Blog Archives
Feeling are WEAK, yet YOU are STRONG!
We can’t allow our feelings, in the moment, affect the moments to come. We have to base our decision on what we know – and trust me, we all KNOW what we NEED to do today.
When is the last time you skipped a workout or ate something you shouldn’t have and thought “I’m so glad I did that”? I don’t know about you, but that’s NEVER happened to me. My poor decisions in the moment only left me with a bunch of yucky regret.
Quit Talking Yourself Out of It
If you give yourself enough time, you can easily talk yourself into, or out of, doing just about anything. We all have the unique ability to justify our actions. HOWEVER, no matter how good we are at convincing ourselves of doing anything other than taking the steps required to reach our goal, we have to live with the consequences – and they are never as “OK” as we try to make them seem.
Each time we skip a workout or cheat on our diet, we are single-handedly sabotaging our progress – and not just for a 1-hour workout or one day of clean eating. Normally, when we goof, it’s bigger than that and can even take up to a week to correct.
Make Yourself Proud
Don’t allow your body to tell it what IT wants to do. You tell it what YOU want it to do, to BECOME what YOU want to BECOME – so no matter how you feel today, you’ll be PROUD tomorrow.
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Motivation Mantra
I’ve started creating Motivational Mantra banners, so I thought I’d start posting them here, instead of just facebook, so you can pin them, steal them, share them and enjoy them. Hope you likey!
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Dangerous (Hot Body) Curves Ahead
“DANGEROUS CURVES AHEAD”. Key Word: AHEAD – Coming. Around the Corner. Not here yet.
If I were to think about the work that goes into getting fit, I’d quit. Instead, I have to think about the reward. The problem is, I can only see and feel the now.
With every step I run, my initial thought is “this sucks”, “I can’t wait until this is over”, etc. However, what I immediately think after that is “I’m going to feel so good when this is done”, “I’m getting fit”, and “this is going to be SO worth it”. BUT, those positive thoughts are NOT natural – they are practiced behavior.
Let’s face it! The majority of people (including me) don’t like working out. It takes up time in our busy schedule. It wears our body out when our body is already worn out from work. And don’t forget the part about it just plain hurts sometimes (OK, most of the time).
FOCUS
As I sit and type this blog, my entire body is SO sore. I can complain about it, or I can celebrate it – and I choose to celebrate it. I choose to focus on the goal, not the process. I choose to focus on what I am investing IN and not the actual investment itself. AND I definitely choose to NOT focus on the fat that is still holding on despite my hard work, knowing in my heart it’s coming off…eventually.
THE REWARD IS WORTH THE WORK
It’s so easy to get on a pity party about how hard you are working or what foods you are missing out on, yet, we often forget that is SUCH a small sacrifice for the HUGE reward that comes from all of that discipline. Good health, long life, energy, feeling fit, looking fit, choosing clothes that actually look good on instead of choosing clothes that just hide the fat the best – and the list goes on. The benefits WAY outweigh and outlast any of the brief sacrifices of small short-lived pleasures.
FIT THOUGHT: We get 24 hours a day to enjoy a reward for a couple hours of working out and eating clean.
The good news is as you get closer to the goal, it is easier to SEE the goal and know it’s becoming a reality. The hardest part is when you are doing all the work and not seeing the reward at all. Everyone goes through that. There is a process your body goes through before your hard work is seen by the naked eye. So, like the above cartoon, you have to simply imagine it. You post photos of people who have been doing what you are doing, training like you are training, eating like you are eating – and remind yourself that is where you are heading.
Keep your eye on the prize.
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FIT TIP: The Secret Behind the Impossible
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” St. Francis of Assis.
You surely can’t do the impossible, if you aren’t even doing what is possible now. Maybe you aren’t doing what’s possible because you are too busy attempting the impossible. This can be anything from trying to maintain a crazy workout schedule that would take an act of God to keep, or it could be your poor attempt to buy all that healthy food that is rotting in your refrigerator because you haven’t had time to cook it. Before you can do what’s possible, you need to know what you realistically can pull off right now.
