Saturday Goodies

Thank you GYMSHARK 💙 this is by far one of the biggest packages I've ever received and I was so excited to see it waiting for me. 

Training for a 5K

Who has ever set their mind to running a 5K? Well I will be the very first to tell you I HATE, double HATE, RUNNING! I always feel like I am a hamster on a wheel going no where when I run, and for that reason I rarely will do it.

The aching in my legs and the deep breathing that happens when I go out for a brisk jog, haunts me. So why I ever signed up to run a 5K on Thanksgiving morning I simply can not grasp it. I actually was thinking about today how I am not ready to run 3.1 miles without stopping, because yes my ass signed up for the actual race where there is cash prizes and everything. This freaks me out because I will be bringing up the rear on this one. My training has not gone the greatest either. I run about once a week and for the past couple of weeks I have psyched myself out to running more than 1.5 miles. I find excuses such as my legs are killing me or I simply can not run anymore I am going to die. Yea I know lame, someone needs to wake me up and say you got this "just keep swimming!" 
We also just had our first snow here in Indiana, so I am thinking the weather is going to be awfully cold Thanksgiving morning. 

This was back during the summer when I was completing Tone It Up's Bikini Series. I was racking up my mileage to either 2 or 3 miles a day, so I just need to get back in the gear of running. I have found that running is not well liked by my body and the more I pushed myself the easier it got for me. Another thing I noticed was my heart rate began decreasing the more I went out for runs as well, so my heart health was improving. This is one thing I really would love to work on and any suggestions or tips would be helpful to this slow ass turtle! :) 

New Year, New You, 2014!

Stop wishing and start doing! 2014 is the year to reach those unfinished goals you had set for yourself in the year of 2013. Well if your like me your ready for a new year and a new YOU! The year of 2014 will be one of my best years yet. Many of us will make resolutions to eat healthier, workout more, and lose weight, but reflect back on your resolutions from last year. Were they the same as what you are making resolutions for this year? If so, think about what went wrong at either the beginning of 2013 or in the middle of the year and why things didn't go as you wanted them to. Most resolutions don't make it past the first month into the new year, so find what is going to work best for you and stick to it!

One thing I am going to try doing differently this year is adding in a new resolution each month so by the time next year rolls around I will have completed 12 resolutions to make myself a better person. Many of us are already planning out our next year, but I am soaking up 2013 because I am really going to miss it! So much happened this year that is going to change the future of my life for me and I am so excited for the years ahead. Changes were made and they stuck, so now I am ready to impact others around me!

This little video is some of my most popular moments of 2013, so I figured I would share with you all.

Enjoy 2013 and say HELLO to 2014 and make it your best!

Motivational Monday!

It's that time again for another motivational monday! 

This quote is a perfect one for this week. In the beginning of my journey I really struggled with seeing progress. There were times that I really wanted to just give up and quit, but because of the people around me I kept going strong. I would find myself getting discouraged because I had a ways to go to reach my goal. 

Just remember when you are achieving any goal to just remember how far you have come, because most people are still waiting at the starting line to even get motivated. 

Have a great week and take today to look back on your journey. Reward yourself for how far you have come and don't dwell on how far you have to go.

Motivational Monday

It's that dreaded Monday many of us hate! Especially when we are trying to reach those fitness goals that many of us set out for at the beginning of 2013. I found a quote I wanted to share with you all because it's a great way to remember why we made certain changes to our lives. 

This quote really hit home for me because I struggle with many temptations. I always tell myself it will get easier. You just have to remember why you're doing it! 

We can't let our battles defeat us. If it knocks you down get back up and keep trying. Nobody's perfect but with practice and dedication you will perfect it and make yourself better than you could ever imagine! 

For me personally my life started going so fast and the days flew by that I forgot the important things in my life. I needed to really take a step back or two and enjoy every moment in life and not worry about the small things. For me right now I am really struggling with getting off those last few pounds. In the beginning the weight just came off, but lately I haven't seen any progress. It's a little discouraging but I know if I keep pushing I can do it! I will do it! 

Today is the day to make changes for the rest of your week so get that booty to the gym, go hard, and remember why you started! 

Commit To It!

When 2013 rolled around many of us decided to make changes to our lives. Personally I made the change to be a healthier me and find a new love for working out and changing my body. I will not lie there have been a lot of struggles along the way where I haven't been fully committed to my new lifestyle change, but I am going to share a few things that have helped me keep my mind on my main focus, which is staying healthy and sticking to it. 

Many people have asked me how do you do it? Well here are some of the answers to those questions.

Q: How to get started?

A: It all began on November 4th, 2012 when I started doing AdvoCare. Being on this product helped me get my mind focusing on the right foods to eat and fuel my body. I focused on one thing at a time so I didn't overwhelm myself. After I figured out the correct foods to be eating at certain times of the day I gradually added in workouts. I looked to Pinterest for many ideas, but I found that I would pin them but not return to them to actually do them. So from there I started going to the gym. For me being in a setting with an instructor or trainer is the best way for me to get my workouts in. I started with Zumba where I went 4 times a week, but I got bored with this class and looked for something else. That is where I fell in love with this class called H.E.A.T. which stands for High Energy Aerobic Training. You can burn 600 calories at a class like this for just 1 hour! I like this class because we do everything from cardio, to weight lifting, and even abdominal workouts. A full body workout for just 1 hour and you feel completely amazing & tired after one of these workouts.

Q: How to keep the momentum going?

