Healthy Eating as a Mommy with Kiddos to Feed.

Hello out there!!!! Wow it has been a while. I can safely say that my life is crazy busy, in a good way though. I can safely say that you can not count on my blog being consistent haha (I have about 5 drafts in my blog list of unfinished posts sorry:). However, I do still have my faithful lovely ladies that still follow me on Instagram and Facebook! I have had a few emails on my workouts and my cooking and eating healthy as a mom with small children. So here I am, it's what I do best, impromptu, typing as I go and what comes to my head at the moment! Here I go........... :) 

If you follow the millions of Fitness Instagram and Facebook accounts then you'll see a lot of them counting macros, and calories, and a oh so very strict diet. This is all excellent and it takes time, dedication, and a lot of planning. As a mom especially a mom like me (poor planner here), well I put my macros counting at the bottom of the priority list and these days seem to be shortening with every new day that comes. However, I will never put clean healthy eating on the bottom of my list. I try to stick to the rule that I learned from my girl Jillian Michaels. "If it didn't come from the ground, or a momma don't eat it!" She uses Cheetos as a example of both not having a mom or came from the ground :) with all that being said. I do cheat on that rule and still drink protein shakes, and I love Quest Bars, ClifBars, and all those yummy go to snacks when I need a quick fix. Also keep in mind that it is very important to have a proper balance of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Over my 4 year journey I have found what works best for me. I do recommend downloading My Fitness Pal app and logging everything you eat and drink to get a good idea of what you are putting into your body.

So lets get to a typical day. 

Morning
Plain Oatmeal with a scoop of cookies and cream protein. 

AM Snack
Normally after my workout I will have a post recovery protein shake sometimes with a banana in it. 

Lunch
Chicken Breast over baby spinach with home made salsa as dressing. Sometimes sliced avocado

PM Snack 
Quest Bars or CliffBar or some sort of bar if on hand because this is school pick up times and running errands. If I have good left overs sometimes I'll have a small portion of this also.  

Dinners
I believe in eating dinner with my family every night and that my children should be eating close to what I am eating for dinner. I am not going to make them mac and cheese while mommy eats chicken and veggies. 

We eat a lot of the same recipes every week but I try to only make the dreaded Chicken and Veggies one night a week. I love to use shake and bake and I cut it up for the kids and tell them it's chicken nuggets it works :) 

We also use ground turkey a lot! Turkey Meatloaf is one of my faves because I can hide 3 whole zucchinis in there or a whole bag of baby spinach without the kids batting an eye about the green stuff :) 

Friday nights I love to make Turkey burgers because my husband can grill them and I love adding jalapenos in mine. I do buy the hubby and kids whole grain, whole wheat buns for theirs but I wrap mine in lettuce. 

Ground Turkey spaghetti is also one of my faves. I have mine over chopped baby spinach and the kids and hubby have whole grain whole wheat noodles you can also hide veggies in the sauce of your choice. Baby Spinach is my fave for hiding in things.

Left overs are also great for lunch the next day. I seriously throw everything over a bowl of baby spinach and it's always good!! 

I have many more dinner ideas that I hope to share soon but for now I hope this helps get you by for a little while. Don't ever be afraid of trying new things and subbing things in the kitchen. I have a few pics of these recipes in my iEat tab. 

Hopefully I will have some daily workouts up soon and more recipies. Flex it Pink is taking a majority of my time which is something that I love doing! If you haven't checked it out please do so. There are some pretty awesome ladies in this group and we are doing some amazing fun things with fitness. Always working on making momma strong so that we can be happy and healthy to raise happy and healthy children. 

Make sure to follow it all on Facebook and Instagram. 

Instagram

@elishaVfitness

@flexitpink

Facebook 

www.facebook.com/elishaRunRunRun

www.facebook.com/flexitpink

Much Love and support

XOXO

Elisha

Fitness Magazine WOW!

It has been a crazy hectic week!!! but I really needed to come on here and post a HUGE enormous THHHAAAANKKKKKKKK YOU!!! To every single one of you! I am truly touched by all the amazing comments, and emails, and support that I have received about the feature in Fitness Magazine!

