Mamavation Monday

Yay!! I finally had a good week!! The weather was amazing this week so that was to my advantage. I would like to congratulate all the wonderful ladies who are finalist for Mamavation mom. I wish everyone the best of luck. You all are so deserving. I support you. For the ladies who didn't make it to the finals, this is not the end. For anyone who wasn't in Mamavation last campaign I applied and was not chosen to be a finalist. However, it was just the beginning of my journey. I signed up for the move it and lose it campaign and kicked booty. It was by far the best thing that has happened to me along this journey. I lost 30 lbs! So keep it up and kick booty!

I managed to do 6 days of cardio this week with 3 days of strength training. I know I have mentioned this before but, I really think I need to mention it again. Kettlebells are amazing!! Not only did I strength training while using them I am also getting cardio. How many exercises do you know where you can get the benefits of both! Love it!! Part of my #commit2fit goal is to run a half marathon in about 3-4 months. I will need to start uping my mileage to be able to reach this goal. So for this week I would like to start doing that.

I used to post my workouts to help keep me accountable. I am going to try this again.

Monday: Kettlebell workout /2 mile run

Tuesday: 3 mile run/strength training

Wednesday:4 mile run

Thursday:Kettlebell workout/2 mile run

Friday: 3 mile run/strength training

Saturday: International Fitness Day w/Special EA SPORTS Active Workout‏

Sunday: Rest Day!

14 miles for the week!

I am going back to basics with food last week and this week. I have decided to add more fresh produce to our meals. It seems as if our meals had been missing all the veggies I had grown to love. I am not sure if it is due to the expense it adds or, the pure laziness of adding them. For me, adding veggies to our meals is far more important. I can cut cost on other things we are buying that we shouldn't be. So I headed off to the market in search of fresh delish veggies. You know what it really wasn't all that hard to add more to our meals you just have to be a little creative.

SISTA OF THE WEEK: A big congratulations to Amanda of @beeacutie2 for being the Sista of the Week!!

BLOGGING CARNIVAL: This week’s blogging carnival is sponsored by SUBWAY. SUBWAY is giving away a green iPod Shuffle and a $10 iTunes gift card to one lucky winner.

SISTAHOOD: If you are interested in pledging to the Mamavation Sistahood, Monday is the time to do it. Please go here for instructions. Invitations are done on Wednesdays over twitter.

What does Commit to Fit mean to me?

As I mentioned I have joined in on Subway's wonderful Commit to Fit Campaign. I am excited to start this week. I need this challenge and accountability!

The Commit to Fit Campaign means I need to step up my game and commit to fitness. I need to set mini goals to keep myself motivated to reach my long time goal of being a fit, healthy person/mom. I have tried to lose weight and get healthy in the past by trying to do everything at one time. This has failed every time. For me, what has worked is the small term goals. Ex. quit drinking soda, drink more water, run a 5k, lose 10% of my weight etc.

I am going to do reach my long term goal this time by reaching every small goal set! For this campaign my big goal is going to be to run a half marathon. I will reach this by working my way up in small goals 5k, 10k then half. I am hoping to do this in 3-4 months! Of course like I mentioned above my ultimate goal is to be fit and, healthy!

Committing to Fitness!

For everyone who follows my blog, you know I'm doing a little struggling with my commitment to fitness. It seems September flew right by me and, I wasn't staying fit and healthy. Part of this was due to adjusting to changes in my schedule the other part was just pure laziness. Yep, I'm admitting it. I have fallen and, I am challenging myself once again to get back up and recommitting to be fit!

Some new challenges have come up over at #Mamavation and, they could not have come at a better time for me. The one I'm most excited about is the #Commit2fit challenge.

Subway and, Subway's main spokesperson Jared have launched a new campaign geared to recommitting yourself to fitness. Jared has put on a little weight over the past couple months and, wants to now lose this added weight. All of us know this happens, you lose sight sometimes as to why you committed to fitness in the first place. As a way to recommit himself he has started up this new challenge. As a way to recommit myself to being active and, fit I have joined in on his #Commit2fit challenge. If you are someone who is struggling with staying fit, please join us. You can follow the #Commit2fit hashtag on twitter. You can also check out Lisa, Leah and, Rachel's blogs who, all of which got the amazing opportunity to visit New York and, run with Jared on one of his training runs with him. They will also be sharing their experiences with the #Commit2fit campaign on their blogs.

