2015 Year End Recap

It's been a busy year for the Fitster Sisters. We wish we could say that it's been full of only joy, but the truth is there have been ups and downs in all different aspects of our lives. As we look back, we are grateful for the incredible support we had from one another, and of course our family and friends. Overall we ran hundreds of miles, hours and days together. We shed tears of joy, hatred, and sorrow. We lost inches, pounds and sanity. We laughed a lot and learned a lot. We accomplished goals and set new limits, and we fell along the way several times. We experienced road blocks and walls that were difficult to get around, yet we made it through unscathed for the most part.

Related: The Evil Truth About Perception

 

We are each other's lifelines through all the good and the bad. We hold each other up and hold each other's hands to guide when needed. Handholding is a literal thing you should do. Try to hold hands while running, while eating, while taking cheesy pictures. We are just kidding of course with that last line, but just know who you can go to and who will hold your hand when you do need it. Sometimes you will need it! 

The truth is that life is messy and full of those ups and downs. We have discussed the roller coaster that weight control is all the time. It can drive a sane person insane. As we look into the new year we are grateful for the introspection we have from 2015. To be honest we aren't big fans of resolutions. They are easy to break and once you do most people feel as though they aren't able to go back and start again. So instead we set goals for ourselves heading into 2016.

1. LAUGH a lot! This is such a hard concept as laughter can sometimes be hard to come by when stressed. Use a friend or a family member, and remember to laugh. It feeds the soul during some difficult times!

2. Find a partner in crime and stick with them! You might need a few of them, but part of our success has been through one another and that is priceless. Plus you need someone to talk bad about someone who looks like they are having a perfect workout while you suffer 😂. 

3. Have back up plans. If you plan to run outside but it rains, know what you'll do instead. So many times it's easy to just give up and not workout that day. Don't do it, commit and stay focused. 

4. Keep your eye on the prize. Remember this is a marathon, not a sprint. You need this to be a lifelong commitment for healthy living. It will be hard and emotional, yet one of the most rewarding parts of your life if done correctly. 

 

Related: The Weight Roller Coaster

 

5. Indulge! We've discussed this before but don't withhold your heart's desire next year. Enjoy this journey and keep your sanity.

Remember lastly to COMMIT! Goals are important and as we roll into 2016, and our goal is to remember that commitment part ourselves. We have fallen at times towards the end of this year. It's been difficult and the holiday time was rough. However, we look forward to the new year and a renewed sense of commitment and power. 

We got this and so do you!

The Fitster Sisters

Battling the Holiday Bulge

The last few months of the year are food giving, which is NOT helpful for battling weight issues. They really can undo all the hard work we've all put in over the last 10 months. How do we cope?!

We recommend indulging but with restrictions. The issue with holiday indulging is that we indulge one day then think oh what's one more day and then another and then another. Well before you know it you've indulged for two weeks and put on 10 pounds. Been there, done that, ain't going back! So watch out for that! There will also be people who will not help you cause! 

Gaze upon them with hate and say no or make it your day to indulge, you choose. Just know the consequences! Now when we indulge we use our Fat Fighters and that helps quite a bit.

Keep your same workout routine. Don't get lazy! It is really easy to become content with indulging and think you might get back into the routine after the holidays. Well, your two weeks of indulging and not working out will probably end in a nice little bulge for you. We've all been there before as well!

Check in with an accountability partner. 

This is what we are to one another! Everyone needs this type of friend.

We basically need one and another to say fat butt get off the couch! Our plan will be to eat lots and then run lots 😂! We will do this in moderation obviously but at least we have each other to be successful! 

Try to think of this as a lifestyle change, not a get through the holidays. It's makes it a lot easier. You got this!

The Fitster Sisters

The Evil Truth of Perception

How many mornings do you wake up look in the mirror and think "There is nothing I would change about myself?" We are pretty sure when most women look in the mirror they think several things negatively. Well, needless to say we are no different. As we look at our time of weight loss over the last year, it's still difficult to get the we are unhealthy mentality out of our heads! Many times when we look in the mirror all we see is the girl who was 50-70 pounds heavier. Or we see the 20-30 pounds we are desperately trying still trying to get off.


Several mornings of inner dialogue with the following conversations. 

We step on the scale. "Damn you scale. I will throw you out the window." "You are a liar scale!" "WTH! There is no way!" (Either good or bad! Hahaha!) Or perhaps..."Yes! Starvation was a success for the last two days. I will never maintain it but I'll take it today." (Side note: Neither of us have starved ourselves during this process, neither should you 😉.) The worst is when you feel as though you have done everything right, you've worked out, didn't have a cheat day (yet, we save those for after our weigh in days) or you are just plain feeling really good and then the number is higher than you've seen in a while.

