Half Way Through!

Those of you who have taken the 30-day challenge with me you are now half way through! Congratulations, for creating a new habit! Reaching the half-way point is quite an achievement.

What has been the most difficult part about creating this new habit? If you have stuck to your goal so far, how does that make you feel?

If you did not try the challenge because 30-days was too overwhelming, perhaps you want to join us for the second half for a 15-day challenge.

Is going through the challenge together helping you?

If you tried the 30-day challenge but had problems sticking to your goal, I really want to hear about what made it difficult.

Sharing your struggles will help me help you… and I never want you to feel alone or frustrated.

Remember, you haven’t failed, you have just created a result. It may not have been the result you wanted, but it will tell you what you need to do to move forward.

Here is how the second week went of my challenge went:

Tuesday, I made 5 trips up and 6 trips down but I did my best run ever on Thursday… 6 trips running up and 6 trips walking down in 30 minutes!

Now, I am in North Carolina for the weekend visiting my family. When you write down your goals, especially when you are sharing them publicly like I am on this blog, the accountability factor is HUGE!

You just don’t want to have any “blemish” on your record. Being out of town, it would have been easy to skip my run on Sunday.

These excuses for not doing my challenge for Sunday actually went through my mind… I don’t want to take time away from my family, the hill was different so I couldn’t accurately measure the progress, I don’t want to pack my running shoes…

What ended up happening however was a great experience. I managed to find a similar hill because it took me 5 trips up and 5 trips down in the 30-minute time frame.

My brother-in-law ended up going with me on his bike, and he was very grateful to have someone to “encourage” him to ride AND not only is Chapel Hill, NC indeed “hilly” and beautiful, it was 10 degrees cooler than Dallas, even starting 4 hours later (11:30 AM instead of 7:30AM).

By the way, I tried out my brother-in-law’s recumbent bike. If you think knowing how to ride a bicycle is a talent you never forget… and you have never tried a front wheel drive recumbent bike… think again! It is a completely different experience!

Your center of gravity is completely thrown off. All the weight is in front of you. If you have never tried it, you should. It is very hard to stay balanced. After a while you can get the hang of it, but how fun that was!

If you are having trouble with your 30-day challenge or even getting one started, here are 6 tips that might help you:

1. Always set up an environment where you can succeed.
2. Remove foods from your home that are not supporting your goals.
3. When you get a craving, do something active like take a walk, call a friend, or post on this blog.
4. If exercise is your goal, having a partner who meets you at the gym or outside for your walk or run will help keep you accountable.
5. Have a new song or audio download to put in your iPod that you can’t wait to hear, but you can only listen to it when you go for your workout.
6. Write it down in your planner. You have an “appointment” to make your goal happen. At the end of the day, checking it off because you did it feels good.

First week of my 30-day Challenge

Well, I made it through my first week and 3 hill runs. I am reporting back as promised.

Sunday – It was already 80 degrees when I woke up at 5:45 Am. I started my run at 8:45, early start is key here in Texas! Tuesday & Thursday will be 1 hour earlier.

Report: 5 trips up and 5 trips down in exactly 30-minutes. Not too shabby I guess!

Note to self: There are probably 1 1/2 – 2 hours from the time I leave my house to teach my boot camp and pack up and get to my hill with no available bathroom. Lesson- watch the liquid intake in the morning!

Tuesday – Yay! I’ve got a taker! Thank you Janice! It is much more fun to do this with company.

Report: 5 trips up and 6 trips down in 30-minutes.

Thought for the morning: How long have I had these running shoes? What made my time better?

Thursday – New shoes day and I did not frighten Janice away! (She’s a pretty determined woman actually)

Report: 5 trips up and 5 trips down in 30-minutes.

Another note: Why did my time differ on Tuesday? Perhaps I wasn’t paying close attention to the exact start point at the top of the hill and the exact point where I turn to go up the hill.

If you are tracking your performance, there is a saying, “what gets measured gets done.” Having the awareness of how you are doing can produce results. So true with food.

Now I know the precise starting tree and precise driveway to start running up the hill. I have a baseline measurement to go by and I will see if I can improve my distance in 30 minutes.

I would love to continue to get feedback from you. I am especially curious about you brave ones for posting on the blog last week. I really want to acknowledge you for that alone.

How about the rest of you? Is this challenge helping you? I would really love to know.

Even if you didn’t start with me last week, it’s never too late to start your 30-day challenge.

