Suffering for Christ’s sake

I’ve never been one to offer up my opinion on many matters so publicly, but this morning as I looked over social media and as I sat down to read my Bible, I suddenly felt very convicted to take a stand and have a voice. I pray that my voice isn’t from me, but it comes from God and his word. I want it to be a voice of truth, of love and compassion, but also a stern and solid voice. I haven’t posted in quite some time so I thought I’d come back with a  bang!

Philippians 1:29 “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.”

Being a Christian is not always easy. Yes, it is the best choice you will ever make. It is full of joy, peace, love, and hope. But, the fact of the matter is that Christ came and lived as a servant to all men and then died a brutal, terrible death so that we could have this freedom in him and the choice to serve him. When you make the decision to give your life to Christ, you are no longer living for yourself, but for his glory and his will. It’s so beautiful to be a child of God and to know you will inherit his kingdom, because you are a child of the King! Jesus suffered so much for you and I, so much that we will probably never face that much suffering in our life. But, we will face certain persecutions and things we need to stand up for in the name of Christ.

So, that brings me to the whole issue going on with Target. I am a mom, which means I LOVE target. It is my little escape whether alone or with my kiddo tagging along. I can get diapers cheaper there. I can get cute baby clothes. I can grocery shop. I can clothes shop. They have an awesome $1, $3, and $5 shelf with cute and practical items. Basically I could go on for a while. Anyways, when Target announced that they will now allow so called “gender equality” in their bathrooms that allows men who identify with women and women who identify with men to go into the restroom of their choice I was very disgusted I guess you would say. First, I want to make sure I am clear that I am in no way judging anyone on any life choices here. I believe that everyone has the freedom and choice to live how they please. Also, I am not being hateful or showing disgust at those people who live their lives differently than I do. However, Target has decided to allow less than 4% of the American population open this door and to what avail?

Number one, moms are not going to make Target their escape like it once was. If you have such a huge customer base of mothers and families, do you really think you will not lose a major chunk of those customers after opening a door that could allow pedifiles to freely enter bathrooms under gender equality rules and place our children in danger? That should have been a no brainer for Target in my opinion.

Secondly, I believe as Christians, it is our right and responsibility to stand up for matters such as this. Do I stop going to every store who supports LGBT in some way? Not usually because let’s be real, there would be no stores left to go to. Do I boycott every company that employs them or serves them or offers incentives to them? No, because I do believe they have the same rights as humans and citizens here to be given equal opportunity in the workplace, service, etc. But I do not believe they should have any special treatment or opportunities because they made a choice to live this way. Does this make me a bad person? If you decide to change who God created you to be in a biological and physical way, that is your business. It is your choice to live how you please, but it also should not affect other people. You know that your choice will bring you to barriers and issues that do not align with your lifestyle, so you should accept that fact and not push your choice on other people. As a Christian, I do not agree with your lifestyle. I do not want to be forced to make exceptions for you when it was your choice, not mine. What gives you the right to push your ideals and values on me when it is so looked down upon for me to even share mine with you? I will love you and pray for you just like I do anyone else, but I will not accept when your “equality” is pushed in my face. You made a decision and you should live with that, not me. You want to pee in peace as many say? Then go to a store with separate, individual bathrooms, not communal bathrooms. Stop making excuses for your decision and stop trying to make everyone pity you. Own up to your life and your choices and deal with it. You have been given a “minority” title, you have pushed your way into the equal opportunity and equal outcomes game. But every other minority was born into that minority. You made a decision!

I will stop rambling now, but I do hope Target and other companies would open their blind eyes and stop pushing these social issues in their stores and on their loyal customers. I do not think corporations should be involved in these social matters. But it is their decision, and until they stop making special privileges and exceptions for these groups and placing children and customers in harms open doors, then the rest of us will take our business elsewhere. It breaks my heart, but if Christ suffered so much for me, I can take this one loss.

Tuesdays with Tori #3

It’s a cold, rainy, and icy Tuesday here and I’m bundled up drinking coffee and trying to stay warm while my little man naps. I like to use this time to do some work for my business or finish one of my chores around the house I’ve chosen for the day. Since I can’t vacuum while he sleeps, I decided to work 🙂 I’ve chosen Tuesdays as a day to tell y’all more about myself.

