Category Archives: Health & Fitness

How Did We Get Here?

This is question I believe many people ask themselves at any given point in life. It can apply to fitness, love, friendship, finances, marriage, relationships and parenthood.

A series of individual events, strung together, can lead you down a road that you never imagined walking down.

Is that a bad thing?

No. I don’t believe it is.

As cliche as it sounds, I believe that everything happens for a reason. I believe that people come into your life for a reason, events happen for a reason and what doesn’t kill you, can only make you stronger. You just have to be willing to take on the new role, learn the lessons being given to you and embrace that change can be good for the soul.

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*In an attempt to bring this blog back to life, future posts may not only relate to physical fitness. I feel that this is a journey about getting mentally fit as well, and I’m finally at a point where I am comfortable sharing some more of myself….unsensored.*

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I Deserve To Be Happy, Dammit!

I know my blog hasn’t had a lot of content lately and I know that my tone hasn’t been very positive, but I guess everyone goes through it at some point or another. Depression isn’t fun, but it is a reality.

After falling off the wagon with the Shred about two weeks ago, and hitting a mental low this past week, I’ve decided that I have to get myself back on track with my workouts. I owe it to myself and I’m only cheating myself  by not doing it.

My daily workouts brought me happiness. I felt accomplished after doing them and feeling how strong I was. I mentally had a place to focus energy and they would bring a sense of calm to my day. They were a natural Xanax for me, I suppose.

I need this happiness in my life. I need a place to focus my energy and I need to feel calm.

The weight I have lost over the past few years is my greatest accomplishment, with the exception of the two beautiful children my husband and I brought into this world. What sets my weight loss apart is that I did it on my own. No one could make me work out and eat the proper foods. I had to make the choice to wake up everyday and do what I needed to do to become the healthy person my children deserve.

During the trying times in life, they help me focus and remain a calm, well balanced person.

I know it’s not going to be easy to get back into a groove. I know I have a huge mental struggle ahead of me, but I was strong enough to do it once, so I’m sure I’m strong enough to do it again.

From this moment on, I’m dusting myself off (again) and getting myself back on track….because I deserve to be happy, dammit!

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Something Different For This Blog…

Normally this blog is about my journey with fitness, but I’m changing it up a bit. I am a self admitted slacker in this field lately and was just tagged in this by SpellsBadBarbie from With Glitter In Her Veins.

Hope you enjoy this little change of pace…I’m hoping this will be fun.

The Rules:

  • Post these rules
  • You must post 11 random things about yourself
  • Answer the questions set for you in their post
  • Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
  • Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
  • No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

11 Random Things About Me:

1. I am an only child.

2. I do not know how to walk in heels without feeling like I am going to fall over and break something.

3. I do NOT own a skirt. (Yes you read that correctly)

4. As a child, I dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. (Funny cause I lack a sense of fashion now)

5. Pizza is my favorite meal.

6. I can be a total dork at times.

7. Laughter is the key to my heart.

8. I am currently addicted to jalapeno flavored kettle chips.

9. I actually enjoy long drives by myself because I like the time it gives me to think.

10. Twitter has introduced me to some of the greatest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.

11. Traveling is what I truly long to do.

11 Questions From SpellsBadBarbie:

1. What are your top three favorite books? Right now, I just finished the Hunger Games series and really enjoyed that. I’m also a fan of Alice of Wonderland and the kid in me loves anything Dr. Seuss.

2. What is your drink of choice? If we are talking non-alcoholic, Water. If we are talking alcohol, give me a cold Yuengling Light, please.

3. Who is the one person that gets you? I don’t really get myself right now.

4. If you could choose your last meal, what would it be? P-I-Z-Z-A with a side of Kingy’s chips

5. PC or Mac? Tough call as I use both. I’m gonna plead the 5th here.

6. Describe your favorite day. I’m gonna go with right this minute. I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time. Plus my husband is still alive. (Just kidding)

7. What one song brings back the most powerful memory? “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley. It’s our wedding song and one of the happiest days of my life.

8. If there was one wrong you could right, what would it be? Lack of communication.

9. What is the accomplishment you are most proud? My weight loss. Outside of my two beautiful children, it is the one thing I am truly proud of. It is something I never thought I could do and I achieved on my own.

10. What characteristic do you find most attractive in others? Sense. Of. Humor.

11. What is the one career you would like to try? I thought about becoming a personal trainer last year. I also tried my hand a party planning and enjoyed it.

