5.26.14 Day 98: Memorial Day

Since today was a holiday I had a busy day with taking my son and his friends to the Memorial Day Parade and then to the pool.  After 4 hours of swimming I decided that was enough workout for the day and I just took it easy and enjoyed my evening.  I work 6 days a week so times when I have two days off in a row I sometimes just choose to get a little r & r which is what I did today.  Let me tell you it felt great!  But not to worry, I will be back at it again tomorrow for sure!!!

10 Things You Should Be Crushing Instead of Candy

I wanted to give everyone something to think about if you are on the cusp of improving your health and fitness but just can’t seem to find the motivation.  After reading this I hope you know what you need to do!

10 Things You Should Be Crushing Instead of Candy

                  1.       EXCUSES

                  2.       NUTRITION

                  3.       SELF-DOUBT

                  4.       ABS

                  5.       FEAR

                  6.       EGO

                  7.       TRICEPS

                  8.       BICEPS

                  9.       WORKOUTS

                 10.   YOUR LIFE

I love to play Candy Crush just as much if no more than anyone!  But when I decided to get fit and healthy and I had to get real with myself I had to face a lot of hard truths that weren’t easy or pretty to face and I had to start learning how to change or I was never going to be any different than I was right then.  The first thing I had to overcome was the many, many excuses that I would come up with constantly.  One of my favorite excuses was that I didn’t have enough time or money to eat right, exercise and be healthy.  And when I finally got real with myself I had to break it down so I would take responsibility for my actions.  I didn’t have enough time… REALLY???  I played Candy Crush religiously for at least an hour a day (that was just my lunch hour!).   Before work, at lunch and at nigh I played Candy Crush.  I also watched LOTS of television… but I didn’t have time to work out... LIE!!!!!  An excuse is just a lie that we tell ourselves to make us feel good about bad decisions.

As for nutrition and not being able to afford to eat healthy I ate out A LOT and I ate a lot in general so I was spending a lot on food period.  Once I decided to get healthier I just bought healthy stuff, cut out the crap foods I used to buy, started packing a healthy lunch and healthy snacks for my work day so I had no excuses to eat out or go to the vending machine and make a bad choice.  Now I am actually saving money because I have cut out all of my morning trips to McDonalds, my lunches out and all of the snacking from the vending machine I would do in between (that all just sounds super gross to me now!!!). 

Now let’s talk about self-doubt.  You have all heard of the little angel on one shoulder and the little devil on the other shoulder.  NEVER listen to the devil… he is BAD!!!  He will cause you to make so many bad choices and feed you excuses so you can lie to yourself and others to justify those bad choices.  Then, you know deep down you chose the wrong thing and are on the wrong path and you suddenly feel bad about yourself again… it is a vicious, never-ending circle.  I always tell my challengers that every single day you should pat yourself on the back at the end of the day and give yourself props for a job well done.  Instead of being your worst enemy become your best friend and you will not only get results but they will last a lifetime. 

As for crushing abs, triceps, biceps and workouts I think you all get the idea behind that.  The next time you are playing Candy Crush or you are playing games on Facebook or whatever your choice of killing time may be, just think about all of the other positive things you could be doing instead to be getting yourself closer to your goals!  I’m not saying you can’t play a little Candy Crush now and again but just make sure it isn’t consuming you and causing you to be held back from becoming the person you want to be!

Let’s address the whole fear issue.  Change is scary for everyone there are no ifs ands or buts about that.  But what I want you to do is clear your head for a few seconds.  Now think about something that you have done in your life, an accomplishment that made you feel so proud of yourself that you were busting at the seams with happiness and pride.  Now, the next time you are afraid of changing because you think it may be too hard and you are afraid you will fail I want you to think about that awesome accomplishment that you just thought of and think to yourself if you can do that then this new challenge is doable.  You are so strong and I want you to give yourself props every day and start to really love yourself and be happy on the inside.  This will help you to get your outside where you want it to be a lot quicker and it will last!!!!

