The Final Countdown

One week from today, we should be moving into our newly renovated apartment.

One week from today, we have furniture being delivered.

The question is, will it be ready for us?

Answer, we hope so. There is still a list of items that need to be done. Some can be completed after we move in. Some have to be done by the 23rd. Let's see how much can be checked off that list.

I thought it would be fun to finally share some pictures of the apartment. These are all the before pictures that I took with my phone. I plan on taking after pictures. I don't know about you, but I love seeing comparisons of the before and after pictures.

So here are our before's...

The living/dining room:

My creative nook area:

The kitchen:

The bathroom that hasn't been changed since 1970 something:

A small glimpse of the master bedroom:

Finally a peek into the smaller second bedroom:

I personally cannot wait for it all to be done. It's been a long process. What started out as a minimal renovation turned into something much more grand as these kinds of things tend to do. In the end, the long wait will have been worth it. I look forward to making this house our home!

First 8 Days

Happy Thursday! Tomorrow is Friday and that means it's almost the weekend! I for one, can NOT wait!!!

I wanted to spend a little time updating everyone about how my personal running challenge is going so far this month. For those of you who haven't/didn't read my last post talking about my May Fitness goals, I decided to run every single day of May. Yup all 31 freaking days! Crazy, I know.

So now that I am a full 8 days into my little challenge, how is it going you may ask????

Well here is proof of Days 1-4 of running:

...and a little more proof of Days 5-8 of running:

All in all, I'd say it's going pretty well!

I'm actually a bit surprised if I must admit it. I have never run more than 5 days in a row, and at the time, I felt that was a bit much for me before giving my body a little rest. And let me just say that while I am "officially" ('cause like this is a real official challenge, lol) at an 8 day running streak, I am really at a 10 day running streak because I did run the last 2 days of April before I started this challenge. So all in all, my body and mind feel great!

It also doesn't hurt when I look at my Garmin Connect calendar and see all this:

Seeing all those blue running entries makes me feel a huge sense of accomplishment. Silly I know, but it really is a motivator for me.

I believe I mentioned in my last post, I am handling my "rest" days by running at least 1 mile, but no more than 2 miles. These miles are going to be slower miles which I think my body will appreciate and I know will help assist in recovery because I'm not pushing my body as hard as I would if it was a normal run day.

So far I have had 3 of those days. The first was last Saturday which was the day before my long run. The second was Monday as it was the day after my long run and I felt I wanted to take it a little easy. Finally, the third was today, because on Wednesday I did a speed/interval run that morning and those runs put a beating on my body, in a good way mind you. An easier run the day after is always nice since I tend to be a bit sore.

I have also returned to my before work running! I started hitting the track back up before work last Friday and so far this week have done it on Tuesday and Wednesday. The only time I am going to run in the gym is if it is seriously raining or if it is my short/recovery run day. I actually prefer to get my run done first thing in the morning, so I am going to try real hard to keep it to outside runs as much as possible. Unfortunately this morning was rainy, so I chose to take my run indoors during lunch today.

So hear's to the next 8 days of my running challenge!!! Let's see where it takes me.

I will leave you today with one of my favorite motivational running tank tops:

Truth! Gotta put in the work if you want the results!

Starting Fresh

It's May and that brings us one month closer to summer. Uh oh, you know what that means? Closer to those warmer temperatures where we'll be baring more of our skin! I don't know about you, but it's time for me to hunker down and shed those seven pounds that winter put on my body.

This month is going to be about getting back to my fitness basics and setting some goals.

Here's a looky loo at what I have in mind:

Running, weight training, meal planning/prepping and drinking a boat load of water are the fitness basics that worked for me last June when I seriously started my fitness journey and lost 30 pounds!

And here's a reminder that a month, or in this case five weeks, can make a HUGE difference:

The only item that isn't really basic is running all 31 days of May. I have never ever ventured into this kind of running. I have always been one to give my body at least 2 rest days a week.

So why am I having a change of heart on this type of running challenge? Because I have seen a few of my fellow fitness peeps complete that 100 days of running challenge and their bodies really transformed.