11 Questions For The Friends I Tag:

1. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

2. What is your favorite childhood memory?

3. List 2 goals you have for this year.

4. What makes you happy, no matter how bad of a mood you are in?

5. Do you have a hobby? If so, what is it?

6. Guilty Pleasure?

7. Name 5 songs on your iPod you would be embarrassed for people to know about.

8. Favorite Movie?

9. Item you can’t live without? (Cellphone is not an acceptable answer…no one can live without them.)

10. What do you currently drive? What’s your dream vehicle?

11. Android or iPhone?

I hope you enjoyed reading this. I don’t have 11 people to tag so feel free to join in and tag me on twitter to read it! @bronc787

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Hello Mojo!

Today marked Day 5 of the 30 Day Shred and I gotta say…I think I found my mojo!

It’s amazing how much your mindset can change in just 5 days.

Before I started the shred I was angry at myself for falling off the workout track. On Day 1 of the shred, I was disappointed in myself because my cardio was lacking and fatigue set it quickly. Today, on Day 5, I could feel things returning to normal.

This morning, I woke up and craved the endorphin rush of a workout. I wanted to get it done early so it wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle of a hectic day. I even made a game plan for the days I have work so I wouldn’t set myself up for failure.

It feels good to be sore again, dammit!

I can also feel the positive shift in my eating since doing the Shakeology Cleanse last week. My sweets cravings are under control and when my sweet tooth does kick in, I look for fruit or a small cup of chocolate almond milk in lieu of a bowl of ice cream or cookies.

After almost 2 months of slacking, I’m looking forward to the next 25 days of the shred and getting myself back on the path to health.

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30 Days To The New “Old” Me

I’ve been off the wagon for too long.

I’ve complained about being off the wagon for too long.

I’ve been sulking for too long.

I’ve become weak and it’s time to snap the fuck out of it.

Yesterday for my #JanPhotoChallenge, I posted this photo as my “something I wore” submission. The photo is of  the jeans I started this journey out in. They were a size 16 and I could barely button them. The jeans on top of them are what I am currently wearing as I type this blog and they are a size 4.

(Go ahead…pass the comment about how it looks like I’ve been spending a lot of time on my knees…everyone else did.)

The person who accomplished that goal was not weak. She was not a quitter. She didn’t make excuses and did things that people told her she couldn’t do.

I don’t know how I began to doubt myself, how I became so negative or how I gave up on myself, but today that has to all change. I have to do this for myself and for my own sanity.

As of today, I am doing Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Shred again. There is no reason why I can’t find 20 minutes a day to complete these workouts and get myself back into a groove.

So, here’s to the next 30 days of my life, where I will pull my head out of my own ass and find the spark within myself to reach new heights.

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*Thanks coach for pointing out my negativity to me during our brief conversation the other day. You made me take a deeper look and hopefully nudged me back into gear.*

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Shakeology Cleanse 2012 – Day 3 and Results

Well…it’s official…I’m DONE with the cleanse!

Yesterday was day 3 and I changed things up a bit. My husband was off from work and wanted to go out for lunch so I had my salad and grilled protein then, instead of for dinner. I actually felt better doing it this way and had even more energy throughout the day than I did waiting until dinner time to finally have some real food.

My morning started off like usual. Glass of water, iced coffee (black of course) and a shake. Lunch was a grilled chicken fajita salad and water. I did indulge in some fresh chips and salsa, I have zero guilt about this as they are my favorite and it’s not everyday that I get to have them. Dinner was another shake as was dessert for the night.

I definitely slacked on my water intake yesterday and I think it showed on the scale this morning with only a 1 pound loss, although I have ZERO complaints about my results from this cleanse. I can honestly say my sweets cravings are almost gone, my impulse urges to eat have diminished and I don’t feel as bloated and gross as I did on Sunday after the holiday cookie/food binge that took place this year.

My final results are as follows:

I lost a total of 6.5 pounds, half an inch lost 2″ above the belly button, 3 inches lost at the belly button and 1 inch lost 2″ below the belly button for a total of 4.5 inches lost.

I plan on sticking with two shakes a day for the rest of the week and then settling in a new workout routine on Monday.

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Shakeology Cleanse 2012 – Day 2

I know I’m a little late on this blog and I had full intentions on doing it last night but I had something come up.

Yesterday was Day 2 of my cleanse and it honestly wasn’t that bad. I woke up and headed for the scale to see what impact Day 1 would have on the number. I was down just about a pound and somewhat disappointed because the first time I did this, I lost 2lbs the first day. I quickly got over it and realized a pound is a pound and got my day started. To my surprise, when I took my measurements, I was down on all three numbers! This further proves that the scale does not tell the whole truth.

Meal one was a glass of water, iced coffee and a chocolate Shakeology. I was very full after this and had to force myself to have “lunch” today. I drank a ton of water again which resulted in me spending most of my day in the bathroom, but I think my body just adjusted quickly to what was going on. I was very hungry around dinner time but once I was around food, my appetite went away so my meal was actually very small.

