goals

Finding Balance This December

12.02.2013

Happy December loves! My favorite month of all….who doesn’t love the holiday season?! I wanted to share a quick post from my IG and Facebook page with you guys:

December is the HARDEST month of all to stay on track! It’s so easy to let your health and fitness go by the wayside during the holidays. Tis the season to feel like we need to gorge ourselves for being “good” during the summer months. Trying my hardest not to feel guilty during this time, but I’ve decided that it’s best to enjoy the season full of holiday food and drink. All in MODERATION. The challenge this month is finding that healthy balance. No starving, no binging, but eating right most of the time and exercising. Exercise makes you feel good, AND improves your physique. Score! The holidays are no excuse to give up on workouts and meal plans. So whose with me to work hard and stay committed?!

What’s your goal during the month of December? I will be on a mission to finding that healthy balance while not missing out on any holiday fun. 🙂

#12WBT Review / Where I Am Today

11.25.2013

The time has come… my Michelle Bridges body transformation project has come to an end. So excited to say I made it 4 weeks, without missing a single workout and maybe had only about 1 or 2 hiccups with additional cheats/treats. It has really been a great experience and I am so proud and thrilled to say that I feel great!

I obviously haven’t mastered my posing, but I feel much tighter in my core, my arms and legs are much more defined and my head is in the right place. I wasn’t looking to loose much weight, but I did end up losing 3 pounds.

Where I am today….

+My workouts are consistent. I have gotten used to the 6 day/week routine and rest day Sundays. I wont have a problem keeping this up because the feeling after an amazing workout is what I love most.

+Love having a Saturday super session. For those of you who follow my social media may have seen some of those 1000+ calorie burns on my heart rate monitor. AMAZING workouts…and never thought it was possible to burn that many calories in only 1 hour 15-30 mins!! More to come in upcoming posts about that intense calorie burn…

+Consistency with having 1 cheat meal on Saturdays. Never thought the day would come when I can hold off all week for that one glorious meal. It’s actually not as hard as it seems. Getting used to that habit makes it easier to resist a 3pm piece of candy everyday. It is possible, just takes time to adapt!

+I learned to pay more attention to portion sizes and how many calories I’m actually taking in. 1500 calories/day was hard at first but my stomach shrunk pretty quick and that amount became pretty satisfying.

A few things that could improve…

+This plan didn’t emphasize the 6 small meals a day rule. Rather, there was a designed breakfast, lunch and dinner with a few small snacks in between. I really believe in having 6-7 small meals a day and feel like I would have seen more results if that was the case.

+This plan would be absolutely GREAT for beginners who are looking to change their lifestyle and getting you through the steps. However, I was sort of lacking in the more advanced nutrition plans. I would have loved to see workouts and meal plans catered to a specific individual and their nutritional needs.

I really truly feel that this plan gives you all the tools you need to change your lifestyle and makes it easy to adapt. If you are considering a change or need an extra push, now is your chance!

Michelle’s FULL 12 week program goes live in the US in January 2014!! Sign ups for the first US round start on December 16th. Click here to learn more and reserve your spot!

Are you ready to take the plunge? I’m here to give you that extra push…. It is worth it, YOU are worth it! 🙂

Read more about my #12wbt here and here.

October Goal List

10.02.2013

I don’t know about you guys, but I love fall! Over-sized sweaters, boots, hats…well sort of. In San Francisco it’s now our summer? Anyways, I do love all things that come with fall! But since summer is over lets not get lazy and stop working out! With the holidays near, lets focus on balance. With home cooked meals and family get-togethers around the corner lets not feel guilty for enjoying them, but focus more on balance. Balance with nutrition, workouts and family time. Since yesterday was our first day of October I put together a list of goals this month.

Find a boxing gym and learn how to box!
Focus on portion control and measure portion sizes
Nike Women’s Half Marathon and Run10Feed10 Event
Find a new clean pumpkin recipe to master
Spend time studying to get NCCPT certified- Need to buckle down and hit the books
Inspire at least one person on their fitness journey
Spend more time blogging, writing, and creative thinking
Compile a list of scary movies to re-watch
Rent a cabin with friends for a long weekend
Sweat daily!!

I would love to hear- what’s on your October goal list?

Napa to Sonoma 5k / HUGE new goal!

