Progress Pictures!! YAY

March 20, 2014

January 8, 2014

Progress pictures? What a treat! :D I love to do progress pictures. They tell you such a different, happy story than the scale does. Please excuse the messy, messy bedroom behind me. It's been a long week.

So I realize that it doesn't look like much, but my body is a hoarder. It really likes to keep on the weight and the fat. It HATES to loose anything. So this is a big difference for me. I am very excited. I am

March 20, 2014

January 8, 2014

 itching to go for a run or lift some weights. I really want to be able to keep my progress on track. Since I can't do any of those workouts (as I mentioned in previous posts, I have a foot injury) I am going to stick to swimming and eating as healthy as I can. I need to keep this progress moving forward!

Charger Girl Auditions 2014

http://brittanygharring.blogspot.com/2010/05/charger-girls.html

So! The dates have officially been announced April 6, 2014. The official preliminary auditions for the San Diego Charger Girls. There have been announcements, women getting butterflies from being nervous, and judges preparing everything for the days that will decide 28 women's new lives.

Some of the requirements that go into attending and participating in this audition:

• You must be at least 18 years old by the date of the preliminary audition. There is no maximum age limit.
• There are no height or weight requirements.
• Team members must have flexible schedules for twice-weekly rehearsals, games and appearances during and prior to the season.
• Team members must attend a mandatory weekend mini-camp.
• Team members must have a means of transportation.

Make sure that you are ready for a full year commitment! The Charger Girls organization is not something that you can just put the minimal effort in and skate on by. These ladies put a lot of hard work into the program and really have pride in what they are doing. Make sure you are doing the same. 

For the audition process, make sure you fill out the application! It is vital to fill it out to the best of your ability so that the judges get to know you and what you are really like, before they have a chance to meet you. Treat this like you would applying for a job position. You need to put your best foot (and face) forward. 

I wish you all good luck! I really hope this process is everything you hoped for. Look for my next blog post, on March 28, about Flavia Berys and her 

For the full article of information, click this link: http://www.chargers.com/charger-girls/auditions.html

Workout of MY Week! #2

This is the second segment of my workout week. Last week was a pretty rough one, pinching a nerve in my foot. I wasn't able to workout as well as I normally do. I was stuck doing swimming workouts. Don't get me wrong! I LOVE to swim, but I felt like it wasn't really a workout. I have been resting it and been working on getting back to putting some fierce workouts on the board.

Sunday - 30 Minute swim

Monday - Rest Day (I tweaked my foot again at work - BOO!)

Tuesday - 30 minutes of weight training and stretching

Wednesday - 30 minute swim

Thursday - Rest Day (I knocked out for 12 hours)

Friday - Walk around the zoo AND bowling

Saturday - 30 minute walk

Review of my week: So this week wasn't the comeback that I was hoping for. My foot has been causing all kinds of chaos because I keep hurting it and then leaning heavily on my right leg which has a bad knee and is making that hurt/bad. My boyfriend has put me on a strict two week - no (hard) workout rule so I am stuck with swimming and walking slowly around until my foot is better.

DISCLAIMER: Injuries are serious! If you have a serious injury or have persisting pain, PLEASE consult your doctor. Do NOT take the advice of myself, other websites, or your friends and family. My injury is not a major one and is just stress and strain from pushing too hard. Do NOT ignore the signals your body is sending you just to get your workout in. It WILL make it soooo much worse and is totally not worth it.

Success - I Must Have IT !!!

