iworkout: shoes

let us start from the bottom up, shall we?

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clearly if you are starting a workout program, you want good shoes.  the best shoes for YOU.  the best shoes for you MAY NOT be the coolest sneakers at the store that YOU LOVE.  they may be the ugly plain ones, but fit your foot like a glove.  trust me, i am the girl with the ugly plain ones.

true story: a few years ago i trained for a half marathon and was wanting some fun colored tennis shoes to run those 13.1 miles in nashville, tennessee. i like my shoes kinda crazy, i mean might as well have rainbow colored tennis shoes if you can, right? well, when i went to get fitted for shoes, NOT ONE of the pair that my eyes liked were good for my foot. NOT ONE. i left the store with white tennis shoes, white laces and a little blue on the side. BOR. ING. and they fit my foot like a glove.  DARN IT.

that was years ago. i have had three pair of those exact shoes since. they are boring. but they work for my foot the very best.

FITTED: what did you say?  fitted?  
can't i just buy a pair of sneakers i just really like? i mean, they are all pretty much the same right?
NO.

get your foot fitted to the shoe. less chance of injury. less chance of chin splints and the like.  

find the closest fleet feet in your area. everyone that works there has knowledge about the foot and will go from videoing your stride to taking you outside and watching you walk/run to see what your foot does. then they find the shoe that you need. my left foot, for example, turns in so i need a shoe with a substantial sole and more of a foundation on the insides of my foot to keep my left foot from turning in when i workout. I ALWAYS want whatever shoe is neon and the loudest at the store, and like i said - i always leave with nothing i would ever pick. womp womp. but when i am working out and my feet and legs feel great, i kinda want to hug those boring things.

also, did you know your feet really swell when you run/walk/workout? i normally wear a women size 9.5 or 10. usually they fit me for a 11-11.5 MENS running shoes. i mean, honestly? swallow your pride that you may be petite, girl, and just run to the closest rack of cool socks.  

no, really.

always, to make myself feel better for having to get a big ole man shoe, i just buy some great fun girly NEON socks to go with those boring shoes.

the shoes at fleet feet are not higher priced and you get more for your money with their expertise in knowing feet. and if you have any trouble with the shoes, you can return them, no questions asked. i got a wonky shoe a few years ago, just something wasn't right about the shoe. took them back, no receipt and they switched it out, no problem at all.

which ONLY MEANT, since i was there i had to just get more new socks...

this post was not sponsored in any way by fleet feet and is soley (pun intended) my opinion.  also, the picture of the adidas shoes up above are not the boring shoes i was referring to - i just pulled the picture from pinterest.

iworkout: the beginning.

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i've been going back and forth in my head (and trust me, poor poor head) about writing a series/information about working out.  exercise.

tips about...

shoes

socks

workout clothes

workouts

programs

motivation

etc

etc

the list goes on and on...

you see, i feel like i have much knowledge in these areas.  and although i do not always listen to my own advise and have been on the quest for the perfect body for twenty years now...in the past few years though, and especially this year i feel like i have tapped into something new that i would love to share.

so because this is my blog, and also because they are just helpful tips...what i would do...i think i will.  i never want to sound like a know it all (on here...i mean, with brad...maybe...KIDDING!).

so consider this your warning.  for the next few blogs they will be centered around how to meet those fitness goals you have for yourself.  and as i write to you, i am also writing to me.

so, thanks for reading.
now.  go lace up those sneakers.

on being kind.

day 8 of the blog every day in may challenge is a piece of advice you have for others.  

my piece of advise for you is...be kind.

love one another well.  think before you speak.  and always remember you never know what someone is going through, or what is going on in their lives.  being kids just may save someones life.  after all, it's not hard to be kind.

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just last week as i was able to get back on the treadmill for the first time in two weeks, i wrote about that here, i was moving slow, walking slow just trying to get in the groove and i thought to myself, i needed to be more aware and more kind...even in my thought process.  because USUALLY when i am at the YMCA i am BUSTING it because i know i have a long way to go.  if i see someone who appears healthy moving slow, walking slow on the treadmill, machines, whatever, i always THINK 'they really need to bump it up...i mean COME ON.'  and then last week as i was walking at a steady slow almost fast pace, i thought to myself.  YOU ARE THAT PERSON JESSICA.  

be kinder.  

in your thoughts.

in your actions.

here i am again.

i've struggled with weight my entire life.  (ugh, there i said it) i know more about nutrition, diets, eating right, healthy weight, incentives, the list goes one because my entire life...it has been my life.  

i have ran a half-marathon.  i have trained hard for that half-marathon. and i have felt the feeling of crossing that finish line.  the feeling of having legs that feel like they might just turn into spaghetti with one more step.  but better, the feeling that you just ran 13.1 miles and no one can take that away.  and even better, knowing that to run that far means that you have to be in good good shape.  

i have been there.  

