10 Steps To a Healthier You

10 Steps To A Healthier YOU

 1. Surround yourself with like minded people. This allows you to be YOU without the constant judgement and negativity from those who do not understand or share your beliefs.

2. Make your goals simple and easy to achieve! Look at them as stepping stones to one big goal: YOU! Each small goal achieved allows you to check off a box, and move on to the next. It will build confidence and keep you moving forward.

3. Exercise whenever you can. I don't mean you join the gym, but never go, I mean MOVE. Movement is the key to a healthy body, and we must do it consistently. If the gym works for you, go, if an evening walk works for you, then do that, and do it with joy!

4. Eat a plant based diet! Why? Because it is the best thing you can do for the animals, the environment, and your health.

5. Drink water. Drink it all day.

6. Spend time outdoors. Walk, sit, play, do whatever you want, just get outside. Fresh air, sunshine, and the sound of nature are all good for the soul.

7. Stay positive! Negativity causes us stress and leaves us feeling drained, unhappy, and craving junk food. Do your best to look at every situation with a positive outlook. Life is either half empty or half full...you decide!

8. Remove alcohol from your life. This is one of those health tips that I give to ALL my clients. There is no need for alcohol in our lives. There are no benefits yet too many health risks...physically and mentally. 

9. Stop comparing yourself to others. Stop it NOW. Comparison is the thief of joy. We are all on different paths, with different needs and goals. Someone's success never ever threatens your own. There is room for all of us to succeed. 

10. Care about animals and our environment, because they deserve better, they deserve peace. As a society of grossly self absorbed human beings, Earth and the animals have taken loads of abuse and its time to give them some serious TLC. Creating a healthy world, helps you live a healthy life! It all comes full circle!

Take back your health!!

I think it's time we take some responsibility for our own health!!! I am so outraged by how many people know their behaviors are hurting them, yet continue to do them. I hear this line all the time " I can't give up sugar" Or cheese or meat, etc. We never use the words "I WON'T give up sugar" because that would be putting the blame on yourself! And who wants to take the blame for their own health??? Can't and won't are two very different things! Most people WON'T make changes in their lives, not because they CAN'T, but because they just don't want to! If you think about it this way...tomorrow you will die if you eat another bite of sugar...I bet you will not take another bite!
Your health should be #1 on your list of priorities. I know most think it should be your children, but being healthy keeps you around longer and maybe your kids won't have to worry about you as much as you age! Healthy is not being thin or fat, healthy is being regularly active, eating a well balanced diet, drinking lots of water, being positive, setting goals, and most important loving yourself! Lets break it down:

1. Being active! I know we all cringe at the words "workout" or "gym", but really you need to be active. You don't have to join a gym, but those who have gym memberships workout more often, mostly because weather is not an excuse, and they are paying for it! Personal Trainers are a great resource! They are usually up to date with all sorts of new and fun exercises, and can keep you motivated! What should you look for in a trainer? Someone who is excited about exercise, someone who listens to your needs and understands your lifestyle, creativity is also important...it will keep exercise fun! Big NO NO on my list...a diet pusher! Don't diet, and don't let a trainer put you on a crazy diet! When you are ready, you will want to change your lifestyle, diets will just set you up to fail, crave junk food, and in the end result in more weight gain! Remember, you can also be active by walking, running, hiking, biking...so many ways to get moving! It is your body...take some responsibility!

2. Balanced diet, what the heck is that? There is so much out there about the "best" diet, but really, the best diet is the kind which keeps healthy...as in not sick all the time, not bloated, not foggy, and not tired! For me, that is a plant-based diet about 70-80% raw food! It makes me feel energized, happy, lean, and healthy! I don't know if it is a diet everyone can thrive on, but I sure do know of many, many, out there who's lives have been transformed by a plant-based diet! If your food cannot be pronounced or sounds like a science experiment then it's mostly like bad for your health! Chose wisely, eat whole foods, lots of fresh fruit, fill up on fruit & veggies, avoid low-fat, sugar free, processed junk!

 3. Water...so simple, just drink it! All day, skip the juice, the soda, and the energy drinks! Water is the only way to hydrate your body!

4. Positivity is so important! It is almost as crucial to our health as food or water! Being in a positive state of mind brings postivity right back to you! What you put out you shall receive! If you find yourself around negative people, do your best not to be influenced by their state of mind. But...choose who is around you if you can! Negative thoughts will create stress in the body, stress creates illness and disease!

5. Set goals! I really think it is important to be constantly learning, changing, and moving forward! Goals help push you in the right direction! They keep you motivated! Make a list of things you want to accomplish and watch how quickly you will be checking them off the list! Life is so much fuller when you open your mind up and start being productive! Feeling accomplished is great! It also opens up many doors you thought might have been closed! You might have thought paying off debt was out of reach, but make it a goal, work towards it, and watch it happen!

6. Love yourself! I know it sounds silly, but do it! Don't say or think negative things about yourself. Treat your body kindly, and remember to take care of your mind. Read, relax, take deep breaths, and always be kind to yourself. Don't feel bad about having "me time", it is good for you! Alone time allows you to focus on healing soul!

There you go...now take back your health!!! It is your responsibility! No one should care more about you than YOU!

So...you want Madonna arms or not?

Goals. They are important in all aspects of our lives, to save money, to go to college, to climb the corporate ladder, whatever your goal may be. Goals also play a crucial role in fitness, weight loss, or weight gain (yes, some people actually try to gain weight!!). No goals mean no direction...which means no success!
When setting your goals, take a few things into consideration...#1. your goal cannot change every week!!!! #2. your goal needs to be VERY specific and measurable! and #3. how much time are you giving yourself to reach this goal? I find women tend to be the most confused about what they would like to achieve at the gym, or maybe they aren't being honest with themselves and the trainer!! One day the client is dreaming of Madonna's sculpted arms, the next day they want to look like Nicole Richie?!?! Well...the 2 are like night and day...and so are their workouts!
The woman that is sculpting her body spends majority of their time in the weight room. Cardio will deplete muscle gains, so it should be limited. Women will NOT bulk up so please don't panic...instead they will scuplt and define their muscles creating a beautiful athletic body like Madonna!
The woman who is admiring Nicole Richie's tiny dancer-like physique will probably be spending less time lifting or strength training! Running, Zumba, Dance, Hooping will be more up their alley! Strength training should not be avoided, instead doing body weight exercises and light weight/high repetition exercises are perfect! It's a perfect mix of staying lean (cardio, cardio, cardio) and strengthening (light weight & body weight).
The problem comes in when the person has no goals or is going back and forth! The trainer will spend weeks working on a specific goal with their client, and then out of nowhere (maybe they saw an actress on the cover of a magazine) they want something else!!!! Now, that is fine, trainers can switch the entire workout to focus on your new goal...but please don't come back next week with different goal. It takes time for the body to adjust to a workout and for results of appear, changing the goal (and the workout) will take even more time! This is when the client becomes disappointed and discouraged. 
Goals need to be set, followed, and tracked! If your goal is to gain or lose weight, taking measurements or getting weighed is very important! It makes it easy to track results! If your goal is to sculpt and define...YOU HAVE TO STICK WITH THE EXERCISE PROGRAM!!!! If you don't stick with it, you won't see results! When your trainer tells you to limit your cardio to 3 days a week only for 30 minutes, listen! Goals (correct goals) lead to fitness success :) Very simple! So, if you want Madonna arms, a dancer-like body, lose weight or gain weight, set the goal (and don't change it a week later), follow the workout program, and be patient! Rome wasn't built in a day :)