I have been thinking about this blog a lot and how I can use it to better my life. One of the things that I realized was that my goals are a little off. Don't misunderstand me - I am in no way, shape, or form giving up, giving in, or quitting on any of my goals. I am editing them. I am changing them. I am making a promise to myself: to be nicer to myself. I have always been so harsh and very much a perfectionist. I want to be nicer to myself and be able to not put so much unnecessary burden on myself. Therefore, I am not making it my goal to become a Charger Girl in 2015. That is my life dream. I am going to work as hard as I can to make that dream a reality but my goal regarding the Charger Girls is to go into the 2015 auditions and be able to go through the process confidently, knowing that I am as prepared and as ready as I will ever be. Becoming part of the squad is not something that I can control. I can work hard, get in shape, and be ready for the auditions and that is what I am going to do. This is my goal! YAAA! EMPOWERMENT! WHOO! (sorry a little excited)

Now recently I've been thinking about success in people's lives. I follow Marie Forleo and Alison Howard and several other successful entrepreneurs. I wonder what they define as success. There are so many ways to measure success. I wonder if they know when they've made it? This was what led me to revise my Charger Girl Goal. My measurement of success was not something that I could control or actively be a part of. I had to change my goal to get the right definition of success that I was comfortable with.

My definition of success is different for my goals:
                    Entrepreneur Goal - To have a large loyal customer base and to be putting out efficient content and copy that is not only interesting but solicited.
                    Charger Girls Goal - To prepare as best as I can, not letting an opportunity to prepare me go by, and to walk into the 2014-2015 Charger Girls Audition confident, knowing that I am as prepared and as ready as I ever will be.
                    Financial Goal - To be able to invest in several different assets, learn financial intelligence and apply it as much as I can, and to be at a point where I can donate to a variety of charities and still not have to worry about working.
                    Personal Life Goal - To be the best person that I can be, demonstrated by the type and strength of relationships I have in my life.

I am curious - what do you define success as? Do you have an idea of when you will know you made it? What are your different goals? Comment on this post to start the juicy discussion!

Jason Lee's Post about Goal Setting Theory

Jason Lee took the time to write down - and record - his theory about goal setting. He starts off right away saying that this is his view of how to become successful achieving your goals. He mentions that he is not trying to convince anyone that this is the 'right' way or the 'only' way - it's just the way that has been working for him. I must say that I admire his approach with this topic. Too many of the articles that I have seen over the years have claimed 'This is how you achieve your goals' or 'Do this and you will be happy!' Jason takes the time to say that there are many ways to have success and be happy. He then states that his message from the article that he wants his readers to take away from it is "Become the person you want to attract into your life, both in the friends arena and the partner arena."

If you want to read his full article, click this link -> http://www.mlmblogpost.com/goal-setting-theory/

Now I want to take a minute to go over what he says in length. He talks about have health and fitness goals. He talks about how we all make these goals and either focus on them or completely disregard them. When we disregard the goals we set in place, it becomes a sore subject and makes us bitter and angry. Then we start bringing those feelings and emotions into other places in our lives. We start this long domino effect on our lives because we promised ourselves something and didn't fulfill them. He advises us to make our goals seriously and to focus on each part of our lives. He tells us that we shouldn't leave parts of our lives in the dark. We should always pay attention to each part at least to give it some attention and prevent it from disrupting the other parts of our lives.

I think we should all take this message to heart. Tell me about a time that you have let your emotions on one subject influence the outcome on another. Tell me how you resolved the situation and what you can do to prevent it from happening again. Email me at knwhite16@gmail.com. :)

Workout of My Week! #1

This is the first segment of the revised segment! I am super excited this week because I can report that I am doing pretty well.

Sunday - Rest Day

Monday - 1 mile, .5 walk, 30 balance squats, 10 70-lb weight push ups, and 2 sets of 10 on each arm of bicep curls.

Tuesday - 30 minutes of swimming/laps

Wednesday - 30 crunches, 60 side crunches (30 on each side), and a 2 mile jog at the bay

Thursday - Lazy Day

Friday - 2 mile run at the bay

Saturday - Swimming laps

So, unfortunately on Friday, I seemed to have pinched a nerve in my foot as I was doing my run. I won't be able to do any heavy workouts for awhile. I am however going to be doing cardio by swimming and going to keep my diet as clean as I can while I am injured. This injury is not going to set me back. I don't have time to restart all over again. I am going to keep this going.

Update on Workout of MY Day Segment

So....by now you probably realize that I am not very good at posting my workout every single day. I also haven't been very consistent about working out every day. The past weekend was my birthday weekend, I am officially 21!! I did take the past three-ish days off because of this. I have to have a whole weekend for my birthday. Duh! Anyways, today is Monday and today starts crack down on workouts and eating. We are going to bust some butt and get mine in some hot summer shape.

