Why you should drink more water

We have all heard it, drink more water. But why is water so good for us?

                            

        

 1. Helps with weight loss. Drinking a glass of water prior to meals to can help you feel full leading you to eat less at the meal. Swapping a glass of water for a pop or juice also means less calories.

 2. Reduces risk for infection. Drinking water helps flush toxins out of your system which helps prevent urinary tract infections.

 3. Keeps you regular. Water helps with digestion and prevents constipation.

 4. Better skin. Water helps flush out toxins keeing your skin moisturized and clear.

 5. Helps build and repair muscle tissue.

 6. Your brain is 75% water. Drinking enough water improves concentration and focus.

 7. Cushions the joints to prevent aches and pains.

So there you have it! Get drinking!

5 Steps to a Happier You

                                                   

1. Be grateful for what you have. Take 5 minutes and make a list of all the fabulous things about your life. Save it to read any time you are having a bad day.

                                                         One of my favorite quotes.

 2. Set goals for the future. Write them down and come up with a plan for how you will reach them. Having a plan for the future is so important and will prevent you from feeling "stuck."

                                                           Make your goals SMART!

 3. Help someone else. It can be as simple as holding the door for someone at the coffee shop, volunteering your time in your community or sending a card to a friend. Taking time to do something for others always makes me happy.

 4. Exercise (c'mon you knew I'd put this on the list!) exercise releases endorphins which are your body's natural mood boosters. Exercise also relieves stress and can help you lose weight. Who isn't happy with less stress and looser pants?!?! So even on the worst day take 20 minutes and exercise! Look how happy I am after my workout!

 5. Spend some time with your kids, nieces/nephews, grandkids or other young children you know. Children are full of fun and play. They haven't yet learned about the big stressors in life. Seeing the world through their eyes for even a couple minutes can make you feel refreshed. Speaking as a mom spending more than an hour with them may increase your stress 😁 

The three beings that make me the happiest and the most stressed!

Motivation

I don't have time to exercise.

Total body cardio workout

Do you struggle?

I get asked this from time to time, so here is my answer to that question.

GIVEAWAY ALERT

I love to share products I love most.  I am working on a giveaway for one of my most favorite items ever!

Head over to my Facebook page to tell ME what Urban Halo headband I should giveaway!!

Check it out!

www.fb.com/motivationrequiredfitness

Being real.

I follow a lot of people in the fitness industry on Facebook and the one thing I notice is how perfect many of them look. Hair done, makeup, workout clothes that don't look like they have ever been sweat on. One thing I can assure you is I'm not one of those people. The pictures I post I are real. Real sweat, no makeup. Here are a couple examples....

Fresh out of the shower, no makeup, hair not done.

Sweaty workout at home, taken in my kitchen.

Yep that's the real me. Not some touched up, filtered version of me. What I post is also real. I drink a ton of water, eat lots of fruits and veggies, workout a minimum of 5 days per week and drink my Shakeology every day. Anyone who has been following me for any period of time also knows I drink my fair share of beer, coffee drinks and eat greasy appetizers. I'm a real person trying the live the healthiest life I can. My hope is that by sharing the real me people will feel motivated to reach their own health and fitness goals. I'm not perfect and would never claim to be. I'm not a personal trainer or a nutritionist. I am a mom, wife, friend, daughter, Occupational Therapist, group fitness instructor and coach who wants to light a fire in others!

Why I want to throw my fit bit in the garbage!

I received  a free fit bit about a month ago as part of a wellness program. I was so excited to get one and try it out. I quickly found lots of friends to compete with and worked hard to get to the top of the leaderboard. It confirmed what I already knew; my job is very sedentary. I spend most of my time driving and only walk a few steps to a patients home to do therapy with them. On a good day I might get 2 miles in while I'm working. When I get done working I typically do some sort of exercise. On the days I run I love my fit bit! I'm kicking butt and taking names in the fit bit world. But the problem is some times I can't run so I do T25, PiYo, spinning, RIP, STEP, or Insanity. My fit bit does count steps for STEP, but doesn't count ANYTHING ELSE. The other day I did an hour of Insanity followed by an hour of RIP (lifting weights). Here's what my fit but showed.....

All I get for that hard work is 16 minutes and 2.4 miles?!? I know, I know I can log this manually but it doesn't change my overall "steps for the day" which is the only thing the leaderboard takes into account. So it's a blow to me to look and see myself in the 10th place spot or lower almost every day. I mean it's not the end of the world, but it makes me look lazy which I am not (most days 😀) 

So here's my take on the fit bit. It's great and motivating if you get most of your exercise from walking and running. If you are like me and do a variety of other forms of exercise it can leave you feeling inadequate.  It's great for someone who is just entering into a healthier lifestyle and needs something to motivate them. I do really like the sleep tracker though. It's very interesting to see how restless I am in the night.  It also can track water intake and calories consumed which is nice, but I prefer My Fitness Pal for my calorie tracking.

