Your Best is Enough

I think it's sometimes hard to remember that as long as you are giving 100%, it's enough. I can't even begin to list all of the cheesy motivational quotes that encourage this practice.

Mike Farrell: If you try to do your best there is no failure.
Imelda Staunton: You can only do your best. That's all you can do. And if it isn't good enough, it isn't good enough.
African American Proverb: God makes three requests of his children: Do the best you can, where you are, with what you have, now.
Albert Einstein: We have to do the best we can. This is our sacred human responsibility. 

The compilation of these quotes could go on and on and on. Honestly, as many quotes as there are for doing your best, we tend to forget it, right? I know I do. I went to work out today and we added inclined sit-ups to my legs & core work out. I was supposed to do two sets of twelve. Shouldn't be too hard, right? But after the entire work out, on my second set, I only could get to nine and every sit up was a little less high than the last. 

I was so disappointed in myself. I couldn't do it. 

But then I realized that I gave it the best I could. I couldn't have gotten another sit up out of myself if I'd wanted to. I pushed. I pushed harder than I've pushed since I started my workout journey. So, I guess, that's okay. 

Because my best is definitely enough. It's better than I've ever done before and now the only way to go is up.

Good thing the point of this next year is to prepare for the ultimate trip up: the summit of Pikes Peak!

September Goals {Jacque}

I made this plan, this commitment that I was going to summit a fourteener next summer. The next day I immediately set out to start hiking. (I was motivated and determined.) But, as usual? My steam burned off quickly. So I've decided that I need to break my goals down smaller.

For September, I have set the goal for myself to take 8 hikes.

That doesn't sound like much - but that doesn't include daily walking around town or on short hiking trails near my house. Those 8 hikes have to be planned out and a step up from my normal activity level.  (Bonus points if I get a sitter for the kidlet and do some serious hiking!)

I'm quickly realizing that I may have bitten off more than I can chew, that I'm home alone 320 days a year with a homeschooled 5 year old. I have to take her with me. No grandparents to drop her off with. No husband coming home at 5pm so I can go hike, or on Saturdays. Just me and her. This training is going to be harder than I thought!

I've read that the most difficult part (once you're in fairly decent shape) is the fact that you're on your feet so much. 15.5 hours for the EASY hike is a long ways to hike, when you spend - at most - a few hours on your feet on a normal day.

My second goal for September is to come up with a training plan. I need something tangible, that I can follow for the next 11 months. For this, I need to do a lot of reading, a lot of planning! This overweight mama is going to get in shape and climb a mountain!!

No More Fast Food

While the goal is to climb a mountain next August, I think this whole year is a mountain and the physical climb will be the end of it.

I am in a rut. I was so excited about this plan when it started, and this week it has been harder than ever to follow through. I feel like I'm working my butt off, eating better, and sticking to it. So I want to see the pounds fall off on the scale. But they aren't. I'm hovering around the same numbers I've been for the last six weeks.

I'm trying to stick to the Weight Watchers plan. I'm tracking my PointsPlus, my ActivityPoints, and my WeeklyPoints Usage. I'm doing my healthy checks. And I'm not losing weight. Not much, anyway.

So where am I going wrong?

I can't tell you, but I can tell you that I might lose motivation if I don't make the changes soon. So for the month of September, I'm going to set a goal. And this is going to be hard. Incredibly hard.

I am not going to eat Fast Food. I very carefully set this goal with something in mind: My family eats out almost every Friday night. I meet my parents at our favorite Mexican restaurant where we all order the same thing. This is not fast food, but this is the only eating out I'm allowing myself. Because, if we're going to be honest, fast food is my vice.

So I will eat my chicken fajitas with no tortillas and no guacamole once a week. But I will have no other fast food. I will have no other food that is not prepared in my home.

Nutrition is as important as working out. And if I can make smaller changes each month that lead to a healthier lifestyle, then I'll be okay. Hopefully September will finally lead to some noticeable changes in my life!

Fuel for the hike

I am struggling with my food choices. A lot. (And not just the Indian Fry bread I had last night at the state fair!!)

I need to find myself a healthy eating plan for myself. I know, logically that if I don't have proper fuel for my body I can't have a good hike. 

I really need to focus on healthy, low fat proteins. I suppose next week I need to hit up Pinterest for some healthier meal options!! 

