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fitness
Barre3 Private Event Recap
I love love love supporting local and it just so happens there's a brand spanking new Barre3 studio opening literally 5 minutes from my house. It's right next to my beloved Target with a Nektar Juice Bar opening next door to the studio so you know I'll be there all the time and enjoying some yummy juice with my kiddos after class.
I was able to get familiar with Barre3 as they've been having free pop-up classes all Fall and Winter ramping up the opening of the new studio and it's been so enjoyable and empowering finding a workout I love! The connection you build with these girls is one thing but the feeling I have after each class of accomplishment and gratitude for what my body has done is so freeing. I'm finding my niche in making myself and body a priority and I just can't wait for the studio to open here in a couple weeks. They focus on a mix of Yoga and Ballet but it's all able to be modified. If you're just getting back into working out and being active, you can modify anything to tweak the workout to you. I love that!
Kendra, the owner, let me host a fun private event this past weekend with some local friends to show them what Barre3 is all about and to see the studio before everyone else. It's so beautiful inside and has childcare!! All the mamas said AMEN!
As soon as the studio opens, I'll make sure to share so if you're local, you can check out the space and membership options. Until then, follow along with @barre3northpeoria for updates and uplifting, encouraging vibes!
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fitness
The Lifestyle Change
Everyone says it at one point, they're making a lifestyle change. They're doing all the things to incorporate more into their lives that are healthy, smart and intentional choices to maintain a better lifestyle. My kids have seen me eat what I want, when I want. They've watched me gain weight, lose weight and not ever really be happy with myself. They aren't strangers to the occasional drive thru at Chick-Fil-A or Panda Express.
There, I said it.
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Truly, Thank You
swimmers | Kortni Jeane
You all were so incredibly encouraging when I posted about body positivity a bit back and I feel I need to extend a proper thank you for the support. I know women deal with insecurities and struggles on a daily basis whether they hear it verbally from people, reading it online or inside their own heads and it typically sucks.
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Motherhood
Body Positivity
swimmers- Kortni Jeane
Body positivity is a weird thing, right? You're pushed to love yourself and give yourself grace and embrace the "mom bod" and simply be happy in your own skin but it's a damn roller coaster. From times to acknowledging a change needs to happen or from the moment of saying F it, I'm going to love myself and be comfortable with who I am today.
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Playlist: Inner Diva
This playlist is loooong overdue and I send my apologies for keeping it away for this long. Truthfully, I haven't made it to the gym too often lately and it's a little embarrassing how quickly I've gained weight again so I was at the gym last night scrolling through my playlists thinking it's about time I shared some of my favorites with you for getting me motivated or in this case.... feeling diva-esque! These are all songs that scream girl power and I just can't seem to smile....and run when I hear them. So enjoy!
you can view other playlists, here.
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Recipes
Juicing.
A couple months ago we purchased a juicer, this one here and it's been amazing for us. Andrew grew up juicing and has his favorite recipe and I've never done it but was excited to try it. I'm normally a green smoothie kind of gal but juicing has been just as great for me and I personally think it takes a lot better! I've been able to customize the flavor to my liking and I know I'm getting great nutrients for my day.
We are going to Mexico mid June and both have been on the journey to shedding pounds here and there focusing on what we eat and attempting to be more active. So we've decided for the next couple weeks until we go, we're going to simply juice and that's it. I've heard of quite a few people doing this and they tend to lose the weight pretty easily and quickly but I guess I'm just concerned we're going to be depriving our bodies of necessities. I've considered adding in a few salads for dinners so I'm not going to bed hungry but we will see.
Either way, I'm excited about it and I can't complain because it's a delish "meal". Cross your fingers we make some kind of transformation in our time doing this.
favorite recipe:
5 carrots
3 oranges, peeled
1 stick celery
8-10 cubed pineapple
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5k Recap
About a year ago I did my first run ever. It was a 10k, Run for the Thirsty held in Phoenix. You can read all about it, here. So a couple months ago my Aunt emailed me with a groupon deal for the Rock & Glow run in Phoenix. I did my last run with my cousin, Madison so my Aunt thought both girls, Madison and Stevie would like to do this run with me. We booked it and committed and were super excited!
This run was a little different than our last being at night versus in the morning. If you've ever been to Arizona in May, you'll understand that a night run would be much more enjoyable with less of a chance of overheating. We registered at 6pm, went to the bar, had a few margaritas and started the race at 8:30pm! Yes, I had a few drinks, the baby cousins? Obviously, not as they're 12 & 14 but my Aunt and Hubs joined in on my pregaming! :)
Last week we all finally admitted though we hadn't been running or training at all so we pretty much went into the run thinking we'd walk and just enjoy the time together. Well we did it. We actually ran the majority of the race! I felt pretty good and knew I would've been able to run the whole thing if my husband wasn't texting my cousin during it asking how we're doing. Ha! We had a few moments to stop and text him back and that was it. Those girls just brought so much joy and pride to me. I was so proud of them for running this and doing it with such determination. Both girls were saying they haven't run more than 1 mile without stopping so all in all, we all rocked it! We ended the race at 38.16 and we all feel very accomplished!
