It all started with a mile…

...that I absolutely hated. Wasn’t expecting that, right? It’s true. I hated running when I first started, and by started I mean ran maybe once a week. I was in middle school just trying to get better at lacrosse. I got a little faster and a little bit more endurance. Running at that point had served its purpose and I was ready to put away the sneakers because, big surprise, I still hated to run. I got bored and I did not have the discipline to stick with it when it gets tough I’ve grown to have now. Now if you’ve been following me from the beginning or you’ve been following for 0.05 seconds you know my story doesn’t stop there. To be honest, it barely even started there.
    I continued my once a week streak for a few years and then I came to a crossroad in high school, I could continue to play three, year-round, competitive sports or make a change. The expectation to play year-round and perform was getting to be to much, I was going to three different practices at one point. I decided to stop and just focus on lacrosse. I, on a whim, signed up to run cross country in the fall, as lacrosse was a spring sport. You have to understand at this point, as a junior in high school, lacrosse was my life. Running was just a vessel to serve lacrosse. But, I started to like it. I didn’t love it, but I liked it. I had great teammates, I was slow as all hell, and I thought five miles was going to kill me, but nevertheless I persisted. I wanted to be the best I possibly could when I stepped on to that lacrosse field, and as much as I did not want it to, I knew running would help. So I ran and I played lacrosse. Then I graduated and went to college and played more lacrosse, using running as a means to an end.
    It wasn’t until I couldn’t play lacrosse anymore that running became the life changing thing that is now. For health reasons I had to abruptly stop playing the sport I, at the time, thought was my entire world. Lacrosse had given me friends and success. I was (somewhat) just good at it, it came naturally, and that felt good.  

Running was the exact opposite. But if I have learned anything while running it is that you should not let that stop you.

So I signed up for a half-marathon, but don’t worry, not because I was this all-star runner all of sudden, who gets up at 3 am, and wears spandex. It was for a class project. Yup, you read that right, a class project. I like to think this is where the universe was finally like “ugh this girl just needs to learn that this s**t is going to change her life already!”
The school project was to make a health behavior change to better understand the Models of Change. Which would in turn help us to empathize with people going through a healthy lifestyle journey, because after all it is a journey not a destination. I chose running a half marathon because I wasn’t about to give up mac and cheese and change my diet, I hadn’t quite found weightlifting yet (that’s another story) and I’d already run a 5k. It needed to be a challenge, not to much of a challenge, but just enough to push me out of my comfort zone. So, there I was running and still hating it even more than before because it was something I felt I had to do. I still finished the half and felt accomplished and said to myself  “okay, I’m good, I did it.”
​HAHA if that’s not the biggest lie I ever told myself. It wasn’t an accomplishment and that would not be my last half marathon. I did not commit to that first half like I did for later races and my time and more importantly how I felt during and after shows for it. Anyone else throw up after their first half?! Holla this girl did! Learning the difference between commitment and motivation was a huge life lesson running gave me. I had the motivation and the intention to run these big races, but I could not commit. I was not willing to make sacrifices for a bigger goal. It wasn’t until graduating college, stressed, lost, and depressed that I came to love running. It wasn’t until I dropped the idea that I had to look a certain way, dress a certain way, hit a certain time, to consider myself a runner. Running needed to stop being a means to an end for my me to find peace in it and I’m so happy it did. I finally committed to myself, understanding that bad runs happen but they make the good ones worth it. That putting one foot in front of the other and fighting when it gets tough is worth it. That you can do anything you put your mind to. These aren't just running lessons, by the way ;)

I have now gone on to run ten half-marathons, three full marathons, and I’m far from done yet.

Like any great love affair I’ve had moments of pure joy and moments of sorrow while running. Running has the ability to pull someone out of dark depths; to give purpose; to inspire; and most importantly be fun. Anyone can run and any body can run. Have you ever watched a marathon? Try it or better yet run it. Nothing gives me greater faith in humanity and myself.
    
Cheers to many happy, healthy, and hopeful miles to all you runners out there!
xx Jennie

P.S If you’re interested in diving deeper into some of the lessons I’ve learned from running, here ya go! https://www.thefitgirls365.com/blog/lessons-learned-while-running

​Pictured: High School Senior Jennie right before a cross country meet #classic

We’ve all heard the expression “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
Well, here I am having just finished two marathons in two weeks and I can’t help but think not about the marathon itself, not the sprint to the finish, but the TRAINING.
The races are just mere celebrations. Celebrations of the work and sacrifices I made to complete this goal. Missed nights out with friends, lonely miles, sore legs, early wake up calls...

