Tagged: goals
Goal Setting
Goal Setting: How will you plan for success?
Good Afternoon, If you are looking to set some goals this spring I want to share with you a few things about goal setting. Last week I talked about five tips to creating healthy habits. You can read more here: Developing Healthy Habits
When it comes to goal setting putting a plan of action into place will help with long-term success. If you are just starting out on this fitness journey you could just set some small achievable goals.
Examples:
Small achievable goals: drink more water, walk three times a week, lift weights twice a week, a food journal, two days of cardio and don’t eat after 8pm.
Maybe measuring your progress sounds like a place you would want to start. Does competition motivate you? You might be more interested in goals that can be measured.
Examples:
Measurable goals: sign-up for a race, increase the weights slowly, start to work on core strength and then work on holding plank for a longer period of time, take progress photos and circumference measurements.
Having a fitness professional guide you through this process is helpful and they can safely plan and provide effective workouts and feedback.
Short-term goals happen within 4-6 weeks. They help keep us motivated and on track with our exercise program. Short-term goals lead us to our long-term goal. They should be challenging and use specific steps to propel us to our long-term goal. Long-term goals reflect what truly is important to us about our exercise journey. They guide the direction our fitness journey is going to take and show what we want to achieve during the process.
Think about a few short-term goals that you could aim for each week over the next six weeks. Think of one main long-term goal that you are aiming to achieve over time. Find a piece of paper and write it down. Hang it up somewhere in which you are going to see it often.
I’m excited to kick-off an online boot camp this coming Monday. You can workout in the comfort of your home for thirty minutes a day and no equipment is required. I have only a few more spots available. If you would like more information about this bootcamp and how you can join please fill out the information below and I will be in contact with you in 24-48 hours.
I will be joining my bootcamp participants and we will be talking about goal setting. Over the next four to six weeks my short-term goals are: I plan on drinking more water, cutting out eating after 8pm, and eating to fuel my body not out of emotion. Long-Term: I want to get back into healthier eating patterns and not yo-yo back and forth. While it’s alright to celebrate and have days where I am off track I’d like to stay back on track with my eating during the week.
I think one of my other goals is training for a 5k. Maybe I’ll share my training with you soon! Happy Sweating ❤
Photo Credit: Easterday Creative
Five Steps to Developing Healthy Habits
Good Morning,
Last weekend was so much fun celebrating the new baby that is due soon in our family. Below are a few pictures from the shower. I was able to order the favor boxes off https://www.amazon.com.
I always have spare mason jars around from home canning I grabbed a few and made up these vases. I just bought some ribbon and a few fancy flowers and hot glued them on. A great way to dress up a mason jar for mother’s day or a special occasion. 
We ordered these beautiful flower arrangements from http://www.seifertsflowers.com . I hope your weekend is off to a good start and today I am going to list my five steps to developing healthy habits. 
When it comes to developing healthy habits we all cringe in our seats. It’s a process to say the least. It isn’t going to happen over night and I’m sharing these five steps to developing healthy habits as a guide. It won’t go exactly as planned or look perfect but each person has a unique and personal journey as they aspire to wellness.
- Change is scary. The first step to creating healthier habits is to leave the fear of failing on the wayside. This will hinder you from reaching your full potential. Sure you will mess up along the way but use the setbacks and failures as stepping-stones to the future success of creating, maintaining and carrying out life-long healthy habits.
- It takes time to create and form new healthy habits. It’s not going to happen in four days or a week. We first have to target the unhealthy habits in our lives and get to the root of why we first started them. Understanding the cycle will help us have victory of laying down these life sucking habits and replacing new life-giving habits in their place.
- Find an accountability partner to help you. Call up your best friend and ask them if they want to join you. Or, ask them to hold you accountable by a phone call at the beginning and end of each week. When you have to be accountable to someone it makes the things you are trying to accomplish become more meaningful and real. Having an accountability partner there to build you back up when you fall and celebrate when you meet milestones on your journey makes this fitness ride that much more beautiful.
- Log you journey. Buy a journal and track your progress and how your feeling. You can go back along the way and see how far you have come.
