New Year, New Me!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

It has been 4 months since I have posted anything. In those four months I have lost everything I gained - health and fitness wise that is. Although my personal and professional life have gained so much, I cannot complain. It was a focus trade off for awhile and now I am ready to get my health and fitness back into the mix!

How about everyone else?

I assume we are all starting this new year off with some health and fitness related resolutions. I know I am! Goal right now is to lose the 15lbs I have gained by my birthday, June 1st. I came up with this goal using SMART goal setting metrics and feel confident it can be achieved. That is, it can be achieved if I go for it!

GO FOR IT!!! 

So it is I came across Ben's start your year off right Do Life Challenge! Now, Ben's challenge had everyone weighing in this week and and starting a kick-off to health journey together on Monday. Each week Ben would provide some fitness/motivation challenges for that week to help keep everyone on track. Whoever lost the most by the end of the month wins. The only problem with Ben's challenge is that to participate you chip in $10 - which is going to be used to pay for the prizes at the end.

It was here that I decided to create my own challenge and present it to my facebook group, also called Tigress Fitness, as something we could do in our group. There would be no fee, we could share each week things we accomplished - be that fat loss or a new health or fitness goal achieved. We wouldn't really be competing with each other, we would just be doing it together and cheering each other on!

Today I posted our first fitness/motivation challenge and I am cross-posting it here in case anyone who reads
this is interested in joining us.

I came up with two, you can choose one or try both! Whichever you feel you would like to do.

1. This week I will focus on getting at least 48oz (6 cups) but preferably 64oz (8 cups) of water drank per day!

-and/or-

2. This week I will focus on getting at least 20 minutes of activity but preferably 30 minutes of activity in per day. This will be activity that must get my heart rate up. If I think about exercising in "Heart Rate Zones" I will ensure the activity keeps me in the range of 3-4: meaning I can carry on a conversation but I am still reaching a point were breathing requires more of my focus.

And as a bonus challenge - I will do my activity in interval form and spend 1 to 2 out of every five minutes pushing myself to a 7-8 or 9-10 heart rate zone during that 1 to 2 minutes. At a level 7-8 you cannot talk while you are working out, you are heavily focused on the activity at hand, your breathing is intense. At a level 9-10 you are at your max, you have trouble breathing because you are reaching an anaerobic state, a minute or two can feel like a lifetime here.

Remember, healthy fat loss comes at .5 to 2 pounds per week. Some of us may see great fat loss results. Some of us may see no fat loss results. This is a challenge we are taking with ourselves, having friends here to motivate us along the way! So, at the end of the week, when you report in, find at least ONE positive thing that came out of your week to share. You will get something out of it! I promise. :)

So, if you want to join us and report in on your successes in the next post, please do! I know come Sunday I will have at least one positive thing to report. I hope you will too!

One more thing though ....

Just wanted to share a chart of Heart Rate Zones to help clarify a bit what I mean by levels 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 so you have a picture of what I mean. Everyone's level of fitness will be different so the amount of effort we each put in to reach each of these levels will be very different as well.

1-2: Is something you could do for hours without really feeling stressed, the blue recovery level.
3-4: Is something you can do for 20-30 minutes (most likely an hour) with a small amount of sweat, able to hold a conversation, still getting breathy, the pink fat burning level.
5-6: Is the lower end of the purple target heart rate zone, this level allows you to have a conversation but not very well, you are more concentrated on breathing and the activity at hand.
7-8: Is the top end of the purple target heart rate zone, this level doesn't really allow for conversation but you can still get a few words out here and there, your breathing and activity are your biggest focus.
9-10: Is the top of your game. You really cannot sustain this level for more than 1 or 2 minutes, you cannot talk at all, and you feel like you cannot breath, this is because you are in the red anaerobic training zone.

Heart rate training is one of the best ways you can achieve your goals.

If you have a heart rate monitor you can keep yourself in your target zones by keeping track of your number of beats per minute and keeping yourself in that zone. If you find yourself above the zone, then slow down or stop using your arms - below the zone speed up or add in more exercise.

If you want to monitor your heart rate by hand you can as well - but it is never very accurate. Take a 10 second pause once you have reached the highest point in the intensity level you think you should be working at. During that 10 seconds find your heart beat and count the beats per second. Multiple that by 10 and you should see the jist of the heart rate zone you are in.

