Competence Breeds Confidence

I'm going to let you in on a secret.

Depending on the circumstances of us meeting, if we've met, there will be two dramatically different responses to this revelation.  Very opposing responses.

If we were introduced socially, you're already in on the secret.  If someone were to ask you "did you know this about her" your reply would be "isn't it obvious, everyone knows that about her".

Suppose our meeting happened in a professional setting.  Revealing this truth about myself would receive a much different reaction.  "No way".  "It's not possible".  "Not her".

Here's the secret

3 Little Words

3 little words can be such a difference maker. . .

PREPARATION PREPARATION PREPARATION

 

Schedules, lists, planning, calendars; these are not about being Type A (although those who don't do them find amusement through that accusation).  They are about reducing stress and being happier.  Really, schedules make you happier?  Lists reduce stress?  Yes,  absolutely!!!

 

Here's the morning self talk without planning

Fall Marathon Training Kick Off Month

This month kicks off fall marathon training.  I am going full out with a month of total fitness before tapering off cardio and adding miles.  I am following my own advice for achieving goals by posting my June calendar.

Step 1 to achieving your goal - put it in writing.
Step 2 to achieving your goal - share it with people who will support you

Link to calendar

Are you running a marathon or a 1/2 marathon this fall?  Let me know if your interested in sharing training tips.

No Child Left Inside

Ok, so this spring has totally sucked so far.  You may be asking, "what spring"?  Today is April 14th.
 Yesterday, in mid-Michigan it snowed on and off all afternoon and two days ago northern mid-Michigan had a snow day closing schools because of icy conditions.  Many of my friends have posted snow covered cars,  snow covered lawns, and photos of the weather report showing all kinds of wintry weather in April.                   

 

It is certainly tough to get outdoors ourselves let alone get the kids out of the house, but we have to stay strong, be committed, and get them outside.

 

I am currently taking an online course on gamification.  It is fascinating!  You should check out the free courses available on www.coursera.org  .  That's where I found this one.  The first lesson spoke of games and gamers and provided highlights and statistics.  Just one game system listed (my son's favorite) gets over 100,000,000 minutes of active play every month.  Now, I don't believe that games are bad, stir up bad behavior and violence and stuff like that, but I do believe that they can lead to our children packing on a few pounds.

 

That's the main reason I made a commitment to get my family out and about at least once per month to run a 5k together.  Today is month 2 Thompson family 5k's and we will be heading shortly to East Lansing to run in the Race for the Place.  For the record, we didn't drag the kids out in January and February when race day temps were around 3 degrees with windchill well below zero.  I know that it doesn't sound like much, but it's a good start.  My hope is that it will create healthy habits and memories that last a lifetime.

 

Running may not be your thing, but there are still plenty of things you can do to get those kids outside and ensure that No Child Is Left Inside (even in the cold brrrrr).

Overcoming Excuses: I'm Too Tired To...

Thursday night I was driving home from work (with a live (?) hamster lost somewhere in my car - ah! parenthood) making up every excuse why I wouldn't get in my Insanity workout.  It's dark.  I'm tired.  I hear the second phase of Insanity is really really hard.  I'll do a double tomorrow. (yeah right)

I looked at the clock in my car and BAM! I had a total paradigm shift. 

Five For Success

One of my favorite business and personal development authors is John Maxwell.  In his most recent book he put together what he calls a compilation of his life's work, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth.  The CEO of my company is rather obsessed with names and numbers and numbers and names.  The title of this book is right in his wheelhouse.  15, that is specific and measurable.  Invaluable, now that is very descriptive.

Invaluable; having great value that is impossible to calculate. 

Just by definition who wouldn't want 15 principles of such great value that it is impossible to calculate?

Stop Watching Start Living

I hear a lot of crazy remarks about my lifestyle.  People love to MSU – Make Stuff Up. These same people who make up stuff about how I get things done also make up stuff about why they can’t get more done.  What kind of stuff am I talking about?  Reading, writing, working out, volunteering, you know the kind of stuff that has the potential to make you more successful and more fulfilled.

