How do you stay motivated?

This is a question that I was asked recently by a friend/client. After honestly answering with a bit of a pep talk, the question still stuck with me. I have spent some time thinking this one through. What seems like a simple question with a simple answer, has actually made me dig deeper.

Motivation is defined as "the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal". Summer is usually a motivator. Maybe a big event like a class reunion or a wedding is coming up. Or maybe you just realize that your biggest jeans are too tight and you are not having that. There are tons of motivators in life. The thing about motivation is that it is fickle! When you rely on something fickle, you are headed for failure. One day you will wake up and that good friend "motivation" is going to decide it has better things to do than to get you fired up about your goals and keep your warm fuzzy's about going to the gym at their peak day after day, indefinitely.

The truth is that you aren't going to stay motivated. I believe that when we accept the fact that motivation is not going to be there for us, faithfully, we can really achieve great things. So my deeper answer to the question "how do you stay motivated?", is I don't. When I am determined to do something, I don't need motivation. Discipline and determination drive me to stay focused. I don't know if discipline is a learned behavior, but I like to believe it can be. I like to believe that it is a muscle, like will power, that begins with our attitude. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. I will be honest in saying that there are times that I fall short. I can be a slacker. Winter is my enemy. It attacks my attitude, then it all just starts to spiral down from there. However, because I AM disciplined, I never quit! I fight back. I may slack off and become lazy, but I do not quit! Unless I am on vacation, or resting my body, a week will not go by that doesn't involve me getting at least 2 workouts in and my awareness of what kind of calories I am consuming is always there. I didn't say they are always hard core workouts, or that my diet is always in check. I just said some kind of workout will be happening and I am completely aware of what I am eating and how it affect my goals.

One more moment of truth..... I will admit that I do have a high metabolism and somehow have the physical/genetic make up that carries weight decently. I have never really struggled with my weight, except for when I decided it was necessary to become extremely thin. Here is the deal.... I have curves. I am not sure why it seems like God made tall people "skinny" and shorter people "curvy", but it sure does seem that way to me! And the thing about curves, big bones, muscular builds, etc, is they can make you feel the need to go to unhealthy measures to acquire that "skinny" appearance. Um, if you have curves, no amount of weight loss is going to change that. Lesson learned. All of that said, my genetics don't mean that I have it easy. I think that if I just totally let myself go, I would blow up like a balloon. The fact that I refuse to let that happen is where my discipline might come from. That "attitude" I mentioned before.

So, I said all of that to say this; get to work on your attitude and discipline muscle. The opposite of discipline is laziness. Which one are you? I am pretty sure that if you are lazy, it is something that shows in pretty much anything that you do that isn't something you actually enjoy. Life is full of responsibilities. Some of them are less fun then others. Some of them require more effort then others. Ignoring those responsibilities never makes them go away, it only makes them pile up like dirty laundry. Nobody wants to get that far off track. It just happens. Allowing other things that are more enjoyable to take priority over the things that NEED to be done is a priority issue that gets down to how to disciplined you are. How do you live your life? Do you just go around doing whatever you want, whenever you want to? Or do you prioritize?  Do you take care of responsibilities and maintain an attitude of "no work, no play", or do you just ignore them and do what you feel like doing? I would go so far as to say that lack of motivation isn't the issue. We need motivation. It's what gets us fired up to set a goal. But we need discipline to reach that goal. So, "how do I stay motivated?" I don't, I stay disciplined. And so can you.

Please email me or comment below if you have anything to add. We CAN feed off of each others' attitude and discipline. Those things are contagious so let's help each other out! Have a great week!

Start Swapping and Get Moving

It's the new year. Many of you have declared that this year you will make changes to your lifestyle. You will workout more, eat better, take better care of yourself, give up junk food, etc.... It's a new beginning. It's almost like a Monday, only it comes with a full year of commitment ahead of you. That can be pretty overwhelming when you look at it like that, but it doesn't have to be.

The best way to change is to take it slow. When you teach a person anything new, you teach it in stages. We learn in stages. It is a process. We can only handle so much at a time. If we put too much on ourselves at one time, we will likely run away overwhelmed. It is hard to remember that sometimes when it comes to healthy living. Even if you once were fit and now are far from fit, it is best to start out slow.

