On the comeback!

It feels like a lifetime ago that I wrote the last post, and in many ways it was a completely different life, but in some ways (which I have worked hard on) it is still the same.  I just raced my first half Ironman back since baby 12 weeks ago and am happy to report I didn't die :)  I actually did well, and am very proud of my results because I know what it took to get there.

Hunter was born 2 weeks early, on March 24.  I won't get into the birth, but after a very healthy and enjoyable pregnancy it was not a smooth birth process.  None the less, I had a baby and there started the whole new life of mommy-hood.  After an initial struggle getting going with breastfeeding (who doesn't struggle the first few weeks!) we hit our stride and are going strong in the feeding department.

However obsessed I might be (follow along on Instagram), I don't want to focus on my amazingly cute baby boy in this post.  I want to focus on the route I'm taking getting back into triathlon and how it's working out.  I'm going to break down some key 'mind-set' points and then share what I've done the last couple months.

1.  Baby's take A LOT of time.  When you think you can get stuff done around the house while they nap, you are probably wrong.  When you schedule something, they probably have other plans....this includes workouts.  Because of this, not many workouts will get done and you have to be ok with that and also going with the flow of baby.

2. It takes a while for your body to get to where you want it, so be patient with yourself.  This is a tough one...especially if you are at a higher level in your sport and you are eager to get going again.  It is a slow build.  Push it too much, you will be dog tired and potentially injured.

3.  It is not selfish to take time to yourself to workout.  Use the gym childwatch, friends, family, whoever is willing (and eager many times) to help by snuggling your sweet baby so you can go get your head right (and feel like some version of your old self) with a run or swim or yoga or whatever you need.   There is plenty of time in the day for baby snuggles - it's ok to do a 30 minute run.

4.  It has to be a priority.  This is a little confusing, because obviously your new family is at the top, but if getting back into shape is a goal, it better be up there on the priority list because it is REALLY easy to just lounge and snuggle and watch every single thing on Netflix and eat yummy treats with little baby.   Working out is a habit and although some days will be tough, from a time or motivation standpoint, it is very important to stick with it.  Sometimes it's easy to do it during the day (nap time) but many times I have found myself up and on the trainer at 4:30am or after bedtime at 8pm.  This is just part of the mom-athlete 'dance'.

5.  Lack of sleep is a real issue.  This is why you really can't do much of anything the first month.  If you do, then you are some amazing, non-sleep machine.  I like love sleep.  I used to pride myself on getting plenty of sleep and maximizing recovery.  Now, with baby, I sleep as much as I can (which will not be even close to what I did before) and make due with energy levels for workouts.

OK, enough of all that.  Let's get down to what the heck did I actually do??  Let's back up just a bit to pregnancy- I was able to workout/exercise the entire time...even posted a gym baby belly pic the day I went into labor (had no idea I would go into labor or I would have been home napping!).   SO, I think the process after baby has been much easier because I stayed active the entire time.

Weeks 1-2: nothing.  just survive.  sleep, eat, drink lots, feed baby

Week 3:  start walking.  first walk was to the mailbox.  then around the block. and so on.
Training Hours: 1

Week 4: I started feeling better and like starting some exercise again.   I went for a swim, and went on a couple run/walks of ~20-25 min. Training Hours: 4:30

Week 5: Continued to build on week 4. Still short and easy.   First bike ride! Training Hours: 7

Week 6:  Same as week 4. couple swims, a few run/walks - still pretty slow, lower abs/pelvic region still would get sore after ~25 min. Training Hours: 8:40

Week 7:  Getting into a groove - Using the health club childcare up to 2 hrs at a time.  Continued with the swims and run/walk almost daily.  A couple yoga sessions.  Long ride, 37 miles. Training Hours: 9

Week 8:  Training more regularly, feeling stronger.  Did Donald Dash 10k trail race with Mark and Stewart.  Building consistency running 3-5 miles per day. Also a couple bikes and swims.  Long ride 35 miles (not fast).  Training hours: 12:30

Week 9:  Building consistency running 4-7 miles per day, Long run 10 (hilly) miles,  Rode (and bonked hard) Milkman course. Training Hours: 13

Week 10: Easier week, raced Lake Mills Sprint tri.  Good confidence builder, ran 6 min miles!
Training Hours: 9

Week 11:  'Panic Training'  EEEK.  I did a big week, including 12 mile run on Wednesday, Milkman course ride and 30 min run off Saturday. Training Hours: 12:30

Week 12: Taper?! For Milkman Half Ironman!  I took 2 full rest days, 1 swim only day and a few brick sessions with race simulation efforts.  I was optimistic...feeling good but pretty unsure if that would transfer through the entire distance of a half Ironman.