So, instead of doing a Workout of MY Day, we are changing this segment to Workout of MY Week. This way I don't keep disappointing you and I can still keep up to date. I also got a new hair color too! This has really pumped me up and helped me get in the mode to become a Charger's Girl.

I am posting on Friday the update for this week.

My Struggle

Going through a life transformation isn't fun. It is hard, sweaty, emotional, and just plain not fun. Changing your life and your life habits is one of the hardest things I think one tries to do in life. But it can also be one of the most rewarding tasks. I believe that struggling to achieve my health and fitness goal is going to make me a better person. I have learned so much about myself since I have fully committed myself to this and I know that there is so much more to learn. The first thing I have learned is that I have a few voices in my head. (I know what you are thinking - she's a weirdo!) These voices are not telling me to do strange and horrible things. They are the voices that act as your conscious or narrator of your life. I have learned that these voices have different personalities. These are the personalities I have discovered so far:

-The nice, supportive one: This voice is all about supporting me. This is the voice that says "Go you! You can do it! You are so strong! Whoo!" (So this voice is a little too peppy - don't judge me)

-The depressing, negative one: This voice is all about being negative. This is the voice that says "You can't do this. You aren't strong enough! Just give up."

-The cruel, hurtful one: This voice is the worst. This is the voice that says "What are you doing? You don't deserve to be in shape and healthy. You deserve to be exactly the way you are - overweight and awkward. You don't deserve to be happy like all of the other women. Stop trying to pretend like you will ever feel or look like them."

I realize that what these voices say are not all the truth, but this is what I am struggling with. I struggle to ignore the voice that tells me I'm not worth it. I struggle to ignore the voice that says I can't. I struggle to hear the voice that says I am strong enough. I struggle to believe in myself. I struggle to believe that I am worth it. I have been one of those individuals who have yo-yo dieted and said that I am going to start working out and I will achieve my goals this time! That has never happened. I have never achieved that goal. I have always let myself down. I don't keep promises to myself.

This round has changed. I joined the Facebook group No Excuse Moms and have followed Maria Kang's advice. I have also really started to listen to Marie Forleo every time she says that I am worth it and the world needs my specific, special voice. Repeating this phrase has really helped me come to believe it.

My dream to become a part of the Charger Girls squad will not become a reality if I just give up. It will not become a reality if I just listen to the different voices and take them to be truth. I want to be a Charger Girl more than I want to believe these voices. I am going to continue to struggle. I am going to continue to work. I am going to continue to succeed and I hope that you can too.

Please let me know of any struggles you are going through. Feel free to talk to me about anything you may need. You can email me at knwhite16@gmail.com. Don't listen to those voices.

5 Links to Help You Achieve Success

Hey All! I realize that as entertaining as all of my posts must be, there is a vast amount of information out there floating around the Internet. I wanted to give you a few links to help you with completing your goals. This also helps me because I have to read these links and figure out if the advice they give is actually effective or relevant to what I have been talking about here. So here it goes:

1) http://www.sitepoint.com/tips-to-help-you-achieve-goals/ - this article helps you learn what steps to take to actually achieve your goals. There are 10 simple tips that cover how everything from just starting out with the goal to how to keep yourself motivated and going after you get burned out. My favorite tip from this website is focusing on positive thinking. This is something that I constantly struggle with and really need to focus on to get more success.

2)http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_90.htm - this article talks about five golden rules to goal setting. As I am sure a lot people have heard, (but if you haven't, I am going to tell you again here) one of the best ways to gain success with setting and achieving goals is to create SMART goals. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Bound.

3) https://habitrpg.com/static/front - This is a new app. I know what you are saying, "An App? You don't even have a smart phone!" Well, you are right, I don't but I have a tablet and this is something awesome that I am starting to use. It is this awesome app that you can play anywhere. It is a game version of your To-Do list. For those who sit at home just staring at a plain, boring to-do list, check this out! It is free, fun, and you can reward with yourself with episodes of Game of Thrones or the right to eat a piece of cake. It can really help you gain good habits, get rid of bad ones, and focus on getting closer to achieving your goals.

