Writing a unique blog post? Ain't nobody got time for that!

I wrote a post over on my Ironman training specific blog, The Journey to IM Moo, and thought that I would repost it over here. 

Ooooh no she didn't! 





Yup. Pilfering my own blog posts. Shame, shame on me.

The post has to do with the relationship between our ability and our effort to increase it; how we need to bridge the gap between current effort and our max ability while also increasing our max ability.  As with most things, the harder anything is to come by the more we value them.  The same holds true for our own physical feats.


This has me reflecting on the changes that I have made. Not just eating, exercising, etc.  I mean deep down to my core.  I say in the post referenced above that my abilities have not changed, but rather it has been my approach that has changed.  I had it in me all along to do what I do, I just never fostered it before.

So with that think of it this way:  The person you want to become is already within you.  You have to believe in yourself and make the choices each day that will bring you closer to that person.

How empowering.  Your goals are RIGHT THERE!  Ready to be realized! 

For me, I realized my goals by finally starting to invest time into myself like I would others.  I started to give myself gifts as I would others.  For me those gifts were the gifts of health and wellness as well as arming myself with not only the tools and education needed to make a lifestyle change but also with the determination and the PERMISSION granted to myself to do so.  Change be hard, yo.  Give yourself permission to invest in yourself, to make the changes needed. 


So I wonder... What revelations have you come to in your own life as it pertains to how you approach yourself and your situation? Be it financially, emotionally, or physically - have you changed your overall approach? And if so what was the outcome all around?  If not, can you identify a change in approach or thinking that you want to make? 

Please post here and share your journey!


~Jenniferlyn

Monday Musings, March 25th

Today I hop on a plane and head back to good old Michigan.  In just short weeks I shall be back here in Florida, and back with my hubby.

Until then it is time to get back into a Michigan groove.

Last week recap:
Wednesday: Vo2 Max interval run at the clubhouse (after 2 BUCKETS of run punch. DEDICATION... I haz it)
Thursday: Beach bumming, swimming in the pool, laps with Mike
Friday: REST DAY!
Saturday: Ran the Support our Troops 10k in North Palm Beach (100% humidity thanks to the early morning rain, and 80* at the start) - 1:07, 10:49 average pace which was about a minute per mile slower than my 10k pace, but with the humidity I will take it!  Plus it was a 3+ minute PR over my best 10k prior (2011),  1.5 hour massage afterwards to work out the tight hammies
Sunday: Rode for 1.5 hours in the crazy wind on the road bike. I have missed riding outside!
Weekly Plan for success:
Monday: Rest (travel day)
Tuesday:  Ride FTP intervals AM, pick up the furry kids (Moose and Otis) from my parents PM
Wednesday: Run at gym with Yvette AM, dinner with Vickie PM
Thursday: Ride Vo2 Max Intervals AM, class PM
Friday: Rest
Saturday:  Ride with group at Fraser 7am, PM rest family visit for Easter
Sunday:  Family visit for Easter AM, run in PM

For some reason I aways feel better when I write it down.  It is one thing to read my plan in my training software, but a totally different feeling to write it down, to commit the words from my own fingers to my own paper... errrr.. monitor. 

I am feeling balanced and happy again.  I really REALLY needed this week with my husband to put me back to normal.  This week I felt the fog of depression slip away and I rose from it feeling confident and happy.  Content.   

While it was hard with him leaving for work this morning knowing that I will not be seeing him again until after work April 16th, I realized that those 3 weeks are going to fly right on by.  3 weeks is nothing compared to the nearly 9 weeks it had been since I had last seen him.

Living a bi-State life is hard, but it is a short term sacrafice for the greater good of our future.  This distance has really brought us closer together and made our bond even that much more strong.

Now this is not for everyone, and I am sure that lots of people wonder how we can do it with us only being married this past August.  The truth is that it is HARD.  There have been many a tear shed between us for sure; but what makes it work is that we are able to spend real quality time together each month and that we supplement that in-person time with weekly Skype sessions and daily texting/phone calls.

I love hearing all about his new job, the city of Miami, what is going on with my in-laws, and all the places and things that he is experiencing as a Florida resident that we never did as visitors.  He likes hearing about my day, how things are going with the boys (Moose and Otis) and how training is going.

I was afraid that this week together would leave me heartbroken and wanting to never board the plane back to Michigan.  Surprisingly it did not.  In fact, it made me appreciate even greater the life that we are able to lead and it made me happy to know that it is not as difficult as we had thought.  I find myself already looking forward to April's visit.  This was the shot in the arm that we needed to make it work.

This trip returned me to myself and gave me permission to live my life in Michigan while we work on our life in Florida.  It offered both of us the chance to experience our new normal.  And more than anything it reassured us that we did the right thing. 


Anyone can do anything short term.  Our heads and our hearts are in the right place and this week has shown us both that very clearly. 