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now i am here.  here where i need to loose weight again.  it's the most frustrating thing. ever.  if you have ever been in my shoes, you totally understand.  

it.  is.  so.  frustrating.  

i have always always let it hold me back.  i know for a fact that my chosen profession was mostly determined because i knew that children and families that you care for are going to love you no matter what.  and if i wasn't a super model or even just "normal" weight, the love is unconditional.  when i met brad, i was at my smallest weight to date.  and i am pretty confident god is in the details.  details like he knew that i would have never ever even dreamed that brad could have been interested in me if i looked like i see myself.  

like i still see myself today.

but this year, i have decided i have to get it together for once and for all.  i have got to let weight stop defining me.  i have got to stop hiding behind it.  i am worth more than that.

so i am doing it again.  only this time for good.  i know it.  i don't want to have to write another post like this.  i want to write another post telling you that i did it.  

that i am proud of who i am.  

proud of what i look like.

i want to be pretty.  

to feel pretty.

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on the way home from new years, when brad, bessie and myself went on a little ski trip where we didn't ski...bessie and i talked and talked and talked til we came up with this plan.  

with the help of the fitness pal app on our iphones, we were going to track our intake daily.  (do you have the fitness pal app, have you heard of it?  it is awesome.) and keep each other accountable.  

i need that.  

i have always done it alone.

because with my weight comes guilt and shame.

so i force myself to feel really alone.

accountability.  

Source: myfitnesspal.com via Clarissa on Pinterest

and we decided to make it a game (kinda).

here are the rules:

we have to workout five days a week.  no excuses.  five days.

we have to record all of our food on the fitness pal app.

{we can see each others progress this way}

oh crap.

then {the good good stuff to keep us going...}

after four weeks if we both did our part (eating right and working out our five days) we get a reward.  

if one of us messes up and doesn't do our part, then neither of us get the reward...

bessie better get to the gym.  thats all i'm saying. 

rewards thus far:

january - arrington vineyards afternoon

february - facial/body treatment we wound't normally do.

march - new workout outfit (helloooo lululemon!)

{and i think we will just repeat these to some degree after march}

i am so excited about march, not gonna lie.  

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my body is starting to feel the results too.  not only has the gym become a habit again, but it is so fun entering and keeping track of the food i eat and then watch as the scales cooperate with the plan.  so i'm a little OCD...

i have a personal goal (and it's a secret) that i want to be at by august. 

if i get there, trust me...you gonna know.

if i get there?

oh, i am sooo gonna get there.

Source: doctoroz.com via Jessica on Pinterest

so here's to me?  yes, me.  

and that's okay.  

because gosh darn it, i am worth it.

(did you see the SNL when michael jordan had to look in the mirror and say "and gosh darn it, people like me?"  ohhhhhhh my lord, it was hilarious. and just like that i am completely off track...)

help a sister out.  tell me what you do to stay on track.

download the fitness pal app and let's be friends.

i'm jessicamorrison on there.  

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happy thursday, my favorite friends.

taking care of me.

its harder than it should be. i have never been good at this and have fought with myself my entire life to do better.  and i do.  then i don't.  i feel the best about me when i am in the "let's take care of jessica mode" but then it goes away because it is an effort at every turn.  its not natural for me.

i think about others to a fault.  yesterday, i was telling my boss how when i go to the grocery, i make sure that i get the appropriate things for brad's lunch and for our dinner, but items that i need and want, i just don't buy.  i would rather spend the money on the things brad needs and wants and sacrifice myself.  which is silly, i am at the grocery store and i can't even take care of myself when it comes to simple choices such as brad like sugar free yogurt and i like yoplait so i get sugar free and just don't eat it.  it is really absurd.  just get the yogurt you like too, jessica.

my chosen profession, after graduating with a bachelors in special education has been to nanny.  to take care of children that are not my own.  also in being a nanny, you get the privilege of taking care of the family as a whole.  what you do for the parents child(ren) benefits everyone and makes their life easier.  also, its a profession where you are not in the equation any longer, if you are needed you go.  a dream job for me.  i am needed.

getting my hair done, i will put it off for any reason because that is taking hours out of the day that internally i think i should not be spending on me.  

working out?  fuuuugetabout it.  how selfish can you be?  as selfless as i know i truly am, its also my biggest downfall and frustrates me to no end.  the feeling that i feel leaving the salon with a fresh new cut is like no other, and leaving the YMCA after a bout of cardio leaves you fresh for hours.

yet i don't do it.  because it's selfish.  {except its not.}

but the past two weeks i have decided i will do it.  improving yourself and making you better for those around you is a part of life and growing and that is what i desire to be: better.  

for the past two weeks, i have taken time away, although sometimes it KILLS me, from things i would rather be doing for someone else and went to the gym.  i should say, back to the gym.  i'm not a complete couch potato, y'all.  and my hair - i got it done last month and am going to do so again this month.  i am.

taking time away from brad or the ones that i love to in turn take me better is just going to make every thing around me better.  because it will make me happier with me.  

that's where it all has to start.  so one day at a time i am going to lace up those shoes and take time for me.  without a cell phone to see who needs me - just me and the hum of the machines and i will get better.  and i will do better.  

because i am able and because i can. (and because she ain't as young as she used to be...)

p.s.  i bought myself a new toothbrush today AND some yogurt.  watch out!  i think i am going to call tomorrow and get a hair appointment.  i know!  just call me selfish.  please?  wait...no don't.  i might spiral out of control. (insert smiley face here...i crack myself up)

thank you for the therapy session and good day.