WORK FOR IT

Ok. I know everybody out there is looking for a shortcut to get what they want. But when it comes to fitness and health, there are only 3 things that matter. Your workout, your diet, and your dedication. That’s all you need! Doesn’t matter if your workout is at home, at the playground, at a gym, with a personal trainer, etc etc. All that matters is that you are getting off of your ass to achieve your goals. So now, time for my rant.

STOP WITH THE FREAKING BODY WRAP CRAP. I have friends on social media who constantly promote the body wrap thing. I personally think it’s stupid. So what you look a little better afterwards. Taking that shortcut doesn’t teach you what you need to get there and maintain it. Take 6 months and work your ass off to get the body you want, and see if you really want to start putting crap back into and lose it. No. Now if you take a couple of days and do these wraps or the latest cleanse or whatever, are you committing? NO. COMMITMENT is KEY. So stop with the fads people!! Realize that there isn’t a magic pill or lotion or serum or whatever the hell you’re looking at to get in shape. 

Now I’m not saying that supplements are a terrible thing. Not at all, I take supplements daily. Multivitamin, CLA, amino’s, antioxidants, a mild thermogenic to get myself up and working out in the mornings, and protein powder. They can most definitely help! But don’t rely solely on supplements alone.

Sorry for the rant, I’m just so damn tired of people taking the easy road and then being disappointed when they are right back to the same size a few months later. It’s tough, you’ll hurt and be sore, but I promise, when you look into the mirror and are happy with what you see, it is most definitely 100% worth it.

It’s Time for a Mud Run! (And some really cute clothes)

Ok, not really. At least not until November. For now, I’m resigned to running in the desert. Which can be really interesting. Take yesterday for example, I scared a herd of cattle. And I see tarantulas. Now, I hate spiders. So that’s never fun. Makes me run faster though. The view are pretty spectacular. That makes it worth it!

Back to the mud run. I AM SO EXCITED TO DO THE WARRIOR DASH! I’ve always wanted to do one, and in November it comes to my hometown! Not only do I get to get disgusting and muddy and dirty (which happen to be some of my favorite things, I am a country, Southern girl by  heart) but I also get to raise money for my favorite charity, St. Judes.

Training is kind of being a pain. I honestly get so dehydrated only running a couple of miles out here. The wind dries your sweat super fast, so you don’t really notice how much you’re sweating. Thank God for a CamelBak. That’s one thing I can’t wait to get back to Alabama. Normal weather (at least to me).

But now on to the cute clothes. GO TO ETSY!! Search motivational workout tanks, and there are some ADORABLE ones. I would post pictures but a company laptop makes that a pain. I can’t wait to get in the one I ordered. Coral, with turquoise print saying “Though she be but little, she is fierce.” It’s always been one of my favorite quotes. (Thank you Shakespeare) They’re are super cute, and how can it not motivate you to workout more by having awesome clothes to do it in?

The dreaded “Cheat” Meal

Alright, so if you’re following me, you know I typically eat paleo. Or as close as possible (I have 5 lb bag of whey protein I’m trying to get through before I buy egg protein, so thats one way I stray off the paleo path) but sometimes, something comes along that I just can’t turn down. Today was one of those days.

Let me start off by saying, I don’t like the word cheat meals. Cheating is a bad thing. Think relationships, schoolwork, sports, etc. So let’s from here on out call them treat meals. Treat for kicking ass and working that butt off, and being dedicated to your diet for the most part. Sounds much better, right?

One more thing, don’t say to yourself, “oh, I worked out really hard today, I can have a milkshake.” No. Bad. Instead say, “My diet has been awesome this week, I’ve worked out a lot, let me treat myself for all of my hard work.” Don’t just have a treat meal or item for one workout, because eventually you will start doing it every day and your diet starts sucking and you stop noticing results, and eventually you stop working out and being healthy all together. And we don’t want to go down road!!

And now the big reveal… What did I have today? It was deliciousness. It was buttery and flakey and sweet and amazing. I had never had one until today, and after laying down tools on a rig this morning and then driving an hour and a half back to town, I didn’t feel like cooking. So what did I get? 

A Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit from Whataburger. 

(I did go workout today as well… but afterwards!)

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Bring out your inner 8 year old!

So, being an intern and never knowing when I’m going to be in the field or at home makes it kind of difficult to join a gym. My solution? Make like an 8 year old and hit up the playground a mile away from my house! I’ve done this twice so far, and woken up pretty dang sore.

What do I do? Well first, I run there to warm up, so thats a mile. Then, I do the following:

5 chin ups (assisted if needed, more if you want!)
20 jump lunges
5 burpees
15-20 hanging leg raises (Bent or straight legs, doesn’t matter, just do what you can)
20 bodyweight squats
5 Burpees
5-10 Pull ups (I do assisted, working my way up)
30 Mountain Climbers
15 Tricep Dips
5 Burpees
Repeat 2 more times

I modified this from the Spartan WOD. If you need some great ideas for at home workouts, it’s an excellent newsletter to sign up for. Just go to the Spartan Race website and sign up.

