Motivation from Pinterest

I have found Pinterest and its hold is strong, though I do forget about it for days or weeks at a time. However, I will say that when it comes to both writing and fitness, Pinterest does have some uses. Okay, for crafts, cleaning, cooking, art, decorating and many other areas too. In particular when looking at fitness and writing one can use the site to find motivation. I have two boards set up that I use in particular for this. I have one with words and sayings, many of which are for writing purposes, and the other one is fitness specific incorporating both motivation pins and some site links that caught my attention.

This helps in particular for people who appreciate visuals. Many of them incorporate both images and words to convey a message. Some are just text, in particular some writing ones, but most have imagery to a certain extent, even if it's just a very nice background.

Here are the links to my two boards and a couple samples of what I have pinned as part of the motivation for writing and fitness.


Writing Motivation

 https://www.pinterest.com/dawnembers/sayings-and-phrases/

Fitness Motivation

https://www.pinterest.com/dawnembers/fitness-and-such/

Do you use pinterest?
What is your favorite motivating pin?

The Reveal aka My In Progress Photo Update

A very long overdue post. It's not a final one, just a progress report, but I've wanted to share some of the success I've had in the last year+. I waited because of reasons involving family, who hadn't seen in in over a year and didn't know the changes I'd made. Now, however, I am posting online again. Just hadn't posted on the blog. This is also the first time I'm posting pictures of myself on here. May have more in the future but not very often. For other pics, check out my instagram account @fiction2fitness where there is me, other stuff and of course, cats.


Starting off with the picture that I took back in September 2014 to use for my updates like this one. I started on the little journey weighing in at 211 lbs (not my heighest), which was pretty heavy for being only 4'11.5" in height. The picture wasn't right away, so the weight had dropped a little to 209. I tended to fluctuate over the years between 205 and 220, so it wasn't unusual but I did make the decision to try and eat a bit better and add some exercise to my life around that time. And yes, there is a lot of laundry soap because of sale prices plus coupon. ;-)

I also put together a progress photo from two family events. The first image was taken back in 2011 at my older stepsister's wedding in DC. I weighed around 220 and the dress was a size 22, though was more of a size 20 and had issues with my capri pants being too big on that trip. We had a great time out there. What I remember most is dancing with my grandma (grandpa passed away a few years beforehand) both slow and fast songs, and hoping she didn't really know what some of the lyrics meant. It was fun. May not like some of the photos of me but the memories are better. Things were a little different in 2015 for younger stepsister's wedding, but not by much. We were in Colorado at a small place, in November with the ceremony outside (it was not that cold, at least). Being around family was the best and we had a good time. My dress was a size large from the junior's department and I still don't like pictures taken of me. Either way, time with family was great, I was just a little smaller.

And this is just me from the gym with my struggling posing attempt (might work on that in 2016, lol). Over a year later, from 211 to around 140 lbs. I've fluctuated between 136 and 140 since before the wedding to now, varying during the months. However, in those months I also managed to lose inches in waist, hips, and chest during as I measure once a month.

Summary: That is me. Still working hard and gyming in 2016. My stomach still sticks out some but I'm making slow progress. I'm working on getting into the 120's and will go from there once I make it as I'm taking the slow route. Have some plans for fun things, new adventures, maybe some filming and of course writing.

Stay tuned for more blog posts about both fiction and fitness.

End of NaNoWriMo 2015

The chaos has ended and we're now into December (okay, over a week now, pesky cold and work distracted me). How did writing go for you?

 This year was different for me. The result was similar to last year, in that I didn't make it to 50,000 words and I was okay with that because the overall writing was still a success for me. I also did something I hadn't done before during NaNoWriMo: I took a vacation. Actually, it was my longest vacation in years and the most time I had ever taken off from work. Between travel with long hours of driving, work and gym, that made for a busy November with less priority put on writing compared to other years.

Result = Just over 33,000 words on North West.

So, almost 17k below goal, but around the halfway point in the novel based on a general estimate of how many words the story might take. Not bad for one month, really. I tend to be slower with YA when it's not fantasy and this one is just a contemporary story with a bit of a boy/boy romance. It also hits on slightly tougher subjects than my usual so I'm okay with it taking more than a month to get the first draft done.

And that's also why I like NaNo. Even if you don't make 50,000 words and "win" that is okay. I am 33,000 words further in the story than I was at the end of October.

