Motivational Monday

For every time you try, you are no doubt going to fail.  There are going to be times where you fall down and you are not going to want to get up.  I'm telling you to get up, get stronger, get moving. 


You need to keep going, you need to keep pushing, you need to keep grinding. 




The more you adapt, the more you adjust to what life throws at you, the more success you will see. 




As Eric Thomas would say "Rise & Grind"






This couldn't be any more true.  Tomorrow is our 1 year anniversary.  In that one year, there were times when we failed, there were times when we fell flat on our face, there were times when we struggled.  We got up, we kept pushing, we kept grinding away because we knew the end result would be worth it.  Today we have an awesome facility with awesome clients that we are super proud of.  Get past every obstacle, every wall.  You never know what's waiting on the other side. 

Fitness Friday

Exercise has many benefits that we already know of.  However, there are a few that you may not be aware of.  Did you know that through exercise, you can boost your immune system, you can increase your brain power, and can help you de-stress.  Now, while not visible, these are benefits that we wouldn't mind getting.
Exercise Benefits

What is the problem with most fitness programs for women?  They fall prey to most the BS wrong information that is out there, namely that women shouldn't lift heavy, and eat 1200 calories.
Check out this video for some great info.

If you've been checking out the articles that I recommend, you'll notice quite a few from a Dr. Yoni Freedhoff.  He's been doing a series of short videos to debunk various nutrition myths that are out there.
Check out his website to see all 7, and if you want to stay up to date on his postings, you can follow him on Facebook.

Most people have a love/hate relationship with food.  Obsessively thinking or restricting yourself from food could lead to an unhealthy relationship with your food.  It's super important that you have a healthy relationship because in the end you won't demonize food, you won't regret eating this or that, and in the end you ll be way happier.  Some people just struggle with their nutrition.
14 Habits of People with Healthy Relationships with Food


Why do you exercise? We need to shift from a thought process of Exercise = Punishment, to Exercise = Movement.
Why you exercise?



Weekend Workout
Squat
Pushup
Lateral Lunges
Spider-man Climb w/ Rotation
Reverse Lunges
Mountain Climbers
Bodyweight Row
30 seconds on/20 seconds off
3 rounds

Why Do You Exercise?

Why do you exercise?  Why do you go to the gym?  Why do you get up early in the morning to go for that run?  Is it because of that piece of cake you ate last night?  Or is it because you just love the feeling of your body moving?

This question was posted on our Facebook page last night and the answers that we were getting were awesome.  Some examples we got were:

• To see how far I can push myself
• Stress Relief
• To be healthy
• It's what I do for "me"

Those are reasons to exercise.  However it would seem based on what I've experienced in the past is that we've gotten a little confused as to why we actually exercise, or why we should exercise.  Just take a peek into most gyms and you’ll see people punishing their bodies because they hate how they look or hate how they feel, or they feel they need to make up for their diet the previous day. 

Here is what the current mindset is:  Exercise = Punishment

No one starts a healthier lifestyle or an exercise program because they love movement or they love exercise.  They start because exercise has become a necessary “evil” in the battle of the bulge, in this constant fight against the scale. 

This cycle of self-punishment has to stop.  Exercise has to stop being associated with negativity, because the more you look at it like punishment, the more you put a negative connotation on it, the more and more you are going to hate exercise.  When you hate something, you’re not going to do it, you’re not going to see the benefits from it, and in the end, you might as well not do it. 

Here’s the solution: Change the mindset.  Exercise = Movement

Switch from “I HAVE to work out,” to “I GET to work out or “I WANT to work out.”  “Have” implies that you have zero choice in the matter, that it’s forced upon you.  “Get” or “want” is associated with choice.

See that positive spin right there! 

Don’t take for granted that you have the ability to move, as some people would kill to be able to move.  Avoid looking at exercise as a means to burn calories, or lose weight.  That is completely secondary to the real reason we exercise.  Exercise because you love moving, because you love the feeling of being able to move your body through space, because you love that feeling of lifting something off the ground with no effort, because you love the feeling of being strong.