4) http://www.marieforleo.com/2014/02/how-to-stay-focused/#more-5615 - Marie Forleo is my Internet mentor. I like to pretend she is speaking directly to me when I watch her videos and I LOVE her hair. How does she get such fabulous hair?! Anyways, besides me rambling on about Marie's hair, this is a link to a video that she put out. In it, Marie interviews Dr. Ned Hallowell about why smart people always underperform. His main idea was all about that smart people fail to prioritize. They fail to actually figure out what they need to do first and what is the most important. He suggests making your goals a part of your routine and to make sure you have a plan in place to follow through with each and every part of your goals.

5)http://updates.lifehacker.com/post/34761614793/the-get-off-your-ass-manifesto-how-to-motivate - This is probably one of the most interesting links that I have to share with you. The "Get Off Your Ass Manifesto" is the author's answer to the question of completing your goals. The author mentions that creating this full out manifesto for your goals helps you to keep focus when you feel like your motivation is wavering. This manifesto is helpful to you when you are working on goals because it focuses on the 'why.' So instead of figuring out how you are going to go about achieving your goals, this manifesto will help you figure out why you have picked this goal and why it is important to you.


I hope these links are of use to you and actually make a difference throughout your journey. I know that I have started using some of the suggestions and taking the advice for my journey. Feel free to tell me you loved the links or that you thought they were a waste of your time and you really don't like me anymore. I just want to talk to people. Talk to me! ;P

Workout of MY Day 3/5/14

http://www.unathleticmag.com/2010/05/17/chargers-girls-tryouts-were-no-joke/

This past week hasn't been going the way I want it to. I find out that I am officially down 7 pounds and I am super motivated to go workout! Then I get home and really just want to watch some tv and relax. I feel like I am letting so many people down when I don't workout. I didn't even stretch today. :( I just was not feeling it. Tomorrow will be better. I have work until late and will be able to go straight to the gym right afterwards. Make sure you keep me accountable! I have a long ways to go to be able to look like her. <-- Anyways, Friday is my updated picture day! I will be uploading those with a comparison from two months ago and then we can get this party started!

Workout of MY day! 3/3-4/2014

http://www.chargers.com/charger-girls/

Today (3/3) was the day after the Charger Girl Pre-Audition workshop. OH GOSH!!! I am soooo sore. Let me tell you - that workout was nothing I was prepared for. I am going to incorporate some of the moves we learned into my daily workout. I actually was not really able to walk much today, so instead of going to the gym and doing a full workout, I stayed home and stretched out. I worked on my splits and then I practiced the choreography they taught us and some choreography that I had learned from a few videos online. This is already March and I have a long way to go if I want to be ready by next April. This Saturday I am going to Crossfit that is offered at my gym. We will see how sore I am going to be after that workout! Today (3/4) I had a turkey sandwich, a Yoplait Orange Creme yogurt, and some orange juice with lots of water. We are having some barbeque chicken for dinner and are looking forward to an awesome week. By the way, I am officially down 5 pounds! I am going to post an update of my progress pictures on Friday, so don't forget to remind me! I need to be kept on track. I have a long way to go but when I get there, all I can say is Charger Girls, get ready because you have no idea how much I am going to shake things up for you!

