Whatcha Gonna Do?

I’m not insensitive. 

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 never looked at being healthy in that light until I got hurt and the opportunity was taken from me. 

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. 

Healthy Living is Bigger than Changing Your Diet

I don’t subscribe to the healthy living programs that have you vacillating from one side of the pendulum to the other. There is nothing more frustrating 😤 than giving up every enjoyable aspect of life, getting this HUGE transformation and then totally losing it because the changes were too drastic.

That my friend, is the yo-yo of healthy living and I feel some aspects of that are worse than the lifestyle you currently have. Not only can it potentially mess with your body in irreversible ways, it also messes with your head. There is nothing a whole lot more defeating than working so hard to get this amazing transformation and not being able to hold on to it because the way you got it isn’t realistic for your daily life. 

I want a tailored program for you that teaches you the easy healthy habits you can have in your daily life, so you can still enjoy the life you work so hard for without feeling like you’re deprived of the things you love 💗.

It’s the harder change to make because it takes longer and I know you want the results NOW. It’s also the harder change to make because it’s going to challenge you to unpack why you make certain decisions so you can truly understand why you’ve gotten to where you are. But I know this change is more effective because I know once you make it, you won’t have to make any more changes. Ever again.

You’ll know why you make decisions about food and working out, and you’ll also know how to navigate around those reasonings so you can have the healthy life you want with the balance you also want.

Grab Your Dumbbells!

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Be proud of your progress

Be proud of your progress. 

We have this habit of getting caught up with what the end goal will look like and anything less than that isn’t good enough. As a coach, seeing this line of thinking in action makes me sad. We let that negative narrative invade our thoughts and it impedes our progress because our best will never be good enough.

I have never seen people be so negative or so critical of themselves than when they are in my space. That talk has no place with me. That talk is the kind of talk we get rid of FAST when we work together. 

Being healthy, for me, is about the journey not the destination. Mostly because the destination continually moves. Every time I hit a goal, I re-evaluate and give myself another goal. So this journey to being healthy, having balance and getting strong is ever evolving. As it should right? Because I am ever evolving and growing.

The last thing you need when you’re actively trying to do what’s best for you so you can give to others is to criticize your effort. Workouts will never be perfect, days are going to get the best of you, eating healthy can be frustrating AF sometimes, and you’re going to fall off the wagon with it ALL. But that does not mean you should start talking shit about yourself. If you go down that road, it’s going to be even harder for you to reincorporate those healthy habits. You’re self sabotaging. Knock it off.

When that ever evolving aspect becomes your health journey, you have to focus on the progress you’ve made, not where you think you should be. Go and write down 10 things you’ve accomplished for yourself on this journey that you never thought possible. Oh I’m not kidding Boo. Go and do it. And refer back to that list, add to that list, and remind yourself that you’re doing more than most people will do all day, all week, all year.

Think back to that first day you took control or took back control of your health and how much you’ve accomplished since that day.

Don’t discount that hard work and effort. Celebrate it and look forward to all your next steps.

We Don't Regress

I don’t care if you become stagnant or even plateau, but your ass better not go backwards. 

Life is going to get chaotic. That’s just a reality of adulting. Whether you work outside your home or not, between managing a household, pets, a family, or whatever it is that’s a priority to you, life can be crazy. The days pass by quickly and seem to be filled with a million things that NEED to get done but might not necessarily happen. 

I know exactly what happens to you when shit hits the fan and life seems crazier than normal. The first thing to go are your workouts. You just don’t have time right? You have this activity or that activity to get to, your kids need whatever they need from you, and frankly there’s just not enough hours in the day to get it all done. So bye bye fitness. You know what goes usually right after that? Your eating. I mean you’re not working out anyways so why worry about what your shoveling in your face? Plus you’re so busy that you don’t have time to even think about it. You’re more concerned with just having something as opposed to nothing at all. 

