Reason for Everything.

You know what I did today? The Inflatable 5K. Did I die? No, but close enough.

Now let's go back to the beginning. I have been a yo-yo workout-er and dieter. I did sports in Junior High, refused them in High School and eventually got a gym membership I have had for the past 7 years. I have always gone for a month and then quit. Working out has never been something that I have kept up with, or my healthy eating habits.

I have done 2 Whole30's to try to train my body to eat better. The first was October 2014. I lost 14 pounds, was able to buy new jeans and felt AMAZING. Going out to eat was a struggle, the gym was a struggle and Halloween with no booze was a struggle! I kept up with it until I fell in love with a boy 6 hours away over Thanksgiving. 

We traveled a lot and ate out a lot. Eventually, he moved to be with me in March 2015 and we worked on getting our heads on straight. Us, and our roommate at the time, decided it was time for a Whole30. With our roommate and I having already been through it, we decided it should be a piece of cake. CJ (the boy) had never done one before and was freaking out. Mid-April 2015 we started our crazy journey. For Nessa (the roommate) and I, it was easier this time. Avoiding the bad-for-you-foods was the most difficult when we didn't want to cook. Regardless, we all lost approximately 17 pounds per person and felt amazing. CJ even proposed to me the weekend it ended and my engagement ring (fitted 2 months prior to this) was falling off! Kick in the following month of birthdays and 4th of July. We definitely kicked the healthy habit a little too quickly.



Now, to back track a little. During this last Whole30, Nessa, CJ and I decided it would be a fantastic idea to train for Conquer the Gauntlet, October 2015. We were eating right, working out and felt that we had adequate time to train. Fast forward to August, CJ had knee surgery. He was out of the picture. September spent back to school for me, Nessa in Europe for 3 weeks and CJ recovering. The gym never seemed to come back around. Good for us though, we wrote a sign saying "No Excuses" so when the time came, we had to do it! We also had Nessa's two-month along pregnant sister with us kicking our ass on the obstacles. I also had my, now sister-in-law, with us who trained for 1.5months (the beginning of her fitness journey) also kick our ass. They were total beasts! Being hyped up on adrenaline and sad about our failures, we decided to sign up for Warrior Dash in March, 2016. Nessa ended up moving out-of-state, so she didn't join us. CJ, Kaylee (the sis-in-law) and I were all signed up.



To prepare for the Warrior Dash, CJ and I signed up for Carol of the Lights 5K in December, 2015. It was 4 months out of surgery for him and another month of not working out for me. We still did it in 40 minutes which was awesome! Fast forward to Warrior Dash, another 2 months of not working out for any three of us. Fast forward a month, and you have CJ and I completing the Inflatable 5K.



I am super proud to say in the last 6 months I have done 3 obstacle races and 1 5K. I enjoyed doing them but was not proud of my progress at all. The first one, CTG, I failed nearly half of the obstacles and walked a lot. Completed it in 1.75 hours. The 5K, I seemed to do OK. Finished in 40 minutes. The Warrior Dash, I only failed one obstacle (but I tried) and walked most of it.

We completed it in 1 hour 10minutes. Today, I did all the obstacles, and ran more than Warrior Dash. We completed it in 50 minutes. I have been working on getting my ass to the gym and yesterday, CJ and I started the Whole30 again.

We never do the Whole30 110% but more like 102%. So that is good because it is extremely challenging for us. I started a monthly goal with April being bringing my 5K to 35minutes. I eventually want to start eating more paleo-like forever, enjoy cooking a lot more, run a half marathon and kick the obstacle races ass.

This blog is my journey to a better me and kicking life in the nuts. I will do my best to share what workout CJ made me do or what awesome recipe I tried almost daily. In the end, I hope this holds me accountable and motivates someone else to NEVER GIVE UP and ALWAYS TRY. Even if you think you suck at it!

XO, Sandra