runDisney

Are you a big Disney fan? 

I know that I am! 

A while back my mom subscribed to Womens Running Magazine and in almost every spring issue there is an advertisement for runDisney! So we looked into it and what do you know, Disneyland Resort and DisneyWorld Resorts host Marathons, Half Marathons, 5Ks and family fun runs for people of all ages! 

These runs go through the park and downtown Disney. All the people dress up and everyone is so happy! The characters motivate you through the whole race and are there to cheer you on to a Happy Ever After race ending! There seems to be so much magic going on at these races. I can't wait to be a part of one one day! 

Oh yeah did I mention that's my big goal!?  

Hoping to raise enough money and push past my 5K running standard! 

And now runDisney Just release info for a new run! Yes that is what it looks like! AVENGERS SUPER HERO WEEKEND RUN! 

On November 14-16th this year! Registration begins in March. I added a link below if your just as crazy about this as I am! 

rundisney.com

I would love for all of you to share  your tips and tricks on training for a half marathon! So please Comment below or follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pintrest (Found on the side bar...) and send me your tips! 

STAY motivated!

Apps, Apps, Apps!

Fitness apps are my equivalent to Andrea's YouTube videos! I LOVE them. While I too love working out to videos, I'd have to say that I probably utilize apps more. They are so easy and while some cost a couple dollars, there are plenty of free ones that you can download. I turn to my apps when don't have much time on a specific day or I'll add it to the end of my workout. Another thing I love about apps is that they introduce me to new exercises! I've been dedicated to fitness for years, and for a while I felt like I knew every exercise in the book. Wow, I've never been more wrong or more excited to be wrong! Every once in a while I'll just be cruising through my apps and I'll come across a new exercise that I really enjoy. Anyways, here are some of the apps I've downloaded that really help me squeeze in a workout no matter how busy I am:

30 Day Squat Challenge: This app was free to download, requires no weights, and is extremely simple but still yields great results. The app is easy to navigate and you simply click on the day that you're on, it tells you how many squats to do, and you check the completed box when you're done each day in order to unlock the next! It's exactly what it sounds like, 30 days worth of squats. If you stick with it, you will notice a
significant difference in the strength and tone in your lower half by the end of the 30 days. If you can't download apps on your phone, click here for a challenge that has small differences in the daily amount of squats, but is fundamentally the same and will give you the same results.

Hot5: Hot5 is the latest addition to my fitness app collection! This app has tons of pages of 5-minute workout videos that are simple and easy to follow. 5 minutes. That's what sold me on it and I think that's something that a lot of us are drawn to. How can we say that we "don't have enough time" to workout when there's an app that offers 5-minute workouts!? I use Hot5 in addition to my workouts as something fun and different, however these videos can certainly be used as workouts on their own. Hot5 offers workouts for your abs and core, butt and legs, cardio and agility, muscle and strength, and yoga and flexibility. Between all the options for workouts and varying difficulty levels, it has something for for everyone. And if you aren't cramped for time on a certain day, you can mix and match workouts and come up with some pretty good routines! This app is also free.

RunKeeper: I downloaded RunKeeper this last summer and I love it. With RunKeeper, you can track your walks, runs and bike rides using a GPS system that's on your phone and track your progress. What I love about this app is that I never have to question how far I've ran and it also offers an audio cue option. If you opt for the audio cues, the app give updates through your headphones or your phone speaker on distance, time, pace and other customized updates like intervals and target pace according to what you set up in your personalized training plan. Another helpful and free app that you should try out!

GymPact: This app might be good for those of you who really struggle with staying motivated! It's free to download, however, there's a catch. When I first saw app it said, "Earn cash for living healthy, paid by members who don't" and that's what caught my eye. And it's no joke! Once you download the app you have to set a weekly goal of how many times you'll workout during that week and pick the amount of money that you're willing to risk if you don't reach your goal! If you don't reach your goal, your credit card gets charged. However, if you do reach your goal, you get paid!

Okay! I could go on all day about the apps that I find helpful, but these are the first four that came to my mind. I just wanted to share with you guys something that makes it a little easier to squeeze in workouts. There are also hundreds of apps out there to help with diet and nutrition including apps that will count calories, give you tips and information about nutrition, and much more. Things like workout videos, YouTube channels dedicated to fitness and health, and apps are here for a reason. Utilize your resources everyone! Trust me, I know what it's like to struggle to find motivation but we all just need to do our best to prioritize and invest our time into health and life!

Jump right in!

Ok, Enough of the chit chat and the blah blah. Don't lie, I know you're all thinking it! But hey, blogs are hard to start man! Got to have some kind of background. 

Although we're no professional health gurus, we are our own self-proclaimed motivational aides. Sometimes it's fun to share with everyone what kind of new things you've discovered and what kind of things work and don't work. So that's why we are here. 

I just heard in a commercial that the number one excuse people say for not working out is: 
"I don't have the time" 
That's definitely true most of the time, But there are so many videos out there that take either 10 or 20 min! Not all of them take a  whole hour! Work out videos are a good and quick way to get a workout in and out of the way for the day! 