Today I’m gonna tell a little about my pregnancy and birth. When me and my husband moved to Louisiana we decided we would start trying to conceive. It took a few months, and we finally found out we were pregnant in September. I was 4 weeks along and it was the hardest secret to keep! We told our families and waited a few weeks to announce it, but literally couldn’t hold it in any longer!

I started getting super nauseous around 6 weeks and it lasted til 16 weeks! Longest 10 weeks ever! But once it faded I really began to enjoy pregnancy. It was hard to be active during that time, but I started working out again regularly around 16 weeks. I walked a lot! Mainly because I would get Braxton Hicks when I ran or did anything too vigorous after a certain point. Me and Jono took a babymoon to Gulfport in the second trimester for a couple days and got a couples massage and just relaxed..it was awesome! I also flew to my parent’s around 29 weeks for a baby shower in Georgia. It was hard being away from all of our family during pregnancy because I wanted to share it with them. Those visits definitely helped, and having a few visitors here and there.

My mom flew down a week before my due date to stay with us and get ready. I started having contractions on Tuesday that week after my doctors appointment. They weren’t close enough together for long enough and eventually faded. It happened a couple more times that week, but Friday during the night around 2:30am I woke up to go to the bathroom and as I walked through the house my water broke. I was half asleep and a little confused because it didn’t seem like much water, but about 10 minutes late as we got dressed, the rest of the water decided to come on out! I obviously had to change clothes again haha! The hospital was an hour and a half away…thank goodness for the timing because there was no traffic. We lived in a remote area on an island so any traffic will hold you up on a bridge that is miles long.

Luckily contractions didn’t start until we got to the hospital. I got checked in and they slowly began. For the next 7 or 8 hours I hung in there through some major pain! I had planned on at least attempting to have a completely natural birth with no meds…but it got to a point I thought I was going to pass out. I felt like I was letting myself down…which is how I lasted as long as I did, but Jono finally helped me decide it was ok to get the epidural…and wow! What a relief it was! My husband told me last night that It was the hardest and longest day ever for him and my mom because they had to watch me be in that much pain. I obviously responded saying try actually being the one in pain 🙂

So I continued to labor another 6 hours and after pushing for 2 hours straight…we had our baby boy! I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy! All I wanted to do was hold him and never let go. Luckily my dad made it just in time and my parents got to both be apart of seeing Benaiah right after he was born. That was special because we didn’t have the luxury of all of our family being there…which is what we would have loved!!

After the birth began a bit of a journey for me. I won’t get into many gory details, but I passed out twice after labor trying to get up and walk, there was much swelling of my entire body due to what I later found out was a stress injury I got pushing for so long. I still am recovering from that…it could take a year. Mainly I can’t run or doing a lot of jumping or plyometric exercises. I’m able to lift weights now without pain from straining. Thank goodness! So I’m definitely a lot closer to full recovery. It is so amazing what the human body can go through and how it can heal!

And as painful and hard as labor and birth and recovery was, I am somehow ready to do it again haha! NO…that does not mean I’m trying to get pregnant..I still have some recovering left to do! 🙂 Happy Tuesday everyone!

Workout Wednesday

Happy Hump Day everyone! I’ve been a little MIA, but planning to really make blogging a higher priority during my day. Since the beginning of the year I have had certain goals I’m working on and its been really helpful breaking my goals down into weeks and months rather than a whole year. However, the one goal I have not met is one about my consistency here..so hoping to start fresh and change that! Its always important to reevaluate each month and set new and attainable goals for yourself. Have you met any of your goals you set at the new year? Can you believe its already almost halfway through February!!

One goal I have been more consistent at is my workouts! Working out has never been a problem for me, but the problems come in when I try to incorporate an 8 month old or struggling from being tired from getting up through the night to nurse or pump. I’m pretty strict with my son’s schedule as far as eating and nap time goes, so I have to fit in what I want to do between that. Also, I have really been trying to increase my milk supply (TMI probably) so I pump at least every 2 hours and it is exhausting at time because it drains you! I have to drink my body weight in ounces of water and eat extra calories for the milk production. Anyways, I say all this to say…I could normally stay in the gym forever, but due to all of this, I have to be productive in my time I have to workout. That’s why for one, my home workouts with beachbody have been great, but I do love my gym time, so I have to focus on creating efficient and time sensitive workouts! But I love the challenge!