 

 

It was a honor to be able to have this opportunity and I am humbled, by the out pour of support from everyone! I am in tears by the happiness that I feel and the words that I read from everyone in their support, encouragement, and inspiration. I really have no words for this surreal moment in my life. But I am truly thankful and blessed.

Well I will have a new post up for y'all hopefully tomorrow because I have been seeing some crazy stuff at the gym lately and I need to get it off my chest :) I'll be back tomorrow y'all!

XOXO

Elisha RUN RUN RUN

Why I LOVE NFL Football, and Never watch the games.....

Ahhhhhhh NFL season is among us. That means fall is approaching. Cooler weather starts, we can pull out our pumpkin décor, pull down our boots from our closets, throw blankets are on the couch, and sip on our pumpkin spice lattes, and Sunday's with our husbands no longer exist until the NFL season is over.

Now my husband is not the rare breed that does not watch NFL football, and I am not the rare breed of women who love watching football. My husband not only watches his beloved Dallas Cowboy football games, but he is in two, yes TWO fantasy football teams (I'm talking serious stuff here, like they had their draft party in Las Vegas and bought their players thru auction $$$). This means he watches football ALL day long every game, red zone, Thursday night football, Sunday all day, and Monday night. To cheer on all his fantasy players with his friends. His text messages are going off during all the games. Why do I love that you ask?

For one, I am not going to stay at home and do my "wifely" duties while he sits on the couch all day. I have piles of laundry in the dryer, on top of the dryer that need to be folded and put away. I can vacuum, dust base boards, and dance around naked in the house if I wanted too but my husband would never appreciate that because he would never notice with his eyes glued to the television. Ha! Ok he might notice the last one :)

So I take this day to do whatever the heck I want. Go hiking with my girlfriends because their husbands are doing the same thing, go on long runs, go shopping because the husband just agreed to it not even knowing, because they pretty much agree to anything on Football Sunday just so they can get back to the game.

Ladies if this is also your case, don't complain about it! Take advantage of it!!! Go to the gym, go running, go hiking, go walking, go walk around the mall, this is your time. He's at home with the kids you have a whole day to yourself how often does that happen? Only about 17 NFL Sunday's if you have a NFL watching husband like mine! Which happens to be 64% of Americans.

And this is why I LOVE NFL football!!!!!

 

 

Have a FITtastic Sunday Ladies

XOXO

Elisha RUN RUN RUN

Birthday Virtual 5K recap

Hello my friends!!! Hope y'all are reading this in good health and healthy choices :)
I think fall is the hardest time to keep on track! It's when school starts back up, and the pumpkin spice and holiday flavors start coming out!!! I am a sucker for anything pumpkin. But fall is when the prime running weather begins. So thank goodness running burns off pumpkin spice lattes :) I love love love running in cold and cold weather gear!!! Let the races begin!!!!
Speaking of races Flex it Pink held a Virtual 5K for my 5K birthday! 3.1 miles for 31 years. You can read about more on my last post here. I am so touched to see how many women participated in my birthday 5K. Over 45 STRONG women logged 3.1 miles that day and I couldn't have been more humbled. It was so cool to see so many women come together and run together that day. We had giveaways and it was just so much fun seeing all the miles come in knowing we all were logging them together even if it was from all over different parts of the US. Here are a few highlights.

 

We are going to be having some more fun giveaways and fun runs coming soon. So make sure to follow Flex it Pink on Facebook and on Instagram @FlexItPink.

On personal runs I have a Half Marathon coming up in the middle of November. I am pretty excited about my 3rd half marathon. I am not going to be following a training plan because I ran my second half not following a plan and I actually did and felt better than my first one that I followed the plan to the T. I will just be increasing my long runs by 1 mile every Saturday until the big day. SO cooler weather means more running and long runs means lots of topics rolling through my head for blog topics. That is how this blog originally started! My best topics came from running.

 

Let the blogging/running season begin!!!!!!

 

I hope y'all are having a great week! Long run this Saturday!!!! 