I'm happy to share more specifics on this, if you are interested, but main thing was listening to my body and not pushing it too far too soon!

Quick Milkman Race Recap:

Started in Elite wave w/men - swam fine, fairly controlled...noticed I'm not swimming as straight as I used to!!  Swam 27min and change

Bike: This is where I REALLY didn't know what would happen.  My rides have not been fast at all (fastest Milkman ride just under 3 hrs) and my bike legs have certainly not come around yet.  I rode as hard as I thought I could to cover the distance (duh, I guess that's what you do every time!).  I was looking at watts, but not using it too much to determine how hard to go.  I based it on feel, making nutrition a high priority as I know with breastfeeding I need to take in a lot more liquid and calories (in addition to the temp rising during the ride up towards 90 degrees).  No one caught me on the bike so I knew I was good to go for a nice run around the lake.  2:37 I think :)

Run:  I predicted I could run 6:50's, but that was not really planning for such hot conditions.  I took some extra precautions for the temps, and thankfully was still able to run very close to that, finishing the half in 1:30.  I was on maintenance mode for the run, which is really exciting, knowing that if there is close competition I could likely get more out of this.

Overall: Happy to take the win for the inaugural Milkman, which I hope to do every year!  4:39 finish time.

I'm taking a few days easy recovery (just a swim Monday and off today) and then will start another small build up to Racine 70.3 where I will be racing the big girls again :)

Thanks for following my progress back and I hope to continue to improve to where I was last year and beyond!

Huge thanks to support from Timex, my team since I started back in 2009.  Also from great companies like Newton Running, Rudy Project, and Computrainer who keep me using some great gear.  Locally I could not have such fun racing without my friends at Speed Cycling,  Endurance House West, Perfect Circle Cycling, and Race Day Events!

Lastly, my hubs Mark....celebrated his first fathers day cheering me on...how did I get so lucky :)

Pregnancy Swim Challenge (Weeks 20-32)

Well, we're getting to the home stretch here and I've been feeling pretty good!  I currently have a cold (yuck) but otherwise am happy with how things are going.  One of the fun things has been doing the weekly 'pregnancy swim challenge' workouts with friends.

We started out when I was 20 weeks pregnant (and feeling very out of swim shape) back in mid November with a 2000yd workout and are still going strong, adding 100yds each week!  I usually swim 2-3 other times on my own, ranging anywhere from 1000-3000yds, but easier workouts.

Here is a little recap of the workouts we've done each week for the last 13 weeks...hope there are others out there who will give this a try!

Week 20
5x100 warm up as 75 free, 25 back
5x100 as 100 pull/100 kick
5x100 adding 25 fast each time...15 sec rest after each 100. for ex: 25 fast/75 easy, 50 fast/50 easy, 75 fast/25easy, 100 all fast, 100 easy.
5x100 ascend - each one gets slower, on 1:45

Week 21
5x100 warm up as 75 free, 25 back
4x100 as 50 build up, 50 ez 10 sec rest
9x100 descend each set of 3 on 1:30 or a send off that works.
3x100 choice cool down

Week 22
warm up: 6x100 done as 100s, 100k, 100p repeat

2 rounds of 4x100 on ~1:45 (looking for a fairly comfortable send off time):
100 pull with buoy and right paddle
100 pull with buoy and left paddle
100 pull with buoy and both paddles
100 swim (no equipment) build, hold form and increase power building from mod-fast. 

3x100 @ 80% on 1:40
3x100 @ 85-90% on 1:35

200 choice cool down

Week 23 swim challenge! I'm starting to see a hint of getting into swim shape..

