What We Are Eating Wednesday: Vacations

By the end of last summer, I had been working soooo hard counting macros and incorporating weights into my workouts and I was totally on track. We take a trip every year with my husband’s family to Newport Beach and I was determined to stay on track while there. I realized quickly how inconvenient and annoying that was. I was not only inconveniencing myself, but others as well. I enjoyed a few treats, but the extra amount of work it took to try and eat exactly like I do at home was ridiculous. Recently, I decided on a family trip, to just enjoy and not worry about healthy eating at all. That was NOT a good choice either, I felt sick and uncomfortable the whole time. My body simply wasn’t used to eating that way. SO. I decided I needed to find balance. I want to enjoy my vacations! That means allowing for treats and splurges, but not going hog wild so I feel sick the whole time and miserable. Here are a few things I’ve learned through trial and error. 🥘 Try to eat smaller, healthier meals for at least two of your meals per day. The third meal can be a bit more of a splurge. 🥘 On your non-splurge meals, try to eat high protein and high veggies. 🥘 Don’t drink your calories unless it’s absolutely worth it. 🥘Stay active. Try to get a workout, hike, or walk in, every day. 🥘 Plan for treats. This trip I knew I wanted my favorite donuts, and I knew I wanted my dad to make his pancakes 🥞 for me, so I planned the days I would do that. 🥘 If eating out a lot, try to make healthier choices where possible, skip the bread beforehand, skip the chips and salsa, get dressing on the side, etc. 🥘 Most of all, just be AWARE. Make conscious choices, and plan ahead!! Some of us travel a lot, others not so much, so you may choose to have your whole vacation as a splurge and that’s ok, as long as it is your choice! If you travel a lot, your whole life can become one big splurge, so make choices accordingly! What do you do to make healthy choices on vacation? 

Fitness Friday: Flexibility

F▪️L▪️E▪️X▪️I▪️B▪️I▪️L▪️I▪️T▪️Y⠀

It is SO easy to squeeze in a quick workout and jumping into the shower before we take the time to stretch. But it is SO important for the health of our muscles and joints: it prevents stiffness and injury, and relieves pent up tension and stress! 

For my runners, all-day desk sitters, dancers, walkers, weight lifters out there (and lots of other things), this little-known stretch is for you! This one really targets your glutes (aka bum 🍑) and deep external rotator muscles (see pic 6 for a visual diagram ).

🧘‍♀️ start in a runner’s lunge (see pic 2).
🧘‍♀️ turn out your front foot (see pic 3).
🧘‍♀️ turn shoulders, body, and straight back leg to face the wall closest to your front bent leg, hold for at least 30 seconds and breathe. (see pic 4).
🧘‍♀️ bend your straight back leg so you’re now sitting on the floor with your front leg crossed over (both sits bones on the ground), hug it to your chest and twist the opposite way (see pic 5).
🧘‍♀️ repeat on other side.

Don’t neglect your muscle-y and bony friends! They’ll be with you for a long while. 💪🏻 

Pic #2

Pic #3

Pic #4

Pic #5

Pic #6

Fitness Friday: Workout Buddies

🏃‍♀️ WORKOUT BUDDIES 🏃‍♀️ 

Something I am SO grateful for when it comes to#fitness is having people around me with similar goals. I love that we can inspire and motivate each other to push ourselves a little harder, or to practice #selfcare and take a needed rest day. Fitness can be FUN (as cheesy as that sounds) and you can build a community of supportive friends. I have made some of my bffs from becoming workout buddies. There’s nothing quite like bonding over sweating/crying/swearing over the last repetition of crunches together 😏🤣 If you don’t already have a workout buddy, call a friend and set up a time to do your workout of choice together one time this week! Both of you will benefit 🤗-Anna