 

XOXO

Elisha RUN RUN RUN

Instagram @elishaVfitness



 

Dreaming the Impossible Dream

Last Saturday I ran in my hometowns annual 10K race. It is held every year on the 3rd weekend in August. It's the same weekend as the town's annual festival and rodeo. I know y'all are thinking in California a rodeo? It's a small little mountain community and it definitely doesn't feel like California some times.

I remember driving into town every year while I was in High School going to meet up with all my friends before the big parade started. This was always the weekend before school started so it was the weekend that you would see ALL of classmates and friends that you haven't seen over summer for the first time in months.

While I drove into town I would always see that huge group of people who just got done running the annual 5K/10K race. At that time I had no idea how long 5K or 10K was all I knew was that those people were running and that I would never in my life be part of that group that I was driving past. I mean come on I was in high school that is prime running age and I couldn't run a entire mile, in P.E. class. The other part of me thought who in their right mind would wake up that early to RUN!!!!! Only in my dreams would I ever be a part of that group who RAN!

Fast forward 13 years and here I am running down those same streets that those "crazy people" were running all those years ago, and these are all the thoughts going thru my head. WOW I am a runner. I am one of those people that the now high school kids are watching run into the festival entrance thinking these people are crazy! Who wakes up at 6:00am in the middle of freaking summer to run a 10K what the heck is a 10K?! At that moment I felt proud! I felt blessed to be able to run, to have had the power to turn my life around and find this passion for running. If I would have never crossed over and challenged myself to run one mile straight thru just one short year ago, I would have never found this passion and love for the RUN. I ended up placing in last weekends 10K race, that was the icing on cake of that little dream I once had 13 years ago. I turned that Impossible into I'M POSSIBLE!!!!

Yes it takes a few months to find your grove and your pace but once you hit that moment for the first time.... that moment you only know if you have love for the run.... that moment in your run when it no longer feels like you are running but that you are bouncing off fluffy white clouds. That is the moment you know that you are a runner.

My birthday is this Wednesday 8/28 I am turning 31 years old. It is my 5K birthday. As co-creator of Flex it Pink we are hosting a Virtual 5K race online through our face book page CLICK HERE join the race in the events section. Post your run/walk/bike ride/jogging/crawling whatever it is that you enjoy doing for 3.1 miles in the event and you will be entered for a free Flex it Pink Tee or Tank and we will be giving some more random things away for participation.

I just want to try to encourage some that may have never thought they were a runner or think that could never do it. Because guess what YOU CAN!!!!!

The running community is one of the most enjoyable communities to be a part of. You will never be judged on your pace, your size, your color, your weight, your clothes! But what a runner will do when he or she sees you out there putting in those miles is give you a high five, a smile, a nod, a fist pump. Runners celebrate every step and we all run the same miles in the race as the person in front of us and the person behind us! Just getting out there makes you a winner!

If this post encourages one person to try to hit the pavement then my mission is complete! I hope you all join us in our virtual 5K this Wednesday.

See you all soon!!!!

XOXO

Elisha Run Run Run

 

 

Comfrot! You have to make the Choice....

First off let me start by saying OMG two posts in one week!!! HECK YES I'm back!!!! Let me hear y'all say heeeeeyyyyyyyyy :) Ok so I have been getting a lot questions on the topic of food!!!! Ughhhhhh I know it's the last thing we want to change in our lifestyle but it needs to be the first. We have to make the choice. Do I want to eat this food for comfort? Or do I want to be comfortable in my own skin? Guess what it sucks but we can't have both :( Big sad face. But let me tell you, once you get the hang of it and start saying NO to the bad food, you feel more in control, and you start to feel empowered, and you get a high off of your own will power, and proud that you just said NO to that delicious piece of chocolate cake! So take that brain!!!

Cheat Days
Yes you get cheat days. Limit your self to once a week. So save all that built up cravings and enjoy this once a week treat. Trust me! That fudge brownie tastes a whole lot better when it is earned. You will enjoy it so much more when there is no guilt attached to those calories. So just try it for one week. Say NO to sugar and save it up for a Saturday Date night and order what ever you like and have dessert! You have to reward yourself for your hard work, but you have to EARN IT!