Trust me! You will be sore! If you want, add more to it. Modify where you want. Get creative, you don’t have to have a gym to get a good workout in!!! Most of all, have fun!

Go out there and play!

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So Freakin EXCITED!!!

Ok guys, I can’t help it. I’m super excited about my new toy. For quite a while now, I’ve been looking at different bands that track your steps, caloric burn, sleep cycle, ctc. MINE FINALLY CAME IN!

I decided on the Up by Jawbone. Mainly because after talking to a few people, they told me that while they loved the Nike Fuelband and fitbit, they seemed to break relatively quickly. Plus, I’ve also heard that the Up’s sleep functions are a lot better.

Straight out of the box, it had about 2 days battery time. So of course I wore it all day yesterday and last night/early morning. It’s really comfortable on my wrist, no more noticeable than the Emi-Jay hair ties I always have on it. 

As you can see, it fits really close to the skin but isn’t tight at all. Setting it up was a breeze, the most time consuming part was getting the lifeproof case off of my iPhone. All you have to do is put it in the headphone slot and the app does the rest! It recorded my steps yesterday, caloric burn based off of moving, I was able to put in the workout I did. All in all, pretty sweet.

The sleep functions are really cool as well. All you do is press and hold a button to tell it you’re going to sleep. Then, it’ll measure when you fall asleep, when you are in deep or light sleep, and even vibrate to wake you up! That part is probably my favorite. The Up will actually start measuring 20 minutes before your alarm, and wake you up during a light sleep cycle in that window. It’ll do the same thing for a power nap, just press the button twice and then hold it until the blue moon comes up, and you’re in power nap mode. It will wake you up between 27-40 minutes, based off of your day so far and your sleep cycle. Pretty nifty application.

OOHH YEAH! It’s water resistant. I wore it in the shower with no malfunction. Not too shabby Jawbone!

So of course, since I went and bought this, I had to go get a couple other fitness related things. Especially for when I’m on the rig, with no access to a gym, playground, etc.

I bought a jump rope (for some form of cardio that’s not running) and a light resistance band. These things are so versatile, if you’re looking for inexpensive equipment and you don’t have a lot of room, resistance bands are for you!

And of course, I made the mistake of walking to the apparel section, where they had every color of Nike Pro sports bra known to mankind. They’re only my favorite all around sports bras. I contained my enthusiasm and only bought the neon coral. It was tough to have that much restraint!

So if any of you have an Up band, Fuelband, fitbit, etc, let me know how they’ve worked out for you!

BREAKFAST!! (at noon)

Soo it’s almost noon. And I just got out of bed and made breakfast. My sleep schedule has been really off since working  nights for 10 days and going straight back to the office the following day. I finally got a chance to sleep in and get a good nights rest. Which, considering I didn’t get to sleep until 3, it was still only 9 hours. Another tip. GET YOUR REST. Sleep is amazing. It can do wonders for ya.

So what’s up for breakfast today?? Eggs, bacon, avocado, salsa, blueberries, and strawberries. Bacon and eggs are my essentials. I actually cook the bacon and then scramble the eggs in the bacon grease. It’s AMAZING. And, since I use organic, antibiotic/nitrate/nitrite free bacon, its not completely terrible for you. Also, it’s completely Paleo friendly!

So here’s a picture of my delicious, healthy fat full, protein packed, pretty Paleo breakfast for ya’ll!

Who am I?

Hi guys! Well, I’m going to keep this anonymous for a while. It’s just more fun that way. I’m sure if you dug deep (ok maybe not that deep) you could figure out who I am. But a little bit about me. Right now, I’m in Texas on an internship. And let me tell you, I am busy!!! Office one week, on a rig living out of a trailer or hotel for 10 days, or traveling, I’m staying busy. And yes, you read that right, on a rig. I work in the oil and gas industry. It’s actually really awesome. I love it!! I’m originally from Alabama though, and I’ll be going back in August to finish up my degree! So no rest for the wicked as they say.

What do I like to do? Cook, run, pilates, yoga, go out with friends, etc etc. Going to start crossfit this fall and I CANNOT WAIT!! The boyfriend has talked me into. He started it and loves it, so how could I resist. I’ll go ahead and tell you, if you’re in a relationship and not working out together, you’re missing out.

So why did I make this? I’ve fallen off a little on working out and eating healthy. Oh another thing about me. I eat paleo as much as possible. Not saying I don’t enjoy Whataburger occasionally (It’s an excellent cheat meal and I’ve become addicted since getting to Texas) but I do my best to stick to it. Somewhere around 80% Paleo 20% not, maybe 85/15. But back to my why. I need a little push. I love talking about fitness. So we’ll see where this takes me! I plan on putting recipes I try, workouts I do, random things about me, etc. Basically this’ll be about my life. So enjoy!!

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