Do you have a fit bit? What do you think of it?

Ragnar Relay Great River-from the view of Runner 6

I met one of my runnning goals a couple weeks ago by running Ragnar Relay Great River with my team the "Muffin Top Mafia"  It was an amazing, challenging, incredible experience and I can't wait for next year!

For those who don't know what Ragnar is.  Ragnar Great River is a 204 mile relay race from Winona to Minneapolis.  The course follows the Mississippi River for much of it and is VERY hilly.  You have 2 vans; 6 runners in each van that take turns running for 36 hours straight.   Or if you are really tough you can run it as an Ultra which is 6 runners for 204 miles. I won't be going the ultra route any time soon!

My takeaways:
-Follow the website directions and place your clothing in ziplocs.  Not only will it keep your bag tidier, it will be a great place to put those clothes after you run and are not so fresh any more. Our van had a definite odor by the end of the relay!
-Don't be scared of your night run! It was my favorite run of the relay! I ran on country roads with no one around for 5.8 miles.  I was excited in the weeks leading up to it and then started to panic a couple days before.  My other team members assured me I would love it and was safe.  I ran my fastest time ever.  After running my first leg in the sweltering heat of the afternoon, running in the cool night air was so refreshing. Also, I may have run faster because subconsciously I was thinking "there is no one around, run fast!"
-Ragnarians who are not lucky enough to be runner 6 or runner 12: DO NOT SAY HURRY UP SO WE CAN GO TO SLEEP! It may result in you being smacked or kicked by said runner.  My wonderful team mates did NOT say this, but I heard many people saying this to their runners at the exchange.  NOT NICE!
-If you are considering Ragnar hopefully you do well with little to no sleep because you won't get a lot if it! I tried to get some sleep in the park after our van finished the first 6 legs, but I was too revved up and there were a lot of people around so I could not fall asleep.  It probably didn't help that I was Runner 6 so I was still hopped up on energy gels, adrenaline and my Energy and Endurance from my run! I  did manage to get 1 1/2 hours of sleep on the gym floor in Stillwater after my night run.  I also took a nap after I finished my last run as our van drove from Cottage Grove to Minneapolis.  It took me an entire week to catch up on sleep after the fact.
-The showers are communal-picture gym class in middle school.
-ATTENTION RUNNER 6: Your first leg is as big of a B*tch as it appears.  If you are the praying type pray for cloud cover and no humidity, that will make it more bearable.  Your night run is hilly but shorter.  The hills get bigger at the end.  Your last leg is 4 miles that feels like 10, it was the hardest leg even though it's listed as moderate.
-I lived on Shakeology, Gatorade, Luna bars and beef sticks.  I had no appetite for anything else.
-If you want your team to love you bring beef sticks.  Specifically, Meatheads (located in Red Wing, MN) cheddar/bacon and pepperjack beef sticks.
-Training: Run A LOT.  Run in the dead heat, run hills, run intervals, run multiple times in a 24 hour period.  RUN A LOT!  I also made a point to steer clear of all alcoholic beverages and ate a very clean diet in the 2 weeks prior to ensure my body would be at it's best.  I felt well prepared when the time finally came to run.
-Even if you have never used a hydration belt get one.  Just do it.
-Let your team provide you support while you run.  A couple of my teamates said they didn't need support during their day runs.  Our van made the decision the check on them at some point anyway.  Each of them needed the support-weather it was water to drink, water on their head, some electrolytes or an energy gel.
-Provide support to other teams! While we were waiting for our runner to go by we offered water and Gatorade to other runners who looked like they could use it.  No one turned us down when we offered
-Get fun magents to stick on other vans.  It's a Ragnar tradition to leave your mark on other vans in a sneaky way.  We were going to use our markers we used to decorate the van but never did.  Magnets would be much easier.
-Ragnar is a lot of hurry up and wait.  You will wait at exchange for your runner to come in and then hustle to the next exchange and then wait some more.
-Try really hard to get out of the van for  every exchange for your van.  Even if you are are not the one who will be running be a good teammate and get out of the van to cheer your runner on even if you really want to be sleeping.
-Those "1 mile to go" signs are not always accurate. Some of my teammates reported running 2 or 2.5 miles more after they saw the sign.  Talk about a cruel mind game!

My biggest piece of advice...HAVE FUN AND ENJOY IT!!! It's an unforgettable experience, don't ruin it by taking yourself too seriously.

After reading this would YOU run Ragnar Great River?