Be Happy NOW!

Are you still waiting for your circumstances to change before you’ll allow yourself to be happy? 
Most of us have preconceived ideas of what would make us happy, and we refuse to be satisfied until those things happen. The problem with this pattern of thinking is that, even if those specific things happen in our lives, we’re rarely satisfied with them! Instead, we shift our focus to something even bigger and better, believing “it” will make u happy (or happier). We never allow ourselves to reach a point of contentment.

The good news is that you can decide to be happy NOW – even if everything in your life isn’t perfect. Be grateful. Gratitude is one of the most powerful states of mind that you can adopt. Not only does it feel good but it shifts your focus from what you don’t have to what you DO have. As you focus more on what you have in your life, you worry less about anything that may be lacking.

If you spend most of your days feeling rushed and scattered, it’s hard to feel happy. You need to make time for yourself to relax and take pleasure in life’s simpler moments. Spend time doing things you love on a regular basis. Read a book that stimulates your imagination; listen to music you love; and allow yourself to enjoy your life as it is right now.

Many of us focus all our energy on some vague, far-off result, like the completion of goals. That once we “get there” everything will be perfect and we’ll finally be happy. But happiness is found in the journey toward the destination! Revel in every moment that you’re moving forward and enjoy the accomplishments you gain with every goal you achieve.

The most important thing to take away from this read about happiness is that it is largely a CHOICE you make from moment to moment. Though certain serious situations make it difficult to feel happy at times, most often we allow the little things to bother us and block any happiness we would otherwise feel. CHOOSE to embrace happiness, and you will soon notice the incredible expanse in your life!

Have a Happy and Healthy Day, Cheers :)

When trying to live a healthy lifestyle there is a huge importance around creating a physical environment that is conducive to attaining your physique goals–prepping your clean meals, packing food for the upcoming week, laying out your workout clothes for the morning, packing protein bars, nuts and fruit in every purse, bag and desk drawer. You get the picture. We are prepped, ready and rolling.

But when was the last time you took time to prep your mind? I like to do this on Sundays because it helps clear out last week, and get ready for the upcoming week. Plus, it helps with 'Sundayitis' that creeps into my body if i am not prepared causing me to stress and preventing me from getting to bed before 3am.

Here are some rituals I follow to get my mind focused for a positive, effective and productive week living the healthy and balanced lifestyle:

Acknowledge last week Take a mental inventory of the good, the bad and the ugly. Don’t just sweep all the mess-ups under the rug and don’t beat yourself up about them either. Messing up always present opportunities for growth and learning. I am big into introspection and trying to understand my quirks. Why did I opt for take-out last Wednesday night when I had perfectly good chicken and broccoli waiting for me in the fridge? Why did I skip my Friday workout when I had the time to do it? These are mental challenges, not physical ones. I had the food, and I had the time. So what else is there? My Brain! So, I take time to delve into what I had going on, where I need to focus and how I can mentally understand it to do better.

Choose Positivity Yes, it is a choice! You always get to decide how you see the world. I experience negative emotions just like anyone else, I do negative self-talk and I occasionally get the Sunday Blues. But I turn Sunday around and I use Sundays as a good time to check my mental attitude. I make a list of all the things I am excited for in the upcoming week, whether it’s training, a bootcamp, building a new program or going for coffee with a friend. Whatever it is–list out AT LEAST 3 things you are looking forward to in the upcoming week. It can literally be, I am looking forward to a going to bed at 8pm on Monday night, HA!

Be Grateful Gratitude is one of the quickest and most effective ways to get your mind right. Every morning, I write out one thing I am grateful for. I use my daily planner  and I write out, “I am grateful for my home gym that is allowing me to get in great shape” or “I am grateful for great clients who make what I do so much easier and a ton of fun."  It can be anything–there is no right and wrong way to do this. Doing it as a daily affirmation is incredibly powerful, and it takes 20 seconds. Plus, it’s fun to look back on previous days’ appreciations.
Create a positive “Action Step" For me personally and when I work with clients I encourage them to notice when they are using negative motivation (i.e. I suck at this, I will never lose weight, it’s so hard!), then acknowledge it AND THEN perform 1 positive action to move yourself from it, to move yourself forward. For example drop and do 5 push-ups and this will help to get yourself de-funked. For me I do 1 minute of burpees, or write “I am awesome and can do anything” in my planner. It is key in those critical moments not to give any more power to the negative (and this is hard because sometimes we just want to be negative lol grrrrr!!). BUT, learn to notice and name the negativity, then choose a positive action step, and move on forward.

Give yourself permission to be human You are going to mess up. Fall down. Make mistakes. But try anyway. Do your best, be kind to yourself and remember the big picture. Allow yourself the freedom to be human and be you. Just because you have a bite of ice cream does not make you an epic failure. You can get great results and do it without remorse and guilt for any and every tiny slip up. Remember, rid your mind of the all-or-nothing mentality which ALWAYS leads to disappointment and failure-based thinking (I suck!). FOCUS on a balanced mindset which encourages you to become the best YOU you can be, all the while learning, growing and being gentle on yourself. 