Yes You WILL have Bad Days
Nobody is perfect we all know that. I know a lot of people think that I never fall off the wagon. Not true, I have my bad days where I am unmotivated or I ate pizza, and chocolate and just say screw it I don't care if I gain it all back I just wanna eat allllll dayyyyy long. The key to that is by the next day you better get up in the morning with a new attitude, clear your head of yesterday! Just because you screwed up yesterday doesn't mean that today isn't a new day. So you get up and forget about what happen yesterday, DO NOT STEP on the scale and GO SWEAT IT OUT! Sometimes you need those setbacks to launch you forward. Sometimes those bad days are just what I needed to get a killer workout or run in the next day.

Holidays and Summer Time
This is the hardest time for anyone. You are with family and how do families celebrate? With FOOD! This is the time that you need to prepare yourself more mentally than anything. You need to prepare yourself to be setting in front of all kinds of delicious foods. And you need to prepare yourself to be STRONG!!! Then you refer yourself  back up to topic 1 in this post :) Have you earned it? If it's your cheat day then go ahead and enjoy yourself. If you're on vacation then you need to prepare for more than one day. Pack healthy snacks and pull those out when the good food is out in front of you. For example if the chocolate cake gets put out after dinner, (after the portion controlled dinner full of healthy choices that you just made) then it's time to pull out the almonds with a little bit of dark chocolate chips mixed in with it. This will satisfy the sweet tooth and fill you up with some good nutrition at the same time. Then ask your family if they want to join you in a evening walk. Clean up all the food so it's out of site and head out for some fresh air. Planning your meals ahead of time will save you from making bad choices. When I know that I am not going to be home for a while I prepare chicken breasts, veggies, and sweet potatoes and pack them in a cooler. You can travel with this and eat it cold if needed. This will save you trust me. But it all comes back to your choices and holding yourself accountable in making the healthy choices.  

Eating out
When I eat out I always order chicken salads, I love salads so if you don't you can ask for a piece of grilled chicken with steamed veggies on the side. I order grilled chicken and ask them to cook it plane with no seasonings, I order the salad with dressing on the side and substitute salsa in as dressing if the restaurant doesn't have salsa I use a tiny bit of ranch and lemon. This is just how I have trained myself and it works for me. I love spicy so I ask for jalapenos and crushed red pepper. The restaurants probably hate me ha! I always drink water with lemon and never waste  my calories on drinks. WATER WATER WATER. H20 is the way to go. Diet is just as bad so skip out on that too :)

Well I this is all for now. You know have a lot more tips and tricks for you coming. Don't hesitate to ask. You can also join my Flex it Pink Fitness group on Facebook we share out fitness journey's in a closed group for women only to talk openly about our daily fitness success and struggles.

I'll leave you with my current Transformation Tuesday pic! I Hope you all have a FITtastic Tuesday

XOXO

Elisha RUN RUN RUN

 

Sorry I lied.....

I'm so sorry I lied to y'all because I told you I was coming out of MIA and I didn't! Buuutttttttt guess what school is almost back and that means this momma is going to have a lot more time on her hands and I MISS MISS MISS blogging and talking to you all so so much!!!!!! So I'm gearing up to blog weekly again! I guess it's safe to say I just take the summers off from blogging. We are just way too busy, and that time with my children are precious to me.

One thing I can tell you is that I never fell off track of the healthy life style that is for sure! I really hope that you all haven't either. Summer is so very hard to stay on track, and it's so easy to just party with your kids while they are out for school. So I did have more "cheat days" this summer but I'm still truckin' along in the gym and on that pavement, and I have been hiking A LOT!!!! You have to take advantage of the beautiful summer weather. One hike that I will always remember is the 8 mile total hike to "Potato Chip Rock" this rock is awesome y'all and if you are ever in San Diego you gotta put this on your bucket list. Actually hiking in general in San Diego should be on your bucket list it is just so beautiful!

