Spartan Race

Last year, I signed up for and completed my first Spartan Race.  It was amazing.  Hard as hell, but amazing.  I was scared to death from the moment I registered last December until my race on July 13th.  I didn't know what to expect.  I was afraid of jumping over fire, and climbing the rope, as well as climbing everything else, since I'm terrified of heights!  But it's funny, my nerves completely left the day of the race, and I just went and had a great time.  I swam through a lake, that normally would have terrified me, I tried every single obstacle and did every burpee for the ones that I failed. This upcoming year, I am planning to go for my trifecta.  And that scares the crap out of me.  I am not a long distance runner, so thinking about running 13+ miles on top of doing obstacles has me shaking.  In honor of the Blue Mountain PA Spartan Race opening up for registration for 2015, I thought I'd post my review of last years race:

In order to get to the start line, we had to climb over a wall. I was expecting the walls to be difficult, but they turned out to be pretty easy for me (there were several). We had to go over, under, and through some. 

The first part was all up the mountain. There were some steep parts that required ropes to assist you up. I was surprised how easy the climb was for me, since I don't run as many hills as I did in VA, and I haven't hiked up mountains since living in Hawaii. There were several times where we had to go down a portion of the mountain, then back up. 

There was a cargo net wall we had to climb up and over. At one point, we had to carry sandbags a good way down the mountain, then back up again. That was the first place you saw a lot of people struggling. I had to stop a couple of times for a few seconds going back up and shift the sandbag from one side to the other, or in front of me. 

The spear throw is where I had to do my first set of 30 burpees. The way the Spartan Race works, is you can choose to not do a challenge and do 30 burpees instead, or if you fail at a challenge, you have to do 30 burpees, even though you tried. I never threw a spear in my life, so not surprisingly, it was no where near the target. 

Right after that was an obstacle where you had to pull sandbags attached to a rope and touch the top of the pulley with the sandbag and then slowly guide it back down to the ground. I read that the girl's sandbags weighed 85 lbs. There was of course barbed wire that we had to crawl, roll under, as well as some water in the mix there to crawl through. Oh, and we were getting sprayed in the face with water while doing it. 

We had to walk/swim across a pond, going under tubes that were across the pond (up and down several times). There were metal monkey bars that were completely different than the monkey bars at the park. To me, I feel like they're not really fair to short people.  It seems impossible to be able to reach for each bar if you're my height.  Luckily Bart was allowed to help guide me there, as I didn't practice enough to try it on my own. 

Anyway, one of the worst parts for me was going down the mountain. I always hate going down, because of my fear of falling. I fell twice, once with my butt landing on a sharp rock. Ouch!  That hurt for days :-)  But we made it. 

The rope climb is where I am disappointed. I didn't have a rope to practice on, and I let my fear get in the way with this one. I tried, but chose to just stop and do burpees, because I didn't feel I had it in me to do it without falling. Right after that was a bucket carry. We had to fill a 10 gallon bucket with stones, then carry the bucket up and down a hill. This was the hardest challenge by far. You could literally only take a few steps before you had to stop and rest. Carrying the bucket on your shoulders was not allowed, and there was no handle. Downhill was much easier than up, then you had to lift the bucket up and dump the rocks at the end. I was most proud of myself here, because not once did I want to quit or cry. 

We then had to walk back up a portion of the mountain. The traverse wall is where I did my 3rd set of burpees. I tried, but didn't make it very far. Again, I've never even attempted this before, and nowhere to practice. There was a cargo net monkey bar obstacle over water that also forced me to do burpees. I tried and fell, getting a mouthful of water. It seemed like the majority of the people were falling there. There were several other obstacles, too, but these are the ones that are still on my mind. 

It took us awhile to finish, because Bart was dealing with some nasty leg cramps the entire time. It seemed like a lot of men were dealing with those cramps. Bottom line, the Spartan Race was amazing. I'm extremely proud of myself for facing my fears, and not letting the thought of quitting cross my mind even once. I am proud of trying every single obstacle, even though I was stressing over them for months prior. I find it funny that when it came time to race, I didn't even think about what was in front of me, I just did it. I am thrilled to have jumped over the fire to the finish line with my best friend, my husband, by my side. 

Getting that medal around my neck was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. This race was more of an emotional challenge for me than anything. I trained, I fought, and I did it. I am a Spartan. It was my first Spartan Race, but most definitely will not be my last.  AROO!

Diet? Eat Clean? What?

I think I may be the average fitness expert's worst nightmare.  I don't diet.  I don't eat clean.  I don't follow Paleo, I don't count macros.  I don't even know what it means to count macros.  I just eat. I am not a lover of vegetables, and I don't eat a lot of fruit (except for during the summer).  I eat for taste......I think about food when I'm running......and most of the time, I start my day off with a big chocolate chip pancake.  I'm a huge carb lover.  And I love me some pizza!

I've had an unhealthy relationship for as long as I can remember.  As a kid, we would go to the grocery store, unload the groceries, and I would just think about all the snacks we bought and have a hard time deciding where to start first.  Cookies?  Ice Cream?  Candy?  I still have that unhealthy obsession as an adult at times.  I go to the gym, and I think about what I'm going to eat later as I'm lifting weights.  I go for a run, and I think about my lunch or dinner that day, or the Java Chip Frappachino I may be getting from Starbucks later.

I personally don't agree with "dieting".  I can't say I've ever attempted to go on a diet, because I knew I would fail.  I may do well to start, but I know it wouldn't last.  However, all the fast food and sweets I was eating was keeping me from seeing the results I wanted to see from all of my hard work at the gym.  I couldn't figure out how I could work out so much, yet still have love handles, jiggly thighs, and a protruding belly.