...a lot of time spent doing nothing but running...upwards of three, four hours some days. There’s not much else to do but, push your feet forward and think about everything from politics, to past relationships, to food, to regrets and triumphs. I’ve even spent miles thinking about the names of my future dogs. A lot of thinking, not a lot of room for acting. For someone who’s future still isn’t set in stone, someone who lays awake some nights anxious about what’s to come (or lack of what’s to come), someone who struggles with stillness; no action is a scary thing. But here’s the thing...

Running is the action.

Running is the thing that has forced me to think outside of my comfort zone, to see the world around me, to set a game plan for my life.
Running is the springboard to a productive hour, day, month and year.  

When I’m running, I see people rushing to work, going to school, walking their dogs, carrying shopping bags, pushing baby carriages, sitting on park benches, and sometimes even no one at all.
All these things really made me question the big picture: how can so many different people with so many different priorities be right?
Are the things we place the most value on truely most important?

I have no idea.

So I keep running.

I run past trees in the middle of winter with no leaves on them, everything is grey and sad. So I craved the summer when everything was green and full of life. I had to ask myself did I take the time to appreciate that? Seasons are a little reminder that nothing lasts forever. Pain doesn’t last forever. Bad runs end.

Still no answers to any of my life's questions, insecurities and doubts. But I still ran.

And then it happened, as I ran through the streets of Chicago, looking at the skyline full of tens of thousands of people; I realized to know everything, to even pretend to know everything…

...to know that you’ll get that promotion
...to know that you’ll get into grad school
...to know that you’ll meet the right person
...to know that you’ll make enough money
...to know that you’ll be happy

That’s all wrong.

That’s not what it’s about.

It’s about progress. It’s about learning a little bit at each step of the way. Never allowing yourself to be stuck or closed minded in a way that inhibits change or growth.

Life. Is. A. Marathon.

It’s not a sprint. You don’t win your first mile, you win by trusting in your ability to figure things out as they come. To evolve, to adapt, and above all to believe that something may not be happening right now in the present it can and it will be done. The finish line isn’t there two or three miles in, you can’t see it. And if you’re moving off of solely what can be seen or guaranteed, you won’t get there. But if you trust that each step you take is one piece of something far greater, something that you deserve, something that was meant for you, then the sky’s the limit.

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Self care is bulls**t

Okay, maybe that’s a little aggressive. It’s not B.S, but I do think society has blown it out of proportion.

Self care is NOT sleeping in because you had a long day yesterday.
Self care is NOT treating yourself to an ice cream cone because you already ate a pizza so why stick to a diet now.
Self care is NOT skipping work because you just don’t feel like going.
Self care is NOT saying “F**K it” to your to-do list because a new season of a Netflix show came out.
Self care is NOT sitting on your butt drinking tea by a fire or at happy hours with friends or in the fifth bubble bath this week.

Self care IS making your bed everyday so you can get a good night sleep.
Self care IS going for that run that you’re dreading.
Self care IS waking up early to get a head start on the project for work.
Self care IS balancing your checkbook, managing your money, paying your bills.
Self care IS calling your parents, your friends, your grandma.
Self care IS standing up for what you believe in and more importantly standing up for yourself.

Self care is hard work. It’s making sure you did EVERYTHING in your power so that when you lay your head down to go to sleep that night you can say to yourself, “I am one step closer to my dreams.”

Self care is making your dreams realities, because what kind of life is it if your dreams stay in your head?
Self care is sacrificing sleep dreams and daydreams for real ones.

Self care is never settling for average, because you my friend are anything BUT average. You deserve the world.
Self care is realizing no one is going to hand that big wide world to you, you have to go out and get it. You can do and be ANYTHING you set your mind to, but you have to believe and you have to be willing to work.

Now don’t get me wrong here, I don’t expect you to be a robot who never sleeps and only thinks about work and the gym. But ask yourself these questions…
Am I where I want to be in life?
Are my dreams on the forefront of my mind all day everyday and am I working towards them with each thing I do?
What do I do when things get bad?

Burnout is real, I know this. In fact I struggle to write this blog post because I still am trying to find what balance is.
Stress is real.
Anxiety attacks are real.
Sickness is real.
Self care is not allowing yourself to get to these lows, but not being complacent either.
Self care is putting your best foot forward EVERYDAY and sometimes that may be uncomfortable.
Running isn’t easy, meal prepping can be tough after a long day at work, looking at your credit score really isn’t that fun...but, there is undervalued benefit to putting yourself in uncomfortable situations.

