Building Momentum

Building momentum, that's what I'm doing, y'all!

I've stuck with my training schedule every single day since I started. Granted, I only started last Monday, but I haven't missed one day, which is a big step in the right direction for me. 

My schedule for this week:

Monday: walk 1 mile

Tuesday: run 3/4 mile

Wednesday: walk 1 mile

Thursday: run 3/4 mile

Friday: rest

Saturday: run 3/4 mile

Sunday: 30-60 minute walk

Adding that extra 1/4 mile was a little challenging for me, but I'm proud to say I did it! I'm so excited to keep adding and to crush that 5k in August!

I especially enjoy the walking days, since I get to bring Wrigley with me, and on Sundays E joins us too. I can tell Wrigley gets a little mad at me when I don't take him with me on run days, but neither of us is coordinated enough to run together; we run into each other while walking. 

 Family Walk

This week [so far] has been tougher than last week though. The weather has been rainy, which makes my leg hurt. I've changed my morning routine just a little bit to accommodate for this. I'm just making sure that I'm getting my walk/run in first thing in the morning before I can let my leg pain talk me out of it. So far, it's worked and I'm very proud of myself.

Each walk/run that I complete gets me one step to the ultimate goal, which is helping to keep me motivated. 

I'll leave you with this,

xo

Breaking Down Barriers

I honestly can't remember what I was thinking about last night when this popped into my head, but I've been thinking about it all morning. I've decided after this morning, that if I ever come up with excuses to not work out, I will always think of this quote. It's funny, but there's truth to it. I don't know about you, but after working out I always feel great. 

This morning was pretty much the same as every other morning. E & I woke up, brushed our teeth and got ready for the day. I dropped E off at work and went to the gym. I had decided that this morning was going to be the morning that I started working out at the gym again. I'm enjoying my walking/running routine and have stuck to my schedule, but I want to get back into lifting weights on a regular basis. I'm a pretty strong lady, and I enjoy lifting heavy weights; not to mention, I love it when I leave the gym covered in sweat. 

I pulled into the gym parking lot and parked our car. Then I saw a gorgeous girl with the "perfect" fit body. I turned the key in my ignition, put my car in reverse, and drove home. The whole drive home I kept comparing myself to that woman. Her body seemed flawless to me, and just seeing her intimidated me enough to go home. 

By the time I got home, I was furious with myself. Who cares if that woman has a fit body? What the heck does that have to do with me & my ability to go to the gym to work out? 

The answer is absolutely nothing. 

I'm never going to get my dream body by comparing myself to gorgeous people with "perfect" bodies. Obviously I have work to do in order to have the body I want to have, but if I keep comparing myself to everyone else, I'm never going to get there.

Once I got home, I turned on my iPod and went straight for my run. I blared my music and set my feet to the beat, and ended up shaving time off from my run on Tuesday. 

Now that I'm home and have had a little bit of time to reflect on the experience and calm myself down, I realized that comparing myself to others will never be a motivational tool. Without fail, comparison only tears me down. 

The comparisons end now. 

I am not less of a woman because I carry more fat on my body. I am not less of a woman because I have scars all over my legs. I am not less of a woman because the muscles in my torso are not defined. I am not less of a woman because I wear a size medium t-shirt instead of a size small. I am not less of a woman because I can't workout without my face turning the color of a tomato. I am not less of a woman because I sweat like a man when I work out hard. I am not less of a woman because I'm not a size 0, 2, or 4. And I am definitely not less of a woman because I am in a beginning phase of working out. 

I think I needed exactly something like this to help whip me into shape. The only person I need to compete with/compare myself to is myself from yesterday. I feel like I busted down a large personal barrier this morning and feel very proud of myself. 

So, if you're thinking of skipping your workout, just think of all of the benefits & giggle at the quote from Legally Blonde above.

Happy Thursday, y'all.

xo

Faith

Daily quiet time has become a very important part of my life. 

Read. Journal. Pray. Repeat.

I can't explain how fulfilling it is to me. 

This morning before my run {yep, I did it!} I was browsing the internet, reading various articles, catching up on recent news, etc when "One Thing Remains" came on Pandora. This song is amazing. Of the many songs we sang at church in Florida and of the many songs I've heard on the radio etc, this one is my absolute favorite. I don't know what it is about this song, it just fills my heart with happiness. 

The timing is absolutely amazing since I just finished my Trusting God Bible study this morning. I mean seriously how amazing is that?! It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. 

Anyways, I just wanted to share with you all, hope you like it!

Until Next Time,

Sadie

Starting Point

Everyone has to start somewhere, right?

Today I started my training! I'm proud of myself for getting off my butt and out the door, even if it was just to walk one mile. 

As I've said before, starting is the hardest part, so as measly as walking one mile is, I'm going to celebrate it anyways. I'm following through which means I'm one step {or one mile} closer to the big goal. 

Family walk.

Celebrating this small first step is so exciting because even though I only walked one mile, I decided to throw my excuses in the garbage to start working toward my goals. Tomorrow is my first run day & I'm pumped!

Deciding to start is the first step to success, so I'll leave you with this:

That's all for now. 

xo

Love Day

Well after a bunch of talking and searching and more talking and searching, E & I decided on the 5k we are going to do once we get to California! We are going to do the Wounded Warrior 5k! It's not until August, so the date hasn't been set in stone yet; I'm giving myself until August 1st to be race ready. 