I found the greatest YouTube channel ever. The channel is put together by Lionsgate BeFit. The company that does most of the countries work out videos. This channel provided me with full length work out videos. [Link to channel]

I love work out videos because:
#1 Free! You don't have to get a gym membership
#2 Usually pretty quick and you can do them in the morning before work or in between crazy schedules. 
#3 You actually get a good sweat
#4 No embarrassment of looking like a dork. For example, Zumba. I'm so nervous to go to a gym to do Zumba because of the embarrassment, but an at home video really takes the embarrassment away. 
#5 You can try almost anything! I've done kick boxing, to belly dancing, to yoga, to just Cardio and weight loss videos! 
#6 You can pair them with a RUN! I do that all the time. I will go for a run then come home and do a focus video. One day a run + abs the next a run + arms. 
#7 THEY'RE TONS OF FUN!

There are so many more reasons why work out videos are awesome!
Please post any cool suggestions of videos you may have. I love hearing about them and trying out new workouts.
Like today I did Jillian Michaels' Kickboxing for the very first time, and man am I sore! 

Happy Workout! 

Some personal statistics, Where do you rank?

Curiosity is what drives me most of the time. Curiosity as in, finding a new workout video, trying a new detox smoothie, or even going new places for a hike. My curiosity sparked an idea, what if we asked everyone else what curiosity meant to them. So I created a survey. If your curious like me, click (Here) and you can take the survey yourself. 

The survey I created was short and simple. Basically asking what motivation means as well as what it means in terms of health and fitness. This survey was open to anyone and was completely anonymous without any demographic questioning. I received many different answers some of which included: 

In asking what motivation means to them, these are some of the many responses I received:. 

"A force that compels you" 
"God" 
"Something that makes you get up and get things done" 
"Motivation is what makes me accomplish things through intrinsic or extrinsic influences" 
"Something that causes you to do something you normally would put off" 

These are such great examples of what many people believe motivation is to them. Motivation is something that everyone has a view on. Whether it be religious or physical. Motivation is something that almost every human has a definition for. 

In another question asking what motivation means in terms of health and fitness, I received answers like these: 

"To set realistic goals for my runs and weight loss" 
"Motivation for health and fitness is thinking about how much harder its going to be to maintain and keep my body fit in the future if I do not take care of it now." 
"Looking good, Feeling good" 
"I want to be healthy so I can perform loving acts of kindness as God wants me to" 
"I am motivated to work out so that I can stay in good shape to do things that my family loves to do like hiking and canoeing. And I am in a better mood, less stressed when I work out."

Keeping and maintaining goals is a big part of staying motivated in terms of health and fitness. Family is an extremely amazing motivator. Many people want to stay motivated in order to be the person their family wants them to be; to be able to keep up and be able to do things with children or friends. Religion is another strong motivator. If you are determined to be the best you can be for the one you believe in, that can motivate you more than most things. For me, being able to be the best I can be for myself and the people around me is a big motivator. This means working out to relieve stress or eating a better meal to save myself from future health issues and to look better and feel better in the long run. 

In the survey, I also asked on a scale of 0 to 7 how motivated one is. 
41.67% of my survey takers said they are mostly satisfied with how motivated they already where but hoped to become more motivated. As well as stated that they would be interested in discovering new ways to become motivated. 

In a question asking what kinds of material would they be interested in aiding them in becoming more motivated, 25% said text prompts and books. 58.33% of survey takers said that Blogs and videos would help them the most, And THAT is why Tuesday and I have started this blog. Since majority of people are on the internet most of the day, why not motivated them to get up through the internet!?

This Blog is intended to provide you with the most recent videos and ideas on how to stay motivated. Including new workouts, diet plans, detoxes and adventures to keep you motivated. 

Lets Get Motivated!

Motivation-The Meaning

mo·ti·va·tion

: the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something : the act or process of motivating someone

: the condition of being eager to act or work : the condition of being motivated

: a force or influence that causes someone to do something

This provides us, in the most simplest form, the definition of motivation (credit: Websters Online Dictionary).

From a psychology student's point of view, motivation is the emotional, biological, psychological and social forces that aid us in reaching our goals. Our behavior according to motivation is goal oriented. If we learn to utilize our motivation to its fullest, we will be more likely to achieve those goals. 

For me, Andrea, in order for us to achieve our goals in life we must be persistent, motivation needs to be constant and often intense. For me when I get up in the morning I have my workout gear laid out so I know I have to get moving. Seeing that specific clothing on the floor is the first motivation of my day. Second would be the task I have put upon myself of finding a motivational quote to send to Tuesday each morning. These things help me through my day and as of right now I am on day 35 of working out every day!

What Andrea said about being persistent is so important, and this is where most people, myself included, most often fail with staying on top of workouts. Motivation is key, but that motivation needs to be, like she said, constant and intense. Having waves of being motivated and waves of being unmotivated aren't going to get you very far. If anything, those waves are just going to bring on many days where you feel defeated or like you've failed yourself.