 

 

 

SOOOOO I have some good topics lined up for y'all because I need to be back for you ladies! I miss you, I miss your emails, and I miss hearing about your progress. So please don't be mad at me and I am happy to be back at it! I'm not lying this time ha!.........

Also I'm running my 3rd half marathon this year in November so you know with all that running, I will have to get some thoughts off my chest and into blogging :)


PS LOOK OUT ON THE SHELF AT THE STORE FOR THE OCTOBER ISSUE OF FITNESS MAGAZINE YOU WILL SEE ME IN THERE!!!!!!!!

AND I PASSED MY PERSONAL TRAINING CERTIFICATION EXAM! I AM OFFICIALLY A CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER!!!!!

Coming out of MIA

Oh my goodness it has been a minute right? You all know my life is crazy busy right now or I would be posting more! Lets play catch up for a quick minute.

1. July 4th I ran in my home town's 5K and PR'd 25:22 and it was so so hot I thought for a minute I was running in hell! It was so much fun and happy to have a new PR. Placed 3rd in my age group.

2. July 10th I had a PHOTOSHOOT with Fitness Magazine y'all!!!!!! Watch out for the October issue on stands!!! It was so much fun and I am so thankful to God for this opportunity to share my story and inspire others.

 

3. I am still in the gym everyday killin those workouts making progress and sculpting my body to how I want it to look

 

4. I had a girls night out in Vegas this weekend and it was the first time in a very long time I let go. My husband told me to forget about being fit for one night and enjoy the drinks. It was so hard y'all to get that out of my head. It was so hard to not think of all the sugar in my drinks! But I am happy my husband told me that because he is right I deserved it and it was so much fun.

It was also so much fun to put on that little black dress and feel confident and comfortable all the gym hours and miles ran do pay off in more way than one. Keep pushing ladies!!!!

So other than the summer flying by and me just trying to hang onto it, those are the little updates I have for y'all! I'm still working on a lot of things including Flex it Pink trying to build a brand to inspire women to live fit and healthy lifestyles and make the right choices to lead their children/our future into health and not obesity. It's hard but we have to set the right examples for them. We are the women of the home, we feed them, we buy the food, and we set the path for their health. I'm working on it and working on how I'm going to help women also do this. 

I hope y'all are having a great summer. I have been reading up on my favorite blogs today. I have missed so much!

 

I'll leave y'all with a little fun I had in Balboa Park the other day :)

XOXO

Elisha V 

Exciting Stuff going on!!!!

WOW oh WOW! This is the longest break yet from blogger! So so much going on in this crazy life of mine! It's all good stuff, thank you Jesus! but it feels like my life is in a blender! It's making a delicious smoothy, but it's still in a blender and I'm trying to balance it all out. I will be on here a lot less this summer because my kids are out of school and I try to spend that special time with them that I will never get back.

I am keeping up great on my workouts! I'm on week 7 now of Jamie Easons program and boy oh boy are these results AWESOME so far!!!!!!

SO I have some exciting news!  (some I can't share with you just yet) but I can share on this......I am teaming up with my best fitness friend and we started a support website to help all the women who need the support the extra push and just someone to be there in their fitness journey. We are still working on the website and we just started the blog where we are going to post all our fitness advise, tips and tricks! You can check out our website what we have built so far and it has a link to the blog and check out our mission and about us section. www.flexitpink.com

Here is some pictures from our Flex it Pink hike just some local support we have started. You can also check out our face book www.facebook.com/flexitpink I am still going to post here and I am still Elisha Run Run Run I just have even more great stuff out there for all the women I care about. I love pink (you)!!!!!

 

I am going to make a goal to post more now that the summer schools out madness has calmed down a bit but we will be posting in our FIP blog since there is two of us it will be easier to share the posts :) Gosh I miss the blog world! I'm also going to try to catch up on all the blog posts this coming week as well. I need to see how all my girls are doing!!!!

 

See I'm still running! Got in a good one yesterday with my faithful running partner.......

 

I truly hope y'all are doing FITtastic! It is so hard in the summer to stay on track but just remember all the work you put in this winter to get to this point! and remember starting over sucks! Stay strong, stay motivated, and keep active! Keep eating clean, and enjoy the beautiful weather this summer!!!!

