1000 miles in 2015

My sister Jackie is amazing. I witnessed (from over 700 miles away) the determination and drive this woman had this past year. I have never seen someone more persistent and consistent in their fitness goals. 

Last January, she promised herself that she would put in 1000 miles of intentional exercise for the year. She didn't count the  everyday walking around that she did. She didn't count the steps on a pedometer. She intentionally set aside time almost every day to put in miles on the pavement. 

She is a new woman. I'm not sure of it's the 40+ pounds that she lost... But my heart tells me it's so much more than that. She is happy. She feels good. She looks incredible. And she's still going! She finished her goal almost a week before her deadline. And today she set a new goal for herself. 

When I grow up, I want to have the persistence of my big sister. I want to start... And finish. 

So today, I started the exact challenge. This means that on average, I need to walk/jog 2.74 miles each day. This year I grow up. I'll be posting on social media as my way of being held accountable. If you don't see me post, call me out on it. I need you. All of you. 

I'm extremely out of shape. The worst I've ever been in my whole life. I don't like to exercise.... But I've finally realized that I NEED to exercise. I will start slowly... But I WILL finish! 

I was a gifted a FitBit for Christmas and am looking for friends on there that will help me stay challenged. (Also, how in the world do you add friends on fitbit?!)

I'm looking for friends to join this challenge with me. Are you in? 

Day one = 1.5 miles

28 days later...

What a difference 4 little weeks can make!

You know when you've just had it... Like, had enough?! Enough being lazy! Enough puffing air! Enough with no discipline! Enough not caring!

That is me. I have just had enough living the way I was living. I was lazy, exhausted, cranky, achy. I was ready for a change. 

I started the middle of September after seeing my sweet friend Dawns weight loss journey. Now she was looking GOOD and I wanted to too! So I tried her no junk food challenge for 2 weeks. That was pretty simple... We don't eat a ton of junk food so I thought cutting it out would be a breeze. There were definitely some willpower needed though! 

 But really, I wanted to feel good. I wanted energy and not to feel like in was in my 70s every day. 

One of my best friends, Jenny, was starting another 28 days to fit (Arbonne style) that I had done before and it helped me get on track real fast so I started that program on Oct 6th (first photo above). 

The 28 days to fit program is not for the ill willed. It was tough... No sugar, no gluten, no dairy, no alcohol, no caffeine for 28 days! Whoa! For a wine drinkin', milk guzzlin', coffee chuggin' girl like me... It was hard. 

Hard. But worth it. (Like serving 50+ shots of espresso in an hour at church and smelling like coffee the whole day and almost eating your hands off hard!)

The whole point of the restrictions is to allow your body to detoxify itself... to go from an acidic unit to more of a base unit.  Then when you introduce these things back in, you can feel how they affect your body and being. 

Like I said, hard, but absolutely worth it. The proof is in the second photo. That was taken tonight... 28 days after my start date. 

But guess what?! I cheated... a few times actually. And every time I did, I felt like complete crap. Neck aches, bloating, almost like a major hangover after a fun size candy bar! 

But every day I told myself it was a new day. Start again. Fail forward. 

Just before the 28 days to fit started, I had committed myself to a 5 week exercise/devotional challenge with my friend Allison.  After witnessing my oldest sister Jackies beautiful transformation from exercising this past year, I was ready to get started. Honestly, that one is still the hardest. Exercising. 

I don't know why but I try to convince myself that I'm just too busy. Or I'll do it later. Then something comes up and it doesn't get done. 

Exercise is so hard for me to get my mind into it. But I'm getting there. I just need accountability with others. 

It's a continued journey. I'm inspired by the results. In 28 days, 4 short weeks, I lost 11 pounds.... And 8 INCHES OFF MY WAIST! 

Yay!

So I'll keep going. Slowly improving. Steady. Allowing myself a few treats and rewards but learning that everything had to be worked for... I'm not entitled to eat whatever I want and be lazy anymore. I need to stick with this for my families sake. I am a nicer, healthier person and I want to be around for a long time. When heart issues run in your family, and you feel like you're going to die every time you work out, you KEEP GOING. Slow and steady. One day at a time. And someday soon, you'll be running outside with your kids. You'll look & feel amazing for your husband. You'll feel confident in shorts for the first time in almost 2 decades. You might actually look forward to wearing a swimsuit again. 

A big huge thank you to my accountability buddies. Even if you didn't know you were one, each of you played a big role in helping me stick to my little journey the past 4 weeks and many more to come! Jackie, Dawn, Jenny, Allison & Natalie! THANK YOU! 