Clothing issues: "I have nothing that fits! Everything I own makes me look fat. I'll send a pic to Andrea/Tegan to ask if I look ok." Clothes are difficult because as we lose weight we don't have an abundance of clothes! As we all know, the bipolar weather of Kansas doesn't help this situation either. So when we find that magical outfit in the morning the angels sing and we rejoice. Or we put on our tents and decide we are eating 5 chocolates for breakfast instead of our protein shake. Sometimes you've got to feed the raging inner fat kid. Ours have been getting fed a lot more than they usually do here recently.

We realize this all perception and it takes a change of mindset to beat this inner dialogue. This is easier said than done and we want to say it's OK and it's normal. The important part is that you need to take a step back every now and again and put your perspective into reality. What's it really like? So we might have to ask "Do I really look like a cow? Is it possible to gain 50 pounds back by eating unhealthy one day? Am I going to survive emotionally?" Though we could probably argue with ourselves to say yes or no, however it applies to the above, the truth to all of these answers is opposite of what we normally say!

This week we challenge you to take perspective of what you are doing. Count the little successes and be proud of yourself. Maybe you ate a smaller meal or maybe you walked an extra mile or maybe you finally compared those before and after pictures to realize your small victories are actually adding up to a large one! Whatever it is keep in mind you are doing something just by reaching out for encouragement from us or other friends. 

Remember no matter what size of clothes you are, you're beautiful just like we are! Do what makes you feel good inside. Also a pictures says a million words. Take those before and after pictures or progress pictures. Our favorite thing to do is go digging through your old photos (FaceBook can be really helpful for this) and find you at your largest. You will have an Oh goodness please tell me I didn't really look like that moment. Nothing makes you feel better on a "fat" day then running across a picture when you realize your successes. We both kind of needed this for this week as we continue our health journey. Perception really can be our worst enemy and a picture can help to win the battles over it.




You've got this!
The Fitster Sisters

Here Comes Race Day

Race day is approaching, you've logged so many miles you can't keep track, you don't even want to think about how many hours it's taken, and lets not even mention all the aches and pains you have had along the way. But the best part is that race day is coming and soon all the miles, the hours and yes even the aches and pains will pay off. It may not seem like it but it will.

The week or weeks leading up to a race can be just as important as the all the weeks you spent training. One of the most important things you can do is taper for at least a week, if not two. Tapering is an athletes best friend! If you are anything like we are the closer you get to the end of your training program the more exhausted you body is becoming. The less you want to lace up those shoes and head out for a run. Trust us we get it, we have been there for pretty much any race we have trained for. There are many times we are talking each other into getting those last few training runs in. Mile after mile you are breaking down your body, the longer your runs get the longer your body need to recover. A taper will bring your mileage down and allow your legs to be fresh for race day.

Related: Real Talk

During that final week it is imperative you watch what you eat, something we aren't the best at. Think of it like your car, you have to put the right gas into it for it to perform well. The same goes for your body. If you have been watching what you are eating the entire time you have been training you can't change that the week before the race. Make you are loading up on protein, healthy good carbs, and fiber. These things will allow your body to perform at it's peak. We like having family pasta dinners the night before our big races. Not only are we going to carb up but we are also going to get a chance to celebrate with those that have stood by us during our craziness.

Related: Adventures In Cross Training

Now to everyone's favorite part, and the hardest thing to do, SLEEP! During the week/weeks leading up to your race you need to make sure you are allowing your body to rest. When you workout you are actually tearing down your muscles, while you sleep it allows your body to repair these tears and help you to grow stronger. We know several elite level athletes and one of the things they almost always do it nap right after they get done with a hard work out. This isn't always possible but you should be getting at least 6-8 hours of sleep a night. We love using our Fitbit to track our sleep to know just how well we actually are sleeping.

When the morning finally arrives it is beyond important that you eat something which will allow you to maintain energy during the duration of the race. One of the best things to eat is something made up of complex carbs which will break down slowly giving you energy through out the race, especially during the longer races. Remember this goes back to fueling your body, it had to have something it can run off of. This is, however, not the time to try something new. Eat something the day of the race you have eaten before and you know it will not mess with your stomach. If you don't you will find yourself half way through your race struggling.

The best part is that if you have made it to this point you are almost done. We would love to hear about your own race day prep, do you have something you have to do? Let us know!

