I Promise I'm Nice

I’m not insensitive. 

As an instructor, I’ve been called a lot of things over the years. Well not called names, but there’s been comments. Mostly in regards to how hard I train and how motivated I am to get the best out of my clients. Shoot, there’s a whole Yelp page talking about the difficulty level of my classes.

When I first started training in a group environment, I trained cops. Specifically cops who needed to get back into shape in order to pass the physical requirements for their jobs. I was told I needed to “back off” because I “demanded too much” of those individuals. 

When I first started training in a more formal group environment, I got a complaint almost every single class I taught. It was never about my personality or the words I would say, it was always that the class was too hard for the individual who was taking the class.

I won’t ever apologize for my training style NOR will I ever feel sorry for you.

I just know this is an opportunity so it is what you make of it.

Being able to wake up, move your body, and create your own healthy lifestyle is a GIFT.

I also know how quickly you can lose that opportunity and how frustrating that loss can be. I never looked at being healthy in that light until I got hurt and the opportunity was taken from me.

I took the capabilities of my body for granted and I dreaded having to engage in any physical activity prior to my injury. I hated it. I didn’t see it for what it was, I saw it as a temporary means to an end, a necessity for my job, but not something that helped insure my well being.

Now I know that even on my worst and unmotivated days, it’s still a chance to give to myself and take care of myself. That might mean taking things down a notch if it doesn’t work for me that day, or even going extra hard because I can. 

Either way, I don’t look at the choices I’m making as an inconvenience or an obstacle. I look at it as a chance to give to myself, to take care of myself when my time is valuable and my days are busy. 

I know when I have those opportunities, big or small, that I need to take advantage of them so I can serve the community around me in a bigger way. 

Instead of thinking of working out and being healthy as an obstacle or a struggle, find the part of it you love the most and focus on that especially during the times you don’t want to try. 

Find that positive aspect of your healthy choices and hone in on those. Put those choices and how much better you feel on repeat. Create the gift for yourself and then continue to give it to yourself. 

Get to Work

This is only gonna work if you do. 

It’s not enough just to show up even though that’s most of the battle.

I know getting to the actual workout is like 90% of the battle. But getting there doesn’t mean you’re going to be in the mood to do it.

I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve gotten on my mat just to lay down and stare at the ceiling because it all feels like TOO much and I need a minute.

But once you’re there, you gotta try. You have to give your best for that day to get the results you want.

Re-read that sentence. The best for that day. Not what you think your best is, or what your best was yesterday or even what your best will be tomorrow.

It’s your best right now. Sometimes that means just moving, sometimes that means pushing yourself hard af, but whatever the effort is for that day, it means honoring and respecting your body.

But what do you on the days when the idea of doing the work gives you hives?

We all have those days. Maybe you didn’t sleep well, maybe everything you need to get done HAS to take priority over the workout, or maybe your head is just not in the game today.

You’re entitled to those days. After all, we’re only human. It happens.

When it happens, you address it and then you let it go. You know tomorrow is going to be a different day.

Regardless of the reason, the priority is having a killer back up plan in place so you know you can take a day to get your life together.

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Here’s my Top 3 Tips for Handling the Off Days:

1. Slow movement is better than no movement. Take it down a notch. Instead of doing a heavy lifting, long run, or crazy HIIT day, do something low impact. Go for a walk, do some yoga or mat pilates.

2. Move in smaller increments. Do something for 10 minutes instead of your longer workout. Stretch or foam roll, to get a little burst of energy and your blood flowing.

3. Focus on your food. Hydrate, give your body nourishing and balanced meals so you’re fueled to jump back in the game tomorrow.

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How's that Fancy At Home Gym?

Did you buy a treadmill only for it to become a clothes hanger?

I heard my friend talking the other day about how she bought a Peloton. She was loving it, in a total honeymoon period with it, and then…

School started, sports for the kids started, the family moved, and the Peloton became where she put her jacket. 

Grab Your Dumbbells!

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I know you’re like “all that money though”.

You’re also probably thinking “why is she saying that in front of someone who’s a fitness instructor?”

