Be All The Way Strong

You can have it all. It just takes a lot of work. But hard work always pays off. Remember the days of pulling all nighters and studying your face off? And while getting that good grade, another one dropped? Spending the following weeks to raise that grade only to find another one suffered? Maybe that didn't happen to you but it happened to me year after year. Eventually I got the swing of things and evened the kilt. I learned how to balance the work load so that each class represented my hard work and each class scored a high grade at the same time. It's the jinx effect. When all things happen together.

I believe in being fit. I believe fit means strong. I don't think strong always shows. I think strong holds many levels to its definition. The girl or guy with bulging/cut muscles may have the strength but maybe not the endurance. The girl/guy with a layer hiding the hard muscles may not show a lot of strength but will blow your mind in his/hers endless endurance abilities. Standing trackside cheering on my sons track team brought this kind of scenario into full perspective. The girls lined up, ready for 30some seconds of bliss in the 100m dash. Each girl kneeled, hand on track, eyes on finish line, perched and ready. Each trim in size except for one. Upon a quick inspection, judging the book by it's cover, all bets would lead to a particular winner. But after the count and horn blast all those bets would be lost. The girl who created the largest of shadows also created quite the ruckus. She had the strength, the endurance, the all the way strong to win the race. She stood tall and ran. The power in her in eyes matched the power of her stride.

It's important to be strong in your mind and soul. We can lift and squat, run and spin all day, every day but at the end of the day if we're feeling defeated in our thoughts and aspirations for all else in life then what good is the smaller size, the tighter skirt, the flatter belly? It makes me think of the word superficial  No one wants to live a life coated in happiness and beauty. Happiness and beauty should shine outwards from within.

I'm dedicating the month of May to Be All The Way Strong.
It's best fitting for me. I work hard on my outward appearance and physical strength. My mind is rolling during the time I spend running, lifting, stepping, dancing, TRX'ing. My mind challenges my body in ways that I should challenge my soul in moments of chaos, in times of grief and stress. In decisions of quitting bad habits and properly allotting time to tasks. And so much more.

If I can control my thoughts and push out the "quit now" feeling during hard workouts, long races, and resistant training then why not work that same muscle (the mind) to push out temptations to leave the laundry piled, wash dishes after the next meal, blog another posts, read another blog, or raise my voice in a moment of stress and chaos? Believe me I am no saint. I have my faults and yet I am still an amazing mother, wife and friend. We live in peace and show much respect to each other but like in the fit-world there is always room for improvement.

If I can center my energy to better discipline all parts of my life not just gym time how much of a better person would I be? How much more confidence would shine through my every step? How much more love could I share and how much more peace could be felt in the stillest of moments as well as the most rambunctious?

So I challenge myself to Be All The Way Strong. And as always I totally invite you to join! There's a fancy button, a hashtag of # allthewaystrong and more posts to come. You may find there are thoughts that counteract your fitness time. I see so much passion and drive in peoples faces when I look around the gym yet I wonder if they'll carry the same strength on the beach when in much less clothing. I see high fives and hear cheers at races but maybe there is solemness in their homes. Working the mind, body and soul/spirit/core whatever you call it will hit a different sore spot for each one of us.

You'll see me challenging myself in lifting heavier, speed training for the fun of it, and picking up spin classes. 3 fit-world things I want to focus on this month. I may post less, I may post more during the month as I truly open my heart and look deeper for any ways I can be stronger in mind and soul. With an upcoming cross country move, a transition back to the regular army, terrible twos occurring in the most public of places and yes, a tween boy moving through puberty... I could use a little more mental strength and inner peace.


I want to the most beautiful person I can be. 






Linking with Just Because, Anything and Everything, Take Time Tuesdays,

Be your own Inspiration and April's CHALLENGE!

Some people just don't exercise. They just don't want to. Or, don't see the need in it.
But for many...they just fear it.

They fear the idea of changing what they're used too. They also fear the possibility of failure. The number one procrastinator, the number one reason why some people are not exercising is the horrible
"what if I can't" syndrome.

This is the time of the year we see bikini's hit storefronts, advertisements in higher frequency for quick fix weight loss aids and for some of us, we see shame. Media and society are quick to show us the ideal figure. The size 2, curvy yet slim, strong yet sleek. While it's nice to think we've moved away from that, this figure is still pushed. There are sites devoted to fitspiration, some thankfully boast 'strong is the new sexy' but most are picture after picture of itty, bitty bodies. If you logged a journal of your eating habits and exercises would you like one page for your notes and the other page to view a sexy chic? Do you think that you'd find encouragement day after day by looking at a new "sexy" girl as you logged your accomplishments? For some of this, this would work, perfectly. For others this would cause damage. I lean towards the idea that daily pictures of what the media uses to influence us would actually cause an incredible amount of self doubt. We have one person to impress and that is ourselves. We have one person to challenge, again that is our self. We have just one person to answer to, ourselves. Be your own inspiration.


