Find the "why" behind your "what", and the the "how" will come.

Hey guys-

Stacee here-

I've been racking my brain trying to decide what to post first, and while I am going to cover a lot of things, including gluten, I felt like I needed to start with 2 passions of mine- cycling and Jesus. Please don't stop reading just because of the name of Jesus. He is a major part of my health story. As I wrote in my first post, I was almost 200 lbs in high school. I was able to drop some of that through my college years, but I still was never happy. I lost my "why". This past year, I've started the journey again on finding it...

Weight-loss starts in the mind and spirit. You must get to a place where you are determined beyond all doubt that you will stick to it. I never, truly, had that determination. It wasn't until my mindset was changed that i started losing the weight. For years, I told people that I was giving my weight-loss/health journey to The Lord, but that was a lie. I never really thought that God cared about the small things in my life like health. Here's the thing... HE DOES!!!! He has created our bodies to function at a certain weight and way. When I finally realized that, and asked God what weight HE wanted me to be at, the journey became so much easier! And, knowing that "number", actually freed me from the scale! It became a journey towards health, not just a nice body. Now, don't get me wrong, I am still concerned about the number and what I look like, but it doesn't consume my thoughts. Honestly, I'm still struggling through this, but I am trusting The Lord to help me with this.

The other thing that really helped to kick start my journey is finding something that I loved that would give me a good cardio workout... CYCLING!!!! Y'all, I'm obsessed with it. In 2010 I participated in my first triathlon, and when training in the cycling portion, i got sucked in!! It has sucked living in the south where it is could during the winter (unlike so cal), so I haven't been able to ride all winter, but, I just rode for the first time this spring! My heart is so happy! I did 5.5 miles and it was great fun! I could tell that I got a little it of shape this winter, because hills were way harder than I remembers in the fall... :) cycling provides a time for me to spend some good time with Jesus. I take to the back country roads of Tennessee, iPod in my ears and I just ride. It's glorious, and sometimes, I forget I am working out. The great thing about cycling is that there is so much to learn about it and how to improve (sorry-another bunny trail, I'll save that for another post).

I guess the point of this post is this: you have to find the "why" behind the "what", and the "how" will follow. Far too often, we jump straight to the "how will I accomplish this" instead, we need to first figure out they "why" behind our journey to health. For me, it is about way more than just getting to a "good number" or fitting into a certain size; it is about complete whole-ness (mind, body, spirit). I'm finding out my "why" even now. I've been going through a small period of time where I have had practically no motivation, but The Lord is gracious in helping me, I've been able to identify quite a few mindsets that have been preventing me from attaining the health .. (I'll cover all my "how's" in another post). Over the past 3 weekends, I've run two 5k races and the weather finally started cooperating and I was able to get out on my bike this past weekend and did 21 miles!!! These past 3 weeks (and nice weather) has kick-started a flame within me again to get out and exercise!!

Here's the deal-
God loves you so much, so much that He became man in Jesus Christ, He lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died, in our place. Three days later, He rose from the dead, proving that He is the Son of God and offering the gift of salvation for all who repent and believe the gospel.

Because of that, if we accept Jesus and submit our lives to Him, then we will succeed. I'm not promising a life of ease when you accept The Lord, but I am promising that you will never be alone, no matter what journey you are on. This journey towards health has not been easy but I have comfort in knowing that I am not alone in it. Not only do I have The Lord but He has also brought great friends, like Annie, along side of me to walk (or run) this journey with me.

Be encouraged though. You are not on this journey alone... Please contact us if we can help you in any way (mind, body or spirit).

Annie's Journey, Part 2: How I became a Runner

Hi Guys!

Hope you all have had a fabulous week so far, it's Friday!!!

Today I'm going to go into how I became a runner. As I'm sure you've picked up from previous posts, I have no Athletic background. In fact, I'd classify myself as a band geek and theater nerd LOL but that's another story.