2x(100s, 100k, 100p, 100 choice scull) 

Speed pyramid (adjust intervals as needed so middle few 100's are a challenge). Set is continuous.  
1x100 on 1:35
2x100 on 1:30
3x100 on 1:25
2x100 on 1:30
1x100 on 1:35 

3x100 pull with paddles, smooth 

3x100 choice cool down

Week 24
2x(100s, 100k, 100 drill, 100 pull) 

3 times thru:
4x100 on 1:30 (or choice interval) solid effort 
100 easy 

100 easy cool down

Week 25
2x(100s100k100p100drill)

2x(4x25 on :30)
Build up, break out, all fast, all easy

Main set, continuous:
1x100 easy on 1:40
2x100 on 1:35
3x100 on 1:30
4x100 on 1:25 

50 easy 

Paddles:
100 r paddle
100 l paddle
200 both 

50 easy

Week 26 Adjust intervals so that middle 100's look tough smile emoticon

2x(100skpd) 

1x100 1:40
2x100 1:35
3x100 1:30
4x100 1:25
3x100 1:30
2x100 1:35
1x100 1:40 

200 cd

Week 27

300s, 100k, 200p

2x(4x25 build up, break out, fast, easy)

3x through:
2x100 on 1:35
2x100 on 1:30
2x100 on 1:25 

100 easy cd

Week 28
300s
100k
200p
4x75 as 25 kick, 25 fast, 25 easy on 1:30

Main set:
5x200
Adding 50 hard each time, ex: 1st is 50 hard, 150 easy. 2nd is 100 hard 100 easy... 4th all hard, 5th all easy. 10 sec rest for all. 

2x300 pull with paddles - building effort thru each 300.

100 easy

4x25 sprint on :45. At least 1 fly

100 easy

Week 29 

warm up: 300s 100k 200p 100 drills

2x(4x25 on :30)
Build up, break out, all fast, all easy

Main set, continuous (adjust send off as needed):
2x100 easy on 1:40
3x100 on 1:35
4x100 on 1:30
5x100 on 1:25 eeek!
100 easy

Paddles/pull:
100 r paddle
100 l paddle
200 both

100 easy

Week 30

Warm up:
500s every 4th length non free 
6x50 as 25 drill 25 swim 10sr
2x(4x25 build, breakout, fast, slow) on :30

Main set:
3x (4x100 descend on 1:30, 200 steady swim or pull) 

200 cool down

Week 31:

Warm up
400 swim
200 pull
100 kick

Pre Set
5 x 100 w/fins if u have them as 50 cruise/25 kick on back/25 build swim on 15” rest

Main Set
2 continuous rounds of:

4 x 50 cruise on :55 (or 15"rest)
2 x100 hold same pace as the 4 x 50
4 x 50 cruise on 15” rest
200 hold same pace as the 4 x 50 on 30” rest

300 choice cool down

Week 32

warm up:
400s
100k
200p
100k
4x50 drill/swim 10 sec rest

main set:
20x100 done like this.... intervals can be adjusted so that first set looks easy and last set looks like a challenge (only ~5 sec rest). 

4x100 on 1:40
100 easy rest till next top.
4x100 on 1:35
100 easy rest till next top.
4x100 on 1:30
100 easy rest till next top.
4x100 on 1:25
100 easy rest till next top. 

200 cool down choice

2015 - Our baby is an Ironman!

This is a blog I've started many times.  Turns out I was just too tired to finish it and now I finally understand why!  In my last blog I did a nice recap of my summer of racing just before racing Ironman Mont Tremblant.  Let me do a quick recap of what I'd call my best Ironman to date and our surprise pregnancy story!!

IRONMAN

I was in a good place heading into this Ironman, despite being very tired the last few weeks of training, I felt like I had a good race in me.  I traveled to this one alone since I had raced there before in 2013 I had a good feeling for the race venue and logistics.   Since the race was already a couple months ago, I don't even remember all the details to bore you with!

What I do remember is truly feeling good all day. I was relatively aggressive on the swim, starting with a group and then leaving them when some age group men came by and came out just under 55 min.  I got out onto the bike and knew if I just rode smart and came off within reach of the front I could keep it together on the run.  Despite a couple frustrating issues with my chain getting jammed, causing me to lose the girls I was riding with, I finished up ok with a 5:15 ride and 8th off the bike.

It was my goal to run under a 3:10 marathon, with my previous best on that course being a 3:14.  With my half Ironman runs being my best ever I knew this was a doable goal.  Like all marathons, I just went out and ran!  I always check my watch a couple times in the first couple miles to make sure I'm going a reasonable pace (not too fast) and then just go off feel the rest of the way.  I came by most of the girls within the first 8 miles and found myself in 4th place.  After that I just kept on the liquids and nutrition. The last couple miles were a little tough and slower, but I knew my placing wasn't going to change at that point, so that might have been part of it :)  I finished with a 3:04 marathon!  I was proud to finish with a 9:20 in 4th behind Mary Beth Ellis, Liz Blanchford (3rd in Kona this year) and teammate Lisa Roberts.   What a day!