I find it easiest to just use the 1-10 scale and allow myself to judge it by how I am feeling. Although, admittedly I have invested in a heart rate monitor and I did find I was never really pushing myself enough when I worked out just judging by the scale method. 

Anyway you do it, it still works! So just do it! Please? :)

~TigressSky~

Running Clinic - Week Six - SMART Goal Setting

Here is the Workout Log for Week Six - just 6 more weeks until we do our 5k! Can't wait to be out there with you all smiling, running and crossing that finish line.

GOAL SETTING

Our runs have been so much fun! We get together and talk about our goals and motivations and you all have really be making me think   about what it means to set meaningful goals. My last blog post focused on this topic and today I would like to add just a bit more to the idea.

One of the first things I learned when I sat down with a personal trainer and nutrition coach was about setting SMART goals. This wasn't a new concept to me as I work as a Business Analyst and we try and help companies set SMART goals all the time. Yet, for some reason, I had not even thought about applying the idea of SMART goal setting to my fat loss journey.

WHAT ARE SMART GOALS

Smart goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Based. In other words SMART goals are goals that are very clear and easily understood.

Specific - Goals should be straightforward and emphasize what you want to happen. Specifics help to focus efforts in a clear way so that we can define what we are going to do. The specifics define the how, what, when and where of our efforts and sometimes they even state why the goal is important. I would take it one step further and say that they should ALWAYS state why the goal is important.

          Example: To wear my size 8 jeans again by March 15th - within 6 months.

Measurable - The measurablity of a goal applies not only to the end result but also to all the milestones along the way. Measurable progress allows you to see the the change occur.

       Example: To get back into my size 8 jeans within 6 months I will accomplish the following goals:
                         - Journal & track my nutrition intake daily
                         - Exercise for at least an hour 5 days out of the week


Attainable -  This sounds rather straight forward but you should be sure that the goals you set are achievable. Yet it happens often that goals get set which are way out of reach and if you set your goals to far out of reach you most likely won't even attempt to do them.

Attainable goals are achievable and important to you. These are the types of goals that you will take the time to develop the attitude, abilities, skills and capacity to make come true. These goals are possible and give you a feeling of being worth the effort.

Relevant/Realistic - Goals should be relevant to what you want to achieve in the short and long term. They should allow you vision and purpose in accomplishing the goal. Realistic does not mean easy either; it means do-able. Do-able goals are ones where the learning curve is a curve, not a vertical slope! As well a do-able goal is one where the skills needed to achieve the goal are available. The goal should be realistic to who you are, where you are at in your life and what your overall needs are in the moment.

Example: If you love to eat sweets setting a goal to never eat sweets again may not be realistic or relevant to you. However, setting a goal to eat 1 serving of fruit as a substitute to a sweet could.

Time-Bound/Timely -  Quite often this piece overlaps with the goal being Specific, but it aims to ensure that you are setting a time-frame to achieve your goals. Someone once said, "a goal is a dream with a time-frame to it!" Putting an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards. Without setting a time-frame the commitment you are making becomes to vague. It tends to not happen because you feel you can start anytime. Remember, whatever time you set should also be measurable, attainable and realistic.

If you find difficulty in setting a SMART goal then it is more than likely that your future plans are not clear enough and need to be worked on more. If you are having a challenge setting your goals please do not just jump in and get on with it. Without a goal you are going to just feel like you are adrift, working hard yet accomplishing nothing.

WHY IS GOAL SETTING SO IMPORTANT?

Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your future and motivating you to make this future a reality. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve you know where to concentrate your efforts. Once you have a goal you'll also be able to quickly and easily spot any distractions that could lead you astray. Goal setting gives you long term goals with short term motivations. It allows you to focus your time and resources so you can accomplish your goal. It gives you something you can measure and take pride in with each step you reach in achieving the end result. Most importantly it allows you to see forward progress in an endevour you may have previously simply felt like a pointless grind.

Personally I think the most important thing that goal setting will do for you is to boost and build your overall self-confidence. With all of the progress you will be making, and with each milestone you accomplish, you will become more and more aware of your own ability and competence in achieving things you have always wanted to do!