If there's one thing you figure out about me, it's that I LOVE Disney! Yup, I'm that girl. I will do anything if it has some tie in to Disney... including running.

I'm going to back up a bit and tell u a little of my running background before all this.
But wait! You just said you weren't athletic!
You're right, I'm not. Haha but I did for one year in high school decide that I was going to join Track and Field.
I actually "trained" for Track and Field by joining a club cross country team that my friend's dad coached. I definitely got in shape but I gave out minimal effort and was always the last to finish. Everything. When T&F season hit, I was pretty much over it after a coach (specifically my high jump coach at the school) showed little effort in helping me or anyone else actually succeed in the event. He had more interest in being on the phone with his business during practice than dealing with us. After the school year ended I said good bye to sports and advanced in my music, theater, and art classes.

Fast forward to January 2012. My cousin who's an avid runner had asked me numerous times before if I wanted to ever go running with her. Usually my answer was a laugh and a polite no. By this time I had lost the weight and was feeling pretty good, but I had also noticed that I didn't have any muscle definition. The diet had melted away a lot of my muscle mass with the fat. This is a normal reaction when your body drops weight, which is why it's important to combine BOTH diet and exercise.
One day i got a text from her saying that she needed a driving buddy down to Orange County. She had signed up for the inaugural Tinkerbell Half Marathon! Promising me that it wasn't a trick to get me to run she asked if I would go down with her and check out the expo at the hotel before her other running buddy arrived. All the while full well knowing I'd have a hard time passing up a chance to experience something new at Disneyland. She hooked me.

If you want to see photos from the Tinkerbell Half, I have a similar post on my Disney blog here

Long story short, I was completely sucked in to the whole RunDisney movement that weekend.  Even though I wasn't running, everything, including the expo, was extremely exciting and all the merchandise... all the merchandise!  Did I mention the medals?!

The morning of the race my cousin had to be at the start line suuuuuuuper early in the morning.  With Disney races, the entire race route in the parks has to be cleared and cleaned before the parks open to the public.  Disneyland opens at 8am.   Disneyland park is not the start line.  This means crazy early call times!
We had set up a system where she would text me when she got within a couple miles of the finish.  Standing there watching all the runners come through the finish line before her was so inspiring! I saw a lot of people that looked like my level of fitness finishing the race! Not only were they finishing at a great time, they were finishing with huge smiles on their faces!

It was at that point I said to myself.... "If they can do it.... why couldn't I?"


That was all it took.


The next month the 2012 Disneyland Half Marathon registration opened up and I was among the 17,000 runners who signed up.  A few weeks later, I joined a local running club, got my feet fitted for the right shoes, and worked my booty off training for my upcoming Half Marathon which was months away in September.

It was one of the most fulfilling days of my life when I crossed that finish line.  It changed me.  It changed the way I feel about myself, the way I fuel my body with food for training, and the way my body works and feels now.  I honestly can say that Disney - RunDisney specifically - changed my life.

I wrote up a post on that day.  You can check it out here: Disneyland Half Marathon 2012

I hope that this post inspired some of you on getting into shape or finding something that you're passionate about.  Fitness doesn't have to be going to the gym and facing miles on a treadmill in the same 4 x 4 square all year long.  Find something that you enjoy doing and work your fitness into that!

I think I'm stuck on RunDisney races for the rest of my life LOL My same cousin and I are planning a year's worth of Disney races for 2013! It includes the Coast to Coast challenge (Disneyland and WDW) and hopefully the Dumbo Double Dare challenge at Disneyland. Can't wait!!


Hope you all have a great week and let's work to stay inspired!

What got you started getting in shape?

I'm coaching a Track Team!

Hi Guys!

