New workout will be up on Jan 2nd.  I will be doing Front/Back splits again.  3 sets x 3 circuits with 3 exercises in each circuit plus a cardio minute between each set of exercises.  It is not finished yet, so I thought I would see if anyone had a favorite exercise that they did not want me to leave out.  Let me know.

My new routine starts Monday, so I will be right there with you trying NEW things.  Let’s give it our all to make 2012 be our healthiest and fittest year EVER!:)

Your future starts NOW!

The last week has been a little rough.  I am not going to beat around the bush, I have eaten SO badly the last few days, that I am not feeling so great at the moment.  Unbelievable how badly my body reacts to sugar and processed foods these days.  So…this week I work on getting my body back on track and flushing all this toxic sludge out of me by drinking extra water and eating as clean as possible.  And I am writing down my 2012 plan.

Do you have a plan?

I, through this blog, can maybe help with planning some workouts,  giving nutrition advice (from my experience only-I am NOT an RD), and I can be here for support.  But YOU have to do the work!  YOU have to love yourself enough to give yourself the gift of health.  I want it for each and every one of you SO BADLY!  But MY wanting it will never be enough.  YOU have to want it for yourself!

My instructor at Legacy Martial Arts, Mr. Bentley, has a motto….”Train HARD!  Fight EASY!”  I may not be a fighter, but in my fight for what I want in MY life, I take that to mean be prepared by putting in all the HARD work, and the rest will EASILY fall into place.  For me, that means eat well, and workout in a way that keeps me toned, tight, and my heart in great shape, so that the diabetes and heart disease that is inevitable in my life by genetics maybe doesn’t have to be so inevitable!  Don’t sit back and wait for life to be what you want(or don’t want).

PLAN!  DO THE WORK!  BE PREPARED!  AND GO FOR IT!

Easy doesn’t come easily.  Some people who work hard make it look easy.  Did I lose and keep off over 100 lbs?  YES!  Was it EASY?  NO!  I worked VERY hard and STILL do to this day.  I may not belong to a gym, but I workout in my garage 4-5 days a week and do classes at Legacy 2-3 days a week.  I am still not where I want to be, but I am determined, and 2012 IS MY YEAR!  I have my plan in my head, and most of it written out on paper in great detail.  Now it is about time to put the wheels in motion:)

So…my advice for a first step is forgiving yourself for your past!  You can’t change it, but you can make your present productive and your future what YOU want!  NO REGRETS!  In fact, I read just the other day that “Today’s excuses are tomorrow’s regrets!”  Put yourself in a better place NOW!  And by that, I don’t mean that you have to go out and jump in with both feet and be 100% all the time!  I live by the 80/20 rule.  We are, after all, only human!  But make a plan and be ready to work for what you want.

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I also want to take this time to give some mad props to two people who have helped me along the way in my weight loss journey who can now help us all!

Most of you reading this know that I had some great experts to ask help of along the way of my journey that were part of the Biggest Loser Club Online.  Two of them were Michael Scholtz and Greg Hottinger.  And the two of them have wrote a wonderful book that if you read it, it will be evident that I learned many of my methods and views from them.  The book is called Coach Yourself Thin.  You can find the book along with reviews and more that they offer on their website, www.novowellness.com  The book is wonderful and deserves to be on everyone’s MUST READ list this.  The exercises in this book are geared towards weight loss and health, but they really are SO MUCH MORE than that!  Thank you to Greg and Michael for helping me get to the place I am so that I can hopefully pass on what I have learned and help others reach for their dreams and goals.

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“A GOAL IS A DREAM WITH A TIMELINE!”

Make your dream your reality!  Just spend all the time you used to spend WISHING you had the answers actually FINDING the answers and PLANNING your timeline to reach your goal!

This week is going to be pretty busy, so if I don’t make it in, I will see you in 2012 with a new workout!

Christmas time is upon us:)  How did that happen!?!?  I am NOT ready.  Actually, I don’t have that much to get “ready” so to speak, I just don’t seem to have my same Cheery Christmas mood as I usually do.  It just doesn’t seem like it is here yet.  Now am I ready for a new year?  YES!  I have big plans for me and my body for 2012.

Here are my goals:

To train for and run my second Illinois Marathon.  Hopefully as fast or faster than I did it last year.

To get as lean as possible by eating a VERY clean diet and training HARD!

Run 3 days a week, including long runs on Saturdays.

Cross-train 2 days a week(will usually be Zumba and FIT class)

Strength train 4-5 days a week.

Take one day a week OFF completely!

Little to NO alcohol during my training.

NO refined sugars!

Get at least 6-7 hours of sleep EVERY night!

After Bridge The Gap to Health half-marathon on May 12, 2012, re-evaluate and decide just how far I really want to go with fitness in my life.  Continue just for me, or maybe helping others more? A new career maybe?  We shall see what 2012 brings:)

One more goal I have is to blog here more in 2012.  Hopefully I will be posting some great progress on my part AND supporting you all as you progress too:)

So…what are your goals for 2012?

Sorry I have been MIA the last couple weeks!  I can’t seem to catch up with everything.  And if you know me well, you know I will REFUSE to give up my Workouts, so at least I am keeping my priorities straight:)

This post is both for Motivation and a Christmas/Holiday Season Challenge for those of you doing these workouts.

First, I want to talk about Fears.  What do you MOST fear?  I used to fear dying young.  Well, I know 40 isn’t all that old, but I don’t have that fear anymore.  Not only because I feel I am no longer “young”, but also due to changing my health!  I am NOT going down the same path I was on just 3.5 short years ago.  I eat healthy, I exercise, I stopped smoking, and I no longer think my drinking is a “problem” since I only have a few light beers each week, instead of drinking what most social drinkers would in a week EVERY night!  I believe I am now what most people would refer to as fit and healthy.  So…what do I fear now?  NOT being ENOUGH of an inspiration to reach all the people I want to help find thier way to a healthier way of living.  A friend posted this on Facebook today, I just must share it with you all, because it is ME in a nutshell!

I know that as long as I keep those thought in my head, and a hunger for more in my belly, I WILL keep striving to be EXACTLY what I want to be:)

NEXT…….  The Challenge!

I know it is going to be hard to make time for exercise with so many more fun things to do right now.  Parties, shopping, visiting with friends and family, etc, but I want to challenge you to MAKE the time for yourselves!  If you don’t have time to do a WHOLE BbyB workout, go to the Workouts page, pick 1 circuit, and do it 3 times through!  If you still have time, pick another circuit, and it 3 times through.  Do this AT LEAST 3 DAYS A WEEK until New Years(which WILL bring about a new workout!  hehehehehe-evil laugh).

Remember, that any conscious effort to move is a step in the right direction.  Even if it is for only 5 minutes!  We all have 5 minutes!  NO EXCUSES ACCEPTED FOR THIS ONE!

And Ya’All might want to keep yourselves used to moving, because 2012 is going to be the year you all help me conquer some of my fears by letting me help you achieve YOUR goals:) It WILL be hard, and there may be days you want to quit(OR KILL ME), but TRUST ME…it will ALWAYS be worth it!  Thank you for giving me this chance to come along with you on your journey:)