Fight for Air Climb and "Real" Food Challenge

Last time I was on here I was preparring for my first "climb event."  Which was not all that difficult- 66 flights in 11 minutes.  It was fun to try something different and to have my family participate as well to memoralize my grandpa, but I think I took more out of the process of getting to the event.  I learned a lot and had a lot more difficulty writing my emails and updates for fundraising.  It forced to look at exactly why I was doing this event- it wasn't to win anything, PR, or race, but to raise funds for lung cancer in  honor of my grandpa.  Of course, when I was writing my emails and updates I talked about my grandpa and it made me realize how it is truly because of him that I am where I am at right now...

He had taught my mom and myself (when I visited) to chase your dreams (no matter what others say), to try for ANYTHING you want, and to put your entire heart into it (even if you crash and burn in failure).  My favorite way (and only way) to describe this mentality of my grandpa is to quote his favorite singer, Frank Sinatra. "For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught/ To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels/ The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!(source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/) 

If it were not for him telling me to find what I love and make it my job; I would probably be sitting in classes all day and headed to a desk job or waitressing job at night.  Instead, I am doing EXACTLY what I want to: teaching fitness classes, completing 4 marathons and 2 half-marathons, training for my first triathlon and duathlon, going to school for exercise science, studying to become certified in pilates reformer, and personal training.

So yes, I put in the work and I took the leaps into uncharted terriory, but I truly have to thank him for teaching me that stepping into the unknown is scary, but it's oh so worth it because we either learn from our mistakes OR we find true happiness.

Okay, enough with the sap...now to my challenge until the end of April.  I've been doing pretty decent with my challenge of "cleaning" up for the National Nutrition Month of March, but now I'm taking it another step and ONLY eating "real" food.  I am cutting out bars and shakes as best I can and only eating what I cook and bake, so I know EXACTLY what is going into my body.  So I have also cut out yogurts and other processed foods because there are so many different ingredients and sugars or "replacement" sugars.  I noticed that even if I'm eating "healthy" yogurts, like greek yogurt, I start to want more sweet foods because of the sugar.  I want to see what will happen to my cravings and training the more I get into eating "real" foods, like meat, eggs, fish, vegetables, fruits, and raw nuts.  Wish me luck and I'll keep you updated on how it goes :)

PS here's a little motivation to get you moving!

New Month, New Ideas/Challenges

I usually don't write more than once a week, but since it's the beginning of the month I made an exception. Especially since it'll be the start of a new type of challenge!  

If you've read any of my previous posts you know how much I love weekly nutritional or physical challenges.  Well I want to add a different type of challenge, a longer challenge:  the whole month long!! 

March is National Nutrition Month, so I'm kicking up my clean eating a notch.

It's amazing how much my nutrition has improved already over the past few months, but I have let myself slip up and make excuses, so this month I'm not letting myself get away with it!  Not that I won't give in to a piece of dark chocolate or a good ol' home cooked meal every once in a while, but not 2x a week.  I plan on keeping a track on the changes I notice (not physically, but inside).  I'm interested to see what the improvements will do for my training and how I feel daily.  

Also, I want to stay in "beast mode" during all my workouts all month.  Yes, I work my ass off during my workouts, but there are some days I wonder if I could have given more during a workout and usually if I can ask that it means I could have.  This doesn't mean I'll be working out more often or longer; it just means I'm going to be giving all that I have during that time I'm in the gym.  I want to leave everything I have on that gym floor, bike, outside, or pool.  

I'll keep you updated on my progress!