I am so relieved knowing that I will be returning to the Mitt with a smile on my face and a warm fuzzy in my heart.  Oh, and a 10K race PR.  :-)

Staying On Track While On The Road - Part 1: Training

Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows...

OK, maybe not so much rainbows and lollipops, but I am getting my fair share of sunshine this week that is for sure.

I am fortunate enough that for 1-3 weeks each month I go to Florida to spend time with Mike, my husband, and telecommute for work so that I can maintain some sort of work life balance. 

This was my first of many trips and I must say, it has been wonderful!  Since his weekends are actually Wednesday/Thursdays, I fly down after work on Tuesday evening, then take time off from work on Wednesday and Thursday so that we can spend the days together, then work from my Florida location on Friday and Monday, flying back home Monday after work. 

I have been able to keep up on work, and even took a few meetings on my off time just to make sure that things were moving along well.  Since I come from a job background which was heavy on travel, I am very independent and can work well outside the office.  I have always looked at the world as my office.


In years past trips like this would have meant disaster for both my training and my lifestyle.  Ever since that fateful trip to Mexico last year, I have since realized that I am at the mercy of nothing but myself.  And with that I have learned a few things about staying on track while travelling. 



The key thing that I have learned in the 16+ years that I have travelled for work is to set myself up for success, not for failure.  What this means is that I need to do some planning, do some research, and to make sure that I have with me or at least access to the things locally that I need to keep as much of a routine as possible so that I do not fall off of training or health track.

It is so easy when we travel to just throw in the towel, to give up and give in to all the temptations around us.  After all - aren't we supposed to live it up when we travel? 

I have found that I am much happier if I can maintain at least some form of semblance to my regular home life while away from home.   One thing that I can do pretty much anywhere is to run.  I pack my running shoes and a few running clothes in my carry on, so that I am able to get in this at the very least where ever I go.   Which brings me to:

Travel training trip #1: Scope out the area for running friendly trails and scenic routes, as well as Hotels for run friendly facilities should the weather or area not cooperate.

Because of this I have ran in the People's Square in Shanghai, China along the Danube river in Regensburg, Germany, and around Frankfurt and Baubenhausen, Germany as well.  I have run through Guadalajara, Mexico (before the days of the Drug Lords killing everyone, now days I run via treadmill), through quite a few States in the Union and in Canada. 

Have shoes will run. 


Travel training tip #2:  Plan your work, and work your plan. AKA - be realistic about what you can accomplish and when you can accomplish it.

I am one of those people with a training plan that I follow each week.  Obviously as the weeks progress my training focus changes, but no matter what I always have a plan as it is my road map to achieving my goals.

One thing that has in the past derailed me from my endeavors is that I throw the plan completely out the window when I would travel.  I would tell myself that I just could not maintain anything while travelling, so why bother to try. 

While the plan is a good guide, it is not set in stone and you should be willing to be flexible in your training.  The best way to make sure that you can achieve the training is to be realistic in your availability to work out,  both by which days and times available as well as what activities you can maintain with little stress to your other obligations.     

I like to make my travel days my rest days. Travel is fatiguing and you can end up wearing yourself down and digging a hole that you cannot recover from if you do not take rest. 

I then do a little research to see what activities are going on in the area and what equipment I will have available to me.  

For this trip I first looked for running races in the area, as if there is a race I will for sure get in my run.  Since I was staying over a weekend I signed up for a local 10k run which is great for me since I had a 6-7 miler on plan anyhow. 

With that out of the way, I then looked at what options I have for cycling and since this is my In-Laws house I have many bikes available to me including my husband's road bike which is actually a good fit for me.  OK - run and bike availability... check! 

Now it is a matter of getting the workouts in. I scheduled them for when I was most likely to succeed at getting them done - my long stuff on the weekends when I am alone, and the short stuff in the mornings or before dinner when Mike is relaxing so that I do not take away any time from us.  Also, Mike is a cyclist and likes to swim so I am able to get in some workouts with him which always helps!

Travel training tip #3:  Recruit Support.

If travelling with other people, see if anyone wants to workout with you at the hotel gym - they don't have to do what you do but sometimes just having someone in the vicinity is enough to get the workout done.

If they say no - let them know clearly what your intentions are for training while on the trip and see if they can oblige by allowing some time for you to get it done.  When I travel with coworkers, they assist me by selecting hotels with exercise rooms and pools so that I have the most equipment available to me, and have even worked our dinner schedules around my training hours.   I hit the gym for a quick pre-dinner workout while they hit the hotel bar for a pre-dinner drink. 

I have some awesome people in my life! 

Travel training tip #4:  Missed a workout?  MOVE ON.

Don't try to double up workouts to squeeze in missed ones. Sometimes it is best just to keep on moving forward. 


Travel training tip #5:  Learning for next time.

