Six Week Walking and Strength Building guide: week 2

Week Two!!! yay! Sorry for the late post on this! Christmas.

I am going to go ahead and leave my tips below for you!

1) always use the incline. Don't just walk or run on a flat surface.2) don't use the handles. This was hard for me. I started by keeping my hands over them, and used them when I felt wobbly, eventually I moved to the sides of the machine. And now I rarely use them.3) When I walk, cause I don't run, I am towards the back end of the machine. It's better for your stride that way.
4) when you start to feel like it's becoming easier at the speed or incline increase it. Try just the incline. The higher the incline the better the results! 4) when you start to feel like it's becoming easier at the speed or incline increase it. Try just the incline. The higher the incline the better the results



So this post is inspired by a follower on Instagram, who wanted to know how I walk for my cardio, and challenged me to prove this works. I love walking, it truly is my soul-mate of workouts. In the past tries of loosing weight walking and eating right helped me to lose 30 pounds. 

This is a Dowell Fitness guide to walking to gain a sustainable healthy lifestyle. With this and any workout please consult your doctor to see if it is right for you.

In this program we will also include strength training with weights or body weight.

When we use body weight we are incorporating the T25 non cardio DVD’s, other days will be at the gym.

So starting this week we are going to add intensity and some strength workouts in with this. So break the days down.

Days 1,3,5,7

Treadmill speed between 2.8 and 3.0, start warm-up at 2.5 then increase

Incline at 2, for two minutes of warm-up.

Increase incline to 4 after your warm-up. After eight minutes increase incline to 6.

After Twenty minutes increase the incline to 8

Stay at an 8 incline for ten minutes. Then slowly decrease until the cool down, by then you should have a 0 incline

Days 2,4,6

Walk should be done at a 2 incline and taken slow, for 30 minutes. If you don’t like at home workouts hit the weights at the gym and follow the body focus below.

Workout DVD (T25) or other program of your choice.

Day 2 should focus on the lower portion of the body (lower focus DVD)

Day 4 should focus on the core (Ab video T25)

Day 6 should focus on the total body (T25 Total Body Circuit)

Mental Monday: Hope in 2015.

As 2015 quickly approaches and the resolutions are being made, I think to myself, "what do I want for those like us, with mental illness?"

So here are my hopes for US.
1) That this year we can find the peace we are looking for.
2) To realize our medications don't work unless we take them, and work with them.
3) That the world will really start to see this as a real problem, and work with us to find solutions
4) I want us to start taking better care of ourselves, physically, with exercise and nutrition.


What are your hopes for mental illness in 2015?

Six Week Walking and Strength Building guide: week 1

Thought I would share my tips for the treadmill! These are tips I've gotten over the last couple of years.

1) always use the incline. Don't just walk or run on a flat surface.2) don't use the handles. This was hard for me. I started by keeping my hands over them, and used them when I felt wobbly, eventually I moved to the sides of the machine. And now I rarely use them.3) When I walk, cause I don't run, I am towards the back end of the machine. It's better for your stride that way.
4) when you start to feel like it's becoming easier at the speed or incline increase it. Try just the incline. The higher the incline the better the results! 4) when you start to feel like it's becoming easier at the speed or incline increase it. Try just the incline. The higher the incline the better the results



So this post is inspired by a follower on Instagram, who wanted to know how I walk for my cardio, and challenged me to prove this works. I love walking, it truly is my soul-mate of workouts. In the past tries of loosing weight walking and eating right helped me to lose 30 pounds. 

This is a Dowell Fitness guide to walking to gain a sustainable healthy lifestyle. With this and any workout please consult your doctor to see if it is right for you.

In this program we will also include strength training with weights or body weight.

When we use body weight we are incorporating the T25 non cardio DVD’s, other days will be at the gym.

Also be sure to hydrate! It is a key element in weight loss. I drink as close to a gallon a day as I can, although life happens.

Week One:

Day 1-7

Treadmill speed between 2.5 to 2.8.

Incline- at 2 to start. Increase incline 20 min in to your walk to 4, after 10 min increase incline to 6. Stay there until 10 minutes before your walk is over. Then slowly decrease the incline until it is at 0, which should be the end of the workout.