So, if you don't already set goals well start doing so and start now! As you make this technique a part of your life it will become easier and your accomplishments and celebration of achievements will come faster. You can apply this to any part of your life, not just fat loss, so, try it now with something small and find out all YOU really can do!

~TigressSky~

Running Clinic - Week Five - Motivational Goal Setting

Our runs are becoming more ambitious! As well I have upped our challenges to give us a strong finish. Here is the Workout Log for week five.

THE SCALE OF DOOM!!!

I've talked a lot this week with individuals about goals, which prompted me to want to blog about it. I find, just as I use to do, people set their goals based on immeasurable and damn near unachievable ideals. One of the worst goals we all tend to set in the beginning is, "I want to weigh x-number of pounds."

First off if you are using your scale as a measurement of success you are already setting yourself up for failure. I promise you this.

A scale is ONLY a fat loss and weight maintenance TOOL. A scale should never be used as a measurable GOAL. In short, monitoring your weight is just one of many tools you can use to achieve your goals but it should not be a goal.

Why? Well, weight fluctuates on a regular basis for everyone. We celebrate a pound lost today and beat ourselves up for a pound gained tomorrow. The majority of the time this flux in weight has nothing to do with losing or gaining fat. Instead the scale increase is showing us our water retention, food intake and processing, or even just simple swollen joints caused by tension or stress in our muscles.

When you spend all your time focused on "losing weight" you miss out on all the good things you ARE accomplishing. Your weight and your scale should be looked at as tools to help you succeed, not goals you want to achieve.

WHAT IS A GOAL THEN?

I tend to ask myself this question when setting a goal: "Is this something tangible that I can be complimented on easily?" If it is not, then it really is not a goal.

When you achieve a goal it should be like a light going off! It should be something people can see easily and celebrate with you. Things like finishing your first 5k, fitting into a brand new sexy dress or cooking everyone a new tasty healthy meal.

Yes, people may see something new about you and say, "hey have you lost weight?" but it is not your actual weight shown by the scale that they are complimenting. (Heck, half the time they ask this question you may have actually gained weight!) Instead, what people are noticing is how good you look in something you are wearing or how light and happy you seem that day. These are tangible things people can see you have accomplished.


I WILL NEVER LOOK LIKE HER.

That is right you will never look like her. Nor should you want to. Looking like someone you are not should never be your goal. You are guaranteed to fail this goal no matter what. It is literally impossible for you to look like someone else.

We are horrible to ourselves. Always comparing ourselves to another, always seeing tons of flaws and beating ourselves up with a focus on "dieting" and "losing weight" to obtain an impossible ideal we have set in our head.

I do it. I look at women shorter than me, at how cute, petite and gorgeously feminine they are. I look at women who are taller than me, like my little sister for example, and I wonder why I can't be thin like her and have her beautiful flat stomach. It is here, in thoughts like these were we preset ourselves up for failure as we focus on wanting to be something that is literally impossible.

This journey should NOT focus on becoming the best somebody else we can be. It should instead focus on becoming the best YOU can be! And guess what, you don't even know who that person is that you could become because you spend so much time focused on trying to make that person you could be into someone else.

This is not about being who you want to be and who you see in the shapes of others. This is instead about discovering the you that you can be! You and I have no idea who that person is, in fact, you won't even recognize her when she gets here because you NEVER thought she would! You NEVER thought she existed! That woman/man you keep telling yourself you can't be is stopping you from discovering the woman/man you CAN BE! So stop letting them!

Seriously, when I started this journey I NEVER thought I would be smaller than a size 12. I NEVER thought I would run a mile. I NEVER thought I would wear a small sized anything! Yet the woman I became showed me that SHE is a size 8, that SHE can complete a Triathlon and that SHE can wear a size small if she damn well wants to. After meeting this new woman I am becoming I am even more excited to learn all about her and what else she can do! Seriously, the woman I am now is so excited to meet the woman I will become that I just can't help but keep letting her shine through! Yes, every now and then the woman I am wants to be Angelina Jolie, but, the woman I am becoming knows that I am becoming something more than the impossible and that anything really is possible.

I promise you, anything is possible if you just stop limiting your possibilities and instead start letting yourself shine! What's your motivation?

~TigressSky~