If you are looking to be the next Olympian, or place in the top three in your next race, then this post and my updates are probably not for you. However, if you are looking to simply maintain average health through good nutrition and fitness, then by all means, keep reading! I’m not saying this to be discouraging, I’m saying this to be realistic. I promise, I’m not here to stomp on dreams, I’m here to say you have to be smart and also realistic with training. The majority of the population is not super-human. So for us mortals we simply need to maintain good fitness and eat healthy nutrition to achieve overall health. That’s what I’m here to talk about, that’s why I share these updates every Thursday.

What do you struggle with more, fitness or nutrition?

Did you have to think about it for a minute, or did one stick out to you immediately?

For me, fitness has always been the easier of the two. As a kid, I loved to run the mile, I was chosen to be part of the President’s Athletic Club (or whatever it was called) and generally considered myself relatively active (not to be confused with athletic — ZERO hand-to-eye coordination right here!) But, the flip side to that was being raised in a family bakery business — as some of you may already know. To say I have a sweet tooth is an understatement… just look at the recipes section of the blog and you can see!

Wether it’s fitness or nutrition you struggle with – the power to control your outcome is ultimately yours. The choices are yours. How you define success is YOURS.

Success is defined differently by every single person, for everything in life, not just fitness and nutrition.

So today I will ask you, what defines success for YOU in relation to nutrition and fitness? Give it some good, hard thought. Once you have defined what success means to you, think about your plan. Do you have a plan? Do you need to refine it? Do you need to make a plan? What does that plan look like?

Below is a super basic breakdown of my schedule. It was a starting point, and then I refined it from there. It allows for flexibility each week, within each workout. Having this guide keeps me on track.

My best advice to you, is to keep it simple and keep it easier than you think you should. Because if you HATE your workouts, if they are TOO hard and taxing you are going to burn out; plain and simple. Wether that burn out comes in the form of illness, injury or simply just quitting from exhaustion. (If you can only give one day a week, schedule that one day.) If you don’t have the proper balance you will hit the wall, so don’t overcommit yourself. Just be sure you show up and do the work. Progress will come if you stick with it. But consistency is KEY. Absolutely crucial.

I learned this the hard way; so that’s why I feel compelled to share with you now.

And I wish I could tell you the exact, specific formula for knowing how much is too much – but EVERY BODY is different. So you have to be the judge. You have to tune into your body, listen to your gut and recognize when you are happy and when you are exhausted. It has taken me almost 3.5 years to find the right balance of cross training workouts and running and yoga and stretching, etc. that is maintainable long-term. That is why it is called a fitness JOURNEY so much of the time. It changes so much along the way, as you grow and change.

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Below are the workouts I did over the past week:

Friday
30 minutes of free flow upper body weights, with some weighted lunges + 30 minutes indoor spin (morning)

Saturday
Long Run with 9×800 half marathon goal pace (HMGP) intervals (12 miles total; morning)

Sunday
3 mile recovery run with my friend Jaci (morning)

Monday
30 minutes of core work and weights. 3 mile easy run; listened to the Rich Roll Podcast where he interviews Andy Puddicombe, creator of the meditation app Headspace PLUS, a 53 minute hike (2.3 miles with hills) with my niece at sunset.

Tuesday
PiYo Sculpt (20 minutes of a 30 minute program in the afternoon) + a 42 minute sunset hike (2.1 miles) where I started another podcast.

Wednesday
5 miles at an easy pace, finished the podcast from yesterday’s hike. It was another Rich Roll Podcast; in this episode he interviewed Dr. Rachel Abrams and I HIGHLY recommend this podcast to anyone. “We, ourselves, are an ecosystem and we’re intimately connected to the earth that we live on and everything that we do to it.” – RACHEL CARLTON ABRAMS

Thursday
3.15 mile run 1/2 mile warm-up, 5×400 FASTER than half marathon goal pace intervals, with 5×400 recovery in between, plus a 1/3 mile cool-down. (morning, no music or podcast – super focused on my body, breathing, form, foot strike, etc.)

Below is the snapshot of my Strava calendar to hold me accountable!

Winter running in AZ is pretty brutal. 😉

Here is a little window into my Be Well Fitness Log, which I’m still using daily! It’s a mess, but it makes sense to me. 🙂

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Lastly, a little segment on Meditation Monday

Back when I did my survey, I gauged interest in doing Meditation Monday’s on social media, (as well as Shopping List Sunday). I received equal interest in both, so I’ve been doing both since the 3rd week in January. Be sure to check out the latest Meditation Monday posts below, and let me know if these are of interest or value to you. Meditation is a great way to focus our thoughts through workouts. <3

Feb. 6th – Week 3

Jan. 23th  – Week 2

Jan. 16th – Week 1

Until next week!

Sleep hard.
Get moving.
Trust Your Gut.