Self care is training yourself to to follow through with your ambitions REGARDLESS of hurdles, because life will not always be comfortable. What are you going to do when things get bad? When you lose a client at work? Your boyfriend breaks up with you?
Stay in bed?
Eat your feelings?

Hell no.

So what does self care look like fo me?
Going to bed early and waking up at 5am to go to the gym, run, enjoy a cup of coffee, eat a good breakfast, and putting my best foot forward each day. Opportunities exist wherever you bring them to life, so while the world sleeps I wake up. I don’t want to be associated with hoping, wishing, or crossed fingers. The beauty of life is it provides all the pieces to your puzzle...if you’re willing to put it together.
Self care for me is brushing my teeth, washing my face, moisturizing with a great moisturizer, putting my essential oil diffuser on and reading a book every night before bed.
Self care for me is eating fruits and vegetables.
Self care for me is studying, pursuing further certifications, picking up extra shifts at work, because while they may add a little discomfort to my day these things are going to get me to where I want to be in life financially, personally, and professionally.
Self care is planning fun trips, events, days ahead of time, not throwing away a day on a whim because that just adds more things to my list of things to do for the next day.
Self care is running even when its cold, raining, or brutally hot, because I set a goal for myself and I won’t get there if I don’t. And reaching that goal is going to feel a whole lot better than that time I spent in bed.

Self care is working towards where I want to be in five days, five weeks, five months and five years from now.
Self care is pursuing my dreams because I owe myself that.
Self care is falling flat on my face and failing but getting right back up stronger than before.
Self care is realizing failure exists, hardships exist, discomfort exists but not falling into the temptation to retreat back to bed and give up.

Self care is fighting for the life you want. If you can lay your head down each night and say you did that, then I’d say you’re doing just fine.

What does self care look like for you?

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Yesterday, I broke out of my normal routine and went to my first CrossFit class. It’s important to mix-up your exercise regimen to stress your muscles and avoid plateau. With this in mind I thought it was time to finally see what the hype was all about. Here’s my experience…
 
7:00am *alarm goes off*
What on Earth was I thinking? Why did I agree to this? Can’t I just go for a run?
 
8:30am
What should I eat for breakfast? I have to be there in 45 min...okay just a banana, cup of coffee and lots of water.
(Disclaimer: don’t eat just a banana before you workout if you’re prone to fainting. Your body needs fuel! My thought process behind just the banana was knowing the fact that I don’t do well with a lot of food in my stomach when I work out. Bananas get metabolized at an average speed and provide enough carbohydrates to get me through an hour long workout. Your body needs energy, so eat eat eat!! That being said, also listen to your body and figure out what foods work best for you before you workout. Click here for some good guidelines)
 
8:55-9:10am *driving there*
WHAT ON EARTH AM I DOING? I’M SO NERVOUS!
(Before doing Crossfit, I heard mixed reviews. I know people who love it and swear by it. I also know a lot of critics and those critics were people I looked up to and respected. Because of the, for lack of a better word, aggressive lifts and exercises being done, think a lot of power lifting movements...picking heavy things up and putting them down...Crossfit can be dangerous and can cause some serious musculoskeletal injuries; hence my nerves. Now, I was able to convince myself before I walked in that they can’t make me do anything, I know proper form on most lifts and exercises, and I need to keep an open mind. As a member of the exercise, health, and wellness community I know that I can’t completely write something off without at least trying it and researching it further. Especially something that has had massive success like CrossFit has.)
 
9:15am *the workout*
Okay, okay this place looks like a warehouse, this is how I die. Fine, I guess I’m okay with it. That’s a pull up bar, I really hope I don’t have to do a pull up. Wow, everyone is so fit. Play it cool, you got this. Why is everyone so friendly? I love it. Cool, a 200m run, I ran a marathon, eat my dust suckers.
 
The Warmup:
A 200 m run
Squats and squat jumps
Caterpillar and bear crawl
 
The Workout:
Build up to a 4 rep max on front squat and then decrease by 10% till you rep out.
21 then 15 then 9 rep circuit of front squats, wall ball, 30 double unders with a jump rope.
 
Cool. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 


 
Cool-down:
Stretch on your own.
 
(There it is. One of many “workouts of the day” or WOD as they say in the CrossFit world. Going in I had no idea how to do a front squat, it was humbling to learn something new, I was so set in my back squat ways that this workout was really going to stress my body in ways I didn’t even know I could. The workout was written on a whiteboard, demonstrated by the coach, and then we were off. During the workout the coach walked around and to my pleasant surprise corrected even minor details in form. This is so important for safety reasons. The workout is timed so you’re competing against a clock and if you’re super competitive, the people around you.)
 