But we’ve all done it. We’ve all had the gym membership that we pay for and don’t use, the equipment sitting in our garage that’s getting dusty, or the treadmill that becomes a clothes hanger. 

I hear the debates all the time. Debating whether or not to invest the money in the gym equipment because you’re not really sure if it’ll get used. 

It’s a valid debate and as an instructor, it’s a debate I’ll entertain. I’ll also entertain the debate about joining certain gyms, or even increasing your memberships at certain.

I understand it has to be worth the financial investment. 

I know you’re worth the financial investment, but I also know that sometimes you have to run through the practicality of your decisions prior to pulling the proverbial trigger.

Pulling that proverbial trigger is hard because you know it would be discouraging AF if you pull said trigger, only to have to sell the equipment or cancel the membership because they weren’t being used. 

It makes you feel small, it makes you feel worthless, and it makes you feel like the goals you’ve set for yourself are completely unrealistic because you can’t make the things you have access to work for you.

Be realistic with your schedule but realize that you’re worth the investment. You’re worth the hard work.

You Got to Move

Move like you mean it. 

Not like it’s an accident. Not like you hate it and not like you’re dreading it.

Prior to getting hurt, I was working out 6 days a week. Granted a lot of that was out of necessity because of military training, but I was constantly moving my body.

In complete transparency, I didn’t like it.

Being “athletic”, doing the sports thing, it was never my thing. So I was definitely stepping WAY outside my comfort zone with the amount I was running and pushing myself.

I dreaded the whole thing. I used to get stomach aches prior to going to PT sessions because I hated the idea of having to do it so much.

In reflection, I’m not exactly sure why I disliked it to the point of getting sick. I just knew that I did.

Then I got hurt and was stuck in a bed for months. MONTHS. Damn did I miss moving at that point. I would’ve taken any kind of movement possible, and trust me, I totally did. To the point where I had dumbbells in bed with me to do arm work.

Fast forward, past my recovery and into me finding a way to move that I loved, and I move like I mean it.

I know that moving my body keeps me strong, keeps me pain free, and saves my sanity. So I continue to push myself because I can and mostly because I get to. When you know what it’s like to have that ability to move taken from you, you stop taking it for granted. You stop looking at it like a chore and start looking at it as something you can give to yourself to become a better version of YOU.

Regardless of how busy your day is and how much time you have to workout, move because you CAN.

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Here’s your Kettlebell workout for the day:

4 Rounds

10 goblet squats

20 hand to hand swings

10 windmills (each side)

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My Minutes Get Interrupted

Why is there always a five alarm fire every time I try to take a minute to myself?

It’s like the magic trick of getting on your phone just to get your kids’ attentions because they weren’t listening to you.

In fairness, I remember doing this to my mom. Bugging her like crazy when she was on the phone to really ANYONE. A landline mind you but still…

I might have been frustrated that I didn’t have her undivided attention but she was probably frustrated AF. When you’re already organizing chaos and you have such a short amount of time to grab your workout, having that little time interrupted is crazy making.

The last thing you need is a kid screaming for a sandwich when you just asked them if they were hungry.

Alas, these are the aspects of mom life we might not enjoy but are part of our reality.

That’s why I’m into the HIIT workouts. They don’t take long, they’re worth the burn, and you might just end up with 30 seconds to put out that fire.

It’s the attempt of being as efficient as possible with the little time you have available.

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EMOM

10 minutes

10 Squat Thrusters

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Give Me Your Best Excuse

I’ve come to really enjoy hearing the sheer amount of excuses that keep a person from working out over the years.

Seriously, come at me with your best excuse. I bet I’ve heard it before.

Don’t get me, I’m not referring to excuses as the valid reasons as to why you can’t do something. Those valid reasons are usually medically related and due to injury. Even those valid reasons are things we can work around. 

Back to the excuses…

This is actually a legit internal monologue I have all the time. It’s really hard for me to understand why someone would let their workouts fall on the back burner when they know the benefit they get from working out. Conversely, they also know how poorly they feel when they don’t work out and how frustrated they get when they stop working out and have to do all this work to get back to where they were before.