And those two kiddos there? Yep, they're best friends. My cousin Rylan and my stepson Drake are about 10 months apart in age and love getting together! Since the race theme was "Rock & Glow" they went all out getting dressed up in glow sticks and crazy accessories. It just kills me.
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Workout Playlist: Sassy!
Hi friends!
A couple months ago I made a workout playlist for y'all here and it's funny now hearing those songs while working out because I always think I need to make a new one for you. So here it is! This one is a little sassy for ya and I have in my mind ones that are a little rock and one that's country. Hopefully, I'll get those mocked up and out for you in the near future too!
+warning: explicit language
Have a happy workout!
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Get Motivated Playlist
There's nothing worse than being at the gym with no motivation. Yes, you're there and yes, that's an accomplishment but sometimes, you just need a good workout playlist to make it through that last rep or that last mile.
I'm no music expert but I always start and end my work outs with 1. on the list below and the others are always played sometime while I'm at the gym. I hope those give you a little mix up to your regular song routine and keeps you motivated to staying fit and healthy!
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migraines
Buddy Check
Let's talk about organic foods.
If you've been around here a while, you know I struggle with migraines and along with that I have some particular foods I have to steer clear of. You can read about that, here.
Recently, I've dipped back into eating whatever I felt and granted it was healthy but I've been suffering from quite to spout of pain lately. Hubs came to me over the weekend saying he was ready to hop on board with eating as I normally do, organic foods and all. To say I was elated is an understatement.
I've battled back and forth trying to make our household healthy, organic and clean eating all the time and it's been tough getting him to say no to his Monsters, pop and all the delicious sweets in between. He grew up with a home that always had those goodies and still do so when we go over there, we're each bound to gain at least 5 pounds a visit.
Him coming to me had me bursting and I spent my next day revamping our grocery list and a whole afternoon buried in Sprouts and Whole Foods. I'm excited because not only is he going to be eating better with me and that can only support a healthy life for him, but we can be dependent on each other now! No more fighting the temptation of ice cream or drooling over his butter smeared muffins. We're in this together and that only lightens my heart.
I've been trying to find sweet alternatives to help those cravings we have, and lately these are my go-to snacks:
Simple snacks that conquer the sweet juices and they're better alternatives. Win win, right? Other times you can find me munching on spicy roasted hummus with carrots or celery, avocado on toasted ezekiel bread or edamame.
What are some of your favorite, organic, clean snacks?
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10K-- success!
Saturday was the big day! Up at 5AM, registration at 6:15 and the run started at 7:15AM! This was so exciting for me as I've been training for a handful of months now; My dad, brother and cousin, Madison joined me running.
The boys did their own thing as Madison definitely struggled not knowing truly how intense it could get running for such a duration but I felt accomplished keeping her motivated in times of need and making sure she pressed on as hard as she could.
Oringinally, I entered this to test myself and to see what I could achieve with the challenge but that changed shortly after the race started and my mindset became "keep Madison going-- keep her motivated!" and that I did.
During the times we were running, I felt GREAT. My cardiovascular was definitely trained and ready for running; My legs were loving the energy bursting through them!
Altogether, my brother took 3RD place for his age bracket [finished at 58mins], dad ran the whole time even with his bad knees finishing at 1hr 10minutes and Madison and I came up finishing at 1hr 22minutes. I'd call that a success for a first race and a proud moment knowing I kept Madison going and I was so pumped being her support! :)
The cherry on top?? The family I nanny for came out to watch so Elle crossed the finish line with me!
What a treat for me!!
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10K is nearing.
I have never been the "athlete". I won't get in to the details of that story now cause it's been posted HERE so go get caught up and meet me back here....
Okay, that was January and it's almost April...
So now that I've been actively working out I wanted a challenge.
I'm running a 10K May 12th.
That's in 2 weeks.
I could throw up thinking about it.
What did I get myself into?
It's one thing doing it on my own but I needed someone to keep me accountable.
So I asked my younger cousin Madison; she's a cheerleader and about to start her Freshman year of high school. She is used to running daily so I thought she'd be great at support.
I told my dad and brother about it hiking one morning and before I knew it-- they were committing to running it too.
AWESOME.
All I thought was: "Now I really can't bail!!!" :(
Weeks later of training.... running into trash cans training, I'm noticing change.
Change in my legs.
Change in my lungs.
Change in my lifestyle.
Running is becoming my outlet. A healthy outlet. One I look forward to taking part in and feeling a sense of loss without doing it.
That's something I never thought would be me.
Running?? You would've been crazy to suggest that!!
