Your Best You

Switching things up today and sending you over to my lifestyle blog for the final day of the July Challenge - continuing a great challenge with a post on how to be your BEST you.

Just click my face (or bicep) below to find me!

Being Your Best You: Strength

Welcome back for week 3 of the July Challenge link-up! 

Today we're hitting one of the more important pieces of your training plan - Strength. 

So you've been wanting to get strong, you've been wanting to get lean and you've been wanting to see muscles, right? 

You want it, but you may just not know how to get there.

You don't know what to do with the weights in the gym, you don't want to be the only girl in the weight room, you don't want to invest in your own equipment at home and you really just don't know where to start! Believe me, I didn't know either. 

I switched my focus from running myself into the ground to a strength, conditioning and lover-of-trying-new-things  attitude and I've never been happier.

Being a short on time 20-something I've been hot on the search for workouts that I can do quickly and efficiently. Last week Brooke sent me a note and said that I should download the 12 Minute Athlete App and I am seriously hooked. 

You open the app, select what equipment you have (or don't have) and it puts together a list of exercises for you to do. 

The format is 12 minutes total - 30 seconds on, 10 seconds rest, and on to the next 30 seconds of work in a circuit form. 

If you like what you've been given - awesome you're going to rock it! 

If you don't like it, shake your phone and it will give you a new set of exercises. 

If you're comfortable with some and not others, all good - you can modify it to fit your needs. 

For example - if I can't do "Reptile Push-Ups", I do a modified regular push-up version instead! 

No time? It's only 12 minutes.

No equipment? There's a "no equipment" option.

No experience? Modify. Practice. Improve.

Want to use a kettlebell? It lets you select that in your options.

Loved a workout and want to save it? You can do that too!

Plus, there's this great animation and there's example videos for every. single. exercise. 

 

From experience, my health, confidence, fitness and overall strength have completely improved once I decided to focus on my muscles.

Go get after it and find out for yourself!

Chelsea, Rebecca and I would love to hear what you do to make yourself stronger, both inside and out! 

Being Your Best You: Energy

Wake up! Wake up! I need you to get excited with me for just a few minutes. 

I know that's a lot to ask considering that it's Thursday and we are already looking forward to no morning alarm on Saturday morning, but I have another important topic in this month's July challenge. 

To me, energy is like currency. You can earn it the same way that you can spend it.

At the end of the day your energy is something that you can manage if you want to, and something that you can then choose to spend whichever way you'd like to as well.

"Earning" energy is different for everyone and I truly believe that it comes down to your personality type. Introverts recharge through alone and quiet time. Extroverts recharge in the loud and obnoxious company of others. Many of you have never met me, but I'm an introvert through and through so I'm going to share the ways that I, as an introvert, earn energy and refill my tank. 

:: Rest

Seriously, sleep. Get the sleep that you deserve each and every night and get the non-sleep rest too. Netflix binges count.

:: Say "No"

This goes back to our balance conversation that we had last week. The more you say "no" to things you're not 100% wanting to do, the more time and 'energy' you get to put back into your life and the things you find to be the most important and meaningful to you. 

:: Nourish your body with clean and healthy foods

I've never finished a bag of potato chips and thought "Wow, I have so much energy now."

You can avoid that gross-all-the-time feeling by sticking to healthier foods like vegetables and good proteins while avoiding empty calories and "bad foods" that we all know aren't good for us. For me, meal prep is the key ingredient to this effort - but that's something we can talk about a different day!

:: Work out

Okay so I know this sounds like it's a way to spend energy - but it's also a way to get the blood flowing and to "get the fuzz out". If you sit around all day, chances are you're going to feel a little lethargic. Try moving your stuff for at least 30 minutes a day and see what it does for your energy levels and overall outlook on life!

Then from there, spend your energy however you choose! Whether that's being social with friends, going out dancing, putting in a little extra effort at work or going hard on reading blogs!

Chelsea, Rebecca and I would love to hear how you energize yourself in the comments and on your own blog in the July Challenge link-up!

