You ARE Great!

Greetings and salutations my friends and happy 2011!

I realize that every time we roll into a new year, millions and millions of people make resolutions. They resolve to make changes, to do things better than they have previously. Sadly, much of this resolve will dissolve over time, and many people feel stuck, and sad, and frustrated, and angry at themselves for not following through. Others will make excuses why their resolve failed, pointing fingers are others rather than looking inwardly at him or herself.

I'm not here today to try to make people feel badly about not finding success in past resolutions...instead, I'd like to offer hope in a new way. Positivity.

You see, I've been the 'big boned girl' (that's the nice way my friends and family would help me to defend the fact that I was fat/overweight/obese) most of my life. For awhile, I'd resigned myself to staying firmly in that role, as it seemed that there was no way to make those changes no matter how hard I tried. It took its toll, though. I felt pretty worthless in my own skin...it isn't a good place to be, even for a short period of time (let alone for 20 years).

Finally, for whatever reason, I had my epiphany, my breaking point. I WAS going to do something about my weight. I knew it wouldn't be easy, I knew there would be good days and crappy days, but I would push through. Along the way, I learned something really valuable...positive self talk. Too often, we get stuck on the negative aspects of ourselves. We focus on our fat thighs, the last minute run through the McDonald's drive-thru that resulted in 1000+ calories consumed, the 'muffin top' above our jeans, or whatever negative aspects of you that you just don't like. Let me share a little secret with you...and listen up because this is big...the more you focus on loathing who you are, the less successful you'll be in changing any of those things.

When you start to make changes and work towards goals, you CANNOT focus on those stubborn things that are refusing to get with the program. I'm almost 2 years in on my own fitness journey...I've lost a considerable amount of weight, I've built a lot of lean muscle mass, but you know what? I still have fat thighs! Yep, there I said it...the top six inches of my thighs still carry a lot of lumpy, gross fat. There's clearly still work to be done. But you know what else? There's several inches less of lumpy, gross fat there now than there was two years ago? And you know what else? I can do push-ups on my toes! LOTS of them. And guess what else? I have developed some abdominal definition, and shoulder muscles that look good in a tank top, and calves that look great even when I'm not wearing heels! Most importantly, I've realized that I'm not worthless, that I'm intelligent, have a great sense of humor, am eloquent, have a kind heart, and that I'm strong both physically and mentally.

So while you may feel discouraged during parts of your journey, I have to ask (and I'm borrowing this quote from Chalene Johnson--the creator of great fitness programs such as Turbo Jam, Turbo Fire, and ChaLean Extreme), "What positive things have you said to yourself today? Acknowledge your greatness." Come on...shout it out there, if not to the world, at least to yourself. It's important, it will help you stay on track and remain true to yourself.

Take a look at the picture at the top of this blog post. That concrete block wall and concrete pad are pretty darned ugly. They're a bit crumbly around the edges, it's a boring grey color...it's tough to find something beautiful and great in that. However, look at what it was able to do...it allowed a beautiful pink flower to grow in its midst. Instead of seeing the ugly crumbling concrete block, see the beauty in you. Look for and find your beautiful pink flower and remind yourself daily of how great you truly are.

Drop me a message or join me on Facebook so you can have the opportunity to share with me your greatness. I'd love to hear all about it!

Love the Fire!

Greetings and salutations my fitness friends! Hope today's blog post finds each one of you happy, healthy, and solidly moving towards your fitness goals, regardless of whether it is the holiday season or not!

Many of you know that many months ago I started the 20-week ChaLean Extreme/Turbo Fire hybrid. I'm pleased to say that I finished said hybrid earlier this fall, and have just been bouncing around from workout to workout, making sure that I lift weights 2-3 days per week, walk my dogs 6 days per week and fit some cardio in wherever I can. I really liked the hybrid, but really wasn't ready to jump right back into 20-weeks of training. That said, I can honestly say that I have found that one workout program that speaks to my heart, and it's Turbo Fire.