A Tribute to my Partner In Crime

I will admit it. I am a reality TV junkie. I love shows like Cake Boss and Say Yes to the Dress!! I love shows that make me forget my real life. And in the last couple of months, I've started to love Extreme Weight Loss with Chris Powell on ABC.

Now, I just love Chris Powell. His enthusiasm cracks me up. He's always so loud about weigh-ins. He's funny. And he's not bad to look at (if I may be so honest). I love reading articles about him and his wife and children. His wife has been through a lot, too, recently going public about an eating disorder. This is something I respect.

As any good reality TV junkie, I googled the show. I googled Chris and Heidi. I've read several articles. I found out that Chris has written some entries on Huffington Post, which I love. And one I read today really hit home for me. It was titled The Power of a Positive Support Group. I loved the article and I loved its points. Having someone to support you means someone to celebrate with you on the loss of even one pound or the improvement of a 5K time by one minute. It also means someone to listen when you need to push through a wall.

I am so grateful that I am preparing to summit Pikes Peak with my big sister. Jac is an amazing person. She's a great mother and friend, she is strong, she is supportive. I couldn't imagine doing this without her.

The Greatest Place on Earth

I will always be a Nebraskan at heart. I was born and raised in Lincoln, but I've spent the last 12 years in Southern Colorado. I've been here long enough that my friends say I'm no longer Nebraskan - although I'd argue that point! (Especially with Football Season right around the corner!) 

Here's the deal. I love the mountains. And in my opinion, the second greatest place on earth is right here in Southern Colorado. Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs is the most aptly named place I have every been. 

Although this is where my love for hiking has cultivated, as I trudge up and down the trails with my little one at my heels (and man, do I miss the days when she fit into a baby carrier!) It's far from where my love for hiking started.

My love for hiking started at summer camp. I was a camper for 10 summers. A counselor for 2. And my heart has never really left that place. 

My love for hiking began in the hills of Nebraska. (Yes, I know - laughable. Hills. In Nebraska. It's ok, laugh with me!) I spent many summers on this very trail (and many "work days" laying the wood chips on that trail.) And I found myself there, I grew into who I am. I had confidence. Friendships. I loved who I was when I was there. 

And so that, my friends, is the Greatest Place on Earth. (Nope, not Disney. Not the top of Pike's Peak - although hopefully next summer I can argue that from a hikers perspective and not that of an aspiring race car driver!) But a small summer camp in Southeastern Nebraska. That is home. That is the greatest place on earth. 

(And with that? I need to head to bed so I can wake up tomorrow morning and drag myself into nature for a hike!) 

Wait. I have to WORK?!

It's Kate again. It's a Thursday night and I've finished my work day (including a petting zoo and county fair exhibits at a nursing home...), gone to the gym, made dinner, cleaned the kitchen, and finally settled in for the night. Like any good early-twenty-something-year-old, I got comfortable and looked at Pinterest.

I don't know about you, but I love Pinterest for a variety of uses. I have a board that I use to pin new ideas for work at my nursing home. I have a board for dream food creations. I have a board for dream outfits that I hope to one day wear. DIY, Summer Camp, and my Perfect Wedding all have a place, too.

But my board with the most pins recently is my Health & Fitness board. I started scanning this board tonight because my work out today was brutal. I saw definite improvement from the last time I did this set of exercises. It's all core and legs -- if you don't do a lot of resistance training, that's what wipes you out at the end of the day because upper body is nothing. And at one point my trainer had to look at me and say "Kate - don't you dare quit on me. Don't quit on yourself." And I pushed through a set of squats and spidermans that made every muscle in my upper legs burn as though a wildfire was spreading through them.

But I finished. And he smiled and said, "Good work!"before giving me a high five. In that moment, I wished that I could just be done and that the work I had already put in was enough. But afterwards, I saw this:

I worked hard today in more ways than one. And I need to remember that wishes don't need to come true -- hard work and perseverance will make my journey possible. I hope that whatever you wish for in life, you can work hard and find that you reap those benefits. Because it feels awesome to push to the end and know that you can do what you once wished for because it seemed impossible. I don't wish I could summit Pikes Peak...I will train and put in the work so that I can summit Pikes Peak!