You've got this!
The Fitster Sisters

Real Talk

Lets real talk for a couple minutes. Is there anything worse than feeling like you are doing everything you are suppose to be doing and nothing is happening? That ridiculous number on the scale isn't changing. Seriously, is there anything more frustrating? What are you to do?
We want people to know that we have our own struggles, and it's not all rainbows, sunshine and pounds just melting off all the time. In fact for both of us it's been a rough couple months, yes that is rights MONTHS, in our weight loss journey. Tegan has been seeing numbers on her scale the last few weeks that haven't been there since MARCH. It's beyond hard and frustrating.

We'll be the first to admit that we aren't always doing the things we are suppose to. Come on it's Fall, it's easy to eat all the pumpkin spice flavored goodies. Not to mention that we are knee deep in holiday season. You may be in the process of getting rid of all the fun size candy in your house from Halloween but that's really just the beginning, Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. (We will cover that in a later blog) for us the most frustrating thing has to be when you actually are back on track, you weigh in and not only has the number on the scale not gone down it's gone up. SERIOUSLY?!?! This is what we have been fighting ourselves basically since May.



Related: The Weight Roller Coaster

So what do you do? Other than sitting down on your couch and binging on the biggest chocolate chip cookie you can find. Well there are a couple things.

- Grant yourself some grace. Keep in mind that this is a process and like all things in life there are ups and downs. If everything came easy to use would we really appreciate it in the end? This is work, and work is hard, but work makes you stronger. The more you are able to overcome multiple little things in your life, you notice that they can add up to one big thing. Or better yet the strength you gained from overcoming those little things, will help you overcoming something even larger in the future.

Related: Dieting Again ?!...

- Working out is not just to help you physically, it is also to help you mentally. We can tell a difference in ourselves if we have taken a few days off. Normally we are sweet and compliant people, (that may be a little bit of a stretch) but if we haven't worked out in a few days we are short tempered, irritable and not the most rational people on the face of the planet. Many times when one of us gets like this we will suggest a walk together, just to get the other one out and about. Have any of you noticed the same things?

- With all of that said, this is mentally exhausting!!! Between trying to keep yourself motivated to work out, eating healthy and dealing with that frustrating number it's ok to have a vent session with your BFF every once in a while. Or in our case several times a week at the moment. So go ahead and vent, better yet vent while taking a walk or if you want to over a bowl of some yummy ice cream.

- Drink all the water. Well ok, maybe not ALL the water, but make sure you are drinking a lot of water. We know this is something we continually talk about but it is so very important. The average person need 8 8oz glasses a day for a grand total of 64oz. That's only 2.6 Tervis cups! If you are working out you should be drinking more. Water is not only used to hydrate you, but it also helps to flush out the toxins in your system. It even can help you regulate your digestive track, and a lot of times we could be adding on an extra pound or two because things just aren't moving the way they should be.

- You will probably ALWAYS be hungry, or at least we are. Right at this moment we can't seem to get full if our lives are dependent on it. It's partially because we haven't been on our diets, eating our snacks when we are suppose to, making sure we are eating the right amount of fiber and protein, and working out. Again, there seems to be a correlation, for us, between always being hungry and not following the things we should be doing.

The most important thing to remember is that even if you have added a few pounds, or in our case 7 for both of us, you can always start back up. It's ok to get off track, in no way is this a sprint; it's a marathon and something you will continually have to work at. One of the things we have to remind ourselves over and over again is that we didn't put the weight on overnight (even if it seems like it did) so we can't expect it to come off overnight either.

You've got this!!!
The Fitster Sisters

Adventures In Cross Training

We're sure many of you have heard it, we have talked a bit about it, but cross training is something that many people skip when they are training. The beauty of cross training is that it breaks up your training program and gives your body a break. Plus you then aren't doing the same thing over and over and over again. Not to mention you might even get to use a different set of muscles! It doesn't have to be anything extensive, you could add in walking, some core work, strength training, wave running (this is one of our personal favorites during the summer) or even yoga.

Yoga is something Andrea got into a couple years ago and she loved it. Her favorite was hot yoga. She loved it because she was able to feel the toxins leave her body while strengthening and elongating her muscles. As with anything people love she wanted to share it with Tegan and her husband. So one day after about the 1,000 times of asking she finally talked them into going. The following is Tegan's account of that disastrous hour and half.

