347/365 Trying for Triathlons

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Run, Forrest, Run! That's all I've been doing for the past few months. Running and yoga have been my exercise modes to train for this half marathon. One day while icing my knees after a run, I realized that I should probably cross train so I don't wear out my body one step at a time. Since I can't imagine running for 5 hours (the minimum I would be running for a full marathon), and I have a feeling that my body won't be able to take the pounding of running for long, I thought about what other activities I could do. Why not a triathlon?

I've always written off triathlons saying, "Well, the biking I could do but, swimming? Pssh...swimming is not for me." With a pool at my gym/work, there was no way I could continue ignoring that aspect of training. The lifeguards at my pool are super friendly and were eager to help me work on my form. I'm now into my 3rd week of swimming and am in love with it! Swimming well really just comes down to form (teaser...get excited for a post all about swimming!)

Running? Check. Swimming? Check. Biking? Pending.

Again, using my undergrads as resources, a girl on the cycling team was able to direct me to a sweet road bike by Specialized. I still know nothing about bikes, what you should look for, what's good, what isn't but, I'm told that the Specialized Dolce for Women is an excellent bike to begin one's love affair with cycling.

My next step is to actually get the bike and ride. There are tons of resources on the web for how to train for a triathlon. My modus operandi for now will just be to get all three activities in during the week with some yoga and strength training too. Eventually, I'll have to work on transitioning from cycling to running but that will come in due time. Until then, perhaps give triathlons a second look...the swimming part isn't really that bad!


In health,

Lauren

344/365 New Year's Goals

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

I was talking with my client and friend Anthony today about New Year's Resolutions. We've decided to scrap "resolutions" and replace it with "goals". Behavior changes can happen anytime. Although the new year is a nice round reason to make a new change, I and my fellow gym staff members can tell you that these behavior changes die out by February. Instead, we shall make goals of things we'd like to accomplish over the year.

Since I have this neat blog, I can look back to what my goals were last year. Out of my four fitness related goals, this is how I did:
- Beat my 10K personal record (PR)
    - I injured myself before my 10K race in June and didn't run one for time afterwards
- Participate in at least 3 races of any distance
    - I signed up for one race but got injured before it
- Take kickboxing or some martial arts class
    - I taught a kickboxing class when I worked for Verizon, not sure if that really counts
- Become or work on becoming a yogi starting with 1 session/week
    - I do yoga 2-3 sessions/week, success!


My scorecard does not look very good at the moment... However, I am determined to do better this year! I'm so excited about it that I wrote it down yesterday. 


- Continue to be a yogi
- Participate in 3 or more races (I'm already signed up for 2!)
- PR for 10K
- Go hiking in at least 5 places I've never been

Who wants to share? Happy goal making and have a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration!

In health,
Lauren

PS: As my mother still says, "Don't drink too much tonight."

291/365 Photo Shoot to Stay Motivated

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Clearly staying motivated has been on my mind quite a bit. I think it's because I'm proud of what I've accomplished and I don't want to lose it as should you for what you've achieved! A fun and unique way to do this would be doing a photo shoot! By getting pictures of yourself taken, you can celebrate your new body, confidence, etc. and capture it forever. I got mine done with Focal Impulse and had a blast. Seriously, it was so much fun and I would do it again in a heart beat.

If you don't have the funds or if you're self-conscious, you can still capture this awesome time of your life. Get together with some friends, get your make-up and hair done, and get shutter happy! Guys, you could also have fun with this too. I'm sure your girlfriend or friends that are girls would have a fun time.

No matter how old you are, you deserve to feel like a rock star, model, actor, triple threat sensation. Go have fun!!

In health,

Lauren

287/365 Training for a Race to Stay Motivated

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

As I mentioned in a previous post, registering for a race is a great example of setting goals for yourself. My measurement day is tomorrow which has already made me slack off this weekend. The end was near and I was hungry. I knew that I needed to ask myself, "Where do you go from here?" Do I try to maintain this by keeping up my exercise regiment? Do I maintain by going back to what I did before? How am I going to keep myself from gaining it all back? The answer for me was registering for a race.

A 10K is coming up on June 15 in my area. This will be the third 10K I've ever run and I'm super excited. My April training revealed that I am a better, faster runner than I thought. I think my knees are ready to train more so that I can beat my time from last year, 56:04. To get me going, I have started a 10K for Intermediate Runners routine by Hal Higdon. Am I really an Intermediate runner? Maybe...maybe not. All I know is that I am a better athlete than I was before and that I have the time and passion to train for this 10K. Let's do this! Who's in?

In health,

Lauren

281/365 Shopping to Stay Motivated

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

As you know, I have been switching up my routine in hopes to get my body just right for beach season. I feel awesome and have lost weight; I think I'll reach at least one of my goals by this time next Wednesday. To keep myself motivated (and because there were incredible sales), I decided to go shopping. Lately I haven't had many good shopping days but, on a particularly rainy and gray Monday, I went to the mall and was very pleased.

I grabbed a bunch of clothes to try on and one after the other I was pleased with the result. I looked great in everything I tried on and felt sexy and cool. This feeling of satisfaction from my accomplishments thus far have stayed with me over the last day and a half. When I'm tempted to eat a few more calories or slack off, I think about that feeling, how awesome and proud of myself I felt trying on everything. This helped me regain discipline and stick with my plan until the end (at least until the next morning, temptation is always about!).

