Tag Archives: #motivation

15-15-30 Update

Posted in Goals, Motivation by

June is here! At the beginning of last month, I shared my S.M.A.R.T. goals for the month of May (you can get caught up by clicking here). Since December, I’ve been in an exercise slump. Life got busier and exercise (and sleep) got moved down the priority ladder. This is not a good practice. Especially when you spend most of your 13-hour days sitting and listening to people! I am so glad that I took on this challenge for the month. I can honestly say that I haven’t worked out this much all year long.

So….drumroll….post a comment if you’re actually doing a drumroll right now….badadadadadadada….15 workouts completed (in ummmm 31 days because I was one short and needed to get it in at 9pm before I wrote this blog) and 7 pounds lost!

May Challenge

I’m aiming for the same goals in June but with much harder workouts. The massage is still on the table for June!

BeccaSig

15-15-30

Posted in Goals, Motivation by

It is hard to believe that Memorial Day is just 4 weeks away, especially with the cold weather that we’ve been having! Personally, I just came through a crazy busy season of life and am about to enter into another. However, these next two weeks are a tiny reprieve and I want to use them to get organized.

Reading past posts where Steph wrote about accountability (here) and Rah shared about goals,  got me thinking about S.M.A.R.T. goals. The following acronym is used in a variety of settings (you’ve probably heard of them) to help create goals.

Goals should be:

  • S –  Significant
  • M – Measurable
  • A –  Attainable
  • R –  Rewarding
  • T –  Time-focused

My SMART goal for the month of May is to complete 15 workouts, losing 15 pounds, in 30 days. My reward for completing this goal is to get a massage! I’m telling you now for accountability because I’ll update you in 30 days. Here is an inside view of my progress chart:

Plan

What do you want to accomplish by Memorial Day???

BeccaSig

What does a perfectionist look like?

Posted in about me, Goals, Motivation by

What might an overweight person whose weight fluctuates and a fit, exercise queen have in common? Although they may appear to come from opposite mindsets, perfectionism can be at the root of both great struggles and great successes. Often times, perfectionist thinking causes unrealistic expectations that lead to unfulfilled realities, especially in the weight loss world. Here are a few ways to accept progress, not perfection:

Celebrate Small Accomplishments. Perfectionists view themselves as either a success or a failure, nothing in between. Healthy living is a lifelong journey. To keep momentum and hope in the process, we need to be excited about accomplishments and the willingness to keep going, even after setbacks.

Build a Positive Self-Image. While it is important to recognize our accomplishments, our self-image cannot depend solely on achievements. We are valuable! It is my belief that I am valuable to the God who created every living thing and that his love for me isn’t based on my achievements. That helps ground me. Also, if we spend more time doing the activities that we love, learning new skills and being of service to others rather than being self-critical, we will be less likely to beat ourselves up over the little things. Our eyes will be on the big picture!

Learn from Others. Sometimes it is easier to accept other people’s mistakes than our own. If we take a look around to others who have learned from their mistakes and keep moving forward, we can put our own setbacks into perspective and join them in success.

Getting and staying healthy does not require perfection! We make mistakes, we learn, we make more mistakes, we learn some more. To deny this reality hinders our ability to recover from mistakes and can limit great successes from occurring!

So here is my visual example of accepting progress and not perfection. These are my weigh-ins for my DietBet competitions. It represents a span of 27 pounds with ups and downs, mistakes and achievements. I’m choosing to focus on the big picture!weight.png

BeccaSig

Are you busy? Like, bizzay??? Here are 4 Tips.

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Black hair dye dripping down my forehead, sipping on a smoothie for a hands-free breakfast while designing a flyer for my church ministry with an audio book for my graduate class plays in the background and notifications popping off on my phone. Sometimes life is crazy like this, a compilation of responsibilities and unexpected, critical situations. We all have seasons of busy, so how do we sustain healthy lifestyles and find balance despite non-stop, 20-hour days? Here are 4 tips:

 

  1. Sleep. Back in November my doctor asked me “are you getting enough sleep?” I laughed a nervous laugh as my mind was flooded with images of  20-hour days and the ridiculous list of reminders in my phone. Blah blah blah you do all that you can to make provision for a good amount of sleep. I can’t make hours magically appear, but I can make it restful. No counting and obsessing about how many hours I’m not getting. No to-do lists for tomorrow. Phone off. Mind off. Sleep.
  2. Meal Prep. This keeps me focused throughout the week. Best tip: cut up all veggies at the same time & divide them out. If I don’t prep my meals then subway salads turn into “Yes, cheese. Just today.” That turns into “meh, I’ll grab a schwarma. Just today.” The lack of planning is no good.V
  3. Stretching & Exercise. I’ve moved from comparing my exercise schedule with other people or what I’ve done in the past. I know for certain that I have more energy when I move and stretch. So I fit it in as often as I can. This consists of 15 minutes on my exercise bike while I catch up on emails or sneaking off to do squats and stretches in the kitchen at work. The bottom line is that I know that I need it and that the regimented morning workout schedule will return in a few weeks. For now, I keep doing what I can. The key is to keep doing.
  4. Mindset. This is the most important so of course I left it for last. What kills energy? Comparisons, complaining, and hopelessness. I have important things to do (and so do you)! Many versions of this arrogant [prideful] meme have been floating around:

Picture1

I’d like to quote this frequent phrase of my sister (shoutout Nay-Nay) “how is that helpful?” Comparing my life to someone else zaps energy. I’m more busy because of ____. No. Just stop (very counselor of me, I know). And complaining. Yes, I definitely need to talk to others when life gets unbearable but lamenting on social media or whining to every ear that passes my way is not helpful. Also, our hearts and minds scream for hope! “One day it won’t be this busy…My busy season has a purpose…I’m serving others with my busy life.” Whatever the hope, we can remind ourselves of why we are busy.

