Deadlifts for a Better Booty

Cultivating Discipline When Motivation Runs Out

We have all felt that rush when we wake up on the Monday morning of our new diet — that feeling of total confidence, excitement, and motivation to change our life and re-route all our bad habits to new, better ones. We feel like rock stars, going through the day passing up snacks and going for a second walk on the treadmill just because we feel like it. We cruise through day two and even day three. And then on day four…after a tough day at work, we skip the treadmill. On day five, we grab a scone with our morning coffee at Starbucks and throw our bagged lunch away and go out with our co-workers — and great misery-loves-company news! They all did the exact same thing. By the end of the week we’re back to our old habits and have come to the conclusion that, yet again, maybe we just weren’t motivated enough.

 

Motivation is a wonderful and powerful tool, but it’s never going to be enough to sustain real, lasting change. Why?

Because motivation only helps create the spark to start–it’s discipline that fuels the journey.

Motivation relies on an inside-out method of problem-solving. You wait for the right mood or emotional state to give you the courage to tackle your issues. The problem? Moods are unpredictable and inconsistent and emotional states are usually fleeting. Unlike motivation, discipline uses an outside-in method. You do the work despite your mood and inner turmoil, and as you get closer to your goal, your inner mood will change. You don’t wait until you’re stronger to begin lifting weights, you begin lifting weights to get stronger. Moving toward a discipline-approach helps those of us who procrastinate and who have kinda-sorta been known to make excuses. I was exhausted OK?!  

 

I struggle with implementing this philosophy. You have no doubt noticed the weeks (and months) at a time where this blog that I love goes without an update. I used to think I needed to wait for the mood to strike me to write a post or create a new recipe. But, because of my depression, that mood may not come…for months. Early last summer, I started trying to do at least some work on the blog every day. And I didn’t always feel like it, but still I knew I had enough energy to push through and get something done. I was trying to cultivate discipline while my motivation was low. For all of us, beginning the work is hard — sometimes excruciating — but once you begin to see results you get a sense of accomplishment. It isn’t a cure-all for low mood or motivation but it’s a whole lot better than the oppressive gravity of shame and guilt.

 

Do what you need to get done, every day. Don’t feel like doing it? Do it anyway. Don’t think you can do it? Try anyway. Work those muscles required to accomplish your goals even when you don’t feel like it, and over time, it becomes easier. Big changes are hard and scary and you’re programmed to avoid things that are hard and scary. But eventually, you (and I) are going to have to do the work, so start now.

Would YOU trust eating tips from an overweight blogger?

WOULD you trust an overweight blogger to give you food advice? Thousands wouldn't, new research has revealed.

What If Everyone Is Looking At My Cellulite?

When I squeeze my butt I have cellulite. It’s not attractive. You can definitely see it through any of my yoga pants or exercise shorts (yes even the fancy brands). I’m self conscious about it. But I’ve had a big butt since I was probably 12 years old. I had cellulite in high school. This isn’t a like a new thing for my body. It’s a part of me… a  jiggly, dimply, less than favorite part of me.

I’ve spent more time than I’d care to admit staring at it in the mirror. Figuring out how to move so that it showed as little as possible. How to stand so I looked the thinnest from behind. Debating the fact that if I squeezed my butt it looks perky, but it also shows my cellulite – so what is better??!?!

This battle has been going on since I was in high school. It’s kinda sad when you think about it. The time I’ve spent staring the mirror disappointed and frustrated with my body instead of loving and cherishing it and thanking God for making me healthy and strong. I wish it wasn’t that way, but it was and sometimes still is…

Anyway.

I am self conscious of this (and a few other) areas of my body. So it presents this lil problem when it comes to exercise…

I feel best and exercise best when I’m in spandex. But spandex doesn’t hide my flaws (really it puts them on display). Which means…

WHAT IF EVERYONE IS LOOKING AT MY CELLULITE?! 

I took a Body Bar class at the gym today. I like to stand near the front so I can see the instructor (I’m a visual learner so this helps me more than listening to cues) and I like to be able to check my form in the mirrors.