I'm not crazy enough to commit myself completely 100% to the 100 days of running just yet, but when I thought about what I wanted to achieve in May, I thought 31 days wouldn't be so bad. So my plan will be that the rest days I usually give myself will be replaced with at least 1 mile of running. If I feel better than I expect, then I may log more miles. It's going to be one of those see as I go kind of things. However, the 1 mile run seems doable and I feel it will give my body a nice active rest/recovery day without too much stress.

I'm also not going into this challenge completely unprepared. I have spent the past month running 4 times a week (with the exception of last week because I was sick) and logging between 20-25 miles a week. By doing this, I was able to get not only my mind back in the game, but also my body. I would NEVER attempt this challenge without having built back a basic running foundation first. I feel I have dusted those winter cobwebs off and I am ready to accept this personal challenge!

I look forward to posting weekly updates and seeing how I progress. Maybe I might be able to inspire a few of you to get out there and start moving. It doesn't have to be running, walking is excellent too. Let me know below what you're planning on doing this month and let's make it a positive one together!

Positivity

Happy Tuesday! I hope that every single one of you kicked off this brand new week yesterday in a positive way! Whether it was with an early morning workout or just with a positive attitude, it doesn't really matter. What's important is that you were, are, positive.

I woke up yesterday morning feeling completely rested and overall just feeling happy. That doesn't normally happen for me on a Monday, but it definitely set the tone for the start of my week and how I was going to approach this new week.

Positivity is my mantra! In my opinion, a positive mindset and attitude just makes everything better.

As you see here, this picture from my commute into the office yesterday morning, truly shows just how happy I was...

For the past few weeks, months, I have tended to put every single little thing about myself under a microscope. It's been all about the "Why's?" of my life.

"Why are my wrinkles so prominent?" (Um, you are almost 43 years old and the above photo does demonstrate why there are wrinkles on your forehead!)

"Why are my eyebrows suddenly patchy in spots?"

"Why is it that as soon as I think my skin is FINALLY looking great, the next day it breaks out?"

"Why am I struggling getting my workouts done and keeping my eating on point?"

"Why are my pants ill fitting?" (Previous "why" may explain this one, duh!)

Why? Why? Why?

We all have done this. It's nothing new. However, all this negativity and questioning doesn't help anything.

I'm not 100% sure why I have been doing this. It may have been a result of the incredibly long, cold winter we had. Or that I spent less and less time running (which clears my head and makes me feel good) through this past winter and more time feeling down (especially about not running).

I am here to tell you today, that all that negativity is getting booted to the curb! It's not helping me in any shape or form. I am really going to try and focus on all the positive that I have in my life.

A new month is right around the corner and it's time to make some positive changes. So who's with me? What are you going to start doing that will add some positivity (or even more positivity) into your life?

A Wordy 8 Month Catch Up

Woah Nelly! I left in the summer, survived the winter and am back in the spring! Life has been such a whirlwind during these past few months. So much has happened in my little world.

Where do I begin?

August to September

My honey and I went on a 3 week Backpacking European Vacation! We left on August 23rd and didn't come back to the United States until September 14th.

We started in Barcelona and traveled via the Eurail for the next 10 days to Nice, Monaco, Florence, Siena, Rome and Bari. From Bari we took a ferry to Greece where we spent the last 10 days of our trip between Athens and Chios.

I just have to say that this vacation was more than we ever expected! It was such an adventure and even though we were backpacking and didn't stay long in each place until we got to Greece, it was so relaxing and so much fun! I also managed to lose 6 pounds on the trip! Win!!!

September to October

After returning from our trip, like the next morning because we couldn't sleep, we returned to our regime of morning running. I must say, we took 3 weeks off from running and it felt like we never stopped! It felt amazing. So amazing that a week later I was contemplating signing up for a fall marathon.

Guess what? I did! With 8 weeks to spare for training, my honey and I both signed up for the Philadelphia Marathon.

Let me tell you, this training cycle for a marathon was the best one I ever completed. I have never felt so prepared for a marathon before and I knew I was ready to rock it on November 17th.