Come Join My Challenge

I thought I would share with you a 30-day challenge I am starting but first I want tell you why I am sharing it with you.

One of the key drivers for success is accountability. Because I am sharing this with you, I am making myself accountable to all of you… my readers who I try to inspire and motivate. You are the very last ones I would ever want to let down!

Now… that being said, I am deeply committed! Failure is not an option.

Some of you warriors out there may not think this is a big deal compared to your workouts and others might be thinking no thanks, that’s insane.  None of that matters, for ME, it will be challenging.

I’m going to be running hills for the next 30 days, 3 times a week after the 3 morning boot camp classes I teach. The drill is, run up, walk down for a total of 30 minutes. I’ve invited my boot campers to join me by the way… and if you are in the Dallas area you are invited too, just email me for details by going to the contact page on this blog. I will be posting regular updates.

Hey… Dallas summers are hotter than heck, and finding hills in this flat town are challenging! I did manage to find a really nasty one though… and it’s long as well!

Besides being accountable, another success driver is your social support. I always love the expression, when you lie with dogs you get fleas! Your chances of success are exponential when you have your own inner circle of like-minded people who support you. So even if you are not in the Dallas area, I would love your encouraging comments on this post!!!

Well enough about my challenge, now I want you to pick YOUR challenge for the next 30-days and I encourage you to share it on this blog. in the comment box.

Maybe it is power-walking up the hills, walking 1-2 times a week for 15 minutes, giving up sugar, drinking more water… whatever it is, pick something that will take you outside of YOUR comfort zone.

Thank you all for keeping me honest… and I look forward to supporting you in your 30-day challenge… I believe in YOU!

 Lauren

PS: Who knows? Your challenge might become a HABIT!

What Is Your Relationship With Food?

Losing weight and body fat is less about changing the food you eat

than it is changing your relationship with food.

Our relationship with food holds emotions attached to it just like

our relationship with other things in our life: Love, hate,

pleasure, pain, good, and bad…

Food can be a celebration, addiction, obsession, nourishment,

energy and vitality…

We feed ourselves as mothers/fathers, husbands/wives, single

men/women, athletic/sedentary, our religion or nationality…

Are you AWARE of your relationship with food? Is it like your

relationship with your life?

For example, lets look at “Gina”, a working mom with two young kids

and a fairly high-pressure job as a senior manager.

Her position is further compromised with the state of the economy,

and her kids have school, dance, piano, sports, birthday parties,

etc. She lives connected to her Blackberry at all times.

She is always busy and in a big hurry, and guess what? She has no

planning or thought for any given meal, and often will go all day

before she realizes she hasn’t eaten.

She comes home exhausted, and when she finally does eat, she is so

hungry that she quickly packs down a huge meal, so she can pick up

one kid from soccer practice, get him fed, then help both kids

with their homework and get them to bed… but she isn’t really

satisfied because there was nothing really “good” in the house, and

she is binging on “bad” food all evening.

The next day, kids fed, dropped off at school, and she is eating

the breakfast she picked up through the Starbucks drive-thru while

driving to work.

Do you see where I am going here? To go just a little deeper, no

matter what your religious orientation is, I believe your

relationship with food is a spiritual one as well.

If you believe in a punishing world, chances are you will have

punishing beliefs about food as well. This describes the crowds you

see at the gym on any Monday or after a holiday… people who are

atoning for their over-indulgent eating.

If your belief is we’re all going to die sooner or later, then you

probably eat whatever you feel like because so what?

If you are more scientific than religious you might eat to live,

and not live to eat. You may even adhere to a diet that measures

and calculates calories and nutrients.

When you acknowledge whom you are as an eater and become AWARE and

go deeper into your thoughts and feelings that drive overeating,

then you can begin to explore and take responsibility for your

overweight.

When you practice a nourishing relationship with yourself and food

rather than one of punishment or deprivation, you create a

nourishing and fulfilled life.

Your inner mantra becomes I love eating healthy, perfect portions,

because it makes me feel and look great.

You discover your natural appetite, not a punishing one that uses

willpower to deny food. You feel confident and in control with food.

Taking responsibility for getting to your ideal body weight is a

hard place to get to, but it is the first step. Nobody can take

that first step for you, but you don’t have to do it alone either.

Having an accountability partner, who engages you in deeper level

thinking, and knows, which exercise and nutrition system is best

for you, increases your chances of success exponentially.

I believe in you.

Click here if you are looking for support:

http://bestbodymakeover.com/coaching

Live with Vitality,

Lauren