I'm making myself epic...

I love quotes and little sayings. I use them as little mantras and as inspiration when I feel like I am struggling. Like the title of this post. What an awesome thought to have when I feel like I cannot possibly do one more rep. This pain and struggle is worth it! So onto my reason for posting...

Lifting weights can be a little intimidating girls, I think. It was for me. Still is, but I enjoy it so much more now that I know what to do!

I think most women don't focus on lifting weights because they are scared to become bulky, body-builder types. Also, coming from past personal experience, I never viewed weight lifting as a "tough" workout. That is because I never pushed myself!

Now I know. I can lift weights and not look like Popeye....AND I can burn just as many calories. And look better. Cause really, I don't know about you guys, but I have no desire to just be skinnier but "flabby." I want to be toned!

Check out my two training sessions this week. The first picture is from my full body workout day (which does involve a little bit of weights), and the second is from the day we worked on chest/back. (On a side note...I am so stoked to see how my body keeps burning lots of calories after my workout. Those after workout pictures involved me sitting on my rear. Burn lots of calories just sitting...I'm down with that!)

My point is....don't be scared to lift weights. It has really helped me to lose weight. You gotta have muscle to burn calories! And feeling strong is an amazing feeling! Strong doesn't have to be a word to describe just guys!

...Emily...

Change is gonna come...

Change is something that normally terrifies me. I am a creature of habit and will go into full freak out mode if I feel like a big change is going to come in my life.

But changing my health has been one of the most exciting things. One day, earlier this year, it just clicked. I had been working with my trainer for a few months and I knew I wasn't seeing results because I wasn't holding up my end of the deal on my days I wasn't training with him and with my eating. So I started training two days a week and changed my eating and was totally excited when I saw some results. 40 lbs since probably around the middle of February....GONE!

No diet pills, no fancy diets. Just good, old fashioned sweat and hard work and eating healthy with some cheating (in moderation).

So, anyone can do it and I am proof of that. And that is the end of my motivational spiel!

I've been trying to change up some of my non-training days workouts. Started doing spin class because I absolutely hate cardio on a treadmill. BORING! Also, I am trying to add some yoga in. Talk about needing some strength! I feel like I lift weights a good bit, but holding yourself in some yoga positions requires a totally different type of strength!

I am sure y'all read Amanda's post on our Christmas Eve workout. Don't let her fool you, she did not do bad at any of the things. Had to explain burpees to her as a move we used to do in tap class at dance. We would say "down...back...scoot...jump up!" I say this in my head anytime I do burpees at the gym!

I am off to watch my favorite show, Alaska: The Last Frontier and hope that this tornado watch doesn't turn into anything more!

What did you guys do over the holidays to stay in shape and burn off those extra calories? I know I consumed plenty of extra to burn off!

...Emily...

Oh Christmas Tree...and all those little goodies.

We hope everyone has enjoyed their holidays like we have with all the cookies, fudge, toffee, and cakes. And you better believe that we ate all of the above. Just in moderation, or we tried to eat those in moderation. :)

On Christmas Eve, Emily and I woke up early, early to get in a quick workout before the rest of the family arrived at Mema and Granddaddy's house. Our total workout was 35 minutes, with a mix of body/cardio elements. Here's our list:

• Walk-jogging
• Body-weight squats
• Push-ups
• More walk-jogging
• "Box" jumps with burpees (on concrete ledge -- "A" nearly died here**)
• Mountain climbers

**Let me clarify. E did just fine on these nasty things. I, sadly, nearly broke my face. Practice makes perfect, and let's just say it was obvious that I have not been practicing. 

Dad got us a Polar FT4 for Christmas this year, so we were able to track our heart rates, calories burned, duration of the workout, and the duration that we were within our target heart rates. This was a really neat tool that kept us motivated while we were exercising. This is incredibly helpful for someone, like me, who really isn't sure what a good workout should feel like. I really just like dancing around in my living room, so now I can have a dance party and call it a workout. Works for me!

Sorry for the blur!

The picture is from A's watch. The 189 is when E made me do burpees and jump up a ledge.

Anywho, that is what we were up to on Christmas Eve morning. Our lovely Auntie P joined us on the last leg of our walking, then we had a nice, hearty breakfast to begin the day with our family.

Thanks for joining,

A

Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

It's a very good place to start, we hear. BUT...this may not have been the best time of the year to start.

Do these sisters ever do anything the easy way, though? NOPE! We are indeed starting our blogging adventure of being healthy and fit AT CHRISTMAS! Cookies, hot chocolate, and possibly a little Christmas imbibing are not gonna stop these two girls. 

So to really start at the beginning, we wanted to introduce ourselves and our purpose of blogging. Here we go...we are going to write each other's introductions...should be fun.

The Night Owl...also known as Emily (on the right)

The best big sister by day and the best nurse by night, Emily has always been the last one to go to sleep and the last one to wake up! Being a night-shift nurse makes mealtime nearly non-existent, with breakfast as dinner and dinner as lunch (how the heck do you know when to eat what -- beats me!). She's been rockin' her health journey for a while now, learning how to eat better and how to stay active when you're awake and everyone else is asleep. But we all hit roadblocks where things just don't seem to be going the way we like. Emily has lost 40 pounds in 2012 (whoop!) and wants to keep truckin' to get the rest of her weight off and be healthier in general.

The Busy Bee...also known as Amanda (on the left)

Arguably could also be considered a night owl but not by job choice. Baby sister by birth, but most of the time seems like the older, wiser sister. A 23 year old UGA graduate and current law student at Florida State University (can we get a Go Dawgs and Go Noles?!), Amanda has always been athletic with dancing and cheering in her younger days, but the days of law school have taken a toll on her active lifestyle. And chips and queso are the perfect study snack. We're just being honest here...finding something that works in her busy lifestyle is hard work. BUT the determined (can I use the word stubborn here?) girl that she is, is serious about getting fit this time. And when this girl has her mind set on something, you just better watch out.

So, we initially started a private blog between ourselves to hold each other accountable and to motivate each other. As frequent blog readers, we have been frustrated with the small amount of fitness/health blogs that are actually written by girls like us. "I love eating healthy!!!"...Ummm, NO. We love Mexican food, ice cream, potato chips, candy, you get the point. We love junk food and the occasional healthy food. We're learning. We set out to blog as an example of people living busy, crazy lives and still managing to fit in some work outs and healthy eats. We are far from perfect and have experienced many failures along the road to health already. The thing about us...we're not ashamed to admit them.

In closing our first (LONG!) post, we hope that we can provide some encouragement and maybe a little humor to girls (and guys?!) out there like us.

Thanks for joining us on our journey!