Small Victories

Restarting my fitness journey has seriously never given me so much clarity! I know that sounds corny but to be honest, I'm almost really happy about the fact that I had to start over with my {One Year, 52lbs} goal because I have such a different mind set about everything involving health and weight loss compared to the first time I started back in July 2011. 

It all started when I saw this quote last month, that I shared in another recent blog post...

There was just something about this quote that "lit a fire" in me. It was almost of feeling of anger, because I was SO disappointed in myself for having to start over after working extremely hard to get where I had been. When I started my original goal of losing 52lbs in one year, I was down 18lbs by Halloween and once the force of holidays hit, I lost my focus, and discovered that I gained all that weight back when I weighed myself again on May 21st of this year. But what has turned into anger, has turned into drive, motivation, and commitment.

I wasn't sure HOW to start over...so I took a step by setting a goal to do the {No Junk Food Challenge & From Couch to 5K} Training Program on June 2nd. I've had absolutely NO cravings for any of the junk foods listed (which is amazing in itself because I had a nightly ritual of eating chocolate after dinner) and today I'm on Week 2 Day 5 of my C25K program.

When I started the C25K program on June 2nd, the very first day of the program you have to do a 5 minute walk, 2 minute jog, 5 minute walk. If it wasn't for softball, basketball or warming up for weight lifting back in high school, I never ever ran a day in my life. Period. I honestly used the word "hate" whenever people talked about having me go running with them. I was one of those people that just never did it for exercise because I disliked it so much. I hated the way I felt during running and how I felt after I had ran. My lungs would hurt, my shins would hurt, everything felt like it hurt. So, I started doing some research. My dear friend Kat, that you all have heard me talk quite a bit about (because I just love her that much!), pointed me in the direction of a looking at videos about correct running form so your body doesn't end up hurting like mine was.  I quickly discovered that I had the WORST running form, which caused my shins to constantly hurt. Here's one of the videos I came across if you want to take a peek :-)





When I headed out for my first run, I was crazy nervous but kept a positive attitude. The 2 minute jog was tough but I got through it surprisingly well, even if I was breathing like I was dying when it was over! HAHA! But, I survived! WOO HOO!

On Monday (Week 2 day 3) for my C25K run, I had to do a 5 minute walk, 4 minute jog, 5 minute walk. I was a little nervous again because when I had to do a 3 minute jog just a couple days before, it was tough, but I think the cold weather played into why it was so tough too. Derek and Miss K went with me to help me out/be my cheerleaders. When I started the jogging portion, before I knew it, Derek was saying "you're over half way done with your jog". I found myself smiling from ear to ear and kept smiling until I was done. Not only was that the EASIEST two minutes of jogging I had EVER done, the entire 4 minutes was cake! I was ELATED, to say the least. That was my small victory moment - realizing how far I'd actually come in just two short weeks - a two minute jog that I struggled with...was - - EASY! :-) What was even more fun was that the next day, I came across this...

Great timing for this, huh?! :-)

I just can't help but continue to celebrate because for someone like me that never would have run for exercise, I'm absolutely loving the rush I get from it. I know, who am I, right?!

So, after all this writing, what I'm trying to say to all of you is CELEBRATE THE SMALL VICTORIES! Please! You'll do yourself so much more good if you do. I've seen too many people (me being one of them in the past) have unrealistic expectations, set insane goals for themselves or expect immediate results and when they don't see anything happening fast enough, they get discouraged, quit or resort to crash diets, etc. If you want results, it takes TIME.

If you want to do it right, DO THE RESEARCH. If you're not sure about something, ASK! :-) If you traveled a mile, walking, jogging or running, celebrate! Don't be mad because it was easier for someone else or because some do it faster or travel farther than you. If you lost one pound, celebrate! Don't be made because it was "just one pound".

If you need help, ASK! Asking for help was the hardest part for me. I felt that I had some obligation to know more than I actually did before asking someone for help. Thankfully, someone from my hometown has made fitness his career and he has been so helpful...Tim with Tim Arndt Fitness.

I started out by signing up for his free newsletter where he gives free tips and advice to anyone who will read. I've learned so much just from those newsletters, but I wanted to get my hands on all the information I could, so I finally got the nerve to contact him through his Facebook page and asked him some questions and asked for recommendations for a nutritionist in our area. I felt bad about reaching out to him at first because I couldn't afford to hire him as a trainer so I didn't want him thinking that I was just trying to get what I could for free. I know that sounds awful but that's how I felt and that's why I was scared to ask for his help. With Tim, it was the exact OPPOSITE! He was SO willing to help, that his willingness to share his knowledge of fitness, blew me away. Shame on me for even thinking he would look at me as one of "those people" who abuse a good thing ;-) haha! What started out as just a recommendation from him has turned into something awesome. I mentioned to Tim that once I'm at a comfortable place with running, I'd love to get back into lifting weights again, but wasn't sure how to go about this since I don't want to be "just a runner" or "just a lifter" and he recommended this book to me..

Purchase Book HERE

I haven't found a negative review on this book YET! Check out the reviews for yourself but what I love about this book is that the author addresses questions that people ask and he backs up the answers with credible research. This book is amazing for people like me, that didn't know where to start, didn't know much about running to do or how to incorporate both cardio and weights in my life. It breaks down the questions to where they're an easy read AND it's also a great book for athletes who are more advanced with the exercise routines. The other big thing I like about this book is that you don't have to read it from cover to get the information you want. Find the question that you want answered, skip to that page and get it! :-) I was finding the answers I needed within 5 minutes of picking it up! I can only sit here and tell you so much about how awesome this book is, but you need to get it and see for yourself :-)

We all have to start somewhere, so for those of you too scared to go to the gym because you don't look like the rest of the fit people working out in there...they had to start somewhere, now it's up to you to take that step and go for it! If you feel like that by stepping in that public facility, that you'll be judged...bottom line: who cares! haha! It only matters what you think :-) Show those people that when you walk through the door, you're there to do WORK! And let me be the one to tell you, most people will admire you more for getting yourself in there to be a better version of yourself. Do it for YOU, not for everyone else :-) Just start somewhere.