I may be certified in personal training, but we all learn with experience. I will never stop learning and growing. My views and opinions may change with age and experience, but the fact that jumping head first into anything usually results in failure will never change.

If you are facing a lifestyle change, I recommend starting with swapping a few bad habits with a healthier option. If your bad habit is to eat drive through for most meals, start by swapping to a healthy homemade breakfast burrito or some wheat toast and fruit for breakfast. Bring along some healthy snacks (string cheese, yogurt, nuts, a piece of fruit, etc) to work if that won't keep you satisfied until lunch. Eat when you're hungry. Don't starve yourself. Start by making small changes in some of your regular choices. If you starve yourself, you will fall flat on your face. You will have a moment when the hunger takes charge and you will eat anything in front of you. You will seek out dense, fatty, junk food and you will beat yourself up immediately afterward. Do not starve yourself!

Get moving. Do this a little at a time. Don't go to the gym on day 1 for two hours and work yourself so hard that you can't move the next day and never want to set foot in the gym again. Go for a walk. 30-45 minutes is a great start. You can slowly work up to some intervals where you add hills or even some jogging/running to your routine. Go to a class with a friend if that is what you enjoy. Look up workouts on YouTube and follow along with them. It doesn't have to cost a lot, and it doesn't have to be a time suck. Do whatever you enjoy the most, just get moving. I prefer to be outside. It makes me happy. I struggle to get strength training in because all I want to do is run. My point is, do what makes you happy. If playing basketball with your son makes you happy, do it. If cleaning the house for hours makes you happy, do that. Just make sure you are enjoying whatever you choose to use for exercise. The biggest benefit to exercise is what it does for your mood. If you dread the experience every time, you are not doing the right thing. There has to be something you can enjoy doing that gets you moving. Be creative. Turn on some loud music and dance if that's what makes you happy. Just get moving!

On another note....in case you are wondering where I have been lately, here is the story. I went back to work, I hated my job and missed taking care of my family, I quit my job, and now here I am. I have to say that I have the best husband in the world. Sorry ladies. It's true. He really is the best. I am blessed beyond belief with such a supportive man to share my life with. I really don't know how I got so lucky. I know I don't deserve him. Anyway, I just want to tell him thank you for taking such good care of me and our kids. He works hard to make sure that we are all taken care of. We have really come to realize that we use to spend a lot of time working just to acquire a bunch of crap, then complain about not having time to spend together as a family and about always being over the top busy. We have come to realize that we (our kids included) will not remember all of the stuff we accumulated. Stuff doesn't make memories, time does. We are not homebodies, so this is a little bit of an adjustment for us. We like to spend freely and go often, but it is exhausting and it is not necessary. We all make sacrifices, you just have to choose which sacrifices you want to make, and follow what the Lord lays on your heart. The thing I keep hearing Him tell me is that you can't get back time. You can always get more stuff, but you can't get more time.

Enough about that.... It is good to be writing again! I encourage you to reach out to me via email if I can help you in any way with your fitness goals and/or journey. No matter what struggles you face, you can always find small ways to start swapping and get moving!

One Size Doesn't Fit All

You know that moment when you bump into someone you haven't seen for some time and they have lost a very noticeable amount of weight and all you want to know is, how? You want to be polite and ask how they are and what's new in their life, but all you really want to know is how they did it. You want to know in detail, in hopes that you can mimick the same plan and achieve the same results. You know that moment, right? 

Here's the trouble with it... Trying on someone else's diet/exercise expecting identical results, is no different than going into their closet and putting on their clothes and shoes and expecting to come out looking just like them as a result. I mean, you're wearing their pants. You've got on that shirt they always look so good in. You're wearing those awesome shoes that you fell in love with the first time they wore them. So why don't you look like just them?? Well, for the obvious reason.... You're not them.....

We all know the basics of fitness. Eat right, workout, take care of yourself, get plenty of rest, etc. The mystery lies in the details. You can put two people on the exact same program, but because of genetics, body type, metabolism, etc., the results between the two will not be the exact same. 