Standing near the front means there are plenty of people that get the lovely opportunity to look at my butt jiggle all over the place. I’d apologize, but it’s my butt and it’s my friend (now I’m talking about a part of my body in the third person, get help) so I will not apologize for it.

Yeah, maybe people are looking at my cellulite.

Who cares?

I mean yeah I’d prefer to have a perfect booty and I’m sure they would prefer to be standing behind J Lo in class, but this is where I am in the world and I’m going to live my life.

Worst case scenario is someone looks at me and talks shit later.

Again, WHO CARES?! Not me. I don’t care. Talk all day about my butt. It’s kinda funny, right?

The reality is – no one is doing that. I’m sure the ladies in class were worried about getting in a good workout and then getting to work on time or picking up their kids or running errands or… no one is worried about my butt except me.

So I continue to run and sometimes hit up a group fitness class in spandex because I’d rather avoid thigh chafing and let my big butt be on display than make myself uncomfortable for fear it looks bad. (For context though, this is also coming from the girl who has been walking in public with hand weights like a complete weirdo.)

The point is, I’m not perfect. No one is perfect. Some of my imperfections are highlighted because of what I wear and the hobbies I enjoy. But the focus should be on the positives of those hobbies and what my body is capable of, not my flaws.

If you have a pimple today or super huge or small boobs or a creepy laugh or something else that makes you self conscious… do your thing and don’t worry about it. Life is too short to miss out on something fun because of dumb reason.

Question: What is something fun you’re doing today?

The post What If Everyone Is Looking At My Cellulite? appeared first on Run Eat Repeat.

Weight loss and running

I went for a run yesterday! The first run in six weeks. I'd felt a few twinges in my ankle last week when I was walking across the grass for cross country, so I was a little nervous to run; but even if it was fractured again, after six weeks of no running at all, it should have been okay. My physical therapist had told me that twinges were normal, but pain was not.

Anyway, I decided to try and run two miles. I didn't want to mess with the run/walk method that I did last time, because I have no intentions of doing runs longer than six miles (at least for a very long time). I don't have a "deadline" that I am trying to hit (like an upcoming race), so I can take my time and build up mileage slowly. I figured I'd just run what I could.

After I got the kids off to school yesterday morning, I decided to head out for the run before I chickened out. I wore the new Brooks Ghost shoes, because they were so comfortable when I tried them on and wore them to cross country practice. I started my Garmin and began running down the street.

I couldn't believe how DIFFERENT it felt. I'm going to try to describe this the best that I can... 

The last time I ran was six weeks ago, when I was 155 pounds--and even then, I was doing the run/walk method. The last time I really ran a couple of miles straight I was probably 160-ish. I stopped running for six whole weeks, and in that time, I've dropped down to 144. Normally, when you run to help with weight loss, you don't feel the difference that the weight loss makes, because it's so gradual. You continue to run as you drop a pound or two each week, and you have no idea how the weight loss really affects your running.

Because I started losing weight right when I stopped running, I didn't have that gradual adjustment. I ran a few miles at 160-ish, and then ran again at 144. Holy smokes! I felt like I was FLYING yesterday. Imagine running around holding two gallons of milk (16 pounds), and then setting them down and running again--that's what it felt like to me. My feet felt like they were barely touching the ground, and like I was running on clouds. I'm not really sure how else to describe it.

It was awesome. I was tempted to run farther than two miles, but I didn't want to overdo it. The last time I ran at least two miles without walking or stopping was probably in April for the marathon relay. My pace was 11:27/mile, and it felt SO hard. I really wasn't even sure I could make it through my leg of the relay. 

Yesterday, I didn't want to look at my pace, because I didn't want to get discouraged; so I'd set my Garmin to show just my distance. When I got home, then, you can imagine my surprise to see that I'd run a 9:47/mile pace! The first mile was 9:54 and the second was 9:39. This was after six weeks of not running a single minute.

I'd read in numerous places that weight loss can make a difference in your pace, and there are ways to calculate about how much of a difference it can make. I read the book Racing Weight (Amazon affiliate link), which talks about your ideal weight for running, and I do believe that dropping weight can make you faster. But yesterday was all the proof I needed! I'm not even back down to my ideal racing weight yet, but I already feel a million times better when I run. 