- Set one long-term goal and a short-term goal each week over the next six weeks. The smaller steps will help to propel toward your long-term goal.
When you start doubting yourself or getting anxiety about starting a healthier lifestyle don’t be afraid to make your request known to God. Let him know the desires of your heart and seek him first for help. It’s so easy to try and do these things in our own control but God wants to sustain us and walk right alongside us on this journey.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
– Philippians 4:6
When I work with clients it’s such a beautiful process as they start to transform their life to living a more fit lifestyle. This discipline from the gym then carries over into faith, family, relationships and career goals. I would love to help you live a healthier life and put these tips into practice.
On March 19th I am gearing up to kick-off an online body weight bootcamp. You can workout in the comfort of your home for thirty minutes a day and no equipment is required. I have only seven spots available. If you would like more information about this bootcamp and how you can join please fill out the information below and I will be in contact with you in 24-48 hours.
Have a great week, Next week I will be talking about short-term and long-term goals. I am going to share with you my spring short-term and summer long-term goals.
Half Marathon Training
Greetings Friends, These first four weeks of training have flown by so quick and I am coming up on my 6 mile long run this week. I am excited as I have forgotten how much of an outlet running is for me and how it gives me time to unplug and process. If you are behind on reading you can catch up on my first 3 weeks of Half marathon training here:https://livefitwomensfitness.com/2015/02/21/half-marathon-training-2/ I have been trying to perfect my head stand which is one of my 2015 goals. I have just really been amazed at with time, consistency and a weight lifting plan how strong I have become. I love weights and the many benefits of weight lifting. I have written about it before which you can read here: https://livefitwomensfitness.com/2013/08/13/why-weights-part-1/
Practicing my head stand
Over the years I have really realized that health isn’t being bone thin. I ran throughout high school and college and my goals mainly focused on being fast and very skinny. After the birth of my children I really came to a cross roads. I couldn’t run 4-6 miles a day and losing weight seemed hard. When I became a personal trainer I realized that my idea of healthy body composition had been completely off. I needed to find workouts that fit into life with kids. I started incorporating weights and have been amazed at how much better and stronger I feel. I feel so much stronger while running and have realized that strength is not only power but the new healthy. Making slow progress on that head stand. My hubby bought me these lululemon spandex for Christmas and I may be in love. I am wearing them in the picture. I have a workout clothes addiction and these may be the most comfortable spandex I have ever worn! They don’t slide around, are made of such high quality fabric, and are so comfortable! You can find them here:http://shop.lululemon.com/home.jsp?k_clickid=cd3cc474-737f-422c-98c2-8fb10af55ee5&k_trackingid=11×20422&cid=Google&gclid=CjwKEAjwxKSoBRCZ5oyy87DimEcSJADiWsvgz_K2O_xFDpMMxSoC69GGDwSihWjjEhov3ScyIjcVuRoC2MTw_wcB The first few weeks of my training I have been extremely sore and week four I finally was finding some relief. My body has started to readjust to running more and I was able to get outside for a run last Sunday and hit my four mile mark in around 30 minutes. I love using the treadmill in the winter as a training tool. It helps me learn my pace and I often try to power through long runs at my desired mile pace on the treadmill. My goals are an 8:30-8:45 mile pace for the race. Here is weeks 4-5 training plans:
Training Weeks 4-5
After my long run on Sunday I have been experiencing a lot of pain in my hip flexor and IT band. Which led me to do a lot of reading and I have spent a lot of time on my foam roller. I think I have really neglected a huge component in my routine which is stretching. Maybe be on the look out for a foam roller post in the near future!! I have listed 5 reasons why stretching is so important:
Don’t forget to stretch! This photo is vintage. My oldest was helping me touch my toe!
1. Reduces risk of injury 2. Enhances muscle performance (allowing you to get a better workout in the next time you workout because your muscles aren’t tight) 3. improves your posture and prevents back pain 4. Helps keep joints healthy 5. Provides physical and mental relaxation I took it easy today and plan to stretch more tonight. Circuiting through my stretches 3-4x holding each stretch for 15-20 seconds. I always listen to my body and rearrange my running schedule to allow my body more rest if I feel it needs it. I often tell my clients this. I swapped days and will be doing my repeat day tomorrow. Hopefully fingers crossed my hips and IT band will feel better after being more intentional and consistent with my stretches! Here are weeks 6-7 training plans: 
Are you training for any race this spring? Comment below on how training is going!? I really need to register for my race!! Blessings, Happy Running If you are looking for accountability, help with your fitness goals or a weight training program tailored to your needs lets connect!
