Small Successes

This week was not the success I was hoping for. Most of that is because I have been sick all week. Coughing fits are making it a nightmare to really plan any consistent physical activity. Taking meds, which knock me out, so I can sleep through the night without coughing make it nearly impossible to wake up at 4am and make it to the gym. I am hoping this week - now that the constant congestion building mucus has broken and my lungs are just busily dispelling the old gunk - I will be able to make it in every morning and get myself back into the groove.

This week was not a total failure though. I did manage to diligently track my food all week and drink at least 48ounces of water a day. I only made it to the gym twice, yet when I did I pushed myself with heavy weight lifting and 30 minutes of interval jogging on the treadmill. I also managed to lose 2 pounds of fat!

This really helped me to recognize that my biggest problem in making this work is nutrition and managing my diet - not necessarily my physical fitness. Even without the gym I walk 2 miles a day - one mile to and one mile from work. I also take my dog for small walks to the park and play tug-o-war with her in the evenings.

So it is that my bigger focus is currently on managing my diet appropriately and getting that back under the control of habit. As soon as I have that accomplished I will start pushing myself physically again. Because I also know that the body I love came from a sufficient combo of these two things in my life. I have bigger goals than just losing the fat! Although I honestly can't say what they all are right now ... they are there, brewing in the back of my brain, just waiting for the moment to take over and lead! I can't wait to let them and make room for more!!!

This is the second week of the "Do Life" challenge I am managing for a small group of friends and me. I am waiting to see more results reported today, but I have already come up with our motivation challenges for next week. If you are interested in joining us here they are. You can pick one to try or do both:


1. Cut one bad habit out this week and replace it with one good habit. Now this can just last for the week as a challenge or you can try and do it from this point forward. Point is, try something challenging because you only have to commit to it for one week! so why not?

A few examples of things you could try: stop drinking soda entirely and replace that with a healthier choice (or the healthiest of choices water), stop getting a latte everyday and switch to a flavored americano instead, stop watching as many hours of television and replace that time with reading a book (or writing your own!), etc...

2. Attempt to be able to perform one thing physically that I never though I could by the end of the week! Some examples could be: doing one full pull-up without assistance, walking/running a longer distance/time than ever before, doing more sit-ups/push-ups/mountain climbers/etc. in a minute at the end of the week than I could at the beginning, etc. -

Bonus Challenge: Continue to work out for at least 20-30 minutes a day for four days this week, with at least one of those days focused on intense interval training. Meaning that you spend at least half the time (10-15 mins) in a high intensity training zone for at least 1.5 to 2 minutes at a time. For 20 minutes that will be 4-5 reps of high intensity intervals and for 30 minutes that will be 6-7 reps of high intensity intervals.

Whatever it is you chose to try to accomplish - be it one of these things, both of these things, just the challenge, everything and the challenge, or something you want to focus on - share with someone what your goals are so they can help cheer you on. Studies prove that sharing your goals makes you feel more accountable for them and therefore helps ensure you are that much more successful!

That is what it is all about - achieving your goals and finding your own success!!!

~TigressSky~

If you are interested in joining us and sharing with us you can find us under Tigress Fitness on Facebook or Google+. You can also click the links below to be taken directly to our pages. We are a small group so you won't be overwhelmed by posts or messages - just find a small group of others trying to achieve the same goals!

Running Clinic - Weeks 10,11 and the Zombie 5k!!!

The final two weeks of the running clinic workout blog for week ten and eleven are up now!

What you will notice is that by these last weeks we are putting in some serious running time, 20 minutes straight most days!, and we are taking out the challenges at the end. Although I would recommend adding them back in once 20 minutes becomes a standard run time for you. Which, I promise you, IT WILL!

Week 12 - RUN LIKE HELL!!!

Week twelve, our last week together, saw us participating in the actual Run Like Hell! Zombie 5k here in Portland Oregon on October 23rd!