Have a Happy and Healthy Day, Cheers :)

Are You Ready to Change?

We are the eternal multi-taskers: food shopping, prepping meals, cooking for the family, working on our own stuff, shuttling kids around, helping out around the house, laundry, workouts, socializing with friends, family get-togethers, running around constantly, working on our careers, etc etc etc…and the list goes on. Sound familiar?

Everyone is motivated. It’s just that not everyone is motivated in the direction of health and fitness. Well, for all of you out there who are doing it all and managing to dedicate yourselves to the gym and clean eating full time, bless you. But I suspect you are few and far between. Because one of the most overlooked aspects of getting results is lack of FOCUS. And if you don’t always feel 100% focused on your fat loss goals, you are not alone, and in fact, it’s pretty darn normal. You must harness the focus needed to get results, and the amount of “other stuff” must, by definition be kept to a minimum. You simply cannot have your time divided up a million different ways if you want to be truly balanced and focused on your health and fitness goals.

Here Are a Few Tips to Help Channel Your Focus:
First DECIDE what you actually want, what is most important to you Is it to be a great mom? Is it to achieve the body of a top-level figure competitor? Is it to create financial freedom in your business? Etc. Get clear here (often the hardest part). I recommend narrowing this down to TWO things at the most!

Based on your answer to #1, schedule your day according to those priorities Makes sense, yes? If you say your priority is losing 20 lbs by your wedding in August, you better have prioritized prepping your clean meals and working out daily. If you are serious about body change, then actions and behaviors that are not in line with that simply need to go. Sorry. But that is what getting focused is about, so instead of a “to-do” list…

…Create a “To-Don’t” list I love this concept. How many times do we get caught up doing things that are not in line with what we really want. We will actually talk ourselves out of what we really want. For example, we really want to workout after work because it is in line with our prioritized physique goal, but we justify not working out a million different ways–I’m too tired, it’s too late, I worked out yesterday, I will get up early and do it tomorrow, etc etc. If body change is what you REALLY want, then the idea of NOT working out is an impossibility.

You can’t have your cake and lose fat too This is the dirty truth when it comes to body change and as much as we try to rationalize otherwise, there is no getting around it. If fat loss is truly what you seek, you must first make the decision to give up that which is not in line with that goal, and begin forming NEW habits around your new goal. Instead of happy hour, you hit the gym. Instead of watching movies on Sundays, you prep food ( which could be done while watching the movie:). Instead of sleeping in, you get up and do cardio. Hard choices, I know, but unavoidable if you want to focus on your physique. You can victimize yourself through the process (“I can’t believe I have to eat chicken when everyone else is having pizza!!’) or you can suck it up, positively affirm your choice (“Eating chicken and veggies tastes good, and I know I am one step closer to my goal!”) and get over yourself! 

Hopefully these tips can help you get started. Fat loss is not a sprint, it is a marathon–as some say, “the faster it comes off, the faster it goes back on”–so take time to THINK about your goals, THINK about how you can SCHEDULE YOUR DAY to be more in line with those goals, and then SIMPLY PRACTICE. Then PRACTICE AGAIN. And then PRACTICE SOME MORE. And before you know it, you have created habits aligned with a brand new motivation.


Have a Happy and Healthy Day, Cheers :)

Comfort Zone-FREE

“Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”  Winston Churchill

This kind of attitude is incredibly powerful, but also very rare. How many times have small letdowns, disappointments or obstacles beat us down, little by little? Many times without us even knowing it? Without mindfulness about our attitude, our direction and constant reassessment of our drive, we can get lost in the “okay”-ness of it all. And before we know it, years have gone by and we have drifted. We have done only what was in front of us, head down and grinding it out, never looking up in order to choose our direction.
For me personally, was to start building my individual sense of self-worth and that would come by starting my own business. I think on the whole I am pretty self-confident, even though I have my moments of insecurity. But what I learned was that in order to really, really get to the next level, I would have to OWN my potential. I think in many ways I had become complacent: “Ah, it’s fine. I’m fine. It’ll do. I am getting by ok, doing pretty good. It's normal to have a desk job. All my friends work 9-5 so why would I change” etc etc. But what I was actually doing was simply settling for good. Doing what I thought was acceptable to everyone around me, instead of what was going to make me happy. I remember when I was battling with myself daily to leave my job and finally pursue my passion and I heard someone say in passing, “Good is the enemy of great”. At that moment I realized I had no choice but to act on my passion and get out of my comfort zone. I believe that many of us (myself included) get comfortable in the “good”-ness of what we are doing, that we forget about our potential to strive for greatness. Of course, there is something to be said for being grateful and happy in the here and now–gratitude is invaluable in terms of our personal sense of fulfillment. But can we become too comfortable? Accept “goodness” when “greatness” is still a possibility? Are you ready to quit being good and start tackling greatness?

Here are a few steps that you can do to maximize your potential....