I understand that the fitness industry puts emphasis on crazy results that happen in a quick amount of time, and that’s what we want. I also understand that most of us, generally speaking, don’t want to or don’t like to workout, so it’s easy for our workouts to fall low on the priority list.

We want to look good naked with the lights on to ourselves, with minimal amount of work, without understanding that the work we put into our bodies now insures our health over time. We just want to look good. I’m here for that, because duh I do too. There’s something to be said about the confidence you get when you’re feeling yourself.

Today’s Workout

Tabata

10 rounds

Kettlebell swings

I was lucky though because when I got hurt, I had a group of people around me advocating for my health and encouraging me to think about the longevity of my health. To be proactive about taking care of myself so I don’t end up back in a place where I needed to lose a ton of weight or get over a debilitating injury.

Because I know being in that place is more frustrating and more demoralizing than figuring out how to schedule in a quick workout.

The focus for me became how I could workout safely to continue seeing results, so I could not only look good naked with the lights on to myself, but also FEEL good

Knowing that about myself, it kills me even more to know that most of the time the workouts aren’t happening because you’re getting stuck wasting your time on BS like refreshing your email or getting stuck in the scroll hole on social media.

If you have 20 minutes to spend on IG or scrolling through TikTok, you have 20 minutes to workout. You have the time, it’s just a matter of how you’re spending it. Trust me, you can scroll TikTok again after the kids go to bed.

I know we use those outlets as a means to let go, decompress and not think, and I’m here for that, it has it’s time and place, but it needs to be after you’ve taken care of your health. After you’ve given to yourself, go for it, lose yourself in the scroll hole. But get the workout done first.

You're it Babe

The only one who’s going to make sure you achieve your fitness goals is YOU.

Here’s the thing with fitness: I can teach you skills all the live long day. I’m freaking good at teaching skills. I can get your body to do the hard exercise and to do the thing, because I have honed my OWN skills of teaching people how to do hard things.

While I can teach skills, I can’t teach heart. I can’t teach you to want getting in shape and feeling better for yourself. I can’t teach the hustle of showing up to show yourself you’re strong.

That’s completely on you.

I know the one time you’re thinking you would actually ask for help, it won’t really do a whole lot. Even when you hire a coach, the work is still ultimately up to you.

The people I train who get the transformation they’re wanting, the one they crave so much they can taste it and the one they don’t tell anyone else about, are the ones who know that whatever happens is their doing.

They’re over making excuses as to why working out is on the back burner, they prioritize their health with the knowledge that everything else will get done. But their health is their priority. 

Most importantly: they show up especially when they don’t want to show up.

Those days when they would rather lay on their couch, they’re doing the work. When they’re tired, when they’re not motivated, when they’re over it, they’re showing up.

They know that even with the support they have, the choices they make are ultimately their own and achieving their goals is ultimately up to them.

It’s that simple. 

Not every workout is going to be easy, not every workout will be your best, and that’s ok. Because in those no so awesome moments is where you truly build your strength and where you show yourself that you are WORTH achieving your goals.

What matters more is continuing to show up and to put in the effort even when the going gets tough or things don’t go as planned. That doesn’t mean it’s always going to be pretty but it does mean that you will progress because you’ll be consistent. 

My Pro Tip for establishing those consistent habits? Make appointments with yourself in your calendar like you would for the doctor or to get your haircut. Then don’t cancel. You wouldn’t cancel those other appointments so why would you cancel on yourself? Then keep doing that until showing up becomes second nature.

Try it for a month, then message me and let me know how it went and how much better you feel.

Can I Just Get 5 Minutes by Myself PLEASE?

In fairness, most of the time I make this comment out loud to the dog who is my constant shadow, and not my human.

I mean I’m not complaining…but…GOOD LAWD #momlife is a lot.

I am an introvert by nature. Well a socialized introvert. I realize I can’t live my life by myself and I need to be around people to adult effectively. 

I knew when I became a mom that I would basically have someone on me all the time. I read all the articles about moms having over stimulated central nervous systems because someone was always touching them, and how that impacted their relationships because once that little person was asleep for the night, the last thing they wanted was to be touched.

I know my alone time would be going away.