You're sitting at home watching an infomercial for Insanity and you want it. You want those results. So you order the DVD set and give it a try. You work hard. Follow the program verbatim. At the end of the program you expect to look just like the picture of whatever model you envied on the infomercial. You told yourself that when you complete this program, you will have that identical body. Surprise! It didn't happen. You got results. You worked hard! You look and feel great. But you don't look like you expected. You don't look just like the model from the infomercial. 

I always preach about how fitness is about fitness. It's about health. The focus shouldn't be vanity. I say that for two reasons. I want to always remind you that you're beautiful the way you are. Stop trying to look just like someone else, even of that someone else is a former "you", and never ever forget why we eat right and exercise. Your primary focus and goal should always be your health, not how you look in a bikini or what the scales say. The scales will lie to you, and as long as you're working out right and eating right, it will show in your appearance. Your skin will clear up, your flab will tighten, your belly will flatten, your energy will increase, and you will feel stronger. 

When you are on a program, the results you get in outward appearance and/or in your health level will be specific to you and you alone. Never forget that. If you join a group challenge or buddy up with a friend and stick to the same guidelines, you will not get identical results. If you expect that, one of you will be discouraged. I know how hard it is not to chase a certain number on the scale, or a specific pant size, but being healthy and fit isn't about that at all. So don't go to unhealthy measures to accomplish what you want to see on the outside. Stick to healthy choices and the rest will happen naturally. Yes, it will take longer than a starvation diet and avoiding strength training because you don't like what the scales say when you tone your body. But it will be a lifestyle that will keep you from being back in the same situation that you are in ever again. Nobody likes to start over.  

So, I ask you today to evaluate your goals and your plans. Ask yourself what you want out of the process. If the answer is to "look like I did when I was XX years old" or look good for summer", or "look good on your wedding day" or any other "look good for a special occasion or short term event", I beg you to consider thinking in terms of a lifetime of healthy living. My post today is focused on the fact that we are all made up differently. We need to have our own goals. We can work together with a friend  and encourage and support each other. That is great of you have that and need it. Just never lose sight of the fact that you are your own person and "one size doesn't fit all". 

What fitness means to me

It's amazing just how much of my day is lived selfishly. I have good intentions and I don't want to conform to this broken world, yet I fall into selfish behavior pretty much over and over again throughout each day. I can wake up, pray, read my devotion, and set my mind on living for Christ, then before I've finished my first cup of coffee I've already failed more times than I can count on one hand. My overwhelming desire to do and be good, coupled with my sinful nature, is a battle I can't seem to win. 

When I got certified in personal training, it was because of my passion for fitness and my passion for helping people see that they can live a healthy lifestyle without feeling deprived. God gave us all of these amazing foods to fuel our bodies, yet our busy lives and the way we view food as a nation sets us up to fail if we don't learn how to deal. I don't claim to have it all figured out. But, I do feel like God spends a lot of time showing me that fitness is not just about vanity, but rather about taking care of the house He created for our souls. 

Now, I can tell you that I have struggled with this and I continue to struggle with this, because my outward appearance IS important to me. I won't lie about that. In fact, I will tell you that it is probably more important to me than it should be. Having said that, the most important thing I learned through my journey in getting my certification was that being healthy and being thin have absolutely NOTHING to do with each other. And, health and fitness has a whole lot more to do with God than it does with us. 

Here's where I'm going with this....

As I said at the beginning of this, I wake up every day with an overwhelming desire to live for Christ. I'm lucky to get it right for even half of my morning. We do this same thing as humans with everything that is right in this world. Everything that does not come naturally to us takes a constant conscious effort. It is impossible for us to get it right 100% of the time. The thing is, I wake up every day hungry for Christ. I trip, stumble, and even fall all day long. But at the end of the day, despite all of my failures, I am still a Christian. In the same way, I wake up each day hungry for health. I trip, stumble, and even fall all day long. But despite all my failures, I still have my health. 

When we put unrealistic expectations on ourselves, we leave ourselves little room for success. I know that I was not born without sin. But I want to spend my days trying to be the best Christian I can be. I wish I didn't fall so short. But I always have a clean slate. I'm always forgiven. It's always forgotten. And what a relief that is. It's not a ticket to stop trying to do good. It's not a free pass to sin. It's another chance to change and to do better next time. It's relieves the pressure that we are expected to be perfect. 