Half Marathon Training
Greetings Friends,
IF Gathering 2015
This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to attend the IF Gathering. You can find out more about what the IF Gathering is here: https://ifgathering.com
The IF means, What IF God is real… then we need to start living like it.
I was so incredibly encouraged by these women. They are gathering, equipping and encouraging us as women to live out our purpose in Christ.
Over the last almost nine months I have been going thru an up and down battle and grieving the loss of my daughter. You can read Angelina’s story here: https://livefitwomensfitness.com/our-down-syndrome-journey/ I can see a small glimmer of hope and a light on the horizon on some days. While others I shrink back, pull the covers over my head and just don’t want to face the day.
Isn’t it funny how God he always shows up. He never has failed me and the very first opening segment at the IF Gathering was about a women who lost her two sons in a horrific tornado in Arkansas.
How is she breathing, how is she sharing, how is she facing each day? I kept thinking to myself? Tears just flew of my quivering chin as I sat and listened to her journey through grief and loss.
Then as her session of sharing was near ending she said something that has just stuck with me: “My boys are healthy, safe, they’re with the one person that loves them more then me-Jesus! Selfishly I want them here. But it will be like a moment to them.”
She is right, Angelina is in the arms of the one person that loves her more then our family.
I can grasp this, but am I ok with it yet? Maybe…..it’s taking time and on some days time means healing while on other’s I have such an intense longing to be with my sweet baby.
Towards the end of the conference, Jennie Allen asked: Pick a word for 2015 that describes the step of faith you want to take:
I sat and prayed so intently, worshiping, and learning from these women. I was asking God how do you want me to move forward. I’m not ready to let go, I’m not ready to move on.
I felt him say, “GO, BE, Be Still,Trust me, and RUN Michelle.” Run Your race.
The nights Sky after the conference ended
All these years my life verse has been: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1
I kept saying I am running, “Right, God.” You have set this out before me this really hard race and I’m doing it, “Right?”
My answer has been right in front of me all along. I came back to this verse and kept reading:
“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you don’t grow weary and loose heart. Hebrews 12:2-3
He loves us so much: “He endured the cross for us.”
He wants us to consider it pure joy when we face trails to produce perseverance in us. He lets perseverance finish it’s work so we may be complete and mature lacking nothing. He has plans to prosper us to give us a hope and a future. James 1: 2-4, Jeremiah 29:11
I have been growing weary because I haven’t been running to HIM, I been running this race by merely keep HIM in mind and reading his word.
All this week I feel him saying: “RUN TO ME!” “TRUST ME” “LOOK TO ME first, MICHELLE.”
So.. Thats what I’m going to do each day I am going to Run to his arms. I am going to look to him first and stop trying to handle this burden of grief on my own hands. I am going to trust, be who he has created me to be, and be still as I allow him to work powerfully in my life. I can’t do this on my own and without him I would be bare lying on the floor without hope.
I have really felt God calling me to just run physically and spiritually. I was a runner throughout college and I coached track. I haven’t trained seriously for awhile and for me it’s a time where I connect with God.
My run is when I unplug from reality listen to worship music (somedays christian rap radio:0) and connect with God. I pray, thank him, ask for forgiveness, and listen. I haven’t done this in sometime and I am ready to have that back. Writing has also been a very therapeutic way to help as I process through sorrow and grief.
It’s never easy to get back into a fitness routine but I know that he will give me the strength. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13
Each week I am going to post my weekly half marathon workouts, encouragement, tips and scripture verses. I hope you can journey right alongside with me.
I am ready to Run this race well and to him. I have a long way to go as I continue to journey through grief but the best I can do is continue to move forward, to run and to share how great God is.
