Rest

So when is it a good time to rest? For me I would say never. Some would say more than 2-3 times a week. I don't usually rest. I push my body and push my body. The past couple days - I have not pushed my body. In fact - I have had 3 good days of rest with today being one of those 3 days. I just haven't felt like going to the gym.

What?! Really!?

Yes really.

My body is tired. My hips are killing me. I needed a break. I finished the leg and booty challenge - which I still need to update my progress. I loved it. I loved doing 3 days of legs and probably will add an extra leg day in on my cardio days when I start the second Hardcore Challenge. I loved that my legs got stronger with this last challenge.

Did I lose weight - not really. I floated between 2-3 lbs up and down. It all depended on my water intake and my hard vs soft lifting days. So I basically would gain a few pounds - lose a few pounds. It happens and I'm ready to continue the weight loss so I have decided to do one more challenge. Then once that challenge is over - I'm going to do my own challenge to finish out the year.

Why you ask?

Well basically I want to see what I can get to by 1/1/15. I want to do my yearly progress pictures on 1/13/15 and see the dramatic difference. I hated taking pictures that day. I still am not a fan of looking back at what I let myself become. But frankly I was on a lot of medication that wasn't good. I had woman problems and that sucked. I don't anymore. I'm full force kicking butt and I love it.

So right now when my body says REST. I rest. My hips say REST. I rest. Come September 2nd. There is no rest. Well maybe my week trip to Oakland but that's hearsay haha I'm still going to eat right and we walk to the stadium and breakfast so I will be good :D I just need to watch my alcohol intake haha

So if you body says rest. Listen to it. It's the best thing you can do!

Smile :D

"Always Believe!"

What to Believe

So I'm on my 5th week of the Bikini Booty Challenge that I have been doing through Hardcore Fitness. I love their challenges. In fact I love them so much I might sign up for the last one of the year and try a different program. Update: I didn't win the last challenge I did through them - but that's okay. I won by getting my butt back in shape and changing my attitude towards working out.

Not gonna lie though - this challenge has been a little harder. I have to push myself to the gym sometimes. The other challenge I was so focused and then all of a sudden it's over haha I'm like "now what?" This challenge though has definitely helped shape my legs and butt. I can see and feel a difference in them and I love it. I think that's why I want to start this next challenge too because I just want to keep going and having a challenge helps me.

So on that first challenge I lost 24 pounds and a ton of inches if you couldn't tell by my pictures. On this current challenge I have lost and gained weight and fluctuated between 1-3 pounds. I'm always like "what?!" The thing is though and here is what is hard to believe... Pants I have not been able to wear since 2012 fit me better now then when I was 20 lbs lighter (than I am now) when I bought them the summer of 2012. Weird? To me yes. Pants that fit me when I was 20 lbs lighter than I am now fit even better being 20 lbs heavier. It tells you that losing inches instead of weight means a little bit more.

I used to always STRESS about the weight on the scale. And to be honest - I still weigh myself every morning when I first wake up. It helps keep me accountable and it's the only reason I do it. If I have had too many carbs or sweets the scale will tell me. If I have been good - the scale will tell me. What it doesn't tell you is the awesomeness going on with your body.

Trust what your clothes say!

I have a friend who just hit her 50 lbs loss mark and she is a bigger girl. I couldn't be more proud of her! I love that she found a passion to start working out and I love seeing her updates. It keeps me going when I am struggling. She has been worrying about her non-weight loss in the past two weeks - but today she posted saying a shirt that didn't fit two weeks ago fits now. :D How exciting is that. You don't have to see a loss on the scale to have clothes fit. The female (and male) body is so weird. You can gain a ton of muscle and lose inches. You can lose inches and gain weight. It's crazy how that all plays out. So to my friend - keep your head up. If clothes fit better and the scale isn't moving - IT'S OKAY!!! What you are doing is working so keep it up!