PREGNANCY?!  (some details, and maybe a little personal, sorry!)

After the race I was abnormally very ill with a horrible stomach ache.  Ugh. So much for post race celebrations.  After returning home it was a lot of sleep and I was struggling to have any good recovery.  I had planned to be in off season after the race, but my body was exhausted.  After a few weeks I started to wonder if something was going on...

It wasn't until Friday, Sept 25 when I called my doctor concerned about my lack of energy and weight gain that I was encouraged to take a pregnancy test.  So as we were getting ready to head to a Garth Brooks concert that night I took a pregnancy test and it showed a positive!! WHOA we were in shock. We cautiously enjoyed Garth Brooks wondering if this was real.  Monday I called the doctor and they brought me in for a blood test.  Yep. It was real.

You may be wondering how the heck I had no idea....well, let me tell you.  With the training and weight loss I had over the spring and summer I was not getting my period (not since Feb, also when we went off birth control).   So we had NO idea how far along in this pregnancy we were.  So they brought me in the next week for an ultrasound where they said we might not even see anything.  To my huge surprise there was a full on baby in there!  They dated it at 13.5 weeks!!  Whoa.  Goodbye first trimester.

We have a due date of April 6, 2016, which is Mark's Birthday!!  We're almost at 16 weeks and just last week I finally got my energy back!  I'm enjoying working out again and luckily can still fit in most of my clothes :)   We are finishing up all of our home projects and need to have these done before our big winter fun with the Snowshoe Scurry Series.  So far:  living room = done!  Basement workout space = half done....maybe finish today, guest bathroom = next up!

So HUGE thank you to all of our friends and family that are offering support and excitement with us for entering this next chapter of our lives.  With an early spring baby, I'm aiming to stay healthy and fit and hopefully be back at it end of 2016!!

Time flies

Well, I haven't blogged all summer because, let's face it, time flies!  Summer especially flies!  I have been having a blast racing this year, being married, and having a fun pup to keep us busy.  I am loving my life and am so happy to be in the place I am today.  Racing (and life) really has it's ups and downs, and times of doubt, but this year it has been a very clear path.  I'm thankful for Mark in my life who always keeps me laughing :)

Here is a little recap, of the summer racing which has landed me at this moment in Mont Tremblant, Canada preparing to race my first Ironman of the season on Sunday.

June:  I raced a sprint tri, and olympic distance, and a Buffalo Springs 70.3 and managed to win all 3!  Wahoo!  I truly never thought I would win at the half distance as I have always been an Ironman gal, but with my run coming around this year it worked out.  I am swimming well, biking ok, and have found that extra gear on the run (combined with my good suffer-ability from all the Ironman racing) that it helping me actually be competitive at a distance I rarely ever saw a podium for before.

July:  I raced an Intermediate distance (btwn sprint and olympic) and posted my fastest ever run split (even causing me to ask if the results were correct) with a 5:44/mile for 4.5 miles.  Wahoo!  Confidence builder for Racine 70.3 where I knew there would be a tough field.  All of Mark's family was there and I knew so many I really wanted to have an awesome run!  I was totally in the zone and was happy to run my personal best half split and finish 3rd.

Full season results:  http://jackiehering.com/racing.html

I'm happy to be racing, but also LOVE my other jobs....I'm happy to report our swim race Big Swell Swim had an awesome turn out this year and we are excited to keep growing this event.

My athletes are racing SO WELL this year and I am looking forward to many of them approaching their A races healthy and happy :)  Check out Hering Coaching

I transitioned junior tri team  to a non-profit and joined with other coaches this year...so it is definitely a transitional year, but I'm looking forward to working out the kinks and working with and developing some of the young athletes in our area.

SO....this Ironman on Sunday!!  Yikes!! I haven't raced the distance since last year Hawaii and there are some VERY talented women on the start list.  My goals include:  Race smart, run with everything I have.  If I do that I will be happy regardless of where that puts me on the podium.  I'm looking forward to it!  If you'd like to follow, I'm number 39.  They have some live coverage HERE

Thanks for reading.  Sorry no pictures :/  gotta get to bed!

Chatanooga 70.3 Race Report

Well, where do I start!  Let me say I really wanted to win this one and I learned a good lesson about not holding back.  I came into this race after having a great season starter with a 3rd place and strong race in Puerto Rico followed by a solid month of training in April.  I am certainly in shape and was ready to go for this one.   SO....here's how it went down!   