Today I will share my first week of training with you and will be back to update this series weekly on Wednesday or Thursday. I am a seasoned runner and this is an intermediate to advanced training plan. You ask why bootcamp and full body strength on monday? Well I teach a bootcamp/full body strength class on mondays and I have to figure this into my training as I workout with my classes. Your training may look different but please share this journey with us as we can encourage hold accountable and run this race together both in the physical and spiritual. (maybe you are training for a 5k or just starting to workout) Each of our races are unique to our purpose in Christ Jesus.
Half Marathon Training Week 1
“Remember it’s always crucial to warm-up your body prior to working out and cool down the body, stretch once you have completed your workout. I am not liable to any injuries/health issues that result from exercises from this site. Consult with your healthcare provider before beginning any workout regimen. If you feel pain or any discomfort while exercising stop immediately.”
Blessings and I’m excited to dedicate this time to God and share this journey with you. Week one starts on Monday, Let’s do this!
Michelle
30 Minute treadmill workout – four ways to spice up your running routine
Here I am getting ready to hit the mill
Once the middle of March hits the excitement that my treadmill brought me at the beginning of January usually begins to slowly loose it’s luster. At first it’s exciting to start back into a new training plan and over time things start to get a little mundane. This is when I like to spice things up in my running routine. It depends exactly what my goals are during the specific season of life I am in, but over the years these four ways to spice up your running routine listed below have always left me continuing to love my treadmill instead of dreading it after my 30 minute treadmill workout is completed.
I love to use the treadmill to help train for competing in local road races, to loose baby weight from pregnancy, to stay in shape, and to fit in my summer bikini. I have often used the 30 minute treadmill workout as a way to get a quick burst of cardio in to accompany my lifting and flexibility routine. I try to have a lot of balance when it comes to my training program incorporating cardio, weight and flexibility training spread through out the week. 30 minute treadmill workouts help me get my cardio in when I can’t get to the gym to participate and teach group exercise classes or outside to run at local trails. Our cardiovascular health is important and here are a few reasons why:
The 2011 American college of Sports Medicine guidelines recommend either doing 30 minutes moderate-to-intense cardio workout at a pace that works up a light sweat, fives days a week or a 20 minute vigorously intense cardio workout three days a week. If you are looking to loose weight and improve your fitness level 30-60 minutes of moderate-to-physical activity five times a week is necessary. Benefits of a 30 minute treadmill workout is boosting the health of your heart, increasing your all around cardio fitness, burns calories and fat (helping you loose or manage your weight), increases energy levels, and helps with stress.
This past winter I have been trying to ease back into my workout plan and shed around 25 pounds I gained from the birth of my third child. I have slowly worked my way back into running and started walking 15 minutes and jogging for a few minutes and gradually have worked myself back up to 30 minutes. You can adjust your speed to where you feel comfortable using each of the four ways to spice up your running routine listed below (listen to your body and start gradually).
Over time make sure that these four ways to spice up your running routine seem challenging. What happens as we begin to get stronger and more fit our bodies begin to adapt to our training program. This often leaves us not seeing the results that we are hoping and decreases our perseverance in our training plan. This is when you can adjust that speed dial to a faster and more challenging speed (I look at is as graduating to the next level, which is a huge deal showing consistency and hard work!).
It’s important to apply the overload principle and change up your workouts every 6-8 weeks. When exposing our body to the overload it makes it work harder then it normally would have to work, improving our fitness level and helping to prevent our bodies from plateau. Plateau happens when we constantly do the exact same workout for weeks at a time. Over time our bodies start to adapt to our workouts and we won’t see the results we once saw in the beginning. Changing up your workouts help you challenge your body in different ways, reduces chance of over-use, and injury.
30 Minute Treadmill Workout – Four ways to Spice up your Running Routine:
1.15 Minutes- moderately hard in which you could have conversation if you were running with someone and the last 15 minutes pick up the pace to were you are unable to hold that conversation. I do this often on Monday morning after the weekend when I feel tired and unmotivated. I give my body about 15 minutes of getting back into the groove for the week and then the last 15 minutes I hit it hard. This is also a great way to train your body to become stronger at the end of the race or workout, really burn some calories fast, and to help change over foot speed and pace if your training for road races .