Just remember the scale is scary but whipping out a tape measure to see the inches you have lost isn't scary. IT'S FREAKIN AWESOME!! I have lost almost 3 inches off my love handle area since the last challenge ended and my legs look great and my butt feels tighter. That's all I can ask. All this in 5 weeks. I am going to be pushing super hard for the next five weeks though (with or without a challenge) because we are headed to Oakland on my birthday to watch the Raiders take on Houston at home. I'm so excited! Those pants that I want to get in to for that trip - well let's just say they are motivation to keep pushing hard.

So if you are struggling because of the scale. Don't believe it. Trust your clothes!

Keep smilin and remember....

ALWAYS BELIEVE!

Alternatives...

So this week I have had to stay out of the gym for the most part. I usually schedule gym daycare for the week around the same time so I am set to go - but this week I have my niece. Since I am not her legal guardian I can't take her with me.

So what do I do?

Well luckily we have weights and a bench at home. I can workout at home. I have to use alternatives to some of the program I am on - but I am able to still get it done. I like that I have that option.

Normally if I wasn't able to go to the gym I would just take time off. But since I am on a journey to be a beast I can't do that. I can give myself days off but honestly I don't like to. Even if it's just a cardio day I am still doing something. I have too or else I feel guilty.

I am not a big fan of change but I do love my family and if my niece calls me and wants to come to my house... Well I just adjust to her being with us for the week. I will be busting my ass in the gym next week for sure - but until then I will be working out at home.

There is always a way to workout if you can't get to the gym. Even if you don't like it.

That's all I really have to say today. I miss the gym but I also like to be able to take a break from it and workout at home. Try it - you might like it!

"Always Believe!"

When You Don't Want To!

There are some days I wake up when my alarm goes off at 4 a.m. and I am up and at em'. Then there are days my alarm goes off - I hit snooze a handful of times - then I get up. Then there are days I just strictly turn the alarm off and fall back to sleep (those days are my fav).

Then there are days where I have a decent cardio workout and I still have to go to the gym. There are days my cardio sucked and I seriously don't want to go to the gym - I am just not in the mood.

But what does my butt do... It sucks it up and goes to the gym.

Those days are simply - THE BEST!

Today I wanted nothing to do with the gym or the people there... I had a kick ass workout and I threw shit around like it's all lightweight. I hit PR's in certain areas of my lifting and other area's I was okay with just doing the same thing.

These days make me happy. 

I go home in a better mood and I am simply a nicer person for the rest of the day. My kids don't bother me as bad and I get stuff done around the house. Errands get done with out complaint and when my husband gets home from work - I kiss him and head downstairs to do my final cardio of the night. That workout in itself is my calm. I love to just turn on a movie - plug in some music and disappear for an hour. Sweat the day away so I can wake up refreshed and conquer the world the next day.

I love these days.

I also hate them! haha

You get this high from it and then have to start all over again.

But then you get the high again and all is forgiven! haha :D

So if you find yourself not wanting to workout. Just do it... Not only will you feel better that you did it - your body will be thanking you!

Remember!

"ALWAYS BELIEVE!"

The Hardcore Online Fitness Challenge 60 day Transformation

Body Changes

I was searching through some pictures since the beginning of the year and I can't tell you how mad at myself I am and was. Why did I look like I did. I can't wait to post pics a year from now and be like "you kept kicking ass"... Here is a timeline of my unhappy to my happy....

THIS WAS 1/13/14

THIS WAS 5/5/14

THIS WAS 7/2/14

WHAT WILL 9/14 LOOK LIKE?

?????

I have no clue what progress will look like in 2 more months - but seeing the changes in the bottom pic compared to the other two pics just makes me excited for the future! Seriously guys - hard work pays off and if you think about quitting - don't. Because it takes time and changes do come - even if they are slow! Any progress is good progress just don't quit!

In the words of one of the greats...

"YOU MUST SHOW NO MERCY... NOR HAVE ANY BELIEF WHATSOEVER IN HOW OTHERS JUDGE YOU... FOR YOUR GREATNESS WILL SILENCE THEM ALL!" ~ULTIMATE WARRIOR

"ALWAYS BELIEVE!"

