Listen to Your Body

Hello all my Glisten Girls! (and Guys!)


I learned an important lesson last week that I thought I'd share.  And that's what we're all here for, right? I love watching and listening to other people's life experiences.

Well, these last few weeks I've started a whole new routine that includes moving around my job, fitness, freelance work, eating, coaching cross country... you name it, I pretty much just restarted EVERYTHING.  I'm not gonna lie, it's been rough!
I've struggled all my life in setting a routine and then actually sticking to it.  I am a PRO at making plans and then not following through. (With myself, not with other people.  I promise, I'm totally dependable! LOL)
So you can imagine it's been a little hectic.  One of the things I restarted that I really want to stick with is my T-25 workouts.  It's important to me, not only because it was an expensive motivator, but because I know I can accomplish and kick butt on that workout challenge! Dude, I have come SO far in the last few years.  I know I can do anything I set my mind to.
 
So here's the problem.

I also have the last 1/3 of my Half Marathon training ahead of me.   This is the point in my training where the runs get longer, the runs get harder, and I have to stay focused.  This also means that I take extra care of my body in between these long training runs.  I need to make sure that I'm fueling and hydrating efficiently each day so that when I step outside that door on saturdays, I am good to go the distance.

After completing 4 days of the T-25 workout plus a crazy week of my daytime teaching job and a night  time freelance illustration job... I was pooped!! In my head I started to hear those negative thoughts;

"You can't do this"

NO! I'm not going to let my brain tell me what I can't do! I've worked too hard to just give up on something and I have set my goal!

That thursday night, I just kept thinking about the dreaded double workout scheduled on Friday.  And then jumped to my scheduled 8 mile run the very next morning.  Was I crazy?! I was so tired.  To make matter worse, the fires up in Yosemite have lovingly sent all its contaminated air down into the valley where its been just sitting on top of all of us down here breathing it in. But was I just making excuses? Surely a fire throat, clogged sinuses, and a migraine is a sign I should maybe take heed to?

Finally, I picked up my phone and texted my lovely friend who happens to be my own personal pocket coach.  I told her how I was feeling and the advice that came back was so needed.

"LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!"

She was very stern with me.  She told me that I needed to listen to the signs my body was practically screaming at me.  She explained, (and I don't know why I didn't come to this conclusion on my own), that the Beachbody workouts like T-25 and Insanity and P90X were all put together for clients who don't usually delve deeply into the fitness world.  Of course there are always exceptions to this and we all have to find our own routine.  Each program is set up to be fool proof with a specific meal guide, exercise plan, and Shakeology to assist those who do NOT have a regular fitness plan.

I do.

I have a complicated training plan for my Half Marathons throughout the year.

Can I do both? Of course! but I need to be willing to adjust. What's most important?

At this point, my race is the most important.  I can't go out on training runs and try to prepared for a distance race if I have physically exhausted my body during the week.  I could try... but that's asking for an injury.  No Thanks!

I had to re-evaluate what my goals were.  Yes, I very much want to continue with T-25, but instead of hitting 2 workouts on fridays, I need to incorporate an active rest day to gear up for my run.  For that, yoga is my best friend.  I can still rest my muscles but I get in some balance and strength at the same time.

After my Half Marathon, I can absolutely start up on the 2 workout fridays because my training runs will be back down to shorter distances.  That's an attainable goal for me!

To drive home the point of this entry... Listen to your body!  Everyone is different.  It's ok to have a rest day even if it's not in your schedule.  Sometimes we just need a break.  Find what works for you.


Hope you guys have an awesome week!! Hit it Hard!

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!!!!

I'm an Independent Beach Body Coach!

Hey guys!

I wanted to share a little news with you!

If you have been following along with my fitness "journey" you'll know that I've been involved in the Tone it Up! community for a while now and following their nutrition program.  It's been an incredible resource in knowing how to make clean meals and learning to make better decisions in my food choices.  I've also been following their workout schedules which are posted weekly on their blog toneitup.com and I've seen great results from them.  I'm definitely stronger than I've ever been in my life!

Recently I heard about a new Beachbody program that has come out called T25.  Beachbody has produced a lot of the popular High Intensity workout programs such as TurboFire, Insanity, and P90X. This one peaked my interest because it's a shorter workout time: only 25 mins.  I'm currently restarting my Half Marathon training and need to make time for my long runs - workouts sometimes overlap and I can't complete all of it.  I'm hoping this will allow me more time to get in that high impact workout and still be able to complete my distance training on the weekends.   I will still be continuing with the Tone it Up nutrition program.  It's been working for me and it's a great tool for eating clean.

While looking into the products I also discovered there was opportunity to become a representative of the company.   As I grow in this quest to become more and more fit, it made sense for me to be able to promote some of what I'm using.  I decided to join up and become a Coach!

I've got a lot of research ahead of me as I have no intention of putting my name on something I'm uneducated about.  Products like these dont come cheap and I want to make sure I'm completely knowledgable about them should anyone need more info.

If you would like to follow along with me as I start a new chapter with the T25 challenge (50 days! eep!), I'll be posting on the blog as well as on my Instagram and Twitter.  Username: Anniemcbeth  If you have any questions about anything I'm doing or maybe interested in a different program, just leave me a comment below with your email.  I'll shoot you a message and we can chat :)

Have a great week ahead!!