You are Capable

Recently, I just completed my 3rd half marathon. This one was definitely the toughest, most emotional half I have run.  Running a half marathon is no easy feat.  Running for 13.1 miles at a time can be rough on your body. 

I had taken a few months off of running, really for no good reason at all but I wanted to get back into it and decided to commit to myself to train and run another half.  Training this time around was tough.  This summer was hot.  Very hot.  Starting from square 1 to getting back into half marathon shape was a big mental game for me.

Running also gives you an incredible amount of time to let your mind wander. I began to think about how incredible the human body is.  How it carries us through life.  How it can run miles upon miles.  How if we push through the negativity and the mind games our body still can move and go further and faster than before.

You are so capable.  You are worthy.  You can try hard things and achieve them.  I have running to thank for teaching me that again.  This time my goal is to not to loose sight of my love of running and how incredibly strong it makes me feel, it's not worth it to stop doing the things you love.  Running helps me think, helps me decompress, and helps me feel amazing. I am a runner. I am so proud of what I have accomplished. Here is to many more miles.

Making Fitness a Priority

Location: South End, Charlotte, NC

Outfit: Yoga Capri | Tank Top | Shoes

This summer has definitely been the summer of self- care for me.  Being off of my real full time job has given me the time I need to focus on the things that make me happy.  Despite how busy I have been I have made it a priority to put health and fitness at the top of my list.  It has been glorious.  Working out daily is like hitting the reset button.  Whether I am overwhelmed and tired or just not feeling it a workout can completely flip my mood, give me a burst of energy, and make all my worries go away.

Today is my first workday of the new school year so I am having to make some shifts in my schedule. I won't be able just to walk down to the gym during the middle of the day anymore.  While, I know people have full time jobs all year long, working in the school kind of gives you two completely different lifestyles that you become accustomed to really quick.  Adjusting back to the all day work grind is just that, an adjustment.

My promise to myself is to continue to fuel my body with whole, healthy foods, and to workout every day. Whether it be walking the dog in the morning, going to a fun class with friends, a nice run on the trail by my apartment, or doing one of my TIU videos in the gym.  Every single day my body needs to move, stretch, and push itself.  Self - care becomes more of a necessity during the school year due to the nature of my job.  Health and fitness is one way I can treat my body with love and kindness.

This year I have really learned how my body craves a good workout.  I have also learned to let go of the expectations that a workout has to be a full blown intense sweat session every day.  The latter has made all the difference.  Listening to my body and doing something daily has helped me reach so many goals.  Even through a tough school year, I promise to treat my body right and keep fitness my priority, I know that with this everything else will fall into place.

What are some ways you make fitness a priority?

How to Bounce Back into a Healthy Routine After Slipping

We all have those days, mine typically fall around my time of the month. The days where we are exhausted and don't feel like cooking or working out.  The days where no matter how great you meal planned whatever that healthy item is just doesn't seem appetizing anymore.  So we cave - we give into our unhealthy cravings and indulge. Or we take a nap instead of that fitness activity that was planned.

Whatever the slip might be.  It's normal.  It's okay to have days that aren't 100% clean eating and attending a crazy bootcamp where you burn 500 calories.

I used to let these slips get to me.  I would really beat myself up about it.  You can read more about what I gave up for lent and why: here and here.  I would turn negative self talk into an internalized terrible idea about myself and my worth.  The vicious cycle of "it's not worth its" "I am a mess up" "I just can't because of x,y,z" would turn one bad meal or skipped workout into a bad few days.  Those bad few days turns into a whole week of unhealthy choices for myself.  Then all of a sudden I find myself in a huge rut, fueled by unhealthy habits that crank up my anxiety and negative self-talk, to the extreme.

Slowly, I have had to evaluate that cycle that seems to happen within me.  It's so not worth it.  I have had to literally change my language.  Being a part of the Tone It Up community has helped me so much with that.  K & K teach that they don't use language like "cheat meals" because then it means you are doing something wrong and should feel guilty [which you 100% should not!] Sometimes your body just needs a break or a huge bowl of mac and cheese - you do you boo. Treats are not something to be guilty about or to kickstart an incredibly unhealthy cycle, they are treats.

After that "treat" you talk to yourself and your dialogue should look more like: okay that happened, it's okay, it was worth it, I am rested, I totally and mindfully enjoyed every bit of that mac and cheese and now what's next.  And here is the trick, you do something about it.  Your next meal is a green juice.  You go for a walk after your nap.  You treat your body with love and respect because you only get one.  You make healthy choices because you love your body and you want it to be able to perform well every day.  You eat healthy because your body deserves good healthy fuel.

You don't let a slip turn into a bad week or month or year because you are so much better than that. Change your mind set.  Change your language.  Take care of yourself first!

How do you bounce back after slip ups?

2016 | A Year In Review

2016 was so full for me.  My life still in a lot of transition throughout this year.  There were some big unknowns about how my life would unfold, but reflecting back on this year, I realized that the unknowns didn't stop me from being brave, trying new things, and having some really great adventures.

Some of my favorite memories from this year are:

1. Starting this blog.  Getting back into photography and sharing my heart has been so fulfilling and I can't wait to see where it takes me for 2017.  My hope is that this will be a place where hearts can be shared and authentic community can be built.

2. Really moving back to Charlotte.  I have always had one foot in this city.  And for the first 6 months of 2016 I was living in two cities at the same time [literally, I had 2 separate rents!] the end of July I finally planted some roots and made the move to be here in the city I love and will always call home.

3. I left Boone.  Not without one last hike to Rough Ridge. Boone has been so good to me.  I lived there for 6 total years of my life.  The second time I lived there was a healing experience for me.  I learned so much about myself spending time in those majestic mountains.  My soul will be forever grateful for the slow pace of life and the many mountains I climbed.

