Because Pilates is the BEST!

(No need to answer these questions, they are purely rhetorical)

Do you have back problems?

Do you have love handles?

Do you want tighter abs?

Do you have good balance?

Are you flexible?

How's your posture?

My answer to you is one word: Pilates.

I am bias, but Pilates, in my opinion, is the purest form of full body exercise.

Many of the techniques used in Pilates are also used in Physical Therapy.

I've struggled with back issues (aka scoliosis) since junior high.

FYI, scoliosis is an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine and,

as some of you may be able to attest, it's not enjoyable.

On top of that, I (before college) was not athletic...like, at all.

I had never played a sport, danced, ran, swam, nothing.

Well, circumstances being what they were in college,

I needed some "easy" elective classes...so I turned to fitness.

Tennis. Spinning. Pilates. Marathon Training.

Hallelujah! An athlete was born!

I can talk about my other classes later, but right now,

I'm here to preach Pilates...and preach I will.

(The class I took is called "Pilates Reformers" where they use awesome equipment like this)

First week: my back aches and pains were GONE!

No, the curvature in my back has not been reversed,

but the muscles around my spine were strengthened and thus

were able to help support my spine.

Now, Pilates is a MUST for me. I will never not do Pilates.

First of all, my back would hate me, but secondly, it just makes

life's everyday activities that much more enjoyable.

I sit in a chair for 8 hours a day.

Without Pilates, my back pains have turned into a throbbing

headache by the end of the day...which, I might add, is healed by...PILATES!

Anyway, it's my "go to" for any physical ailment.

If I took Ibuprofen for every headache or backache I had,

I would not have a liver left ;)

So, hopefully you can get a glimpse of my passion for it...

But ya know, as Levar Burton says on Reading Rainbow,

"You don't have to take my word for it."

Here's a really good Beginners Pilates video I found.

Go ahead...

You know you want to.

You're welcome!

The Marathon

Do you remember what last Saturday was?

Yep.

Park City Marathon day!!!

You may recall I registered for said marathon a while back.

So, the Thursday before the marathon was packet pick-up day, right? So, I drive to Murray, or wherever, after work and pick up my packet - complete with awesome T-shirt, etc.

It was a thrilling and humbling experience to see all of the fabulously fit people walking around with their own purple bags. We're talkin' soldiers in Army uniforms, gals in sweaty workout attire, tall and skinny men in suits. You get the idea. These people are legit.

So, I walk back to my car, drive to the gas station across the street, fill up and...

...hand over my Park City marathon packet to my new friend Shaelynn, who ended up running the marathon...instead of me.

I know.

I KNOW!!!!

WHAT?!?

How. Pathetic. Am. I?

I started training in January. Remember how addicted to running I was? How addicted I AM? Yeah, so hopefully you can imagine even a sliver of the sadness I felt when I realized that my busy life, post-graduation, would no longer accommodate my marathon training schedule. Sad day indeed.

Don't you fret. I WILL run a MARATHON! A.S.A.P. I've already started running more and I'm feeling great. I have no regrets, really, cause my life currently is treating me better than I deserve, quite truly.

The important thing is to not ever give up on your dreams, right?

I haven't, and I don't plan to, so I won't.

Bucket List Item #13

I may or may not have just registered for the...

ah-hem...

PARK CITY MARATHON!!!

This is absolutely nuts...

I'M nuts!

But mostly I'm SO excited!

Insert giddy laugh here _____.

When did I become a marathon runner?

"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

~John D. Rockefeller~

PPP - My Healthy Addiction

*PPP = Pinky Promise Project for more PPP posts go HERE

Running is one of the more common activities done to burn fat, lose weight and to maintain one’s health. It not only is one of the easier sport activities to do, but a truly effective one as well. Here are some of the benefits of running:

1. Running is one of the best activities most people can do to improve their health

2. Running is one of the top activities for burning fat

3. Running can slow down the aging process

4. Running helps lower blood pressure by maintaining the elasticity of the arteries

5. Running reduces the risk of stroke and breast cancer

6. Running builds confidence and self-esteem like few other individual sports can

7. Running can help train the mind as much as it trains the body

8. Once you start running the fat in your body will make place for muscle

The above article via

I can attest to all of these. I feel like running has made me a stronger person in SO many ways. A lot of my siblings did track in junior high and high school and have stuck to running for years afterwards. The reason I bring that up is because I never thought of myself as much of a "track star" like them...mostly because I've never pushed myself...till now. A couple of weeks ago I was running uphill and surprisingly keeping up with my extremely athletic classmates and I thought to myself, "Hey! You've got the track star genes!" CONFIDENCE. I've never had confidence in ANYTHING athletic in my life, so this is a big deal for me.

