Opportunity Knocks.

Hey Kittens. I'm putting up a quickie blog post because I just got home- it's late, and I leave for VEGAS TOMORROW morning! ;-) Who else will be at IHRSA?? LMK if I will see you there.

Anyway, I remember sometime over the past couple of years some of you going, "When will you put up pictures of YOU on your blog Kelly??" And back then I was soooo down on myself and sooooo horribly negative toward myself and about myself I never would think of it. And that negative self-talk fueled the negative results....it's all a bad cycle. You must stop it if you are there. I did and the whole WORLD is changing for me.

CHANGE YOUR THINKING-- CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

So, I feel very proud of how far I've come thus far. Since November, I have lost just about 15 lbs. And if I want to hit my target weight I have 15 more to go-- but we'll see. It's not about the number it's about my physique. But I feel DANG GREAT right now and it feels AWESOME to feel great about my accomplishment and myself.

So what's with OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS for the title?? Here's the thing people-- realize that this journey is a day in day out thing. It doesn't stop. Remember that quote I always refer to -- "A garden is never finished"? Yea. That. Well- your fitness journey and your spiritual journey and your professional journey-- every day, every week, every hour-- you have OPPORTUNITY presented to you. And you have the opportunity to WIN or to FAIL. Understand that. Celebrate the wins-- and then, realize that when you screw up---- whatever that means for you in that circumstance-- you have the OPPORTUNITY the next hour, the next day the next week- TO DO BETTER. To make a RIGHT CHOICE. Its never OVER. You never FINISH.

Yea, it's not easy to look at really tough times in life and see the good -- BUT THERE IS GOOD in all things inevitably if you allow yourself to expect it and TO KNOW YOU WILL GET THROUGH IT. Start your fitness journey KNOWING THAT EVERY DEPOSIT YOU MAKE COUNTS. And if you screwed up this weekend-- GUESS WHAT?? THAT IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO KICK ASS THIS WEEK.

What's it gonna be??? ;-)

I'm ready for a kick butt week that makes last week look like sitting on the bench. How about you?

Give it all you've got.

This blog post is going to be rather simple. Hmmm. Do you think I can do it? I will. Because I'm heading to the gym any second. It's either Leg Day or Shoulder day, I haven't decided yet. Either way I'm RUNNING when I'm done because I really want to RUN.

Now. The title of today's post is GIVE IT ALL YOU'VE GOT. And that means- you want results?? GIVE IT ALL THAT YOU HAVE IN YOU. Make every second of every workout COUNT. You don't build muscle using weight that doesn't challenge you and make you make funny grimaces while you move it. You don't burn fat and get buff by jogging real easy-like instead of getting faster and going longer each time and adding sprints and intervals.

Do you wanna leave the gym and say "Wow. That so worth it. I did the bare minimum. I hardly broke a sweat. Maybe I'll get some donuts on the way home and watch Biggest Loser."

PUSH. AND THEN PUSH HARDER. Why not see what you are capable of instead of settling for mediocre and "ohh I'm sure I can't do THAT".

STOP underestimating and doubting yourself. Think you can't "DIET"? BULL. Think you can't lift MORE or run longer or faster? How do you know? Why waste the time getting a gym membership or buying fitness DVDS or equipment if you aren't going to CRUSH IT and make everyone be inspired and amazed by you?

Life is too short to not taste what it's like to WOW YOURSELF. You can do so much more with your life than you think. GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND OWN IT.

NO EXCUSES.

What you look for, you will find.

Hey all. I've been sharing some tough love here lately and today is no exception. It's tough love ON MYSELF -- me being really truthful with myself-- that got me to this place where EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT.

I wouldn't get anywhere if I was still continuing on with bad habits and bad attitudes and bad expectations. You won't either.

TO GET WHAT YOU'VE NEVER HAD YOU MUST DO WHAT YOU'VE NEVER DONE.