4.  I took Mike on a birthday trip to Asheville in June.  We had a wonderful time wandering the city, finding fun breweries to try, and meeting up with some friends who live there.

5. In November, I ran my second half marathon in Savannah.  You can read all about that trip here.

6. Mike and I celebrated 1 year of dating at the High Country Beer Fest.

7. One of my goals for my last summer in Boone was to do all the things I have always wanted to do but never seemed to get around to it.  So one day we rented Kayaks on Price Lake and soaked up the water, sunshine, and exercise.

8. A little lesson I have learned this year is to be more present in the moment.  I have spent many quiet moments reflecting, journaling, reading my bible and time in prayer.  These are my favorite moments and they make the biggest impact.

9. Renaissance Festival.  There is one every fall in Charlotte and it's so much fun.  A day full of flower crowns, medieval costumes, shows, jousting, good beer, turkey legs, and song.

10. I started working as an elementary school counselor. I worked for my internship at a school in Charlotte and was asked back for this school year.  I am so grateful for my job and the lessons it teaches me every day.  Our theme for this school year is Racing with Excellence so we kicked off the 2016/17 school year at the speedway in Concord!

11.  My Uncle got married! They have been dating for 20 years.  It was so much fun to gather with family in Georgia and celebrate love while dancing the night away!

12. I graduated with my Masters degree in May! Such a huge accomplishment.  So many things fell into place for my dreams to come true with this one.  The whole experience will always be cherished as such a blessing.

13. Technically this was the end of 2015, but I didn't have this blog yet, so I am sharing now.  Last Christmas was spent in Peru with my sister.  We got to go to Machu Picchu. Oh, what a breathtaking, awe inspiring, wonder of the world that was. Being in those Andes mountains was something I will never forget.

14. I took a trip to Raleigh to meet Mikes family and to see where he grew up. It was such a fun little trip to explore another part of the state and get to know him a little bit more.

15. I tried Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga for the first time.  A friend and I went to a class on Watauga Lake - which quickly became my favorite summer spot. The class was so challenging, yet serene and lovely all at the same time.  I highly recommend it and will definitely jump if I get another opportunity.

16. Dad and I tried our hand at gardening in the spring.  We built a raised bed in my parents yard.  The garden was filled with veggies that fed us all summer long.  I never knew there were so many ways to eat eggplants but when your garden is fruitful you get creative quick!

What are some of your favorite 2016 memories?

Savannah Trip | Rock and Roll Half Marathon

At the beginning of November a few of us traveled down to the beautiful historic city of Savannah, GA.  A friend and I signed up to run the Rock and Roll Half Marathon there back in the spring.  This is a race that I have always wanted to run and the timing just felt right.  Between moving cities, working multiple jobs, and transitioning from graduate school life back into the professional realm this summer, running was my one string of consistency.

Savannah is a city that I love to visit and explore. We used to go there for day trips as a family when we rented a house on Hilton Head Island. This time I was there as an adult getting to explore the city on my own. I looked up all the fun restaurants to go to and made my list of things I wanted to see while we were there.

The trip was so much fun.

Friday we walked around a little bit to get our bearings. We were so lucky that our hotel was right in the middle of everything so we didn't need the car once. We walked the city and took a ferry across the river to get our race packets.  We went out for dinner and then turned in pretty early.  I wanted to do well for this race!

Saturday morning was race day! We woke up early, got ready, and headed to the start line.  I felt so great on the run.  The weather was perfect to run 13.1 miles through the beautiful city.  The race was probably my favorite one I have run so far.  About every half mile or so there was a stage with a band performing.  It was the perfect way to pump everyone up.

The finish line was the best part.  The band Old Crow Medicine show put on a whole concert in the park at the end of the race. It was so much fun to sit and relax in the sun listening to great music.

After the race we went grabbed some lunch and then crashed in the hotel after showers.  Once we were all rested and refreshed we were ready to explore the city some more.  We walked around the historic district, all around the river front, went in cute shops, and fun candy stores.  I was a girl scout growing up so I had to stop at Juliette Gordon Low's house and get a photo.  Mike also wanted to go find Forest Gumps bench, the park is there, but not the actual bench he sat on. Still it's all so beautiful.

Sunday was for brunch and more exploring.

This city is one of the best cities to just go visit with no plan.  Even though I had my list beforehand my favorite part was that we just walked around and went where we thought it was fun and interesting.  The city is walkable.  Every restaurant we popped in had fantastic seafood.  The most fun part was the city has an open container law; just as long as you ask for a to- go cup! We grabbed drinks at various places and then just wandered more through the city.

All in all this trip was one to remember.  I would do it all over again for sure. The race, the city, the friends, and the fun!

Have you ever been to Savannah? Whats your favorite part?

A Healthy Thanksgiving

Every year for Thanksgiving I run the Turkey Trot 8k that takes place right in my area of Charlotte.  I created this tradition for myself about 3 years ago.  This is one race I look forward to doing all year long.  Running is one of my favorite things to keep me healthy, especially since when I go for a long run it completely clears my head from all that I have going on in the world.  Combining racing and my favorite holiday is a given. 

Mom also made Thanksgiving "healthy" this year. I have been a member of Tone It Up for a while now and this year they released a lot of guides and recipes to make the holidays healthy.  We tried some of the recipes and they were fantastic.  Some of the swaps we made this year included having pumpkin spice protein donut holes for breakfast, lots of yummy green side dishes instead of the typical carbs and empty calories, but we couldn't swap out the turkey! 

What are some of the traditions you have that make your holidays healthier?