Now, I know that the majority of folks look at running as "mindless exercise." Yes, I actually heard a girl call it that in the locker room yesterday. I thought so, too, in the beginning. It's why I listened to my iPod and had that killer running mix to "distract" me from how miserable I felt. Now, I feel like it's the opposite. Just like any other intense physical activity, running takes a great deal of mind power and, once you train up to it, can actually be fairly relaxing and peaceful, especially on a Spring morning.

I honestly feel like running has given me what the Biggest Loser contestants would call "a new lease on life." That's not to say I was on my way to an early grave, but I have honestly never felt so empowered and happy. I feel like I can do reaaally hard things if I put my mind to it and that I'm no longer limited by the size of my goals anymore. Go big or go home ;)

Anyway, if you don't like running, find something healthy that you do like and start steering your life in the direction YOU want to go.

Next time on PPP Healthy Addictions:

PILATES!

And how I went from only being able to touch my knees

to being able to almost do the splits. Yeeyah! :)

"Not. Cool."

It's 4:12

in the A.M.

and I'm awake.

Why?

Because I'm STILL sick

Yep.

Have been all week.

Remember how I'm graduating?

And remember how I get sick

like, every month?

Yeah.

It's time for the Dr. to say something like,

"LLLLLLLET'S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLE!"

and usher an antibiotic into the ring

to duke it out with this...

this...

I honestly don't even know what it is

that's holding my immune system hostage.

All I know is that,

I'm sick of this.

Pun intended.

- - -

And, to reveal the Disney Channel-lovin' side of me,

I now know what Sicky Vicky feels like.

"Not. Cool."

Spring Breakin', Spring Broken

Spring Break officially has an hour left... which I'll partially spend writing this post and then sleeping. So, it's basically over.

Sad day.

The saddest part is that I spent the whole of Spring Break being sick... again... which really isn't much of a surprise, cause my immune system likes to crash during breaks as much as the next guy.

So, as much as I really would've liked to have goal-accomplishing energy for a school-free week, I can't say I blame my poor immune system. I'd be tired, too, if I had to rid my body of school germs, marathon training, etc. But, ya know? I think next time there's a break on the horizon, I'm not going to tell my immune system about it... just to be safe.

I don't mind so much that I spent the week sleeping and watching TV, but I would've at least liked to have cleaned my room, finished my other three batches of laundry, ran more than just 1 day and worked a little (lottle) harder on my design portfolio. Aw, phooey.

So, pretty much Marathon Training is going to eat me alive tomorrow morning. Especially cause we run no matter what the weather decides to do.

The Weather Man says Snow.

Yep.

I think Spring's broken.

That Much Closer

*PPP = Pinky Promise Project for more PPP posts go HERE

I just ran 8 miles without stopping.

FYI, I've NEVER run that long in my life.

whaaaCHA!!!

(the karate chop sound, in case you didn't catch that)

Remember this?

That seems SOO long ago.

Ahhh. I'm just feeling so good right now.

AND, I cut out 46 strips of paper and made a paper chain to hang in my room, right next to The Pants. That's 46 days till graduation AND 46 days till my "After"/graduation photoshoot with Jalene! :D

I've been dreaming about getting into shape and running a marathon and all these really hard, but completely possible things for such a long time now, but I wasn't getting ANYWHERE because it was simply a dream.

As Diana Scharf Hunt once said,

"Goals are dreams with deadlines."

So...when's your deadline?

Good & Not So Good

Woke up at 6am.

Not So Good: I should've gone to bed earlier last night.

Good: Madre put protein (aka energy) powder in my green smoothie.

Went to my first day of Marathon Training.

Not So Good: Running uphill is not my forte. Definitely the hardest workout of my entire life, which is saying something.

Good: Downhill IS my forte, I completed the hardest workout of my entire life, I didn't finish last AND I'm one giant step closer to my fitness goals.

Went to my Pilates class.

Not So Good: I was all sweaty.

Good: I love Pilates. THE best toning kind of exercise there is in my opinion.

Showered, Got Ready.

Not So Good: I forgot to bring an undershirt for my v-neck tshirt, so I have my hoodie zipped up to my neck.

Good: I'm having a good hair day, which I like to think detracts from the fact that wearing a hoodie this way is not flattering at all.

Went to Dad's office.

Not So Good: There were cupcakes there.

Good: I didn't give in and when I told Dad about my run, he gave me a high five. He's my biggest fitness cheerleader! :)

Now I'm gonna have a nap.

Not So Good: No bed here.

Good: The rocking chair in the corner of Dad's office is the next best thing to a bed.

