Motivation Monday - Staying Motivated

Yep, Monday has arrived once again. Grab a button and come link up with us!

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I've been thinking a lot about motivation the past couple of weeks. As I lost motivation in my weight loss journey, I also lost motivation in other areas of my life. Work, the blog, home, hobbies... everything became a chore. It's not a pleasant way to live: going through the motions day in and day out. 
Determined to pull myself out of this "funk", I started the Fit 4 Christmas Challenge and slowly, but surely, my enthusiasm is returning. However, it hasn't come without it's struggles or been overly easy. My mind is determined to be lazy, but my heart is doing it's best to fight it. 
Thursday was one of those days. Everything went wrong from the time I rolled out of bed. I was exhausted, stressed, irritated and all around ornery. Before I got off work, I had  decided to bake cookies for dinner and sit on the couch for the entire evening. So healthy, Tiffany. The second our coats were hung up, I was making the cookies and pre-heating the oven.
Right as I sat down to consume a ridiculous amount of calories, I got a notification on my phone. My #irun4 buddy, Dakota had sent me a picture of himself along with a simple message:

Hi Ms.Tiffany,
I had a good day today. I had a good week. This weekend I am going to camp. We will fish. We will play games. We will eat lots of good food and have a talent show. I am going with my special friends. I like to sing songs at camp. Have a good weekend.

 — with Tiffany Hultgren.

I've mentioned Dakota a time or two before, but a quick recap: Dakota is 17 and has cerebral palsy. He rolls to get where he needs to go, so is unable to run for himself. Physical activity, in general, is limited for him. So I run and workout for Dakota.
This simple message, from a boy I've never met but love dearly, brought tears to my eyes. Dakota has daily challenges that I can't even begin to comprehend, yet he is always smiling and encouraging. How can I sit here, stuffing my face with cookies, and feel bad for myself? 
I put the cookies away and got a 40 minute workout in for Dakota that night. 

I started this journey for a host of reasons, but mainly for my son and to do my part to improve my health. 

I have an incurable autoimmune disease. But, I decided to stop letting that define me. Doctor's may not be able to do much to help the pain, but maybe I can. Doctor's may not be able to do much to prevent the constant illnesses, but maybe I can. 

And by taking better care of myself, maybe that will make me a better mother. 

That was my thinking last spring. I had my doubts, but knew there was nothing to lose. I jumped in with both feet. I've learned a lot along the way; with so much more yet to learn.

 Living a healthier life and dropping some pounds hasn't fixed everything in my life. I still get sick, often. However, believe it or not, it's better than it was a year ago. There are still days where I feel like I'm a failure as a mother, but I believe we all have days like that. But, I do know that I am a much more present and active mom. We play hours of tag, wrestling, soccer and baseball. These are things that were few and far between 25+ pounds ago. 

Sometimes we get so caught up looking at the end goal, that we forget to look at how far we've actually come. Sometimes we forget why we started in the first place. Don't forget to take a minute from time to time to sit back and reflect. When you feel like giving up, remember why you started.

Even if I wanted to forget why I started, I know that Wyatt and my buddy Dakota would never let that happen. I am on this journey, not only for myself, but for them. When I want to give up, they will keep me going. 

Fit 4 Christmas Challenge - Week 2

What an awesome week 1! I feel on fire right now. I'm a 100% motivated and on track for the first time in such a long time. This is hugely, in part, to all of you joining me on this challenge. Thank you, all!

Your posts on IG and the Facebook Group have been so inspiring. You guys are killing it!

 Remember to keep using #fit4christmas on social media, and join the Challenge Facebook Group, if you haven't yet. Come share your week 1 progress with us today!

Results are in:

Starting Weight: 175.6
Week 1 Complete: 171.8

-3.8 pounds lost

I'm relieved the majority of the gain seems to be water weight and am ready to bust through that dreaded 168 in the next couple of weeks.

So, let's get right to it with the Week 2 Mini Challenge: ABS. I hate working abs, so I rarely do. Overall, your abs get attention in nearly every exercise you do, as long as you are using properly form. But, to set aside a certain amount of time for strictly abs? Blah - not my thing. Which is why I have such a love/hate relationship with this upcoming week already. I'm torturing myself (and all of you), but out of love. I cringe just thinking of next Thursday. As long as I won't have to laugh, bend, sit or get off the floor, I'm sure I'll make it through the week just fine.