Parenting Tuesday: Pregnancy Fitness

Happy Tuesday!! I officially have less than 3 months until this baby joins us. Feels so close yet so, very, far. 🙈😂 This pregnancy has been very different in a lot of ways, but the two I want to talk about are fitness and eating. This time around, since after the first trimester, I’ve been counting macros and eating really clean. I’ve been eating a protein-heavy diet and working hard to incorporate tons of veggies. I have been so proud of myself for the many unhealthy cravings I have said no to and for the self control I’ve been able to have. It is SO hard when you’re pregnant! All I want are donuts, cookies, cereal and bread. And we all know none of those hold much nutritional value. I have also added in a regular weight lifting routine on top of my cardio. I feel stronger and can’t believe what my body can still do. I was marveling at how things have changed even since 6 years ago when pregnant with my first. I was told if you hadn’t been exercising, it was dangerous to start in pregnancy, and that lifting heavy weights can be dangerous. Oh how different that is now! One of the main ways I have stayed on track is accountability. I have been working with @shapebynat, she gave me workouts, recipe ideas, and a personalized macro count. Every time I want to give up, I remember that I have her in my corner and I remember why I bought her program in the first place! I highly recommend working with a coach, especially in pregnancy when it can be so easy to give up! 

Fitness Friday: Fitness Flow

✨F✨L✨O✨W✨:
“Concentration is so intense that there is no attention left over to think about anything irrelevant, or to worry about problems. Self-consciousness disappears, and the sense of time becomes distorted. An activity that produces such experiences is so gratifying that people are willing to do it for its own sake, with little concern for what they will get out of it, even when it is difficult.”

✨-Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

I am a believer that our fitness routines should be experienced of FLOW. Where you forget that you’re sweating, that’s it’s hard, that you’d rather be sleeping... when you’re in the zone.

✨What’s your fitness flow experience? ✨

Fitness Friday: 100 Classes

Happy #fitnessfriday !! I’m not normally the one who posts on Fridays, but I reached a personal milestone today at @otfbountiful and wanted to share some thoughts. Today, I got to sign the “100 Classes” picture. It may seem small, but that signature represents a couple significant things to me:
1. Patience. Patience has never been one of my virtues. I’ve always wanted to lose weight quickly and furiously, which is not the right way to do it. 100 classes takes time. It took me 7 months of the hardest workouts of my life to hit my goal. Because OTF focuses on both cardio and weight training, there is a period of time where weight loss is slow and changes seem imperceptible while fat converts to muscle. It’s hard to keep going when it feels like results aren’t happening. But I’m learning that the best kind of change takes time. That was a lesson I needed to learn.
2. Self-Worth. I’ve always seen myself as hopelessly un-athletic. I’ve felt self-conscious about it my whole life. It’s honestly still true. But at my classes, I can see my growth based on how many miles per hour I’m rowing now compared to 7 months ago, and how heavy the weights are that I’m lifting. I can tell how much faster I’m running based on my current base pace and push pace. OTF also has benchmark weeks where we record things like our mile run, our 1000 meter row, etc. and then repeat it 6 months later to track progress. I now know I CAN grow and become better at something I’ve always dismissed as not “my thing.” I’m still the slowest one on the weight floor, but I’m better than I was before. And that’s enough for me.

Self-Care Saturday: Self-Monitoring

“Call a truce, stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat.” (From the book Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole) 

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I think this is a wonderful way to do #selfcare, to develop a positive relationship with food! And my sisters and I have all tried it! However, as @ktkarrots mentioned on our instastory recently...we were all blessed (cursed) with an INTENSE sweet tooth. So what happens when we give ourselves unconditional permission to eat you ask? Well, I personally, eat a lot of treats. At least one a day. 

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So, over time, I’ve developed a new system for myself. I want to stop the food fight too, but I need more rules when it comes to sugar. I try to not eat treats throughout the school/work week. But, when it comes to the weekend, I don’t just let it be a free-for-all. I try my best to pay attention to my body, and be reasonable about the amount of treats I eat so I don’t feel gross the whole weekend! -Anna

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How do you monitor your sugar intake? 