Don't forget, there's more opportunities to join the link-up each Thursday in July!

July 24: Strength

This week is all about health and fitness. Share your favorite workouts, tips, tricks, and ways to reach your peak strength. 

July 31: Total Package 

With this being the end of the month and the last day of the link-up, share with us how you define being the BEST version of you. Get creative; anything is fair game here! 

30 Dumbbell Moves to Add to Your Routine

With a busier work schedule the past two months it's been necessary to make my gym workouts a little more efficient. 

This means less selfies, less music switching, less chatting. 

More lifting, more sweating and more adventure in my workouts. 

I'm a creature of habit when it comes to working out in a gym. I don't often try anything new because there's the small bit of fear to do something and fail while others are potentially watching me do it. Box jumps? Pull ups? More than 90lbs on the squat rack without a spotter? It's all a little scary for me. 

It's essential that you have a few key moves in your repertoire that you can feel comfortable doing in any gym setting. 

Hello - Dumbbells! 

There's so many different things that you can do with dumbbells and the great thing is that they're not just for your arms. You can do squats, lunges, rows, curls, presses - there's really no limit AND it's a standard piece of gym equipment that you can vary to your individual strength. 

Overall, a pretty low investment for high resistance potential.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out this article with 30 new (or familiar) moves you can do with the dumbbell set you feel most comfortable with. 

30 Dumbbell Exercises for your next workout

Some of my immediate favorites:

Get after it! What are your favorite dumbbell moves?

Being Your Best You: Balance

Balance is such a tricky thing, isn't it?

If you're anything like me, you want a mixture of the following things in your life:

:: Do well in your job and make all the money

:: Have great relationships with friends/family/significant others/pets

:: Eat right and get/stay in good shape

:: Make people laugh everyday

:: Perfect hair / nails / wardrobe / accessories

:: Indulgence and entertainment

:: Relaxation and binge-watching Netflix sessions

:: Blog & read all the blogs.

:: Happiness

There's more, but I think you see my point. 

You want it all. 

But doesn't having it all sound a little bit exhausting? 

I've always been a do-it-all-or-die lonely kind of person. I sit on the Type-A side of the fence, but I think you knew that about me from my tales of running 100 miles a month for 4 years, three college degrees in 4 years, writing two blogs, working a high-profile job, stressing over things I can't control. 

Those are all sad examples of the way I've always been hungry for "more". 

Over the past year I've learned the valuable lesson that doing "more" doesn't make me a better person. It makes me tired. It makes me a worse friend. It empties my tank and takes away the opportunities that I have in front of me to become my BEST me. 

The important lesson I've learned is that balance makes me the best me.

Balance is different for everyone, but for me it boils down to filling my world with the things that I feel are important to my overall physical, mental and spiritual health and happiness. 

:: Filling the tank

:: Laughing

:: Making time for myself

:: Working smarter

:: Asking for help when I need it

:: Finding the good

:: Exercising

:: Connecting

:: Dancing

:: Smiling

:: Saying "No" and meaning it. 

I feel that last one is the most important to me in terms of achieving balance - with the amazing part about saying "no" is that I've mostly only had to say it to myself. Not so scary after all. 

Pretty awesome concept isn't it?

What do you do to create some normalcy and balance in your healthy and beautiful life? 

Chelsea, Rebecca and I would love to hear from you both in the comments and the July Challenge link-up!

Don't forget, there's more opportunities to join the link-up each Thursday in July!

July 17: Energy 

What gets you going when the tank is running on empty? Share what kicks your energy levels into high gear. 

July 24: Strength

This week is all about health and fitness. Share your favorite workouts, tips, tricks, and ways to reach your peak strength. 

July 31: Total Package 

With this being the end of the month and the last day of the link-up, share with us how you define being the BEST version of you. Get creative; anything is fair game here! 

July Challenge - Being the Best You!

Guys, remember back in May there was a link-up for favorite workouts hosted by three amazing ladies?