I'm the type of person that if you tell me to do something (when it comes to my diet and exercise), I'm not going to do it until I'M ready to do it.  You can tell me that if you lift this way or do it this way, it will help you improve.  But until I decide on my terms that it's what is best for me, or that I even care to attempt it, I'm not going to listen.  That's one of my biggest downfalls in life. If I would have listened to my husband years ago, I would have started running sooner - "I can't run.  I burn just as much calories walking" - and I would have realized I could do pull-ups a lot sooner - "I'm never going to be strong enough to do a pull-up, so why even try?".  I am my own worst enemy.  I hold myself back at times.  But once I put my mind to something - watch out!

That's where I had to get to when it came to my diet.  I had to WANT to and be willing to make the change.  I had read articles about how bad soda is for you.  And how people lost so much weight just giving up soda alone.  I went years telling myself that I could never give it up, because it tasted so good with pizza, and tuna salad, and burgers and fries, and I drink one at the most a day, so it won't make that much of a difference if I give it up.  But one day, that switch flipped, and I slowly started cutting back.  I allowed myself 1 a week for awhile, and finally, I weaned down to none.  I can't tell you the last time I had a soda. I can tell you, though, that I lost some inches in my waist, and I have very little water retention (which was once a big issue for me).

Since I no longer drink soda, I have also seemed to have lost my love for fast food.  It just doesn't taste the same without that soda :-)  And that's ok with me.  Now, if the family convinces me to eat it, I just feel gross after doing so.  It's just not the same.  Of course, Chick-fil-a is the exception.  Ha ha.

I also decided I wanted to see what I could do to cut back on the fattening lunches I ate.  I'm extremely picky.  My daily lunches consisted of macaroni and cheese or frozen pizza.  I have never been able to just eat a salad and be satisfied.  I started replacing the macaroni and cheese and frozen pizza with scrambled eggs or a cheese omelette.  Again, after a few weeks, I started to notice a positive change in my body.

My biggest addiction is sweets.  I baked all the time, and of course, I ate what I baked.  It was bad - like, crying if we didn't have any sweets in the house kind of bad.  I knew it was an addiction, and I knew it wasn't a healthy one.  I needed to find some way to control the cravings and cut back.  I decided that instead of brownies, cake, or ice cream, I would allow myself to eat a few squares of Dove Dark Chocolate.  Within a couple of weeks, my sweet cravings were pretty much gone.  Don't get me wrong, I still get them - just not every single day. And I give in to them on occasion without feeling guilty.

Bottom line is, I have learned through my own personal experience that limiting myself to certain things, but not cutting them out completely works best for me (with the exception of soda - it tastes gross to me now).  I have noticed a tremendous change in my body since starting with cutting out soda, then taking other "baby steps" to improve my overall diet.  If I want cake, I eat cake.  But I don't allow myself to eat it every night like I used to.

I am still a work in progress.  I know that over time, I will continue to improve my eating habits. If you're interested in my advice, don't start a fad diet because someone said it worked for them. Guaranteed, they won't be able to stick with that diet for long, and when they stop, they will likely gain back any inches or weight that they gained.  When it comes down to it, it's all about making a lifestyle change.  Switch things out, or eliminate things one by one.  If you deprive yourself of everything at once, you will be less likely to stick with it.  I still eat pizza, french fries, burgers, pancakes, chocolate, etc.  But I do my best to make better food decisions than I have in the past.  And for now, that is working for me :-)

If you're looking for a fun challenge that will help you with your fitness, give you the chance to win some awesome prizes, and even donates to breast cancer research, please join myself and my fellow teammates, the #Beastmodebeautifuls in our #fallintoshape challenge on Instagram.

We're also having a bonus "OnFridaysWeWearPink challenge to support #teamMichele and #teamNicki, where you can win a $20 Bendactive gift card.

Also, during the month of October, if you purchase from Bendactive, use the code "beastmodebeautifuls", and they will automatically donate 20% of sales to Breast Cancer Research!

Do you have what it takes to be Beastmodebeautiful?  If so, make sure to follow all the hosts and sponsors on Instagram:

Hosts:

@staceybeatty84
@kparker718
@i2ampossible
@tara_lynnraz
@mmdlhawk
@klboyernc
@mamarazza
@periodictabledancer

Sponsors:

@bendactive
@movemorefitness
@flexitpink
@ruffleswithlove

Hope to see you join in!

Here we go!

Since I have been given the amazing opportunity to become a Fitfluential Ambassador, I decided to go ahead and create a blog!  This is my first ever blog, so please bare with me as I figure it all out.
I'm very excited to get started and to talk fitness with you all!

I'm very passionate about living a healthy lifestyle, and setting a positive example for my children.  I want them to grow up seeing that exercise should be a regular part of their lives.  So far so good, because both my son and daughter have joined in on some fitness Instagram challenges with me :-)

Please go to http://fitfluential.com/ and check out their blog. They have amazing recipes, workouts, and product reviews that will help you kick start your fitness goals, or help you as you continue on with your healthy lifestyle.

Also, if you are just getting started, or if you have been exercising for a long time, head over to Instagram and check out the #sweataday challenge with Under Armour, Under Armour Women, and Shauna Harrison.  Give them all a follow, and join in on the #sweatadayfamily.  It's an amazing community, plus you have the opportunity to win some awesome Under Armour gear!

You can also follow me at @staceybeatty84.  I participate in #sweataday, as well as many different yoga challenges.  All of my yoga is self taught through Instagram.  I'm loving seeing what my body is capable of!  Also, myself and my #beastmodebeautfuls teammates are hosting a challenge called #FallIntoShape for October with a bonus #OnFridaysWeWearPink challenge.  Come join in on the fun!

I'm excited to start this journey with you all!