Bridge the Gap
I believe people often set their sites too high. It may not be too high for someone else, but it could be too high for you – at this exact time in your life. If this is the case, what do you do when you can’t reach something? You bring a ladder out – and the same goes for your goals.
You must have something in place to bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, no matter how impossible it may seem. How steep the climb depends on how close you are to the goal. Another words, if you are far away from your destination, it will be a mild climb and may take a while. If you are wanting to reach your goal quicker, the climb will be more challenging. But remember, BOTH ways will get you to your goal. You just have to decide on what you can handle – both mentally and physically.
If you are impatient, you may require a steep hard climb so you can reach your goal quickly. Someone who is not ready for that big of a challenge may need to take the slower route. Unfortunately, many people feel like they are so far away from their goal, over time, they forget they are still actually moving in the right direction at all. Others never even really set a goal and find themselves climbing the wrong ladder altogether. Listen, in order to reach the right destination, you MUST know where you are heading and PURPOSEFULLY go there – every. single. day.
Don’t Look Down
You’ve heard the saying “no matter what you do, Don’t Look Down!” That saying is SO true with fitness. As soon as we look down, we get shaky. Looking down can refer to looking back, longing for some of the things we “enjoyed” that we may have left behind. Looking down can also refer to negative thoughts, allowing ourselves to get mentally down. No matter what the distraction is, as soon as we take our eyes off the goal, we set ourselves up for getting off course or doubting where we are and where we are heading.
Are You Willing to Climb?
- You CAN lose 50lbs IF you are willing to do the work consistently for 6 months.
- You CAN compete in a figure competition IF you train and diet hard for 90 days straight.
- You CAN build muscle IF you are willing to lift strong and get the protein you need for growth.
- You CAN lose that 10lbs IF you are willing to eat out less and cut back on the alcohol.
- You CAN have less back pain IF you are willing to stretch and strengthen tight muscles.
- You CAN have more energy IF you are willing to do more cardio and lose a few pounds.
- You CAN control your weight IF you start managing calories.
- You CAN completely change your life IF you are willing to invest in making the changes your body needs.
Everyone Begins at the Start Line
Remember, everyone who has reached their goal was once just like you. Sure, running a marathon may seem absolutely crazy right now. Losing 50lbs may feel like it’s too far out of reach from where you are now. Or, maybe living without back pain would almost seem more like a miracle from how you feel now. This is where the impossible becomes possible – by doing what is possible for you at this very moment, each and every day, until you get the results you want.
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Will Work For Abs: The Six-Pack Secret
Body Parts that Count: Part 3 – Abs & Core
In this blog series I’ve been talking about the 3 muscle groups I feel should be a woman’s focus: Shoulders, Glutes & Abs. Today we discuss the abs.
“Diet doesn’t make you fit.
Exercise doesn’t make you skinny”
Steve Pfiester said that yesterday and I thought, that needs to be a t-shirt. No, a Billboard. No, a whole national advertising campaign! Honestly, people need to hear this!!! We’ve all seen overweight people who are physically fit and we’ve seen plenty of out of shape skinny people. Why am I going on this tangent when the topic is abs? Well it’s simple. You can have abs (shoot, you may have them right not) but if you don’t combine training with diet together, you’ll likely never see them.
Will Eat for Abs
You’ve seen the homeless guys holding a sign “Will work for food”? Well, will you eat for abs? Will you eat (and not eat) what it takes to get the abs you want? Just like many of those guys have no intensions of actually doing any work to get their money, many people in the gym have no intensions of eating what they need to be eating to get their abs.
Honestly, doing a few crunches is the easy part. It’s the other 23 hours a day that are hard to control. As Alfonso “The Angry Trainer” Moretti says, “Abs are made in the kitchen“. If you want to shave off the fat covering your abs, you need to shave off some calories. Once you can actually see your abs, the shape of them, how tight they are, and how big each cube is is up to your training.
