New Month, New Program

 

We are nearly a week into April already! Where is the time going? I feel like it's just slipping right on by here lately. I've got so many projects I'm working on, maybe that is making the time fly by? Either way, it needs to slow down a little. I'm not ready for summer!

On Friday, April 2nd, I ran. It was so cold outside!! We've had beautiful spring weather lately, but on Friday, it was 35 degrees and windy. I had to bundle up for my run. Thankfully I've got a few amazing Zyia items to help me with that! Afterwards I stretched it out. My leg was feeling great, and my foot is doing good as well. Yay!

Saturday I started doing a new program on Beachbody on Demand called LIIFT 4. It's four days of lifting with three recovery days mixed in. I took my "before" photos (above) and measurements. I'm excited to see what kind of progress I make with this program. I've really enjoyed the first first two workouts. Day one was chest and triceps and of course included pushups, but it actually wasn't bad. I was expecting lots of different sets and styles of pushups, but it was only tricep pushups. 

Sunday, was another LIIFT 4 day, back and biceps. My arms were shaking so bad when I was done! I had trouble getting the protein powder down - lol! Even now they're still a little sore with certain movements. Gotta love DOMS!

Sunday was also Easter. The kids got up early and started hunting for Easter baskets and I found a fun treat in my morning coffee cup. My weekend didn't quite go as planned, but we made it work and still had a nice family time. We had an egg hunt, a nice family dinner, went for a family walk, played some games, and basically just had a typical family weekend (minus all the eggs and candy).

I got up this morning and went for a run. It was so nice to watch the sun rise. I've really missed morning runs, and I hope my foot (and now leg) stay strong and healthy so I can continue running. It really does bring me a lot of joy, and puts me in a better mood.

This is one of my absolute favorite graphics. I found it a few years ago and I refer back to it all the time. It's a nice visual reminder that sometimes we have bad days, but it's not going to ruin your plans. I've been struggling a bit with balancing family life and school life. I haven't found the best time to get my studies in and I'm afraid my personal training studying has been falling to the wayside. Self doubt is starting to creep in and make me wonder if I rushed into something I wasn't ready for. The most recent section is all about the science behind training and I've found myself rereading paragraphs and still just not grasping the material, so I put it up, and unfortunately, that was over three days ago. I need to get my nose back in the book. I've got goals and I've got no room for all this doubt. I can do it, and I will do it. I just need a better plan of action! If I can make room in my day for my workouts, I can certainly make room in my day for my career path.

That went fast...

                                   

Another coffee. Story of my week! I meant to blog every day, and I thought about it several times, but I never took the time to sit down at the computer. I need to find an easier way to get my photos onto my computer then it'll be easier for me to do an update. Anyway, it was a busy week!

Monday I ran and did a yoga stretch for runners. I'm so happy to be running again! I've been doing the C25K week one on repeat. It's 30 seconds of running, 90 seconds of walking. I'll flip it for longer running and shorter walking once I start to feel stronger again. My foot has been doing great, and I think my Hoka shoes were a good decision; however, my right leg has been bothering me. I have a sharp pain on the back of my leg that runs from upper calf to my lower hamstring. When I stand up it hurts, or when I climb stairs, and if I kneel down onto the ground. I think I hurt it during mbf which is why I stopped the program and took some time off. I thought it would be feeling better by now. I've been making sure to include stretching after every workout. I take ibuprofen and I'll elevate it when sitting. I guess if it stays this way for too much longer I'll have to have it looked at. For now, it's just annoying.

I also weigh myself on Monday's. I'm down three pounds this week! Don't ask what I did, because I don't know. I've been getting a lot better at tracking my calories and I've been chugging lots of water. I've been trying to get out of the 190's for months now, and I'm so very close!! 

I got another mail delivery from Zyia!! We love mail day around here. Even Katelynn got a new outfit!

On Wednesday I ran again! I was super proud of myself for running twice this week. I was planning to run again tomorrow, but I think I'll take a few days off to see how my leg feels.

Today is April Fool's Day and my Garmin watch had jokes! 94 miles in 20 minutes!! haha Kids and I went for our daily walk and when we got home this is what it said. It was more like one mile, but it's pretty funny considering the day!