Best of all, I didn't have any ankle issues the entire run, so I'm very happy about that. Later in the day, I felt a few twinges, but no pain. I'm hoping that's normal. I'm going to make sure to only run every other day (I won't do two days in a row), and keep the distances short--right now, 2-3 miles is good for me. 

I was extremely sore when I woke up this morning! I never used to get sore from running, because my body was so used to it; but this past year has been so out of the norm that I'm not surprised. I felt a runner's high all day from that simple two miles. And now, knowing how much better it feels to run at a lower weight, I'm even more motivated to get back down to my ideal running weight. I would love to work on PR'ing my 5K and 10K next year, and I don't think I can do that without dropping the extra weight. 

Anyway, that simple two miles yesterday really fired me up again into an "I love running!" mode. Haha, we'll see how long that lasts ;) I still plan to ride my bike for the rest of the season, and then I'm not sure what cross training I'll do during the winter. Maybe I'll take swimming lessons to learn how to swim for real (ha! Not likely, but always a possibility). 

Check out my MAGIC Mattress

Hello! Today I’m sharing a great discount from Leesa Mattress and showing you why they sell MAGIC mattresses. It’s crazy cool. The discount code is below, but first let’s talk about magic and sleep and the magic of sleep.

I had been in talks with the people from Leesa before my most recent trip out of town. Because of some scheduling conflicts the mattress arrived when I wasn’t home yet. Luckily, it hung out in the sun and rain waiting for me. I was worried this would compromise the mattress, but it is packed and wrapped extremely well. It was still perfect and air tight when I rolled it out.

When I got it inside, my intern helped me by inspecting the box:

Me: “Is it okay?”

Cat: “Mmmmeoyes”

Right now I’m hanging out solo most of the time so I was a little nervous about setting up a whole king size mattress by myself. The box is heavy, but it was super easy to drag it to the bedroom and unwrap the mattress.

There are super clear directions on the box too. Boom.

The Leesa Mattresses all come shrunk and packed tightly for easy handling and shipping.

When I slid it out of the box it looked like this:

And less than an hour later it looked like this:

Magic!

All Leesa mattresses have this simple but cute gray and white design on them.

Besides the fact that the mattress magically plumped up and became super comfy just like that, there is something even better about the company… for every 10 mattresses the company sells they donate one to a shelter (like TOMS). I really dig that.

The mattresses come in all sizes and are all about 10” thick. There are three layers including a cool latex foam that is designed to keep you cool.

I have issues with night sweats from my thyroid hormones being a little confused. It’s hard to predict the night sweats since they don’t seem to follow a pattern, but I have not had a super sweaty night since getting this mattress!

And if you are super picky about where you sleep (as you should be) Leesa offers customers up to 100 nights to sleep on the mattress risk free!! <- That is pretty impressive right there.

When the company first reached out to me I was super psyched because I am a huge advocate of getting enough sleep – especially when you are stressed or exercising a lot. Sleep is when your body repairs and rebuilds. It is VITAL to get enough sleep while training for a half or full marathon.

Coach Kastor who I worked with for last year’s LA Marathon said he recommends his athletes sleep ‘8 nights a week’.  He actually writes  daily naps into their training plans for time to rest and repair.

Me, taking his advice:

And I do really believe I’ve been able to fight off sneaky lil coughs and colds by filling up on Vitamin C and getting a solid night’s rest.

I’m very happy to report so far the mattress is super comfortable, keeps me cool and I’ve slept well.

My intern has been sleeping on it 20 hours a day for the last two weeks and seems pretty happy with it too.

Leesa Mattress Discount Code:

The company is offering the first 20 Run Eat Repeat readers $75.00 off their first purchase. If you’re in the market for a mattress I’d highly recommend giving this one a good because it’s comfortable, easy (hello delivered to your door no problem), and supports shelters.

Click on this link and you’ll get $75.00 off your Leesa Mattress.

Question: Did you get a good night’s sleep last night? Why or why not?