Ego is a difficult thing for people to crush but I am going to help you.  Your story, no matter how harrowing, is not any different than many, many other people’s story so you don’t get to feel like you are the only one who has these struggles and you don’t get to feel sorry for yourself.  Check your ego at the door and make sure that you let yourself know that there are other people out there facing the same challenges that you are facing and you need to pick yourself up and get back in the race.  This morning I went to Kroger after I dropped my son off at school.  As I pulled into a parking spot I saw a handicapped gentlemen that works there as a cashier wheeling himself in his wheelchair through the parking lot.  I have seen him at the cash register before and he is always friendly and always has a smile on his face.  I believe he has cerebral palsy and he does not have an easy time doing his job.  But he is there and he is doing it.  When I saw him trying to get through the parking lot this morning he was struggling to turn the wheels of his wheelchair and it really put things into a new perspective for me.  Every morning that I am lucky enough to wake up and I am blessed with another day I should be grateful and humbled that I am healthy.   Not everyone gets to have a choice of whether or not they want to work out and be healthier.  If you are blessed enough to be able to have that choice every day you should make it a priority to do your workouts for all of those that don’t have a choice.  Get rid of your ego!

Each and every one of us that is able should be doing the best we can be each and every day.   I believe in you and I want you to believe in you!  Now let’s go crush our lives… time is wasting!  And as always if you need some help, advice or just someone to talk to I am always hear.  Please don't feel like you have to go through this alone.  My email is tibelling@aol.com or you can find me on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tinaballingerfitness.

5.25.14 Day 97: Rip't Up & Last Day of Gamma & Picture Day:)

Today was my last day of week 4 of Gamma.  What a difference 14 short weeks can make in your life!  I am living proof that anyone can do this!  You can't succeed if you don't take action.  Now's the time... what are you waiting for???  Do it for yourself, do it for your family and do it NOW!  You are worth it!!!  ANYONE that needs motivation or help I am here for you!  There is no judging, no preaching, no yelling, no negativity whatsoever!  I will not tolerate that.  If you want someone who is real and has struggles and has came through it to help get you to where you want to go... I am your woman.  I want everyone to feel as great as I do right now.  I am 47 years old, am a single mom and I work full-time.  I don't think anyone on the planet had any lower self-esteem than I did & getting started was hard... really hard.  If it weren't for Shaun T. and Focus T25 I honestly don't know if I would have ever had a chance of getting me back.  Now I feel like I have found my purpose in life and that is to help others like me who don't know where to turn.  So here I am just waiting for us to find each other so that I can help you feel as good as I feel!  I'm waiting so whenever you are ready I will be right here for you.

One of my new favorite quotes only because it is sooooo true... when I realized that I was meant to help people like me it literally did feel like the most important day of my life... I am forever changed in the best way possible!!  "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out WHY!" ~ Mark Twain  

If you want to start NOW just click on the link below and place the most important order of your life... how much is your health and your life worth???? How much money???  How much time???  I hope you said a whole hell of a lot because that is how much I am worth and so are you!!!

5.24.14 Day 96: Extreme Circuit & Dynamic Core

I love working out in the mornings to get my day started off on the right foot!!!  The time is 7:12 am where I am and I just finished Extreme Circuit and man do I feel amazing.  The sun is shining here in Powell, Ohio and it is going to be a beautiful day and my workout is finished so now I can spend the rest of the day doing whatever I want.  Unfortunately I have to work from 10 until 2 today but that is ok.  I won't let that ruin my day.  After work I am going to do some yard work and then take my son to a friend's house for a party.  When I get back home tonight I am going to work on my 2 Week "NOW'S THE TIME" Fitness Challenge that starts on Monday.  The challenge is open to everyone and it is online so it doesn't matter where you live you are more than welcome to join.  This challenge is only two weeks because I wanted to give everyone the opportunity to be able to get in on all of the daily motivational tools that I will be giving you as well as to have the support of others like yourself but not overwhelm you by making it too long for my first fitness challenge.  I still have a way to go in my personal journey and I can use all of the support I can get so I am going to be doing it right along with everyone else!  The challenge starts on Tuesday, May 27^th (the day after Memorial Day) and will last until June 9^th and is an online challenge so you don’t have to live near me and anyone can join until all of the spots are gone!  These are the requirements if you join:

~ You must have a desire to improve your health and fitness (it doesn’t matter if you are a size 22 or a size 2 and your fitness level does not matter… there is NO JUDGING in this group so if you are a judger you are not welcome lol… you just need the desire to be a better you!).