Honestly, I started out as a Tony Horton/P90X girl through and through. I wanted to do massive amounts of push ups and my nemesis, the pull up bar, challenged me every day. I was never a cardio girl, so P90X was a good fit for me. Then I upped the challenge and made myself do Insanity. I appreciated the program for what it is...butt kicking cardio that will get you into GREAT cardiovascular shape. However, it wasn't until I pushed play on Turbo Fire that I fell in LOVE with cardio.

Seriously, the music is fantastic, Chalene Johnson has powerhouse moves, she pushes you to work harder, and I burn, on average, 100 calories for every 10 minutes of the workout. Just today I did the Fire 55 EZ workout (which by NO means is EZ!) and burned a good 542 calries in 53 minutes. I burn more in Turbo Fire than I do in Insanity (which leaves me exhausted on the floor), probably because the moves incorporate lower body, core and upper body movement versus one or the other.

Anyhow, I'm here to say that I LOVE Turbo Fire. Honestly, I can say that it will be a part of my fitness rotation for months and years to come. If you're unfamiliar, here's a little taste of what Turbo Fire is all about. Also, please feel free to JOIN ME on Facebook if you're on there...I'd love to help you on your own fitness journey as well!

Persistence

Greetings and Salutations!

I just wanted to do a quick check-in to see how you were progressing towards your fitness goals and to share a little something about the value of persistence.

You see, I get messages from people all the time on Facebook about how I commit to my fitness regularly, day after day, week after week, without fail. "How do you stay motivated to do it?" they ask, or "I missed a month...isn't it pointless to start again now?"

Let me tell you...I'm by no means perfect, and the past two weeks have been a perfect example of my own imperfections. I was finishing up week #12 of the ChaLean Extreme/Turbo Fire hybrid and I simply felt WRECKED. I hurt, I ached, I was tired, I was run-down...I didn't want to workout. So I listened to my body and took two days off from workouts. After two days, I felt pretty good, but not awesome, so I took two more. I was ready to jump back in...but you know what? I didn't.

Instead, I just made excuses. I still was walking my dogs for 60-90 minutes every day, which is a workout in itself, but for 11 days I didn't push play. I felt guilty, but then I convinced myself that since I wasn't really staying honest to my fitness goals, I may as well let my nutrition slide. Yep, I'm going to admit it right now...I ate an entire carton of Ben & Jerry's Boston Cream Pie ice cream in an 18 hour period (though I did feel like crap the day after!). Finally, after 11 days of this nonsense, and starting to feel sluggish and 'thick' in the middle (hello...Ben & Jerry's...see comment above), I decided that enough was enough. It was time to get back on track...no ifs, ands, or buts (or ice cream in the house).

By now, I knew where my weaknesses were...I was allowing myself to push my regular after work workout time to the side, so I needed to workout before work. Period. This past Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I was out of bed at 4:15 a.m., pushing play at 4:30 before work. It's not the perfect arrangement for me...I can't do a long workout as I have to leave for work at 6:15 a.m., and my body is pretty creaky in the morning, so high intensity cardio doesn't really feel good. But I will admit that I felt great for the rest of the day, got my dog walk in during the afternoon, had time to do the things that were plaguing me in the first place (mainly grading student work), stayed more committed to my nutrition, and eventually got back to my TF/CLX hybrid schedule today.

I could have, however, decided that since I had already missed almost 2 weeks of working out that it wasn't worth jumping back in. It happens too often...people miss a day, a week, a month, or even two months of working out and then talk themselves out of getting back on the workout train. They tell themselves that it's pointless because they're a month behind schedule or that they can't commit to working out 5 or 6 days per week. Don't let it happen to you.

Nobody said that P90X or ChaLean Extreme HAD to be done in 90 days. Nobody said that you HAD to commit to a 6 day/week workout schedule. I assure you, neither Tony Horton or Chalene Johnson is going to come to your house and yell at you if you don't. They key, though, is to make fitness work for you. If you only have 3 days/week, do three days/week. If you missed 2 weeks, push play and jump back into where you left off. Yep, it might be more difficult than when you quit, but you can modify until you're feeling stronger again. Do NOT let excuses run your life...set a goal, practice persistence, and feel the power of accomplishment.