Charger Girl Pre-Audition Workshop

My fabulous look for today:)

Today was the Charger Girls Pre-Audition Workshop. I have to say, even though I was so nervous I thought I might turn and run at any second, I am sooooo happy I went. This was probably the best thing that I could have done to help me on my journey. I had a lot of fun and it was really something that helped me find out where I am and how much further I have to go. Also, I was fortunate enough to buy one of the Charger Girl's calendar for this year. I have been wanting one for a long time and fortunately they were still selling them! Anyways, I think that being able to go to this workshop was something that helped get me on Lisa's (the director) and a few other current Charger Girl's radar. I know Brianna and she was super nice, agreeing to meet with me to help me work on the fitness and health aspect of the audition. We learned a wonderful dance that we then did a mock audition with. I will be posting a video of the dance later this week. I have to say I really enjoyed this process. I was happy to be dancing and performing again. I picked up the material really well. Now we need to work on being in shape and getting the dance perfected. Ahhhh! I am so excited for my audition next year. I have got to work my hardest. I know that I can do this. I know that I can make it. I just need to give it my all and focus. My training starts this week and we won't go back!

http://www.chargers.com/charger-girls/index.html

Workout of My..Weekend

http://fox5sandiego.com/2013/09/04/photos-charger-girls-unveil-their-2013-calendar

So the past three days have been super busy. There has been a huge storm that has hit and I really haven't done much since it started. So, here is my post for my workout on 2/27/14. I ran 2 miles! Now, think about this. I haven't ran very much and I certainly don't run super fast. I ran TWO miles. 2! And it was a lot easier than you may think it was for me. I wasn't able to sprint it, but I started and I didn't stop. This has been an amazing progress journey. I am excited for next week. We up the workouts. 2 miles is the warm up. I have to either do weight lifting afterwards or I stretch and practice dance. I also am starting Crossfit once every week. If I really want to get in shape for Charger Girls, I have got to put some serious time in the workout portions. I mean come on, if I am to be able to take this type of picture, I have got some serious work to do. Go Brianna!

Now I say all of this is going to start next week and you may be thinking that I am saying that because I am too lazy to start right now. Well, sorta, but I actually am taking this weekend off. Tomorrow is the Charger Girls Audition Prep Class and I do not want to be exhausted and not able to do my best. Today I am going to stretch and practice some of my pirouettes, but that is going to be the extent of my workout today. So wish me luck tomorrow! I am going to post a full review/what I learned segment when I get back. So excited!

Workout of MY day 2/25-26/14

http://www.chargers.com/charger-girls/

Well obviously I didn't get around to posting yesterday, but I am making up for it today - kinda. I wanted to post for yesterday and today's workout. Yesterday I was only able to run 1.5 miles. My body is tired and I haven't been eating as much as I thought I would. I have been eating super healthy this week. The only junk food I have had this week was one pop tart (NOT the whole package) and a little bit of 7-up. Today's workout is I am hoping a long stretch session and a dance practice. Let's see if this is actually going to happen. I promise you some type of workout will happen. I have at least three more workouts until the workshop.

I am sorry. I was not able to fulfill my promise yesterday. (I'm writing this on 2/27). I was not able to go do any type of workout yesterday. I was able to do a bike ride down to my local grocery to pick up a free groceries for dinner but other than that I was not able to get a workout in. Now, this was not about not having enough time to do my workout. I was more than willing and able to make time for my workout. The reason I did not work out is because I learned a very valuable lesson about how important nutrition is. I didn't have very much to eat and this caused me to get so weak I almost passed out from my short bike ride. That would not have been very good. So, we are working on keeping out blood sugar up, eating plenty, and staying hydrated. On to the next day!

Workout of MY day 2/24/14

http://www.chargers.com/charger-girls/index.html

Today's workout consists of a very long run of 2-3 miles. I am hoping to be able to complete at least 3 miles. I am working towards completing a 5K run in April of this year and this is part of my training. I am also working my  hardest this week because as I said in my last post, the Charger Girls audition prep class is this weekend. Wish me luck! I will update with my results.


Did 2 miles today!! :) can't wait until tomorrow's workout.

Charger Girls Prep Class

http://article.wn.com/view/2013/07/11/Charger_Girls_A_look_back_at_the_2012_squadPart_1_San_Diego_/

This Sunday, March 2nd, is the Charger Girls Audition Prep Class. I am signed up and ready to go! This week I am going to bust my butt to be able to show them what I got this weekend. I know that I am not planning on auditioning until next year, but I want to get a feel for what it is going to be like. This workshop is going to be my ticket in to the squad. I am going to learn as much as I can from this experience. I am super excited to see everything start coming together.

