 Hello and welcome to this week's #FitnessFriday blog post! It's a free-for-all from here on out, and so I thought I'd go a somewhat different route this time around and answer a few of YOUR questions, dear readers. :) The obligatory DISCLAIMER: I am in no way a physician or other health professional with a degree or certification. I speak from my own personal experience, research and reviews, so take my words with a grain of your own research, second opinions, run them past your physician, and most importantly, listen to your OWN body, intuition and good sense. And so to start... 1. "ok, I want to know what is best to get rid of belly fat after two babies! I had two C-sections and its hard to get those muscles to work again!" I'm still working to get rid of belly fat after two babies, too! I have noticed a difference though when I do workouts that involve ab and core exercises. And I don't mean just crunches!! No, the more I work on my balance and stability (core), the more I notice a difference in my tummy area. Yoga, pilates and standing ab/core exercises are all great options. I found this online article from Shape Magazine that has some great ab/core exercise suggestions. This online article from Jen Reviews contains a comprehensive guide on how to build your own workout routine, with advice from a two-time Olympian. 2. "How did you get so fast? I've only been running a couple months, I'm 40, normal weight. I can't get under 10:50 or so pace. Too soon, too old?" First of all, congratulations on such a great pace for only having been running for a couple of months! I've been a runner for four years now, and for what seemed like the very longest time, a 10:00 pace was my big goal. Once I reached that goal, and more recently, having stuck consistently and unwaveringly to a Runkeeper training plan, my pace has improved vastly! Consistency is key. Stick with it, listen to your body, pay attention to your running form and with time and consistency your pace will improve. Keep up the great work! 3. "well, when you first started, did you have a schedule for running ie: mile a week etc. or did you just go with it until you built up endurance?" I first started out using an app for my iPod Touch, called Couch to 5k (C25K), which starts you out three days a week, and alternates walking and running, incrementally increasing the amount of running you do until you're running a full 5k! I believe it's a nine week program. Since then, I've followed various training plans. I like to follow a schedule or plan to help keep myself on track. It helps not to have to think about it on a day-by-day basis and just look at my pre-planned workout schedule and go. If YOU have a question you'd like for me to answer, feel free to leave a comment here on the blog or message me. I'm all for sharing my experience to help others achieve their goals!  Co-hosted by:
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 I sit here listening to Rage Against the Machine, my original "rebel" music. I guess I'm in that kind of mood at the moment. A rebellious one. I even used to play a couple RATM songs on the bass guitar. I miss that. Um, so what exactly does that have to do with health and fitness? It is #FitnessFriday after all. Well, I've set one good habit (consistent workout schedule) in motion these past 83 days, and now, very soon, it's time to get another good habit started. See, I've allowed my self-saboteur to rule the roost where it concerns food, while I honed in my focus completely on establishing a regular workout routine without skipping, giving up or giving in to a crappy excuse. I've allowed myself to rebel against the positive changes with food... all the while still making forward progress and maintaining consistency where exercise is concerned. Too much change all at once and I shut down, I rebel, I revert. And so very slowly I'm adding in one new habit, holding it consistently over time, no excuses for letting it drop. If I happen to let it slide, I pick right back up again. And now that the workout habit is routine (not IF but WHEN!) I shall focus on changing eating habits, finding the root cause of my seeming addiction to richly sweet things (chocolate, frosting, cookies, brownies, and so on...), nourishing my body without over-stuffing myself, saying no to snacking just for the sake of snacking... I let these good behaviors and habits slide, and now it's time to have a balance of healthy eating (and only occasional indulging) and exercise. I aim to bring the two together and be done with rebelling against my highest good altogether. I'm weaning off the extra treats and surplus snacking over the next week... And then on March 2 begins P90X3 alongside our half marathon training plan... half hour workouts mean more time to focus on my eating habits and make sure I stick to healthier options and reasonable portions. If that means I need to begin recording and logging my food intake again temporarily to keep myself honest and in check, I will. You'll see me back over on MyFitnessPal again in that case! Also, Shakeology and I will be really good friends, I just know it. I'm really loving it so far!! I've tried chocolate and vanilla, and I get to try greenberry soon. Speaking of Shakeology, I've got a giveaway going on currently in honor of my four year running anniversary... check it out and enter here! After that, who knows, maybe I'll pick up that bass guitar again and begin to refresh myself on the 3 songs I learned back in the day... one good habit at a time. If I can help you along your health and fitness journey in any way, I'm here... just reach out. I love to help others succeed in aiming for and reaching their goals!! You have an open invitation to join my Fitness With Friends group on Facebook. Helping you stay accountable helps ME stay accountable too! All the best, until next time, Chandra 
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 In honor of my FOUR YEAR running anniversary this month, I thought I'd host a giveaway here at my blog. What better way to celebrate my own fitness journey than to pass along something healthy, nutritious and useful to another on their fitness journey, right?!