*My Final Thoughts*
Going into this I was nervous and very skeptical. Coming out I’m excited, motivated and humbled. I was skeptical going in because I did not realize how involved the coaches were. They know what they’re talking about and they’re willing to push you to a healthy limit where you’ll improve but, won’t hurt yourself. This is why there are results. I plan to incorporate CrossFit into my weekly routine 3 days/week and run 3 days/week. The group atmosphere is motivating but, not dangerously competitive as I had originally thought. The people who are there are passionate, so friendly, and welcoming. All things that are necessary for success in a workout. However, since I want to be completely transparent with you all, I don’t believe CrossFit (in my experience so far!) is for everyone. A certain niche of current or ex-athletes and people passionate about lifting weights will thrive, but the obese woman or the 68 year old man may find it intimidating and discouraging. CrossFit works for a lot of people and I think it’s really going to work for me in achieving many of my fitness goals, but if it doesn’t work for you, don’t worry. My advice if you want to try CrossFit: be humble. Listen to what’s being said and don’t push yourself to the point of injury because the person next to you can bench 30lbs more than you. Also, do a proper cool down. Maybe it was just the specific class I went to, but the cool-down portion was lacking. Hey, CrossFit keep the instruction going and advise people on some stretches and cool-down exercises, okay? Thanks.
Finally, the important thing here is meeting the minimum recommended amount of exercise each week (150 min of moderate intensity exercise), how you get there is totally up to you. All in all, don’t feed into the bullshit. People will try to sell anything and everything to you, if it sparks your interest, give it a try. If not, move on. Of all the exercise regimes out there, there really isn’t a perfect one, because we’re all different people with different experiences and different goals. Exercise is important, how you specifically do it really isn’t. Find what you like and that helps you achieve your specific goals and run with it. I’ll advise you to mix it up a little and take some rest days throughout but, you go girls I believe in you!!

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Here’s an unpopular opinion for you: cheat meals/days are stupid. I said it, I know, I might get some backlash considering it’s a pretty popular thing among dieters these days. I get it and believe in the idea of rewarding yourself for a job well done and your hard work, but often times a cheat meal is just setting you back. Don’t we all want to move towards our goals not away from them??
Let’s break it down…
Sunday through Friday I eat 1,800 calories a day of nutritionally sound food. Think lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, eggs, beans and nuts. Little to no soda or juice, but lots of water. I work out Sunday through Friday for an hour each day burning anywhere from 500 to 800 calories. Taking into consideration my resting metabolic rate (or what my body expends without exercise), I would put myself in a caloric deficit of around 7,000 calories for the week, which equates to around 2 lbs of fat. Nice! Slow and steady weight loss over a period times leads to lasting results. The weight comes off and stays off because healthy habits have become a lifestyle (aka what we at TheFitGirls365 are trying to promote!).
So, remember that 3,000 calorie deficit over those 6 days from exercise I did (forget about resting metabolic rate for now)…
 
Now, Saturday rolls around I wake up and say today is a “cheat day”:
(I’m going to write it all down because a girl can dream :) and it’s definitely beneficial for me to see it in number form)
 
Breakfast: Iced caramel latte and sausage egg & cheese on a bagel.
(760 calories)
Lunch: Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese.
(500 calories)
Dinner: few slices of pizza, buffalo wings, garlic knots and a caesar salad.
(1,537 calories)
Snacks: ice cream, potato chips
(740 calories)
 
Total: 3,537 calories. If ate that all in one day, I would completely reverse all of the hard work I put in at the gym and be that much further behind on my weight loss goals. So what do I do to reward myself...because trust me we, all deserve it were hard working ladies!! I’ll treat myself to a pedicure every so often since my feet get pretty gross looking from running all the time. I’ll treat myself to a new workout top or pair of jeans, nothing better than working hard and fitting into a pair of jeans you used to have to squeeze into. I’ll go out with friends, while not the most forgiving calorie wise, there are ways to get around it if you do in fact want to have a drink once in awhile. Vodka and club soda or red wine are my go tos.
Rewarding yourself for a job well done with food creates an odd relationship with food. Eating well become a chore and you just end up dreading the week looking forward to that cheat day. You should always enjoy what you eat!!! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, balance ladies, balance. Eating foods you enjoy, that nourish your body in the best way possible and being forgiving when a slip up happens here and there is in my opinion the only way to healthy weight loss. Calories in need to be less than calories out.
xx J
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