If you weren't here, Chelsea, Rebecca and Kait asked us to share our favorite core, arms, legs and blogger's workouts. It was a huge success.

I had a blast and asked when we could do it again. If you're wondering too, here's your opportunity! I'll be helping Chelsea and Rebecca host an amazing series lined up for you each Thursday in July. 

Check out the descriptions for each Thursday below as written by the beautiful and talented Chelsea.

July 10: Balance 

What brings balance to your life? A favorite workout? Book? Specific location? A person or animal? Share with us how you bring balance to your life. 

July 17: Energy 

What gets you going when the tank is running on empty? Share what kicks your energy levels into high gear. 

July 24: Strength 

This week is all about health and fitness. Share your favorite workouts, tips, tricks, and ways to reach your peak strength. 

July 31: Total Package 

With this being the end of the month and the last day of the link-up, share with us how you define being the BEST version of you. Get creative; anything is fair game here! 

This link-up is a chance to join, motivate and share with one another all things health, fitness and life to be the best version you.

Come back tomorrow and link up!

So Much Mischief

So we all know that vacations are a fun way to "let go" and have a good time with no worries, right?

Well my trip to Belize was exactly that - a good fun time to not worry about workouts, not stress over foods - to just enjoy the results of my hard work with a promise to myself to get right back at it once I made it back to the routine in Portland.

Then I got back to Portland.

And I recommitted to redefining my motivation.

And I got excited about getting back into it.

Then things happened.

Work happened. Good weather happened. Bad weather happened. Unexpected playtime happened. Corporate parties happened.

Sangria happened again. So. much. sangria.

And then I let sushi happen and queso happen and cheesecake happen!?!?

And it all happened so fast. I mean, even a corn dog was eaten.... it was amazing and I don't regret it - but it happened.

With all of the good weather / bad weather / work and fun - it can also be confirmed that the only sweat I produced was while eating spicy foods - and maybe once in a hot tub that I shared with a 12 year old little league baseball team. (Really, I thought only girls would do this?)

It would be so reckless delicious to keep going down this path, but man did I miss my sweat. I missed my sweat more than I missed my blog more than I miss anything in this world. Sweat is as important to me as the air I breathe. 

I'm back on track, 110%. It's a choice and nothing more. 

Meat prep. Paleo foods. Mid-work day workouts. New shoes. Weights. Stair Steppers. Sweat. 

And I'm here to stay. Mischief you were fun, but you've been managed!

Oh and look, it didn't wreck my body completely - just a little cushion that will take some water, sweat and vegetables to take care of. Thanks metabolism!!!!!!!

Mischief Managed

If I could sum up the last 3 weeks in one photo for how I've been with my diet and fitness choices, this would be it. 

Okay maybe actually this one...

Come on, this huge plate of nachos is only $5!!!

Either photo you look at, there's a hint of a girl who's been "enjoying life" we'll call it and she's ready to be serious about that motivation she said she wanted to redefine. 

Little did I know it wouldn't be as easy as I thought to bounce back after vacation! You guys were so right for all the right reasons!

So how about you come back tomorrow for Tough it Out Tuesday for the full tale of how my mischief was managed.

Sneaky Workouts: Walking

I love the summer weather because it makes me want to walk everywhere. 

I'm less worried about time from A to B and I'm more likely to suggest walking to places (like dinner, the grocery store, after-dinner strolls in the park). 

It sounds like more work to walk, I know. But it's pretty amazing what you'll see, hear and smell when you're walking that you wouldn't have otherwise seen if you were stuck inside of your car.

Here's some of the amazing things I discovered (and ate!) while walking this past weekend:

Top Left / Bottom Right :: Tumalo Falls
Top Right :: Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden
Bottom Left :: Saburo Sushi

Stand Up For Yourself

You read that right. Stand up for yourself. 

I’m not talking about picking a fight with a bully. I’m talking about getting out of your chair and not living the daily sedentary office lifestyle many of us have been forced into.

There’s serious research behind how sitting for long durations each day is slowly killing us. 