And so, I give you this... one lucky winner will receive a Shakeology shaker cup plus TWO packets of Shakeology - one chocolate and the other vanilla. Simply enter using the form below -- be sure to come back and tweet each day for extra entries! Any questions? Message me or comment below! Best wishes, Chandra  A huge THANK YOU to #DisneySide @Home Celebrations for an awesome box of party supplies for our #DisneySide party! It just so happened to come at just the right time to celebrate our little boy's second birthday! We went with a Mickey Mouse theme and Auntie Rachel made the great cake you see to your left. It's such a cool cake and the birthday boy LOVED it, with exclamations of "Wow!!!" when he saw it. We invited family and friends and had quite the crowd to celebrate little Tom's birth two years ago (why does it seem like it was only a few weeks ago???).  I decided to DIY some Mickey Mouse ears for guests to wear, so I looked up a few tutorials and then put my own spin on them. Packs of 4 black headbands for $1 each at Dollar Tree, a printable Mickey Mouse ear template from The Suburban Mom, a sheet of black poster board and a hot glue gun. I had assistance from my big kid and my mom in cutting out the ears. They were just so easy to make and everyone loved them! 
 Party Food!! We went with a "Hot Dog Hot Dog Hot Diggity Dog" bar and a "Make-Your-Own-Trail-Mix" bar to go along with the cake. Our trail mix bar included mini marshmallows, Goldfish, pretzels, Cheese-Its, yogurt covered raisins, sour cream & onion crackers, chocolate covered peanuts, banana chips, M&Ms, ginger snap cookies, Craisins, raisins and ranch sunflower seeds. We used the baking cups as trail mix cups. We also had Grandma Cindy make some delicious sugar cookies with the Disney cookie cutters from our party pack, which our guests got to frost and decorate themselves!  Activities included coloring, lots of snacking, playing with a sea of balloons and general running around, visiting and awesome fun. I even managed to get the Mickey Mouse hat on Tom's head for a few moments, just for this photo. Aunty Rachel's friend, Calea, made it for him, especially for his party!  Tom wore the great t-shirt his Grandma Bev made for his special day, and he very much loved ripping open all his wonderful gifts, including a hand-made train from his Grandpa Bill!! We are so incredibly blessed to have this little man in our lives and had such a great time throwing this party for him. It is most definitely one for the memory books!! If you'd like to host your own #DisneySide @Home Celebration, visit http://www.disneysidecelebrations.com/ for ideas, themes, resources and more! If you do, be sure to share with the hashtag #DisneySide so we can all be a virtual part of your party, too!  My husband printed this Mickey Mouse figure using our 3D printer. Isn't it awesome?! Soon, we will be offering our own designs for print and sale on our e-commerce site, Vintage Gifts and More. Stay tuned!!