Message me if you need some support, answers to questions, or even if you just want to say hey. I'd love to hear from you.

Crush play!
Nancy

Feel the FIRE!

Greetings and Salutations my friends! I can't believe it's already July...that means my summer vacation as a middle school teacher is already halfway over and I'm going to have to change the spinning of my wheels from fitness, fitness, fitness to fitness, reading and writing. I'll be honest...I'm not ready for the kiddos to come back into my classroom just yet. I'll get there, I promise, but it'll probably be August 9th at 7:25 when my new sweethearts walk down the hallway as the biggest, baddest 8th graders the school has seen. You see...THIS is the real reason why I workout!

I finished my first 90-day round of ChaLean Extreme on Saturday even though it took me about 110 days to finish (due to a muscle injury in my groin, hip and low back. I absolutely LOVED the program. The injury, though, inspired me to listen even more to my body (I wish I would remember this lesson as I tend to forget it from time to time) and I've started studying yoga at a local yoga studio. Let me just say...Yoga IS TOUGH. Seriously, those yoga peeps are strong, strong, strong. The thing is, I'm strong too, but not yoga strong. Yoga will identify every single one of your weaknesses within the first 5 minutes of class. It's a very humbling experience, but I know that if I keep up with it, it'll make me a better person overall as well.

Anyhow, my purpose today is to talk about FIRE...as in Turbo Fire.

I started my 20 week (yes, I said TWENTY WEEKS) hybrid schedule that combines ChaLean Extreme and Turbo Fire yesterday and I am SO psyched about the results I know I'm going to get. Chalene's Turbo Fire workouts (both the Fire and HiiT) workouts are killer calorie burners (seriously, I got 700 calories in a 55 minute workout the other day!!), and combined with the strength training with ChaLean Extreme, I don't know that there's going to be a better combination.

One of the 'new' things in the Turbo Fire program is a concept called HIIT...High Intensity Interval Training...short bouts of high intesity exercise for about 45 seconds followed by short rests. Rinse, repeat. Granted, you may be looking around for your left lung between HIIT intervals, but the good thing is that the HIIT workouts are generally short (15-25 minutes) compared to the Fire workouts (30-60), but continue to give you the 'afterburner effect' once finished.

Here's just a little sneak peak of what the HIIT 15 workout entails (though this is just 2 of the 3 intervals...I somehow managed to erase the 3rd circuit off my camcorder and my body was too toasted from fatigue to try to record it again once I'd realized my faux pas):



Now, I know, I know...many of you want to tell me that, "I don't jump." Well, you know what? I didn't either a year ago. I was too fat to get my big old booty off the ground. It was like trying to jump with an anvil in my pants. But here I am today, a regular old jumping bean! Don't fear, though...every single move on every class session of Turbo Fire has been modified for those of you who don't want the impact of jumping. You'll still get a great workout, but without stressing your knees.

There you have it...my two favorites...Turbo Fire and ChaLean Extreme. Who would like to join me and fuel their fire?? Message me!!

Something for Everybody...so cut the excuses!

Greetings and Salutations everyone! I've gotten a ton of comments lately about how motivational others find me because of my personal commitment to my P90X workouts. Yeah, it's true that I have pushed play every day for almost 90 days, but let's be honest here. I had to make some serious changes in my life in order to make that happen. I haven't always been the most health-conscious, fitness oriented person...in fact, my family is shocked that I lasted one week with Tony Horton and his "Bring it!" madness. They all figured that I'd stick with it for awhile, get frustrated, and plop my butt back on the sofa. Part of the challenge for me was in proving them wrong, but more importantly it was about ditching the excuses that I would have made in the past.

However, along the way something life changing happened...I fell in love with exercise, my gains in strength, and more importantly, I fell in love with myself again. I found my niche, that product or exercise regimen that works for me, and because I found that 'something' that I truly enjoy, I'm inspired and motivated to do it again, and again, and again, day after day.

