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5 Ways to Make Working Out in the AM Easier

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Now, let me first say it says easier, it doesn’t say easy peasy! Starting a workout routine or even starting healthy habits takes time and patience with yourself! Be sure to set achievable goals so that you can start off on the right foot. This means if you don’t work out at all right now, don’t make a goal to work out every day! Think about your schedule and set an achievable goal for yourself. This could be anything from 1 day to 3, but be sure to take small steps. Your fitness is not a destination, it’s a journey! When I first started adding a fitness routine into my daily schedule I started off working out after work. At the time it worked great, but I started to notice that things would start creeping into my workout time. For example, dinner, hanging out with friends, being super tired, etc. I was able to overcome those things, but I really wanted to have more time after work to relax or hang out with friends (this was pre-corona). I moved my workouts to the morning startin
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It's All About the Journey

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Throughout my recent fitness transformation, I’ve realized that it is in fact a journey. I think a lot of times people think that getting fit is a one-stop shop. They think that once they get to a certain weight or their bodies look a certain way, then they will be done. I’m here to tell you, that attaining a healthy life is not a point you can cross off! It is a journey and a constant process of choosing to do those healthy things. I’m not just talking about eating healthy and working out.  There is so much more to health than just those two things (don’t get me wrong, they are super important), you also have to get enough sleep every night, drink water, as well as focus on your mental and emotional health. Does that help show you that it’s not just one thing to cross off? It’s a constant journey to improve ourselves and live the best that we can. And this means that it’s not always easy-rather, it’s hard! Recently our church had a conference and one of the talks really stru
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My Fitness Journey

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Last January (2019) I decided I needed to make a change. I was commuting an hour and ten minutes one way and most of my job consisted of sitting. I also was going to be turning 25 (I know, so old! ;)) and heard somewhere that after you turn 25 it’s a lot harder to become healthy. (I have no idea if that is true, but it scared me enough to motivate me)  So I decided I needed to find something that I could do to stay healthy. The hard part was that by the time I got home from work it was 6:30 pm and I was starving and ready for dinner.  I didn’t want to go anywhere after driving to work and was already getting up at 5:50 am. I didn’t know how I was going to fit it in until a very wise co-worker suggested I eat a snack on the way home! It was like a light-bulb went off in my brain.  You all may have noticed that was the answer right away, but for me when I was trying to figure it out, I just saw a huge roadblock. Once she suggested that my biggest “excuse” was gone and I just needed
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Inner Motivation

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I’m really good at doing what people tell me to do. Like, give me an assignment and I can get it done! The harder part comes when you give me more freedom. Like I have to call all the shots?? I actually got feedback from one of my internship supervisors that related to this. I walked into the one on one thinking I was going to get perfect marks. And he surprised me! But in a good way, he told me, “You’re really great at coming to us and asking what you can do to help. I would love it if instead of coming to us and asking what you could do, you instead came to us with an idea or even something that you had already done. Fulfill a need and take that initiative! You are a part of this internship for a reason and we trust you.” That was probably the best constructive feedback I have ever gotten and I really took it in stride. I started looking for ways I could help and contribute instead of just asking. Flash-forward two years later and I was walking into another one on one with
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Always Going For Seconds

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Guys, I have to share this, because first of all, I’m super proud of myself. Second of all, it’s a major breakthrough! I was home eating dinner the other night and reading my book. When I read I am very invested in the book. I completely understand the phrase, “Lose yourself in a good book.” That’s what I do. I am completely lost to the world when I read. Micah would completely agree. Which funny story, Micah never saw me a read a book until we were married! When we were dating, I was working in Minnesota and had a crazy work schedule. I didn’t have time to lose myself in a book, because I am the type of person that likes to read the book and read the whole thing. Anyways, I say all this to tell you that when I read I am very distracted. So I had finished my dinner, it was fajitas- they were delicious! (Fajitas are what we have when we don’t know what to eat because we always have the ingredients and I found this homemade fajita spice that is perfection!) I finished m
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Lessons from a Movie: Ford v Ferrari

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So, this is going to sound very ‘English Major’ of me, but I love finding the life-lessons in movies. Or maybe not even finding the lesson, but what did the movie get me to reflect on. I think I can safely blame this on my parents and my background as an English major.  (Side note: I once wrote a paper comparing two Star Trek movies and how the villains reflected world events at the time. It was my favorite paper to write, I just watched the two movies!)  Back to my previous thought, I can blame my parents because after movies we would always debrief on the car ride home. We talked about what we liked and what we thought about the movie (the Avengers series is a lovely conversation starter and I have all the thoughts about those, but to give you a snippet- I’m a big Iron Man fan). Anyways, this weekend we went and saw Ford v Ferrari. It was really good and I was pleasantly surprised! To be honest, I only went because Micah really wanted to watch it and we hadn’t been to t
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Why are we always waiting?

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Today I felt like I got my butt kicked multiple times! Not in that, I was physically beaten up, but more of the “Shaina, are you listening? This is for you!” The focus today was: how am I working towards my goals? How am I making progress towards the life I want to live? It all started this morning when I decided to listen to a podcast called #WeGotGoals with my favorite BeachBody super trainer, Autumn Calabrese. Literally, this lady has become an inspiration to me. Single mom, successful, smart, helps others, and looks amazing doing it! In this podcast she talked about how New Year’s goals are important, but why are you waiting until January (which is 2 months away) to start working on them? Why not start now? That hit home! I’ve been working on my fitness since last summer, but actually buckled down this January. The amount of progress I’ve made is amazing, and I’m so grateful that I have documented the changes that have happened! (You gotta take those pictures and measurem
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