 

XOXO

Elisha RUN RUN RUN

 

San Diego Rock N' Roll Half Marathon

HAAPPPPYYYYYYY MONDAY!!!! and what a happy Monday it is indeed! I think I'm still on a runners HIGH! This Rock N' Roll marathon was one for the books for sure! First off I did the unexpected and PR'd! Official time 1:58.26!!!

I CANNOT believe that I PR'd I had not been training like I should have and my pace has been a little slower than usual. I ran this one with a few amazing women that I know and they all did amazing!!! However, I literally *ran* with one of my girlfriends by my side the entire time and it was AMAZING!!! I don't think I could have PR'd if I wasn't running with her the entire time. We crossed the finish line holding hands like we planned and I can't explain the excitement that finish was! We sprinted the last .10 miles which I can't even believe I had the energy for but it was awesome!!! We pushed each other in times we needed, but surprisingly the whole thing went by so fast and easy. Maybe it was because there were 30,000 runners at this race and the entire time we were weaving in and out of a ton of people. We also ran through residential neighborhoods almost the whole way, which was so cool because the whole course people were cheering you on with awesome cleaver signs and costumes and handing out goodies the whole way, even beer at times ha! It was so much fun it went by so fast and it was the best experience ever, and it would not have been the same without my friend Anna who I ran with!

 

There were a few steep hills in the course but that didn't even matter because there seemed to be even more downhills and we made up time for sure on those. We ran as fast as wee could down those hills. They also passed out Gu shots which I think also helped me get through the whole thing with a breeze. My first half I didn't take anything or drink anything and I think that maybe why it was so much harder for me on my first half?! Or just having an awesome girlfriend right by your side is what you need to get you through with a breeze.

All I have to say is I thought I would be done with half's for a while but that just inspired me to keep going! We are thinking of which one to run next!!! I felt so good on that course we talked about just running the whole marathon (just jokingly), but we could have kept running a while longer for sure!

Don't give up on your dreams and goals girls! My plan going into this race was to just run it with no expectations, but the stubborn part of my brain always knew I was going to try and PR. As soon as I crossed the start line I knew I was going to push for that goal! If you believe you can achieve! You only have to believe in yourself!

I'll leave y'all with some snap shots from the race, right now I'm back to relaxing on this well deserved Monday off from the gym :)

Happy Monday

XOXO

Elisha

 

These awesome shirts are available on www.flexitpink.com

"I don't do marathon's I only do marathon runners"

 

also this tank "13.1 ain't 1/2 if nothin'"

 

Half Marathon Countdown

I can't believe that I am running a Half Marathon in 5 days! FIVE DAYS!!!! Oh my goodness!!! Even though this is not my first one I still a nervous wreck! I haven't been following any training program for this half I have just been running when I can and trying to get long runs in on Saturdays. Well for the past 3 weekends I was unable to get long runs in and I was feeling down about the half marathon that maybe I wasn't ready.

So this Friday morning I set out on a mission to run 10 miles. It took me about 5 miles to boost my confidence and get into my running grove but I am so happy I forced myself to do that run. It was exactly what I needed to boost my running confidence and prove to myself that I AM ready for this half marathon!!!!

 

I am about 5 minutes slower on this 10 mile run than the 10 miles I did before my last half marathon, so I am not expecting to PR on this one and I am okay with that. My goal this time is just to get through it without stopping and not let my mind talk me out of this one. I can do it!!! We shall see what happens in 5 days ahhhhhhh!!!!

 

I have been crazy busy (whats new right?!) so I am far behind on all my favorite blog readings! I am hoping after this half that things will settle down since the school year is coming to an end and I won't be running around like a chicken with it's head cut off! I miss y'all and hope y'all are having a FITtastic week getting ready for summer to kick off!!!!

 

I'll leave you with this sweet treat I made today! They were delicious and full of nutrients......

