Worry Free, Healthy Me

Well the season has already changed and I haven't written in forever. It is now October and literally freezing out. One of the many things I love about the start of Autumn is that the weather is perfect for exercising. I know everyone has preferences about which season is the best for running but for me I love being out in the cold. I'm able to go longer and increase my time as well. Maybe it has something to do with my background in figure skating? Either way, I love this new temperature. Today I decided to do some festive activities with a friend. We made some pumpkin spice cookies. These were delicious! I only had one because to be honest, they aren't very healthy. Afterwards we went for a walk to look at the leaves changing and all the beautiful autumnal colors. We went 2 miles with hills so it was a nice bit of relaxed cardio. Then we watched the movie Hocus Pocus. Very festive if I say so myself. Since my last post I haven't been following the one

This weekend has been great! Friday started off with my husband getting off work and starting his two week leave. Yay! Now we actually get to see each other and spend time together. During the day I deep cleaned the kitchen, went grocery shopping, and did quite a bit of studying. Right now I'm on lesson 11: Fitness Assessments. And for some reason it's taking me a bit longer to go through this lesson. I will probably have to take an extra week to finish it. That's okay though, as long as I understand the material before moving onto the next lesson. I was so tired from all the errands and Jake was so excited to start his leave so he brought home pizza! I know I made a post earlier this week about eating extra healthy but pizza is a treat that we don't usually have. Saturday, I finished a care package to go to one of our friends who is deployed. I think it looks amazing! It has baked goods, some candy, snacks, and some treats to help him have some fun with the

Hi! I thought that to help hold me accountable I would write everything I eat during the day. I titled this post "My Favorite Foods" because I usually eat the same kinds of food everyday. Why do I eat the same kinds of food every day? Because I usually eat healthy food that tastes delicious. When I started eating healthier, I started craving healthy food. Here is what I ate yesterday. For breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Hash browns 3 eggs a dash of coconut milk some Mrs. Dash some sliced turkey a little bit of cheese hash-browns mixed with Mrs. Dash and turkey For lunch: Fruity Power Smoothie 1.5 cups of home-brewed green tea 2.5 cups of mixed fruit For my late lunch: Italian shredded chicken pasta sauce, Italian seasoning, and chicken breasts in slow cooker brown rice Cheesy Vegetables For  supper: Beef Stew stew meat, celery, carrots, onion, potatoes, and low sodium turkey gravy mix in slow cooker Snacks: Banana Apple spri

Today my husband and I completed the Warrior Challenge Obstacle Course and Mud Run! We got there at 07:30 bright and early. Before we went I ate a little bit of fruit and packed some things we might need (lots of towels, baby wipes, eye drops, snacks for afterwards, water, and electrolytes). I really enjoyed myself and it was empowering to accomplish it! Jake and I did it together all the way through. I'm so thankful that I have such an amazing husband that is so patient with me and helped me all the way through the event. The event was just short of 6 miles. It had over ten obstacles and included mud pits and a run through the woods that was very muddy! At the end we got some free water, Gatorade, fruit, snacks, and beer! I was very surprised but my Fitbit Surge held up pretty well! The only thing is when we got sprayed with water at the end, the force of the water must have hit one of the buttons and it turned off my Fitbit. That was as we were crossing the finis

So tomorrow I will complete a Mud Run/ Warrior Challenge Obstacle Course. The running portion won't be that difficult for me as it is 7 kilometers. However, the obstacle course will be challenging for me (hence the name warrior challenge). I am not concerned about my time and am focusing on being able to complete it. I do change a few things in my routine leading up to a run or race to help me the day of: 1. Increase my carbohydrate intake. Increasing your carbohydrate intake can help you exercise for a longer period of time at a higher intensity. This is because your muscles store carbohydrates in the form of glycogen. The more glycogen is stored, the longer it will take for your body to deplete its body's preferred energy source (glycogen). This will help prevent fatigue in long endurance events. 2. Increase my electrolytes and water. You can easily become dehydrated during your run or race especially if they don't have water on the course. Increasing your

I love coffee. I don't necessarily NEED to have it. I even stopped drinking it for a while and just had tea but I love the taste of it. I used to drink Starbucks all the time but now I make my coffee at home. When it started to get hot here I stopped drinking my coffee in the morning because hot coffee and hot weather was just too much for me. Then I realized I should just make iced coffee! I have a couple recipes I have been using lately and would love to write them. Some of them are healthy and some of them, not so much. Vanilla Creme: Half Coffee Half 1% milk (or coconut milk) Drops of Vanilla Creme SweetLeaf Stevia Drops  to taste Chocolate Raspberry: Half Coffee Half 1% milk (or coconut milk) Drops of Chocolate Raspberry SweetLeaf Stevia Drops  to taste Iced Mocha Coffee: Half Coffee Half 1% milk (or coconut milk) A couple squirts of Hershey's Sugar Free Chocolate Syrup You can basically make it anyway you want to. I would love to get the flavors of Hazelnut, Pumpkin Sp

In one of my earlier posts I said that I am going to school to become a Certified Personal Trainer. I am taking online classes through the American Council on Exercise (ACE).  I am loving it so far! I bought the premium package and it included all the study materials plus a CEC math class, an online syllabus, and even videos/lectures that I can view online. It also came with a re-take exam voucher just in case I don't pass the first time. I am on lesson 10 now. I am going over Chapter 7 in the ACE Personal Trainer Manual and have already completed the Exercise Science portion. I am doing about one lesson a week. I take my quiz for the lesson on Friday and then on the weekends I review all of the Exercise Science book and Personal Trainer Manual. You can do it at your own pace but if I don't structure the lessons for myself I will probably fall behind. The schedule I have set up works pretty well for me but it took me longer than a week to go through a lesson when I was doing Ex