I want to leave this with a quote:

“Most people are focused on the result, I look at the results as a bonus.  Sure I have specific goals that I'm working towards but I think the process of getting there is much more important than the end result.  It's the work that transcends, the work builds character and sharpens you.  The work teaches you humility & aggression.  The work strengthens you physically and mentally.  The process is really what it is all about.  The results...they will take care of themselves.” 
-Adam DiBella



Fitness Friday

There's always a lot of great articles to go through when putting together this list.  Presenting info that is both informative and relevant goes along with making sure you have the best info at your disposal.  Educating you and not letting you fall for some of the garbage that is out there is important.  It helps in the long struggle to get rid of myths, false claims, and bad information.

One of the biggest pieces of garbage out there is the "detox." There is no need to buy $60 juices that are marketed as some cure for weight loss or a "jumpstart."  It's freakin juice!! Nothing special at all.  Do you have a liver? Is it functioning properly? Do you have kidneys?  Are they functioning? Did you answer Yes to those questions?  Awesome, you have all the detox tools you need!!  Yay!
Here are some more useless diet claims: Diet Claims

Along those lines, we've often been fed nutritional advice and we take it as fact all the time because "Person A" or "Person B" said so.  Advice from long ago to avoid fat, to make everything low fat is kind of why our society is in the obesity epidemic it is in.  What other crappy advice have we been told?
Destructive Nutrition Lies

This is an upcoming post that will likely be posted Wednesday, but a little preview is that exercise needs to be associated with loving your body, loving the feeling of your body moving.  Not because you hate your body.  You exercise to feel good, to get that rush of endorphins that are released when you exercise.  It is no way, shape, or form punishment.  It should not be punishment for that cheeseburger or those cookies. 
This article touches on that kind of mindset, and how exercise is becoming the next "eating disorder"
Exercise Bulimia

On a lighter note, here are 15 weird fitness records.  I really only heard of the plank record, the rest are kind of interesting to down right weird. 
Fitness Records


In honor of Easter, here are some great ideas for Easter Baskets that goes past the usual jelly beans.
Easter Basket




Weekend Workout

Jump Squats
Swings
TRX Rows
Push-ups
Reverse Lunges
Pistons
Shuffles

30 seconds on/20 seconds off x 4 rounds
Take 60-90 seconds between rounds

Motivational Monday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7OGY1Jxp3o

Bad days are going to happen, but you have to let go of them. They happened, but guess what, tomorrow is a new day! 
Life is a series of moments, and that bad moment is gone in a flash, and you're ready for the next moment.  That bad day is gone tomorrow.  Make those moments great! Make those tomorrows great!

Fitness Friday

There is no magic bullet, no secret diet that will instantly give you what you're looking for.  It takes dedication, hard work, and most importantly consistency to achieve what you want to achieve, whether its putting on muscle or losing fat.  There is not any one thing that is the problem or the solution.  Don't ask what to avoid, or what is the worst, try to focus on what you can do better!
Born Fitness


Ten Easy Nutrition Rules for Stress


Top 5 Rules for getting lean- An interesting take on how to hit your goals, get lean, and be healthy through South Park lessons.  Create sustainable, fun, healthy, & successful habits to get where you want to get. 


F the Scale!!
The scale is useless.  Your body does not come down to fat weight and lean mass weight.  The math is just not that simple.  Your weight is going to fluctuate.  It just is.  That's how your body works.  Every single day there are so many changes going on inside your body that are hard to control. 
What you CAN focus on is your behaviors.  Eating healthy, meaning proteins, fats, carbs; staying hydrated.
The scale is not the end story, its only part of it.  Look at other things, like tape measurements, body fat measurements, how your clothes fit, how you look, and most of all how you feel.  Those are your true measurements.  Not just a number.

Build Sick Strength
Working on some of these.  Definitely a tough time with some of them, but we always need new goals and achieving some of these exercises could be one of them.  If you're looking for ideas on things to do, you can't go wrong with pull-ups, rows, push-ups, crawling, & side planks. 