By the way, if any of you are interested, Tim just started selling some very cute hoodies for women that he released two days ago. But once they're gone, they're gone forever. I love how they cater to the social media side of my generation :-) Pretty clever! You'll probably seeing me use the #transformation hashtag a lot through my fitness journey lol! If you want to check them out for yourself...

Go HERE for more info about these hoodies or to purchase one for yourself :-)

I just ordered mine yesterday! I CANNOT wait to get it!

If you were interested in subscribing to Tim's newsletter, go HERE. Just scroll down to the bottom of the home page and you'll see where to enter in your email address and info :-) Let me know if you do subscribe to his newsletter, would love to have new people to talk about it with! :-)

*I was in no way paid or compensated for sharing any sites or products in this post. All of the above is my own opinion and shared on my own terms*

{Couponing help anyone?? Part FIVE}

Welcome to Part FIVE of my couponing series!

If you're just joining us, this is my FIVE part coupon help series! Here are the topics, along with the first and second topics that has already been covered, just click on any of the previous segments to head directly to that post. This is the last post of the series and I hope you've enjoyed it and learned something so far about couponing!

Part ONE: Coupon Lingo and More

Part TWO: Getting Started/Collecting Coupons

Part THREE: Coupon Organization and More

Part FOUR: Learn How To Navigate Coupons Sites/Blogs (covering in today's post)

Part FIVE: Wrapping It Up!

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Now that you have all this awesome info, coupons are gathered and organized, hopefully you will take the next step and get out there and start couponing! :-)

There are just a couple little things left that I wanted to mention briefly or explain a few random things here or there, so here goes...

Most grocery stores have their ads come out at certain times of the week, have certain sale cycles, restocking days, etc. Pick your favorite store(s) and find out what these cycles are. For Albertson's, their TTV's run from Sunday and are good until Tuesday when they come out. My hubby and I always do our shopping lists and prep work for our trips every Saturday night (or as needed) before we head out and hit the stores on Sundays. For those of you with kids, you'll REALLY appreciate being organized when you head out the door just in case one of the munchkins decides to have a "bad day" and make things a bit more difficult. I HIGHLY suggest, if you can, to get a sitter or have hubby watch the kiddos while you go out shopping. It really allows you to focus on what's happening just in case there's something out of stock and you have to improvise with your coupons and sales.

Here is a look at my organization when it comes to getting ready for our shopping trips...

 
If you DO have to improvise because the items you wanted to get are out of stock DO.NOT.PANIC! :-) I usually try to plan a couple back up plans in case that happens but if you don't get a chance to, just take some time to look around the store to see what you can find. There are some times where the couponing sites know about ALL the deals because a store might just put something on sale because they feel like it even if it's not necessarily a nationwide sale.

Another thing I love to do when I'm getting my grocery list ready on Saturdays is to plan out our meals for the week or possibly the month depending on the sales. This is where you'll want to look through all the grocery ads to cater the planning to the sales :-) Take a look around online, there are so many free printable meal planners online to help you.

When it comes to getting the best deals...there is definitely a "transaction science". I'm honestly still learning this process. For example, when you get doubles, say you buy three papers so you have 3 sets of three doubles (this is what I usually do when it's a TTV coupon week. You can only use 3 doubles per transaction and you can only have a maximum of three transactions in a row per trip through the line. If you want to exceed that three transaction limit, you have to get out of line and go back through the checkout line. Usually when I have to do that, I'll finish the first set of transactions, head out to my car to load it up, then I head back in for the next round :-)

If you're still not real sure about the whole "transaction science" idea, usually there are a lot of fellow readers of coupon blogs out there that will help you lay out your transactions. I was lucky enough to have my friend Kat, who basically taught me everything I know today about couponing, take me out on my first shopping trip with her so I could watch her do it and then she helped me get through my first big transaction with all my coupons! haha! So, I owe a big thanks to her! I wish that I could do the same for all of you and take you all out for your first shopping trips but that would be a lot of traveling on my end, wouldn't it? ;-)

If you're still extremely overwhelmed by the process, read everything you could get your hands on, or need more of a visual like I did, I STRONGLY encourage you to buy Fabulessly Frugal.'s 90 minute DVD: 7 Secrets to Successful Couponing (just click on the picture below to take you straight to the webpage to buy this DVD).

Click here to purchase Fabulessly Frugal's 90 Minute DVD

Here I am with my copy :-) Monica, who is pictured above, definitely rocks this photo holding the DVD better than I do haha!

Please don't hesitate to comment on this post with any questions or concerns, etc (I can directly reply to your comments as long as your blogger account isn't set as "no reply blogger" - take a look at my comment form to find out more details on that). Or, you can email me directly at cblakley0531@gmail.com - Just in case your email gets sent to my SPAM folder, write "Couponing 101 Post" in the subject line so I know you're not a spammer :-)

**Disclaimer: I was in no way paid by FabuLESSly Frugal to write this series for my readers. I honestly just love couponing and this site THAT much. I wanted to share all my new knowledge with you!**