There's also some smack talk against those that do exercise regularly. Some may say we're obsessed. Some may think we're bragging. And some are simply being rude. When a person commits to working out, taking on daily exercise, they create habits. Each of their days include a routine, part of that routine is spent to better themselves and focus on their health. Not only does accomplishing this make a person happy but exercise is known to release the happy hormone. Ever want to turn a deaf ear to someone who is always talking negative? Ever want to point and shout Debby Downer? We all have those friends and at times they're real turn offs. But how often do you find yourself turning away from a friend who is genuinely happy? It doesn't happen. People who exercise are happy, they are thrilled with their accomplishments and want to share it. We're not all of sudden cocky athletes or know it alls. I guess some really do become the latter but most of us are just happy and reaching out for accountability.


It's proven that fitness and healthy living are easier done when surrounded by like minds. This is a huge reason why group fitness classes are maxed out each day and races are paced in waves to handle such large numbers. There's power in numbers. There's strength in teams.

I'm one of those numbers. I'm part of that team. I believe in daily exercise and conscious eating, I believe in group fitness classes and solo mind freeing runs. I'm also one of those that talk about it. I try to inspire and motivate others to jump on the exercise party train. It's a fun place to be.

Our team is growing daily. There's no official sign up. No waiver or try out. There are no guidelines to fit inside or judgement to curtail. There's just an open space to share, cheer, and do.


Surrounding yourself with motivated people will help you see ahead. There shouldn't be a feeling of competition but a feeling of support. Accountability should never be viewed as descending but uplifting. Together we are much stronger than any of our fears.

So here's my new challenge for the month of April. It's quite simple and of no new news...

Be more active than yesterday. We can do a little bit more of anything, it's not going to kill us. 

When your body burns and yells quitting time, tell it to wait just a few more seconds, a few more minutes.

The benefits of pushing yourself to be better than the day before are unmeasurable. Each day you will be improving your endurance and adding to your strength. By months end you'll look back and smile at the growth mentally, emotionally and physically by just dedicating "a little bit more" each day. 

The list of ways to be better than yesterday is endless and totally up to you!!!
A few ideas...

-sprint hills in your daily run//walk, incline the treadmill a notch higher. Go a bit further.

-another push-up, another crunch, another curl.

-add 5 pounds to the weight you normally lift (try it for just one set, see how you do)

-find a new exercise and commit to it for a week (wall balls, box jumps, jump rope, inchworms, wall squats)

-park further away, like the last parking space further away.

-fruit for sweets, say no to candy.

-pickles instead of chips

I'm sad to take down March's challenge, it brought together strong and beautiful ladies, one of whom kicked that challenge in the butt and today took it a step further. Tyah set out to accomplish her 30 miles in 30 days, we caught up with each other via Instagram and today she introduced AprilFoolish50. She's using the hashtag and blogged about it in this post here, a perfect example of being more active than yesterday.

Quick recap on the ALL the March Madness goals set for myself and inspired by the awesomely beautiful Janna! Her linky challenge helped many of us stay accountable and organized with our goals....

1// FAIL. I didn't take//make//find the time to try a Barre Class, keeping it on the list for April.
2// SUCCESS. Completed 30 miles in 30 days.
3// SUCCESS. I think I've finally found the perfect 6.1 mile trail and am recording my pace, still sitting at last years pace of just over an hour but that's ok!
4// SUCCESS. Was totally at the gym 2-3 times per week.
5// SUCCESS. hello, this girl found the hook up to my instructor cert. I'll have much more to report on this over the next month, but lets just say I'm beyond excited about June.
6// SUCCESS. My personal FB page has lit up with race events, we're sending out an SOS for babysitters and adding up the fees. There are so many races we'd love to be a part of this spring/summer!

Remember, BE YOUR OWN INSPIRATION :)

And if you want to join in the #BeMoreActive challenge grab the button, pin it, IG it, tweet it, drop a line...or keep it private. 

I don't care how you do it, just give it a try! 

Linking with Operation Summer Shape Up and.....
Monthly Measures, Yolo Mondays, Monday Morning Gossip, and JUST Because!