Just a little training update!

Wow, who didn't finish the year out well with blogging?  US!!!  SOOOO SORRY!!!  
While we have been horrible bloggers, we both (Annie and I ) have been doing and are getting ready to do some really neat things!  Annie just got done with a 10K and half marathon (which she is going to post about soon) and I am training for my next triathlon !!!  This time I'm training with Team In Training:  it's a great organization to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I'm so honored to be a part of this team!  

This weekend was the official launch weekend for the tri team!  It has been GREAT!!!  On Saturday, we had our first group training (GT) and Endeavor Cycling.  This is one cool place!  I've been talking about "cadence training" for a long time- or at least thinking about it- but this past Saturday was the first time I actually did it.  I noticed such a difference in my training effort!  Knowing my cadence is so helpful because I feel like it strengthens my training session.  We rode indoors for about 45 minutes, but I was SWEATING FOR SURE!!!  On Sunday, I went for a swim at our local pool.  My day had not gone the best, and I wasn't in the best of moods, and to be honest, I didn't want to go swim.... But when I was having those thoughts, I immediately started thinking about why I signed up for TNT.  I signed up to be a part of something that is bigger than me.  The thought that got me through the beginning of my swim was: "Strickland, you don't really want to do this, but do you think that cancer patients really want to go through another round of chemo, or really want to go through another spinal tap?  NO!!!!  GET YOUR BUTT IN THAT POOL!  DO SOMETHING YOU DON'T REALLY WANT TO DO!  It's not about you!!!!"  Yes, I pep-talk to myself in the 3rd person... :)  Once I got in the pool and started swimming, all my problems "floated" away.  Everything that had been on my mind vanished, and I just swam... 35 laps... Today I went for my first run since Sept.  I was nervous about it, and although i didn't get to do the entire 30 minutes that was required of me today, I did get a mile in... I ended up running that mile in 12 minutes, which I was soooo surprised at (and pretty impressed with myself since I hadn't run since Sept.).  

Through all this, I realized even more, how excited I am to train with TEAM.  Even though I can barely make it through the workouts right now, I know that in 5 months when it is time for my Tri, I'll be able to do these distances with no problem!

Weekend Motivation

Hey Guys!!

I just wanted to stop by and leave a little note of inspiration for you.

Over the last few weeks I've been talking to a handful of friends about their fitness goals.  Many of these goals have been in place for years but were never fully realized.  Why? Why is it so difficult to get to our goal? Why do we feel like we are constantly fighting a losing health or fitness battle?

Sometimes we lose sight of our motivation and our goal.  Making a change is hard!! If it were easy, we'd all be running around in size 0 pants, munching on celery and no one would have ever heard of the word "Diet".  We all wish it was so simple, but the truth is... it's not.  No big surprise, right?  We have to keep pushing and get through those bad days that will inevitably happen.  Let it go. The important thing is to start the next day fresh.

I want to give you guys a challenge this weekend.  There's no deadline or due date.

I want you to think of your main goal and write it down.  BIG and BOLD.  Get crafty or colorful if you want, add some glitter!! Then I want you to surround yourself with positive inspiration and motivation! Find pictures of HEALTHY body types you want to strive after - sorry, most fashion models are not healthy.  Hang up that bikini or little dress you want to fit back in to.  Find fitness or motivation quotes and put them up on your mirror.  Put them up where you will see them everyday and take a few seconds before walking out the door in the morning to remind yourself that you are worth it and you deserve to feel good about yourself.

When I first lost the weight, it was about feeling better in my skin.  I didn't want to feel my stomach hanging over my pants and the tummy aches I would get in the afternoons from my jean buttons digging in when I sat all day in school.   I refused to look at pictures of myself.  I made a deal with myself that I would never weight that much again. That was my goal.

When I finally hit my weight goal (lost 35lbs!), my fitness goal changed! I wanted to be stronger! I saw what I could accomplish when I put my mind to something.

This weekend is the official Disneyland Half Marathon weekend at the Disneyland Resort.  2 years ago, I saw my first RunDisney race and I was hooked.  That became my ULTIMATE goal! I wanted to RUN in a race that took me through my beloved Disney parks! (Did I mention the running costumes and sparkle skirts??)  I trained HARD for 10 months. Starting from 0 and ending at 13.1 miles.

