Family, Fitness, Nutrition...Balance

     As we are bringing in 2018 it is time to reflect on the past year.  What have you accomplished, what did you let go, are you happy with where you ended up?  Can you look back and say I am happy how things turned out, or do you look back and say I wish I made different decisions?      Personally there will always be decisions you make that you wish would have different outcomes.  You chose whatever it was at that time for a reason, you just have to look at the bigger picture now and decide if that reason was truly worth it in the long run?  For me, there are some things I would have chosen differently now.  For one, I would have stuck more to my healthy eating plan, but you know what, sometimes we just need our chocolate and I justify that by making sure I work out more.  Now that might not be the right way to go about things, but for me it worked and it made me happy so that was enough.  That is what I like about li...

Well...as you can tell I have fallen off the blog bandwagon. Life has gotten so busy but it’s my hope with the new year around the corner I can get back at it. Or at least post once or twice a month! So when I last left you I was training for my first half marathon!  Training went well and I felt ready...still very nervous, but ready physically. The morning of the race it was cold!!! 28 degrees to be exact so it took some encouragement to get out of a nice warm car and start warming up!! It took 4 miles before I got feeling back into my toes, but otherwise I was warm and even took my gloves off... so i am glad I listened to the pros about dressing 15 degrees warmer! It's been said things do not always go as planned, and that is true on race day as well.  I was almost to mile 5 and my phone died, or at least I thought it did.  I thought it was because we were in the boonies, but in hindsight I think that it was too cold and just shut off.  So from mile 5 until...

     I get asked this a lot.  Why do you run, how do you like running, what made you begin running?  The list goes on.  I had to take a step back and ask myself that question.  Why do I run?  I run because it clears my head.  I run because it helps me get back into nature.  I run because of my health. I run because I love the alone time, to reflect on the day or life in general.  I run because I love it!  Since I have joined the running community it has opened the doors to a whole new world.  I never realized how big of a community it was and how genuine everyone is and has been. I didn’t wake up one morning and start running miles, I started out slowly.  I’ve had a few people ask me how I started.  Now you either like running or you don’t, or I guess you could learn to like it.  I started by walking, then jogging, then doing a coach to 5k free app on my phone.  I was so scared to run outside because...

     You know how in one of my previous posts I mentioned how I went 6.1 miles, well I thought i would push myself to see how far I could go.  I ended up running 10.1 miles.  Now I was so excited that I didn't think of the consequences it would have on my body.  In the long run, that was a stupid idea!  However, as with everything in life we can chose to learn from our mistakes, and that is exactly what I did and am doing.  After that I had a friend tell me about the nike run club app (  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nike-run-club/id387771637   ) which will help you train healthy for any type of run.  So I have decided to start training for a half marathon!  Yup that is right, you heard me correctly, and yes you are right I may just be a tad crazy!  So this app so far is awesome ( just a few hiccups with the distance and time between that app and my apple watch).  I am able to adjust which days are my run days, but ...

      Everyone knows there is not enough time in a day it seems to get everything we want/need to get done, done. So how do we find that happy balance, and I say happy and not perfect because i don't think there ever will be a perfect balance in life.  We are all getting pulled in multiple directions; kids, work, school, house, fitness, you name it.  Now I am far from finding a happy balance, but I think I am on the right track.  I have realized that if housework doesn't get done, it is okay... the world will not end.  Recently, I have taken a step back every morning when I wake up and write down what I want to accomplish that day.  Now I know from experience to not make that list terribly long because I don't want to set myself up for failure.  I mean come on, I have an 2 almost 3 year old at home and sometimes playing with her is more important than vacuuming and mopping.      I downloaded a free app from Microsoft called To...

When you decide and I mean really decide to change your lifestyle, you don't just say okay I am going to start on such and such of day, or I will begin tomorrow.  That just doesn't work, at least it didn't work for me.  I do not know how many times i said tomorrow, or next week or this date.... The beginning of last year I began to work out more at our local YMCA and explore more of the machinery.  Then it was black Friday and we had been eyeing up the #applewatch for quite some time, but with kids we just couldn't' justify getting one.  Now the sales on black Friday were not excellent but it was still discounted and we decided to just to it.  It would be our Christmas and Anniversary presents to each other.  This was by far the best decision we have made in regards to our health.  I firmly believe that our apple watches have helped us and me to be where I am now.  The first month we didn't do much...

I went back and forth on trying to decide if I wanted to be "the blogger" type.  But as I got to thinking about it, just because I wanted to blog doesn't mean I have to do it to make money, or stress myself out over making posts.  I can make posts on my own time, about things that mean something to me.  So what are the most important things in my life... first off is family of course because without them I am not sure where I would be.  Secondly I would have to say fitness, and this is a recent adjustment for me.  When I was pregnant with my youngest I let my weight and health spiral out of control... fast forward 2.5 years and I finally figured out what I was missing (better late than never). Third there is nutrition which basically goes hand in hand with fitness (healthy lifestyle).  And lastly there is work.  Now it is hard to find the right balance between these four things, and I am still learning how to do just that.  However, since my ...