Swim:  pretty uneventful, non-wetsuit and no crazy fast current like they had in the Ironman!   I swam pretty controlled on Ashley Clifford's feet and came out of the water in 3rd (Ashley just ahead and Anna 40 sec. or so up).   

Bike:  We saw Anna in transition so Ashley and I headed out and worked together to catch up to her.   Like Puerto Rico I was trying to race off feel (although I was collecting power data) so I was constantly taking an 'inventory' on what type of effort I was doing.  We caught Anna pretty quick and then all 3 of us ended up riding together the rest of the bike ride.  This is where I think I learned a lesson.  I was riding comfortable and (looking back on data) very conservatively, for a half IM.  I was telling myself to trust in my run when I should have been telling myself to trust in my bike AND my run and ride a little harder!   I tried my new 'clean bike' nutrition plan, only having a strong bottle of Skratch Labs and another bottle of 6 gels diluted in water.  This seemed to work well! 

Run:  OK, wow!  Ashley and I took off out of transition, I think both of us thinking we could win this thing on the run.....and she did just that!  I couldn't hold pace after a quick first couple miles.  The gap just slowly grew to just over a minute by the end of the race.  On the plus side I finished with a run split that I'm happy with and my highest ever 70.3 finish!  

Thank you to Mark for being my #1 supporter and helping me believe I am actually in shape and can do well :)  Also to Team Timex for the continued support and the gear that made my day: 

Blue Seventy - Swim Skin and goggles

Rudy Project - Wing57 helmet

Trek -  Fast Bike

Shimano -  Fast parts, wheels and bike shoes

Castelli - very comfortable kit

Newton - Distance Run shoes and luckily having a visor for me at the expo

Feetures - best socks out there

Powerbar - gels

2015 Spring Update

Hey all!  I'm getting a quick update out before starting one of the funnest time of year, Team Timex camp!  I'll hopefully have some fun camp updates over the weekend.  But for now, here's what I've been up to.  

Highlights:  

Off Season recap, training and Injury free

Snowshoe Women’s Half Marathon National Champion

Puerto Rico 70.3 3rd place

After a VERY busy Iron distance racing season last year, ending with a pretty slow and super tough time at Kona, I took some time off.  I got married.  I slept a TON. I did plenty of hot yoga and just did ‘normal’ things.  Now I (along with most triathletes) have always struggled with off-season, but last fall was a totally different story.  For the first time ever I was completely DONE.  Mentally and physically, I had nothing left.  For the first time ever I didn’t even feel like working out.  This lasted for 6 full weeks.  It was actually a little concerning to me and I really started to wonder if I had done some serious damage.  Turns out it was just after the 6th week of rest that I started to come back around.  

In December Mark and I tried a 30 day run challenge to jump start our fitness and get motivated to work out again.  Since we were both coming from nothing, we started with 1-2mile runs and built up from there.  I didn’t do anything too long or fast that entire month (longest run was 12 miles) and was diligent on maintenance (rolling, icing, stretching, yoga).  This really worked for me.  I kept it going through January, and even pretty much all of February....I think I’ve only missed 4 days.   This is just crazy to me since I have always dealt with little nagging things.  Somehow committing to running MORE has actually gotten my body to adapt.  

Anyhow, I only rode bike during my coached classes at Speed (1 hr m/w and 1-2hr Fri) and was seeing the power numbers actually come up.  I was well rested and not training at a volume that was wearing me down.  Consistency without burning the candle too low.  We mixed in snowshoe running when we could (with our low snow year) and had fun out on the trails each week marking our Snowshoe Scurry Courses. 

We ran our first half marathon snowshoe on Valentines morning to see how it felt....OK for me, maybe not as great for some.  Regardless, 2 weeks later we (March, Justin D. and I) headed north to the Snowshoe National Championship in Eau Claire, WI.  I was the only one for sure going to race, but by Sunday morning the guys were in!  It was a nice day and fast snow conditions (not much of it).  Mark and I ended up running a little together (he waited for me) and I ran better than I ever had on snowshoes, finishing the 13.1 miles in 1:46....enough to earn the National Championship title and a sweet chalice!  The guys both also finished very well - all happy to come out with no injuries!  

After that it was 2 weeks until Puerto Rico, my first tri of the year and in complete opposite conditions to what I’d just raced in.  This race was good for many reasons, but the main thing was that there was such a large group from the Madison area.  Having support out on the course, and knowing you have a ‘team’ is a great feeling.  I was racing hard knowing my athletes and friends were out there doing the same.   As for the race itself, I can give a little report! 