No better time to start than bright and early tomorrow morning!! 

Want to take the first step in your health? click here or visit the Goals page to learn more and lets get started!

Mental Monday: Trust

In life we all have trust issues. But in MY case of being bipolar, it is much more difficult to make friends and trust them.

This post will be a release for me, it is something that has been with me for a so long.

I know in life it really is difficult to trust people. But as a person living with mental illness I find it ten times more difficult.

My story of trust is dark and not something that I can let go of, yet.

With this illness you find who your true friends are, and that can be difficult. You put all your trust into someone only to have knives put in your back.


Over the last six years of my life I have lost many friends, some have gone quietly, others have ripped my heart out of my chest and led me in to deep depression. It made me question everything about my life. I felt so alone, and I was in the situation of having to be around them, I for lack of a better word was treated like SHIT. Mostly I stayed quiet, and cried when no one was looking. I had serious thoughts of self harm, not many people knew that, my confidant, my right arm, my wing man, treated me like dog shit, and it was an everyday thing. And I wanted to not exist. It felt like a bad divorce. And sometimes it felt like a funeral of what was some of the best times of my life. Even to this day I still cant look at some of my wedding photos without wanting to cry or punch something.

So how can we do it, trust others?

It is a leap of faith, and most of the time you build your wings on the way down.

The people that stuck around, that believed in me, I love them. Even if I rarely see them, due to many things, life, distance, or I will admit my own reclusive nature that keeps me away. But I love them!

Goals Part One: The Dress

Most of the time we struggle with our weight loss, and one thing I have learned is that motivation leaves, a lot. So if you are determined to lose the weight that is what keeps you going. I have a clear picture in my mind about weight loss.

I have been planning 2 photo sessions. One is with my husband, for our anniversary. The second is a real Pinup Photo-shoot.

So let me focus on the first photo-shoot.

So to give myself a little motivation for my weight loss journey, I bit the bullet and bought me a dress I had been eyeing for about two years. It is the Monica dress from Pinup Girl Clothing. It is off white and fabulous. You can see it in all its glory Here

I cannot properly express how happy/terrified this dress makes me feel! It really is tiny. I bought a medium, a size I haven't been since I met my husband! But I have made the choice to suck it up and get it done. 

If you are ready for that first step in living a healthy life please don't hesitate to contact me here

Or visit my achieve your goals page  here. 

XOXO 

Erin

ItTakes a Village to Have Success

It takes a village to become a success! I am so ready for 2015! And I want you to be too! Looking for friends to join my village! Lets make 2015 the year to kick the can't to the curb! If you are looking for support in your journey of health, message me and lets get started! If you are a part of the village but have been hesitant to start lets get you going. The physical transformation is only part of the journey, it is the person you become mentally that is life changing! All it takes is to reach out and trust in that leap of faith!

Self Confidence, Enough is Enough.

Things that are always running through my mind.
1) I want pasta, but if I eat that I cannot fit in to those jeans, Oh who am I kidding? I will never be good enough to wear them
2) I don't look pretty enough next to her.
3) nothing I ever do is good enough.

This list can go on FOREVER!

And it is so exhausting for anyone to feel that way.

Enough with the enough's

You are enough! I am enough, we all are enough.

So lets all be confident in who we are at this moment, and who we will become when we stop to realize, we are all beautiful.

Lets stop using labels to define each other.
No more Skinny, no more curvy, manly looking,  no more overweight, no more just no more.

What if we all just started working to become better in our overall life?
Lets use the language that lifts us up!
Getting healthy, getting fit, growing mentally, Love the way this makes me feel, I am enough.

So here I go, this is me, and I am working on getting healthy, growing mentally and I am enough.
This is where I am in my journey. I own it and am proud of how far I have come!

 I would Love for anyone who wants to join me on this journey or wants help with theirs to leave a comment below or head here to send me an email!

Mental Monday: Choices

Happiness is a choice......

I remember my first therapist telling me those words, and how angry I was at them and her for that matter. With all the things that were going on in my life at the time, which I obviously in formed her, that was not a concept I could grasp. At this stage I had not been tested for Bipolar, and was being treated for depression. How could a person who just went through emotional hell chose happiness?