The nutrition challenge is to try a new healthy recipe or food. If it's a success, I hope you share with us all!

Good luck with week 2 and keep up the awesome work!

Non-Scale Victories

It's been quite awhile since I've linked up for Non-Scale Victories. Quite frankly, there haven't been many NSV's to share for a good month and a half. That's a-changin', folks!

I have had an awesome week, health and fitness wise. I've got my mojo back and I'm runnin' with it. I'm a Wyoming girl (in case I haven't mentioned that enough). We have 2 seasons in Wyoming: Summer and Winter. Winter arrives the beginning of October and ends the middle of May. I went through all of October with one good pair of jeans and one pair ready to fall apart at the seams if I moved just wrong.

This called for an emergency jean shopping spree on my lunch break yesterday. I really dislike jean shopping, or shopping for clothes - period. I grew up with all brothers and boy cousins, fashion has just never been my thing. Anyways, unless I wanted to flash all my employees, I had to get it done.

I'M DOWN ANOTHER SIZE! I was over the moon excited. Currently, I'm sitting here in the smallest jeans I've had on in over three years. Silvers are the only jeans that fit me correctly, but they use the waist/inseam sizing. I have a goal to fit back into a 6, so I did grab a pair of other jeans to try on just to see where I'm at. I fit comfortably into a 10 right now. When I started this journey, I was in a very tight 14. Progress.

NSV #2: I'm back to working out consistently and feel like me again. Last night's workout was a quick (and difficult) 20 minute tabata routine I put together. I finished up with 95 squats to catch up on the week 1 mini challenge.

That's this week's Biggest Loser in the background. Let me tell ya, workout out with Jillian yelling at the contestants in the background is great motivation!

NSV #3:  Nutrition. I've been spot on! No splurges. Plenty of water. I haven't even been tempted to dip into Wyatt's left over Halloween candy.

NSV #4: I feel like I'm in a much better place about this journey, mentally, than I have ever been. My hiatus was a big eye opener for me. Not just in how going off the wagon affects my body and emotions, but in having realistic expectations. Before I got pregnant, I had lost around 50 pounds. It fell off easily at that time. But working out was my life. It consumed me. Exercise became an addiction, and not in a healthy way. Someday I will go further into that...

 I started this journey expecting the same results. Reality check, Tiffany. You're a single mother now. It's okay to miss a workout from time to time. It's okay if it takes a little longer to get back into those 6's. It's okay if there is some loose skin and stretch marks that weren't there before. Honestly, I feel accepting these things is the greatest Non-Scale Victory I could achieve at this point.

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If you are joining me in my Fit 4 Christmas Challenge, (if you haven't yet, it's never too late!) I have opened up a Facebook group so we can all offer support and share progress/struggles throughout the challenge. You can find the group HERE. Please post and encourage one another! People with a support system are much more successful...

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for Week 2's Mini Challenge!

Fit 4 Christmas Facebook Group!

I've opened a Fit 4 Christmas Facebook Group so we can all share workouts, recipes, progress etc... Come join in for added support! Fit 4 Christmas Facebook Group - HERE

Happy Hump Day, All!

Workout Wednesday - Tabata Workout

Tabata HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). Aw, how I love you. Short, challenging and effective. Dr. Tabata discovered this type of interval training provides greater results than any other aerobic training. Originally, this type of training was used only for hard-core athletes. In the past couple of years, it's become more mainstream and fairly common. (In large part to the rise of Crossfit, I'm sure).

So, how does it work? You push yourself as hard as you can for 20 seconds then rest for 10 seconds before moving on to the next exercise. The key to this is, you do as many reps as possible in that 20 seconds. Tabata is meant to leave you completely drained at the end. Once you finish a round, you can take a one minute rest before repeating, if needed.

Tabata is my go-to on busy days, such as tonight. This is on my schedule for tonight's workout:

 If the last set is not near impossible to get through, you aren't pushing yourself hard enough!

There are many interval training timer apps out there for free. I use the "Round and Workout Timer". You can customize the settings with number of rounds, time of exercise and time of rest.

An alarm will go off letting you know when it's time to rest and continue exercise. Love it!

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How is everyone doing on their week one mini challenge for #fit4christmas? Don't forget your squats! I ended up with some unexpected company last night, so I have to make up yesterday's today. Eeeek!