2. Circuit your running. I use this midweek when a 30 minute treadmill workout just seems like to long to be on my treadmill. I’ll do 5 minutes on the treadmill, 1 minute explosive plyo-metric drill (jumping jacks, box jumps, high knee’s) followed by a set of lifting (depending on the day back and biceps, chest and tricep or legs and shoulders), followed by 2-3 minutes of lifting. I will circuit this until I have completed 30 minutes on my treadmill.
3. Interval using a 3:1 ratio. I will run three minutes hard and run comfortably hard for a minute to allow some recovery time. Repeat until you’ve reached 30 minutes.
4. Hill repeats. I will use the incline and run a pretend hill every 5 minutes for a minute or instead of hills just run quick bursts of sprints throughout the duration of the workout. doing this for 30 seconds at a time.
Each of these 30 minute treadmill workouts have really helped me beat boredom and make those thirty minutes of cardio conditioning fly by!
What’s your favorite thirty minute treadmill workout?
Blessings, Michelle
Benefits of Fitness
Here are me and my oldest before I was heading out to speak to a group of women about the benefits of fitness
This past weekend I was able to speak to a group of moms about the benefits of fitness. I have a passion for spreading awareness about the many benefits of fitness and how they can have such a positive impact on your health. I also have a passion for sharing my core beliefs as a personal trainer: “making fitness a habit of daily living.” I told these ladies: “you have to find what you love and go with it”. Schedule thirty minutes to yourself each day to fit fitness in your daily routine. I am notorious for disappearing to my treadmill during the day even if I only have a quick thirty minutes. I grab my headphones, running shoes, and disconnect with the craziness of life and connect to a world that allows me to process my thoughts, connect with God and reap the benefits of fitness. When I am able to take care of myself, I am able to take better care of my family and those around me.
For many women it’s hard to find your niche in the fitness world. I suggest when you are searching for a type of workout you enjoy to try many different forms of working out before you decide what you love the most. Try it a handful of times before you make a decision. When you enjoy something you are going to go right back to it and repeat it again. Making it a daily habit. If you have had a negative experience you are going to hesitate to allow yourself to go back to it again. This is when you may need the help of a personal trainer or friend to get you started in the right direction and encourage you to keep searching until you find what feel most comfortable to you while exercising. Personal trainers help clients understand the benefits of fitness and create training programs that will help them stay consistent to their workouts and goals.
When I asked the women: “How Can you Make Fitness Fun?”
I received answers like: “meet up with a friend to workout, group exercise, workout with your spouse and compete for a cause”
Here are some benefits of fitness that I briefly touched on when speaking to these women:
-helps with stress relief
-helps manage health problems
-helps boost the health of your heart, helping improve your ability to burn calories managing your weight
-strength training helps our muscles work more efficiently and keeps our bones strong
-flexibility (stretching) helps prevent injuries and provides mobility of joints and muscles
-our body is better able to perform the tasks of daily living
Once you figure out what you enjoy while working out, schedule a time to workout each day, and if finding what you enjoy or understanding how to build a workout program is overwhelming to you and you understand how important the benefits of fitness are I would love to help you create a fitness regimen that is tailored to fit the needs of your specific lifestyle.
Blessings and Live Fit, Michelle
Week 4: Keeping it Simple in 2014 fitness challenge
We have met the homestretch of this challenge! This is the final week and I am feeling so encouraged by this memory verse from the Good Morning Girls:Intentionally Focused online bible study that I have decided to use it for this week’s memory verse.
Do you have an accountability partner? Someone that you can share your goals with? Someone that will cheer you on and tell you the tough stuff when you need to hear it?
Two are totally better then one in every walk of life and especially on our health journey!
Now that you have accomplished these two short term goals. Examine what you want to do next! Maybe it’s going to remain the same or maybe you are ready to tackle something bigger! We are all different. Long term goals provide you with a bigger picture and represent what is important to you in accomplishing on your health journey. They provide direction in your exercise program and reflect what you want.
Don’t forget these two closing thoughts. Stay positive! If you feel like you failed start fresh, right know! Keep a journal, it will help you become aware of unhealthy behaviors, why you do them and the consequences they have on your health.
