The One with The Training Plan

First off the fitness giveaway winner is Ashley from Bits N Pieces! She had a super cute blog so check her out! 

If you didn't win it's okay I seriously loved this giveaway so it won't be the only one! 

Speaking of...some sexy blogbishes and I are giving away a Vickie's gift card!! 

Nothing makes me feel sexier than a nice pair of undies that actually match my bra and weren't purchased on the clearance rack at Wal-Mart. 

Kristin :: Britney :: Val :: Brandi

Jess :: Morgan :: Marty :: Alicia :: Candra

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Alright so I've recently talked about how I'm running my first half marathon in May.... yikes.
I have ran this race before but I ran the 5 mile course, and since I decided I'm pretty bad ass I signed up for the half this year...
... insert me shitting my pants here.
I've kind put it in the back of my mind but then my husband went and got me a Nathan Hydration Vest and a foam roller for Christmas
Shit got real.
So I buckled down and figured out my "plan"
I emailed this to a couple of friends who are runners and got their input.
I also emailed this to an EX friend who was going to run a half the same month as me, but then decided she needed to wear her big girl panties, and got a full time job... thanks bitch.
JUST KIDDING  JODI YOU KNOW I LOVE YOUUUU.
Anywho.
I wanted my main focus to be running and increasing my milage, but I didn't want my weights to slip, so I tried to combine the two.
I am going to for-go leg day for the duration of my training because I don't want to risk any over usage injuries.

Here is the break down.

Monday- Hill intervals
Tuesday-Arms
Wednesday- Back
Thursday-Shoulders/ Rest
Friday- Long Run
Sat- Active rest/ Cross train
Sunday- FULL REST DAY. 

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Rest 3/1	3 miles	3 m run	3 mile	Rest	4	Yoga
Rest	3 miles	3 m pace	3 mile	Rest	5	Yoga
Rest	3 miles	4 m run	3 mile	Rest	6	Yoga
Rest	3 miles	4 m pace	3 mile	Rest	7	Yoga
Rest	3 miles	4 m run	3 mile	Rest	8	Yoga
Rest	3 miles	4 m pace	3 mile	Rest	5k	Yoga
Rest	3 miles	5 m run	3 mile	Rest	9	Yoga
Rest	3 miles	5 m pace	3 mile	Rest	10	Yoga
Rest	3 miles	5 m run	3 mile	Rest	10k	Yoga
Rest	3 miles	5 m pace	3 mile	Rest	11	Yoga
Rest	3 miles	5 m run	3 mile	Rest	12	Yoga
Rest	3 miles	2 m pace	2 mile	Rest	Rest	Yoga 5/24

The most important thing for me during this is going to be listening to my body. My end goal is the race so if I feel like I'm doing too much I will cut back in other areas.
I won't skip my long runs
but I may skip a weight lifting day.
I'm open to any and all suggestions so tell me what you think, or what you would do differently.
I had to build it around my work schedule and around my weekends, because above all,
Familty time is Family time.
END. OF . STORY.

I'm excited about our Friday link up because I feel like I have to do this, otherwise I have to show my failure to lots of people haha.
Just that extra push to get me out of bed in the morning.

Let me know what you think??
Did you join the GetupGetMoving challenge last week??
Hop over to my facebook page every Wednesday to get your booty up and moving.
See if you can beat my number.

Guest Post 4- VAL!!!!!

Thanks Candra for letting me take over your blog.. What trouble can I get into?

I'm Val from Fab Chick Gets Fit and I started my journey January 2013. I'm a wife and mother of 2 and when I turned 30 it was time I make a change. I have been over 200lbs for 8 years {since my oldest was born.} So I started with a couple online videos and clean eating. I'm not weighing myself for the month but I'm hoping to be under 200lbs. January 1, 2014 I was 202.8lbs. 

I'm involved in another link up called Follow Through Fridays. It's where we talk about the week and what we've accomplished according to our goals. But I want to take it a step further with this post, yes still talking about my week, but also including the entire journey as well. 

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<a href="http://camoandlipstick.blogspot.com/" title="YFGB"><img src="http://www.fatchick2fitchickblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/follow-thru-friday.jpg" alt="YFGB" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I did really well this week. Stayed on track with my cardio/lifting and I've been following my strict clean eating meal plan. 

{Disclaimer: I rarely eat salads. This is just hilarious to me.}

I didn't wake up a year ago and say "I'm going to follow through." I've told myself that for years. What was it that clicked? I dunno. There wasn't one main thing. It was me seeing pictures at my 30th birthday party, feeling gross, hating that I wore a size 22. Yes, I was one of those people who tried every new diet product then gave up when I wasn't a size 4 in 2 weeks. Side Eye. 