We can all make excuses that prevent us from making change in our lives. We're too tired, the kids have baseball practice, we have dinner to cook for the family, we work too many hours, "The Biggest Loser" is on, blah, blah, blah. I made those same excuses...but they certainly didn't help me in feeling better physically and mentally, and they certainly didn't make me a healthier person. I finally made the commitment to work out because I want to feel less tired at the end of the day, I want to feel good in my own skin, and because I want to be the healthiest version of myself for both myself AND my family. Guess what? Working out actually works! Sometimes it would be easier to fall back into that rut where my excuses run my life, but I'm not willing to jeapordize the good work that I've done on me. I've invested too much in my self, committed that sweat equity into myself, and you what what else? I deserve it! I deserve the opportunity to invest in myself. I think you do, too.

I've included a little video that highlights many of the programs available through Beachbody. For those of you who say time is of the essence, check out 10-Minute trainer or Slim in 6. Want to punch and kick your stress away? Turbo Jam might be the ticket for you. Want to include some serious strength training? ChaLean Extreme or P90X may be a perfect fit. Just find something that you like and enjoy, so that you can commit to doing it every day. If you have any questions about any of the products available through Beachbody, just send me a message through my coaching page. Otherwise, find an activity that gets your heart rate up and get moving, today! Don't put it off until tomorrow or next week...because if you do, you may never start. Today's the day...so get to it!

You can also sign up to be part of my fitness team here (just click the little "Join") tab at the top of the page). It's FREE, and you'll get some messages from me from time to time to keep you on top of your game. If you need help with fitness or nutrition questions, I'm there. Oh, and did I say already that it was FREE?! Plus, if you ever desire that motivational kick in the pants, I'd be more than happy to do the kicking when needed!

One Day at a Time...

Greetings and Salutations my friends! I had the opportunity today to travel to Atlanta for a Beachbody business meeting that had Tony Horton (fitness trainer extraordinaire for those of you who may not recognize him) as a special guest speaker. In one word, I'd categorize his talk with us as simply inspirational.

Tony is all about getting people healthier. You see, we have a HUGE epidemic in our country called obesity. Sadly, it's only getting BIGGER (Georgia, the state where the business meeting was held holds the current record--along with three other states--as having the highest rate of obesity in the U.S. at over 30% of the state's population), and the only way we can reverse this trend is to get people off their butts and moving again. The consequences of not making changes can be catestrophic...diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, heck, even death.

So here's a little tidbit that Tony said several times (he would call them "little nuggets") that I thought was really key: "If you worked out today, you're already healthier than you were yesterday." Think about it...just one workout improves your health. Imagine if you string 7 of those in a row? How about 14? 21? 90? How about a lifetime? Imagine the benefits you'd reap from a lifetime of exercise. Think the trend towards obesity might shift? Think we might be able to reap some benefits as a nation?

I know, I know, you have kids to take to baseball, after school piano practice, dinner to cook for the family, dogs to walk, and "Dancing with the Stars" is back on, so I know that's a priority as well. BUT, shouldn't you be a priority somewhere in that 24-hour day? Isn't there 60 minutes, 45 minutes, 30 minutes, heck even 10 minutes that you could give just to yourself and your own health?

There are all kids of programs that you can do right from the comfort of your own home (or those that take place outside as well if you prefer), that run the gamut of time required from 10 minutes (Tony Horton's 10 minute trainer), 30-45 minutes (Chalene Johnson's Turbo Jam), as well as longer, more intense programs such as P90X and ChaLean Extreme). Heck, you can even put the kids in a stroller, or put the dog on a leash and go for a walk...it doesn't matter to me as long as you make the committment to do SOMETHING for yourself that makes you healthier today than you were yesterday.

As Tony Horton always says, "Do your best, and forget the rest." It's important folks to take that time out for you, and for you only. Those people in your life really would like for you to be there for as long as possible, and if you can put a little sweat equity into yourself, the benefits will be well worth it. If you have questions about these workout programs, or want some fitness support, let me know.

I'm off to workout...I want to be healthier than I was yesterday.