It’s almost always easier to quit then it is to keep going. And those voices telling you to stop and just give up can be pretty persuasive at times. It’s easy to lose sight of why you’re doing something when the going gets tough – whether you’re at mile 24 of a marathon, struggling through your last set of pull-ups, or trying to find that elusive perfect job. But no one ever said it was going to be easy, and it’s the very fact that it isn’t easy that makes it completely worth it in the end. Don’t give up.

What are you going to power through today?

I’m in the midst of recovering from a very long, jam-packed weekend so this is going to be short. I’m hungover on junk food, friends, laughing too much, carelessly spending money, and enjoying a few too many cocktails. Needless to say, today has been a rough one and I was having trouble staying positive until I read this quote. Then I remembered it’s a beautiful day, I got to spend all weekend with all of my favorite people, I ran 14 miles one day and 3 the next, and life is pretty darn good. That’s worth a smile or two.

How do you turn bad days around?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I want to change certain things in my life… and it’s pretty much ended there. I haven’t really taken it past a whole lot of empty thoughts in my head. You know what that does? Nothing. Revolutionary stuff here, right?

It might not be anything groundbreaking, but sometimes a light bulb goes off over my little head and I think, “huh. I actually need to do something if I really want to change something.” Which is why I love this quote.

Today was a prime example of actually taking action to make something happen – I’ve been thinking for a while about how much I miss hot yoga. Solution? Go to a class. Obviously. I never claimed to be the smartest person around. Actually getting to class though, is another story… I can find a thousand excuses as to why I can’t set aside an hour and a half to go to a class. Like Monday Night Football…….. oh wait. I don’t even really care about Monday Night Football.

So I went to class tonight. I put off cleaning and blogging and sitting on the couch to get down on some down dogs and some major sweat and I couldn’t be happier.

Action expresses priority.

Groundbreaking.

What are you going to take action on this week?

I’m currently cruising through the Caribbean right now with the boy, and considering there’s a potential hurricane going on I found this quote quite apt. I mean, seriously, what are the odds that a hurricane would come the week that we decide to get on a ship?!

I’m actually not all that worried about the rain because, as Sean put it, “it’ll be like we get to stay in a really fancy hotel room for a week… just in the middle of the ocean”. This vacation couldn’t come at a better time, and I am so stoked to be spending a week away from everything – weather be damned! – with my best friend.

I do have some guest posts and pre-scheduled posts to go up throughout the week, so be sure to stop back by  

Hope you all have an excellent week!

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I’d be lying if I said I never adhered to the thought process that “good things come to those who wait”. I’ve probably touted it on more than one occasion. But once I heard this quote it was like a nice little wake-up call. Good things don’t necessarily come to those who wait. Sure, if you remain confident and faithful that things will work out, they may. But if you proactively work for that sh*t in addition to having faith that things are going to work out in your favor you have a much higher chance of success.

You can sit around all day patiently waiting for things to happen in your life or you can get up and work towards making them happen. Whether you’re trying to get in shape, looking for a new career, or hoping to meet the right guy or girl, sitting at home being patient and trusting that these things will fall into place will get you nowhere. You have to be willing to take the first step in a new direction and get out there and do something about it. Otherwise you’ll wake up one day and realize that you’ve been sitting on the couch waiting for years and life is slowly passing you by.

Don’t wait for good things to happen. Work for them.

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Back in January I ran a marathon. And then I promptly injured my knee. I saw doctor after doctor after doctor. Most told me the same thing. Just wait it out, don’t run. I went to physical therapy, I cried my eyes out, I tried to deal with it, and I held my head high. I had faith that at some point things would turn around.

I finally was directed to a new doctor that I went to with a lot of skepticism and only a very small amount of hope. Over the next couple months he managed to completely erase my skepticism and replace it with hope and then satisfaction. I came out of my visits with him running.

I have a lot to say about him. I’m not quite ready to put it all into words, but I do have a lot to say. This morning I ran 3.5 blissful miles. I held a sub-9 minute pace and I felt fantastic. I didn’t feel like I was struggling and I had no pain. I’ve never been more humbled or full of gratitude than I am right now. For 7 agonizingly long months I have waited. I’ve gone on test runs only to come back home feeling defeated. I’ve tried out different forms of cardio or weight training only to come back unfulfilled. I’ve cried to Sean, I’ve complained to anyone that would listen, I’ve prayed, I’ve begged, and I’ve questioned what I’m doing.

However today I can quite confidently say I’M BACK.

Always get a second opinion. Or in my case a sixth. If I hadn’t believed that someone would fix me eventually I would probably still be sitting on the sidelines without a clue as to how to get to where I needed to be. And never underestimate the power of blogging. If it weren’t for this little blog that I’ve been doing an absolutely terrible job of maintaining over the past few weeks, I would have never connected with Lexy and if I hadn’t connected with Lexy I would have never gone to see her husband about my knee.

It may take a long time. It may feel like it’s completely hopeless. However if you go into it with enough determination, anything is possible. And it will be well worth the wait.

I can be pretty uptight sometimes. If Sean is reading this I guarantee you he is emphatically shaking his head in agreement. Lately I’ve been so focused on building back up to running and getting back in shape that a lot of other things have taken a backseat. This weekend that changed.

Saturday, after running and working out, Sean and I loaded up the car and headed out to our old stomping grounds in San Marcos. San Marcos is like a slice of heaven for me, and I miss every. single. thing. about it. We went to San Marcos to do something that exemplifies my college experience – float the river. And we did so with two of Sean’s friends from high school who we also went to college with. Everything about it was perfection.

I didn’t worry about calories, I didn’t worry about if I was on my fifth or sixth beer, I didn’t worry about if chips were a healthy dinner or not… in fact I didn’t worry about anything other than if my shirt was still wearable after shotgunning a beer and, subsequently, spilling beer all over it. This picture sums it up perfectly:

That’s me, in the back, still trying to finish my beer after everyone else finished. Maybe I’m a little rusty.

Needless to say, I was in fine form yesterday. I snacked a lot, I wasn’t really all that healthy, and I was completely wiped out. And I really wouldn’t have it any other way. I laughed a lot this weekend, I relaxed for the first time in forever, and I enjoyed being the only girl with just the guys. Guys are so much easier to hang out with sometimes. There’s a lot less gossiping.

I also slept phenomenally last night. Probably because I didn’t sleep at all this weekend. When I woke up this morning I thought about feeling guilty for not being healthier this weekend and then I told myself to shut up and rolled over and went back to sleep for another hour. Because sometimes it’s worth it to just let it all go for a few days and enjoy just living.

Needless to say, I am ready to get back into the regular swing of things today. But I also wouldn’t change a thing about this weekend, even if I did exercise poor eating more than I actually exercised. I’m probably never going to be the perfect example of a “healthy living blogger” nor am I going to be someone that eats clean and works out diligently 100% of the time, and I’m OK with that. And whether I’m laughing because I giddily just ran three miles for the first time in months or because I just lost count of how many beers I’ve had doesn’t really make much of a difference to me, as long as I’m laughing.

I love this quote.

It’s not until you truly decide to embrace the idea that you can change that you will. Otherwise you’ll spend everyday thinking about what it could be like to change and never doing anything about it.

I spent years thinking things like, “I wish I was thinner” and “I wish I liked working out more”, but I never actually wanted to do anything about it. And then one day I woke up and decided to be different. THAT is the day I desired change more than I desired staying the same. THAT was the defining moment between “I wish I was thinner” and “I am going to be more in shape”.

Don’t make excuses if you want something; instead go for it. You have nothing to lose.