The Update!

Wow I have noticed that a ton of people have looked at this page and I haven't updated it forever. Probably because the only time I have free to myself (without chores or kids hanging off me) I am working out or falling asleep in my big comfy chair.

So now! You are getting an update. This is probably going to be long - so sit back and grab yourself a cold one and read a story.

I have been through a lot since 2012. Physically - emotionally - mentally - I have been through every feeling. In 2011 my husband's dad passed away and left us a house in Helper. Thinking we would save money we decided to move down there while my husband continued working in Bountiful. It worked out fine for awhile. He works 4 on 4 off so he was able to come home. But when work gets busy we rarely were able to see him. So in those tough times I took it as a sign to get in shape. Well in the midst of being at my pre-pregnancy weight from my first baby I got pregnant. Lost the baby a month later. Two months later had a D&C to clean out my uterus (because said doc in Price was too lazy to do a follow up and check me out) and then I ended up pregnant a month and a half after the cleanout. Well a few months into that pregnancy I lost the baby again. Figured it would clear out on it's own and a month later had an emergency D&C. I wa put on a ton of antibiotics because I had delivered the fetus on my own and then ended up getting an infection because a ton of stuff was in side of me. After that I couldn't take it anymore. It had been 15 months of separation from my husband and I hated living in Carbon County. Nothing against the place I grew up - but as an adult - that place sucks! Well to shorten this story - I went doc in Bountiful because of some really bad pains and I ended going to a specialist at the U of U.

{hang with me here I have a point to this story}

Well come to find out that in October 2013 I had a scarred uterus. Talking 99% scarred! So I had a surgery to clear that out and I will probably never have kids again - but that is okay - my two are enough and they are healthy. Well after being on lots of medication to try to "jump start" my body I ended up packing on about 20 lbs. I literally went into a depression. So after our trip to Oakland in December I decided to start a challenge. I ended up losing a little bit and then gaining it back and then gained more weight.

TALK ABOUT DEPRESSING. Then I just said "screw it" and stopped going to the gym. I went sporadically but was not serious. Plus trying to go for the first 3 months after the new year is like a death sentence. April is when the newbies clear out.

{Okay now it's story time}

We took our boys out to eat one day and I needed to find some pants. Mine just didn't fit me like I needed them to and when I was at my friends house - my one pair that I loved ripped in my crotch area. (insert tears all the way home). Well trying on pants made me even more depressed. Like to the point where I just wanted to wear gym clothes all the time. I also had a chiropractor tell me "Courtney if you don't lose weight you will cripple yourself in 10 years. Your lower vertebrae is literally fusing together and you are starting to get osteoarthritis in your joints." (insert tears all the way home). Then - I had to go to a friends baby shower (this is still in the month of April) and my pants I just bought were tight. The shirt I just bought did not hide my belly. I cried all the way home from the baby shower. I was fat. Yes fat and I needed something to make me realize that whatever I was doing was not working! I was trying to be healthy but it just didn't work.

That night after the baby shower I was surfing Instagram and came across @hardcorefitlarry and @hardcorenadia's pages. I have followed them for some time and they kept posting about an upcoming challenge. I logged on to their website and saw that it was $75. We didn't have a lot of money in our checking account but I needed to do something. I needed something to wake me up and knock me into next year! So...I signed up and checked my email daily because it was a week before the contest and I needed to know what I would be doing.

I got the email on May 4th and opened it... logged on and watched the videos. Ordered the supplements (yeah for ProSupps!!) I didn't already have and told my husband. I said "Honey I signed up for a challenge and it starts on the 5th. I don't care what you say I am doing it hahaha". He looked at me and said "honey I support you 100% and whatever you need you get and I will back you."

The next day I took these photos...

    

TALK ABOUT DEPRESSING!! EWWWW! 

I CRIED FOR A COUPLE HOURS - NOT GOING TO LIE AT ALL... UGH!