I will be posting on my blog weekly answers to questions Lisa presents on her blog about the #Commit2fit challenge so make sure you come back to check my answers out weekly.

My #5k Day!!

On Saturday, October 2nd I took a part in #5k day. #5k day is a challenge started by Stephanie over at Fit Mom in Training. She challenged everyone to share one day where we would participate in some type of activity for 3.1 miles. You could walk, run, bike, swim, crawl whatever you chose to do. The catch was she wanted everyone to share their experience with the blogging world.

I chose to participate in a 5k run/jog. I ran my 5k mid day on the treadmill. Here is how it went!

Yep, that's right I even made a racing bib and, timing chip ;)

My water stations are set up!

A self shot while I was running!

My post running glow!

I even got some great eats after my race with yes, (Gasp) a beer!

OK, all my joking aside. It went pretty good! I was very glad I participated! I hope that Stephanie has more Virtual days like this in the future!

Thanks Stephanie!!

Mamavation Monday

This week went insanely fast. As I mentioned last week, I sort of fell of the wagon for a bit and told myself I needed to jump back on. As a result of this I have decided to go back to the basics of what was working for me. I have gained some weight back from what I lost from the MILI challenge. I want to lose it again and for good. After reading Rachel Steffen's Motivation and accountability post last week on Running Rachel I realized I needed the accountability back. I have decided to post my scale pics again along with the Move it and Lose it Challenge participants. I will not be joining in the challenge but would like to post along with them. I NEED to be held accountable again. I need to challenge myself.

This week, I didn't do so bad. I got out there and participated in #5k day on Saturday. I worked out my #mamaguns and, I ate pretty healthy. I did have some beer's with some friends this weekend. Not so bad though, isn't good enough for me. Before, I was running 3-4x a week, working out everyday, sometimes 2x a day! I need to get back to that. I have joined in with the #commit2fit challenges Lisa, Rachel and, Leah are doing and, hope this also will help. Like I said before I really need challenges to push me.

On a happier note, this weekend we celebrated my father's 50th birthday and, my sister's birthday. We had alot to celebrate and, I am happy to announce I turned down the cake!! It's a step in the right direction!!

Successes

* Ran on #5k day.

* Turned down the sweets.

Challenges

*Need to commit more time to fitness.

*Need to unplug earlier at night.

Goals

*Drink more water!

*Add more veggies to my meals.

*Add more fiber to my meals.

*Add more movement/fitness to my day.

SISTA OF THE WEEK: A big congratulations to Shelley of @Momma_Oz for being the Sista of the Week!!

BLOGGING CARNIVAL: This week’s blogging carnival is sponsored by SUBWAY. Subway is one of Mamavation's newest official sponsors. I absolutely love Subway and, so do my children. Subway will be giving away a $25 gift certificate. Check out Jared's new campaign on Twitter under the hashtag #commit2fit where Jared and, others discuss way's they are committing to fitness.

SISTAHOOD: If you are interested in pledging to the Mamavation Sistahood, Monday is the time to do it. Please go here for instructions. Invitations are done on Wednesdays over twitter.

Motivation Monday

Oh my goodness...It's already almost October, where did September go?

First off, I want to sincerely thank all of my favorite sista's from Mamavation for continuing to send me twitter dm's and tweets asking me how I was doing this past week. I am so amazed at how supportive this group really is.

Last week, I was extremely busy with stuff around the house and, a couple personal issues I needed to take care of and deal with. I was absent from Twitter and, I failed to post anything to my blog. To be honest with everyone I wasn't as active as I wanted to be. I was moving alot around the house cleaning and running errands but, I didn't sweat it out like I truly wanted.