Missing a few workouts is perfectly acceptable.  However... if you missed some workouts on the trip due to reasons other than illness, weather,  need for rest, or for other obligations such as family time or work time, then you need to review what happened to result in missing the workouts, so that you can be ready for it the next trip.   Maybe you over planned your time? Maybe you are putting too much pressure on yourself?  Maybe it stopped being fun? 

Training isn't life, and unless you are a pro, it also is not your job.  It should remain fun and refreshing, nit something that weighs you down and makes you feel obligated to complete it. 

If things fell apart for training on your trip - it isn't always a bad thing either.  Just take the notes as to why things happened and evaluate, getting ready to beat the excuses next time. 

Sometimes the best thing to do is push "pause" in training and allow for the down time.  Use it as a reset for when you return.  Just don't stop all together! 

Next up, Part 2: Nutrition

Plugging In to Win. Tapping In To Online Resources for Lifestyle Change.

One thing has become quite clear to me on my journey, and that is that we are not alone or at least we do not have to be.

Even though our journey's are very personal to us as individuals, and no two journeys are the exact same, we are never actually alone no matter how much we are stuggling and no matter how much we feel as if we are isolated from others.  

With the advent of applications geared towards helping us succeed, and endless support options available to us through different websites and social media outlets,  sometimes it is worth the time investment to plug-in in order to win.

One of the biggest helps for me in my success thus far has been a combination of social media and applications, as well as my friends and family.   The reason that I reach out in both socal media groups and in special interest forums is for support, encouragement, celebration, and most importantly real talk: accountability. 



I decided to talk today about the pros of using technology to assist us in living a healthier life.  I have broken it down into three categories: Support, Road Map, Reality - highlighting one specific application or website in each.

SUPPORT
While we each have found our own way in life, I do see trends in success stories.  First of all- the need for a support system.  We cannot succeed if we do not have people in our corner.  Be it friends and family, or even people you only know through special interest groups, reaching out and making our goals public is the first step in gaining more accountability. 

The caveat here is that you have to be willing to be honest and to accept honest criticism and real talk when you start to approach slipping.  All motion, even backwards, needs to be reported in order to make full use of the support.  If you just need cheerleaders, then make that clear when informing people of your goals.  There is nothing wrong with saying  "I am going to lose 25 pounds this year and I want my goal to be made public, however I am asking for only positivity and encouragement on my journey."  Likewise, if you need some pushing in order to stay the course don't be afraid to ask for that either.  "I am going to be training for my first ever 10k race and I will need some help staying motivated an in training.  please feel free to push me if you see that I am slacking!  It takes a village to raise this runner!"

 The fear in making our journey more public is that it turns the focus on ourselves.  We have to walk the walk and talk the talk as well as be willing to be called out on our actions if they are contradictory to our goals. 

Spotlight on website: Facebook
Facebook is a not just for checking in on ex-boy/girlfriends and high school prom queens (I kid, I kid!); it is a great platform for finding support too. 

If you do not want to put your goals out there for the entire facebook community to see, you can create a closed group and invite specific people to it so that they can see your progress and what you report out. Or if you want to reach beyond your friends list, you can create an open page and allow anyone and their mother to read what you have to say. This way, you have the control you want over who sees what, and you can find support for yourself from untapped resources - namely likeminded people! 

 I have used this feature over the past few years for motivational and weight loss groups, and it is a wonderful tool for keeping what you want people to see in front of the right people. 

Using facebook as a support group or even as a goal specific blog is a wonderful idea, and you can switch between your goal page and your personal page quite easily.  A great example of how  apage has helped someone promote health and fitness as well as chronicle her journey is the Fitness Is My Habit page.  On it, she chronicles her successes, her slip ups and engages her readers to participate in the journey.



ROAD MAP
It is nice to know where we are going on our journey.  Setting realistic goals and tracking them is important.  It is also nice to get some guidance along the way, maybe helping us to make the trip a little more efficient as well. 

I do not think that everyone needs a coach out there, or even a training plan per sey,  but I do think that we can all help a reminder of staying the course.  A reminder of doing the little things day to day that help add up to the biggest lifestyle changes. 

Spotlight on application:  Fig
While you can resort to a notepad to track habits or goals, there is a nice neat little application called Fig that helps you track them all in one place. 

Fig touts itself as being the "personal and enjoyable way to pursue your wellness aspirations."
I agree with it's self evalluation.  Fig allows for you to create your own wellness plan by quickly selecting activities from common goals from six categories such as eat, move, refresh, connect, feel, and go further.

There are over 300 activities that are pre-entered for easy selection, or you can even create your own very custom activity.  Fig allows you to track your progress on each activity and will send you email reminders if you are falling behind on any of them.   The green partial circles represent your progress and if you complete or overachieve you get the gold stars. 

 

You can invite friends to for teams (privately) and then you can cheer each other on to success! 

