Choose Better and Change.

Day 2 –

Checking in with yesterday, I made it to morning Spinning and evening Tabata.  I didn’t run 3 miles outside, but I did 2 miles on the treadmill, 15 minutes on the stepper and abs.  This morning, I didn’t took the morning off and watched my mom do abs – so fun seeing her do things she thinks she can’t – it’s like role reversal from when I was a kid.

Tonight, I’ll hit Tabata and go to trivia.  Last week, Tara and I contributed almost nothing to our trivia group, but I blame post-workout airheadedness.

Of note: I need to eat MORE and sleep MORE (and so does Tara!)

(Source: yummyfitness, via foreverhunger)

Break/Make the cycle.

Bree: There is just nothing as awesome as feeling like something you do or say has a positive effect on someone else, and it is especially awesome if that person has done the same for you in the past or is doing so now.  The fitness community is an ideal place to witness this in action. Working out with a friend or family member and sharing your excitement regarding your workouts or the results of an active lifestyle can lead to a pretty impressive cycle of reinforcement.

My mom has always been in great shape and has been active since she was a kid. Now in her 50’s (sorry MOM!), she is still healthy and fit but activity has been limited to make time for other things. Though I clearly did not follow in her footsteps immediately, as an adult, her example helped me decide to become more active and make fitness a priority. That decision (in turn) prompted my mom to start running and we now go to the gym four mornings a week to spin, run, or lift. Our morning workouts help fuel my evening workouts because I have a chance to talk through my goals and assess where I’m at. It’s great to see that her influence has inspired me and that mine as inspired her.

As members of the fitness community, we often talk about how no one else can make the change for you, do the work for you, be the difference for you, and it’s 100% true – but that doesn’t mean we can’t be a great example for others and let others be an example for us. Tara and I have often talked about how people show each other they care through food and how it can end up turning into enabling, but what better way is there to show someone you love that you care than to be a positive role model for healthy living; if you love them, you should want them to have a long, happy, healthy life.  That’s what my mom, Tara, and so many of my friends do for me – remind me that life is most enjoyable when we are able to live it healthy and happy.

Thanks guys!

(via letsbefitandshit)

Getting back into the swing of things.

Tara: It is time. The beautiful Spring sun is peeking out every once in a while, tempting me to stay outside and never go indoors again… There is so much  hope and possibility and promise with spring and summer on the horizon. I want crossfit. I want more miles. I want a lifting plan. I want to be tan. I want to hike. I want to bike and rollerblade and walk everywhere! It’s do-able. Time to remember all of those resolutions we made in January for 2012 and make them happen.

I feel blessed to have the opportunity to be able to go out and DO whatever my little heart desires because of where I live and how hard I work. Every time I get down or in a bad mood - hopefully I’ll remember this little insight to get a better perspective.

I’m enjoying the process. Loving people and loving myself.

I’m gonna do big things. It’s okay to stare :)

(via pinkiipromise)

I know it’s mean, but it’s true…

Healthy and Happy…bring back the sanity.

Bree: Last week, I spent a crazy 4 days in Phoenix, visiting friends, family, and running my first marathon. Yay, Bree. What an awesome feeling. I don’t think I would have cared if it took me 8 hours to run it so long as I completed it, AND I DID! (Sorry, the excitement seems to multiply as the soreness fades.)  At any rate, I spent the following day doing absolutely nada, and returned home two days later, opting to go the gym and, well, stretch really.  I did a little arm work, but mostly sat in the corner on a mat stretching and stretching, then doing some more stretching. You get the idea. The two days following stretchapalooza were filled with cleaning, cooking and family commitments, which mean no gym time. I nearly had an anxiety attack…I think.  I don’t typically have anxiety, so it was more like a dramatic attack.  Missing out on the gym after carb-loading for a week? Missing the gym after stopping running almost daily? Missing the gym after a stressful return to work and home?  Umm, yep.  The gym is always going to be there when I need it, but taking a break helps me be ready for the gym. 

Tara and I talk a lot about how working out helps us relieve stress, feel more energized, and just be more all-around happy people.  It’s true. Workout Bree and Workout Tara are a good time.  Healthy is happy.  However, anyone can get a case of too much of a good thing.  Working out has to fit into your lifestyle, not monopolize it. For me, it’s easy to ignore things like family and friends, cooking and cleaning, in order to get in some “Bree time” at the gym.  Even if I just go to a class or stretch for a million hours, I associate the gym with happy time.  Eventually, everything else I’m ignoring or brushing aside starts to rise up in the form of imbalance and healthy Bree is no longer happy because health isn’t just defined by activity level.

So, take a rest day. Take a rest week - whatever you need to tend to your mental/emotional health.  When you come back, your mindset will thank you and so will your body.

Just don’t take a rest month.

(Source: cootiecatcher, via soul-runner)

(Source: linzgetsfit, via bringmetomygw)