The post Check out my MAGIC Mattress appeared first on Run Eat Repeat.

Motivational Monday #122

Happy Motivational Monday! I have had a very busy couple of weeks, and this month has absolutely flown by. I'm thrilled that I'm still losing weight, and I'm now about 10 pounds from my goal :) The last few pounds that I lost have made a world of difference in my clothes. Yesterday, Jerry kept saying, "I can't believe how skinny you are!" and he started calling me "Sticks", haha. I wore a pair of jeans yesterday that I hadn't worn in AGES. It feels good!

Anyway, I have quite a few motivating stories for you today. Enjoy!

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Darby (on right in photo) recently ran a very unique race in Prince Edward Island. First, the backstory:  In 1980 a young man named Terry Fox set out to run across the country to raise money for cancer research. He was 21 at the time and had been diagnosed 3 years previously with bone cancer and had one leg amputated above the knee. Unfortunately, he didn't make it across the country before succumbing to his disease, but during the months that he ran, he ran upwards of 25 miles/day. Since then there has been a fundraising run in his memory every year. To date, the Terry Fox runs have raised 700 million dollars for cancer research. This year, the run was held on the Confederation Bridge (the longest bridge in the world that spans a body of water that freezes). Darby ran the entire length of the bridge--13K! She and a friend trained all summer, and finished in 1:46:37.

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Amy hit her goal weight in May, and has been adapting to maintenance ever since! She'd been overweight since about 2000, and topped out at 126 kilos (278 pounds). She said she put some real effort into loving herself--she took control over her binge eating and began to love working out. She reached her goal of 79 kilos (174 pounds) in May, and is now working on maintenance.

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Emily (far right in photo) recently ran her first race in a very long time! She is part of a running group called the Sunset Coast Striders who meets three days a week to run. Emily ran the whole 5K race without stopping, and finished in 32:03--a personal best! (Emily's Blog)

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Amanda is thrilled that she was able to run her first half-marathon! It's something she's wanted to do for years, and she finally did at the Brewers Mini Marathon at Miller Park. She didn't set a time goal--she just wanted to finish--but she did great, crossing the finish line in 2:34:52! She even celebrated with a margarita afterward :)

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Cathy started running over the past year, and decided to train for a half-marathon. Many pounds, and 953 miles later, she did it! She ran the Chicago Half Marathon in 2:27 at the age of 51 years young.

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Tiffany completed her first full marathon this weekend! She's lost 113 pounds, and started running just over a year ago. On Saturday, she ran the Mill Race Marathon, and is now proud to call herself a marathoner!

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A huge congrats to all of you! Thank you for sharing your success :)

How to Know When You Should Have Kids

Hello!! How’s it going? I’m pretty excited to start a new week and get crazy with my “to do” list. I definitely enjoyed the weekend and was not productive at all. Super random, but my gym doesn’t have early morning classes on Monday. So while I wanted to hit up the gym for a class I did a short run with a few intervals. I’m hoping to get in some strength in a little bit too.

Post-run I made breakfast and ate PB out of the jar. Hey, no one else eats it so it’s totally okay. That is science.

This weekend Shape Magazine sent Vegas a super cool box for him to sleep in, he loves it!

Okay, now let’s address a huge life decision – how to know when you should have kids. This is a tough one and I’ve heard several people say, “You’ll never be 100% ready, you just gotta go for it.” One of my friends even told me you should start trying to make  a baby when you’re like 70  or 80% ready, because that’s as good as it gets. Noted.

But I feel like the best way to tell if you’re ready to have a baby is A.) you want to and have someone you love that is responsible and loving and you want to have in your life for the next 20+ years that also wants this

or B.) all your friends have babies and you’re left out and they don’t hang out with you anymore because instead of going to happy hour they’re going to the park and on play dates and all they talk about are their babies and they eat goldfish and juice instead of wine and cheese and so basically you’ve lost your friends and the only way to get them back is to have a baby.

I’ll work on that later because today I was busy hanging out at a pumpkin patch with my cool mom friends and their babies. Irvine Regional Park has a very cute pumpkin patch with rides and activities for kids.