It is a free application and is available for download on Android and Apple devices. I like the simplicity and ease of use of this application for habit development and keeping me on track in the multiple areas of my life.



REALITY
A road map.  A destination.  All of these are good things however without knowing our starting point and where we are today, we will never fully be able to move forward.  Sometimes GPS is a good thing to have not only in our car but in our lives in general.

I believe whole-heartedly in tracking my progress in any number of ways, and now more so than ever.  I personally needed to find something that let me be flexible in what I wanted to see in reports as well as functionality.  I found that and I think that this site/application could benefit everyone regardless of how intensive one wants to use it.

Spotlight on website/application:  My Fitness Pal
My Fitness Pal is hands down the best webstie/application that I have found and used.  I have tried Livestrong.com, Spark People and Weight Watchers Online and none of these are as easy to use or as customizable as My Fitness Pal is.  I like that this is a website with a very easy to use application companion. You can use either as standalone, or both together for full functionality.

What I like about it is that regardless of what targets it gives me with regards to calories, I am able to customize the food log to be how I need it to read, with the macronutrients that I want to see.

I am concerns with fuelling in two stages - for my workouts and for the rest of my day.  I am following a high protein, moderate fat, low carbohydrate vegan lifestyle so for me I am most interested in fat, proteins, fibers, and carbs.  I have altered my food log to read out these macronutrients. 

Also, I altered the names of the meals - of which you can have up to six total - to show morning, afternoon, evening, and then the pre-workout, workout, and post-workout windows since my nutritional goals are different for these periods of time. 


So it is pretty easy to start.  You sign up for membership (free) and you then start setting your weight loss/gain/maintain goal.

Enter in your statistics and then based on this information, MFP calculates a calorie goal for you to hit daily in order to stay the course of your goal.

Throughout the day log into the website or the application and log the foods you eat and the exercises you perform.  You gain more calories by working out since the caloric deficit for weight loss is already built into your calorie target. 

After you log in and complete your food and exercise journal for the day, you will see a note on based on today's performance what your weight may look like in 5 weeks. 

You can also get progress reports on your food intakes and your weight loss to see how you are doing on average.  This is key as it helps to see patterns emerge.  Going over too often or under too often and you can get into trouble, so this helps right the ship if it starts to go off course.

You can find your friends on MFP too, which is great as it lends to support and accountability.  You have privacy options for your food log and profile, so if you are afraid of people seeing every single thing you eat, you can make your food log private, so no one can see this level of detail except for yourself.

There are forums on the website as well, so you are able to reach out and connect with others with similar goals as yourself for furthered support.




In todays technology fuelled world I really do think that it is with the time to plug-into the websites and applications out there to help us succeed in fostering the best, healthiest lifestyle possible.  If you have time to play Angry Birds then you have time to tap into the other functionalities of technology! 


So, what are some of your favorite sites and or applications to use to stay on track?

The Power of One Word. When "Can't" is really "Won't".

Recently I have started to pay attention to the words that I chose to use, especially when it comes to my perception of myself and my abilities.  I find myself saying or thinking the word "can't" a lot more than is actually true.  I have noticed this everywhere I turn as well; on Facebook, on TV and radio, even in the cubicles and offices next to mine.

When did this little word enter into and become so prevalent in our vocabularies?  When did we become a society of can't? 

Well, I want to start a revolution baking back our lives, one can't at a time. 

When we say that we can't do something it implies inability in that we are not allowed to or that we are without choice in the matter.  In reality we all have choices that we make and need to own up to.  I have made a commitment to myself to stop using the word can't so freely.

When I say can't with regards to some task ahead of me, what I am really saying is that I am unable to accomplish it so why start it.  If this is the case then I promise to stop cutting myself short and to face my fears of failing or of dissappontment.   If it is something that I am not interested in, then to call it like it is, that I am not interested.   "Can't" is reserved for actual limitations imposed on my by time, religion or health.  It is not for me to freely sling out whenever I have doubt.  If it comes down to free will, then can't is a word that should be left out of the vocabulary.


There is a huge difference between can't and won't. 


The word "can't" may only be a word, but it sets us up for failure.  If we tell ourselves that we cannot accomplish something then we are not giving ourselves the opportunities and support we deserve.  We cannot rely on outside support for our successes, that support needs to start right here at home.  Right here inside ourselves.

If we start every new experience by telling ourselves that we can't... are we ever really going to try as hard as we would if we believed that we could?

If you find that you are telling yourself that you cannot accomplish something, try to look at the reasons why.  The next time you think that you can't do something - ask youself why not.  Then for every reason your negative self comes up with find the positive response. 

This is not an easy exercise but in time you will find that you may not be so quick to hold yourself back and that those "I can't" moments will soon become "I did" accomplishments.