Y'all! Today I saw cottage cheese on my arm. Cellulite. ON. MY. ARM!!!!!

#ew

No words can describe how I truly feel about this. 

Here are some that might come close...

Sad. 

Disappointed. (In myself)

Shocked. (But not really)

Lazy. 

Unattractive. 

But here's the deal. Slowly I've been making small changes. 

My sweet friend Dawn challenged me with 28 days of no junk food. It went great! After the first week it truly was easy to stick to. Even when Joel and I were both tempted we chose no sugar. During the month of September I lost 7 pounds by simply just not eating junk food. Chips, soda, cookies, fast food, ice cream, etc was taken away for 4 full weeks. Since our month was up, we have each nibbled on a few sugary sweets but all 4 of us older Sprys have decided that these foods should be treated as... well, a treat. 

Now that the junk food was taken care of, it was time to get on the fitness wagon. My dear friend Allison invited me to be her accountability partner for the Peak313 5 week challenge. It's a great way to stick to something when you have a buddy cheering you on.... And calling you out when you need it. What I love about Peak313 is that you are learning scripture while exercising! That's my favorite.  We are just starting week two and so far so good. 

And just yesterday, I've started detoxing my body using Arbonne's 28 day restart. I could write a whole other blog post on how much I'll miss my wine and coffee but I remember my results last August and know that I need to stay committed to help shift our lifestyle just a bit. With Jenny as my encouragement, I know I can finish this too. 

I've tried to do more, be more... Try harder, try everything... But that simply doesn't work. Try the next thing when I quit the first, second, tenth. Go all in and quit things cold turkey. 

But each time my heart wasn't in it. 

Since our miscarriage this past June, I didn't realize how much I was drinking, eating, and how much I was sitting. I didn't have energy to do anything. And slowly, I've gotten up to my highest, non-pregnant weight and I can feel it. 

I look in the mirror and my head would say 'Do something! Anything! Get fit! Eat right! Do it!!!'

But for the longest time my heart wasn't in it. It simply wasn't ready. 

I spent many moments with tear filled eyes praying that I would be satisfied with who I am in Christ. That I would stop trying so hard and putting so much pressure on myself to look and be like half the fitness girls that I finally deleted off my Instagram account. 

I prayed for peace. And love. To feel accepted by the only One that matters. To be satisfied. To give The Lord all the glory in everything I do. To let go of my anger and bitterness. 

He answered my prayers. My heart feels healed. And now finally, my heart is in it. I don't want to do this for me... Or anyone else. It's time to be thankful for my body and create good habits that will be glorying to God. Because that's why we are here. To do all things for the glory of God. 

Take Care of Your Heart.

Jumping jacks. Stair climbs. Panting. Light-headed. Puke.

Last week I had the crappiest workout I have ever had. Joanna, my dear friend & neighbor, has been my personal trainer for the past 5 months, and she came over and whooped my booty. What was very unintentional on her part, really proved to be a beating on my end.

You see, I've never been 'in to cardio.' I just don't like it. Whenever I tried Jillian Michaels workout videos, I would get light headed and need to stop half way so I wouldn't pass out. Stay at home mamas can't pass out with kids home!

I just thought that I wasn't good at it. That my body just didn't like it. But little did I know, it was because my HEART was so out of shape... physically.

Joanna left feeling bad... as soon as she walked out the door I ran to the bathroom, hunched over the toilet, trying to catch my breath (I tried to hide it so she wouldn't see but it was obviously screaming all over my face) I hadn't felt that crappy in a long time. I even had Arly call Joel at work to ask him to come home.

I've always like strength training... always. I like to go on walks.... casually. I like to be able to still chat with friends. I work out when I feel like it. It's never been a 'habit' of mine. I just 'try' to squeeze it in when I can. But after reading the following, it's time for me to get in gear!

Joanna wrote on her blog: 8020 Training & Fitness.....

  I am a huge fan of weight training, and I believe everyone should incorporate strength training in their workout routine because we need muscle.  Muscle makes our metabolisms faster, so we burn calories at rest.  That’s what we all want.  There are many  more benefits to weight training but today I want to talk about cardiovascular health.  When you perform cardio at a moderate intensity it’s a way to exercise your heart.  According to the International Science Sports Association, the average conditioned heart beats 60 beats per minute, while the deconditioned heart is about 80 beats per minute. 

Ok…so why is that important? 