Such a simple statement but it is so true. As I neared the end of 2 years of my life of medical drama and being at a standstill in my fitness journey- I realized that, you know what?? I was a lot of talk. I was a lot of whine. I was getting dressed every day in a coat of doubt fear and insecurity.

One of the lessons I have learned is the title-- WHAT YOU LOOK FOR YOU WILL FIND. That's good and bad. If you get up every day, like I did for probably two years (two years!!!!!) and head into your mirror and pick yourself apart for how you look and then you spend all day comparing yourself to some airbrushed celebrity who uses spaghetti noodles to "TONE" their body "LIKE A DANCER"!! (did I just say Tracy Anderson? What?)-- guess what?? YOU'LL FIND THINGS TO PICK APART AND COMPLAIN ABOUT. See that picture above?? The old me would not have put that up-- because 1) I haven't reached my goal yet and I'M SURE everyone would see that and think I'm an idiot for taking my picture 2) I would have seen some evidence of fat or not perfect proportions and gotten mad and then probably eaten a cookie or seven.

On the other hand IF YOU DECIDE you will not give in to FEEDING THE NEGATIVE in your life-- and if you decide that you will focus on the PROCESS-- on getting better each day-- in some way-- you will have an abundance of things to motivate you because you will be DAMN PROUD. You'll notice how much more weight you can lift. You'll notice how much faster and longer you can run. You'll notice your yoga poses -- you can go deeper and hold longer. Soon-- BELIEVE ME-- you'll start to that HIGH from seeing how badass you are in WHAT YOU ARE DOING vs. how you look-- and then likely-- it will be other people that will start to notice your change first.

LOOK FOR YOUR GOOD STUFF IN THE RIGHT PLACES. LOOK FOR GOOD. FIND YOUR GOOD. YOU'LL HAVE PLENTY AND THE MORE YOU FIND IT, IT WILL FUEL YOUR TOMORROW.

Tough love. What your body looks like by summer or by 12/31/13 is EARNED BY YOU. It's no one else's fault but you-- good or bad. STOP WISHING FOR IT and start taking action. YOU EARN YOUR BODY.

YEA YOU. If you are sitting around analyzing things and buying diet books or magazine waiting to find the perfect solution- you are wasting time. START. START NOW. Stop doubting yourself because YOU CAN DO IT. YOU'VE GOT THIS. STOP making excuses that you are too old or too busy or too heavy or whatever. MOVE. Start--- and then don't stop. Keep getting better. EARN YOUR PRIDE. EARN YOUR BODY. EARN YOUR HAPPY HOUR NEXT WEEK. 

So true. Improve your life. Improve your ATTITUDE. Be an example that life is a gift as is our health. Don't take it for granted-- OWN YOUR AWESOME ABILITY AND SURPRISE YOURSELF WITH WHAT YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH.

Make the decision to do what you've never done. Make the decision to BELIEVE in yourself because YOU CAN.

Now enjoy my ramble-on-a-thon on a bit more of this topic:

PROUD? Or PATHETIC. You Decide.

Here is what I am going to tell you tonight. Every day, every hour, every month, every year --- you are moving in one direction or another. You are either getting better or you aren't. Look around you and you'll see at every age a lot of people just GETTING THROUGH THE DAY. You see people that are 33 that look 53. You see overweight kids, overweight parents and men and women that have just let themselves GO. They don't look like they get fired up about anything.

Do you want to just GET THROUGH YOUR DAYS?? What kind of life is that?

I'm tired of hearing people of all ages make excuses-- and don't get me wrong, we all do, I have been guilty of it when perimenopause hit and I just let it run me over. FOR A WHILE. Then I decided to change. And guess what-- every day, every hour, every week, every month I AM GETTING BETTER. I turn 44 on April 2 and I will say this, I have not felt this GREAT this PROUD, this confident, this AWESOME ABOUT THE NOW AND THE NOT YET ...ever.