So Andrea started doing hot yoga and fell in love with it; I being the awesome supportive friend I am, begrudgingly agreed to go with her and Adam once to try this out. Now I was SUPER out of shape but some where in the back of my head I kept thinking, I use to do this when I was on the crew team I can do it without a problem. Here's the thing about that... I was probably 90-100 pounds heavier that morning than I was in college, I had never been so out of shape in my life and to this day I will maintain Andrea didn't fully disclose everything that would happen that morning.

The night before she reminds me to bring a litter of water, this should have been my first warning, and a towel, warning number two. I show up all ready to do this. Let me tell you I had talked myself into this, I was going to knock this out of the park, they are going to be so impressed by my beginner skills they would be basically having me teaching the class by the end of it. Boy was I wrong.

I check in and the lady said the intermediate class will start in a couple minutes. Ummmmm... What? I thought this was a beginners class! Here's warning number three. You know three strike and your out? I should have ran so fast in the opposite direction. But the three of us set up in the back of the class, Andrea between Adam and I. Let me take this moment to tell you all that Adam and I are basically the same person, just opposite genders. I'm sure this is why we are in Andrea's life.

The class starts out easy, I'm still convinced I'm going to rock it, I know a lot of these moves from my crew days. Although I'm not as limber and my core strength is leaving a lot to be desired! But then the room starts to warm up. And I mean we are basically in the firey pits of hell my friends. The window behind us have foged up, I'm pretty sure there's no escaping this torture at this point. I check the clock, 10 minutes have gone by. I turn to Andrea about the time Adam does to remark that I'm glad there was only 50 minutes left. This is the point when she informs the both of us that it's an hour and a half class. I can't repeat what came out of our mouths but let me tell you it was not what you should be saying while doing yoga!

Over the  next hour and 10 minutes we twist our body into shapes that are beyond human. It wasn't long into the experience that I figured out why you needed the towel. There was sweat coming out of places I didn't know knew how to sweat. The instructor would say put your hand on the middle of your leg. Look you crazy skinny, not sweating, super zen lady, if I could actually keep it there I would but I'm pretty sure there's an ocean of sweat coming out of my body at this moment that is making it a very difficult process! I wish someone had taped us for the running cometary Andrea was hearing from each side. Adam and I are convinced it was pretty epic, I'm sure it was actually just the two of us cussing her out and tell her how much we hated her for suggesting this.

Am I glad I went? That's debatable. It's good to know I'm not made to do hot yoga, and still to this day I have nightmares about it.

Obviously not every one of our cross training experiences have ended this way. But when you try something new you never really know what you are going to get. We would love to here some of your cross training experiences. Please share them with us!

Remember, you've got this!

Fitster Sisters

The Weight Roller Coaster

Have you ever weighed your self knowing you've been on point that week, haven't missed a workout and ate smart all week just to see the scale go up? Losing weight and maintaining it is a never ending battle. One we personally are fighting each and every day.. Even after logging more miles than we can count,, we both still struggle with our weight. We are here to say the struggle is real and it's NORMAL!!!

Looking at the weight numbers fluctuating is similar to being on a roller coaster of emotions. One day, we are extremely happy with our progress and the next day we've told each other we will just give up! Nothing is worse then not being able to change from a weight you've been seeing forever. This is especially the case when you feel as though you are doing everything right. Let us be the first to tell you this is the time to not give up! It's okay to have a bad day, and it's okay to feel like you need to feed those feelings. We have hose days more than we probably should. Go ahead and have that bad day if it makes you feel better, but the next day pick yourself up and get back on the horse. Sometimes it helps to get back to the basics. 

If you are training, doctors have told us it's normal to fluctuate up or down 8-10 pounds from your normal weight. Yes you read that correctly, 8-10 pounds!! In our own training we have found this to be completely true, and it drives us nuts. Actually both of us are currently dealing with this. Usually this is the point where people start exsercising more and eating less, while in theory this might work it's not actually the case. Remember to feed your body. It might be our normal tendency when we gain weight to not eat but when running several miles; the fact is that we need major nutrition. Be safe and take care of yourself!

This is an important time to remind you ladies out there; if you are eating less than 1200 calories a day you are putting your body into starvation mode. You know what happens when it goes into starvation mode? You body will store everything it can and start breaking down your muscles. We aren't sure about you but personally we would like to keep our muscle and get rid of the fat. This can only be achieved if you are feeding your body.

Related: Dieting Again?!...

Something else to keep in mind, take some time for yourself and don't be too frustrated.  Go have some fun, a night where you allow yourself to enjoy yourself. Recently we treated ourselves to a dinner out and the Bobby Bones show! It was just what we needed as we finished up a training schedule. 

As always don't forget you've got this!

The Fitster Sisters