Seeking My Strength

Notice the light up tutu, my favorite yet! Rarely do things fill me with such righteous indignation that I feel the need to contact the editors responsible for allowing the content to go public, but that is exactly what happened when I opened my facebook account today and became aware of this story: Thanks to:  Miles, Muscles & Mommyhood: SELF Magazine: LAME  for the following picture. Check out their post on this as it gives great content from the Glam Runner  facebook page. "The real story behind this photo is not that tutus are a “lame” fad. Despite what SELF Magazine published, it is not that “people think these froufrou skirts make you run faster.” The real story behind  this photo is that Tara and Monika, pictured here, are board members for Girls on the Run San Diego. They founded  Glam Runner , a business that sells running tutus, to raise funds for the council. They are dedicated to helping grow the program in their community. The re...

My mantra for this week, the end of the 1st month! I have found the missing link! The answer to my "plateau problem": weight training! Last week was the first time in 15 years that I did weight training 5 days in a row. It is absolutely amazing to me the difference that it makes, not only to my fitness, but to my overall perception of myself. Having a Personal Trainer is huge! I think everyone who is undertaking a weight loss journey should find a way to set up at least three sessions to begin a program, and 30 min. is plenty of time to gain the information necessary for creating a successful plan. Miramont offers great ways to keep training services more affordable, check out your local fitness center to see if they similar options . I am suggesting three 30 min. sessions because that is how many times I have met with my personal trainer Ethan. I think it took until our 3rd week meeting for things to really click. It certainly took three weeks for my strength to bui...

My very basic (one button) Polar Heart Rate FS1 monitor I hope to accomplish two things in this post: I want to talk about my workout calorie burn and I want to review my Polar HR monitor. If you find this post interesting please leave me a comment below, and share it with others. When I met with my personal traine r the first time he told me that I should be wearing a HR monitor every workout and that we were aiming for a 500 cal/hr burn. Fortunately I had purchased the most basic model pictured above back in 2010 when I was pregnant. (I wore it during workouts to make sure that my heart rate stayed in a safe zone for me and baby.) That was really the most experience I have had with using a heart rate monitor to date. I have read about training in zones, but to be honest it just gets really confusing. It is about like having my wellness profile done, it is a lot of information that I am not sure how to use.  I decided to follow Ethans advice and wear my monitor. That ...

My trainer Ethan at the end of my St. Patty's Day Booty Whoopin'! I began Sunday with morning yoga. Unfortunately I was hoping for something my class did not bring. I mean it was still yoga, and good for me, but just not what I wanted. It was a beautiful day so I decided to make good on my promise to start running. My husband took the kids and dog to the park, and I was set to run there and meet them. I got all packed up and was finally ready to go.  My run started all full of promise and hope. It ended with despair and disappointment. (Perhaps I am exaggerating and being a bit melodramatic.) I am trying to kick a head cold that seems determined to hit my lungs, and that didn't help. The bigger problem was my legs. I swear by the end of 2.6 miles I couldn't hardly move them. I felt like I had cement blocks on my feet. The workout we went through on Saturday completely hit my legs and I woke up sore, hence the yoga, but I was hoping the run would help me feel bette...

Today was our first weigh in, and I lost 5lbs in the past two weeks. I am happy with my results especially considering I took last weekend off and headed to Vail. A much needed and deserved trip, planned since Christmas. We did snowshoe and spend 4 hours on the hill, managed 12 lifts and 17,480 vertical ft. but we also ate: bread, butter, escargot (more butter), pizza, hamburgers, tuna tartare, tuna tacos, tuna poke, and beer (lots of beer). All the things I miss and crave from my former home. This competition has given me an amazing opportunity to meet with a nutritionist twice. I have the hardest time with nutrition. I hate the word diet, I mean it starts with DIE. So I am trying to embrace a lifestyle change. I am going to take the next two weeks, starting Sunday, and eliminate wheat and dairy. I want to investigate how being gluten free makes me feel, and as much I love cheese I know it doesn't make me feel great. I am also reading the  "The Wahl's Protocol...

I have finished the 1st week of this Journey! I would like to give myself  a round of applause. I made it without any soda, alcohol or junk food! I have endured four crazy workouts, some of which caused tunnel vision, and 7 other less intense bouts of exercise. So to myself, I say "way to go"! This week began with yoga on Sunday, which was a perfect way to kick things off. I love having yoga available again! It was so nice to set my intention for the week. To know that this was going to be challenging on so many levels, but with breath comes strength to persevere.  I had my first training session with my amazing trainer Ethan Townsend on Monday. It taught several things. Perhaps most importantly, never leave my inhaler at home! With in the first five minutes, and only shortly after his warning to alert him if I was experiencing nausea or dizziness, I experienced tunnel vision. We stopped and walked to allow me to recover, and then got right back to it. We may have...

Standing on the Precipice Dare to Lose kickoff ! Standing at the precipice of change. I participated in the kick off for Dare to Lose this past weekend and got to meet my fellow competitors. It was nice to see that we all had different goals, needs and age ranges. We have been split into two teams: North ( 2 females 1 male) and South (1 female 2 males). I am on the south team, and we will be competing both individually and as a team. I really like my team, but also really like the other women in the competition.  Saturday morning began with me meeting my trainer: Ethan. I have full confidence that he is going to pull every ounce of will out of me, and shape me into my strongest and healthiest version possible. I may need to buy stock in Advil before this is all over, but it will be worth it. Anyway, I met him and had my Fitness Evaluation done. It was a bit disturbing, but if you don't know where you start how can you find your way to a new outcome?  Resul...