I have been subject to lots of imaginary made up stuff about how I can possibly do everything I do in a day: work, kids, life, running…  I was talking to someone this week who told me that they shared with other people (really?) that my mom lived with me and took care of the kids, errands, etc.  Crazy!!! 

There is one very easy secret to how I get it done.  Once revealed you will see how very easy it is for you to get more done. 

The Path That Lead Me To Insanity

The path that lead me to Insanity . . . On October 21, 2012 I completed my 5th marathon.  I blew away my goal time and shocked myself finishing in 4:03; 19 minutes faster than my previous PB.  The self gratification of that feat is indescribable.

Friends had asked me to join them in P90X and held off their start date so that I could join them on November 1st.  Over the next 90 days I watched

Fave Breakfast - Sausage Sandwich

My job, heck my life, takes a lot of energy.  It is super important to start out with a good breakfast.  Here's one of my favorites to get me going in the morning.  I was super surprised the first time I tried the Morning Star sausage patties.  Except that they are greaseless, I would have never known that they are meatless.  So delicious!!!

From the P90X Nutrition Guide - Breakfast Sandwich

1 lite whole grain English muffin
2 Morning Star sausage patties
1 oz mozzarella
(I find all of these ingredients at Costco)

Prepare the sausage patties
Lightly toast the English muffin
Assemble the sandwich open faced and place under broiler to melt cheese

350 calories
12 g fat
32 g carbs
33 g protein
8 g fiber

Don't worry about those carbs.  You get to subtract the fiber count from the carb count for a new carb total.

What's your favorite meal of the day?

Cheers to the Fricken' Cupcake

Did a double workout yesterday; P90X then 30 minutes on the elliptical all because my kids wanted me to bake cupcakes.  I know me, and when it comes to sweets - no discipline.  So rather than worry about it I just put my tunes on and got in an extra  30 minutes of cardio. Every song that came up on my favorite play list I inserted the word cupcakes.

Here's Rihanna.  Cheers to the Fricken' Cupcake 

Cheers to the fricken' cupcake
I eat to that, yeah-e-yeah
Oh, let the frosting sink in
I eat to that, yeah-e-yeah
Don't let the haters get you down
Turn it around and don't gain a pound

There's a cupcake o'er here yo
Everybody pull 'ya paper off
And I eat to that
Yeah-e-yeah, yeah-e-yeah, yeah-e-yeahYeah-e-yeah, yeah-e-yeah, yeah-e-yeah(And I eat to that)Yeah-e-yeah, yeah-e-yeah, yeah-e-yeahYeah-e-yeah, yeah-e-yeah, yeah-e-yeah

P90X Graduate

We did it!  We finished 90 days of P90X!  In spite of turkey temptations at Thanksgiving and tantalizing tiramisu at Christmas (not very traditional, but we love it) and bountiful bubbles at New Years we stuck to it and finished the entire 90 days of extreme workouts. 

Wow!  Looking back I remember the first week and not being able to do even one wide arm pull up.  I can still only do 3 or 4, but each one is a self gratifying moment of glory.  There is an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment going through this program. 

Here's what I found to be ultra rewarding:

P90X 60 Day Results

60 days down; only 30 to go.

I've talked to a lot of people who have tried P90X, but didn't make it the entire 90 days.  I don't want to bust on my friends, but

Today - YogaX

Today's workout is yoga.  A lot of people avoid programs with yoga in them thinking that it is just a bunch of stretching and it isn't in alignment with their goals of slimming down or bulking up.  They envision something like this

or this

The Biggest Loser

Give yourself a gift this year.  Start the year fast and focused by joining our biggest loser contest.  The contest will start the second Monday of January which will be the 14th. This will give you a little time to work out your plan. It will be a 90 day challenge