Fitness Friday: Lifting Weights

WEIGHTS? CARDIO? BOTH? 🤷🏼‍♀️

I have always been a cardio junkie. All I wanted to know was, how many calories can I burn in the least amount of time??? After my second baby and training for, and running my first half marathon, I realized I was what some call “skinny-fat”. I was at my lowest weight but my body had no tone and was not tightening up like I wanted. ENTER: weight lifting!! Growing up as a ballerina, I had some massive quads. I HATED it! I never wanted to lift because I was afraid of having man-thighs 😂. But after changing my diet (macros) and adding weight lifting to my regimen, my body changed drastically in a short time! (See my progress post several posts back.) All exercise is great for our bodies, but a combination of weights and cardio is where it’s at for optimal body shaping! Enjoy these pics from my first, (maybe last 😂) half marathon. 🏋️‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️

Self-Care Saturday: Exercise Endorphins

Yesterday, I felt a little off. My room is a total disaster, I had an assignment due at midnight that I had procrastinated, there were nachos sitting for forever in my stomach and making me feel gross, and I was allowing these frivolous things to make me feel bad about/for myself.

But this morning, I woke up at 5 am and ran a half marathon with two great friends from my program (@efishy and Alicia), and I completely forgot about the things that were making me feel down.

To quote Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don’t kill their husbands.They just don’t!” 😂

But for reals, endorphins trigger a positive feeling in our bodies, so the times when we least feel like exercising are often the times we could benefit from it the most!
-Anna

Spiritual Sunday: Inner Dialogue

Our bodies are incredible. When we get cut or bruised, the body works to heal itself. Our bodies can create beautiful little humans who go on to think and learn and change the world. Our bodies are one of the most precious gifts we have. When I first saw this picture, I immediately thought, “Ugh, look at my hips in those pants” instead of, “Look at those marvelous legs that got me up to the top of that mountain so I could witness the exquisite view behind me.” My inner dialogue needs to change. Many of us, like me, are so critical of our bodies- we immediately see the flaws and forget all the super powers our body has! When my sister regained her ability to walk after a battle with GBS left her in a wheelchair, it was like she had a new lease on life. She treasures her body. I want to do the same. I am so grateful to God for the gift of my body that allows me to enjoy this beautiful world He created for us.

Self-Care Saturday: Past, Present, Future

Hey, it’s Anna here! ✨

Today was a beautiful day for a slightly treacherous trail run (or slide, if you were wearing beat-up Nike’s like us😂) with big sis @ktkarrots and friends (we missed @christinapendleton though!)! It always feels good to go a little out of my comfort zone, and do #selfcare care by growing towards my health goals! 💪🏻

In the first pic, I am doing a (dancer-version 😂) of the Warrior II yoga pose. The other day at my internship site, we did chair yoga and Iexplained to them that this pose represents mindfulness, because your back arm represents the past, which you learn from, your trunk represents the present, which you are living in, and your front arm represents the future, which you are looking toward! The past, present, and future help make up where you are at today, and that is healthy to acknowledge. But it’s important to remember that you are living in the NOW.

This kind of mindset helps us to not dwell on past mistakes, and to enjoy the moment rather than simply wishing for the future. Our mom @tellyh654 always reminds us, “don’t wish your life away!” And #mindfulness helps us do just that.

Fitness Friday: Celebrate Your Body

I can’t tell you how many times I use to workout an extra hour or go to a harder class so I could “earn” more calories for that day. My mentality was all about burning off what I ate so I could go and eat more. (Usually it was treats.) So I would save all my calories for treats at night and basically eat lettuce for the rest of the day. It took me a long time to get out of this mentality and I actually stopped tracking my workouts in MFP. I just know my calorie/macro goal for the day and I stick to that regardless of my workout that day. I’m able to enjoy working out so much more now! I don’t feel like it’s a punishment for eating one too many cookies, and my relationship with food has changed: its fuel for my body, not something I earn. I still eat treats and enjoy them but it has nothing to do with my workouts and everything to do with how it makes me feel and if I’ve properly fueled my body that day. Enjoy your weekend, my friends! Eat good food and move your body! *swipe for a bad quality bump pic from today. #19weeks and the bump is out! Amazed that my body is capable of carrying a 3rd baby! ❤️, Christina 😊.