~ You must share with everyone what your goals are for this challenge (what do you want to get out of this challenge… why did you decide to do it?).

~ You have to commit to logging your food and activity daily.  Accountability is a major key to being successful with anything in life… especially for my challengeJ

~ I want you to post something in the group at least once a day.  It can be anything… what you ate or what you struggled with that day… we can’t support each other if we aren’t communicating with one another.  Some days I may ask questions and if you respond to that you have fulfilled this requirement alreadyJ

~ Most importantly I want you to get motivated and get up and get moving and work together with me and the others in the group so that we can all be better versions of our wonderful selves!

If this sounds like something you are ready to do just let me know before all of the spots are gone and I will gladly add you to the group for the challenge.  It’s going to be awesome so I hope you decide to joinJ  Have a great day!!!

UPDATE:  I did Dynamic Core in the evening... trying to get rid of my muffin top:)

5.23.14 Day 95: Stretch

Well I got up early today but got sidetracked and decided to workout after work.  Then I had forgotten that my teenage son was having a bunch of friends over for a get together.  But I didn't use any of those things as an excuse!  I simply hid in my bedroom and did my Stretch workout!  You can literally do these workouts anywhere at anytime and I know you can find 25 minutes and a place to do them if I can!  The old me would have totally used any excuse in the world to ditch my workout but now I need to workout so I feel good!  One of my favorite sayings is that negativity breeds negativity and let me tell you the excuse train is just one negative car after another!  Once you start making excuses and skipping your workouts you start to do that more and more until one day you find yourself back to being miserable.  Let me tell you from personal experience that if you are sitting on your couch or laying in bed dreading getting up for the day you are only hurting yourself!  Just take one day at a time and tell yourself you got this and get up and go make your body feel great.  My son always says if you look good you feel good mama and what better way to look and feel great than to take care of your body.  Excuses are just negativity trying to get the best of you.  Ignore the excuses, start making a list that is exclusively for your excuses and every time your mind tries to trick you into not working out or making another choice that could be better for you (nutrition or whatever) write that excuse on there.  Make three columns... one for excuses... one for the date... and one for how you overcame that excuse!  And make sure you write all of your excuses on the list.  Pretty soon you will see the number of excuses dwindling away until you don't try to make excuses anymore.  Remember, you should always make choices that ARE good for you and not that just FEEL good to you!

Ok, I hope you will incorporate your excuse list today and go out and have a marvelous, positive Saturday!!!

5.22.14 Day 94: Rip't Up

Wow was I slacking today.  I don't know where the time went but I ended up working out at 9:00 pm.  That is usually my bedtime lol!!!  Anyway, this is my last week of Gamma and I have decided to forego Speed 3.0 this week and focus on the workouts that are more for helping you to get ripped!  I have been a little under the weather for the past few weeks and if you have ever done Speed 3.0 then you know that workout is no joke!  It is hard core cardio and with my chest cold it just wasn't a good fit for me right now. You HAVE to listen to your body and do what you know you can do and do what you will stick with.  I am really starting to see more changes in my body and I am loving the things I am seeing and feeling taking place right now.  I am kind of getting over the whole emotional vortex where I was wanting to see everything happen more quickly and have realized that I am getting there at a good pace and that getting the body I want is just going to take perseverance and hard work.  Goodness knows I didn't get that body overnight and I am not going to get rid of it overnight either!  Slow and steady wins the race!!!  To achieve my goals I am going to have to have persistence and perseverance and I will prevail.  Well I have to get ready for work now so I will cut this short.  HAVE A GREAT FRIDAY:)

5.21.14 Day 93: The Pyramid and Stretch

I did these after work and before I watched the season finale of Survivor (my favorite show... well one of them).  I was in such a hurry that I forgot to post my workouts:)  The main thing is that I didn't forget to do them!!!  I cannot stress this enough... you have to get off the couch and get moving if you want to get fit and healthy!!!  You cannot improve your life if you are crushing candies, watching tv, playing on the internet, facebooking etc. and then making the excuse that you don't have the time... you DO have the time and the time is NOW!!!