This week I have gone back to focusing on workouts that focus on different muscle groups rather than total body type workouts. Here is an example of the week broken down for a lifting schedule:

Monday: Heavy legs/Moderate shoulders/Core
Tuesday: Heavy chest/Moderate tris
Wednesday: Heavy back/Moderate bis/Core
Thursday: Moderate legs/Heavy shoulders
Friday: Moderate chest & back/ Heavy tris & bis/Core

I am also trying to incorporate HIIT (high intensity interval training)/metabolic conditioning/Cardio into my workouts, so here is what that looks like added in:

Monday: HIIT
Tuesday: MetCon
Wednesday: LIC
Thursday: HIIT
Friday: MetCon

I know this seems like a lot to do in one day, and that is why you have to plan for your workouts when you do not have a lot of time!

Now I will give you an example of what one of these days would look like. Lets go with yesterday’s since it is fresh on my mind!

Heavy chest/Moderate tris/MetCon:
-Warm up!
-Bench Press 4×3-6
-Superset: Dumbbell press 3×5-8/Dips 3×10
-Superset: Dumbbell chest flies/ Dumbbell tricep press/Skull crushers 3×8-10
-MetCon circuit: Jumping jacks, Plank Jumps, Mountain climbers, Plank Jacks 3×10 each (do all exercises back to back, rest 30 seconds)

Not super long, but to the point! And my upper body was feeling it last night! I love to feel the soreness and effects of a good workout…I guess you can say it hurts so good! Happy Wednesday!

Leg day!

Everybody loves a good leg workout…ok let’s be real, that’s not necessarily true! But what a lot of people don’t realize is the importance and potential of a good leg day. No matter what your fitness goals are, you can benefit from working out your lower body. Your legs house the largest muscle group in your body. If you decide to always forgo working out half your body basically then you could miss out on huge gains or losses.

What do I mean by this? If you are trying to lose weight it is vital to begin lifting weights. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories your body will burn. If you don’t include those wonderful squats and lunges and whatever other exercise you choose, then how are you going to grow your leg muscles?? Weight loss is a huge goal for most people. By lifting weights, preferably heavy weight, you will jumpstart your weight loss. I always encourage clients to workout their lowerbody because of the large muscle groups.

Here is a quick Leg Day workout that won’t take more than 30 minutes! Always warm up your legs with some dynamic stretching and bodyweight exercises. Getting your blood flowing before you begin can prevent injury.

Superset:

Back squat 3 x 8 / Reverse lunge with knee raise 3 x 10
Box step ups 3 x 20 / Romanian Deadlift 3 x 10
Curtsy Lunge 3 x 20 / Sumo squat 3 x 10

Quick and easy! Well not easy, but you get the picture. I did this workout yesterday and added in some shoulder and core work. I love Push Presses…they are great from power and strength in the upperbody. Also, I tend to skip out on core work sometimes, but it is important to add it in…just not every day! Any form of plank is super beneficial and works the entire core!

P.S. I haven’t updated on here about my 21 day fix results yet, but I had awesome success! I wasn’t really looking to lose weight, but I lost 8-9 pounds…its hard to tell because I have to drink so much water while nursing ha! Also, I noticed within the first week my thighs were slimming back up, which is where I gained most of my weight while pregnant…besides my stomach that is 🙂 So I lost a lot of extra fat during this time…the eating plan is what I claim is my success. It is so easy to stick to and follow. Me and my hubby have decided to cycle on and off of the eating plan continuously now because it worked so great for us. I’m starting to see my muscle tone coming back. Slowly gaining definition back…but really excited to start getting stronger! Overall, it made me and my husband feel really good 🙂 He lost 12 pounds by the way! If you are interested in trying it out or have questions send me an email and I will help you as much as I can!

tori.treloar@gmail.com

What I’m learning about Business

I’m a month into really starting to grow my fitness business I have started and I just wanted to share a few things I have learned along the way so far. I don’t have any experience or knowledge about being an entrepreneur or small business owner, so I have been digging into different sources to gain wisdom. I do not claim to know it all, or anything for that matter ha! I’m in the process of learning the ins and outs of growing a business and becoming successful. My coach, Amanda, sent me a book over Christmas called “Go For No” by Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz. It has definitely been eye opening for me in how I view success and failure. In the past I would have thought failing was the opposite of what I wanted in my life. No one wants to be a failure or deal with the fear of failing. Through reading this book and studying through Scripture I have come up with a list of things I’m learning and I would love to share!