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I hope you enjoyed this post, and hope maybe you'll stick around a little bit, read a few other posts, see what I'm about as a mother, an entrepreneur, business owner, homeschooler, virtual assistant, social media manager and fitness coach..... and leave me a comment here on this blog post telling me a little bit about YOU! I love making new friends and acquaintances and would welcome the conversation! All the best.. Chandra  Welcome back! Last week, I shared my Top Five fitness tips. This week, it's all about sharing more tips, tricks and techniques. And so we begin........ Slow progress is STILL progress!! The time will pass anyway, and so why give up when you're seemingly not seeing any "major" results?? I'm currently reading The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, publisher of Success Magazine. Basically, the everyday decisions you and I make shape our lives, down to the minutest of details. The more small positive decisions you make, the more consistent you are with them, the bigger the "payoff" -- you may not notice your body changing, but it IS, with every small positive step you take. Soon enough, the compound effect takes hold and the difference you see in front of you will be BIG. Stick with it, even when you don't see a big result right away. In our world of immediacy -- needing results NOW -- it can be tough. But I can tell you from personal experience consistency is so so important!! (BTW, that workout streak stands at day 76 today!!) I highly recommend reading The Compound Effect.  Comparison often leads to jealousy. Jealousy is poison. Don't compare YOUR fitness journey with anyone else. We each have our own path, our own unique individual bodies and our own preferences, goals, aims and pace. Of course we can bounce ideas back and forth, reach out for support, share tips, ideas and such. However, at the end of the day, we MUST listen to our own bodies and do what's best for the individual YOU, not what's popular or what all the cool kids are doing. So often we're taught comparison, competition and assimilation from a very early age, to listen to 'authority' over our own selves and intuition, that we forget, or don't even learn in the first place, to TRUST ourselves, to listen to our own bodies and to follow what is best for ourselves as individuals. In my own four-year journey, I've fallen prey to comparison, to jealousy...... and then realized we're not all meant to look the same. I realized I have my own goals that are not exactly like anyone else's. I realized how important it is to follow my OWN path. Let me know if I can help you realize YOURS! :) Find me at Motivation., Fitness with Friends, and Running is my Zen.  This last bit is not so much a tip as it is an open invitation. My friend Angela of FitPersonified, and I are starting P90X3 on March 2, 2014. We're hosting a Challenge Group and have just a few spots left for those wanting to get in on the action! The workouts are only 30 minutes long, so we're looking VERY forward to shorter workout times coming up. Click the photo to the left or contact me for more information on this awesome workout program -- perfect for ANY fitness level! P.S. I'm excited to receive my first shipment of Shakeology any day now -- chocolate and vanilla. I've heard great things and I'm anxious to give it a try firsthand. I'll post a review afterward and will have samples available on request for a very small fee. Let me know if you'd like to give it a go! Leave a comment, let me know one or two of YOUR best health, wellness or fitness tips! :) 
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 This week's #FitnessFriday blogging theme is Fitness and/or Nutrition Tips. This is such a broad theme that I've decided I would narrow it down to my own personal "top five" fitness tips. 1. Set goals. Without goals you're aimless. What is your top priority? Whether it's losing weight, getting fit, eating healthy, running a certain distance, learning a new physical activity, set realistic (S.M.A.R.T.) goals. Goals help you stay on track toward achieving your dreams. Goals give you a WHY, a reason to move forward, to challenge yourself. Just remember that unforeseen setbacks and obstacles DO occur and perseverance is key to finding ways around them!  2. Make sure you have a strong WHY -- your reason(s) for wanting to get healthy, to lose weight, to become a stronger, fitter, more vital you. Write down your reasons and remember them when you don't feel like working out, when you're tempted to binge on too many sweets and when that multitude of excuses barrage you each and every day of your journey. When your WHY is strong, so is your determination that NOTHING will stop you from achieving your goals and dreams. 3. Accountability!!! It is so important to find, build and maintain friendships and relationships that offer support toward you and your goals. If your immediate family doesn't support your goals, find a friend or a group online who will. Come on over to my Fitness With Friends group on Facebook. We're such a friendly bunch, always supportive, open and encouraging, never judgmental or competitive. It's all about individual support and collective advancement.  4. Stick up for yourself when it comes to the excuses that would unnecessarily hold you back. Also, go easy and gentle on yourself when you encounter a setback, an obstacle or when you let an excuse temporarily get the better of you. Be your own best friend, advocate and guide. Learn to trust yourself and your own body's signs and signals. Question the excuses that pop in to your head. You can easily talk yourself out of even the best of intentions, so really dig deep and you'll find that not a single one of your excuses really hold water when you're determined enough to break self-limiting habits and beliefs. 5. And last, read this article. I *highly* recommend it. One last thing, a slight bit of a promo, because I really like the premise of this new workout program. It's great for those just getting started on their health and fitness journey, for busy people and... well, for anyone really. Workouts are 30 minutes long and the program comes with color-coded containers that let you focus on portion control, NOT calorie counting and NOTHING is off limits -- not even chocolate or wine! Check out the details on Team Beachbody's 21 Day Fix here.  Co-hosted by:
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Photos used under Creative Commons from ˙Cаvin 〄, Claus Rebler, lululemon athletica