That’s all backwards motion to me. Regression at its finest. And no one is immune from it. But we have to have better coping mechanisms than that so when you are at the point where you can get consistent in your routine again, you don’t feel like you’ve been set back so far that there’s no catching up so there’s no point in TRYING to catch up. 

Don’t throw all your hard work out the window. When life gets crazy, we have to learn how to adapt and overcome. Have a plan for your week so you don’t get caught up in the chaos. Know the days that would work for you to get a workout in. Maybe that means you don’t get your workout one day, or maybe it means the workout is modified, but compensate for that in other ways. Be mindful of what you’re eating, make the effort to prep healthy snacks so you’re not grabbing for whatever is available and be intentional with your water intake. Maybe even cut out the alcohol on the days you know you’re not going to be working out. 

It doesn’t have to be perfect, this is all a journey and walking this journey means making the necessary adjustments to ensure you can still be making progress towards your goals. 

At the end of the day, don’t give up. Don’t quit on yourself and don’t go backwards. Remind yourself that your goals are still important and still deserved, even if the day isn’t perfect. 

You Know EXACTLY What To Do

Girl, I do NOT need to tell you what to do when it comes to being a healthy mama. 

I’ve been training people for a long time and in that time I’ve seen two commonalities amongst every single person I’ve trained: I’m not dealing with weak people and I’m sure AF not dealing with dumb people. 

You’re smart Boo and you know exactly what you need to do in order to get your body back to a point where you’re happy to see yourself naked in a mirror. 

Move your body and eat well. 

I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. 

So if it’s that easy, how come we’re not all doing it? Because you have to get to the point in your life where you either get so frustrated with your status quo that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to change it, and you also have to know that you’re deserving of that change. In accordance with those feelings, you also have to know that the world isn’t going to fall apart because you take an hour to workout. 

The goals you’ve set for yourself matter and more importantly, all that shit that was on your plate before the workout will be there for you AFTER the workout. I guarantee it. So give yourself the endorphin rush to have the energy to handle the never ending To Do List. 

Then fuel your body with high quality, GOOD food most of the time. It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your glass of wine but it does mean that the majority of the time, you’re giving your body good, not processed, fresh af food. 

Maybe that means meal prepping, snack prepping, getting a meal delivery service, busting out the crockpot, or whatever works the best for your family. For all of us, the strategies that are effective are different but the intention has to be the same. 

When all else fails, get the support you need to remind you that you matter, your goals matter and you have help to grant there. 

Who Joins Your Workouts?

You’re gonna but a point in your workout where you invite in your inner critic or your inner athlete to join you. If you’re truly working out with the intention of getting stronger and creating a transformation for yourself, the majority of your workouts will get to the point where you’re totally over it. Your lungs are burning, your heart is on fire, and your mind starts wandering to all the other things you COULD be doing besides working out. Like doing your taxes. Go figure something so tedious could sound so much more appealing when you’re sweating your ass off.

Unfortunately, I think that most of us get to that place of being faced with adversity or a major challenge, and we tend to go to a super negative place in our heads. We tend to think about all the things we feel like we suck at and not all the things we’re fantastic at.

That critic in your head can get super freaking loud too. Sometimes that critic can get so loud that you start thinking “well maybe I’ll just stop now, I only have 5 seconds left on this interval” or you stop with a couple reps to go. Over time, it becomes easier and easier to just stop a little earlier on your workout. Then that eventually builds into avoiding the workout all together.

Every single person I train is an athlete. Every single person I train is strong and completely capable of finishing the workout they start. I’ll remind you of that every time you workout and you notice that negative voice starting to creep in.

You are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for and you are capable of so much more than you think. I know that. I know you can get through the workout you’re currently in and wanting to stop and you’re more than able to crush the next one too. Don’t doubt yourself. You got this.

Make Discomfort Your Ally

The day you discover discomfort is your ally, your life will change. 