They say that strength is what you have left when weakness is no longer an option.  I say that success is what you have when saying "I Can't" is no longer an option.

So what are your can'ts and won'ts?  What are some things that you are holding yourself back in because you are not sure that you can succeed?

Venturing into unknown territory.

I have been on a journey for seven plus long years.  And on this journey I have found myself often making wrong turns or going down roads only to doubt myself; stopping, turning around looking for an alternate way.

While I have gotten good at making short trips, I have yet to succeed at staying the course. Something has changed fundamentally for me in my life.  In the quest to find self love and acceptance, I have managed to actually find it. 

My typical MO would be to stop dead in my tracks, rest on my accomplishment thus far and revert to my old habits. Something is wrong.  I have yet to stop in my tracks.  I have yet to doubt myself.  I have passed the point of turning around and I am still on the course.  I am at an event horizon. There is no turning back.

When you set yourself up for success, failure is not an option.  Setbacks occur of course but failure happens when you give up, when you quit.

I have gotten to a place where I have lost 75 pounds on the journey.  I have gained some of the weight back due to lack of training volume, and that is where I realize that I need to change my approach to training and fueling.  I stand here on the edge of something. What that something is I am not so sure of but it is definitely a place that I have never been before.  I am on the verge of completing a goal that I have had my entire adult life.   My total life transformation is nearing a reality.

I truly feel that 2013 is the year that I complete this transformation by fine tuning my nutrition with the assistance of a RD who will help me understand how to fuel my day without nutritionally compromising my workouts, and by changing the way that I train. 

I expect big things in 2013.  The biggest of all is reaching a destination that I never really thought that I would make it to.  I am too far along now to turn back.  I am seeing this to the finish. I am done quitting.  I am on fire!


 

Guest Blog Post on Rock Orange Five!

Wow am I ever late!

So a while back my friend Deana asked that I write a guest blog post for her blog, the Rock Orange Five. 

Deana hosted a give away in honor of her 32nd birthday, and in that giveaway she had two of her friends write posts on how they had made changes in their lives over the course of a year.

The giveaway (which has ended) was a great idea and I am so so so proud of my girl Deana for growing up into such a beautiful woman inside and out.  I have so much respect for mothers - it is a job that I am just not qualified for!  In addition to having the world's most important job (mom) she is quite the inspiring runner and all around great person.  I always leave her blog with a smile on my face. 

Here is the guest blog post, and while the giveaway is over (I really am the worst... life just got away from me!) I really recommend following Deana's blog. 

myStory

Back in November, 2012 I entered the myStory contest at Lifetime Fitness.

I feel that while I am not extraordinary, and while I am not some super accomplished athlete - I do have a story to tell and one that I want to get out to as many people as possible.  No, it is not the story of accomplishment but rather my story of struggle.

I think that to see things only through the eyes of success, it can be demotivating to someone who is struggling.  I wanted to tell the behind the scenes story of my success... the bottom line reason things had to change. 

As you all know I have gone through many changes in the past year and Lifetime Fitness was a huge catalyst for the change. So, I wrote my story and submitted it and then I promptly forgot all about it!

Fast forward to February 1st, 2013 - the day that  Mike moved to Florida.  He called me from the road saying that he had recevied a phone call from LifeTime about me, and that I was one of 5 winners of the myStory contest and that I needed to call them back right away.

Holy cow!  What perfect timing.  What down right perfect timing. 

I am in a state of flux.  A state of finding my new normal, one where I am living alone while being married to someone 1200 miles away from me, and with that comes the tendency to slip back into old habits and depression.  

This was a sign to keep on track, to stay the course.  This was the ultimate nudge from above telling me that I am doing the right thing and to not lose sight of how far I have come, and how far I have still to go.  This was the light shining on my face telling me to pick up my head and carry on.  The journey goes on...

To read my entry, you can visit the myStory site here and the Lifetime article on the contest and all 5 winners is here.

In addition to having my entry be one of the selected winners, I received from Lifetime a new Motorola MotorActv GPS/Mp3 all around kick butt fitness watch, a myStory tshirt, a month's supply of Lifetime Performance vitamins, a gift card to the LifeSpa, and a very nice myStory backpack that is going to get a lot of use this year!  Accompanying all of this was a beautiful letter from Jeff Zweifel, the Executive VP and COO of Lifetime Fitness.


So here I am today back in a happy place.  I am finding my new normal telecommuting from Florida a bit every month so that I can spend time with my husband.  I am back into my fitness groove and have started a new paradigm of training as well as solidified my plant strong ways and will be focusing the next few months on fueling my body for performance.

In my former life, this is the point in the story where I would have applied the brakes.  I did this I accomplished something, time to get back to my sedentary ways until I get tired with being tired again and have to go through the process all over again.  Only this time I missed the brakes and hit the gas pedal.

Forget slowing down... this girl is on fire and is going to burn her light bright to illuminate the path ahead for all of us who want that better life. 