It's also my 14th Wedding Anniversary! I can't believe we've been together for 14 years already. Time has been going by so much faster then I ever thought it would. We've built at beautiful life together and have two beautiful children to show for it. I'm looking forward to many more adventures with my favorite guy.

My motto for the upcoming week: keep making those small changes. The results aren't always noticeable right away, but things are changing!

Zyia Mail and Cherry Blossoms

I love mail days! I ordered some shorts from Zyia and they just arrived. I've never been a very big shorts person. I don't like the way my legs look in them, and since I've got thicker thighs they always ride up. I prefer to wear knee length skirts and capri's during the summer. Well since I've started being a representative for Zyia, I figured I should try out some of their shorts so that I could review them for my customers. I ordered the Sky Blue Club shorts and the Black Canyon shorts. I ordered both pair in my jogger size which is an XL (comparable to a 12-14).

These Sky Blue Club shorts were my favorite of the two. In person they look periwinkle. They are soft and feel like they'd be great near the water. I think they'll be perfect for the beach, hiking, boating. The waist actually fit me (in most clothes I get a gap in the back from having a small waist and big hips).  

The Black Canyon shorts were okay. They fit exactly like my joggers - snug in the butt/hips/thighs, and that's not quite how I was expecting them to fit. Sizing up one more might help them have a looser fit. They were comfortable! Just as comfortable as my joggers. The material reminds me of my cozy joggers and will probably be pet friendly. 

I will probably wear both of these shorts at some point around the house, but I'm not sure if I'll wear them anywhere else. That's just a personal preference thing though. I'd recommend both pairs to anyone who likes shorts. 

Today was my daughters Girls on the Run Heart and Sole run club. I co-coach with two other wonderful ladies. My job is to lead all the runs and cooldown portions. It's a great "job" and I love it. I wish I could get paid to do it! Coaching kids how to run is one of my most favorite things to do. After our run club my family went to Red Wing Park to see the Cherry Blossoms. 

One of the things I miss about Japan is how they embrace and celebrate the changing of the seasons. Everything in Japan right now is covered in cherry blossoms. Every store has it on display, food is shaped like the leaf, it's just everywhere and it's amazing. The park here in Virginia Beach, has a sister city in Japan so they've got a Japanese garden and an area they call Sakura Lane. Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry blossom. I am so glad we found this park! Sakura season is my absolute favorite time of year in Japan, and now I have it here! I thought I'd share some photos from today. Enjoy!

Fri-day Run-Day

Good Morning! Happy Friday! I started my morning off with a run, and now I'm feeling really great. It's been quite some time since I've had a consistent running schedule that I've followed. I hope to change that now!

I know for certain that I'm not a Barre Blend fan on Beachbody. I don't mind the occasional yoga/pilates stretch, but I'm just not a fan of it every day. I had so many people recommend the program, and I'm glad I gave it a go, but I know that if I tried to continue with it I'd lose my momentum that I've created over the last several months. Exercise is not punishment, and Barre Blend, to me, felt like I was punishing myself for tweaking my knee.

I followed the Couch to 5k - C25K - program for my run this morning. I've always been a fan of interval running, and it's especially important for me right now with it being awhile since I've ran and with my knee and foot. Both my knee and foot felt great! However, I know that I need to take care of both of them to prevent an actual injury. So, I followed my run with yoga. Yes, I just got done saying I was done with Barre Blend, but this is different! lol

Beachbody has a yoga section on the Beachbody on Demand app. In it there is a video called "Yoga for Runners." It's led by Ted, and I love Ted! He's fantastic. I wish he had more videos for runners. It's just what my legs needed after todays run. I feel great now! Ready to get this day started!!

Tomorrow I will lead the running portion of my daughters Girls on the Run group, besides that I'm not sure what I'll get into this weekend. I need to pick a new program, but I'm still undecided. I'm leaning towards a strength one and LIIFT 4 looks great. I could do his lifting program four days a week and run on the other days. Although one run day will have to be on a lifting day, as rest days are important and I'll need at least one true day off. I'll keep you posted!

Update Time

 It's been such a long time since I've taken a moment to write down my thoughts. We arrived back in America in August of 2020. We purchased our very first home and are still getting settled into our new area. Over the last few weekends we've been busy digging up the yard planting trees and flowers.