-First off, 1 Peter 4:10 says “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” What does this have to do with business and success? When you begin to view what you do on a daily basis as a gift of service to others, you begin to build your business not on sales or successes or failures, but on opportunity to serve as Christ did.

-Next, I have learned that your comfort zone is never in a static position. It is either expanding or retracting. We should aim every day to do something that scares us. How can we overcome fear if we don’t do thing things we fear? Stepping out of your comfort zone is huge in business because it affects your growth and progress. It’s what gets you past fear of failure to failure to beyond.

-Now we can talk about how to view failure. This is what everyone is so scared to do: fail. But if we step out and fail, we overcome our fear of failure. Failure is not bad. Failure is what teaches us and helps us grow. Failure is what gets us to the next step. Success does not come without failure. In the book “Go For No” it shares a story about Abraham Lincoln. He failed in business twice. He had less than a year of formal schooling. He lost 8 of the 10 elections he was in before becoming President. Do you remember Lincoln for his failure? NO! You remember him for his integrity and success as President!

-You need not only to be willing to fail, but you have to WANT it! That’s crazy I know, we are groomed to believe we should only want success. But just because we fail, it does not make us a failure. Failure is what drives us to keep going and becoming better.

-How does that work? You have to aim to have a high failure quotient. What does that even mean? For instance, if you are in sales, and you aim to talk to 20 people a week and sell to 20% then you would make 4 sales. However, if you change your goals to get 16 no’s rather than 4 yes’s, then the more sales you get the more you are behind on your goal. So in turn you work harder to get more no’s. Which will only lead to talking to more people and making more sales! Change the way you think and set goals for yourself.

So, with all that being said, I have been learning to pursue my business as a way for me to be a servant. That has been my word this year: SERVANT. It is what I aim to be more of like Jesus was when he was here on Earth. Also, I have been learning to reach higher goals by reaching for failure rather than success. This is super hard and weird at times, but it makes so much sense! Go for no people!

Crockpot Love

The weekend is almost here and I am over halfway through the 21 day fix! It has been going well for the most part. I am enjoying the workouts still…I think pilates day is my favorite…probably because you lie on the ground the whole time haha!! But I love how my body is feeling being fueled with Shakeology and I just switched my next order to the brand new Cafe Latte flavor! Can’t wait to try it! It has given me so much more energy throughout the day..no more afternoon struggles 🙂 I told someone this week that I can’t wait to drink it when I get pregnant again to see how much it helps! And no that does not mean I am trying to get pregnant 🙂

So I thought I would share a few awesome dinners that I have made during this time. They are all in the crockpot and it makes it super easy to manage! I love being able to dump everything in there in the mornings and just let it cook all day and enjoy the deliciousness for dinner. I hope you enjoy! Also, these portions fed me and my husband for dinner and lunch the next day.

Steak Fajitas

1 package of steak precut
2 large bell peppers sliced up (I use the colorful ones)
Optional: 1 onion sliced
Season with garlic, salt, pepper
High for 4-5 hours
Enjoy on whole wheat tortilla 🙂

Turkey Chili

1 package ground turkey (I cook this in a pan first)
1 can black beans
1-2 cans tomato sauce no salt added
1 pack of low sodium McCormicks chili powder
Let simmer on med-high 4-5 hours
Enjoy with a little low-fat shredded mozzarella

Chicken Veggie Soup

1 package of chicken tenerloins
Seasoned with pepper, salt, garlic, oregano
1 can black beans
1 Sweet Potato chopped
10 chopped carrots
1 package of chopped fresh green beans
Any other fresh veggies
1 can low sodium broth (I used chicken)
1 can tomato sauce no salt added
Season even more with pepper, garlic, oregano
Cook High 4-5 hours and then shred chicken and add back in
I topped with mozzarella as well 🙂

Hope your family enjoys these recipes as much as mine did. I’m always looking for and creating new ones so stay posted!

21 Day Fix // Day 5 thoughts

Hello all! Friday is among us again and I’m on day 5 into my first 21 day fix program! Its been a decent week, but it is always tough transitioning and changing your diet and routine. In my last post I talked about realistically setting goals throughout the year. This month my plan is to make it through the Fix…the goal is one meal, one workout, one day at a time. It helps only thinking day to day during programs like this I’ve found because you don’t get wrapped up in negative thinking. If I were constantly thinking of day 21 and even day 22 when I can get a treat or a cheat I would never make it through.