Fitness Friday: Persistence

Today for #fitnessfriday, we have another guest feature! @farr.andrew is a pro biker, a life coach, and a good friend of Katie’s. As I have trained for events ranging from fun runs to 100-mile mountain bike races, one of the biggest lessons I have learned is being consistent with my efforts and finding joy in the journey. As a life and performance coach, I have noticed that the best memories clients have are not necessarily on race day. The journey of training and seeing personal growth, no matter what their level of fitness is, is ultimately the most rewarding.

Reaching your potential takes time and patience. In the words of Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of United States, “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent”.

Don’t fear fitness. Fitness is a way to seek your potential through action. When I train for events, I am challenging myself physically and emotionally to be the best I can be at any discipline in life. If you have a dream, envision it, put a date to it, break it down, make it personal, and never give up on YOURSELF.

“Hell on earth is to one day meet the person you could have become, and they are a stranger to you.” —Anonymous

Andrew Farr
Performance Coach
http://habitfindercoach.com/AndrewFarr
farrcoaching@gmail.com

Fitness Friday: Yoga

This #fitnessfriday it’s me, Anna! 
🧘‍♀️ According to Harvard Health, doing yoga helps overall wellness in these areas:
✨Better body image 
✨Mindful eating
✨A boost to weight loss and maintenance 
✨ Enhance Fitness/exercise capacity
✨ Cardiovascular benefits (for a healthy heart!)
✨ Stress management/relief
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The coolest part of this article for me was when it described how researchers have found that people who practiced yoga for at least 30 minutes every week for at least 4 years, didn’t gain as much weight during middle adulthood, and those who were overweight, lost weight!
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Whether or not weight loss is your goal, practicing yoga has so many health benefits for overall wellness (mind, body, & soul)!
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Who are my yogis out there? 🙋🏼‍♀️🧘‍♀️

Parenting Tuesday: 15 Weeks

BUMPDATE alert! I am 15 weeks and the baby is the size of a pear. I wanted to share a little bit about what I’ve been doing to try and stay active. 

During the first trimester, I wasn’t feeling the best and had really low energy. My typical workout was walking at a 15% incline on the treadmill for 30 min at a 3 mph pace. Sometimes I would add in some squats and weighted arm exercises. I would also take a high fitness class here and there when I could. Now that I’m feeling a little better, I’ve been trying to get to high 2-3x a week and doing @kristinandrus workouts the other days. I find that doing some type of exercise every day is really important for my sleep and how I feel throughout the day. 

SIDE NOTE: Did anyone else HATE the taste of water in their pregnancies? I can tolerate it a little better now, but it was so hard to stay hydrated for a while there. Using crystal light in my water has helped a lot. 

Fitness Friday: Balance

Heyyo! It’s Anna. TGIF am I right?! 😅 I am going to be 1,000% real with you guys. I am in a very challenging semester of my Master’s degree (helloooo Neuroanatomy 🧠), and my workouts have slipped lower on my to-do list to accommodate for a heck of a lot more studying. It’s so easy for me to get into my head and tell myself I “should” be better at going to the gym and I “should” be or more toned or I “should” have my life together more. In the past I’ve let this cycle of “shoulds” make me feel guilty and less worthy than I am. BUT, it has helped me infinitely to know there are times and seasons of our lives where working out can be more of a priority, and other times where you squeeze it in absolutely anywhere you can and that’s OKAY! It’s all about

✨B▪️A▪️L▪️A▪️N▪️C▪️E ✨

Fitness Friday: Mom Workouts

Let’s be honest. Life as a mom can be crazy with a capital C. Prioritizing fitness is something that has been a challenge for me and has changed over the years for me as I’ve had more kids and circumstances have changed. Let’s also be honest that we can’t always get to the gym to take a class. I have found some amazing workouts for free or pretty cheap that I have loved and can do in my own home. I even did these when we lived in a teeny tiny little house with no more than a 5x5 foot space to work with. It made so there were no more excuses for me! So without further ado, here are my favorite/most recommended at home workouts for you busy ladies: 

🏋️‍♀️ @kristinandrus
🏋️‍♀️ @goodfortheswole
🏋️‍♀️ @kayla_itsines and @sweat
🏋️‍♀️ @beachbody

Some of these are completely free! And others do cost some, but are totally worth it in my opinion.