I am done with the rear view mirror... no more looking back.  From now on it is just you and me baby.  You and me on the journey of a lifetime!

A Good Husband.

"A good husband is healthy and absent." - Japanese Proverb

This week marks a pretty monumental change in the Kryvicky household.  The moment that we knew was going to come at some point has arrived  - albeit a little earlier than we thought.  This is the week that Mike moves to South Florida.  We were not really expecting to move until May at the soonest, so it just goes to show that when you are working towards a dream time lines become irrelevant.  We have learned that opportunities are there for the taking, but it is up to us to answer the door when they knock.

Due to the pace at which this move is occurring we have decided that it is best to keep me here in MI and working in my job until it makes more sense for me to come down. Obviously we want to live together, and keeping two households is not ideal, but Mike will be living with family in the meantime so that does help out quite a bit.

What makes this doable for us is that I have some flexibility in my job and my company allows quite a bit of time off since I have been here for so many years.  And as part of the new work-life balance approach that my company is taking, starting this year we now have telecommuting options.  When combined with my time off days, this all will make me officially dual-State for the next year or so.

I cannot express how lucky I am to have the husband that I do.  I also cannot express how much I will miss having him around 24/7, but I know that this short term sacrifice will not be in vain.   Many other couples live apart due to war.  This is not that situation, we are very lucky.  We are quite different people, but over the last eight years we have learned how to communicate with each other and we have grown only stronger and closer.  I love that man more than words could ever express. :-)

Aside from working, Mike's other job will be to scope out the different neighborhoods and towns in South Florida and start narrowing down where we are going to buy a house.  No pressure, Mike.

I know already that the singular thing that is going to help me stay sane through all of this will be getting back into a routine as quickly as possible.  Since IMFL I have been without my routine and my body is paying for it. 

Sleep, exercise, meal planning, and cooking are going to be my priorities.  Since I will be doing monthly trips to FL for the foreseeable future, I will need a routine that I can stick with no matter if I am in MI, FL, Mexico, or Europe. SIMPLICITY.  Going back to simple uncomplicated whole food meals and portable options for lunches and work trips.   I am not above carrying a can of black beans and a box of heat and serve brown rice with me on business trips. 

I am going back to basics by finding a standard 5-6 meals that I will rotate through my weekly menus, adding in 1 or 2 special recipes on occasion that I can add in to mix things up.  I work well this way and ultimately my health will thank me since I will be more prepared and better fed than I have been for the past month packing and moving. 

So much for 2013 being a "down" year. It is shaping up to be even more life changing than 2012 was.  I wouldn't have it any other way! The journey is about to go SUNNY SIDE UP!!

Living a more deliberate life.

We the deliberate believe that there are 2 ways to live life:  Like choices matter & Like they don't.

At the risk of sounding trite, I must say that those words have been resonating in me for the past week.  Things speak to me on occasion but not really like this.  It is kismet in a way.  I have over the past year turned my thinking, my actions, and my entire way of life around honing in on how I want to live giving back to others.  Here,  this magazine lands in my inbox and as I read even just the first few words of the introduction all that I can say is: YES. Exactly.

I understand now that by sharing pieces of me and my struggles in the context of truth and openess, the Journey as I call it, I have allowed others to start sharing theirs as well either with the world or just openly and honestly with themselves. 

It is all part of the ripple effect, about how creating in your life allows others to create in theirs, and this magazine fits right into all of that as well as all that I believe to be true in setting the intention of our lives.


The statement about there being two ways to live life is the opening to the 'deliberate manifesto' which you can find in its entirety is at deliberateLIFE magazine online.  The manifesto is worth the read as is the magazine itself.  As long as you have an iPad you have availability to the magazine exclusively through iTunes.   


So what exactly is the deliberateLIFE magazine?  It is not a gimmick-filled glossy advertisement for some unrealisitic world that editors and writers have created.  It is not about buying into their idea of a good life.  It is about inspiring you to create yours.

Overall the concept of this magazine is pretty great to me: provide inspiration on how to make small ripples in your own life and provide information about how other people have made ripples in theirs leading to larger ripples in society and their communities.  The common denominator in the entire magazine is choice and deliberate action.

Some potentially heavy topics, such as homelessness, were handled beautifully in a thought provoking way, not too sensationalized.  I like how the magazine covers a lot of varied ground in a short period of time.  It all just makes sense to me and spoke to me on a different level than other publications do.  it fills a niche that has been lacking.

I was ready for a magazine like this as I am sort of over the articles in certain mainstream "healthly living" magazines with titles like "5 secrets to being happy right now!" and "15 ways to loose a dress size by lunch!"  There is no quick fix and there are no secrets and I am done buying into the publications that push this way of thinking.