I say all this to say: you MUST find something and follow through. Whether you buy a bikini to wear in a few months or a new pair of jeans. Creating a goal, making a plan, consistency then following through until you reach that goal is what's going to make you keep going and be amazed at your results. The first 30 days for me were ROUGH.   

I wanted to quit, but I promised myself to keep going. I lost around 12lbs and as you can see, a bunch of inches. So this fueled me to keep going. So I did. 

I became more obsessed with MAKING time.

I made some rules:

-NEVER go to bed without at LEAST 15 minutes of some type of workout.

-Don't eat anything that I would regret later. 

-Never go 2 days without working out. 

-Have a SMALL treat on Sundays if I did well the entire week.

A year later, new goals to compete, ups and downs, injuries, craving a big ol cheeseburger for breakfast, lunch and dinner... I'm still going. Why? Because I know I'm stronger than any excuse I used to give myself and because I deserve it. But most importantly for myself and for my kids I want to live a long, amazing life.... so I MUST stick with it for the LAST time and Follow Through. 

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This girl is for real.
She's one of my biggest inspirations.
EVERY DAMN DAY.
When I don't want to get out of bed, I scroll through her instagram, and put my feet on the floor.

Did you follow through this week?
What were your plans this week, and how did you stick to them?

I know I promised my training plan but this guest post was WAY better, so I will throw that up on Monday. PROMISE.

 Link up, hop around, you may find someone who is working on the same things you are!

Guest Post 3- AMY!!!

It's THURSDAY! I love Thursdays, no reason in particular but I just love um.
It's also the third day of my guest post ladies you can read the other two here, and here.
Today is my friend Amy.
She's trying the whole Paleo thing just like I am, so we text each other about how much we miss our cheese.
She's a busy mom with a adorable kids, and amazing hair.
She's also running her second half soon, and fundraising for St.Jude's, any dollar helps!

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Hi dolls!  I'm so thrilled to be guest posting for Candra.  She's my girl.  We've been friends for just a short time, but we've gone over Paleo and other crazy ideas we've come up with to try and lose the gut!!! My favorite was her suggestion to try pan friend bananas with almond butter.  OH EM GEE!  That was like the best thing to touch my mouth during that Paleo diet.  (get your minds out of the gutter!)

Paleo was short lived for me, I decided to carb load for no reason other than because I was missing my damn cheese and potatoes, last Friday, and with the flu invading my house it's been down hill from there.  I'm on a constant yo-yo.  I'm good, pumped, motivated and then some thing will happen that will take over my life and I just lose control.

I need to prioritize.  Prioritize my healthy first.  And that's the plan, soon as I'm done with this flu from hell!  Has it hit you this season? Oy vey!  Dying!  And worse is the kids getting it.  Anyway, you probably don't want to hear about that... you might catch it just reading about it.

So for those of you that don't know me, I'm Amy from The Diary of a Fat Mommy.   I look forward to the day that I can change my name to The Diary of a Fit Mommy!  :)  One day.

In March, I started my blog and weight loss journey and lost about 20 lbs and a ton of inches in 3 months.  After that I hit a major unmotivated phase and it started creeping back.  I've run one half marathon and am running my second this coming Sunday!!!  I'm so nervous, excited, and pumped!

I have some goals that I've set that I plan on nailing over the next 10 weeks, most importantly losing 10 lbs!  I've also decided to start Dr. Oz's 2 Week Rapid Weight Loss Diet after my half marathon, this way I can get things going and kind of detox my system.  Then I will continue with a clean diet, that includes beans and some grains.  I need those in my life.

I feel motivated, I just don't have any energy thanks to the flu.  I have a doctor's appointment this morning, so wish me luck!

What do you do to stay committed?  What are some of your weight loss goals?

Come check out my blog, if you can deal with my crazy.  I'm all over the place, ALL. THE. TIME!

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Don't forget to enter our HUGE FITNESS GIVEAWAY!
 Tomorrow is our Follow Through Friday link up, and Val will be finishing our guest posts!!

Giveaway Guest Post 2- Sami!

My next guest post is my girl Sami. 

She is....well amazing. 

She probably doesn't know this but she inspires me on a regular basis. 

She not only makes me want to better my running, but to remember to run for a cause. 

Last summer I completed her Virtual 5k for Running for Maggie and I met a lot of wonderful people through it. 

If you don't follow her on Instagram yet you should! (@ runsamirun1)

She is always posting things that make me want to get out there and make the day my biotch. 

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First of all, thank you so much to Candra for thinking of me and getting me involved in this giveaway! Love you girl! Also, thank you for letting me guest post for you today! 

Like many other people, I have tried and tried and tried and tried to lose weight. I would always "start" on a Monday and by the end of day, I was craving sweets and would give in. At times, I would make it two days before I caved. 