1 cup of oatmeal

1 scoop of vanilla protein

2 bananas

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of Coconut Oil

1 packet of stevia in the raw (optional) 

 

Bake for 15 minutes at 350

 

MUCH LOVE FIT FAM

XOXO

Elisha

 

 

Q&A

Ok so I know my Weight Loss Journey Story page is in this blog but I think some people don't know that and I still get asked a lot about my journey. So today I will be answering a lot of those Q's.... How did I start?! What was my "ah-ha" moment? What did I eat? What workouts did I start with? How long did it take you to lose your weight? When did I start running? How fast and how far did I start running? What workouts am I currently doing to get toned? What am I eating now? If you have anymore just ask but here you go...........

 
What was my "ah-ha" moment?
After I had my youngest son, I went into my closet to get dressed, we were going to take a tour of the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. It was the first time I had to get dressed dressed after giving birth. I pulled up a size 15/16 jeans and they were so tight. I knew that just weeks ago I weighed 218lbs and I was terrified to get onto the scale. I didn't want to go anywhere with my muffin top stuffed into those tight jeans so I threw on a big sweater to cover the muffin top and vowed to my self that I would never buy another pair of jeans that big and my mission started "operation muffin topless". I guess you can say that is the closest to my ah-ha moment I could get. I didn't want to be the fat mom watching my kids play at the park from the bench! I wanted to be out there sliding on the slides with them, hanging on the monkey bars, chasing them them over the bridges! My youngest child was just weeks old but my journey began there! I threw out our deep fryer (I cannot believe we owned one, and we used it weekly) I thank God for this ah-ha moment because my kids would have been raised eating from that deep fryer if I hadn't had that ah-ha moment :)
What did I eat?!
I started changing my eating habits, I bought veggies and 100 calorie pitas, and 100 calories snacks. (I still had no clue what I was doing) but just by watching my calories I started to lose some weight. I lost all my pregnancy weight and about 5-10 more pounds by just changing my diet to a lower calorie intake.
How did you start working out?
When my youngest was 7 months old I joined the YMCA with a friend. We only did group classes but we did them everyday Monday-Friday. We did body pump 2 days a week, step aerobics 2 times a week, and spin class once a week. After just a few weeks the weight just started melting off. By my sons first birthday I had lost about 40 more pounds and by the end of that year I had lost all of my baby weight plus 50lbs. A total of 72lbs in one year.
What workouts did I start with?
My son developed asthma and the doctor told me that I could not take him to the gym daycare anymore because the risk of him getting sick/cold could cause him to have asthma attacks and he could end up back in the hospital. SO I had to quit the gym. For the next 2.5 years I did at home workouts. I completed many rounds of The 30 Day shred, one round of P90x, 2 rounds of Jillian Michales Body Revolution, and picked up running as a hobby.
How long did it take you to lose your weight?
I lost 72lbs in one year, and now my total is at 80lbs and I continue to work on body fat % loss and sculpting every day and will forever work on my health and endurance.
When did I start running?
One day walking home from my sisters house who lived just a few blocks away I decided to try and run as far as I could to see if I could make it the few 100 yards back to my house. When I made it to my house without stopping I was so excited. I had never ever in my life ran for one straight mile. This sparked inside me to challenge myself to run a mile. We bought a treadmill off craigslist for 150.00 and I started challenging myself everyday. It was winter there was snow outside and I was on fire inside! Within a month I think I made it up to 2 miles in 22 minutes........
How fast and how far did I start running?
So I made it up to 2 miles in 22 minutes with that being the farthest I had ever ran in my life and at 11 minute mile pace. In May of 2012 decided to sign up for the Color Me Rad 5K. I ran the whole thing. They didn't officially time that race but my app said I finished in around 29 minutes. This lit a bigger fire inside of me and I  signed up for a 5k every month for the rest of the year. I hit my 5K PR in December at 25:30. I was also training for my first half marathon which I decided to do with my sister and mom with our small town community churches to help raise money for Team World Vision. (Team World Vision is an amazing organization and training to run with them made the whole half marathon a memorable meaningful experience, because you are not only running for yourself but you are saving lives with every mile!) I ran my first half marathon in Jan of 2013 with a PR of 1:59.13!!!
What workouts am I currently doing to get toned?
After finishing my second round of Jillian Michales Body Revolution. I maxed out on my 15lb weights and had to bump up my game, so I joined the gym again for the first time in 3 years. I am currently in my 4th week of Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer 12 week program and it is AMAZING!!!! I am loving the results so far and I am really loving all these weights and lifting with the "big boys" I am still running and running my second half marathon next weekend ahhhhhh :)
What am I eating now?
Now I am eating clean for the most part. I still have protein bars, protein shakes , and one cheat day/meal. But for the most part it's chicken and veggies and sweet potatoes, or ground turkeyloaf with hidden veggies in there for the kids :) I have used MyFitness Pal app throughout my entire journey it's the best fitness tool ever invented!!! I am currently playing around with all this macros percentages (google is my best friend) so in the coming weeks hopefully I will find what will get me the best results, it's really hard to try and get certain amount of grams in for carbs, proteins, and fats so it's all new to me but everyday I am learning something new in the fitness world. I am half way through my personal training book hoping to take the exam by the end of summer!!!!