My plan for this week is to eat 90% clean and workout every single day of this week. My neighbor is coming to the rescue and helping me with my makeup the day of and I am settling for a big, curly hairstyle. I am hoping that my weight doesn't hold me back too much, as I am very nervous about going. This is my chance to do an undercover snooping of the actual process of auditioning. I am more worried about my attire and appearance than anything. This will not deter me!  I am going to this workshop and I am going to learn all about this process and if I am the odd one out, well so be t. I will not allow my insecurities hold me back from preparing and learning all that I can before my actual audition.

Wish me luck! :s

Workout of MY day! 2/19/14

Today's workout of my day is a nice long cardio day! I am running from my house to the Mission  Bay RV Park here in San Diego. This is about a 4 mile run, there and back. I accomplished this run two days ago (yesterday was weight lifting day) and it was fabulous. Wish me luck! I will edit this post when I have completed my workout. :)

Update: I was able to do a 2 mile run at the gym. I wasn't able to make it down to the park before it got too dark. We will try this again this week!

Goal #1

My goal is to become one of these amazing girls:

http://www.chargers.com/multimedia/photo-gallery/Charger-Girls---Bengals-vs-Chargers/22cf69a1-03a0-4599-838c-d88ac53f875d#eded7c74-246f-4a9e-921f-59879b569f96

I am working on keeping this goal at the front of my mind everyday. I am not perfect. I have been working out on and off. I have gone more than a week without working out. I have not been eating great. But what keeps me coming back and trying again is being able to see these beautiful ladies. Plus, when I stare at my fitness calendar and see all of those big red X's has helped me get working again.

I am also learning how to be nicer to myself. Instead of saying "helped me get my big, lazy butt working again," I have identified the fact that this is negative language. I have identified that this isn't the right way to go about my health journey. I have to be able to love myself and the only way I am going to do that is if I am nice. When I show up for these auditions, I need to be confident in my body. The only way I am going to feel confident is if I love myself.

I have until April 2015. I have a little more than a year to get my dance technique on par and get my body toned and in shape. One of the best thoughts that I have had this past week was that yes I have a little over a year until I want to show up for auditions, but if I don't start now, then I will never get anywhere. I need to get it in gear and actually start making progress.

I am starting a new segment called Workout of the Day! I know a lot of blogs have these and they post wonderful workouts for all of us to do, but mine is a bit different. I am going to be posting MY workout for the day. This is basically a short post stating what I did that day. I hope to be able to use this to keep myself even more accountable. If you don't see a post from that day, make sure you call me out on it!! The only way I am going to get to my goal is if I actively work towards it. Ready, set, go! :)

Progress - Not Perfection

I have tried for the past couple years to diet and exercise, but I have not been able to be disciplined enough to actually put my best effort forward. I just did not want it enough to stick with it. There are several things that I did wrong. First of all, I was expecting results too soon. I knew in my head that it would take awhile to see results and I knew that I needed to actually put a good couple months in to the process to actually make my actions a habit, but I did not actually get this process through my head. I did not actually take into consideration the time and effort that I needed to put into this new lifestyle.

With the coming new year, I have decided to participate in a couple of programs: the Lara Casey's Making Things Happen 2013 Series, the Maria Kang No Excuse Fitness Program, and the advice of Marie Forleo and her wonderful videos. I have been working on figuring out an action plan to make sure that I can actually make it to my goals. Maria Kang gives some wonderful pointers about how to create an action plan/motivational poster to help you stick to your fitness goals. Here is a link: http://www.mariakang.com/2013/12/30/10-words-of-advice-for-new-years-resolutions/.

This is my motivational poster:

My Fitness Calendar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I followed Maria Kang's advice and created it. I added some quotes because I am a quote person. This is just when I started out. I do have to add a disclaimer: I have a bunch of red X's because I got my wisdom teeth out. I just wanted to let you know that I haven't already been slacking off at the beginning of the new year. I really couldn't work out. :) I am going to regularly post updates of my fitness calendar and hope that you are motivated too!