A few weeks back life decided to throw me in a funk-- one I'm still fighting a battle with. I was barely running and when I did, it was maybe, maaaaybe 2 miles before I'd give up. I've been dealing with migraines also, which does NOT help while running! And I was slowly losing my outlet, losing the sense of accomplishment. This past Monday, this happened:
I'm back. :)
As May 12TH nears, I find myself having good days and bad.
I notice anxiety when I think about failing.
What if I don't finish?
What if I can't run the whole way?
What if my dad beats me?!
That will be so embarrassing!
But I'm learning to accept that complications can happen, curve balls are thrown. But I've also learned I can mentally do this. I WILL do this.
You just have to believe.
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Trash cans WILL hurt you.
Today started off with a morning run, nothing special.
It is recycling day so the sidewalks were lined with trash cans
but that's not an issue as they're royal blue so who could really miss that??
Well apparently, I can.
When you're jamming to Eyes Open by T-Swift you may or may not be in another world thinking all things The Hunger Games and day dreaming about how sad you are you've finished the series.
[sad enough to start from book 1 again]
So guess what I do?
I ran right into the trash can.
Leaving my poor hand bruised.
:(
Watch out for them guys!!
You've been warned.
Or maybe just don't listen to anything that makes you forget about everything else in the world.
Whatever.
I'm sure either works!
In the mean time-- be aware of these.
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daddy
Zumba-- papa style.
Recently I started taking Zumba classes Tuesday|Thursdays at my gym.
Saturday when I was with my dad I told him all about it.
He's joining me tonight.
Umm, SUCCESS!
He had never seen a video of Zumba or what you actually do in the class;
all he knew was how I described it and that there were other men in the classes currently.
I enlightened him to a the actuality of the classes contents Sunday.
All he's worried about now is whether he needs some purple leg warmers and matching sweat band!
This will be epic.
I will attempt to take multiple pictures for proof.
However, I will probably be peeing myself laughing so hard so I'm not positive how successful I will be.
Let me disclose that he is terrible at dancing.
I mean HORRENDOUS-- no coordination.
So this will be a delightful night of much needed laughs and entertainment.
Can't wait to update you all tomorrow!
Happy Tuesday.
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the icky weight talk & resolutions...blah.
Okay, let's get to the good stuff. It's a new year and that means New Year Resolutions. I have to say I am not one for it cause I normally never keep it for long; I think my record was last year with no coffee and I made it til.... February 9th?? Yeah, I am terrible. On a daily basis I think of tons of things I could do differently and want to grow on so as always a big one this year is losing weight.
But then I got to thinking.... I will never be 105 pounds and a size 2 again. I mean I was dancing 20+ hours a week. It was like a job to me and I loved doing it. I need to be realistic here. I need to understand that I have grown into my "womanly figure" as many call it and I need to embrace it.
I hate going to the gym. I'd much prefer having one of my intense migraines cause I just feel down right awkward there. People stare, you sweat and grunt with the hard work and I don't even want Andrew seeing me that way so why would I want tons of stranger seeing that?? I did do the gym last year as often as my mind and body would submit to it but I definitely had a stalker. This guy would always stare and come say "hi" and ask about my weekend. Let me just say, I am one of those people with their iPods in with no intentions of talking to anyone and I don't give any inviting signals either. I am there to get it done and that's that. I started going with my Dad to see if this guy would get the hint and it didn't change; it never halted. So for obvious reasons, I don't enjoy going.
Thankfully, I have come across {ZUMBA} and it has been life changing. It's so much fun and easy to do and you feel great after! I get the work out I need to drop a few pounds and I get to let the old Dancing Diva out for a bit ;)
So here it goes, I am laying it all out there. I started 2011 weighing.... ugh... 160 pounds. GASP! I know, it was horrendous. I look back at pictures and want to punch myself. I gained tons of weight right before Andrew and I wed and kept it on through the first months of 2011. I thank God for blessing me with Andrew cause he was by my side through the whole weight gain and was still telling me I was beautiful and that he wouldn't change a thing. But I can happily say that I am now starting 2012 weighing.... 133 pounds. It may not be much of a difference but being 5 feet tall, those pounds are compacted and adds lots of volumptuous curves I didn't want.
I would be lying if I said I was content with the weight I am now, but I am embracing what I have worked for in the last year. I changed my eating habits and minimized the coffee and soda. I drink TONS of water... I mean enough to where I pee about every 40 minutes, haha, and it's been paying off. I try to be intentional with Zumba a few times a week and the gym here and there but mainly it's just trying to stay HEALTHY. I don't want to be a skinny-mini the way society has brain washed the world to be, I only want to be health. By being active and eating right, I am.
So I guess all I am saying is that the Resolution I want to make is just sticking to what I changed about my lifestyle last year. Maybe God will keep blessing me and I'll shed a few more pounds. ;)
Happy 2012, my sweet friends.
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