Well that is all I got for today it was a lot of info about me and my journey but I hope it helped answer a lot of the questions!!!

 

I hope you all are having a FITtastic week and killing those workouts!!!

XOXO

Elisha

 

It's NUTRITION pepople! (not you people, those people)

OK so I have been getting A LOT of emails for help! Which I LOVE LOVE LOVE to help people who want help! and those are the people that are willing to take the advise and do what needs to be done because they are motivated and determined to make changes in their life. Then there are the people that don't want help which is fine, and I see them announcing that they are going to start going to the gym because they want to be ready for summer, and then I see them post on the weekends pictures of themselves at the bar drinking beer and margaritas indulging in nachos. Perfectly fine again if you are perfectly fine with your body the way it is. Then on Monday they post well I'm back to the gym getting back on track......
LET me just say you are not getting back on track. Ok you may be "on" the track but your not moving forward you're natural, when you go home from the gym and eat the same things you have always been eating you are canceling out anything you just did at the gym.

Then I get the "I'm a very busy mom I have no time to work out" line. Okay I agree being a mom is very busy! and it is VERY hard to find time for yourself. So then I come back with the line well "I don't find time I MAKE time for myself" and if most of the time you can't well here is an example.... I put my heart rate monitor on one day while I mopped the floors and cleaned the bathrooms and GUESS what I burned 300 calories. That equals to me running 3 miles! So GUESS what you don't HAVE to workout! Yes it will aid in sculpting your body and losing inches tremendously but if you are a busy mom on your feet all day you already live an active life style and you are burning calories. So if you are not losing weight it's because of your diet. It's what you eat that makes up 80% of your fitness success. FOOD IS FUEL! You don't necessarily HAVE to work out, just stay active do what you do and change what you eat.

I always tell people I'm not on a diet! I just eat according to my goals!

SODA IS BAD! If you say you are eating good yet still drinking any kind of soda you are not eating good! Your body NEEDS water! DRINK WATER people! Add in lemons, strawberries what ever fruit you like to make it, to make it easier for you if you have to, but DITCH the soda! You don't want your kids drinking that stuff so don't let them see you!

Have I lost anyone yet?! Please don't get offended this is for the very few people that might be reading this, that are having a hard time with having their gears stuck in neutral or park! But not y'all right?! Y'all are killin' it in the gym/home workouts and coming home to clean eating RIGHT?! RIGHT?! Y'all are making that 30 minute window in your day for yourself. 30 Minutes of "me" time is also for your kids and your loved ones because it makes you a better person and it is aiding in creating a better YOU!

I am really scared to post this because I'm sure some readers will get offended but it's in all honesty to help. It's the truth and some people don't like the truth. Maybe open the eyes to the ones that think that working out is what changes your body. (I thought this for years) Yes it sculpts you, but if you are on a weight loss mission NUTRITION needs to be your number one priority on that mission!

I hope y'all are having a FITtastic day

Happy Thursday

XOXO

Elisha