I tend to read magazine articles looking for inspiration and all that I have really found is gimmick disguised in the context of informational articles on self improvement - as long as you buy these things or eat these things, and never ever do that.  

I want to make some ripples in my world and I am glad to see a magazine that speaks to those of us ready for that change.

Honestly, the only negative that see with deliberateLIFE is that it is only available for iPads.  At the time of this post there was no commitment to make the publication available in any other format however I hope that they come out with an Android or alternate release soon as they are missing out on a whole population of readers.   If you have an iPad I would certainly check it out for yourself and see if it provides you the inspiration it has me. 


I realize now that those who break out of the conventional thinking of "things happen to us" as opposed to "things are created by us" are regarded as game changers.  As if they hold some magic powers or do things that no other human can.  Well, what they do is remarkable because they put a focus on their dreams and make them happen when most of us don't.  I guess that is changing the game, but what if I were to tell you that you too were a game changer?  You have it within yourself to be, you just need to find the thing that motivates and speaks to you!  

Go out and be inspired today!  Go out and live that deliberate life.  Make some ripples.



Finding the Power in Habits.

I am reading this very interesting book called The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. This book is pretty fascinating and is giving me much insight into how our minds develop habits. I highly recommend this book as it discusses exactly how habits are formed and how we can influence our habits to make substantial changes and gains in our lives, both personally and professionally.


Once we realize the fundamental habit forming and reinforcing cycle, we can alter it to form new habits.  Not that it is an easy task per sey - changing a habit takes time and dedication. We did not develop the habits overnight, we cannot change them overnight either.

I need to harness this power! Heck, we all need to harness this power! Think of the lifestyle changes we can make that will last until we purposefully change them again? Utopist thinking I know, but hey I got to start somewhere, right? ;-)

The habit cycle is addressed and broken down. What is the habit cycle?  Well, if you think of it it consists on three things always:

1. The Trigger
2. The Routine
3. The Reward

So in the case of lab rats, the trigger may be the audible click of a door being opened into a maze where there is a pice of chocolate awaiting them at the end.  The routine is the mouse searching for the chocolate and finding it.  The reward is the chocolate.  The more this cycle plays out, the more it is ingrained into the rats' brains and the habit is born.  Click means go find chocolate and find it, then eat it. Click means chocolate. 

Further research into this habit cycle using primates, performing an action upon seeing a trigger, and the reward of their favorite juice has found that over time the reward will appear in the mind right after the trigger.  If done enough times, the brain assumes the reward is happening based on the trigger.  Take away the reward after performing the propoer routine and the brain cannot comprehend why it is not being rewarded.  The subject acts out.  Changing the habit can be confusing to our brain at times. 


I picked up this book and started reading it because I realized that the success in meeting my goals for this upcoming year, as I am sure the same applies to many of you, will require some fundamental changes of habits, but before I just went and did something I wanted to fully understand the science behind habits and what some best practices for changing them would be.

Have you ever gotten to that point where you could physically do something, however the thought of what will need to be done to achieve it is either out of reach at the moment or out of reach because we do not want to extend ourselves that far out of our comfort zones? Of course.  We all do.

So what if we remove those self limits? Great, limits are gone but what if the desire is just not there to do it? 

Like I have said to those who tell me that they could never possibly accomplish xyz: “Yes, you can. You just have to want to do it.” Success is linked to desire. If you want it bad enough you will want to work for it. The desire to achieve must be accompanied by the desire to make it happen within yourself.

Habit forming is hard work and yes even the bad habits.

In most realistic cases there is no real dire or catastrophic consequence to not attaining a goal. I do not think it is always as easy as saying the fear of failure is what stops most people from going for their dreams. Certainly there is some combination of a fear of failure, humiliation in front of others, disappointment in one’s self; however I think that a substantial source of the hesitation must come from the fear of change itself.  It must be our brain's reaction to trying to figure out something that it has never experienced before - there is no precendent, no prior habit formed.

Habits are comfortable and part of reaching for the unknown is becoming uncomfortable,  leaving us vulnerable and on high alert. Before we form a habit, our brains are analyzing constant inputs to determine the appropriate outputs. Once the habit is formed, the brain relaxes and cruises along. We like to cruise; it is in our very DNA.

I believe that no one who has attempted and succeeded at something that they arrive at the end an unchanged person, if not physically at least mentally. I have yet to meet someone who has gone for something they wanted so badly and at the end upon achieving their goal say “Yeah, totally no impact.”

How many times have you read a "success" story on some person and they set out to do a singular goal of maybe losing weight or becoming more physically fit, possibly running a 5k or just getting into a fitnees routine at the gym regularly?  There are a lot of success stories out there.  You are on teh blog of one of them.  

How often does that story end with them achieving the goal but not changing themselves along the way?

"Yeah, I lost 50 lbs this year.  I still eat the same foods I did and still exercise the same amount as before. The weight just somehow came off!"