I leave you with this.  Dream BIG. Find your ultimate goal and believe that you can achieve it!! Surround yourself with positive inspiration, motivation, and like minded people. Stacee and I are always here for you if you need a little extra encouragement.  Call us, text us, Instagram us, tweet us! Now we're even on Facebook! (https://www.facebook.com/wakeupandglisten) We've been where you are and we still struggle. And that's okay! :)

My Original Fitness Motivation: To Earn My Wings! 

news and food for thought

Hey guys!  Annie and I have LAGGED on posting, but thanks for sticking with us!  I wanted to update you all on somethings in my fitness life!

A few weeks ago, Annie posted about her becoming a Team BeachBody Coach.  At that same time, I signed up through a friend of mine to join Team Beach Body.  At the time, I just wanted to sign up for a challenge group and see what happens... Now, 3 weeks in, I've decided to also become a coach with TBB!

Here's the deal.  I'm not a professional.  I'm just a gal who is trying to make it on this fitness journey.  Here's the other thing: Annie and I are NOT in competition, but rather partnership!  She's got her sphere of influence, I have mine, and some of our circles cross, but that's ok!  We signed up for T25 at the same time, and started this new part of our journey together.  So, go ahead and contact either of us if you are interested in joining the Team Beach Body family.  We can get you hooked up with a challenge group and start seeing your transformation happen!

The 2nd thing:

I was looking through some photos from the past year, and i found a couple rounds of "before" photos... I realized that I took these photos, longing for a change, but I never committed to anything... I thought I would reach my goals by doing the same old thing... WRONG! (isn't that the definition of insanity?)  But, I compared them to my most recent "before" photo (the one I took at the start of T25) and I can see a HUGE difference.  There is only one word to describe what I was feeling as I took off my shirt to have my friend Sheryl take my before pictures...Humbled.  It was a sign to me, and a commitment to another person.  I have these photos up on my "workout wall" so as I'm doing my daily workouts, and I sometimes have thoughts of "is this really working?  I don't see a difference", I just look at those photos from 2012 and I tell myself- "I may not be where I want to YET, but I'M NOT WHERE I ONCE WAS!!"  And that is encouragement.

So let me leave you with this:
1. just because you may not see daily "results", doesn't mean your body isn't changing.  I don't recommend stepping on the scale but once a week, just to see the fact of what your body weighs...
2. take measurements weekly!  You may not be losing lbs., but i can almost guarantee that you will be losing inches!
3.  find a picture of when you were in the worst shape of your life (or when you weighed the most).  print it out and keep it somewhere that you can use it as a reminder of where you once were, and how you will NEVER go back to that!  It's not depressing, IT'S HELPFUL!!!!

Push through - find your motivation!

As I write this, I'm craving some foods that I haven't craved in a long time.  Today was a day of tougher choices- I had 2 things in front of me for breakfast- cereal or egg... 2 things for a snack - M&Ms or an orange.  It was hard today to choose the orange, but I did.  Why?  because I know it is worth it!

This past week, I bought pants in a size that I haven't seen since junior high.  TALK ABOUT MOTIVATION!  As I did that, I realized that I needed to re-visit my motivations.  I'm motivated by the Word of the Lord, my friends, purchasing smaller clothes, faster times when exercising, reaching levels in exercise that I've never reached before (I squatted more weight this week than ever before too...)


As I stood on the scale last week, and again this week, I have not seen it go down in number, and while I had a moment of discouragement, but then I looked at my mirror and saw a quote from a book called Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst (if you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it).  The phrase I have written on my mirror is this: "Define your week by obedience, not by a number on the scale."  This basically means - did I stick to what I'm supposed to do this week?  If so, this week was a success, regardless of the number on the scale.  So, even though I haven't lost any weight these past 2 weeks, I have stuck to my diet, and (for the most part) diligent to exercise (could have done this more), but I purchased pants in a size smaller and squatted more weight than ever- therefore, it was a successful couple of weeks.

Let me encourage you, don't stress over the number on the scale.  "We can step on the scale and accept the numbers for what they are - an indication of how much our body weighs - and not an indication of our worth." (Made to Crave)

Motivation comes from much more than just seeing the scale go down (don't get me wrong, that is encouraging but it isn't what we should "hang our hat on"), it comes from reaching new milestones in your health journey.

It's worth it!