Well, check this out:
Say two people stayed “at rest” for 24 hours.  One is conditioned, one is deconditioned.
a) Conditioned heart: “at 60 beats/minute x 60 minutes =3600 beats per hour.  4800 x 24 hours= 86, 400 beats per day “
b) deconditioned heart:  “80 beats per minute x 60 minutes= 4800 beats per hour; 4800x 24 hours = 115,200 per day.

By not conditioning your heart you could be making your heart beat up to 30,000 times more every single day!  So, my advise would be, get some shoes on and call me!  Don’t wait another 30 minutes, 30 days or 30 years to get active.  Your heart needs it!

JAW ON FLOOR... SHOCKED! It's time to get things going people. Heart attacks run in my family and I do not want to be a victim to them because I've been 'too busy' = lazy.

Tomorrow morning, I will be signing up to run the Diva Day Race... Missoula's all women 5K. Please note: I AM NOT A RUNNER. I never have been. But it's time for me to get a little comfortable being uncomfortable for the sake of my health. 

Since we've been eating well and I've sustained the 15 lb weight loss - I'm ready for more. More energy, more routine, more intentional being a great example for our girls. 

If you are in the Missoula area, won't you join me?!?! We can dress up and be crazy for the day! We need a family of 4... or 8... or 12! 

I'm ready for this new challenge... now to go find my running shoes.

XO.

Jari

Hey you OULAgins!

I've been working on spending more one on one time with my girls. I think we all enjoy our company more when we get quality time together. So tonight, Arly and I went to our very first Oula class! Now I didn't know much about Oula other than it was created in Missoula... get it... MissOULA! I also knew that it was all about dancing! What!?!? I am NOT a dancer... and even when I've had a few to loosen me up, I'm still NOT a dancer!

Arly and I got the reminder from our neighbor and friend around 4pm that class was still on in our little town at the gym at 6pm. I tried to think of EVERY excuse not to go.

I was tired.

I don't dance.

I needed to cook dinner.

My baby might get hungry.

I have Scentsy work to catch up on.

I still needed to plan my week.

I showered already once today.

But... then when little Alyn asked me if I was going, I knew that was what I was suppose to do. The reasons for going totally outweighed the reasons to not.

I got to know my neighbor and friend better.

I wanted to show my girls that fitness is important.

Joel was coming home right at 5 so I could make the class.

I need to lose some baby weight... or just weight in general.

I knew it would be a fun night with just Arly and me.

Sweating feels so good.

So... that's what we did. I'm so glad we went! We laughed so hard... we were "WOOO"ing with the rest of the OULAgins and we gave each other more high-fives than we have all year!

I loved this time with Arly. She is growing up too fast. I was just thinking that we only have 7 more summers together before she is an adult. *tear  It felt like we got to know each other a little bit better tonight. It's like we have an even more special bond. I'm so happy that I have decided to be more intentional about being a mom first.... everything else second.

If you are wonder exactly what Oula is, check out their website.

XO.

Jari

NOT Starting on Monday.

I've always been a 'Monday' girl. You know, start a new routine on Monday. Start keeping your food journal on Monday. Start getting up earlier.... on Monday. 

I've been planning to get started on Monday for almost 10 years now. No seriously, that seems like an exaggeration to most, but Joel could tell you that it is most certainly true about his wife. 

When it comes to my health, it's been the same way. But I'm so tired of that. I'm tired of being out of breath. I'm tired of being so sleepy all the time. I'm tired of shopping the bottom of the jean pile at the store. :(

Joel and I were talking the other day and we have decided we've been living life about 20%. It's time to kick it up a notch. If we want some drastic changes to happen, we have to change drastically!

So, I'm not starting tomorrow. No Sir Ree! (who is Sir Ree?) Is that how you're suppose to say it? I'm waiting until August 1st to do it all! My sweet friends Jenny & Joanna have been amazing supporters on my want to get healthy and fit.  Jenny is starting a biggest loser challenge the month of August and I'm ALL IN! I love a good competition. It's not going to be easy - but it's going to be great for me to make changes! Joanna is going to help me with a work out plan so I can get active again too.

You can join Jenny's facebook page here. As soon as Joanna has a page for her personal training business I'll be sure to link her up too for you local peeps.

I'll be loggin' and bloggin' my personal journey here. If you'd like to join me, I'd LOVE that!

What is your favorite way to stay in shape? What are some of your best healthy recipes?

Oh and look at what this little one is up to lately! (just started tonight about 20 minutes ago!)

She's growing up too fast. She keeps life interesting.

PS I love comments... please leave me some :)  I mean, if you wanna.

XO.

Jari