Working out sucks. Be honest. If working out was easy, or comfortable, everyone would do it. In reality, working out is NOT cute. The visceral effect of working out, that sweating, heart pounding, lungs burning feeling, is not ideal. At least not to most people. 

So now you’re in this tough catch-22 because you KNOW you need to workout. That’s how you’re going to reach your goal right? Working out and eating well. But then you have to get over what you know is going to be an uncomfortable and occasionally painful experience.

I would argue that you’ve been in uncomfortable situations before and gotten through it so there’s no reason why a little workout should scare you. Granted those past experiences might not have in a gym, but maybe they were at your work, with your family or with a friend. 

If you can get through those things, and do it well, you can get though the workout. Hell maybe that’s even a good catch-22 to get yourself in. Intentionally making yourself feel uncomfortable in a safe setting, seeing how you handle it so you can figure out how to handle it more effectively. Or just make the uncomfortable feeling not so foreign.

That’s what getting uncomfortable does to you. It makes you expand the limitations you’ve put on yourself by learning in a practical setting how strong you actually are and by doing so, you create change.

Create Your Foundation

The strength you find today creates your foundation for tomorrow. 

We get into this horrible and self sabotaging place of comparing when we start our fitness journey. Because our fitness journey starts well before we put on the spandex and pick up a weight. Our fitness journey starts with us looking at the people around us, be it on social media or in person, and comparing how we look to how THEY look. You know who I’m talking about…it’s the woman who’s on kid #4, but kid #4 is only a month old and she already has a 6 pack. Mind you, you’re only on kid #1 and all you see when you look in the mirror is…fluff…

Whether or not we realize it, we take that negative energy into our workouts and it sabotages the hell out of our progress. What we want is the instantaneous result, the immediate feeling of being happy in the clothes we wear and being able to finally rid ourselves of the obligatory “mom” sweater. We’ve sat in this uncomfortable skin for far too long so by the time we’re doing something to get it gone, we want it gone NOW. Or yesterday. Whichever.

But that discounts the foundation that you’re building. That negative mindset is so much more likely to impede your progress because you’re always going to feel like it’s not enough. It’s not enough resistance, it’s not a high enough speed on the treadmill, it’s not enough weight on the bar…it’s not a fast enough result.

Keep something in mind for me when you find yourself in this place of frustration that really stems from guilt that things have gotten this far and that you feel this miserable: you didn’t get to the place where you felt like change was a necessary component of life overnight, and transformation that is done in a healthy and sustainable way, also doesn’t happen overnight.

Every single day in your journey towards your health and fitness goals is a building block from where you were yesterday. Enjoy the journey. Even if it’s not evident to you, single day you’re getting stronger, and more importantly, you’re putting a foundation in place of habits that will sustain your health and your strength while facilitating the transformation you’re seeking.

The process of change, albeit annoying AF and rip your hair out frustrating at times, is also beautiful. What an amazing thing to demonstrate to yourself daily that you are deserving of those goals and that you’re willing to do what it takes to reach those goals. Maybe you’re not there yet, maybe it’s your first day or you haven’t even started, but I KNOW you’ll get those goals and I’ll be cheering you along the whole way.

There's Never a Right Time

There will never be a right time. 

Before I get going, let me just say: I’m totally here for the selfcare movement. It’s abut time people caught up with what I’ve been doing since my injury. I knew if I didn’t take care of myself, I wouldn’t have the quality of life I wanted, and I had SO much life in front of me, that wasn’t something I was willing to sacrifice.

That being said, some of these selfcare gurus can GTFO. Cordially of course. But seriously. GTFO. I mean do they even have kids??? Because what they’re talking about with the chaos that is MY household, is I M P O S S I B L E.

I never realized how busy life could be until I had a kid. All of a sudden, my days were broken down into increments of time that accommodated her needs. Mix that in with working, managing a household and trying to get food on the table for dinner, and any time for me very quickly went out the door. Because I needed to make sure that everyone else was taken care of before I even considered taking care of myself. Like by the time everything is organized and somewhat under control, it’s already 10pm and time for bed.