Hope you all have had a great week so far :)

As the title of this blog suggests, I've had an incredible opportunity arise within the local school district this spring. During the week I usually work in a couple different schools teaching music, art, and sometimes drama technique.
Well this year, just before winter break I was approached by our Learning Director if I'd be interested in coaching.  First she asked if I played any sports... to which I made a funny noise and laughed.  No, I do not play sports, but I do run!
Well, I guess that was a perfect answer because with the next breath she invited me to be part of the school's track staff! At first I was a little hesitant because I've never done anything like that before.  I didn't even have very much experience working with coaches themselves! After a week or so, I had come to the conclusion of Why Not?  I knew what I do to get myself trained, although maybe slightly modified, it would be the same for these kids.
I accepted! :)

I've spent the last few weeks watching training videos and trying to remember all the drills and events I participated in while in Track during High School.  It was very unsettling realizing how many years had passed since then... *shudder*

We started this week and it's been going really well!  I actually got some feedback from parents that the kids had invited friends to join because it "was so much fun!!" How cool!
One thing that I've noticed while teaching my particular subjects is that if you can make the content relatable, they tend to pay attention more.  For instance, yesterday in class I dropped an F word.

*gasp*

You said what?!?

yup.

I said FACEBOOK!

I'm telling you, if you're in a noisy class you can't get the attention of, just start a sentence with the words... "So I was on facebook this morning..." and SNAP! All eyes on you!

Anyway... :) In the workouts, I try to use language that they'll remember for each drill.  I have a work out that I do with Tone It Up that's labelled "Wild Child".  It  involves all kinds of jumping around and being, well... wild! So I used it on my kids this week and they remember which drills go in that work out because of it!
They also love doing Booty Kicks and I nicknamed a type of ab drill the "Spiderman tucks" - it involves a push up position and lifting knees to either side like spiderman does when scaling a tall building.

It's definitely going to be a challenge over the next few weeks to get them in shape and in gear for different events.  Like I hinted at before, I've been out of the Track & Field scene for quite some time.  I have to make sure technique and form are right on events I don't have a lot of experience with as well.  But I have to tell you, this week has been fun.  I'm glad I signed on to it and if I can get kids excited about running and being in a sport that involves constant daily training, it makes me feel like I've made a difference.  You never know you you're affecting.

I'll keep you posted on how far we get in the season.  The first meet is in about 3 weeks and after that it's all about who continues to qualify.  We'll See!

Annie's Journey, Part 1: How I lost the Weight

Hi Everyone!

For my first solo post, I thought I'd go into a bit more detail on where I began.

In our introduction I talked about not wanting to look at pictures of myself from my sisters wedding.  In all reality, I wasn't a contestant on the Biggest Loser.  I wasn't morbidly obese or so heavy that I couldn't perform daily tasks normally and in comparison to some who have made incredible weight transformations, I might not be the most motivational.  BUT a problem we all share together is our change in self esteem when things like weight or appearance go south.
I think the moment it really hit me about my weight was when I no longer felt comfortable to go all day in my largest sized pants.  I would squeeze into them, wear a bigger shirt, and by the end of the day my stomach would hurt so bad from the pressure, I would start to feel sick.
At the time, I was on my own so the food I was eating (and could afford) was the favorite of us all,
#1 Cheap
#2 Easy
#3 Completely processed

It's not a good combination.  I found myself going to Old Navy and buying 2 pairs of cheap larger sized jeans because I refused to spend more money on my "fat pants".

But that was the kick in the "pants" (see what I did there? haha!) I needed to get myself back in gear.

Then came along a little book.  Surprisingly, we found it at one of the local Dollar Stores.  (I'm pretty sure there's about 20 of them within the city limits - crazy!) It was called...

The F-Factor Diet

This diet plan really changed my life and how I look at food.  It's a pretty easy read and the author, Tanya Zuckerbrot, is able to explain nutrition and food in very simple terms.  If I can get it, you can get it!

So what does the F in the title refer to?

In this diet/nutrition plan, the F stands for Fiber.

Fiber?? Isn't that what old people drink when they can't poop?

yes.