PROUD IS....

1. When you decide to go for it-- for the first time, or the 12th time-- and you stick with it, even for ONE WEEK when you haven't before. YOU WILL BE PROUD.
2. When you face your doubts, your fears and your insecurities and you succeed in spite of yourself. YOU WILL BE PROUD.
3. When you do the work, when you eat right, when you leave a bad relationship or found a company-- when everyone around you doubts you or tells you you are making a mistake but deep inside you know you are doing the right thing. YOU WILL BE PROUD.
4. When you keep going-- even when it seems you are just treading water. YOU WILL BE PROUD.

PATHETIC IS....

1. Giving in to your fears, your doubts and your insecurities...because what you are saying is that you believe YOU DON'T DESERVE GREATNESS.
2. Making excuses and taking the easy way out-- in work, in relationships and with your body.
3. Getting slower, heavier, angrier, more bitter, more skeptical, more judgmental, less loving and more boring EVERY YEAR.
4. Treating yourself worse than you would a child in your care--- negative self-talk and criticism.....and setting an example for others to do the same.

Decide what you want. And then decide you will NEVER DOUBT THAT YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN. Decide to be a contagious, outrageously inspiring person. Decide that every day you will get better in every way. And never stop.

It IS that big of a deal.

If you saw my post yesterday, you are probably seeing today's post title and thinking I am playing with you. Nope. A lot of what I'm writing here about is what has changed, OR what I have changed within me-- that is now really impacting my life, my mind, my body, my work, my relationships, my future. And frankly--- a lot of the practices or habits or approaches might be direct contradictions. Yesterday I talked about needing to embrace the attitude of "It's just NOT that big of a deal" and today I'm talking about needing to embrace "Yes, it IS that big of a deal".

Be patient with me. What I am telling you is to almost have an internal catalog of reactions and attitudes and practices and when you have your own personal catalog you have a selection of things you can draw upon. When FEAR hits, you know what your reaction and new habit will be. When you start to think you everything is too much for you to handle, it's such a BIG DEAL that you want to avoid it, then you scroll down your internal catalog and select yesterday's blog post attitude.

I went to hot yoga this morning. FEEL GREAT as usual after that class. And so I'm using a lot of yoga imagery (found on Pinterest of course) to illustrate today's point of IT IS THAT BIG OF A DEAL. I'm talking about the fact that EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS and is pushing you further. Even if you only do a 10 minute run, you've made progress today. Even if you just DIDN'T have that 4pm bag of chips and a Coke, you have moved forward. You might not see it in the mirror tomorrow, but it's adding up. IT IS THAT BIG OF A DEAL. Don't let your mind tell you (mine did this quite a lot) -- "You only have time for like 20 minutes, no WAY YOU WILL EVEN GET SWEATY in that amount of time, just don't workout today, it's not like 20 minutes will even matter....."

YES IT WILL. See the pose above? For those of you that haven't done yoga yet, you are MISSING OUT but-- that pose above is a lot harder than it looks just like pretty much every pose. If you do it right. I have the tendency in this pose to turn the outer hip down when it it supposed to clearly be OPEN. This pose humbles me but each time I try harder and I get a bit better. I don't take 2 steps forward 3 steps back in yoga- every practice is better in some way. IT IS A BIG DEAL THAT I KEEP TRYING.

Love this pose and I can do it usually like a BOSS. But lately that bottom foot is not reaching all the way around my other calf. SO I KEEP TRYING. Each try, each breath I am making progress.

The top photo talks about yoga giving you the opportunity to quiet the mind. AMEN it does. IN a 90 minute hot yoga class where the sweat is just pouring off of me, I am deep in thought and QUIET. That rarely happens outside of class and each time-- I am becoming more in tuned with myself, with my LIFE and I see things clearly. I need that. I keep going because each class IS a big deal. It's an effort I make for ME-- body and mind.