So good luck trying to do anything that involves making sure you’re hitting your healthy living goals, right?

I mean why even bother to get started when your attention will inevitably get diverted every single day to something else? Reality is that there’s always going to be something pulling you in a different direction, diverting your attention, or taking up your time. There’s never a “good” time to push yourself, to get uncomfortable, to get healthy. 

So start now. That doesn’t mean you turn around tomorrow and start training for a marathon. Let’s be clear. Starting now needs to be something that’s accessible for you in YOUR life with YOUR schedule. For every single person as a result, starting now will look different.

Maybe it means planning what you’ll cook for dinner so you can plan out your grocery list instead of impulse buying and winging dinner when you walk into the store. Maybe it means asking your partner to take the kids for 30 minutes so you can grab a quick HIIT workout or go for a walk around your neighborhood. Maybe it means packing your lunch the night before for work, so you’re not scrambling at the last minute in the morning and either packing something unhealthy or giving up and going through a drive through.

Self care, putting your health first does need to start now. You deserve it. You give of yourself every single day to SO many people, you really do deserve to feel amazing and to be happy with how you look.

But self care doesn’t have to nor should it, be something that causes you stress. Self care, especially in terms of living healthy, can be small incremental changes over time that build on each other to create the life you want. Almost like tricking yourself into being healthy. One thing at a time, one day at a time, and while I know that’s a slower transition than what you want, it will give you the result you want along with the habits to maintain it.

What Do You Do When Your Workouts SUCK?

Girl I have some workouts that S U C K. Still.

Just because I’m in the fitness industry and train people daily doesn’t mean I don’t have times in my own workouts where I want to LITERALLY throw my towel across the room. Maybe I slept shitty, maybe I didn’t eat properly before, shoot maybe I’m near my cycle, or maybe a certain small human keeps interrupting me. 

I know I could let those days totally get me down, I could even stop the workout early if I wasn’t feeling it. Or just half ass my effort…

Those solutions don’t work for me though. 

Prior to my injury, I worked out on a regular basis. It was out of necessity. My role in the military dictated that I maintain a certain physical standard so working out and nutrition were priorities of mine. It created habits in me that have stayed with me even until today.

Working out after I recovered from my injury as well as after I had Grace SUCKED. I knew I had to do it to have the kind of quality of life I was seeking, and I had the habits as well as skill set in place to work out efficiently, but it was horrible. I didn’t feel strong, it took a lot of frustrating time to understand the capabilities of my body post all the surgeries, and it HURT. My body was in pain, it was inflamed, and while I listened to my limitations and did workouts that were appropriate for me, it still hurt.

I started doing two things when I worked out and I wasn’t feeling it to get myself through:

1. I used visualization. It helped clear my mind, it gave me something to focus on besides what I was doing, and it distracted me enough to get through the workout. What I visualize differs depending on my mood, and I usually go to whatever my mind naturally wanders towards. It’s either my end goal, like my ultimate goal for myself in my own fitness journey OR it’s the visualization of how far I’ve come. I see myself in a bed at my parents’ house unable to walk and I visualize the journey I’ve already gone through that’s gotten me to today.

2. I think of something positive and I put that shit on repeat. We tend to get so negative and critical when we’re working out. It’s the “we’re not enough” syndrome kicking in. Fuck that. I think about how I’ve made it through 100% of my bad days, so I got this or I think “you can do this” and I put that on replay in my mind until my workout is done.

It works for me, it doesn’t make the workout magically become easier but it gives me a clearer focus so I can get through what I’m doing. 

Then, and this is key, at the end of the workout, even if it’s the worst workout of all time and I’m so happy it’s over I’m not even enjoying the endorphin rush, I celebrate the workout. I celebrate the fact that I woke up, that my body can move and give me this gift, and that I GET to give this time to myself.

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