So the challenge starts and after the first 3 days I dropped 4 lbs. I thought to myself... "I can totally do this". Then it got harder and harder because I was out of shape. I was tired - I was not used to the eating plan and I seriously wanted my red bull. Plus when you are a mom of two boys who have more energy than a race horse - the last thing you want to do is workout. Plus a cocktail at the end of the night always sounded so good.

{Not going to lie though. I did have one glass of wine in the middle of the challenge and it was on my 5th wedding anniversary}

After a few weeks my husband (whether he knows it or not) really helped me in more ways than I could imagine. He started calling me sexy again. He said I was shrinking. He came to the gym with me. He sent me positive texts and talked me through everything when I was down. He kicked my ass out of the door when I wasn't wanting to go to the gym. He kicked my ass down to our basement so I could do my nightly cardio. "You will regret it if you don't do it so just get it done" he would tell me.

Well after 1 month down and 14 lbs gone - I decided to head into my closet and see what I could wear. I have two piles of pants. One for the fat me and one for the skinny me. My in betweens are on the top of the skinny pile so I started with the fat pile. They were all too big!!! Even the pants I had just bought in April - they were too big! So I went to my other pile and fit into the pants I haven't been able to wear for over a year! Yes a freakin year! I cried (have you noticed I cry for every emotion).

Then a week or two later I pulled out a dress I bought but was never able to wear. I couldn't even zip it up in the back. I took a picture because I was bound and determined to fit into this dress. Size medium if you are wondering. I also bought another in a size small that I will fit in to by my 36th birthday in September).

I FIT INTO THE DRESS and was like "you know what let's fucking rock this out and kill it the last few weeks". I did. I ended up finishing out and added more workouts to the workout I was already doing. I started running outside and took my cardio up another level.

I have never finished a challenge. 

I finished this challenge.

I needed to be hit upside the head with a pie and the Hardcore Challenge was my pie. I ate that shit like it was going out of style.

I am going to continue eating it too because I don't want my journey to end. I have 46 more pounds to lose to hit my goal weight. I lost 24 pounds on this challenge. Dropped two pants sizes and went down 3 notches on my belt.

But you know what.

The best thing about doing this challenge - I got my confidence back. I'm not depressed anymore. I have had demons all my life (christ I had a dog bone thrown at me in a grocery store when I was in high school) and now I can shut those demons off. Do they creep up on me? Ya from time to time but I kick them aside and tell them to shut up.

Even if I don't win the end prize (which I would love too - don't get me wrong)... I have won way more than money or training. I have won my life back. I can put my miscarriages and operations and everything behind me and focus on what's next.

What's next you ask?

Well the Bikini Booty Challenge for one :D (sign up at www.thehardcorechallenge.com) and then who knows. We have some of the best competition fitness coaches around us in this state that I might train for a show. It's on my bucket list - so why not accomplish it.

My future looks so bright! I wish I would have had this dedication and motivation when I was in my 20s or even in high school. But then again - god places things in front of you when you need them most. So Larry and Nadia - I thank god every day for placing your challenge in front of me. I needed this and now because of my hard work - I hope to inspire and help others as I head into the future.

God this feels good. I have wanted to write about my journey throughout the competition but seriously it wouldn't have felt right. I'm on cloud nine right now. I feel so good... I am probably going to cry hahaha but wow - this journey has taught me soooo much and it's just the beginning. I have a lot of things in store for me. What? Well I honestly don't know but I am looking forward to them and will welcome them with clear eyes and a full heart because I can't lose!

Thank you for reading this. It means a lot. Also if you found this page through my IG account - thank you! Thanks for following me or even just checking in to see what this crazy girl is doing.

Here is my overall transformation from Day 1 to Day 60....

Keep following me either on IG (account is under snortney2013) or on here (I promise to try and update this daily or weekly) and also Bodybuilding's bodyspace (snortney2013) and see what else is next!

I'm so excited!!!

Remember to always smile! It's the second best thing you can do with your lips!