Scale focused or HEALTH focused?

I feel like I keep having some of the same conversations over and over with people so I figure I would share just in case someone needs to hear this message.

Last week I met with a woman who began her personal fitness journey 6 weeks ago. This woman literally has been a selfless mother and wife for the last 20+ years and her health was catching up to her. But after 6 weeks of changing her lifestyle completely, she said, "But I've only lost 10 pounds".

I literally hate when people say this. Reason being is weight loss is a byproduct of a healthy lifestyle. Sure other things play a factor, but too many times people focus 100% on the scale as the determining factor whether or not they're succeeding.

My response to this woman was,
"Focus on your habits and actions. The weight will take care of itself. Your children don't care if you're 160 pounds or 300 pounds. Your children, friends and family care that your are HEALTHY!"

I think in a world full of fad diets and weight loss products, we've lost the sight of health. We are so obsessed with a number on the scale that we forget what healthy means. We're over here indulging and trying to find the foods with the least amount of calories and forgetting that when this world was first created basic things like fruits and vegetables were IMPORTANT. And guess what?! THEY STILL ARE!

I've had quite the journey myself, and to be honest and reflect on my last 7 years I have to say each had it's own challenges. Not because being healthy is hard, but because being healthy MENTALLY is a struggle. I have allowed the thief of comparison steal my joy. I've allowed thoughts of not being "skinny" enough hold me back. I've told myself I don't deserve to be happy because I'm not this certain size. And that I will never find love because I don't look a certain way. I've literally said some pretty crappy things to myself that I would NEVER say to someone else. However, this last year, I think I can say I found myself. I've found contentment in the fact that I don't have to compete in the bodybuilding world to have value. I thought as a trainer that's what I had to do to prove that I was a good trainer and Coach. I found that I can be an educator and a cheerleader for those that I work with.  I realized that because of my journey, I can educate people. I can teach people what HEALTHY really is and show them how Whole Foods can begin healing us from the inside out!

Truth is, I've struggled more than I should because of my own damn thoughts in my head. My thoughts of not being good enough or thin enough or small enough... BUT I'm calling BS.
Happiness isn't found on the scale or a certain pant size. Happiness is understanding our bodies are the only ones WE have to LIVE in for all of OUR lives. Happiness is not taking my health for granted. Happiness is a choice. Happiness is understanding you are not a victim and that you have a choice to be a better version of yourself. Nobody can or will do it for you. If you desire to be HEALTHY, realize it's progress and not perfection. If you're seeking PERFECTION on your fitness journey, you're going to find yourself deeply disappointed.

So as 2017 comes to a close, I challenge you to get plugged in. Stop believing the diet myths and crap your fed by the media. Know the WHY. Understand the REASON your bodies need fed well. BE your own advocate. Don't feel bad or let others make you feel bad for being healthy. The confusion with diet fads creates a profit of margin. Get educated and learn how to be healthy and learn to love yourself in your own skin.

YOU ARE SO UNBELIEVABLY WORTH it. You will not get it 100% correct every time. Yes, it does take work. But know you're not alone. Find and surround yourself with those who support you on your health journey.

I'm Back & Educating!

To be completely honest, this last year got away from me. My last blog was a year ago in January and I truly just stopped. I would like to say, "I was too busy to blog" but reality is, it wasn't a priority. I desire to get back to it because writing because writing has always been an outlet for me. Grammar mistakes and all, I'm going to bring in 2018 better than I did in 2017. I determined and more focus to bring my readers more food for thought as I continue to grow deeper in knowledge when it comes to exercise, nutrition, and life. I refuse to become stagnant in my growth.


So before I begin to start with the New Years this and that, I want to take a step back and look at my year in a whole. I started of January with good hopes of all these fitness related goals, but sadly enough, sickness took hold of my body.
I found myself starting January of 2017 strong with getting the flu.
Week later I got bronchitis and laryngitis.
Two weeks later I got strep throat.
Got bronchitis and laryngitis and second time.
Got a sinus infection shortly after and then each month with my monthly cycle got a 24-48 hour headache that turned into migraine.