I revamped my training schedule and have myself starting to run 1/2 mile & working up to 3 miles. I extended the training time from 8 to 12 weeks, and am really excited to begin! I'll be running 3 miles by May 11th {because I will stick to the schedule} and will have from May 11th to August 1st to improve my time :)) 

I can't believe I'm excited about starting to run on a regular basis, but oh well, I guess stranger things have happened ;)

Anyways, this is what next week looks like:

Monday: walk 1 mile

Tuesday: run 1/2 mile

Wednesday: walk 1 mile

Thursday: run 1/2 mile

Friday: rest

Saturday: run 1/2 mile

Sunday: 30-60 minute walk

Any suggestions for a new runner?

On to Love Day. Happy Valentine's Day y'all!

This is our first Valentine's Day as a married couple, which is exciting all on its own. Last night before going to sleep E & I laid in bed talking about our last few Valentine's Days together, it was really sweet and got me thinking.

I know I'm a very lucky blessed individual, but holy cow, I am so incredibly fortunate to have found such a wonderful man to spend the rest of my life with. I'm so excited for our low key date night tonight. Love you so much shankapotamus.

All of this talk about Valentine's Day got me thinking about what love really is. So, what is it? Well, I did some digging around and this is some of what I found. There were so many different ways to define love that it almost blew my mind; everyone defines love in their own way. In my mind, the millions of different definitions are what helps make & keep love so magical. Below you'll find love defined by the dictionary and then two of my favorite definitions I found. 

Enjoy ;)

Love: according to the dictionary

love: [noun] 

a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person

a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection

sexual passion or desire

a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart

[verb]

to have love or affection for another person; be in love

Love: according to Dr. Seuss 

Love: according to the Bible 

{This one is my absolute favorite}

What is your definition of love?

XOXO

Sadie

Failure

I think this quote sums up how I'm currently feeling, well in an optimistic way at least. 

I started off really great with my goals. 

I set them, I made a plan as to how to reach them, and I started working toward achieving them. I printed off a 5k training schedule and put it on my fridge.

Then it's Monday and it's time to start; right on cue, the voice in my head talks me out of it. 

"Next Monday" I tell myself. 

{I think "Starting Monday..." may be one of the most commonly used statements in relation to fitness/health/working out/eating healthy}

Yesterday I talked myself out of it because I went grocery shopping and prepped our meals literally all day. Today I'm supposed to be running 1.5 miles, but it's been freezing rain out all morning so as you probably guessed it, I won't be going for a run today. So now it will be pushed to next Monday? 

I'm so incredibly frustrated with myself. I feel like a failure. How the heck am I going to run a 5k with E if I can't convince myself to get my ass [excuse the language] outside to go for a run?!

So, as I sit in my cozy warm house and watch the freezing rain/sleet/snow mix hit the ground, I've decided to revamp my goals and get motivated instead of remain frustrated with myself and quit all together. 

So here it goes. As the quote above says I'm going to start again, only this time more wisely.

By the end of the week E & I are going to find and sign up for a 5k in San Diego. 

That will give me my timeline. 

With that timeline, I'm going to break down the ultimate goal [running the entire 5k with E] into smaller, short-term goals with rewards to help keep me motivated along the way. 

These will be broken down by Sunday. I'm also going to take the 5k training plan on my fridge and revamp it to fit me better. Thinking about it, I realized that looking at it & seeing "run 1.5 miles" totally freaks me out. I think if I tweak it just a little bit to fit me better, I'll be more likely to follow it. Starting a little slower won't hurt, because I'll still be starting. 

As I type this I can't help but feel incredibly dumb for not doing this in the first place, I've done it with each of my other goals. Isn't that the point in writing out SMART goals? Whatever, at least I'm doing it now and that's what counts right?

One thing that's incredibly intimidating to me is actually running with E. He can not work out for weeks, but go for a run and stomp out 3 miles in like 20 minutes. The last 5k we did together, we ran/walked it and each time we ran, he killed it and I trotted along feeling like an oompa-loompa. For this 5k, my goal time is less than 30 minutes, but even that is still way slower than E runs. 

I need to learn how to turn that intimidation into motivation, any suggestions?

But first, before I get ahead of myself, I'm going to update my iPod with some great music! What are your favorite songs to work out to? 

until next time,

Sadie

Spiritual Growth

This is a big one for me, folks. 

Growing in my faith is extremely important to me and has been since the day I decided to give my life to the Lord; December 18, 2012. {WOW! What an emotional day!} I will be forever grateful to my dear friend Sidney for helping me get to that point. 

While we were in Florida I attended a few Bible studies, which were great. However, since we've gotten to North Carolina, Bible studying has pretty much stopped. Mostly because I look at the Bible and get completely overwhelmed. At this stage, it's so much easier for me if I follow a study plan. Thankfully I was told about the Bible App. I downloaded it from the App store onto my iPad and now have access to a huge number of reading plans. I just started a new one today, "Trusting God Day by Day Devotional" which is a 14-day reading plan designed to help me trust God and learn to let go, which if you've been reading, is one of my major goals this year! I'm so excited to see where this plan will lead me & what it will teach me!

If you're in search of a good reading plan, I would recommend this app, but take this advice with a grain of salt, I'm just a beginner :)

Anyways, I'll leave you with this:

xo