Isn’t it obvious? 

Full infographic (Worth a look!) here

I'm forced to sit up to two hours already at a minimum just from my cross-city car commute, the last thing I need is to get to my desk and continue to flatten my ass on the chair leather. 

Long ago at work I requested an elevated desk and an elevated chair so that I can commit to standing half of the day at my desk at a minimum! This has led to improved flexibility. I also try to take a walk around our beautiful campus with co-workers every opportunity I get - which sometimes even just means tagging along for a walk to the cafeteria even though I've packed my lunch. 

Recently I’ve been having more meetings at work which for me has meant more sitting. In the four walls of the conference room there’s no other option than to sit at the table and take notes while nodding your head in agreement (and trying to ignore the snapchat notifications that keep rolling in). You bet I'm also taking notes on the time that I'm sitting and combatting it every way I can. 

Are you still sitting?

Vacation Confessions

Happy Hump Day!

You learned on Monday that I did my vacation right and didn’t force any workouts into my week in paradise. 

Want to know something else?

I didn’t obsess over being 100% Paleo either. 

I ate airplane peanuts. 

I ate beans (black and refried).

I ate rice.

I ate fried bread. 

I ate focaccia bread.

I ate Doritos. Handfuls of Doritos. (have you tried the Spicy Sweet Chili ones?)

I ate cheese.

I ate m&m’s.  

I ate tortilla chips. 

I ate the taco shell of a taco salad (and loved every crunchy bite I took)

I ate airplane cookies. 

I drank juice.

I drank too much rum.

Detox week in order? Yes!

Stress over what I ate? Never!

Huge implications on my weight and my body? Not at all! 

There was no sense in worrying over what I couldn’t eat in a group of people - so decided to live bravely, cheat moderately and confess openly. 

I live to tell the tale and I still fit my skinny jeans.

Cheers to indulging!

Redefining My Motivation

Hi fitness friends!

Most of my fitness and health goals over the past few months were driven by a serious desire to confidently wear a swim suit on a tropical vacation with my family. This was kept secret from my blog considering the vacation was a surprise, so I’m sorry that I never mentioned that in my goals. Actually I’ve also been training for my flex pose for Instagram sweaty selfies. 

Judge me, I do. 

Both of these goals were purely aesthetic, but approached with patience and done with my sustainable health in mind. 

In my opinion, I far exceeded my expectations for myself and am proud of my attitude toward toning and firming the healthy way. 

For me, the “healthy way” meant ditching the scale, lifting weights, staying hydrated and fueling my body with the good whole foods that it could use for good and not store for bad. 

This is what that approach got me, along with a huge sense of accomplishment and confidence.

This foundation I built was different than crash diets I’ve tried in the past. 

This was the game-changer and a huge positive because ‘quick fixes’ don’t exist usually mean exhaustion, fatigue and quicker re-gain because the body wants to store and secure anything and everything to prepare for hibernation. Sorry body, I’ve been an asshole to you in the past. Never again. 

Now that I have this foundation down, I have my sights on much more than ‘looking good’ in a bikini. 

I have my focus on strength. 

I have my focus on push-ups.

I have my focus on testing my boundaries. 

I have my focus on inspiring others. 

I have my focus on fitting workouts into a busier work schedule. 

I have my focus on broadening my paleo food horizons.

I have my focus on maintaining and improving the work I’ve done. 

I have my focus on being kind to my body. 

I don’t need a race to train for, or a third Tough Mudder under my belt. 

I just want to keep health, fitness and balance at the forefront of my life because I’ve found that doing so brings me great happiness. 

Happiness from the stress-relief I gain, happiness from the way I inspire others, happiness from the way I feel - inside and out. 

What’s your motivation?

Linking up for Tough it Out Tuesday with the rest of my fit-fam ladies!

Back to Reality

Hey fitness blog, it’s been a while!

As some of you readers may know, I was soaking up the sun in Belize all last week and didn’t prepare for any guest bloggers to fill the air. The week prior to that, I was scrambling at work trying to prepare for a week off. And yep you guessed it, this week will be equally busy trying to catch up for the five days that I missed. Lucky me!