I continued to push forward and run, I was training for two half marathons and my goal was to run my 5th half marathon by my 30th Birthday. But by the time July came around I was exhausted, low on energy, starving all the time, and not sleeping. My doctor did my blood work and my vitamin C and Iron was really low. My thyroid was low and we had to increase my medicine and I honestly was drinking 2-3 sugar free energy drinks a day.

Lets be real, I was a hot mess. I knew I needed to make a change and wasn't sure where to begin. I reached out to a Juice Plus educator, and started a Whole Food based regimen. Since the change in July, I honestly haven't felt better. I removed a lot of  "dieting" myths from my life and I guess I removed a lot of expectations that I've put onto myself.

Biggest change I've made is removing sugar from my diet and have been dabbling with fasting. I would recommend the book Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung. Many take away lessons and when you know the WHY behind what you're doing, it makes the desire to follow through greater. I haven't had a migraine since I've made my nutritional changes and I'm sleeping through the night. I had previously been waking up in night sweats and barely getting any sleep. It's the worst feeling to be so tired yet not able to sleep. Feeling like crap and being into fitness, I knew I needed to make some changes. I was being a poor example of health and fitness by driving myself into the ground.

Moving forward into 2018, I plan to continue to grow in my knowledge and help others grow healthier. I partnered with Juice Plus to help educate others on the importance of Whole Foods based Nutrition. I truly believe the key to FEELING better and reducing yours and your families sick days starts with what we are putting into our bodies. Education is the key. If you desire to be plugged in and grow deeper in knowledge so you can begin feeling better and getting healthier, message me so I can get you plugged in.

Detours Happen

Imagine yourself filling your gas tank up and leaving your city to travel 1,000 plus miles. For example, me leaving Kansas and driving to California. It would be absurd of me to think I wouldn't need to stop one time or that I wouldn't hit any construction where I would have to take a detour. If you've traveled by plane, you also know that detours happen. It could be for weather or it maybe for plane maintenance, either way, we all have had to deal with a detour when it comes to traveling.

What about your journey of faith... What if one day you planned on doing my morning devotionals or attending church on Sunday morning and car wouldn't start, had a water leek, kid was sick, dog ran away, or an ice storm came through and it didn't happen that day. Does that mean that this whole walk with Christ is just over? That I have to start over next year when God forgives me or that I no longer believe in God? No! That's craziness!

So let me ask you a question, why do you think your fitness journey is going to be a cake walk? Why do you think that losing weight and getting healthy will take no work on your part and will have zero detours? Life in general is full of detours! It's about how you cope with each detour.

Few weeks ago I was talking to a couple of my clients and they were explaining to me how they were starting over "again" once the new year started. I'm not a cranky trainer by any means, but I looked at my two clients and said,

"What if you were consistent and stopped starting over every week?!"

The next day my one client messaged me asking for his workout and was going to start that day on making healthier choices instead of waiting for the new year.

Do you know how happy that made me? Not for me, but for him!

As a trainer I get frustrated with people who are constantly waiting for a good time to start exercising and working on their nutrition. Everyone has a reason why they can't start today...

Back to my analogy above. What if when you got low on gas while on your trip and had to pull off where you hadn't really anticipated? Would you just up and quit your trip? No, you'd pull over and get gas and get back to your trip right?! So why would you just quit working out and eating right if one day you slipped up and had 5 cookies when they weren't on the plan? WHO CARES! Next meal, is an opportunity to feed your body some nutrients.

I've preached this for forever, IT'S ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT THIS MINUTE. Best advice I can offer someone is to stop throwing your hands up in the air and paralyzing yourself. Stop quitting on yourself and focus on being consistent. Consistent may look like tracking your water, making sure your attending your scheduled gym time, or going to a class you said you would. Practice DISCIPLINE and follow through. This is one thing you can be in charge of in a world that is crazy. You're worth it, believe in yourself enough to follow through! KNOW and ACCEPT it's going to take work. However, don't do it alone. Surround yourself with others your are going to encourage you on your fitness journey. Surround yourself with people who are going to
accept your humanity and love you anyways. Far from perfect, but continuously working on being better.

BeBlessed