Mind, Body and Spirit

This is my friend KimberLee..lives in Florida and is a fellow BeachBody Coach. The wonderful thing about health and wellness and deciding to commit to such a lifestyle, is that weight loss? Weight loss is a side effect, a bonus if you will. KimberLee is a spin instructor for a gym in her area, she has more drive and energy to play with her grandkids and now she empowers and motivates others to make that change in their life. Health and wellness is so much more than 6 pack abs or a bikini body. Even though KimberLee rocks her bikini!

When I asked her about her journey she said she has gained more energy, flexibility and strength without having to touch a weight. That's not to bash on the gym, but to show you don't always need a gym. She started out by doing The 21 Day Fix (which teaches proper nutrition and portion control) and lost 20 LBS! Then she did PiYo (a program inspired by pilates and yoga) and lost another 15 LBS while tightening, toning and sculpting.

Lifestyle changes can be made my ANYONE. It's the willpower and determination that only you as the individual can control. A new year is approaching..a new you is around the corner..a new sense of living is waiting for you. John Wayne once said, "Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway."

It's ok to be scared, it's ok to be nervous! As YOUR coach, let me help you work past all of that! And get you the results you are wanting! 

Beehhnd. And snap!

As much as I love weight lifting, I feel it's important to have a balance. Not only for your mind, but your body and spirit as well.

I got hooked to yoga about a year ago. And ever since then, I've been asking myself why I didn't start doing it sooner!

According to Dr. Nevins, physical benefits of yoga include:

•Increased flexibility.
•Increased muscle strength and tone.
•Improved respiration, energy and vitality.
•The maintenance of a balanced metabolism.
•Weight reduction.
•Cardio and circulatory health.
•Improved athletic performance.
•Protection from injury.

I'll be honest, I'm not the yoga expert. However, I do know that I have greatly benefited from having yoga (or some form of meditating, relaxation or detox) within my workout regiman. It gives my body a break and allows me to focus on other aspects of myself.

There's no snapping in yoga :)
But there's definitely some bending!

Give it a try! You won't be diappointed.

Holiday Challenge!

The holidays are coming and do you know what that means??! Food! Lots and lots of food! I can't think of a better time of year..family and food. What more could you ask for?

How about 10-15 lbs? No? Well listen to this: the average American gains 10-15 during the holidays.

NOT YOU THOUGH!! A lot of people think I'm crazy (for numerous reasons) to start focusing on health and fitness during the holiday season. Start a diet before Thanksgiving and Christmas? Am I insane? Yes.

I believe it keeps people from over indulging during the holiday season. They make wiser decisions with their food and most importantly, portion control.

So, my challenge to you dear friends, is to commit to your health TODAY. Not tomorrow. Not after Thanksgiving or Christmas. Not after you have gained 10-15 lbs. TODAY.

You will have such a greater advantage over those who commit to start January 1st. THAT I can promise you.

#happyholidays

Prove it to yo'self!

So tonight's workout was given by the one and only, Autumn Calabrese. The creator of The 21 Day Fix! A program which I have just learned to love. Thank you Autumn!

The ringer I was put through tonight was a lower body workout. 'Leg day', as everyone else knows it. The workouts were ones that everyone pretty much knows: Squats, lunges, split lunges, calf raises, sumo squats, leg raises... just to name a few. Doesn't sound too bad, right?? WRONG. It took some serious effort to stand on my tippy toes and reach something from the cupboard! Even sitting on the couch is painful!

During the workout, I wanted to quit halfway through. Take a break. Then start up again when the pain went away. I DIDN'T DO THAT TODAY. I pushed through every single move, held on until the end. How did I do this? What special juice did I drink? What super powers do I have?
(Well none that I can tell you about and I can't afford the special juice)

 

The whole time I kept saying to myself, "I wanna see how strong you are. You are strong enough to go until the end." Let me tell ya, positive mantras are MONEY. Tip: Next time you are working out and you feel the burn, tell (whichever muscle group you have chosen) to shut up. Guaranteed, every time.

When you don't have motivation to exercise, or eat right, whatever the case may be, tell yourself that you wanna see your strength. You want to see what YOU are capable of doing. And by doing so, you will.



New Mantra

We definitely have some serious business to get out of the way. I have always wanted to be the pretty skinny girl that grabs a man's attention. Looks FAB in a bikini and can fit into whatever clothing I want. I mean, come on? I'm a woman. Those are thoughts that run through ANY woman's head.
A woman can still be sexy as sin and still not be confident in herself. Same with a man! He could have washboard abs and still not think it's enough.
When I first started my health and fitness journey, it was because I hated my body. Absolutely, 100% HATED IT. "Why do you have such big thighs? You're not an athlete.." "Good job at TRYING to rock those skinny jeans." Or "You've been working for a flat stomach for a while now. Why haven't you gotten it yet? Oh yeah..you love food."
These are things I would tell myself! Especially when exercising. The Huffington Post wrote an article recently about the impact of positive thinking:

"Researchers have long known that negative emotions program your brain to do a specific action... in other words, negative emotion narrows your mind and focus your thoughts." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-clear/positive-thinking_b_3512202.html

The unfortunate thing about negative thoughts, is that the majority of the time, they're not true. A great acronym my dad taught goes as follows:
FEAR=
False.
Evidence.
Appearing.
Real.
So you can imagine how effective my workouts were. Or rather, how INEFFECTIVE they were. I had to make a change, I had to stop.
And I did! I finally came up with a mantra to repeat to myself ANYTIME I noticed myself wavering and wanting to be negative. "I'm doing this because I love you. NOT because I hate you." Sounds weird... talking to your own body, but it's amazing the difference that made! I wouldn't have gotten the results I have otherwise.

"When you are experiencing positive emotions like joy, contentment, and love, you will see more possibilities in your life."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-clear/positive-thinking_b_3512202.html
Don't choose to live a more healthy lifestyle because you hate how you are currently living or you hate who you are. It only increases those negative thoughts and decreases your chances of results and success.

Yours truly..