07.23.2013

Hi loves! Sorry for my lack of posts lately, I have been a busy bee! New beginnings, change and exciting transitions are a good thing, right? Anyways, I do have some exciting news. Well two things, fitness related. First off, I placed 10th overall in the Napa to Sonoma 5k this weekend! 7th place female! It’s so exciting to make progress! If you follow my Facebook page, I talk about progress all the time. Little progress is better than no progress at all! Shaving time off my runs, seeing huge changes in my body and feeling overall very happy! Doesn’t get better than that. 🙂

This course was absolutely beautiful! I regret not running the half marathon, but will next year! People come from all over to visit the wine country which happens to be my home town. It’s really eye opening to return and realize how beautiful it really is! I may be a city girl, but Sonoma will always have my heart. 🙂

Such a fun event!! They had tons of wine tasting after and I saw a cute shirt that pretty much sums is up:

“Run a lit, Wine a lot”. 🙂

Next goal…maybe top 5? Hmmm… 😉

Exciting News #2- Sooooo, I sat down with a girlfriend of mine the other night who happens to be a photographer. We chatted a little bit about my fitness goals and you know what I realized? I don’t have one! So with that said I have decided that I really want to do a fitness photo shoot in 3-4 months!!!! I am so nervous to announce that and have been majorly doubting myself but after talking to others about it, why the heck not?! I need a goal, why not make it a big one. To be photo shoot ready to me, means getting in the best physical shape I have ever been. BUT doing it all on my own. Not using a nutritionist or trainer, but being my own motivation. I want to share the journey with you guys and see how I progress. Why the heck not, right? So I have yet to set a date, and SO nervous to commit but with this post, I think I just committed!! YIKES. I will need to believe in myself more than I ever have before! So stay tuned peeps!

Find your passion and the sky’s the limit! xoxo

My First Full Marathon!!!

06.18.2013

I still can’t believe it. If you follow me on Facebook, I’m sure you’ve heard the news, but for those who haven’t, I completed my first full marathon this weekend at The Wipro San Francisco Marathon! It’s kind of a funny story, and definitely did not imagine my first marathon to happen like this. So here’s how it went.

Believe it or not, I went to the race with the thought of running the half. I had a full marathon bib, but havent trained and was definitely planning to wing it. A friend of mine has been training like crazy for her first full, and I got a couple of runs in with her but had no intention of running the full 26! At mile 2 I told her, “Wouldnt that be crazy if I ran the full with you?” Crazy, it was! When we approached mile 13 if was feeling great and she turned to me and said “so….what are you going to do.” I honestly didn’t even think about it, I went for it! Most everyone would want to be finished at mile 13, right? I’m not going to lie, when I saw the half finish line it was hard! But I knew I could do this, I knew I could finish the full and how amazing it would be if i did.

I couldn’t have asked for a better cheerleader by my side. My friend, Luba stuck by my side the entire run. She was motivating me like crazy, talking to me the whole time, telling me not to give up. I never doubted her, but by mile 20 my body was definitely taking a hit. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life! But I knew I had to finish, there was no other option. By the last mile, I was dragging but it was amazing to hear so many runners rooting me on, telling me we were almost done.

Although it was by no means easy, it was also one of my biggest accomplishments. I still can’t believe that I completed my first Full marathon with no training! It was an emotional experience. By the last mile I couldn’t hold back the tears. The feeling was unexplainable.

I wouldn’t recommend that anyone else try this, but I do recommend you train and go for it! My mind and heart literally took over my body and I accomplished something that I never thought I could. It’s so important to listen to your body and what it is telling you. The only reason why I went ahead with it is because I knew that I could make it. I knew my body could handle the pressure. All the strength training I do is what came in handy. My heart was telling me yes. So I went for it. Push your body, but know your limits. Train, train, train so you are not as sore as I am today!!

I will post later about post-marathon recovery, as it’s one of the most important parts. I am the most sore I have ever been before, so now its time to take care of my body and replenish all the nutrients I lost during the 4 hours and 46 minutes of running. The soreness will fade but the awesome story will last forever.

Congrats to all my fellow runners! You can finally say “I did it. I never gave up. I never quit.” Those moments of pain turned into memories and an accomplished goal that only 1% of the population could obtain. This was the world’s 15th hardest marathon course! You did it! Now you can thank yourself for the rest of your life. It’s truly a life changing moment.