Swim:  Non wetsuit, beautiful!  I lined up right next to who I knew to be the fast swimmers and was just going to try and hang on some feet.  I’ve worked a lot on race strategy the last few years and I am getting better :)  The gun went off and instead of barreling ahead I started steady and moved right behind some feet (either Kelly or Dede’s) as we took off.  I knew Sarah Haskins would be way ahead of us all, but I knew being in the first group out of the swim was VERY important for this race.  So I hung on and swam a little hard through the first couple turn bouys and was happy to have the pace settle for the long back stretch.  I just hung in and conserved to get ready for the bike ride.   I was surprised to see that when we came out (group of 5 or so) most of the other girls had lost their timing strap - theses were a new thing, HUGE, and apparently didn’t work well in water (duh)....so hopefully IM didn’t order these for all the races! 

Transition:  It was a long run to get to our bikes and these girls weren’t messing around!  So I ran a bit quicker than I wanted to not loose them...got to T1 and nailed it through there! 

Bike:  This is a flat ride, but got windy the last 20(ish) miles....windy and my legs died a little, so the wind probably felt worse than it was.  Anyhow,  I was racing off of feel here and I quite enjoyed it. I rode conservatively the first 10 miles, staying with the group, then one got let off the front and I went after her.  Very soon it was all spread out for us and we were on to the VERY congested second loop.   There was plenty of AG pack action going on, but I just kept hammering away, thinking (or pretending) that I saw the next girl right up there.   I finished the ride really excited to get out for a run, I think coming into transition 4th or 5th off the bike, but with the next 3 girls within minutes of me. 

Run:  OK.  My time goals were out the window as I could tell I was in an oven.  This was a survival activity and a run of attrition.  I didn’t look at my watch a single time, just listened to breathing and kept my eyes forward and focused on getting to the next ‘pick-up’ (aid stations, friends, music). Overall it went pretty well and I happily ended up coming across the line in 3rd with the 2nd fastest run behind Sarah Haskins.  

After the race I was surprised to hear of of the events during the race, but am very thankful everyone is ok!  

Thanks for reading and happy training!  

My 5 Step Process to Be Merry.

It has been at least 10 days since we have seen sun in southern WI.  It is extra rough given the fact that we also don't have any snow.  It's just been plain dreary!  If you are like me, sometimes this can get you down, in a slump, or feeling blah....whatever you like to call it.  Although I'm on the seasonal emotional roller coaster, I have had pretty good luck fending off the blues the last couple years by using  these tricks:

1.  Get fresh air....for me exercise is great, but it is the fresh air that really helps.  Even if it's pretty bad out, getting out for a walk, snowshoe or just playing in the snow can do wonders.

2.  Building on the first point, EXERCISE.  This is the season for parties and drinking.  You can do those things, but make sure you are exercising.   It's a bummer sometimes that you can have a lot of fun seeing friends and enjoying the holidays, but then you start to feel down if you had too many snacks at the party, then your clothes don't fit right, or you are feeling 'gross' just wearing bulky sweaters etc.  The answer to this is exercise.  Start up some sort of 30 day challenge with friends....just something to get you to move each day.  We are currently 17 days into our #30dayrunchallenge and it has been awesome!!

3.  Take plenty of Vitamin D and B12.  This is key.  I take D in the pill form every night with my other supplements and B12 either in pill or in drinks.  Without sun our body can't produce vitamin D and it's unlikely you can get enough from food.   B12 can be found in lean and low fat animal products like fish or low fat dairy, but if you aren't getting that consistently a supplement is a great option!  Both of these vitamins have been proven to improve your mood!!

4.  Stay busy and make plans with positive people!  Don't sit home and be lazy.  This is the time we need to band together and make things fun.  Something active, outside, or maybe a project around the house.  If you do have some down time, or prefer to be alone, find a book that can inspire or encourage you.   For a short daily read I like "Journey to the Heart".

5.  Eat Healthy (most of the time).  We all go out and like to have a cookie here and there....but we can also eat at home and make our own food.  The more you make your own food the healthier you can be.  Learn to cook if you don't know how!  It's a blast and can truly revamp your diet and give you CONTROL over exactly what is going in.  Good fuel in = body runs better.

If you do have a hard time this time of year and aren't doing some of these, please give 'em a try!

WE CAN MAKE IT :)