So, even if you don't buy anything, go shopping halfway through your own endeavors. Try on a different size or a style you didn't think you could pull off; you just might surprise yourself. Are you happy about how you feel? Are you happy about how you look? I was thinking about that quote, "Nothing tastes as good as this looks." I'd like to make a change: "Nothing tastes as good as this feels." Feeling healthy and comfortable in your skin is priceless and worth more than all the calories in the world.

In health,

Lauren

269/365 Not Just for Young People: Running a Marathon

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Have you heard about this guy? He's amazing! I'm talking about Clarence Hartley who will be running the Boston Marathon for the first time. He started running marathons 13 years ago and has clocked his fastest marathon time at 4:09. Did I mention that he's 81 years old? Read more about this role model to us all at Runner's World.

He's not the only older person with whom I've been impressed. We have a 62 year old man at my gym who has been doing 30 minutes of calisthenics every morning and running ~4 miles every day since he was 20! He is 42 years strong and his hoping he's got at least another 16 years left. I say 16 because he told me about someone who is 92 and had to stop running at the age of 78. Mind you, these two met at a gym where the 92 year old still works out today. Another example is a 53 year old woman here. Three years ago, she decided that she's going to start exercising. Her walk became a jog, then a run, and finally running a marathon. These people don't consider themselves to be gods or superhumans; they are just regular people who had a goal and decided to go for it.

I hope this inspires you to realize that it's never too late to start. However, if you wait too long, you run the risk of not making it there.

In health,

Lauren

258/365 New Month, New Plan, New Goals

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

It is now April and time for me to switch up the ol routine.

I have been running and practicing yoga consistently for the last two months and I'm ready for a change. I've decided to get back into weight lifting, add HIT (high intensity training) into my cardio routine, and try being vegetarian (with one cheat day, let's be serious...I'm a hopeless carnivore). I have arbitrarily chosen the goals of losing 5% body fat, 6 inches overall, or dropping 5 lbs. I'm not really sure how these will manifest but I figure that they are small enough numbers that I can achieve it. This is after all the most important thing when making goals, make them attainable! You can either make them quantitative or qualitative. Since I've reached my qualitative goal of feeling good naked and looking good in my clothes, I've decided to put some numbers down and see what happens.

I'll let you know what happens with my new plan, share my weight lifting routine, and my progress.

Do you have a goal for spring?

In health,

Lauren

164/365 New Year's Resolution Eve

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Do you remember the New Year's Resolutions you made at the beginning of this year? Me neither! If I wrote them down, I have no idea where they are now or what they were even about. This year, I resolve to do something a little different.

Instead, I will make smaller goals to accomplish throughout the year. For example, I could say, I want to decrease my 10K time for the 10K I plan to run in April. My next goal could be decreasing that time again by October. If I have a weight goal, I could set one for March then try to maintain it until September (6 months). I will keep my list of goals visible at all times, like by my mirror or on my dresser.

Something else you can do is write a letter to yourself. Write about where you are in your life and where you hope to be when you read it 1 year from now, 5 years from now, 10 years from now, etc. There is a letter like this waiting for me to open tomorrow that I wrote to myself when I was in 6th grade; I can't wait.

It is important to document our lives for posterity, nostalgia, and our health. Never be satisfied with yourself for too long. If we are satisfied, why bother hoping or dreaming? Always reach for something more of yourself and of others be it your sleep, activity, or diet.

In health,

Lauren

PS: As my mother says, "Don't drink too much tonight."

135/365 Thou Shall Not Obsess over Thine Weight

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

In order to be successful in anything, you must have a goal. Without a purpose, there is no meaning in anything we do. When it comes to fitness we always encourage people to make goals. There are short-term attainable goals and long-term goals that we hope to achieve by accomplishing the short-term ones.

I believe that a certain weight, a number on the scale, is not a great goal. We know that weight fluctuates throughout the day due to energy levels, hydration, consumption, exercise, etc.We also know that weight can sometimes determine whether you are at risk for cardiovascular disease or a metabolic disease like diabetes. There are also plenty of other indications that can tell you that you are at risk for these like high blood pressure, high total cholesterol, whether you smoke, your family history, and your blood sugar.

By doing all the things that I suggest, working out regularly, eating well, and sleeping well, you will feel great inside your body. Sometimes the scale doesn't reflect that which can be discouraging. Instead, go based on how your clothes feel. Are they tighter or looser? Can you wear something now that you couldn't wear before? How does it make you feel when you wear your clothes? How do you feel naked? I believe that these qualitative measures are much more encouraging and valuable to you.

Do not obsess over your weight. If you're overweight, you know you're overweight. If you're skinny, you know you're skinny. If you're strong, you know you're strong. If you feel good about yourself, then you feel good about your yourself. You don't need a number on the scale to tell you any of those things or motivate yourself to exercise and take a healthy hold of your life.

In health,

Lauren

88/365 Goal Setting: Register for a Race

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

I love planners, calendars, and organizers of any kind. I love knowing when events are happening and jotting them down onto my calendar. An important thing about goal setting is establishing a concrete date for when you are to accomplish said goal. My friend Miesha has done this brilliantly in preparation for her wedding.

Running is an excellent exercise for your cardiovascular system, core, legs, arms, you name it, running is probably good for it. However, not all of us enjoy running even though we know we could benefit from it. In fact, some of us hate it. For those of you that this applies to, consider registering for a race or two. I'm not suggesting going for a half or full marathon but, something shorter like a 5k or 8k, something within your grasp.

Races often have a registration fee. This should create an incentive for you to train for the race other than the pride of saying that you completed a race. Races are held throughout the year all over the country. This site will give you listings of any going on in your area.

In health,

Lauren