No more excuses, You WILL be strong and proud of it!

 I could not think of a better way to start this post than with this sign. It has been a while since I have had a chance to sit down and write to you guys. I have been on a somewhat new journey entering the working world and had to go out of town to train and re adjust my schedule a bit, so that being said I wanted to let you guys in on some of my insight over the past few weeks. First and foremost I want to address the people that try to steal your joy. I want to tell you guys I can not tell you how many negative comments I have received since I have lost weight since having my second child. I have heard everything from "are you sure you don't have a problem?" to "being that thin is not attractive." Ladies, for me it is not about being "skinny" it is not about seeing a certain number on that scale or in that jean size. It is about pushing myself to a limit that only I can understand. I urge you as you continue on your journey to make yourself happy. If you don't lose a pound but you feel healthier and know you are giving it your all then that is the ONLY thing that matters. People are going to discourage you, they are going to make you feel guilty for accomplishing your goals and to you I say "let your haters be your motivators" :)

 

Remember why you do what you do. We each have different motivators, we each have different lifestyles but the important thing to remember is you started this journey for a reason, and you never want to forget that. 

Next on my agenda, is never let your excuses talk you out of your progress. For example: hereditary obesity, not being able to afford it, I am too tired, I do not have enough time, or my all time favorite I had kids. On that note I will post a picture of what I looked like at 21 before I got married or had children and was supposedly at my "prime" 

Now I have given birth to two children, have much less time than I did back then, am now more pressed for cash than I was back then and here is a picture from about a week ago.  

25 lbs less, lord only knows how many inches down and a size 0 verses a size 6. That being said excuses are nothing but lies to yourself. They are just things we say to make ourselves feel better about being lazy or making unhealthy decisions. 

While I was traveling it would have been extremely easy to go out to eat for every meal and order delicious entrees and slack off at the gym. Instead I woke up earlier and did two a day gym sessions and bought a week worth of protein filled snacks instead of gorging myself with processed foods. Now that I have to be at work on certain days I have to drop my kids off around 7:45am, it would be very easy to say oh I will work out when I get home. The thing is i know myself, I know my tendencies. I hate working out at night and it is more than likely not happening when i have laundry to fold dinner to make and kids to bathe. So I wake up at 5am and get it over with. With only one cup of coffee in me at that time I normally don't have much patience for DVDs and I do not have the freedom to leave my kids and go for a run, so I have started compiling my own work outs. I put on my favorite play list warm up and start doing variations of cross fit, insanity, tae bo, and whatever strength exercises target my core and muscle groups I need to work for the day. The point of me telling you this is there are a million excuses I have for not working out but not one of them is valid enough for me to sham out on something I know benefits me so much. Here are a few examples of my favorite variations I like to go through in my early morning work outs. 

100 jumping jacks (If you can not jump do step jacks side to side for a total of 100)

90 squats

10 burpees 

jog in place for 30 seconds

8x8x8 lunges so on each leg do 8 slow deep lunges 8 pulsing lunges and hold down for 8 secs. 

20 push ups

30 second plank hold

30 secons of plank touches

wall squats for 45 second intervals 

50 knee reapeaters on each side

50 inverted crunches so start with knees up elbows at your temples abs contracting in and then release legs to a straight posotion and lower your abs down towards the floor hold and come back up. 

30 tricep dips 

30 round house kicks on each leg

These are just a few things I throw into different work outs along with weights and some good ole cardio running in place, running my stair case,  dancing or whatever strikes me as fun that day. 

The point is when something you desire is important to you, you will find a way to accomplish it. It burns like fire in me to be strong physically to be healthy and break through any stereo type of being a lazy stay at home mom or an out of shape army wife who watches her husband do PT and stands by. I have worked hard to accomplish what I know is right for me and my body and I KNOW that you can do the same. If you are pressed for time, do ten minute spurts. During your lunch break take a walk around to get your heart rate up. Do ten minutes of push ups and planks before you hop in the shower in the morning and before bed to ten minutes of squats and lunges. You CAN find a way to get to where you want to be. It may not be easy it will cause compromise and sacrifice but it WILL be worth it :) Prove yourself wrong and take the challenge to be a new you, you will never regret it! All my sweaty hugs and encouragement until next time-Amanda