I remember fuming about that comment after I sought treatment from a new therapist, and they told me the same thing. But did something different, I saw someone who helped diagnose me. That day was two things, devastating and full circle.

Lets start with the devastating. I don't know about anyone else, but this is my journey, and every person is different. Having a REAL diagnoses made me feel like I was the Something wrong in my life, and that everything going on was my fault. I became a very angry and very depressive.

A little description of how it feels, for me, to be going through that state. When I am angry and depressive I admit it now, I am out to hurt people, so they can feel pain the way I do. But that is the depression. The real me is trapped and sees the destruction and is screaming, that's not me, I am over here.

I hesitated for a very long time on seeing the specialist again. But when the medications weren't working and I was desperate I went back. Ended up hospitalized, got the shit scared out of me and was released 24 hours later because I couldn't be there, and the realization that others are going through the same just without a support system, I knew what I had to do.  

So what was the full circle? It was a normal day and I went to an appointment, she started reading off somethings that made sense. I never really fit in, in school, work, and sometimes with my family. I had bad mood-swings as a child and teenager. I mainly liked to be alone. Everything made sense. And as I was leaving the Dr. told me Erin, just remember Happiness is a choice. I turned around and asked "what does everyone mean by that? I am mentally ill, I am bipolar. She made me go back in to her office, sat me down and said this.

"You are not Bipolar, You are Erin, and you have Bipolar disorder. You are not your illness.  So just Be You. Choose to be as happy as you can be. Just Be You."

And that is where MY life changed. I took my medication regularly, I mood charted, and worked hard to do as she said "Be You"

All to often this is seen in our communities, people who sadly chose to be their illness, because they don't have the tools to know what others know, they are not the illness.

To Anyone who stops by just remember
1) Happiness Is a choice
2) You are not your illness'
And my favorite
3) Be You




That's where I leave you this Monday. If you are interested in my 30 day mood charting support group head over to my Contact me page!  or leave a comment below.

Self confidence and the scale

How many times as women have we stepped on the scale, only to have it crush our hopes and dreams? If you ask me to many.

When I was first starting on this journey of all around health, I like many, joined a "group" where we would track our food and weigh in every week. In the beginning it was awesome, the weight was coming off until it wasn't. This cycle continued for many months. Until I became paralyzed by my fear of the scale.  And I fell off the wagon pretty hard. I was burnt out. 

Cut to a few weeks ago, I was like many times, at 188. But then I let the fear creep in, and because of that I would eat poorly. So on Sunday I had a thought on how to get me past the 188 mark (however I am sitting around 193 now). I thought long and very carefully. I'm posting about my journey and I have to weigh myself or give my stats. After some reverse engineering I decided to put the scale away and test the theory of my fear.  

I am not weighing myself or taking measurements until January 2nd. I'm doing this to regain confidence in myself. I am practicing my tips for self confidence. I am watching my diet and doing my workouts and waiting to see what the result is.

And I want you to join me for the ride!  We can do this together. That's my call to action for you. Let's free ourselves from the scale, from our fears!  I'm ready! Are you? If you want in on this just click the contact me page! 

Mental Monday: finding out your triggers/stresses/warnings

One thing I am still working on in my mental health journey and wellness journey is to recognize my triggers. For those not familiar, triggers in hindsight are warnings that a manic or depressive episode is coming.

This is something that has taken so much of my time to finding a balance in my life.  So what is the first step in figuring out what your triggers are. I hated this in the early stages of my journey, but mood charting is amazing. For me the more detailed charts were the best. I recommend one that has a slot for Meds, food, water. And then the times of the day to chart your moods. The best one I have found is here at DBSA

Sometimes finding out your triggers can be painful. It's hard to admit but family is a trigger.  It's hard when everyone thinks they know you, or certain people push your buttons for their own personal game. Also my former job at times was an added amount of stress on my health.

Money is also a huge trigger for me no matter how much or little I have. 

My best advice to anyone going through the ups and downs of mental illness is to just for 30 days try mood charting. If you need support from someone I can be that shoulder for you to lean on. We can do it together.  Just leave a comment or hit the contact me tab located at the top of the screen, or click here!

Have a healthy Monday!

XOXO Erin