November 17th

My honey, myself and a dear running friend of mine rocked the Philly Marathon! My honey is a super speedy runner and he finished his first official marathon in 02:51! He qualified for Boston with 29 minutes to spare. Too bad he isn't interested in running it, but I am just amazed at how awesome a runner he has become.

A couple weeks before the marathon I found out an old friend that I hadn't seen since 2007 was also running the race. We decided that we were going to start the marathon together and see how things went from there. Let's just say, we ran the whole entire race together! It was the most amazing racing experience I have ever had. The miles flew by for us. We kept the pace that I had planned out for the race and we supported each other every single step.

Our official finish time was 04:47, but in reality we ran a 04:37 race. There was a 10 minute porta-potty line stop that we made at mile 4. It was 10 minutes that we could never make up and I know we ran the race that I had trained for during the previous 8 weeks. I look forward to running another marathon together!

Thanksgiving

My honey and I flew down to Georgia to spend the holiday with my family! Even though it was a quick trip, it was wonderful to spend time with my family, especially since it's the first holiday without my brother.

We all stuffed ourselves with a homemade dinner and yummy desserts! My father made this incredible Peanut Butter Pie that we apparently couldn't get enough of it!

December to April

The month of December really was a blur with the Christmas holidays and New Year's! I didn't take any time off from work like I usually do and before I knew it, January was upon us.

January through March has been the longest, hardest, coldest winter ever! All I wanted to do was hibernate like a bear. It truly amazes me how last winter I ran outside through the whole entire winter and this winter not so much. My running, and let's be honest, my working out really took a turn for the worse. I became a slug. My winter softened belly shows this so perfectly well.

April has really been my turning point. The weather has turned to spring, with the exception of yesterday and today, and I have been working on getting my running act together. I have spent the last 2 weeks running 4 times a week. The past 2 Sunday's my honey and I have gotten back out to our trails to run and let me tell you, this is exactly what my little cold winter heart needed so badly. Nature, sunshine, wild animals these do a mind and body good! I am now in my 3rd week of running consistently. It's still a little bit of a mind game struggle, but I know once the weather turns a bit warmer in the mornings, I'll be back at the top of my game.

Other Life News

Back in February, my honey and I decided it was time to move out of our little basement apartment to the top floor apartment! Of course, we couldn't move right into it. We decided to do a little remodel that ended up turning into a complete remodel! Funny how things work out that way.

As of right now we are 9 weeks into this thing and hopefully we will be completely done in the next 2-3 weeks. I am so ready to be done and moved in to where there are big beautiful windows that let sunshine into the apartment from all sides! If you have ever lived in a basement, you know how sunshine window deprived they are.

Anyhoo, I have been taking pictures of the whole process. Once we are done, I will be doing a little reveal here on the ol' blog. It's going to be pretty amazing if I do say so myself!

So that's what's been happening in my life for the past 8 months. Can't believe I've been neglecting my little blog for that long. I am hoping that once we are moved and things settles back into some normalcy, I'll be back to blogging on a more regular schedule. I can't wait to get back to my scrapbooking, knitting, sewing, exercising. I'll definitely have lots to be sharing!

NHerShoes Fall Shred

Oh my gosh all you lovelies! The wonderful Bobbi over at NherShoes is at it again! She will be putting on a Fall Shred for everyone who missed out on her Summer Shred's.

Everyone has been asking me how I have gotten into shape. This is the program that started it all for me. I signed up for her June Shred and haven't looked back. I had such awesome results in just 1 month that I immediately signed up for her Extreme Shred in July and right now am doing the Ultimate Shred.

My Summer Shred Week 1 Recap is here, Week 2 Recap is here, Week 3 Recap is here and my final results for the Summer Shred and Extreme Shred are here.

I always say proof is in the pudding and I am the proof this program works. Of course, you only get out of it what you are willing to put into it.

As of yesterday I am down a total of 18.5 pounds, over 16 inches lost and am down 3 dress sizes.

I am stronger, a faster runner and feel like a new woman! I am mentally and physically in such a wonderful place right now that I can't imagine this not being my new lifestyle, because folks, that is exactly what this is. It's not a diet. It's healthy living!