I would venture to say not one.  Should you just so happen to find one I am sure that the success will be very short lived as the lack of new healthier habits will certainly mean that the old habits are alive and kicking. 


I have mentioned before that the act of completing an Ironman changed me in some way. In reality I changed myself and because of that I was able to complete the Ironman. I created the ironman success by crating habits that allowed for it to occur. My whole view on who I am, who I want to be, where I want to go and what I want to do has changed along the way.

These habits are still very new and not well ingrained I must admit.  I find myself slipping back into older habits and that is another reason I wanted to read more on the subject. 

What really is the power of a habit?  How long do we have them and how long does it take to override them?  Can they be forever changed?



I looked over my training plan for the Out Season which starts this upcoming Monday (lasting 14 weeks until April 14th) and I know already that if I do not get my tushy up and out the door to the gym in the morning, the opportunity for me to start missing workouts will arise nearly daily.  So I need to start developing good habits now, here in January, that will help me long term and hopefully for the rest of my life.

Mental and physical fatigue from a hard day of work, working late into the evening taking away precious hours from home and family, as well as all around loss of motivation all play part in my missed workouts and junk food eating ways. I am able to physically complete the workouts and physcially refrain from bad food choices, I do work right across the road from Lifetime Fitness afterall and I have ultimate choice over what I put into my body, however instead of pulling into the parking lot I would continue on home and possibly pull through Starbucks for something sugary and sweet and chocked full of calories that I will not be burning off any time soon.

Habits are a hellova thing. ;-)

I know that in order to get the sleep that I need and the life balance that I want for myself I will have to become that morning person. I will have to get into routine and put in some effort on the planning side.  That means that I will have to always be thinking about my actions and are they setting me up for developing that new healthier habit, or are they reinforcing the old habits that I am trying to override?

The first few steps are always the toughest right? Time to get tough!

If habits create our lives, then what lives are we creating for ourselves?

How about you, what life are you creating? Are there any habits that you are looking to change but have been either unwilling to or never thought about them until now?

Facing the future.

I can hardly believe that it is already 2013.  It seems like just yesterday I was packing up my car to leave for college, or packing up my car to leave for my first apartment, or packing up my car to move in with my husband (then boyfriend), or packing up the car to travel to Florida for our wedding.

The truth is that my life has had a lot of these"packing up my car" moments, be them going to races, going on trips, or packing up for a move, I am not a stone that would ever gather moss.  Here in the Kryvicky household we are looking at a few more of the these packing up the car moments both figuratively and literally. 

Looking ahead to 2013, I can say with absolute certainty that this is the year that we make the move to Florida.  Well, at least the start of the move. Things are brewing on a few fronts for Mike and his job search, and while I will not go into details here it looks like we will be bi-coastal.  No, not East Coast/West Coast - more like Lake Erie/ Atlantic Ocean.

We will be splitting our time and household between South Florida and Metro Detroit, with Mike residing in the south and I staying here for a while to ready the house for an inevitable sale in the next few years.  Yes, years.  We suddenly found ourselves as a single-income family a few months ago when Mike lost his job.  We are doing fine here, however Mike needs to return to work for his own piece of mind.  We are not in a position that will allow for me to pack up with Mike, so it appears that for now (or rather when the time comes) we are going to do a long distanced marriage with lots of weekend visits until things become clearer on the employment and business fronts.

This is not a bad thing by any means.  Mike and I have been together and lived together for over 7 years.  A little distance is not going to hurt us.  I look at it as he is working out of state, or rather that I am. As an aside to all of this, I am working on some things here on my own developmentally that I would like to wrap up before moving south.

We are just sort of playing it all by ear at the moment with no real plans, just winging it as it comes to us.

So while Mike is following up on employment opportunities in Florida, surprisingly there are quite a few, I will be going for my ACE Personal Training Certification, as well as my ACE Health Coach Certification back here in MI.  I am not planing on leaving my job in the business world any time soon, but I am taking some basics steps today to help me develop the skills necessary to move into a position where I am better suited to help people find their path to a lifetime of self love and happiness. 
 
I have found my passion for health and fitness along this journey and I want to give back to those who are on a journey of their own.  My life's mission is to give others the same hope that I had, as well as the tools to turn it into reality.

So this year will be a mixed bag.  On the plus side, we are one step closer to our dream of living in Florida, and both Mike and I are making the changes necessary to secure some professional and developmental goals we each have set for ourselves.  We put ourselves on a 5-year plan to Florida 5 years ago and it looks like the Universe is answering our call.

Ask for it.  Believe in it.  Receive it.   I am not going to argue with it!

Our Wedding, August 25, 2012 Jupiter Beach, Florida

Today I am grateful that I have a marriage built so strongly on a foundation of adoration, love, trust and respect that we are able to look forward, facing the future and know that we will be just fine, together. Forever. <3>