Don't forget to check back on Friday for Week 2's Mini Challenge!

Fail to Plan - Plan to Fail

You can make as many goal and wish lists as you'd like, but you will never accomplish them without a plan. Failing to plan is planning to fail. I lost sight of this simple statement over the past month.

In the past I had all my meals planned. There was never any question as to what was for lunch or dinner. My kitchen was stocked with healthy options: easy peasy. Then, life got stressful and I made it even  more stressful by forgetting to plan ahead. When you get home from a 9-10 hour day at work and realize you didn't thaw the chicken for dinner, odds are you're going to go for whatever is quick and convenient. That's exactly what I'd been doing.

It reminds me of the "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" book. Please tell me you have read this book, otherwise you need to relive your childhood. Brad had never heard of it.. whaaat?! I digress...

If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to want a glass of milk. If you are fueling your body properly, you're going to have a stronger desire to workout and vice versa. Right? I was stuck in this "eat like crap/feel like crap" viscous cycle.

Well, I'm breaking out of that. I've set my goals for Fit 4 Christmas, and am working on a plan to achieve them.

{ONE}

Stick to my workout plan. NO EXCUSES

I'm scheduling workouts 2 weeks at a time according to the weather man (which seems like a waste since he's usually wrong). I refuse to run in anything below 20°, thank you very much.

{TWO}

Meal plan. No fast food, no junk (well... until my small slice of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, because that WILL happen)

{THREE}

I want to be back to my lowest (168) by Thanksgiving.

{FOUR}

162 by the close of the challenge. That means I will have to hit a 2 lb loss a week through December, which isn't always easy at this point in the game. But, it's not impossible by any means. I want a challenging goal for those last few weeks to keep me in check on Thanksgiving and with all the holiday treats.

{FIVE}

Push myself, but don't be too hard on myself either. Positive self talk. I struggle with this... I think we all do at times.

I hope you all have some goals in mind for the challenge. Get specific and really challenge yourself. You want to lose weight? Okay, how many pounds by December 20th? You want to lift more or run further? Then how much? What are you going to do to achieve these goals?

Motivation Monday - The Ugly Truth

Happy Monday, everyone! You know what that means... time for Motivation Monday! I hope you'll come link up some motivation, workouts, recipes, advice... whatever you got!

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Honesty is always the best policy, right? My birthday was the last week of October. Instead of indulging on a little cake that day, I had a week (or two) full of splurges. I'm not talking a little bite here or there. I mean I ate aalll my favorite things in large quantities and could not stop myself. It was ugly. I could feel myself going down a very slippery slope if I didn't do something about it and quickly: enter Fit 4 Christmas.
I didn't weigh in for this two week period. I knew I would hate that number staring back at me. Prepared or not, Friday did arrive. I cringed as I stepped on the scale and saw 175.6 blaring back at me. 7.5 pounds higher than my lowest since starting this journey. The highest I've been since probably July. For the past several days, I have been beating myself up over this. You know better, Tiffany. What were you thinking, Tiffany? That's not the attitude I want. All the negative self-talk puts me in a bad place. We are all our own worst critic. 
My new "before" pictures made me angry and there was that old part of me telling myself, what's the point? I have wallowed in this for 3 days and let it control my mood far more than I should. I debated holding off on sharing my weight and some pictures until the end of the challenge. But, it's a new week, and I've decided to look at it from another light. By sharing my struggles and my before pictures now, I'm letting myself let that go. I'm putting it out there to everyone, and now I feel I have more to "prove". 

The picture on the far left was taken after I'd already lost 10 pounds. Middle was at the end of the 30ds challenge and I was right around 172 (if I remember correctly). Between then and now, I had lost 4 more pounds and continued to fluctuate up and down between 168 and 172. The far right was taken Friday.

One of the main things I noticed was how much tighter my stomach was at 172. I was working out consistently and being very careful about the types of food I put in my mouth. The picture on the right may only be a 3 pound difference, but it looks like so much more. Workouts had been few and far between and the quality of food I'd been eating was just plain horrible.

Instead of letting this picture beat me down, I'm using it to motivate me during this challenge. I'm sticking this to my mirror in my bedroom where I can stare at it every day while getting ready and working out. I will never look like this again. That's a promise I'm making to myself and everyone else.

My running partner on Saturday