BUT we all need fiber in our diet! It's not just for the older generation.  Every person is reccomended to get at least 30-35g of fiber in their diet per day.  How much do we typically consume? About 10ish.
Basically, fiber acts as an absorber to a lot of the calories we eat such as sugar, fats, and carbs.  It's like a sponge food that contains ZERO calories.  It also helps you feel full longer!
When you up your fiber intake with fresh whole sources, we're not talking fiber powders or tablets here, you end up eating negative calories!
Now this doesn't mean you can still eat pizzas, french fries, hamburgers etc along with those fiber sources and start to shed pounds.  You still have to adjust your eating habits along with the increased  fiber intake. If you have a sensitivity to high fiber foods, you can always ask your doctor about slowly increasing over time.
The diet has 3 phases you go through that starts with limited carbs for 2 weeks - sort of like a detox, then adds more in while you lose weight a little slower, and once you hit your goal weight, it adds a lot more back in.  It's NOT a Carb-free plan!
* If you guys want to check out more on the diet and what it involves food wise, click the link right below the picture to go to the book's webpage.* 

The book contains pages in the back with journal samples to keep track of your carbohydrate vs fiber intake as well as an extensive recipe section.  Let me just say, NONE of these recipes were bad! All of them had great flavor and are still in my weekly food rotation :)


Now, while I definitely recommend this type of diet plan over a lot of other choices out there, I do have some things I want to discuss that I didn't like about it.

#1 - It does not have a fitness or workout plan built in to it. 
After I lost the weight, I realized I had lost a lot of muscle tone with it.  That happens when you have drastic weight loss.  Your body reserves the fat stores and burns the muscle you're not using.  If I had known that going into it and made sure to do workouts, some adjustments would have been needed for carb intake.

#2 - Living in a farm area, some of the food was difficult to get.
 This plan relies on a specific type of fiber crackers for snacking and parts of meals that I can't regularly get where I live.  I'm not about to drive 45 mins out to get them or pay to ship crackers that cost $1 each.
We were able to find high fiber alternatives like tortillas and ate a LOT of veggies and almonds.

Those were my two biggest concerns as far as negatives on the plan.  However, they're easily worked around if you know about them and plan ahead.

On this diet plan I lost 10 lbs the first two weeks during the detox period.  I had to cut out a lot of carbs, all my soda, and sugar.  I think the sugar was the hardest part.  As a major sugar-holic, I went through tough withdrawals.  Headaches, cravings, irritability, etc.  It was no fun! But after a few months your tastes start to change. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE me some candy and cupcakes! But I can only have a small amount now before I get sugared out.  Which is a good thing!!

Over the next 6 months, I dropped another 25 lbs slowly and correctly. I felt so good!  The food and recipes in the book are delicious and I started looking at what I was eating differently.  I could see what my good choices were and what I should probably avoid when eating out.

I have to credit the F-Factor to my now healthier lifestyle.  It just made sense.  l have absolutely no desire to go back to the way I felt when I was eating badly and not exercising.

Again, here's the link to the book's website: The F-Factor Diet

Please remember that this is not a lose-weight-fast diet plan.  You will never be successful long term on a fast weight loss diet.  You do have to work to make the right choices.  You do have to fight through those carb and sugar cravings. You do have to look at yourself in the mirror every day and say I want  to change these bad habits.

I think the reason I was successful using this diet plan, is because it was simple to understand, I could comprehend how it was working to shed the weight, and each step was laid out for me what I needed to do.  It was like a cheat sheet on an exam.
There will never be a diet better than good food and exercise.  Other than focusing it's attention on specifically your fiber intake, this plan teaches you the importance of choosing the right foods. Just be sure to add in your own fitness to it if you plan to try it.

If anyone has anything to add or has questions on this particular diet plan, please let me know either in the comment section or you can ask me on twitter - Anniemcbeth :)

A Little Bit About Us

Hi Guys!

This is the first post of what we hope will be a compilation of a ton of useful information and a source of good positive experiences of 2 beginners when it comes to getting into shape. Please follow along with us as we begin this journey of healthy living and pursuing an active lifestyle. 

