Fitness Friday: Goals and Accountability

We aren’t what we eat, but we are the choices we make. What are your choices saying about you?

Personally my choices don’t always reflect the type of person I want to be, or know that I can be. If I eat Taco Bell every meal for a month, I won’t turn into a tap dancing Dorito’s Taco. However the choice to eat Taco Bell with that kind of frequency will surly not result in the toned body I’m looking for. My choice to skip running because it’s a little to humid outside isn’t a huge deal, or is it? My choice to make an excuse about something I’m scared to fail at, only makes my failure a reality. See I can’t run, no… I’m not running there for I’m not getting any better. It’s really REALLY hard to run a mile when my butt is stuck on the sofa watching ABC Family, don’t judge me.

The beautiful and always stylish Ivete from Girl in a Hot City asked me two days in a row this week how exactly my running was coming along. I explained that it was going slow, very slow actually, like snail going in reverse slow. It’s time for a little blogger accountability here people, I hadn’t started. Yup, I had successfully freaked myself out of doing it for nearly a week. I’m not proud of that choice, but a good thing about choices, is we can always change them, and that’s exactly what I did.

The running training schedule I posted last week sort of overwhelmed me, how do I know when I’ve gone 1/16 of a mile. I don’t run on a track, I make it easy and use my good ole neighborhood sidewalks. That’s when my big brain started thinking, how can I make this super scary goal more achievable? How can I make it just a wee bit easier? That’s when I turned to my iTunes to create a playlist, one long 23 min MP3 that I created to make it easier for me to know when to run and walk. I was feeling all girl powered up when I created this track, so all the artists featured on this Training Track are powerful ladies.

Here’s how it works. I will include a link below where you can download the track I created. It’s a single long track where you change your pace each time the song changes. Since I’m probably explaining this wonky, let me get into a little more detail.

Week 1: Ladies Week Running Training Music (download)

Song 1: Warm up, just to get your muscles and blood flowing.

Song 2: Running/jogging interval (About 1 min)

Song 3: Walking Interval (About 3 min)

Song 4: Running/jogging interval (About 1 min)

Song 5: Walking Interval (About 3 min)

Song 6: Running/jogging interval (About 1 min)

Song 7: Walking Interval (About 3 min)

Song 8: Running/jogging interval (About 1 min)

Song 9: Walking Interval (About 3 min)

Song 10: Cool Down

I’ve tried this out and it works great. I don’t have to worry about checking a timer to see how long I’ve been running. I don’t have a robotic woman shouting in my ears how far I’ve gone. I just listen to the music and go. The music is fun and it really helps the time to fly by. I still used my Endomondo App to track my time, distance, etc.. but I wasn’t focused on the app itself while running. I simply put my phone in my pocket and went with it.

Interested in how I’ve been doing since my choice change, you can check it out here.

Remember you are the choices you make. Each time you do something it sets you on a path. If you are on a path towards an end results that doesn’t work for you, change it. It’s never to late to change your mind and change your life. A setback is a setback is a setback, they happen. We can’t avoid them, but we aren’t perfect, so we have to learn from them. One questionable decision does not a failed goal make. So shake off the negative setback juju and get excited to start working towards your goals. For me the proverbial mountain I’m trying to climb is being able to run a mile without stopping.

What is a goal you’ve set where you’ve encountered setbacks?

Brooke

 

 

Peanut Butter Cup Protein Crepes

Good hello lovelies, I don’t know about you, but I am not a morning person. In fact I am as far from a morning person as humanly possible. My idea of cooking anytime before noon is hitting the start button on our Keurig. It’s because of this that I almost always skip breakfast, which isn’t exactly good for the ole metabolism. Fear not my fellow health bunnies, I’ve come up with an awesome home cooked breakfast meal that is both healthy and filling. Oh and easy, did I mention that part, super easy. So easy a Brooke can do it.

 

Peanut Butter Cup Protein Crepes….

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp milk (I used coconut milk)
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder

Whipping Them Up:

1. Whisk together eggs and milk.
2. Whisking constantly add the protein powder a little at a time, whisking until smooth.
3. Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat.
4. Add just a dab of oil to your skillet, I mean less than a thimble full, just a drop.
5. Pour badder into center of the skillet to desired size, I made mine about the size of a saucer.
6. Heat until there are bubbles forming on the top of the crepe and then flip, cooking the other side for about 60 seconds or so.
7. Remove from heat.
8. Take peanut butter (I used Omega-3 peanut butter) and smear across the crepe, roll crepe up, eat.

It’s that easy. This badder made about 6 saucer size crepes, I ate 3 and was stuffed. The leftover crepes can be put in the fridge for an easy breakfast later in the week. You can reheat the crepes in the microwave by heating maybe 30 seconds. After reheating, then add the peanut butter.

Have you use protein powder for baking: brownies, crepes, pancakes? Tell me about it in the comments.

Brooke

 

Fitness Work In Progress Photos (1)

Anything you want to do today kiddo, you name it!

I want to go to the pool!!

Do you want to go get ice cream…… NO

Do you want to go to the park… NO

Do you want to ride bikes….. NO

The pool…… YES

Gulp….pool. The most dreaded combination of 7 (or 6 depending on how your brain works) words ever constructed. Pool means hot PTA moms, with hot gym bunny bodies, and epically beach wavy hair. What do I bring to the lounge chair? 15+ extra pounds of fluff squeezed into a purple sausage casing (er bikini) and hair the doesn’t hold a curl in this darn Midwest humidity. Sigh. Why oh why did the word pool have to be brought up? Oh that’s right it’s June, 90+ degrees, and it’s the last place I want to be.

So that leads me here doing something I never in a million years thought I would do. Posting “work in progress” pictures. Not my before pictures, because there isn’t a set destination. I’m not going to magically be done and be able to take after pictures. I will always be a work in progress, always working towards a healthier life, because even a Doritos binge is a stepping stone. Every second is a choice: do I go the sassy healthy path or the easy comfortable path? The comfortable path is going to push me out of a jean size and into further bikini phobias; while the sassy path will help take me where I long to be. Seems like an easy enough decision right? Sure if I didn’t love Taco Tuesday with the intensity of a thousand ghost chilies.

So here they are… The cold hard facts in black and white. Proof of what a long period of excuses will get you. A whole lot of sucking in.

Date: 6/6/2014

Height: 5’4″

Weight: 135.8

BMI: 23.3 ( I used this basic BMI calculator)

I believe out of habit I sucked in my stomach, but hey long time habits are hard to break. I look forward to the day I don’t have to suck it in.

 

Brooke