I believe that if we can learn to look at our daily health and fitness with the same attitude we look at Christianity, it would  relieve a lot of the pressure to be perfect. After all, the goal is to take care of this house God gave your soul. Seems like Christianity and healthy living should go together when you look at your body for what it truly is. We all get upset with ourselves when we mess up, but that's not a reason to stop trying to change.

Knowing that we aren't expected to be perfect, applies to everything about us, including our physical appearance. God made you the way He wants you, so stop trying to be something other than that. We aren't meant to be super models. We weren't made perfect on the inside, why would we think we need to look perfect on the outside? You're beautiful the way you are, you just need to be responsible and take care of the body that houses your soul. In my opinion, THAT is what health and fitness is about!

30 Minutes

This is going to be short and sweet tonight. This is just some, hopefully, helpful advice. 

If you are trying to lose weight or change your body, you won't get there by doing a 30 minute moderate intensity workout 3-6 days per week. At best, you will burn 300-400 calories doing moderate exercise for 30 minutes (depending on your size, age, gender, etc). Having said that, 30 minutes of intense exercise, particularly "High Intensity Interval Training" otherwise known as "HIIT", is a different story. You don't necessarily burn a ton more calories during a HIIT workout, or intense workout. What's happening is that you are putting your metabolism to work for you for hours post workout. Here's why... Muscle burns fat, even at rest. The more you strength train, the more muscle you delvelop, resulting in more fat loss. This can be discouraging when you're watching the scales, but pay attention to how your clothes fit and you won't be disappointed. 

The benefits of HIIT are that when doing intervals, your heart rate stays up for hours post workout. When your heart rate is up, you're burning calories. This type of exercise is becoming popular for those of us that have busy lives (myself included). Also, it's just plain FUN! It's hard to get bored when your workout is constantly changing. 

I have blogged about HIIT before. I'm a believer. It's what I teach my clients. Let's face it....we are all busy. And knowing that you can get a valuable and effective workout in, in 30 minutes or less.....well....I mean seriously....it sells itself! And like I said, it is anything but dull! 

That's all I have for today. I encourage you to study up on the benefits of HIIT and give it a try. You won't be sorry!

Training

I'm alive! Hello everyone! It has been awhile since my last post, and I have missed blogging. Here's the story... I have been throwing my resume out here and there over past several months, not putting much effort into an actual job search.  I figured that whatever happens is up to God. Long story short, I was hired as the office manager for a home health care agency. I have had a lot to learn and my brain has been so DONE when I get home at night. Things are starting to get into a rhythm for me, I think, and I am finally starting to adjust. I hope I haven't lost any of you, but for those of you that continue to read, I appreciate the faith you put in my words more than you know.

When I have clients that I am training, my biggest goal is to train their brain. I encourage them to stop being so dependent on others, including me. I only get paid when we are having sessions, but my goal as a trainer isn't to get rich. It is to help you get to the point that you no longer need me anymore. Don't tell me you didn't go for a run yesterday because you couldn't get anyone to go with you. Don't tell me that you need me to make a step by step diet plan for you. If you aren't making decisions on your own and learning to say no, you aren't training your brain. If you can't go to the gym or out on a run without another person with you, you aren't training your brain. It is critical for you to become your biggest accountability partner if you are going permanently change yourself. My job is to show you that you ARE strong enough to do this on your own one day. To show you that the reason you are in the situation that you are in, isn't because you need me to tell you what you are doing wrong. The reason you are in the situation you are in is because you continue to do what you KNOW is wrong.

Yes, a huge part of my job is to coach you through workout sessions and help you see what needs to change in your life, but the biggest thing you need to accomplish is the ability to stand on your own two feet and hold yourself accountable. I can do that for you for awhile, but  by not showing you how to do it on your own, what has that done for you?  Isn't it better to have someone coach and train you about healthy living and clean foods so that you can learn to make responsible choices when I'm not there? It does my heart good when I read a blog post or get a text from a client that reflects the things I am trying to instill in them, and that has happened twice to me in the last few days. It is why I do what I do. I love to see people realize they don't have to ever go back there. I love to see them realize they never needed me to begin with!