I encourage anyone who is on the fence, or needs that little extra help of a personal trainer without the huge expense, to get your booty off that dang fence and RUN, not walk, to sign up!!!  Registration closes on August 29!

Please let me know if you do sign up. I will be here to cheer you on!!!

...and the Bad Blogger Award Goes To...

Me! I know I was just plain terrible about blogging in July. All I can say is that there were many times that I said to myself I needed to write up a post, but it just never got done. I spent the whole entire month focusing on myself (mentally and physically), that I just found there weren't enough hours in the day left to compose a proper blog post.

So now it's August and I am committing myself back to my blog because I truly miss sharing everything that has been happening. So, what have I been up to?

Well, I successfully completed Summer Shred 13 in June, then the Extreme Shred 13 and the TrulyCommitted Instagram Challenge in July and now I am participating in the Ultimate Shred 13 for August!

I feel amazing and unstoppable!

My June workouts look like this:

Blue is my running, Red is my bike trainer (injured my calf  halfway through the month and thankful I had my bike to turn to for cardio) and Gray are all the Shred Workouts.

Participating in Summer Shred 13 really was a life changer for me. I mentioned previously that I had signed up for it when I realized I was spiraling deeper and deeper into a depression over my brother's passing. I did not like where I was heading and knew I had to do something, I just needed someone to tell me what to do and I'd do it.

After 30 days of total commitment to numerous sweat puddle inducing workouts, clean eating and tracking all my food (including measuring all food) in My Fitness Pal, the results were in:

I also participated in the Diet Bet challenge and was one of the winners!

The month of June showed me exactly what I needed to do to successfully continue with my health journey!

So, OF COURSE, I just had to sign up for NHerShoes Extreme Shred 13 for July! I wanted more food plans! I wanted more sweat puddle inducing, heartbeat raising workouts! Call me crazy, but I wanted it!

My July workouts looked like this:

As you can see there was a lot more running! I took 2 full weeks off for my calf and continued to cross train and was back at it in July!

At the end of July my results were:

I like to say the proof is in the pudding and after 8 weeks of my commitment to myself, here is what I looked like:

 

 I was pretty amazed and proud once I did these side by side photos!

The added bonus of July was participating in Truly Jess' "Truly Committed" Instagram Photo A Day Challenge! Oh my goodiness! This is what I needed. I drew SO much inspiration from Jess herself, but also from all the lovely ladies who participated! The love, support, inspiration, motivation that I received and drew from everyone was more than I ever imagined. So thankful I did this challenge and still have all these lovelies with me on my journey!

As part of the challenge we had to state our goals for the month of July:

...and at the end of the month we shared how we did with our goals:

I am pretty proud that I accomplished 4 of the 5 goals. I know the push-up will happen in due time. I am still doing them from the knees and I am ok with that because I know I am getting stronger. Holding the plank for the full minute was a huge challenge and one I was able to meet a couple of times during the month.

So crazy me decided to sign up for the August Plank Challenge on Instagram to help assist me with my planking and building my endurance/stamina/strength. By the end of the month, I am suppose to be able to hold the plank for 5 minutes. We will see if that actually happens, but I am going to give it my all!

Just because I couldn't get enough of the shred workouts from the past 2 months, I decided to also sign up for Ultimate Shred 13. This is the 3rd installment of NHerShoes Summer Shred Series so of course I just had to continue on with all my lovelies from the previous 2 shreds.

So far my month has looked like this:

I'll be going on vacation on August 23, so I am completely committed to doing the best I can with getting all my workouts done before I leave. While I won't be continuing the shred workouts while I am traveling through Europe, I will be sticking with the plank challenge through the end of the month. This is something that I can easily do before venturing out each day and really I have no excuse not to do it!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous month so far and I want to hear what ya'll have been up to!

So talk to me,

1. What have you been doing to challenge yourself lately (physically, mentally, spiritually)?

2. Has anyone else backpacked through Europe? I have always wanted to and simply can not wait to begin this adventure!