Good news is, this week is a new week. I am officially starting fresh! I have promised myself to get on a schedule. A lifestyle schedule is what I would call this. I need to make time for Exercise, Mommy duties, Housewife duties, My blog, My extra activities. I really don't know how some of you mom's do it. Do you clean on certain days?  Do you write all your post on one day and, schedule it to post another day?Do you work out in the am or pm's? If you have any advice at all let me know, I will take all the advice I can get.

I am so excited this week is the start of the Mamavation mom auditions! I can't wait to see everyone videos and, to follow a new set of mom's through their bootcamp.

BIG congratulations to Joanna of @way2gomom for being the Sista of the Week!

This week’s blogging carnival is sponsored by Pete Cohen and his new nutritional program. Wow!! What a great prize to win. If you don't already know about Pete Cohen you seriously need to check him out. He is so inspirational! I am crossing my fingers for this prize as I need all the help I can get when it comes to what my body needs nutritionally.

I will leave you guys with a couple pics from yesterday. My son and, I participated in another running event. He ran the 1 mile fun run and, I ran the 5k! I was extremely proud of myself after this race. I managed to shave a minute off my last 5k time. Especially since this course was alot more harder with its many hills compared to the last event I ran which was mostly a flat course. I can't wait to continue getting faster and stronger!

Motivation Monday

Well once again my weight hasn't budged. Don't get me wrong I'm happy I haven't gained but, it's pretty frustrating to see all that I'm doing and nothing is happening.

As I sit here and go over my week, I can think of some things I do need to change and, hopefully once I change these the pounds will start to drop again.

*This week I haven't drank enough water. I have felt pretty tired and run down lately. I'm thinking a lot of it has to do with the fact I have not been pushing the water. I've been getting dehydrated which has left me sluggish.

*I have not been sticking to my meal plan. This has been I think my biggest downfall not only for healthy living but, financially as well. We are wasting a lot of money by not sticking to the meal plan. I also need to eat out less.

*Though I have been working out, I have to admit I haven't given it my all. I haven't been setting aside enough time to actually dedicate a good ole sweat session. It has been pretty half-assed. Since Big C started school my gym schedule has been non existent. I need to get back to going every morning I miss it and, I crave it. I need to get moving during the day as well. I feel like I haven't been as active as I had been when I was losing the weight.

So, this week I need to be back in the game. I need to challenge myself again. Step it up and get moving. As well as getting back in the groove, I will still be adding more running. My next 5k is coming up in 2 weeks. Yesterday, I ran a fun run with my son you can read about it here. Afterwards we watched the 5k run and, I was getting excited for my run. I want to do better than my last run. I WILL do better than my last run!

MAMAVATION TV: Join us Monday night at 7pm PST/10pm EST on Mingle Media TV.

SISTA OF THE WEEK: And a BIG congratulations to Stephanie Hamm of @fitmomtraining for being the Sista of the Week! AKA "Mama Guns" She is an amazing sister and, a new member of our leadership team. Steph is hosting the first of many new challenges Mamavation Sistahood has in store. It is a strength/weight training challenge. Find out more about the #MamaGuns challenge here. I hope you decide to join us. I am very excited to get my "Mama Guns" sexy for next summer's sun dresses and, spaghetti straps!

BLOGGING CARNIVAL: This week’s blogging carnival is sponsored by Chefs Requested. Yes, again. Chefs Requested is an official sponsor of the Mamavation campaign and sends their perfectly portioned steaks to the Mamavation Moms. They are sending product coupons for their 100 Calorie Portion Sized Steaks and plenty of discount coupons for any further enjoyment. There will be two winners of this blogging carnival.

As part of the #mamaguns challenge we need to post a pic of our "Mama Guns!" Here are mine!

Oh..What's that? You think I look a lot like Jamie Eason!! Gee..thanks! I would die to have those arms! How gorgeous is she!

Ok, for real here are mine!

Yes, I really am flexing!! Stop laughing! After this challenge, I'll be the one laughing! *Winks*

I will be becoming one with my Kettleworx program in the upcoming 8 weeks!