Yes, there is something to be said about yoga bringing out different things in you or different more spiritual sides of you. But you can apply this to any fitness pursuit-- the more you realize that each workout, practice, each MOVE IS A BIG DEAL-- it IS changing you-- you will then allow your mind and your attitude and your self-confidence to change and THAT is what changes future workouts, practices, moves even more. IT ALL BUILDS UPON EACH OTHER. IT IS A BEAUTIFUL ACCUMULATION IF YOU LET IT BUILD.

I love any of the poses in yoga like this where we stretch back-- I find so often that during my days I am hunched over my desk/laptop/ipad etc. and this is freeing and yet grounding. EACH TIME I HOLD LONGER AND GO DEEPER. It adds up.

This is one of my favorites as well and I can get my legs like this- flat on the floor. Other moves -- I am often the only one in class not able to go 1/4 of the way through. WHO CARES-- THE ONLY WAY I FAIL IS TO QUIT. It all IS a big deal.

Make it a big deal. SHOW UP. DO THE WORK. MAKE THE RIGHT FOOD CHOICES. MAKE THE RIGHT MINDSET CHOICES. IT ALL ADDS UP IT ALL COUNTS.

Here is my Ramble-On-A-Thon from blasted Sunday. Forgive me. ;-)

It's NOT that big of a deal.

Hey Kittens! Happy Friday! This is going to be a quickie post-- and I'm going to do something I've never done before.

Be brief and to ONE point. Am I up to the challenge??

I'm hoping to respond to all of you that are writing me regularly lately asking about what I'm doing differently or how I do this or that -- now that I'm really achieving results and moving FORWARD and ...really, changing things permanently.

Tonight's post is titled "it's NOT that big of a deal". What does this refer to?? AGAIN- it's all about how our mind perceives things. And - if you are like me and have a crazy work life, you often DID NOT DO SOMETHING (quite often I would not do my blog post for this reason) because you made it seem too big of a deal in your mind. You think, "Oh, it's 5pm already, I have plans tonight, no WAY I have time to workout and then shower and still make it to their house...." or-- you have a headache and you think, "OMG I feel way too crappy to workout. I probably couldn't do all that jumping around...."

YOU GOTTA TELL YOURSELF---- it's NOT that big of a deal. It's NOT that big of a deal to squeeze in even a 1/2 hour workout after work and before you go out. TRY IT. You'll see it was not an epic undertaking. Look at me here posting this blog when I was automatically thinking NO WAY I HAVE TIME for this.

Recognize that your inner devil WANTS YOU TO GIVE UP AND GET FLABBY. Pop that biotch in the jaw and stomp on her. NOTHING can stop you. Tell yourself you will not give in to negativity and doubt.

If you do that, you will WIN.

Now. Tell me what your plan is tonight....and what is the biggest thing that you have found yourself overestimating,  other than the interesting factor of my blog?? ;-) Here is my vlog from last week. Sorry. Getting caught up-- and WILL conquer my OWN "Oh I don't have time to blog or vlog!" baloney-- watch me!

Negative Reinforcement. Yes or No?

Happy Hump Day people. Sorry for not blogging the past 2 days-- I had some ISSUES to deal with. NOT gonna go into them but I'm better. Suffice it to say had some family concerns and an injury. Mostly all better now. Oh, and a massive snowstorm in Chicago yesterday.

So anyway, the title of my post today is about NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT. A lot of my vlogs lately have been addressing the changes I've made most recently that are enabling me to succeed in a big way where I haven't in the past couple of years. And a lot of you are asking me, "How do you get/stay motivated?" - well, I use a combination of both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Some people think ONLY positive thinking and positive reinforcement works. For me, it's a combo.