So, despite this season of loco, I’m working to sustain a healthy lifestyle and find balance. What is working for you? Let us know in the comments!

BeccaSig

Goals – A New Way to Think About Them

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It’s been three weeks since I put my goals out there for the rest of this year (work out consistently 4 times a week and lose 8 lbs over the next three months). Well, reality check. I have lost 0 lbs and have averaged getting to the gym twice a week over the past three weeks. Why’s that? Because I focused too much on the long-term (what I need to accomplish in the next three months) verses getting focused on the short-term (what I need to accomplish today).

Do you ever find yourself doing the same? You have these huge, awesome goals – I want to get back down to a size this or weigh that or lift this amount of weight, and the numbers are huge or really small (depending on which way you are looking at it), and probably very achievable, but we never get there because we focus too much on them.

So, I’m kicking off this whole thing again. That’s right, it’s a Friday and I’m starting fresh. There’s no waiting until Monday, it doesn’t matter that it’s the weekend – this starts now. I do have those long term goals, but in order to get there, I need to focus on today. Just get me through today, get to the gym and eat well. Then tomorrow, do the same thing again.

StephSquatBar

Focus on each day before you, making the right decisions that day, and those long-term numbers will come. I’m in for this, so let’s hope the next reality check in a few weeks is a delightful one. Hope you join me!

StephSig

It’s All About Me

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I live in a world where I am constantly told what I need to do for others. This is my job, my faith, my family and relationships, my life. This isn’t a bad thing – seriously. I very much love living by the “love your neighbor as yourself” law that was given to me by JC.

However, when it comes to fitness and eating well, I think we forget that part about “loving ourselves.” I do an excellent job (I think) at taking care of and caring for others. I think a lot of us would say that about ourselves. How often do you hear yourself say, “Oh I can’t do that, I’ve got to go help out…” So, I can’t take the time to cook a good, healthy meal for myself because I’ve got to help my kids with their homework, help my church with their food drive, help my boss get their stuff together for a big meeting – so instead, I’ll just go grab McDonald’s or Taco Bell on the way home.

The same goes for working out. Who makes time to actually go to the gym and get a good workout in when we are doing so much for everyone else? It’s hilarious how our giving and loving of others becomes our excuse to fuel our own laziness. Boom. I said it. It’s time to simply stop and start to love ourselves and let the laziness go.

I’m living by this challenge now because I have become one of the worst offenders of this rule. I run a non-profit that helps women who were sex trafficked. So, not only do I run this thing, meaning all of my staff and volunteers and donors want time, communication, ideas, everything; but then there is the added piece that these are women who were sex trafficked, so the whole heart breaking for them is pretty huge.

So, it’s time to take some time for me. It’s time to put the work, the spouse (although he can come with me and often does), the friends, the everything around me aside and simply take some time to keep myself healthy, fit and feeling awesome. Why? Because if I don’t love myself in this way, I won’t be around for very much longer to love others. Anyone with me?

StephSig

AboutMeCollage

Becca’s Very First 5k

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I face-planted on rocky, New England dirt, next to a peaceful cemetery that was decorated with golden trees and stone walls. Face-planted. Hang on, let me back up a few moments and miles.

A few weeks back I registered for my very first 5k, which was also a fundraiser. I signed up to support the cause (Amirah fights human trafficking) and my friend, Fit Chick #3, Steph who is the agency’s director. I knew I would be in Boston at the time and it seemed too perfect. I had never really set out to walk a specific distance aside from the occasional one-mile walk near my parent’s farm. I had no idea what 3.1 miles would look or feel like to my body. I imagined it would be something like walking pleasantly through fall leaves, smelling the brisk air and reflecting on life. Then we arrived to THE LAKE. I got out of the car and looked at this mother of a lake. Freaking BODY OF WATER. Ummm I usually look for close parking spaces at stores. The distance around this lake was like as if I was headed to the mall at Christmastime and decided to park at the freaking expressway, nowhere near the freaking stores!!! It looked far!!! Have you entered into the drama that was spinning through my mind yet? I was freaked out. Like, ok I might make it halfway around this mug.

lake

Then we started walking. Quick shout-out to Steph & Dave (Steph’s husband). They each walked with me and kept me encouraged and a lot of the time, distracted with great conversation and hilarious stories. My mind vacillated constantly between “there’s no way I can finish this” and “oh my gosh, I’m freaking doing this!” My mind does that. I think most of our minds have that little evil voice that keeps stomping on what we try to do. We dismiss it or listen to it. Anyways, after a mile, I was breathing so loud. You know how you try to be cool when you walk up the stairs like “What?! I’m fit!” There was no hiding this. Imagine Beyonce’s song “Lose My Breath.” It was something like that dramatic gasp for air (YouTube the song). Then I made it to the beautiful, serene cemetery. It was gorgeous. I was almost done. I had about a half mile to go. I looked to the right, saw the gorgeous cemetery with golden leaves and seriously old headstones. Then I immediately face-planted into the dirt. I got up, dusted off and kept going. I don’t have any deep thoughts on the fall like “don’t take your eyes off the path that you’re on” or “when you fall, get back up and try again!” I just thought it was a funny part of the story.

When we finally reached the end of the path, I was excited. But that evil little voice came in and was like “uh, you know it was just 3 miles, right? It wasn’t a marathon. You didn’t run it. You walked 3 miles and some change.” So what did I learn from my very first 5k? We all start somewhere. That’s what I learned and that’s what I told that little evil voice inside. I pushed my body and walked a freaking 5k. For some, it’s going to be a marathon and for some it’s half a mile. We all start somewhere. And little evil voices can kick rocks.

First 5k

BeccaSig