Sometimes motivation comes from the craziest thing:

Yesterday when I went to Zumba, I saw someone I hadn't seen in a few months. My mouth dropped open because 1. She looked AMAZING!!! and 2. I didn't even know she was trying to lose weight!!!
After class I said, WOW! You look fantastic!!! I can see a enormous difference in your body!
and she said, "Thanks!, I've lost 23 pounds in the last couple of months."
omg...
23 pounds for a person who is already really fit and not overweight is a LOT. I wouldn't have thought she had 23 pounds to lose! It was SUCH AN INSPIRATION to me because it reminded me of how "okay" I looked before doing P90X and getting more serious about eating right versus how MUCH BETTER I looked after wards!
Now that I've seen her, I have this "oh no she's not gonna look this much better than me" attitude! ha ha (again...who knew I was so competitive???)

I'm finally starting to anticipate school being back in session just for the fact that I know I will do so much better with eating and exercise when I'm not entertaining and feeding the kids all day. Excuses, excuses...whatever...it's the truth. I hope I can start doing posts very soon about my own weight loss! Nothing drastic, but it would be nice to dissolve the layer of blubber that is covering over my hard-earned muscles!
Today, I'm teaching kickboxing and I plan to envision that Wave Master bag as a gigantic hamburger since I ate out TWICE yesterday and had a burger both times! ugh!
"Forgetting those things which are behind and pressing on towards the things which are ahead..."

Picking up the pace...

Well, I've been working out more lately and I'm so glad. Even though I'm not doing NEARLY as much as I once was, working out only once a week was not a good thing either. No exercise = grumpy Jen. Blah!
So, yesterday I did CardioX from P90X and today I got up and went to an hour-long Zumba class at the gym. On Monday night, Matt and I lifted weights together for about half an hour. It felt great and DUDE! He's looking GREAT! Here are some pix I snapped of him that he'd probably kill me for putting on here if he knew (Mr. Modesty)...but since he VERY rarely looks at my blog, I can probably get away with it! :o)It's really very UNJUST cool how easy he stays in tip-top shape. I mean...not to say he doesn't work at it ...but...he DEFINITELY doesn't stress about everything he eats and if he goes 2 or 3 weeks between workouts, it's NO big deal. I have to remind myself that he has a very active job though and I'm sure that helps a lot.
Anyway, I'm not losing any weight...staying at around 140...but that's alright. I'm upping my workouts and being a LITTLE more conscience of what I'm eating, so I'm cool wit it. :o)

How about you? How're you guys doing? Anybody thinking about trying TurboFire?

Read it--U need it!

It's not everyday that I read a post that I am excited about that I IMMEDIATELY hop over to my blog and link to it so all my readers can see it...but today IS one of those times...this is an EXCELLENT post from one of my dear friends! If you aren't sure you're interested...just listen to the name of her blog: "My Body is a Temple....with ample parking in the rear." How hilarious is that?!?!

http://bodyisatemple1.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-bone-to-pick.html

Positive Peer Pressure

You can read that as: Positive = good, helpful, beneficial
or you can read that as: Positive = definite, absolute

Either way...I POSITIVELY peer pressured my hubby into a workout last night and it worked! :o)
It started out with a little "c'mon, let's drop down and do 30!"
I could see the "i-don't-really-feel-like-it" in his eyes. So, without further delay, I got down and started bustin'em out. Well, of course, he couldn't sit there and watch his girl pumpin' out the push ups and not join...so down he went.
Next thing I know he's up to ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY push ups with perfect form!
He got up and together we admired the deep cut down the center of his pecks and the sharp diamond shape of his cut triceps! wow!
I mean, c'mon girls...what's sexier than seeing your guy all pumped, with the veins in his biceps bulging? ahhh...dreamy!!

Afterwards { :-) } he thanked me for "pushing him" to do that and said he never would have done any of it if I hadn't said it and then done it.

I got to thinking about my friend Rene and how disgusted we both are with our recent weight gain. As much as I HAAAAAAATE to admit it, we are probably a bit of a distraction for each other because we both LOVE to eat and lately between the two of us, we always have coupons for yummy restaurants. So we justify eating out together a LOT because it's "cheap". But as she mentioned to me yesterday...what is a bargain for our wallet is sometimes a HUGE DEBT for our body! (we've both also come to the realization (again!) that even though we also workout together a LOT, it still doesn't make up for the food we've been eating.)
So, I resolve to not be fat buddies with her anymore. :o) We can surely find ways to eat together that will be easy on the wallet AND good for our bodies. Like the time I went to her house and the kids ate greasy, meat-laden pizza while she made us cucumber and tomato sandwiches! Normally I NEVER would have turned down pizza for a VEGGIE sandwich, but it was that Positive Peer Pressure that did it for me. I couldn't be "the only one" who ate the bad stuff while I watched her eat the good stuff. (plus, we were wearing bikini's at the moment too and that'll really make ya think twice about what you're stuffing your face with! :o)

So my challenge to you is...try it! Positive peer pressure someone you love into doing something good for themselves today. Maybe it's challenging them to holding a plank for 3 minutes...or a wall squat for 5 minutes. Maybe it's talking them into fruit for dessert instead of that brownie. I don't know...but YOU can make a difference in someones life today! Let's do it!