Motivational Monday

I came across this story and I felt the need to share it with you as it is very powerful and has a deeper meaning.  We all have things that hold us back, that give us doubts, that give us hesitation to pursue our dreams, our goals, our ambitions.  These doubts and fears snuff out the fire inside of us and have the potential to destroy us. 

Get rid of those negative emotions, those negative thoughts. 

What’s your pebble?

From The Pebble in the Shoe

by Jim Fannin

Everyone has had a pebble in his or her shoe. You may have one or two now. It’s the small, nagging thoughts that eventually weigh you down. Some pebbles have been hidden, undetected for years. Others push, prod, and make their presence felt every day. Each pebble intrudes into the lives of the unsuspecting. At different times in life the pebbles arrive. Although they are small and mostly undetected, they represent many unresolved thoughts, images and experiences. Some are pebbles of doubt. They form from a single thought that occurred years, months or weeks before. Some pebbles are lodged only in your business shoes. Some reside in your house slippers that you tuck under your bed. Some pebbles find their way into your golf shoes while others form in the shoes worn while you parent. Unfortunately, some pebbles travel in all your shoes regardless of where you walk or run.

 

Some pebbles are of fear. Others are created from guilt, rejection or shame. Maybe not today, but they eventually arrive unannounced and usually at the most inappropriate time. What challenges do they present?

 

To run the marathon race of life at your most efficient speed, you must be free of embarrassment, guilt, rejection, fear, envy, jealousy, anger, impatience, frustration and worry. All can be lodged in any shoe, from a pair of loafers worn by a city dweller in Manhattan, to a pair of boots on a farm in Montana. These intangible pebbles are crippling. They destroy relationships. They contribute to overeating and gaining unhealthy weight. They coax us into drugs, alcohol and other addictions. They destroy families and alienate friends. They thwart the potential of our children and physically snuff extra years from our life. These are the pebbles in the shoe.

 

The pebble can cause you to quit or perform with complete indifference. It can help instigate a fight or add disrespectful silence to an otherwise dynamic relationship. Even the desire for fame, fortune or power can turn into a pebble in your shoe if left undetected. Most pebbles stir up the past, cloud the future and keep the present to a blink of the eye. Like a garden that’s been freshly tilled, a pebble can reappear without warning or detection. Prevention and removal are your only options for simplicity, balance and abundance.

Fitness Friday

Another week has gone by, and I've been scouring the Internet for articles that could help you, or that I found interesting/informative.  Enjoy!

If you haven't learned by now, sleep is super important to your health.  To go more into depth, check out this guide based on sleep position.  Which position do you most often take?
Sleep

The only person you are in competition with is your old self.  Are you better than you were before?  Stronger than before?  Comparing yourself to other people is not always healthy, as it sets you up for some sort of unreachable ideal, or makes you self conscious.  Avoid falling into the comparison trap.
The Right Measuring Stick

There is a growing trend in which constantly being on your phone, texting, can lead to poor posture and breathing problems.  It started with "blackberry thumb" and now we have "tech neck," a forward neck/head posture that can cause breathing problems.  However it is avoidable and controllable by picking your head up and bringing your phone/tablet to eye level.
Texting & Health

Eating healthy is so expensive!!  How often have you heard that?  But the truth is, its quite easy to save money by eating/shopping healthy.  Don't always go for convenience, prep your food even though it may take time, and avoid the assumption that organic equals healthy, as organic cookies, are still cookies.
Inexpensive Healthy Food

10 Commandments of Fitness & Wellness.  I really do like the first one as I agree that if you set an intrinsic goal, you find intrinsic motivation, you'll we way more successful.  Aesthetics are important in a certain phase of your life, but that fades in time.  However, being healthy, and striving to just be healthy doesn't go away as easily.
10 Commandments



Weekend Workout:
Burpees
Kettlebell Swings
Pull-ups
Push-ups
Reverse Lunges
Mountain Climbers
Jump Rope
30 seconds on / 20 seconds off
3-4 sets