A bedtime story

Once upon a time there was a girl that liked to run.

"Hey! Let's sign you up for the LA Marathon," her coach said. And so she did. And she was very excited. Then one day she felt some pain and it didn't go away. Instead, it grew and grew until finally she went to a doctor. For weeks the doctor tried to fix her knee.

The doctor used terms like meniscus and mushy. 

"You cannot run that marathon," the doctor finally said.

"Well, shit," the girl said.

While I'm sitting here, tell me; Do you have a story about an injury? How long was your recovery time? TELL ME EVERYTHING.

XX,
Jess.
@paperback_lifter

Change of Perspective

 Hey Internets!

Manuel is back with another motivating post for us! This one is solid. Manny reminds me ALL THE TIME to keep my head in the game, and I hope he does that for you too. Here we go!

xx,
Jess
@paperback_lifter


     So I started writing this couple days ago and was not happy with it. The title kept ringing

in my head but I just couldn’t get it done. Until today that I read these quotes

“remember how far you’ve come, not just how far you have to go” and “you may not be

where you want, but not where you were.”

     We’ve all heard these before or some sort of variation; like the cup half full or half

empty kind’ a thing - which I still get confused. But to me it resounds truer than ever

especially on the ever-elusive quest of personal fitness. Side note - had to make sure

‘truer’ is right just in case Professor Danger got on my case. (Prof. D. here: He's right.)

     See, I love working out because it’s a parallel of life – you get what you put into it. Same

with our bodies, we feel and perform according to what we eat. So it’s all connected –

ok, got sidetracked, ADD is kicking in. My point is… If you’re like me that am too hard on

myself, ease off some of the pressure. Now don’t slack off, keep pressing – literally.

     Even if you’re “back to square one” – I was playing monopoly recently – (gosh this ADD

thing). My… point… is… Every major change takes time and perseverance and there are

no shortcuts. But you can focus on what you have left or how much you have

accomplished. So far it’s working well.

     Hope you’re having a great week. If not, change your perspective 

Let’s go!

Manuel.

Day 20

Hey! It's Tuesday! I weighed in with my coach this morning:

149.1 pounds
67.0 SMM
19.1 % body fat

So, my body fat is down 03%. I gained 1.5 pounds BUT my SMM is up 1.1 so I'm pleased. (Do you hear that, Gregg? I'm pleased!)

Yesterday I was heading to a fancy dinner with my husband and I knew that there would be NOTHING for me to eat, so I packed a pork chop and a sweet potato in my purse. I was immediately pissed.

I am. So. Sick. of PURSE FOOD.

And my husband knew it, so instead he took me out to dinner at this cool little gastro pub in Carlsbad called The Compass. They server was SO NICE and she let me bombard her with questions and she brought me EXACTLY what I wanted. And it was delicious. And I didn't have to cook it!

I threw the pork chop away. DEFINITELY still ate the sweet potato.

It was a welcome reprieve.

xx,
Jess.
@paperback_lifter
P.S. Check out my Instagram page! I started my marathon training. You can poke fun at how slow I am !

How Bad Do You Want It?

 Hey Internets!
Today we have a nice little gem of a post from one of my teamates, Manuel. Here's a little sneak peek into what goes on in that head of his when we train together. He's an awesome training partner and I am so excited to share this post with you.

xx,
Jess.
@paperback_lifter



Defeat disappointment, annihilate weakness, and punish the competition… Those words

kept ringing in my ear throughout a nice workout this morning. Who is the competition?

For me, it is myself… I don’t worry about the next person. That takes care of itself. If I

keep pushing I know eventually I’ll get to a point where I can pick a “rabbit” to go after.


Today was one of those workouts that you’re like “Shit, I don’t know if I’m gonna finish

this.” You look left and right, back and forth for an excuse. Oooh, my hands hurt, I’m out

of breath, my legs are sore, etc. But trust me, when you keep those words in your head,

you keep yourself in check. You don’t have to be the strongest or the fastest; God knows

I’m not. Go lighter in weight if you have to, there’s no shame on that. I did today, and do

often. Just make sure it is something that gets you out of a comfort zone safely and is

one more step towards being the best version of you.


By the way, those words: “defeat disappointment, annihilate weakness, and punish the

competition” are not my own. I encourage you to watch this video every so often and

tell me what you think in the comments.

How Bad Do You Want It?

Let’s go!

Manuel

p.s. sorry about the ads on the video.

We Did It!

Look! Cory completed his first Obstacle Course Race!

He loved it! The second we crossed the start line he was on fire! I knew we were on to something when he snapped at the people walking in front of us on the stairs. I was like, "Dang! Here comes the competitive side!" It was SO. MUCH. FUN.

And! And! And!

There was a partner carry obstacle. Yup. I did it. I carried him on my back for the second half. SURE AS HELL DID.

And then, to top it all off, at the end of the day we had a nice little Team Building Experiment. On the side of the 405.

The team "Magic Bus" broke down. Here's my husband, my training partner Manny, and my Coach Gregg. Our final obstacle of the day took hours, but we had a great time even on the side of the road.

Speaking of Manny, make sure you come back tomorrow! He is guest blogging and it is SOLID. You'll want to read it. You really will.

Happy Sunday All,

Jess.

@paperback_lifter

Tuesday Weigh In

Back into the gym this morning for our regularly scheduled programming (that's always funny!). Its TUESDAY!!! That's weigh in day folks. So here we go, Internets.

150.8 pounds
20.6 % body fat
66.1 SMM

Nothing to write home about. That stomach bug tossed my SMM in reverse for a minute, but that's okay. We shall overcome...

After I dropped the kids off I popped over to Sprouts (a sweaty mess OF COURSE) and ran around like a madman trying to get a few groceries before work. I tried to only purchase ingredients, as opposed to food products, so that when I do have time to sit down and meal prep I will be prepared. Sweet P's, chicken, lots of veggies, apples, bananas, peppers, onions, so on...

But then I grabbed a Chocolate Chip Complete Cookie. Because, simple carbs yo!

Thursday! Thursday! Thursday!

XX,
Jess.
@paperback_lifter