The above picture can illustrate a bit of what I'm talking about-- as you begin or amp up your fitness goals and workouts/diet, you will likely run into doubters, skeptics and those that want to impede your progress (consciously or unconsciously). You'll hear things like, "Who wants to live that way eating grilled chicken and salads?? Life is too short!" or, "Don't you think you DESERVE a break today?" or "Come ON! One Beer isn't going to kill you!"--- You have to get used to responding to those people but it's those haters and doubters that I often think about when I'm in the middle of a sweatfest. I think of how annoying they are and how they don't believe all this hard work will pay off OR that they think I won't last or will quit......that's NEGATIVE reinforcement and it works for me.

Like I said, I firmly believe that my success NOW is happening primarily because of all the work I've done IN MY HEAD. I've always loved working out. I've never complained about "oh do I have to carve out two hours for this???". I like most of the healthy food I eat so "dieting" isn't as difficult. But--- it's all about how you get your mind to direct your actions.

YOUR MIND, YOUR ATTITUDE directs your actions. When you are in the middle of a killer leg set and your quads are screaming, it is your mind that will tell you that you CAN DO IT. (Or your trainer as well!) When you wake up at dark o'clock and it's cardio time and you don't feel like it-- IT'S ONLY YOUR MIND that will get you up. Now-- what is going to motivate you? Does putting your shoes and workout gear out on the counter in your bathroom help?? YES. Does that alone MOTIVATE YOU?? I doubt it. What motivates me?? When I get up so early and want to stay in bed, I have TRAINED MY MIND to think of ---frankly--- what pisses me off about the past. I think of my favorite pair of jeans and having muffin top instead of NO muffin top. That's NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT. I think of sitting in my bikini on the beach and either having tummy bulge or no tummy bulge. So I have come to associate NOT DOING THE WORK with the bad things I want to avoid. Yes, I think of the good things-- but frankly those come later. What PROPELS me first is usually the negative motivation. When I'm sweating my butt off and I can FEEL how much more LIGHT AND LEAN my body is-- when I can see myself in my workout clothes and see how my body is changing-- that's the positive reinforcement. When I post my pictures and my caloric burn and get high fives online from my BFFs, that is positive reinforcement. You know what else is a negative reinforcement in a way?? You might laugh. The scale. I do not define my success by that number but--- knowing that I get on the scale every day-- that sure is an accountability factor and affects what I eat or don't eat. Seriously.

So sorry, we are slowly but surely getting caught up on publishing my blasted vlogs.

Now-- here is a quick summary of what my workout and diet has been like lately and is currently. Every day I get up and start the day with Genetix HD by GNC- ProSculpt. 

Then I do empty tummy cardio for about 30 minutes (sometimes 45 depending on what workout I choose). I've shared before but what I am LOVING for my cardio workouts are:

Les Mills Combat. Whoa. I still have yet to do all of them, but I absolutely love the crew, the music is great and I enjoy every workout -- there are some that are strictly cardio and then some that use weights but I am obsessed. OF COURSE you can buy your set at my Beachbody website by CLICKING HERE. 

I AM BEYOND in love with TurboFire. OMG. Chalene is a friend of mine but holy hell I had no idea how awesome these workouts are and HOW FUN--- and the music is awesome and I think the advanced set I got has like 24 workouts. All from 10 minutes long to 60 minutes. KILLER  and you have to get yours. CLICK HERE.

Seriously? Do you see what I Mean?? And check it out for Les Mills and you know why I am in love.

And yea I am LOVING Cathe's XTrain DVD with about 200million different workout combos on it. Seriously. The TABATA IS AMAZING. And I haven't even gotten to half of the workouts.....but you all know how much I love this woman and every single thing she does gets better. 

She is amazing. Now-- for weight training I'd say I focus on at least 3 hard/heavy sessions at the gym-- then when I workout at home, I'll do a hard/advanced workout like Cathe's, which is nice to mix it up. Regardless of what I do, I am doing cardio either right after weights or if I didn't do weights that day, I do another cardio session at night- never exceeding 90 minutes, (for the whole day total) usually more like 60-70. Yea, it's a solid significant training program but we are on the way to GOALS. I will not be doing cardio 2x a day forever. For sure. When I do weights, I go HEAVY heavy heavy. No colored dumbbells here. 