Chin up, friends

It's all good! ;)

PPP, Vacations & Shopping

*PPP = Pinky Promise Project for more PPP posts go HERE

Wanna know what I just did...

Ok, well let me back up real quick.

This morning I was feeling like "meh"...like, a vaccination gave me the flu and I couldn't sleep last night due to the intense chills and junk. That kind of "meh."


Yeah, not cool.

So, today rolls around and I'm thinking, "Gotta go to work. Gotta make money." So I popped an Ibuprofen and went on my way. La de da.

Work's fine. Shift ends. My next class is at 6...meaning I have 6 hours to kill.

So I went to the institute building, cause I like it there, and I pulled out the computer in an attempt to do some homework. Did a few things...inevitably started web surfing (we'll call it "browsing for design inspiration") and noticing that nearly everyone of my Facebook friends are on or just got back from cruises and/or some kind of amazingly relaxing vacation! And then I see this video about Paris (with amazing typography, I might add):

EF - Live The Language - Paris from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

I know you're all thinking what I was thinking, "Wow, get me to Paris YESTERDAY!"
Yep, so my brain goes into, what we're gonna call 'Need Vacation Mode.'

So what did I do? I pouted a little bit, but let's be honest, that gets us nowhere but a deeper level of potentially more upset. So...I did what every level-headed, warm-blooded female would do under these circumstances...

I went to the mall :)

And what did I buy you ask?

I call them: The Pants.

They're the ones that I am going to hang up in my room as soon as I get home. They're my "goal-weight" jeans, that I will fit into by graduation :) Yep!

These are some other things I bought, because nothing says "fake vacation" like cute blouses and yummy perfume :)

Wanna know what else I'm doing?

I've set up a photoshoot with Jalene (aka J. Taylor Photography) in May.

It's both a graduation shoot AND an "I Made It To My Goal Weight" shoot.

Make goals and reward yourself. Rewards and goals can often be the same thing.

At the beginning of each day, while prioritizing my schedule I also plan my meals. If you plan out beforehand what you're going to eat, you don't end up throwing something dangerous together when you're starving and prone to grabbing the closest, easiest thing. It's true! Try it.

Also, this semester I've been taking Pilates. Hello, rare muscle groups!

This has been such a good thing for my poor back - not to mention abs, legs, arms, overall flexibility, etc. I highly recommend this class!

AND

Last but not least. I'm taking a MARATHON TRAINING class! This is my ultimate cardio/wellness goal. I've always wanted to be able to say, "I've run a marathon." So friends, here I go.

 Whoop whoop! This girl is on a roll...

...you know, one of those really healthy whole grain rolls sans the butter ;)

Get on the health train, friends!
It's leaving RIGHT NOW,
Not tomorrow, not next week.
Right now.


"Pile up enough tomorrows and you'll find you've collected nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays." Thank you, Harold Hill!

Morning Caffeine

You know that burst of adrenaline you get when, in the words of Mr. Brian Regan, your head "pops off the pillow" and you realize you should be in the car driving to work at that exact moment, NOT in bed?

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I don't drink caffeine. Adrenaline is my caffeine...

Though, I really wouldn't recommend either option.

One is an unreliable source of sustainable energy

and the other makes you an unreliable source of sustainable income...

...if you're picking up what I'm putting down.

Early to bed, early to rise...early to bed, early to rise...early to bed, early to rise...

Phew! Wish me luck. I'm still working on this!

Sick

One of my favorite poems by the brilliant Mr. Shel Silverstein,

cause I'm feeling rather crumby myself...and wishing it was Saturday.

'I cannot go to school today, '

Said little Peggy Ann McKay.

'I have the measles and the mumps,

A gash, a rash and purple bumps.

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,

I'm going blind in my right eye.

My tonsils are as big as rocks,

I've counted sixteen chicken pox

And there's one more-that's seventeen,

And don't you think my face looks green?

My leg is cut-my eyes are blue-

It might be instamatic flu.

I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,

I'm sure that my left leg is broke-

My hip hurts when I move my chin,

My belly button's caving in,

My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,

My 'pendix pains each time it rains.

My nose is cold, my toes are numb.

I have a sliver in my thumb.

My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,

I hardly whisper when I speak.

My tongue is filling up my mouth,

I think my hair is falling out.

My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,

My temperature is one-o-eight.

My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,

There is a hole inside my ear.

I have a hangnail, and my heart is-what?

What's that? What's that you say?

You say today is...Saturday?

G'bye, I'm going out to play! '

"Sick" by Shel Silverstein

Yes, I'd rather be in bed than at school today, too:

Keep drinking water,

bundling up,

getting lots of sleep

& taking your vitamins, friends!

P.S. Just in case you lost count, that's 3 posts in 1 day! Booyah!