While I didn’t do a workout today, I had plenty of energy and didn’t feel as tired as I did on day one.

I’ll admit, I totally forgot to drink my two cups of green tea and I might have had a teeny, tiny piece of Entenmann’s Ultimate Crumb Cake, which my husband brought home the night before not realizing I had started the cleanse. However, upon stepping on the scale this morning, that teeny, tiny piece of cake didn’t matter anymore as I lost 4lbs! Crazy right?! I also went down again on all three of my measurements!

Day 3 has already kicked off for me and I’m sipping my first shake of the day as I type this. Hopefully if time permits, I’ll have another blog post tonight…if not, Day 3 and my results will be a joint blog tomorrow.

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Shakeology Cleanse 2012 – Day 1

I woke up this morning and decided to move my Shakeology cleanse start date up one day.

If you do not know what Shakeology is or what the Shakeology cleanse is, please click here. You can also check out my first experience with the cleanse and see what my results were.

I am not sure why I decided to do this and as the day progressed, I regretted the move more and more.

You see, it’s Sunday, and Sunday equals beer, pizza, some form of salty snack in a bag and usually some ice-cream during the 8pm game. Not the ideal health food, but hey, I like certain things and I understand that I’m holding my progress by indulging in them. Don’t judge me.

I started my cleanse with my usual cup of iced black coffee, a glass of water and then my first of three chocolate Shakeology shakes. I felt great after this meal and I was grateful I slept late because it meant a shorter day and hopefully less hunger.

Shortly after this meal, I went into my fridge and remember there was a whole entire pizza pie in there. PIZZA! If you know me, you know my love of pizza. I was officially miserable and tried to avoid the fridge for the rest of the day.

I busied myself with a 20 minute workout on the stationary bike, taking down all of the Christmas decorations both inside and outside of the house and watching football. The problem with watching football was that it made me want pizza….sigh…it was like the book “If You Give A Mouse a Cookie”…and an obvious sign that I was once again hooked on foods I shouldn’t be hooked on.

I decided the cravings meant it was time for lunch so I prepared my second shake of the day and I had a banana with it. It was good…but it wasn’t pizza. Can you say one track mind?

In between shakes I drank tons of water which meant I went to pee about a million times. At least it gave me something to complain about besides the fact that there was pizza in my fridge. *sigh*

Dinner time meant food. REAL FOOD! I prepared a pork roast, steamed veggies and potatoes for the family. I had my green tea at this time along with a large helping of steam broccoli and lean pork, a long with some spinach. It was heavenly, mostly because I couldn’t sip it through a straw.

As for shake number three? I’m currently sipping it as I write this pity party blog. It’s another chocolate shake (I loathe the greenberry stuff) and I added some frozen black cherries to it.

Be sure to keep out for my blog tomorrow! I will report any weight loss, if there is any as well as any measurement changes.

If you have done the Shakeology 3 Day Cleanse before or if you are doing it now, I would love to hear about your experience.

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So Long 2011!

I have never been so happy to say goodbye to a year as I am to say goodbye to 2011.

This past year has been a downward spiral for me.

I started off really strong with Round 3 of P90X, meeting Tony Horton and plans of studying to become a personal trainer. I am ending this year with sporadic workouts that I can count on one hand over the past 60 days, no personal trainer certification and a feeling of failure.

I’m not sure what happened, where I went wrong or what caused me to derail in the manner I did. All I know is that I have the power to correct it. I just have to get my head cleared and focused.

I am heading into 2012 with hope and determination. I am hopeful that I will find my passion for fitness again and I’m determined to get myself back on track.

My plan as of right now, is to do a Shakeology 3 Day Cleanse (which sucks and I’m gonna blog each horrid day of it) starting January 2 and then settle into a 3 day a week workout routine. I don’t want to jump in a commit to a 90 Day program right away. I need to ease back into the disciplined mindset and take baby steps like I did when I first began this journey.

So, farewell 2011….you sucked and I won’t miss you at all. There were very few good moments to you and you will not be missed.

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All I Want For Christmas Is…Motivation.

…..is MOTIVATION.

As you can tell by the lack of blogs here, Yes, I am still in my fitness rut. I guess after going so strong, for so long it was bound to happen. I burned out and lost focus.

After a month of not doing any workouts at all, I finally started back up this week...but not with any particular program…I just can’t seem to decide on one. However, my nutrition has been pretty good...not stellar…but good enough to maintain what I have achieved and even notice some fat loss around the midsection.

So…Santa, if you read this blog, all I want for Christmas is my motivation back…and a Mophie Juice Pack Plus for my phone.

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