Will Work for Abs
It may not seem like it, but this is the easy part. However, some people still have a lot of questions about how to train them. How often can you train your abs? What type of workouts are best for abs? So many questions, so little time.
Non-weight ab exercises, like traditional crunches or situps, can be done daily. However, weighted abs need rest and repair just like your biceps, so they need a couple of days of rest in between.
Steve Pfiester, for instance, does non-weighted abs in between sets while training other body parts through out the week. Then he has one day solely dedicated to traps, calves and abs, where he does his weighted ab exercises. This way he’s always hitting them to keep them tight and tone.
This is also why I like functional training, like push-ups, planks and mountain climbers, because it keeps my core tight in between ab days. Believe me, if you do pushups on a regular basis, you will definitely notice your abs and core tightening.
Weakness Becomes Strength
I have to admit, abs are not my best feature. Unfortunately, the body parts you hate the most, typically are the body parts you don’t like to train the most too. It should be the other way around, but we are human and we like doing things we are good at. We like training our best looking body part, we enjoy working our muscles that are the strongest and we prefer to do the exercises we have already mastered. That’s why our weaknesses often stay a weakness – but they can become your strength.
If you really want to change your body, work the parts that need to work the most. Do the stuff you hate the most (like cardio) and force yourself to do programs, like our BCx Boot Camp, that keep your training balanced and keep you doing stuff you’d most likely skip if you were doing it on your own. The more you do it, the more you’ll like it because you’ll become stronger and you’ll begin to see the work pay off.
Workooout, “I’m sexy and I know it” (sing along with me!)
Here is one of our ab circuits from our brand new BCx Boot Camp Express workout at FitStudio. Click on the picture below and go to Day 6 to view the entire workout, including instructional video.
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You May Need More Than Fitness
“Weights don’t call you when you don’t show up. The treadmill won’t facebook you when you neglect your cardio.”
Today’s Fitness Expo at the mall made me realize how fitness can be such a special part of your life. You don’t have to go to a gym, put on your headphones & log boring miles, without talking to anyone. The gym can, and should, be like a home away from home – a safe place for one big fitness family. Today, we weren’t at the gym, but our “family” came with us. They do class together, they run 5Ks together, they do mudruns, they meet up for lunch, and they come to fitness events like they did today.
Sure, you can still put your headphones on (I do) and train hard, but sometimes we need a thumbs up, pat on the back, or just a big fat smile when you walk in the door. Shute, if it were up to me, I’d have our staff give everyone a round of applause every time someone walked through the door, just for showing up. And if you don’t go to a gym, you an have twitter and facebook friends rooting you on. No one should go it alone.
That’s what I saw today. People of all ages coming out to the mall to participate in fitness activities. Young, old. Black, white, Man, woman, Adults, Kids, English speaking, Spanish speaking. Husbands, wives. Seniors, toddlers – and they were all having fun! If fitness is not fun, if it’s not special, and if it isn’t radically changing your life – something’s wrong. Sure, your first “family” maybe church or flesh and blood – but a fitness is also close to the top. Think about it, you see your fitness peeps, whether in person or online, more than you do your favorite restaurant.
If you are investing time and energy to get fit, don’t miss out on the big picture. Working out is important, but weights don’t call you when you don’t show up. The treadmill won’t facebook you when you neglect your cardio. Be sure to invest in the people around you as much as the weights. You never know what lives you’ll impact – and you never know what lives will impact YOU! – But doing fitness quietly, lonely and secretly often ends in failure (and no fun).
Here’s a pic of two of our BCxers…
If you are in Vero, come see us at Max Fitness Club! And if you aren’t, then be sure to subscribe to this blog, connect with me on facebook & twitter and workout with us at FitStudio. As Nike says, “Make It Count”
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Are Overcomplicating Fitness?