The greatest success story of this "12 Weeks to Run a 5k" program was the personal experience of my friend of 11 years, Aurora.

A very happy Aurora and her Will!

Aurora, used the information given during this 12 weeks and created her own fitness and nutrition arsenal to build a healthy life she can enjoy. She has gone from a size 18 to a size 14 and, as time progresses, she is continuing to move down that scale steadily. She is not doing any fad dieting or complicated workout programs that end up impossible to maintain in the end. Instead she is learning subtle ways to change and improve her habits and still enjoy her life and she is finding so much success. Not just in her clothing size changes and fat loss, but in her personal outlook and happiness with her blessed life overall!

Aurora is the one person who followed through with the end goal of this 12 weeks and did the Zombie 5k! Her first ever!

Aurora was not able to make it to many of the actual Saturday lessons on the waterfront. She also started this whole program thinking that it was impossible for her to run and that it would never be something she could do. Yet she still took on the challenge and just started walking. She found a friend to walk with and she made time to walk on her own at work. Soon she was spending early mornings walking at the gym track of her children's school after dropping them off early. She became a walking machine!

And every now and then she would push herself and run a bit. Listening to the advice she had gotten from me, as well as other good friends confirming it and then seeing her sprinter son run just like everyone had said. Soon she found she could run, and, unbeknownst to me, she just started adding some small sprints into her routine.

This is the woman who started out this 12 weeks thinking it was impossible! She was doing the impossible!!!

Aurora and Brook hoping for brains!
Oh that sounds bad doesn't it!!!

She had also psyched herself out a bit on being able to actual do a 5k. Walking or not, your first one is ALWAYS a huge challenge.

I spent time reassuring her that doing the 5k was going to be an amazing experience. That there is no judgement and no one to "do better than" or compete with. That in the end, when she crossed that finishing line she was just going to feel so amazed, so relieved and that the power of "I can do anything!" was going to be so overwhelming the world was going to have to watch out for what she did next!!!

Then the Zombie 5k came and, with trepidation in her heart, we put on some zombie make-up and got lined up to go!

In the end we walked the majority of the 5k but, to my surprise, we ran hard twice! After Aurora felt warmed up she looked at me and said, "here is my surprise for you," and then we ran together for a few blocks! We walked again and then as we got a few blocks from crossing that finish line we picked up the pace and ran across that finish line - laughing, crying and celebrating! It was awesome
and I was so proud! Aurora met the challenge and the goal head-on even though she did not think she could and she was intimidated by the idea of it almost up to the moment she did it!

HELL YEAH SUCCESS!!!

Now, don't get me wrong, she was not the only woman who tried the program and found success. All of the women (and men) involved had many different successes they have shared and challenges they have met and overcome along the way. Yet Aurora was the only one who managed to take the original challenge given, scared as can be, and JUST DO IT!

Aurora and I running for brains!

For me it was an awesome accomplishment to cross the finish line with her and realize how much impact I can have on someone elses goals. It was very inspiring for me and my goal of someday being certified and doing this all the time! As well, it was inspiring working with all the women (and a couple men) - hearing their stories and giving as much advice and support as I have. We are all continuing to work together and for the winter this blog will focus on nutrition to get through all our holidays stuffed but still healthy! As well, we will look at how to keep fitness in our life when it is cold and dreary and sitting with some coffee or hot cocoa just seems to trump all other decisions we make.

Yet for this blog I just cant express enough how awesome it is having just one person successfully complete the challenge - in so many more ways than I expected. Helping just one person through to complete a 5k was the original goal I set to measure my success in this endeavor. It is the one deciding factor that I told myself would be the answer to my question, "should I try and become a personal trainer!"

That answer has come across loud and clear: YES!!!

For this 5k Aurora and I were joined by Brook and Fluer. It was a fun morning spent accomplishing so much and from just this one experience I have a feeling many more challenges will be presented to all the women in the group in the years to come. I also imagine many more of us will be crossing finish lines together!

~TigressSky~