What I didn’t anticipate was that it would be gone for much longer than I thought. Don’t get me wrong, I love being an active participant in my household. I get a lot of satisfaction out of taking care of my people, sometimes I just need to be by myself. 

Some people hide out in their bathroom or their closet, for me, it’s the garage gym. Every being in my house knows when Mommy is in the garage, if it’s not a life or death matter, leave me the F!CK alone.

I don’t feel guilty about taking those moments anymore. I know that even 10 minutes to fill my cup will leave me in a better mood and more effectively able to take care of the people around me.

Time to go hole up in my garage gym. 

✌️ Mama’s busy.

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Today’s Workout

Grab the workout below for a little break from the stress that is adulting.

3 Rounds

25 reps each exercise

Toe touches

Bridge hip taps

Side leg lifts

Bicycle crunches

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You'll Never Be Ready

If you waited until you were ready it would never happen. Your life will always be busy, your plate will always be full, and there will always be entities in your life demanding of your time and energy.

If we know nothing else for certain, we know that.

Change takes a leap of faith. But not in the way you’re thinking.

This is a leap in faith in YOUR ability to make your workouts work in YOUR life and your schedule. I know it’s the easy answer to tell you that you’ll just figure it out, when the reality of figuring out is super daunting.

But at the end of the day, if you want to see that healthy living change, where living to your best ability means regular workouts and solid nutrition, you will figure it out. Maybe it means HIIT workouts so your workouts aren’t as long, maybe it means being realistic with how many days you can workout, and maybe it means incorporating in some meal prep so you’re not as stressed about grabbing healthy food.

Whatever the solutions are for you to get all these things under control, it’s going to have to happen when you’re not ready. It’s going to have to happen when life is busy and crazy and chaotic. It’s going to happen before your schedule is ready. But it is going to happen when YOU are ready. When the prospect of NOT changing is worse than the prospect of changing, feeling better, and being healthier.

My best advice to you? If you know you need to start before you feel like things are perfect and the planets have aligned, ask for support. Let other people know that what’s going on with you. That doesn’t mean you need to spill your guts and tell them that deep down embarrassing goal, you can keep that to yourself, but you do need to tell at least one person what you’re going to be doing.

Have that person hold you accountable, love you and support you. Then the pivot won’t seem so daunting because you know you’ll have someone in your corner who will love you through it.

Grab Your Dumbbells!

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The Comparison Hole

Getting stuck in the comparison scroll hole nearly killed my vibe after I had Grace.

It’s hard to not feel badly about how you look when you see the mom on IG who’s had baby #6 8 weeks ago and is already posting selfies of her 6 pack. Oh and she looks like she slept through the night 🌙 too…which is awesome for her, but it’s hard to NOT go to the negative place when you see the highlight reel.

Compound that with being in the fitness industry where I literally am a walking billboard for what I do, and feeling badly is taken to a whole new level. At least for me.

I remember telling my clients that when my doctor gave me the clear to workout again, I went into the studio alone. I tried ONE exercise and struggled so badly with it that I thought I would need to find a new job. I didn’t know how I be able to teach things that my body couldn’t currently do much less with how I looked. Which wasn’t like myself. I felt weak, and I felt worse than discouraged. 

I busted my butt to feel strong again. To feel like myself again. But it didn’t work. I did two workouts a day, sometimes three, at least 5 days a week and NOTHING.

I found myself looking on social media for insight into how to get my strength back. I thought surely even with all my years of experience, I was missing something, but I couldn’t find any answers. The only thing I found where women who bounced back seemingly without any effort.

It only made me feel worse.

So I became determined to create a community for women to have the support they needed to find their strength and confidence again, without feeling like they needed to be shoved into a box.

I want you to have a community that is going to support and love ❤️ you on your journey with fitness, and a coach who understands that everyone’s BODY, life, and journey are completely different.

I want you to have that safe space to let go of your frustrations and find the power in your own body without worrying about how you look or what other people think about how you look. I want you to focus on your own journey with the tribe around you to get you to your goals.

I couldn’t find that for myself so I created it. Join us. We’re always accepting new members.