Even though I made a workout plan I am still falling a little behind in my training so I decided to make a behavioral contract with myself. A behavioral contract can help you when you are making lifestyle changes and it sets up a reward system for adopting new behaviors. Once the goal is met (or the contract expires) another must take its place for the program to be effective. This will not contain everything that is in a typical behavioral contract since I am the client and the trainer. I will: Perform Cardio-respiratory Training / Resistance Training On weekdays 3-5 days per week                         / 2 days per week 20-30 minutes at RPE of 4-5          / body weight How confident am I that I can do this? 8 (1- not confident, 10 completely confident) If I successfully make this lifestyle change by 7 July, I will reward myself with a new beauty product. If I fail to successfully make this lifestyle change I will forfeit this reward. Signed: Rebecca L. Duerrwaecht

Well today was my first day at GNC. When I asked for my days off she seemed understanding because I brought it up on the first day. However, my probation period is ninety days and I'm not allowed to use the cash register and I'm taking tests and training the whole time. So by the time I'm planning to leave and start working in a Fitness Facility I would still be on probation. I feel bad for only staying with them such a short time and them investing training into me. I'm wondering how long this will last. I plan to stick it out for a while and see how it goes. I'm not worrying about it because I know God has great plans for me and I just have to trust Him. I have applied for ten fitness facility positions on post this week and this weekend I will be applying to fitness facilities in the city that I am in. Hopefully something comes through and I can start putting my schooling and passion to use!

Today is Friday! I haven't made a post all week but I have been pretty busy. I finished going through lesson 8 and am now studying for the quiz, cleaned the entire house, booked a Thirty One Party, and received the job from GNC. I should be excited about the job, right? Well for some reason I have this gut feeling that it's not right. I was already told by the manager that not many people work there for a long time and to not buy a bunch of clothes for the job in case I don't stay there. I was wondering why many people don't stay there: Do they quit? Do they get fired? Why do so many people quit or get fired so soon? But I figured I didn't want to ask or know. Another reason I'm nervous about it is because I already have to take off twice because of prior commitments. Next weekend I have a Thirty One meeting and the weekend of the Fourth of July I have a family reunion. I don't think she will be happy when we talk about my schedule tomorrow (Saturda

So this weekend was somewhat eventful. It was storming all Friday night so we didn't do much. I basically studied all night. Yes, I realize how much of a nerd that makes me studying on a Friday night.  On Saturday however, Jake and I hung out together and instead of cooking on the grill we ordered in. Oops! That's okay , I think we deserved it. I also received a call from GNC asking for an interview on Sunday. I turned in the application so long ago that I had almost forgotten about it. But I was very excited to receive the phone call. On Sunday morning I went to the interview. I don't think it went as well as it could have. I didn't necessarily mess up, just that I think they were looking for someone else for the position. That's okay though. If I end up getting the job it will be to hold me over until I start work as a personal trainer. If I don't get it that's alright and I will look on the positive side: God has other plans for me and this w

I have slid behind a little in my training. So I am wanting to re-write my goals and write down my workout plan for the next 2 weeks. Short term goals: 4 July 2015 Run a 10k Complete 30 push ups in 2 minutes Complete 60 sit ups in 2 minutes Lower body fat by 1% Week of 31 May - 6 June Sunday: Elliptical Arm workout Nighttime: Yoga & stretching Monday: 3.5 mile run Ab workout Nighttime: foam roll and stretching Tuesday: Elliptical Ab workout Nighttime: Yoga and stretching Wednesday: 4 mile run Arm workout Nighttime: foam roll and stretching Thursday: Elliptical Ab workout Nighttime: Meditation and stretching Friday: 4 mile run Ab workout Nighttime: foam roll and stretching Saturday: Incline walk on treadmill Leg workout Nighttime: foam roll and stretching Week of 7 June - 13 June Sunday: 4.5 mile walk Arm workout Nighttime: Yoga and stretching Monday: 4.5 mile run Ab workout Nightti

So today I thought I would write out my meal plan for the next week. How we do meal plans in our household isn't like how most families do them. We plan out our suppers for the next week or so based on what we currently have in our house and what is on sale. Then, for breakfast and lunch we basically "wing it" or have Shakeology. So I will be going grocery shopping on Monday and will plan out suppers until then. Then I will plan out our meals for all of next week and next weekend. Today (Thursday)- Chicken Parmagiana Friday- Chicken Fajitas Saturday- Cook Out (burgers/host dogs on the grill) Sunday- Left Overs Next Week: Monday- BBQ Baked Chicken Smother Chicken in BBQ sauce of your choice and bake it. Tuesday- Marinated Italian Chicken (Baked) Marinate chicken over night in Italian dressing of your choice and bake. Wednesday- Broccoli Chicken Casserole  Bottom Layer: Broccoli Middle Layer: Cooked Chopped Chicken Top Layers: Cream of Broccoli mixed wit

Hi! This is my very first post on this Blog. I've tried doing other blogs but I wanted to start a new one mostly because I feel as though I'm starting a new chapter in my life. I've always known that I wanted to help people and I have always been interested in reading about health and anything fitness related. I was also a competitive figure skater for over ten years and I coached for 5 years. However, my husband's job requires us to move often and not everywhere we move has an ice rink. So I got to thinking, how can I help people become healthy and boost their confidence? After much researching (over a years worth) I decided that I want to become a personal trainer. I enrolled in the Personal Training program at American Council on Exercise and have begun my journey to becoming healthier and helping others do the same. With that said I will tell you a little about me. I am 24 years old and just moved to the South. I am originally from Wisconsin ( GO PACK GO) but ju