Here I am...

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I last posted! Crazy! Well, in the "meantime" I turned 32 (on Saturday) and celebrated all weekend long with friends and family! It was a great time (with lots of caution-less eating, sadly).

Also, apparently a big number of instructors at my gym decided to go to VEGAS on my birthday weekend which left me picking up the slack at the gym while they were gone. In the past 7 days, I have taught 8 fitness classes! (not that many for a lot of instructors, but I'm used to just doing one a week...so it was a big jump for me). The good thing about that is that I worked out WAYYYYYY more than I have been...AND...I got paid for every workout! Now that's a pretty SWEET deal!

Also a nice plus to all this instructing is that I convinced my hubby to come to all my classes and now he is BACK in weight-lifting mode! He's pumping iron pretty much every day now and chugging down his Cyto-gainer, Muscle Milk, Recovery Formula and Men's Strength & Muscle Formula.
Funny how all it takes is one good hard-core workout, getting drenched in sweat and it re-lights the fire again! I am exactly the same way. It's easy to let the flame dwindle and go out...but once you ignite it again, it's BLAZING. :o)

Since P90X is our first love and was the ANSWER...the KEY...to our success with our bodies, we can't help but want to get back into it again. So...here we go. No plans, no commitments, no schedule...just gonna start popping in a dvd whenever we can and see where that takes us.
Even though I know we would be more focused and succesful WITH a plan/schedule...it's just not the time to be that dedicated. We are living life right now first and foremost--investing in our kids lives while they are home for the summer and I just refuse to be "guilted" into an hour a day workout for this next month.
However...school starts in about 29 days...so THEN we (or at least I) can begin to put a little more dedication into my workouts.
For now, we're using Tony's motto "Do your best and forget the rest."
So how are you doing? Hanging in there?

Another quick thing: What about Beachbody coaching? Have you considered it? I am really realizing that this is a great opportunity for me. Now that the checks are coming in consistently every week, I'm very encouraged! There's something pretty cool about seeing money direct deposited into my account every Friday and knowing that all I did was send out a few emails encouraging fellow workout buddies! It really is a blessing to have a job like this and it's just as available to you as it is to me! Go to www.beachbodycoach.com/onetoughgirl to find out more...or just ask me!!

How refreshing!!!

How refreshing it is to know that you amazing people are still by my side even though I gave you the dreaded "let down post." It was beyond encouraging to me to see that no one said "Jen, I'm so disappointed in you"...but instead you were all cheering me on! YAY!
You know, I don't regret being so "gung-ho" and a total fitness fanatic for the past year or two...it's been a huge tool that has shaped me into the woman I am now (literally! ha ha) but I am sooooooooo glad that it was just a "Season" of my life and that now I've moved into the next chapter, which is "hard core" when I need to bring it...but "laid back" all the rest of the time. Even the best things in life can be taken TOO seriously, TOO extreme, TOO obsessive. I was teetering on that line there for a bit.
I give props to the people who don't have kids or spouses who can devote their LIFE to having a body of perfection, working out insane hours a day, watching every morsel that enters their mouth. Those people who journal every bite, log every calorie burned and could fill a swimming pool with their sweat. Yah..that's amazing.
But as much as that sort of person is deep inside of me, that is not the life I have chosen. I am a momma and a wife and the need for a supermodel body is just not there.
I feel sort of sad and guilty...saying this on this P90X blog. I feel like "wow, what kind of motivation can I possibly be to you all now?"
I hope, I pray...that I will be an even better role model and inspiration to you all now actually.
My hope for my life...and for your is that you'll "Give it all you've got--all the time." During workouts, give 100%. Make the time count. Get the biggest "bang for your buck." Don't just half-hop and half-squat and throw your arms around like limp noodles. Tighten up, squeeze, go low, jump high, strong arms, tight abs-PUSH!PUSH!PUSH! And when you're done...you're DONE! Physically AND mentally. (no thinking about how many calories you can burn while you're doing XXX Rene! :-)
And the same goes for the other areas of your life. Be present. When you're playing with your kids...give them ALL of you. Don't let your mind wander, don't let the ring of your cell phone distract you. They deserve 100% and they will appreciate getting it. And you'll be pleasantly surprised at how fun doing kid-things can actually be when you quit trying to divide your attention into so many categories!
When your with your hubby...be his DREAM WIFE. Ask him "in a perfect world where your every need and desire is met, what would your wife be like?" Then go to any length needed to be that for him. He only gets one wife for all of his life...so why not make his dreams come true?

I could go on and on...but I won't...you can figure out how this applies to the other relationships and commitments in your life--but I will say this: Be the kind of friend you would like to have.

Think about what matters most in your life, what you'll look back on one day and be proud of --or gulp! regret...and then go after those important things with all you've got.

Even when you're relaxing...relax completely. Don't try to take a bubble bath while you read a magazine, listen to music, paint your toenails and scrape the soap scum off the side of the tub. One thing at a time, sweet girl. Turn off everything and let your mind wander in the dark silence. Besides, how are you EVER gonna hear the voice of God if He has to SCREAM in order for you to hear Him over all the chaos and chatter going on?

Give it your all--all the time!
xoxo-I love you guys!