2015 is almost over, the year goes by so quick, so I will do an overview soon of the goals I made for the year before looking into 2016. Have lots of fitness and writing goals, along with plans for blogging more. Plus, maybe a little vlog action. Some decisions are being considered. We will have to see what happens. ;-)

Travel, Snacks and NaNoWriMo

We are in the middle of National Novel Writing Month. Just over 15 days have passed, many people should be at 25,000 words or more (I'm not) and there is still a couple of weeks left to get that writing done. However, coming up in the US is the Thanksgiving holiday, which can mean some challenges for certain writers. Me, I had those challenges but at the beginning of the month instead of the end and those are: travel, food and family. So, I'm going to talk about two of them.

This year I had to do something I had never done before during NaNoWriMo and it was at the beginning of the month, when I usually push and try to get to 50k then slow down to meander the rest of the novel however many words I end up writing. I had to travel as I took a vacation to see family and attend my stepsister's wedding. This meant, I was driving (most of it by myself) for over 20 hours each way. Then there were family get togethers and other stuff, which made writing not happen very much.

If you struggle to get 50k with a whole month of writing, I don't recommend a driving vacation unless you change the writing goal to something lower because it is going to affect your word count. I had travel then 6 days of work, some of which were longer than normal hours, so right now I'm almost to 10,000 words when I should have over 25,000. However, if I push on my days off, I can get caught up in just a few days because I have enough NaNoWriMo practice that I can produce a decent result even in that short time. No word count tricks or cheats here, just whatever the first draft of the story needs.

Aside from word count woes, travel can be a challenge when focusing on losing weight. In fact, it can be a challenge for maintaining as well, since there is fast food, sodium, and less control over certain options depending on the situation. Here are a few things that can help.

1. Prepare ahead of time and find healthier snack options

Since I was driving, I didn't want to stop too often on the long days and I was alone anyways, so I found having some food from grocery stores made it easier so I only had to stop for bathroom, gas or some more water/drinks. This was easier at the start of vacation, in particular. Convenient snacks turned out to be sugar snap peas and pre-sliced apples. I also found a bag of pre-sliced apples that included some grapes. Those were great in the morning and easy to consume while driving so I could remain safe and not distracted. I did have a little candy but kept it minimal and on the first days, I only ate out once because we don't have Taco Johns in Oregon so once I made it to Wyoming, I was having Taco Johns (mmm).

2. Decide on goals for travel

If you want to keep with a calorie deficit, you can do that while travel. Just make sure you track and remember that a little increase in weight can be from a number of things so don't panic too much over the numbers. For this trip, I needed a break after being on a deficit for around a year, so it was the perfect time to rest both from gym and lower calories. I ate mostly at maintenance, tracked some but not everything, and didn't stress at all during the wedding stuff because there were more important things besides how many calories I ate those two days. However, if I ever had to do a work travel or something during this time of year, I'd probably keep the deficit and just do what I could to be flexible, which is why I like the flexible dieting (or if it fits your macros) type more than being restrictive or "clean."

3. Relax and have fun

It's vacation, don't get too focused on the little issues like a day of eating over your calorie goal or how much sodium is in fast food tacos. If you don't travel all of the time, then it's okay to have a little time on occasion that is higher calorie or relaxed in fitness. Don't forget to enjoy life and have some fun.

As for NaNoWriMo writing: What to do when you get behind? Keep writing. You can make up for a lot of lost time if you have some days where you can focus on writing most of the day. However, even if you don't have that and you can't make it to 50k, that doesn't mean you should just give up and stop writing. Keep going and work on that novel. Whatever count you get by the end of the month will still be more than you had on October 31st. And you can write more in December or whenever you put the time in to work on the novel. While the challenge of getting 50k done in a month is fun, it isn't the end all be all. What matters is just that you write if you want to finish a novel first draft.

Keep writing.

Hero Up to Run Distance and Phoebe

Hi there. It has been a while and September is almost gone but I really wanted to get this post up before the month ended. I'm going to talk about jogging again because I've done a total of three 5k events so far and it's almost time for my 10k one (October 25th).

As a non-runner, the idea of paying money to run a course even when I can do it for free seemed odd at first. One of the runs in fact is in the area I do my long runs at every week. However, what makes the races great and the money worth spending is what those funds go to support. Every 5k this summer that I attended raised money for a cause or organization. The one this month, however, was my favorite and I already have plans for next year.

