he begged to go for a run, so I logged another 2.5 miles giving me 7.5 miles total on Saturday. I have never done more than 6 miles in a day!

Refueled with a delicious peanut butter, banana, oat smoothie

Uncle Dylan caught up with us at the park during our run/walk

Sunday, we headed out to the river for a change of scenery. I was sore and had convinced myself to lay around. Wyatt had different plans.

Honestly, as the illness progressed and I was missing more and more workouts, I started to lose all interest in my healthy lifestyle. I was really getting discouraged and knew it would be painful getting back to it. The only things that have gotten me back on track was knowing I had already registered for this race, and an adorable two and a half year old little boy cheering me on.

It's a lifestyle change. Not a diet. Not a temporary fitness plan to lose weight. Lifestyle. Life is always going to throw me ups and downs. Sometimes I'm going to stray and struggle. Sometimes the motivation isn't going to be there. It's impossible to be right on track all the time. Throughout Body Revolution, Jillian often says, "When it gets hard, when you're struggling, remember why you started." Thursday night, when it was raining and Wyatt was bawling on the floor because he wanted to go for a run; I remembered why I started. For him. For myself. For our futures. We bundled up, and we ran in the rain. He laughed and clapped the whole time we were out and made me realize, there's no giving up. Not this time.

All that being said, I'm constantly looking for new ways to track myself. There's the scale and the tape measure of course, but I wanted a black and white way to track my fitness level and hold me accountable. So, I've designed my own fit test. I chose 10 of my favorite moves and will be tracking my weekly progress.

Friday's will becoming "Fit Test Friday" on this 'ol blog. Feel free to join me if you'd like! If we have enough interest, I might start a link-up? We'll see...

Here's the thing I love about fit tests; you're competing only with yourself. Your only goal is to do better than you did last week, or last month. If you can only do 2 rock star jumps in 60 seconds, who cares. A fit test is designed only to track your progress. The hope is, the next time you complete the test, you can 3 rock star jumps. Then maybe someday you will see 10, and on and on.

If you would like to try the fit test, and are unsure what a move is (or would like a modifier) let me know! I'll be sharing my starting numbers on Friday.

Now, grab a button and come link-up!