Like Andrea, I also have very specific things that I need to do to keep myself motivated. The first thing I do every morning is a quick, simple workout right after I wake up just to get my body moving and blood flowing (I'll post it below). As small is it seems, doing just that workout makes me feel like I've accomplished something first thing in the morning, and that's a good feeling and trust me...it's a much better way to start the morning than laying in bed and pressing snooze (though I have my days where I'm also guilty of that). You instantly feel more motivated and more energized. The second thing I do is I bring my running shoes to work with me and force myself to be on the treadmill during my half hour break. It's not hard for me to squeeze snacks in throughout the day, but this is a way that I can make sure I get a little extra cardio in during the days where I have a super busy schedule after work. The third thing that keeps me motivated daily is Andrea and I exchanging motivational sayings each day. Some people seem to be easy to motivate naturally, but for some of us it's a lot more difficult. For me, seeing motivational quotes and pictures everyday keeps the messages they convey fresh in my mind so I can stay more driven! 

Who Are We?

Hi there,

We are the authors and creators of Two Girls, One Goal and we thought we would tell you a little bit about ourselves before we begin blogging. 

We are two girls who have struggled and battled with becoming motivated. Through our ups and downs in life and the positives and negatives, we have always been able to find a way to make ourselves happy in the end. We are two girls wanting to share our love for motivating each other with many of you others out there. We had started a challenge for ourselves a while ago to send each other a motivational quote everyday to get us going and be ready for the day. Its worked very well! and now we want to share our love for motivating each other with all of you. 

But first a little bit about us: 

I am Andrea, I am a psychology student at City University of Seattle. I was born and raised in Bellingham, WA and currently am living in Kennewick, WA. I am passionate about helping children and teens develop into strong healthy adults. I hope for my future to become a child and teen counselor. I currently am working a basic job to get me through school, with a photography business on the side. Taking pictures is something I absolutely love doing and will never stop! (andreabphoto.blogspot.com). I have struggled with issues about my weight for years. Starting in middle school when I struggled to fit in on the volleyball team and continuing through high school. In high school I challenged myself to work out every day and I did for 365 days straight. I lost 20 lbs and gained it all back again in College. I am currently working to get back down to that high school weight and be proud of myself again. Besides struggling to fit in and working out all the time, my mind all ways contemplated eating disorders. More specifically I was more or less "interested" in binge and purging. I resorted to laxatives at one point. But fought with myself to stop. Luckily I had the will power and the support of my family, without them even knowing, to end it. Ever since then I have struggled with the idea in the back of my head to skip a meal or go purge right after a big meal. So now I have decided to change the motivation I have and get rid of that little devil screaming in the back of my head. 

Motivation to me is being able to wake up in the morning and be ready to face to day, whether or not that means getting your butt up to go work out or getting ready for work or school. Motivation is what everyone needs to get by.

Andrea before "Fun with the Fuzz 5K" Bellingham, WA

My name's Tuesday and I work as a front desk agent for a vacation club in Birch Bay, Washington and have been a freelance model on the side since September 2012. Two years ago I got my associate's degree and since then have taken a break from schooling to work full time while deciding what path I want to take for my career. Currently I'm looking at education options in the Seattle area to pursue my bachelor's in criminal justice where I'll specialize in forensic science and I couldn't be more excited!

At 5'9" I'm fairly tall and have always been on the lean side. However, regardless of the fact that I realize that, I can't remember a time in my life where I was happy with my body, or a time where I was ever satisfied or even comfortable in my own skin. I'm one of "those girls". The kind who has spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on diet fads, pills, weight loss supplements, cleanses, etc. since I was about 16 years old. Within' the past year or so I've come to terms with the fact that no fad or pill is going to magically get me where I want to be. Month to month my body is constantly changing in an unhealthy way because I struggle to find the proper motivation to create and stick to a healthy plan. For the past few months I've been working out two to three times a week with a personal trainer and at home. And this time....I have Andrea and her positive and motivating attitude to help me stick with it and succeed!

There are two keys to success in any and every aspect of life, inspiration and motivation. Some people use these two words interchangeably but they have different meanings in my eyes. To me, being inspired means that something or someone has made you want to take your body or your mind to a higher level, to change or grow in some way. Without inspiration, motivation is more of an artificial growth. If a person's motivation doesn't come from being inspired then I feel like it's coming from the feeling that they should be doing something different or that they should change. For example, when young girls feel pressured to be thin because the media is shoving images and ideas of beauty down their throats, their motivation to eat less or workout more is because they feel pressured to, not necessarily because they want to or because they're inspired. However, with inspiration AND motivation,  you can accomplish all your goals much easier and for the right reasons. Hopefully Andrea and I can both inspire and motivate you like we have inspired and motivated each other!

Tuesday kayaking the Waimea River in Kauai, HI.