So this is what's on my mind tonight. I believe that each of you can train your brain, with or without the help of me. I believe that each of you can learn to make your own decisions, workout on your own, stop relying on everyone else to tell  you calorie for calorie what to put in your mouth, and start holding yourself accountable. You are smart enough to know the difference between good and bad and right from wrong. This isn't your issue. Your issue lies in giving yourself the option to do what's wrong or eat what's bad.Give yourself some credit and start working on training that brain. Eventually the choices you make related to health and fitness become a part of who you are, because you took responsibility for yourself and quit allowing yourself to go on like this. I truly believe that anyone can get to their desired fitness goal. It just takes action. It takes YOUR action. Start training your brain tonight! Start being responsible for your own choices. Stop relying on everyone else to tell you what you are doing wrong. You already know, so fix it. If I can help you in any way, you know I am always here. Having said all that I did about being responsible for your own self, everyone needs a little motivation, inspiration, counsel, prayer, shoulder to cry on, someone to pick them up when they are down, etc. Everyone gets overwhelmed. Expect that. But whatever you do, keep moving forward and never stop chasing after the goals you have set for yourself. Don't let goals become dreams. Make them real! Because you can!

Have a great night everyone! I've missed you:)

It Goes Both Ways

The more sugar you eat, the more sugar you crave. The more TV you watch, the more TV you crave. The more you sleep, the more sleep you crave. The more soda you drink, the more soda you crave. I will stop there. You get it.

It is so easy to give into cravings when they are the things we shouldn't give into. There is something about restrictions, or the thought of being deprived, that we naturally rebel against. The problem is, the more we partake, the more we crave. Here's the funny thing about cravings........you can crave what's NOT bad for you, just as you can crave what IS bad for you. You can train yourself to crave the good things!

It all starts with a choice. You make a choice to trade your normal drive through breakfast for a bowl of oatmeal and an apple. You make a choice to drink water instead of soda. You make a choice to give up desert tonight. You make a choice to get in a run after work, instead of coming straight home and planting your booty on the couch for hours.  And I will stop there. You get it.

Cravings are a result of the choices we make. We are faced with choices all day long. We struggle with making good choices because of subliminal messages and busy lives. It starts with a bad nights sleep, a long day at work, the craziness of playing taxi for the kids, the missed trip to the grocery store, a pizza commercial on the car radio, and so on. The next thing you know, the day is nearly over and the whole family is famished. You grab a pizza and binge on it because you haven't eaten for hours and the healthy, low calorie lunch you had is nothing but a distant memory. One bad day, and the cravings begin.

How do we overcome.....? You have your bad day. You eat your pizza then pass out minutes later. You wake up and CHOOSE to have a determined attitude that one crazy day isn't going to define your future choices. You face the cravings that last nights chaos left behind with that determined attitude, and you get through it. If you don't......the cravings have only just begun. The battle only gets harder to fight.

It doesn't matter if you are cleaning house, mowing the lawn, running a marathon, cooking dinner, reading a book, telling a story, making a grocery list, sleeping, shopping, walking to get the mail, or whatever else you do in your 24 hour day. If you lose momentum, you have to focus to get it back. It's nothing more than a speed bump. It happens in everything we do, even in our sleep. It is impossible to go through life and never lose momentum. Some speed bumps are harder to recover from than others, but we make the choice to focus or to not. Eventually, you fly past the speed bumps without skipping a beat. Eventually, an interruption to your day of healthy choices is no big deal because your good outweighs your bad so you no longer crave the bad things. You would rather nibble on carrots and broccoli than eat a fried meal. Your workouts have a scheduled time, and you have a mini panic attack when you think you may run out of daylight before you get the time to get out and run. You have changed because "it goes both ways".

Can it really be that simple? Yes! All I have to do is train my cravings? yep! And by making the right choices about food and exercise throughout each day, my cravings will change on their own? You got it!

I hope you start altering your choices today. I hope you chose to train your craving and gain control of them. And I hope you inspire others to do the same. Healthy living is inspiring. People see you doing what they think they can't, and they want it too. Be a testimony and an example to someone today. Show them that they can do what you are doing. Don't let your efforts be selfish. Share your story and help others. We all need inspiration.