Life, Fitness, and General Sillyness

Summer is here, we're halfway through 2015... and how is your life looking? We start the year with lofty goals and visions of rebirth, and I often find people's ambition fizzles out by March. They usually have a series of reasoning for it, but ultimately these are just excuses. And this is where a very simple (but not always easy to accept) principle comes into play: Own. Your. Sh*t. Sounds simple enough, right? But it's not. Because owning your shit requires actual ownership of your own life, behaviors, decisions, and results. That is not always cozy for people. Ownership sounds so simple and logical, but it's not. We're all about owning the cool parts of ourselves, but nobody likes the icky stuff. Nobody likes to own the part of themselves that they haven't tamed yet. The binge eating. The excuse making. The poor financial decisions. Yeah... that ownership blows. But it doesn't have to be BAD. In fact, owning your sh*t is GOOD! It feels scary...

When we were young, we observed relationships on TV and movies and got a picture of how these things were supposed to pan out in our adult lives. Our families and media heavily influenced these expectations, and as we ventured out naively into the world of adulthood, these were the things that carried us through from date to date and moment to moment. At least, that was the case for me. First kisses are put on pedestals and finding love was the end-all-be-all to life. I was in two long term relationships that spanned my 20s. I definitely thought my last long term relationship was my match; after all, the ring had been selected, the venue located, and a rough date had been set. We had our issues, but this was someone I was positive was my "person." Imagine my surprise when I was tossed out of our home and suddenly single in 2012 because he had other plans for his life. I will define the next 6 months of my life as "not a very fun time for Abby". I specificall...

I tend to do one of these types of blog posts a year and I just feel moved to do my 2015 edition. I'm completely transparent so I figured I might as well type this bad boy out to help quell some of the repeat questions and curiosity that gets generated in my day to day life. Did you really drop your sponsorships because of Isagenix? -Sure did. Don't get me wrong. The other companies treated me well and were well-meaning. They stood behind their product. The problem was that I hadn't used their stuff at all (due to it upsetting my stomach or in one case, causing massive heart palpitations due to the insane about of stimulants and other crap in it) or they were things I hadn't used in months/nearly a year. All the results I was having was because I was using Isagenix products, and they were night and day to what was regularly in my body before. Consequently, I chose to step down as being a sponsored athlete. I felt like I was lying to people and it was my own terror o...

Maybe it's because I was a swimmer for a decade, but I have found that I've always done well in sink-or-swim situations. As intimidating as they can be for people to face, you usually end up surprising yourself with a combination of your determination to thrive and your own fortitude. Think to your own life. For that matter... try to think about all of life in this way. In general, your choices go as follows: Sink Float Swim These are truly the ONLY options you have in water, and certainly this is no different in life (work, dating, friendships, family) if you have the right frame of mind. Sinking Can Suck. No doubt about it, this is what keeps everyone from taking the leap. What if the water is cold? What if you can't touch the bottom? What if there is gross seaweed? OH MY GOSH WHAT IF THERE ARE HUGE, GROSS FISH IN THERE AT BITE YOU?!?! These are all risks. And these are no different than the questions you ask entering ANYT...

Being a proud Minnesotan, I can tell you that we are some of the most accommodating and generous people you'll ever meet. I can't think of a single person here that won't go out of their way to do something nice or help someone else out in times of need. Being selfless is good for everyone involved. It's the right thing to do and it's always a positive to help make someone else's life a little easier. There is a detriment to this though (and I particularly notice it in Midwestern people): A total lack of boundaries. I had this discussion with a friend yesterday and I decided it would be a good thing to address in a blog. When I talk about boundaries, I'm not talking about personal space. Most people are excellent and not treading into someone's personal bubble of comfort. I have yet to be a coffee shop and have a weirdo come up and sit in my lap and stare at me.  Emotionally, however, boundaries don't exist with many people and it's a real pr...

This is going to go down a different avenue than my blogs normally pursue. In general I stick to fitness and life on the whole, but I'm going to hit a different path today and talk about relationships (friendships or dating). I have always been an extremely nice, outgoing, trusting person. Ask my parents. As a little kid I would wander up to any stranger and talk to them, and I had no qualms going up to any strange dog and offering it my face with the pure, blind trust of the innocent little kid I was. While I got wiser with age in terms of realizing talking to strangers isn't always a great plan and some dogs WOULD happily eat me for dinner, I continued carrying the naivete of "Because I operate this way, everyone must operate this way" well into my adulthood. The golden rule is something I have always intrinsically and instinctively lived by. I don't think this is a bad thing for the mostpart, but that is not to say that it hasn't hindered me numerous ...

I get emails and texts from all kinds of people going through different life things. They're usually not fun life things, either. They can range from dealing with breakups to being frustrated with life in general. Hey, it happens to everyone. These things happen to me too! As you get older (and hopefully wiser), you notice patterns and seasons in your life that are as regular as the changing leaves. For me, I know I tend to fall into a bit of a depression this time of year. I tend to curb it with goal setting and striving for something larger in my life to get me through the winter. I've learned this about myself. It took some time but I have solved the problem on my own. Many people haven't learned this skill yet. It takes some serious self-reflection and dealing with parts of yourself that you don't care to admit out loud. Avoiding these things, however, is detrimental to your growth and your overall health. What results is generally a life of chaos and low expect...