I started selling Zyia Activewear in February 2021. I greatly enjoy representing a brand that I love and wear all the time. It's been a pretty great experience for me so far.

I've started making taking care of myself a priority. I've been doing home workouts on Beachbody on Demand. I'm currently four days into Barre Blend and I absolutely hate it - ha! It's incredibly boring to me. I was on round two of mbf and I tweaked my knee so I had to switch to something more low impact. I do like yoga, pilates, and dancing, but I do not like doing them every. single. day. I need a change.

I haven't ran consistently in a few years. My foot always seems to start acting up once I get into a rhythm. I've been doing several walking challenges. I completed an "I Am Enough" 100 mile challenge already this year and I recently started a 46 mile challenge to hike Mt Fuji.

In February I also signed up for NASM's personal training certification course. I'm a little over halfway through the program and enjoy it immensely. It was a huge step for me, but it's something I've talked about doing for so long. I'm excited to see where this new journey takes me.

With all these changes I figured I should come up with a "brand" name. Something that represents me and that I can carry with me on my journey while I sell Zyia and wherever my training certification takes me. After several days and many names, I settled on Patchworked Sole. It just spoke to me. There is something about it that brings me joy. I imagine a quilt full of the squares of my life. To me it's poetic and beautiful. Ultimately, how it speaks to me is truly what matters.

This image is a photo of a quilt that I made with pieces of my journey "stitched" in:

One more thing I've been up to lately is I started coaching run club again. My daughter wanted to run, so I signed her up for Girls on the Run in our area. They needed coaches so I'm one of three coaches for her team. I lead the run portion of all their runs. I absolutely love teaching kids how to run. It's so much fun! When I signed up for my NASM certification I also signed up for their Sports Performance and Youth Sports certification courses. I'm not sure where it'll all lead, but I'm loving the journey!

That's all for now! I hope to get back into blogging more regular now. Stay tuned!

Plugging Away

I'm still here in Japan and just doing my thing. I haven't ran since the 12 days of Christmas challenge because of foot pain. Most days I miss running, but right now it's been so hot and humid that I don't even like to leave the house. We will be heading back to the United States early next year so hopefully I'll be able to find shoes that work for my feet. It's pretty limited selection wise over here and after my third failed pair I decided to wait until I can get properly fitted again.

I did start going back to the gym. My friend Sara wanted to start strength training so I found us a 12 week program. We finished all 12 weeks two weeks ago!! I didn't see a lot of changes like I wanted. I was fairly consistent with my workouts (five times a week). I lost my motivation towards the end of the program. I just didn't want to do them anymore. I was not good with my diet during the 12 weeks, yet for some reason I still expected to see a few changes, but I'm not in my thirties anymore and it definitely shows.
During the last few weeks of the 12 week program I also completed the Team RWB 1776 Challenge. We just included it into the workouts so it made it easy to stick with it.

This week I started doing an old favorite, Chalean Extreme. I've always been a fan of routine, and formatted programs like this one provide that for me. I'm on day 4 and doing great. I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow's Burn Circuit 3. I'm going to need to get some heavier weights to keep at home. For now my 10 and 6 pound weights will have to do.

I took my measurements. They weren't pretty, but are an accurate representation of how I'm feeling these days. I've been losing and gaining the same 10 pounds for over a year now. A part of me is hoping that the Beachbody programs that worked so well for me before will help me again. I don't have access to a pull-up bar which helped me decide between my two old favorites of P90X and Chalean Extreme.
Here is my current side-by-side.

I would like to see myself back down in the 150's. It's going to take a lot of work, because exercise alone is not enough to budge the scale for me anymore. Which leads me to...

My best friend does Herbalife and has been doing it for six months now. She came and stayed with me for several weeks and left a big stash behind. I've been drinking it for breakfast and occasionally for lunch or dinner. I've never been one to drink my meals, but I definitely enjoy it at breakfast time. I like all the different flavors they offer. My favorite so far are the orange creamsicle, lemon blueberry, and pumpkin spice shakes I've been making. My daughter was ecstatic about the chocolate mint, but had decided that they all have too much of a chalky taste for her liking. I don't notice the chalky taste.

Well that's all I've got for now. Hoping to stay motivated and stick with things.
Angie