Day 1 was the hardest and it has only got easier from there. Me and my hubby were both a little hangry due to changing our diet from eating whatever we felt like to still eating delicious food, but using portion control. Your body adjusts to what you put in it. For myself, I am still nursing my son so I added an extra 500 calories to the base I figured for myself. And on days I still feel my milk is being compromised and I get an extra hungry feeling, I listen to my body and add an extra protein. The key also is to drink enough water. You should aim for no less than half your body weight in ounces. I have a 34 oz bottle I fill up twice a day. Also, my saving grace through this week has been the Shakeology! I get that sweet taste that takes away my craving for most other bad food and desserts. It has also truly helped me with energy. I feel like I have always had a point in the afternoon where I hit a drowsy spell, but this past week or two drinking Shakeology I haven’t been having that and its amazing.

So I’ve made it to day 5 and the biggest tips I have so far are always meal plan for your day the night before, prepare what you can ahead of time, get your workout in sooner than later if possible, and stay positive because its only 21 days and you are going to love your results!!

The workouts are only 30 minutes a day and anyone can do them. They modify each exercise so everyone can do it at their personal fitness level and strive to improve. Autumn Calabrese is very motivating.

I’ll keep you posted as I get closer to the end and even share my results at the end with you! Stay positive and push through. As Autumn says in the videos, “If you are tired of starting over, then quit giving up.”

Be Real: Goals

Well, the holidays are over and we are back to “real life” now. What does that look like for you? In the Treloar household it is pretty simple these days. With a baby it definitely helps to have a daily schedule, as far as eat, play, sleep routines go, but I’m still working on the in between. So! That’s where I plan on incorporating my new found essentials to every day. Well, they aren’t all new, but some are being reestablished. As a stay at home mom and new business owner, I want to use each moment I have to be productive. I also want to enjoy each moment with my little man. One way to help stay on track is setting goals.

Yes, goals is the word I choose, not resolutions. To me resolutions are only for the new year by word association. Also, goals can be solid and realistic if made correctly. That’s the kicker. How do you make solid and most importantly realistic goals for your life??

Here is my secret: Don’t set yearly goals!!!! I mean come on, who actually follows through and completes your goals you make a whole entire year in advance?? So what do you do you may ask…Here is the secret. Set your goals for every 12 weeks! If we set goals we know we can reach or aim to reach in a shorter time period, we are less likely to fall off the band wagon. We know we have to reach them in 12 weeks, so we work hard to complete whatever that goal is. When you set goals too far in advance it is easy to procrastinate or say you will catch up later.

What kind of goals do you use this method for?? Pretty much everything. Yes, you will have those futuristic goals like I want to buy a house in 5 years or I want to bench press my body weight by the end of the year…but these goals can also be broken down so that you set benchmarks to meet along the way to help you reach your ultimate goal!

What kind of goals am I setting for my first 12 weeks of the year? I have certain business goals to complete each day, each week, and each month. I have fitness goals for the same. I also am setting financial goals, spiritual goals, and several others. Make sure you are real in what you want to accomplish. Don’t do something because someone else said you should. It has to be important to you or you won’t put the energy into it that it requires. Happy goal setting!

Challenge anyone??

Merry Christmas to everyone! Its been a great week so far in our house with a few family members visiting us. We do really miss all of the rest of the family though! Its a different Christmas for sure. We’ve visited the Smithsonian National Zoo and saw Zoo Lights with our little man. We have watched Netflix on this rainy day and ate many Christmas treats. Tomorrow we plan to hit several areas in DC. Praying the rain slacks off!

So in light of the Christmas spirit I want to offer a Beachbody special to all of you! I want to reach as many people as I can with my business because I believe the healthier and more active you are, the better you will feel about yourself and helping others in return yourself. It all starts with only one person.

SO! Its nothing huge, but for the first person who orders a CHALLENGE PACK before Christmas, I will send you a $20 Target card!! Most Challenge Packs include a fitness program, nutrition guides, 30 days supply of Shakeology, AND 30 days of Beachbody on Demand that you can stream anywhere! What better present to yourself and your family than the gift of health!!

I will also work one on one with you through your fitness challenge and offer my help in anyway! I’m excited for this opportunity God has blessed me with to be a coach and do what I love!

Merry Christmas 🙂

Email me at tori.treloar@gmail.com for details!!! Anyone willing to take the challenge???