 

I was the creeper without a baby at the maze. Next time I’m going to borrow my niece.

On the way home I chomped on a pear and hit up a few stores for almond milk and other random stuff.

Question: On a scale of 1 to 10 how much did my baby making advice help you in your life decisions…

1 = this was the worst and you’re probably dumber for reading this post

10 = I’m going to hire Monican to be my full time life coach and call her Buddha or something

The post How to Know When You Should Have Kids appeared first on Run Eat Repeat.

How to Get Gum Out of Hair in Less Than 90 Secs

Baby Steps Back to Fitness

Guest Post by Dee

Hey Cranketeers, Crabby here! I'm all excited to introduce Dee from Break out the Skinny Girl with an in-the-trenches perspective on getting back into fitness when it feels anything but "easy" and "fun."

So why am I so excited to introduce Dee?  Well, first off, she's very funny.  And secondly, she blogs with an adorable British accent.  And thirdly, she's just started a new blog which looks to be the sort Cranky Fitness readers might enjoy.  New blogs need encouragement! So please, if you like this guest post (I know I did), think about clicking over to her blog and offering some support. Thanks, and enjoy!--Crabby

So when Crabby very graciously extended her invitation to guest-blog a few words, I jumped at the opportunity – I wasn’t put off at all by the hoots of hysterical laughter which the prospect of me writing an article relating to fitness drew from a handful of people (ok, from pretty much everyone I’ve mentioned it to). In my skinny girl blog, I talk about my own battle of the bulge and whilst admittedly the content is a bit light on theory, as someone who’s dieted back and forth with varying degrees of success over more years than I’m ready to admit, I’m at least a tiny bit qualified to offer an opinion.

Where exercise is concerned, I’m speaking from somewhat less than a position of strength.

I would hazard a guess that the most consistently well-developed muscle in my entire body is the one that operates my jaw – it’s definitely the one that’s had the most exercise. Don’t let the fact that it’s currently buried under a couple of extra chins fool you - if it was visible I’m sure it would look very toned indeed.


You will see from the photo at the top of the post that diet and exercise have been alien concepts to me from the earliest possible age. My mum (who ironically has never been a particularly large lady) believed that all babies should look like the Michelin man so in terms of learning about balanced eating, the odds were stacked against me from the get go.

As I moved up the year groups in school, I flirted with physical activity from time to time. I remember joining the gym club, which looked like fun and the added bonus was that the gym teacher was quite dishy. I especially remember loving my royal blue leotard – despite its tendency to get butt-munched I felt like I was in with the in-crowd you know? If ‘selfies’ had been a thing in the 70’s I’d have been all over that…I just don’t recall doing much actual gym stuff. I think I left under a cloud after yelling a naughty word when I got my head wedged between the vault and the crash mat, having changed my mind about how committed I was to the game of leap-frog once I’d already left the springboard…it wasn’t my finest hour.

And therein lies the pattern which pretty much underpins my relationship with exercise – it starts with me feeling that I should do it, then realising I don’t want to do it, but doing it anyway because everyone else seems to enjoy it. Then realising it’s more difficult than I’d thought it was going to be and giving up after the first achy muscle. Over the years I would say that’s been true of every single activity I’ve tried, with the exception of riding a bike.

Exhibit number two – proof that miracles have indeed happened in the past. This photo was taken of me around 7 years ago. I’d somehow managed to lose around 140 lbs. Excuse me a moment whilst I weep for the skinny girl who emerged for about ten minutes, only to be buried again under every single one of those lost pounds, and then some.

I had been dating a guy who was a bit of a fitness fanatic (yeah, not exactly a match made in heaven, surprisingly it didn’t last ) and he’d arranged to hire a couple of bikes and have a day out cycling. I was dreading it, in fact I worried it might kill me off. But much to my astonishment I actually really enjoyed it – I wasn’t fit, but neither was I lugging around masses of extra weight and it felt good being out in the sunshine and the fresh air. So when we came home, although the romance with Mr Muscle came to a sticky end when he nobbled my love of cake, I bought a bike, and got really into it. It didn’t feel like exercise, it just felt like fun and it’s the first time in my life I’ve ever really enjoyed doing something physical.