At my highest weight, 245 (yikes), I was depressed and self conscious about how I looked and what I wore. I hated everything I tried on. EVERYTHING. I never felt comfortable in anything. And I just didn't know what to do anymore. 

Easter 2013 - my highest weight. 245. 

In November 2012, I was telling my best girl and hairdresser, Amy, how much I wanted to start running. She introduced my to Natalie. We became Facebook friends, messaged back and forth and finally decided to meet for a run at 5am. We ran for about 3 weeks together before I started making excuses. Man I used to be the QUEEN of excuses. 

In January 2013, I signed up for the Rockford Half Marathon in May 2013. Unfortunately, I did not train. Didn't do anything. It wasn't until after my birthday in April, did I really decide that running was something I really wanted to take seriously. I switched from the half marathon to the 10k. I am so glad that I did, but, I was so not ready for the 10k either. You can read my recap here. It was a painful and awesome experience. 

I started asking everyone on Facebook if they wanted to go on a run with me. My friend, Kari, started running with me. I introduced her to trails and she helped me get started half marathon training. I decided that I wanted to run a half marathon and raise money for my sister's foundation...the Maggie Bertram Foundations for the Fine Arts. Maggie passed away in a tragic car accident in March 2012. You can read more about that, and, Running For Maggie here. 

I spent all last summer training. I changed the way I ate....I went from eating fast food all the time, to following recipes and cooking at home. I used Pinterest A LOT!! I had the support of my blogger buddies, my Instagram followers and my Facebook friends. I felt like I was unstoppable. 

In September of 2013, I ran the IVS Half Marathon in Peoria with Big Holly, Melanie and Laura and my uncle (cousin) Bill. I can't tell you how excited I was when those awesome ladies said they were going to come up and run with me! My first half marathon was awesome! Such a great experience. The course was crazy difficult, but I did it. I trained and ran a half marathon! It was one of the best experiences of my life. You can read about it here. 

So what advice can I give you? 

Take it slow. Unfortunately, results are not going to happen over night. Womp, womp. Have patience and have faith in your journey. 

Don't cut everything out of your diet. If you want to have an oreo....Ok. Have 1 not 5. I believe that everything can be enjoyed in moderation. 

Find something you enjoy doing. For me...it is running. For you it could be, Zumba, Yoga, lifting, whatever! Get up and get moving! Even if it is for fifteen minutes. It is fifteen minutes more than you did yesterday! 

All of our journeys are different but we all have (pretty much) the same goal......to better ourselves, have more confidence, get healthy and be more positive! 

Work hard, believe in your journey, find something you love to do and start adding some fruits and veggies into your day....you will start to see results and eventually be able to achieve your goals!

Happy Hump Day Loves!

Giveaway Guest Post!

Alicia from Brew Mama is seriously one of my favorite people. We are so much a like it's a cruel joke that we live so far away.
I like to text her and ask if she wants to meet for coffee, or come drink wine on my porch...
She thinks its funny... sometimes.
 We also have our own version of the 5am club.
I text her in the morning and tell her to get her ass out of bed and don't stop texting her until she tells me to STFU.. just kidding she never does that.
But I do send her threatening pictures like this.

And that is why she loves me.
Since I love her so much I know all of you will... so here's my bish.
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Hey everyone...I'm Alicia and I blog over at Brew Mama. I'm a mama of 5, wife and a full time student.  Candra was awesome to let me take over her blog today.  I wanna tell ya about my fitness/healthy journey and how I got started.

 Well first of all...I've done the yo-yo thing, but I'm trying to change that. I'm trying to focus on making working out and eating right part of my daily routine.  It's hard and I've fallen off the wagon a time or two.

 

What I have learned is that..

• Planning ahead is key. It helps me make better choices.   
• Workout
• Food
• Drink lots of water.....I'm trying for a gallon a day.
• Surround yourself with supportive peeps.  Ones that push you and inspire you to do the best you can...through the ups and downs of getting healthy. 
• Use MFP to log your food or write down everything that you consume.  (MFP- brewlovingmama)

Now those are just a few things that I've learned through this process.  You need to find what works for you and motivates you.  

How I got started....

In November, I joined a fitness challenge with the amazing Val from Fabulous Chick Gets Fit...and I stuck with it.  I ate better and I exercised, I was on top of the world...

 

 

 

All of my hard work paid off.  I started December off pretty good too...but then my busy life took over and getting ready for Christmas manipulated my time.  So I put ME on the back burner and got back out of the routine I worked so hard to work towards.  Sound familiar to any of you?  

Life happens but I also have to remember to take a little time for myself and do what makes me feel good...and taking care of myself does just that.  Take one day at a time and if you can't make big changes, little changes also help you work towards your goals. 

Today is a new day for all of us, so lets make it count!

 

Don't forget to enter our Huge Fitness Giveaway..