September 5th, I took part in Hero Up. It was a timed 5k and half marathon where participants got to dress up as super heroes in order to raise money to help fight against children's cancer. There was also a kid's run too. Even though I knew no one there, the whole atmosphere and event was awesome. From Hulk leading the event, many people dressed up like batman (most common outfit this year), all the way to the little baby superman, it was just a great few hours.

http://hero-up.org
http://hero-up.org/about/

My costume for the one this year was based off a character that my sister recommended: Huntress from Bird's of Prey. I based my costume on a couple images I found on pinterest and google, much like this one:

I hope to take part in the Half Marathon next year. Never thought I would run that far but for a cause like this one, it's worth the effort. While running doesn't seem like it would do much, the funds they can raise and the awareness are what make it a good reason to run. Which, brings me to the next set of links and similar topic that could use some promotion.

A wonderful couple that I associate with on a regular basis online had the recent misfortune of their child being diagnosed with Leukemia. Phoebe is only 5 and has a tough road ahead of her but the writing community of Writing.com have been showing their support for the family. Her story is public on Facebook.

Some links:
https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfPhoebe?pnref=story
https://www.booster.com/friends-of-phoebe
http://www.gofundme.com/FriendsofPhoebe


Hopefully next year, things will be looking better and the money raised by the different organizations help make a big difference in the fight against children's cancer, on personal and global levels. Expect a post next year and a different hero. Maybe even a picture of me as I will Hero Up for September and the fight against children's cancer.

A Weight Goal Achieved

Yep, I made it to one of my goals and am dedicating a post to a little scale victory.


I don't know how many of the followers will remember, but back in May of 2013, I took part in a health blog hop and talked about weight goals. Link to Blog Post


That was over 2 years ago. My goal at the end of that post was to make it to 160, which was still obese for my height. However, it wasn't a final, that is the lowest I could ever attempt, type of goal, which I had to clarify in the comments. It was an interim goal since the lowest I had been as an adult was 179 and it was hard to picture lower.

I now weigh even less than that goal.

I reached 160 on April 18th. As I got closer to that weight, my goal changed to then make it to 150 because that marked the line at my height for overweight instead of obese.

On July 20th, I reached that goal too. In fact, I now am at 143 and still slowly losing weight. Have a ways to go in order to reach what is deemed a healthy weight for my height, but I can see it more now. When I weighed over 200 it was hard to imagine even weighing 150 let alone much less. As I make my way down this path, I see things a bit more now. I don't have a final goal range just yet, and I may even one day do a bulk (purposefully gain weight at a very very slow pace in order to gain muscle), but for now, things are going well. I will reach the year mark from when I decided to be more active in a couple of weeks and have lost over 65 lbs. Even better than that is the things I can do and the activities I want to try doing in the future.

I can jog 4 miles and hope to soon increase that number. I also can squat 160, deadlift over 180 and bench 100 (all in lbs for either 3 to 5 reps).

I still have many goals, which still includes novel writing, as it's not about the end but the journey it takes to get there.

Dawn Does... a 5k

Yep, I jogged a 5k in June. In fact, I took part in Neon Glow for Pride up in Portland. Neon clothes, glow sticks and all kinds of rainbows were prominent for the evening jog, plus fun music playing to keep everyone energized.

Picture:

Sorry, just my shoes. hehe I'm still on a no online posts rule for pictures of me but I am taking progress photos.


I had the neon shoes as those happen to be the running shoes I got from the store. Worked out well. I also had a neon yellow shirt I got on clearance and blue/yellow neon shorts. It ended up colder than I had quite expected, so I was glad that I had knee-hi socks on that evening.

Prior to the event, I spent months training using Couch to 5k. It is a great program for anyone who wants to start running. Before that I just did walking with short bits of running (for about a 3 minute song and worked up to a one interval middle of my walk on treadmill at 8 minutes). I did all of the C25k ones outside and still prefer to do my jogs out at the park or even around the neighborhood. I did find the program helped me to be able to jog a whole 30 minutes without stopping but that wasn't 5k for my short stride and slow speed. I had weeks before the event when I made it to the end, so I just kept the same schedule and increased my time each week. I ended up able to jog 40 minutes without stopping not long before my scheduled 5k, which worked out to be enough time for me.

In June, I jogged the whole 5k at the event, which was my goal. It wasn't timed so I don't know how long it took me but I wasn't near last and had fun cheering the others as they made it to the finish line.


I have 2 more 5k events coming up. One is a bubble/color run and the other is a hero run, so I'm needing to work on my costume for that. I'm also training for a 10k to help me get some distance and used to running as I'm still a beginner in order to get better at the 5k distance. I am signed up for a 10k at the end of October, which will be costume related and fun as well.

While I still prefer lifting compared to running, I'm enjoying the process and look forward to reaching more milestones in fitness.