You want to know where my bike is now? It’s at the back of my garden shed, probably covered in spiders.

I stopped riding it when I piled all the weight back on again. The voice in my head (excuse my language but I refer to him as the asshole because…well, he is) kept telling me how ridiculous I looked as a fat lady balancing on two wheels and how much people would point and stare and laugh when they saw Shamu setting off for a spin, so I put it away temporarily till I lost the weight again, and it hasn’t seen the light of day in the five or so years since.

So if any of you lovely people have accidentally wandered into my blog, you’ll know that I’m a woman on a mission – under all this lumpy topsoil lurks a pair of skinny knees which I am determined to rediscover. I am filled with optimism – the diet’s going well, I’m in the sweet spot right now where my willpower is holding fast and I’m very focused on getting the weight off again. Everyone talks about how it’s important to tackle diet and exercise at the same time, but just how does an out of shape fat girl catch the fitness bug and get fit?

I’ve got to be honest, I’m starting from a really low base here…I’ve got the equivalent of a whole extra person squeezed into this body. All the moving parts work ok although some of them creak a bit and most of them hurt like hell. I’ve got a red-hot poker which resides in my knee, a back which aches constantly and feet which swell up like balloons whenever I stand for too long. Not to mention the asshole voice in my head, who’s really good at reminding me just how big of a mountain I have to climb, and constantly chews my ear about whether all the effort is really worth it.

I’m thinking yes..? Which is why I’m really trying. I try and walk the dog further every time we go out, much to his delight. I’ve stopped choosing the flat route every time - it might take me a bit longer to climb up through the nature trail to the point where we can admire the view (and I might have a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp whilst I’m doing it) but I’m sure it will start to get easier. Baby steps, but steps nonetheless. It’s going to be a fair old while before I’m ready to break out the lycra, but watch out skinny girl, I’m coming to get ya!

Dee is a soon-to-be 50 year old lady who is looking forward to a fully blown mid-life crisis and descending into eccentricity as a skinny girl. Her blog can be found at Break Out the Skinny Girl. She live in Yorkshire, England and works full time; most of her writing is done in the kitchen with the dog at her feet. (The dog has also lost weight since she started blogging/dieting/exercising and is looking forward to getting back into his favourite collar).

The Biggest Joke Food Has Played On Me

Hello! How was your weekend? How’s life? How’s whatever you’re eating right now? (I just finished off the last of the pumpkin puffins.) But before we talk about that, we should talk about PUPPIES!!!!

I went to my parent’s to eat all their avocados, but I had to fight Roxy for them. As soon as they fall from the tree the dogs grab ‘em!

Bailey likes ‘em too but not as much. I think he just get them because Roxy does.

I was sporting my new Shift Con tee.

Then, I got down and dirty with the puppies. They are crazy!

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This morning I set out for a very challenging long run. I’m very ready for the weather to cool down. I only ended up hitting 11.5 miles and they were super slow. My legs and heart are very tired.

Pre-run I had those new pumpkin spice waffles. They are gluten free and super good. I also had Spark and iced coffee.

The morning was super foggy! It looks cool, but wasn’t.

Pit stop for a water refill and bathroom.

After my run I had a MUST HAVE craving for watermelon and grapes. Oh, and salad. Is that weird?

Then, I got ready to go out and get friendly with a bunch of wine. It was a good time.

And there is nothing like getting fro-yo at the end of a long day. Nothing.

The pumpkin fro-yo is really good.

And for the joke of the year…

I found the coveted Pumpkin Puffins at Target last night. And 24 hours later they are gone.

I 100% realized I was going to eat the whole box pretty quickly. I love cereal and it’s my biggest weakness. Sometimes you just gotta embrace the craving and go for it. But I went to throw the box away right now and saw the nutrition info said each box has about 9 servings. NINE. 9. And I ate that in one day by myself. It happens.

Question: What was the BEST part of your weekend? Best food?

The post The Biggest Joke Food Has Played On Me appeared first on Run Eat Repeat.