Decide what you want to be great AT. Is it to have a bangin’ bod, the leanest of them all? Is it to go against your family grain and start living a healthy lifestyle? Is it to finally start a Blog on what you are passionate about? Is it to get your online business up and running? Is it to land a new job in a completely new field? Is it to make a move to another part of the world you have always wanted to live? Take time with this, key into your values and your purpose. If you want to have a lean and mean body, why? How does that add to your personal fulfillment and future goals? Write out your WHYS.

Get Focused. If you want to be successful, you have to get focused. That is true. You can do anything, but you can’t do everything. At least not at once. Get laser focused, and GET RID of extraneous stuff that does not propel you forward on your path to greatness.

Do SOMETHING. Like Nike says, just do it. Anything. Heard this week: “A good now is better than a perfect never.” Exactly. You can always adjust on the fly. But if you fail to get started, you can never learn, grow and get better. Start with something small and easy, build a sense of accomplishment, and then take on the biggest tasks later. Ready, fire, aim, aim, aim, aim….

Stay flexible. Be open to change. Just because you said you wanted one thing doesn’t mean you will always want that. Maintain awareness of your happiness, sense of fulfillment and excitement over what you are doing. You simply cannot become great at something you aren’t passionate about. The reason I encourage you to just getting started is that today you may not know what you are NOT passionate about until you begin. 

Understand it will take time. It’s not luck. It’s preparedness + opportunity. Get your mind wrapped around the fact that in order to be great at something, you need focus, effort & expertise. These things take time to hone and develop. You cannot take your game to the next level overnight. But the good news for you is that you can start right THIS SECOND with ONE SMALL STEP, and you will be that much closer. 

Have a Happy and Healthy Day, Cheers :)

May Fitness Challenge

Setting a Goal is Easy; Following Through is the Hard Part.

Consider this Commitment Training!

Please Join the 30 Day Challenge to Experience the Benefits & Motivation 

of Committing Yourself to a Small, Daily Physical & Nutritional Goal 

that Accumulates Day by Day into  HUGE Accomplishment!

FITNESS CHALLENGE:  Sit-Ups!

Rules:  

• There are 3 tiers to choose from, depending upon your fitness level & ability:
  • Level #1 = 10/day (300 by the end of the month!)
  • Level #2 = 25/day (750 by the end of the month!!)
  • Level #3 = 50/day (1,500 by the end of the month!!!)
• On day 1, you must choose and commit to a level. Please stick to this for the entire month. In other words, you cannot do 10 one day because you’re tired, then 50 the next when you are feeling stronger.
• Post your commitment & level on our Facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/EvolveFitnessandBootcamp *Research shows you will be more likely to accomplish any goal if you share it with others!
• You must complete the sit-ups EVERY day. You cannot skip today and do 50 tomorrow.
• Your decision on the total amount of reps per day should be based on 2 factors: your fitness level AND your ability to commit yourself to the amount! Challenge yourself, BUT also do not set yourself up for failure by over-committing. 
• You can split up your sit-ups into sets with short, quick breaks in order to maintain good form and get through the total reps. These “breaks” should be no longer than 30 seconds – 1 minute. For example, if you choose to do 50, you could do 2 sets of 25 with a 30 second rest between sets.
• All reps must be completed at the same time. In other words, you cannot perform 10 sit-ups in the morning, and 15 in the evening. Commit to the exercise and get it done! You will not see any strength gains if you break them up.

HOW TO DO A SIT UP: 

• Lie with your back to the floor
• Bend your knees at a 90˚ angle
• Pull your belly button towards your spine, and flatten your lower back against the floor.
• Hands can be placed in a variety of positions: over the head, behind the head, cupping the ears or across the chest. (To ensure full range of motion, I recommend placing your hands over your head so you can touch the floor above your head at the bottom and beyond your toes at the top of the movement. This will also assist with momentum as you pull yourself up off the ground.)
• Raise your torso up off the ground. Stop when the bend in your hips is at a 90˚ angle. You'll know it's at a 90˚ angle when your neck is perfectly in line with the bottom of your spine.
• Lower yourself back to the ground. Shoulder blades should touch the ground at the bottom of the rep.
• Repeat
• As always, remember to stay tight and engage all muscle groups while performing any exercise (tight glutes, abs, etc) as well as controlled, continuous breathing.

 Modifications:

• Use an Abmat, which supports the arch of the lower back and allows for better contraction of the abdominal muscles
• Perform a “Crunch” instead of a full Sit-up:
  • Same set-up as Sit-up (above)
  • Slowly contract your abdominals, bringing your shoulder blades about one or two inches off the floor
  • Exhale as you come up and keep your neck straight, chin up
  • Hold at the top of the movement for a few seconds
  • Slowly lower back down to the ground
  • Repeat
    

*Pay attention to your body! If you feel any discomfort or pain during exercise, stop immediately. 

Any exercise holds an element of risk if undertaken without supervision. 

These exercises are recommendations only and are performed at your own risk. *

Have a Happy and Healthy Day! Cheers :)