Here’s what I expected my fitness activities to look like in Belize:

:: Circuit workouts in the sand

:: Jogging on the beach

:: Taking walks along the island

:: Dock-side yoga

:: Bedroom pilates (not an innuendo)

:: Stair sprints outside of our 2nd story condo

:: Ocean freestyle swim / shark avoidance

:: Poolside planking

This may come as a shock but I did none of these things. 

My only form of exercise was swimming back and forth in our 30ft leisure pool, intermittently stopping to change the music on my spotify playlist.

And I’m not a single bit upset or worried that the week off put me any steps behind in my fitness. The relaxed vibe and less laundry situation was good for me - plus I was already sweating enough just from the humidity!

The first thing I did when I got home and set down my luggage was lifted my 10lb dumbbells and gave them a big warm embrace and a kiss.

I sure missed my babies and I know you missed my sweaty selfies!

Time to get back to work!

Weekend Challenge

Okay guys, for this weekend's challenge I need you to go to your favorite grocery store and buy 5 fruits and vegetables.

Then, with whatever you buy - go on Pinterest and search for something amazing to make with that vegetable and share it with me either via email or instagram.

It can be exciting like this broccoli pizza crust from my friend Marisa!

Can't wait to see what you make for me!

Failed to Plan

So you guys know how I am always telling you "plan or plan to fail", right?

Usually at work I've always got some emergency snacks - carrots, meat, protein powder. It all counts.  

Yesterday was no exception! I packed a lunch, I had my snacks and I was all set for another healthy day. 

All of a sudden time slipped away from me and I was off to a 5 hour back-to-back meeting schedule without an opportunity to grab my foods. 

I was doing well until 3pm rolled around and there was a snack table from catering that had coffee, fruit, m&m's, pretzels and a nut mix. 

Now the "good" me would have politely grabbed a banana and coffee, but the "treat yo'self" me said screw you, Paleo and opted for the m&m/nuts mix. It was also really salty. Hate me. 

The "treat yo'self" me was very satisfied with this decision until I immediately felt lethargic and in dire need of a sweaty circuit workout. I got home and got it out of my system, but know that I shouldn't feel the pull for my workout because I've made poor food decisions. 

I feel like I've been a poor example to you ladies recently with my cinnabon delights yesterday and now this - plus my lack of water lately! I'm not falling off the wagon but I'm definitely letting some obstacles get in my way. 

This is the part where I confess, get over it and become a better role model for you again. 

Wish me luck!

Happy confessions with Kathy!

Meat Tornado

I had such a fun time last month with the May favorite workouts link-up and I almost didn't know what to write about today for Tough it Out Tuesday.

You know I like lifting, you know I like squatting, you know I like sweating.

But did you also know that I LOVE eating? Like, really love. 

I've never got to the point here where I share my grocery list because I fear you'd all say I was pretty boring. Paleo can be very diverse for some people, but I'm perfectly happy with eating the same thing over and over if I love it enough. 

My first line of defense for hunger pangs and snack-time?

Meat. 

Get it in my mouth. 

Chicken, beef, turkey, sausage, bacon - I don't discriminate. I love it all. 

Meat tornado. 

I always have to have some type of meat prepped in my house because it makes snack time a no brainer. It also makes meal time a no brainer. 

Meat is my lifeblood because it's protein and there's endless ways to flavor, spice and dress it up. Plus it makes me feel good and it helps my muscles grow.

Meat is my first line of defense because as long as I have meat and a skillet - I can make a pretty great meal (for my single-self, not for a dinner party).  I have meat for most every meal and if you're a guy you'd be pretty upset that you'd have to compete with me for the beef. I keep flirting with the idea of buying half of a cow, but might need to share it. Brooke, you guys need a re-stock?

Oh hey, I know it's not Wednesday yet but sometimes you also have to treat yo'self.

#NotPaleo #TacoBell