A: This is always the challenging part of any exercise/diet plan. I found though if you can stick to a plan for just 10 days it will only get easier from there. Starting out is the hardest part because your not sure what you can eat. What I did was follow the AdvoCare plan and made sure I was on target 90% of the time, and if I wasn't sure if I could have something I simply just didn't eat it. As for getting into shape there were definitely days I woke up and didn't want to go to the gym, but I made myself go. Once I was there I was relieved I had gone! Setting your mind to it really is the key to any success story. Your mind is your biggest enemy or fan when it comes to making changes and sticking to them. Having a positive mindset and saying your going to do it will really keep the momentum going!

Q: What inspires you?

A: Everyone else who is getting amazing results! I can look around and see many of my friends making the changes I did and they are looking fabulous. Find someone to inspire you it will make your journey easier, because when you see someone else succeed your going to want those same results!

Q: What foods do you eat?

A: When losing weight it's important to eat many small meals a day. I eat egg whites, fruit/veggies, salads, chicken, fish, and a few whole grain items. I'm not a great cook so I try to just stick to things I can make, so eggs in the morning or oatmeal, raw fruit and veggies, and mixed salads with cooked/grilled chicken. 

If you have any specific questions you can send them to me at simplypureandbeautiful@gmail.com I'd love to answer anything!

Spring Fever & Bikini Series from TONE IT UP!

It is Tone It Up's 3rd Annual ☀BIKINI SERIES™!!!!!

 I am so excited to join in on this challenge & get my beach body ready for the summer! I signed up last night on toneitup and got my workouts ready to go for today. Here are the two workout challenges I did today.

Workout Challenge #1: 45 minutes of CARDIO! Anything you want to do..elliptical, treadmill, stair master, anything you want for 45 minutes. I decided to do the stair master for only 17 minutes today then I went to Zumba which is a hour long class, so I got my cardio in by dancing my booty off. 

Workout Challenge #2: SunKissed Abs! I did this ab workout when I got back from the gym and it was such a great workout!

Here is where to find the workout! :) SunKissed Abs

Sign Up for the 8 week challenge and get geared up for your beach bod.

My FOOD DIARY:

Breakfast: Large Organic banana.

Lunch: Tuna salad on whole wheat slim sandwich with a large apple.

Pre-workout: AdvoCare Spark, 1/2 of a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

Dinner: Other 1/2 of peanut butter and banana sandwich and chicken wrap.

Snack: Low-fat organic vanilla yogurt.

H20: 75oz

Hope you all enjoyed this post and check out the #BikiniSeries from #TIU

Shredding the Fat Away!

It's incredible to see how much more endurance I have from just day 1 to day 4 when I do Jillian's Shred DVD. On day 1 I couldn't even make it through the whole workout without feeling light headed, but now I'm powering through the workout like it's no one's business. Don't get me wrong it's still hard as hell. I'm exhausted when I get done, but if I want to see change I have to stick to a plan! Hopefully by day 30 I have shredded at least 10 pounds off, but we will see. With a well balanced diet and working out everyday I hope I can get to my goal.
Whatcha got cooking?!
Breakfast: strawberries and apples
Lunch: cottage cheese and pineapples
Dinner: baked spaghetti
Snacks: root beer float :/

Friday Recap & Saturday's Agenda

Yesterday I took my Teas Test...it went okay. Wish I would have done way better, but oh well no changing it now. After my test though I hit up TJMAXX!! One of my favorite stores. I found a cute charging station that I put next to my bed to organize all my cords for my iPhone and iPod. Looks pretty nice on my dresser..must say. I also bought a few pairs of really cute Nike shorts and a sports bra. Never can have enough active wear! Even though I bought active wear I didn't get in my workout yesterday. I plan on getting that in tonight when I get home later. 
Today I have spent all day with Clay and it was a very nice and relaxing day for us both. We woke up around 9 because he had to work, so I laid in bed and watched some Sons of Anarchy. This TV show is so addicting to watch that I watched 3 episodes today! I was so glad when my babe got home though. He took me out to lunch today and we came back home and just cuddled. Cuddling is my favorite thing to do on a lazy day for sure. 

CRAFTING!!!

Being in a sorority has made me LOVE crafting even more. Pinterest is my favorite place to go for ideas for new crafts, decorating, organizing, etc. I mean just go to my page and you will see the massive amount of boards I have..yep I'm cray! I found a couple of pins that I think would be awesome to try to kick my butt in gear for some motivation. It has been lacking for a couple of days, and I need to get my ass back in the gym asap!

I LOVE THIS IDEA!!! MAKE A JOURNAL...

Like I said I found this pin on Pinterest, but I am thinking take a plain book and cut out magazines that you use for recipes or workout ideas and paste them in your book! Then with the tab pages those are your weeks so what I am going to do is write out my eating schedule for each day on a cute post it. That way if you need to get ideas for foods you can look back and see what you have been eating previously. Also jot down your workouts either daily or weekly, but do what is going to benefit you! I know I suck at keeping up on my workouts, so writing them down would really help me see how badly I'm slacking. 

The picture can be found here. I went to the link on Pinterest but it wasn't very helpful, so within a week or so I am going to start my journal and upload a tutorial. 

ANOTHER AWESOME CRAFT IDEA!...

Another awesome craft idea I found is get two jars and label them "pounds lost" & "pounds to lose" Decorate them however you want and use marbles as your "pounds." Seems easy enough!  In the picture it actually looks like they might have just used glasses. So whatever you use is perfectly fine! I will be making this craft next weekend so kept an eye out on how it turns out! The picture can be found here.