Good Luck, thank you for joining this challenge it has really helped me learn a lot about the season of life I am in and how to adapt fitness into each new phase of life. The Sky is the limit! #livefitin2014
Blessings, Michelle
Week 3: keeping it simple in 2014 fitness challenge
Bad habits die hard. It takes time, patience, endurance and perseverance. Be patient with yourself. Two weeks in, the end is in sight. Keep your eyes on those two short-term goals. Great work! #livefitin2014
(Don’t forget to jot this memory verse down and your short term goals and place them where they are visible to you)
Blessings, Michelle
Week 2: Keeping it simple in 2014 fitness challenge
Week 2 scripture verse: “apply your heart to discipline and your ears to words of knowledge.”-proverbs 23:12
How did week 1 go? The first week of any new change is difficult. Set backs often pop up and this is how we learn how to get back on track (instead of giving up or thinking you can’t do it, BECAUSE YOU CAN!) Creating a healthy lifestyle for yourself at first isn’t going to be easy but over time it will become routine and your will thank yourself three months from know!
Think small victories this week. Last week was all and all rough for me. Things came up, my plans often altered and I had to adapt quickly. I was still able to squeeze in 4 workouts and I am slowly eliminating my sweet tooth. Don’t be overly hard on yourself. I often clung to last weeks memory verse, looking for The Lord for help when things were spiraling out of my control.
Small victories could include: cutting back on the coffee(tough for me, but creamer has a lot of sugar), taking the stairs instead of the elevator(with a baby car seat is pretty intense:), drinking 8 glasses of water, eating the color of her rainbow and fitting in 3-4 days a week of cardio.
Lifestyle change takes time and to make these healthy habits part of our daily routine focus on the small victories.
Physical and spiritual fitness requires discipline. We can all understand that we need discipline but to actually put it into practice is hard. I found this quote in Food, Fitness and Faith: ” life’s greatest rewards usually require lots of work, which is perfectly fine with God. After all, he knows that we’re up to the task, and he has big plans for us.”
Challenge on challengers, I have loved hearing about your progress. Don’t forget to put this verse somewhere were you can see it along with your two goals for this month. #livefitin2014
Blessings, Michelle
Week 1: Keeping it Simple in 2014 Fitness challenge
Week 1 Scripture Verse:
“I lift my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” -Psalm 121:1,2
Evaluate yourself this week. Pick two goals that you want to work on throughout the next month. Write them down and put them along with the week one scripture verse where you can see them and are reminded of them often.
Share them with your spouse, best friends, sister, brother. We are much more likely to hold ourselves accountable to goals when we have shared them with loved ones and written them down where we can see them.
How crazy is it that only 8% of Americans who set a New Years Resolution follow through and actually achieve their resolution.
I am defiantly convinced that living a healthy and fit lifestyle is more then fitness. A fit life is having a fit relationship with God, fit relationships with those we are close with , with our finances and our career. These are all things in which unfortunately we are never going to arrive in!Oh how I wish we could! We have to keep working at them each day on a continual basis. Your goals may be more related to maybe fitness in your finances or a relationships, we all are going to be a little different on this journey. When I fall into a good workout routine(I feel confident, physically able to tackle any task, accomplished) most of all I find focus. I then see other area’s of my life become more consistent and overflowing with vibrant life. I say this often:” you have to plan your plan and then you have to work your plan!!”
Good Luck, When you are feeling weak or have fallen of path don’t throw in the towel. Be reminded that ultimately we can’t do this life on our own. Look up to the hills and ask the Lord to give you help. The first week in any type of fitness program or lifestyle change is that hardest. Be reminded of that. I am giving up sweets, because they are my biggest weakness and they become a false sense of oh, I think they will make me feel good in this situation. Usually I end up thirsty, sick, and realizing I was eating to run away from my problems when I should have looked to the lord for Help!
Don’t forget to #livefitin2014 and post your goals this month on Live Fit’s Facebook page (like button is on the sidebar) for accountability and support throughout Week 1! We are on this journey together friends!
Blessings, Michelle
Live Fit Women's Fitness 