“I see too many people putting too much energy looking under the microscope, when they just need to look at their plate.” Steve Pfiester.
Many people overcomplicate their diet so much they miss what matters most – and they can do the same thing with their workouts. If anyone can get all fancy with diet and workouts, it’s my husband Steve – and even with his extensive knowledge of human anatomy that’s required to graduate Magna Cum Laude in Physical Therapy, Steve keeps it simple.
Quote from Steve’s recent blog, “I can’t tell you the countless times I’ve been at the gym and have seen the meticulous biomechanical strategies that some people come up with to make their lifting routine more effective, or the countless times I’ve listened to people who are extremely overweight, discuss food on a totally microbiological level. Instead of looking at calories, they’re “buggn” about if it is free range or not. I am not arguing that biomechanics and microbiology doesn’t have a place in training and nutrition, but by god-man, look at the bigger picture. I call this “majoring in the minors”. As a trainer, blogger, or just exercise enthusiast, it is so vital that we realize the importance of fundamentals.“
If you have been worried about nutrition or working hard on the technicalities of training, read Steve’s newest blog: Majoring in the Minors.
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Protein Pancake Recipe: If Steve Can Do it, Anyone Can!
After a series of tweets, Steve found himself in the middle of a twitter challenge to make protein pancakes this weekend. He took on the challenge – without the apron (sorry @kelly_olexa) & thongs (@Openmindfitness) but I think he will give you plenty of laughs without them. ha!
Enjoy the video – and when you are done, you can use the CORRECT recipe below & enjoy!
Challenge: How many supplements can you spot in this video? haha
RECIPE (passed to us from of @BridgetNicole26 on twitter)
1 scoop vanilla protein (we used GNC’s Amplified Whey)
1 TBS Aunt Jemima Pancake mix
3/4 TPS baking soda
1/2 banana
1/2 Tsp Vanilla extract
1/4 cup egg white
1/8 cup Silk almond milk
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CAUTION: Rough Road Ahead
No one said the path to being fit is easy, BUT I haven’t heard one person who lost weight, and got fit, say it wasn’t worth it. It reminds me of when my parents went to Costa Rica and they told me how scary the roads were, yet those roads led them to quite a paradise. So, if our destination is so rewarding, why aren’t more people doing what it takes to get there? I believe it’s because “the gate is narrow and the path is difficult”. Scripture uses this analogy to our spiritual lives and it definitely applies to our physical lives too.
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matt. 7: 13-14
5 Reasons why more people aren’t on the narrow path:
1. People don’t find the “narrow gate” because they aren’t looking for it. It’s not like the gate to fitness isn’t in plain site. It’s just overpowered by the flashy Vegas-like signs to what the world wants you to eat, buy and try. If you want to get on the right path, you can’t always go for the obvious way – you have to purposefully seek the right way.
2. People are tempted by smooth paths. Do you want a smooth highway or a skinny narrow path on the side of a cliff? Duh?! That would be an easy answer – until they told me where the smooth highway ended: Fat & Unhappy. 
3. People look at the path, more than the people on it. I have not heard one person tell me the Shake weight helped them lose 50lbs – or that the ab belt got them fit, but I sure have seen some amazingly fit people who Read the rest of this entry
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Push-Ups, My Secret Weapon
When I think of pushups I think of the military. I picture a bunch of boot camp newbies face down on the ground pumping out as many of those bad boys as they can. So if push ups are good enough for the military why aren’t they good enough for you and I? THEY ARE!
Some people whine about not having gym equipment, but push ups are one of the best exercises of all time – and they require NO equipment. The killer exercises strengthens the arms, chest and core, while also working the cardiovascular system. I mean think about it. Push ups can leave you breathing like you just sprinted a quarter mile if you’re doing them right.
So why is this delicious exercise not in more people’s exercise program? Some people are just lazy. Push ups takes a lot more out of you than sitting on a chest press machine. However, I think most people just Read the rest of this entry