Let the Good Times Roll!

I grew up in Southern California most of my life and was very active in the arts. You name it,  I probably took a class.  Art, music, theater, photography, etc.  Besides one brief year in a club Cross Country team and Track & Field, the closest I got to a team sport was Marching Band.  Yup, I was one of those.. 

Anyway! I went through college pursuing my art degree in Illustration (if you'd like to check out my illustration blog, click the link: illustratedbyanniehobbs.blogspot.com) and had no interest whatsoever in any kind of outdoor activity or sport.  I was completely content sitting at my art desk painting and drawing.  As you can probably guess... I packed on the freshman 15.  And then more so. After I graduated, I was able to find an office job working full time - you can imagine what that added to my waistline and my overall fitness level.
Fast forward to 2010, I had a different office position but I was still working full time. My sister had gotten married and I avoided looking at any of the wedding photos I was in. I had gained about 40lbs and 2 sizes since graduation.
That year was a turning point in my quest to make healthier choices. My dad and I had a conversation about the amount of weight we had gained. Right there we made a decision. We were going to change. By following a diet plan in the book "The F-factor", (I'll go in to detail on that in another post) in less than a year both of us dropped about 40lbs by simply changing our eating habits!!
This last year I was coaxed to begin running with my cousin. I had lost a lot of the weight but I had also lost some muscle mass. I needed to build that back up. I spent all of 2012 training with a team to run a Half Marathon. Now I've completed 3 Half Marathons and am currently signed up for at least 2 more!!
My life has completely changed and I feel so much more confident in myself because of it. Im not a small girl, I'm 5'10'', so I'll never be a size 2 LOL but I am proud of the work I have put in. I cant wait to see what else I can achieve through healthy eating and continuous training the right way!

I also grew up in Southern California, but unlike Annie, I was not so active in the arts, rather extremely active in athletics.  I played anything and everything you could think of, especially if it had a ball... Basketball, Baseball, golf, tennis... Pretty sure I was born with a ball in my hand.  Don't get me wrong, I love to be creative (I'm a photographer and you can check out my work on my blog), but movement is my thing!  I have played basketball since I was 5, and in the offseason, I would play anything else!!  

I've been active my whole life, yet I was still not healthy.  In high school I was close to 200 lbs. and I couldn't figure out why!  Bottom line is that even though I was active, I wasn't worried about my nutrition.  Let me tell you, if you dont partner nutrition with the right kind of exercise, you won't really see success (that's for another post, another day).  As I went through college, I continued to eat poorly and play rec softball, occasionally I would go to the gym.  I've never had a desire to run, just to run.  For me, running need to be accompanyed by a ball- run the bases, run up and down the court... but in 2008, I moved to Spring Hill, TN and my roommate convinced me to start training for a 1/2 marathon... CRAZY!  

So I did... I ran in my first 5K, and then I got to 8 miles, and I injured myself. BUMMER!  I finished that race from the sidelines (again another post).  After that, I kinda lost my passion for running- however in 2010, I trained for my first triathlon.  This is when I fell in LOVE with cycling.  Every since then, I still play athletics, but cycling has stolen my heart as my favorite thing to do. During that race, I ended up breaking my heel, so that took me out of the triathlon season for 2011, and then in Dec of 2011, I had knee surgery.  What was one thing that got me through rehab?  My bike... I knew that I needed to get back on my bike, and soon.... Sept. of 2012 I did a 25 mile bike race, and I'm currently signed up for another 5K, and I'm planning on doing a Bike race around Tennessee this fall!  I'm not the 200lb girl I was in high school, but I'm definately not at the healthy place I know the Lord has designed my body to be at. I've made poor choices and it's time for a change!  Sure, do I have some physical goals to reach?  YES, but ultimately, it's not about what my weight is, or how much muscle I have (which I want a lot of), it's about overall health!  

Are you ready to join us on our adventure?!!  Here we go!!