My diet is focused on lo-carb. I shoot for having all my carbs earlier in the day and later meals are more protein only focused. I usually have coffee plus oats plus either egg whites or protein pancake for breakfast, then a protein shake (with spinach etc.) or another meal with veggies or some fruit. Then every few hours eating with protein at each meal. LOTS of water. Only one soda a day. ;-( Supplements are still GNC Genetix HD and then pre-post workout supplementation and Vitapaks.

Geez. Long blog post. I must run my darlings-- let me know in the comments if you have specific questions for me and I'll answer in my post tomorrow. Sound good?

DISCLOSURE: GNC is a client of my company, FitFluential, LLC. I am an independent Beachbody Coach and will earn a commission if you purchase items from my website. Cathe Friedrich is on the BOARD OF ADVISORS OF FITFLUENTIAL LLC but for those of you that know me, I've been a fan of hers for 5+ years. All opinions expressed are my own.

Every little bit counts.

Happy Sunday people!! Did you get your workout on yet? Above is yet another dorky picture of myself, taken in Kelly's bathroom in Miami. One of my FitFluential Manbassadors, Jeremy Scott, and I have this ongoing contest where we see who can do the best HULK pose- see below.

Anyway, people, these are the dorky things we fitness freaks do with our friends to make it fun. I firmly believe the more you make your fitness journey/diet/workout plan FUN the more you will do it, the more you will push, vs. dreading it and thinking "Ugh. I have to go do some cardio" as if you were about to go stick toothpicks under your fingernails.

Anyway, so that picture at the top I took because I was getting ready for my Jeremy Hulk shot of the moment and - maybe it was good lighting but I was like DANG! GIRL YOUR DELTS AND UPPER BOD ARE GETTING NICE!!

And the point (yes I have a point! Can you believe it???) is that EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS. Get it in your head that ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE JUST BEGINNING or if you, like me, are just GETTING REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT RE-FOCUS, RE-COMMITMENT, AND STICKING TO A NEW PLAN--  prepare yourself that YOU WILL NOT SEE THE CHANGES YOU WANT AS FAST AS YOU WANT. PERIOD.

Expect that. Brace for it. Brace for the scale to NOT say what you want. Brace for the first time trying on your fav skinny jeans or whatever that they won't be falling off you. INEVITABLY THEY WILL. But---- if you can brace your MIND for the fact that you will work for a while before you might SEE results on yourself and before OTHERS WILL-- that will make it easier for you to stay the course.

THIS is what I forced myself to focus on the first month of this year especially. I did NOT like what I read on the scale. I DID not like that a week (yes, I was pissed off a week in) after I started I hadn't lost a lot of weight and my clothes weren't more loose. So I forced myself to remember that ---- all the training I was doing and all the eating right I was doing WAS NOT WORKING AGAINST ME. I was not doing BAD THINGS to my body. It was just a matter of when MY body was going to react and show results. I had to stay the course. I focused on how much heavier I could go with my weights each time. And I GO HEAVIER EACH TIME or more reps or an extra set. I focused on just enjoying the cardio I had -- all the fun new DVDS that honestly make cardio fun (but full disclosure-- I LOVE cardio in addition to loving weights and loving yoga. I just like working out seriously).

Another thing I stopped doing is immediately DOUBTING MY ABILITY whenever I was presented with something new. In the past, I would look at a photo like this and say "OMG I could never do that." or I'd be in yoga class and see something like this and say "NO FREAKING WAY I will EVER DO THAT" 

Well guess what?? Lucky for me I have amazing people in my life that are talented and certified and have taken the time to learn/study and they show me how to work up to this. Kelly showed me how to use the block at home to practice into crow pose. And who ever thought I'd go from standing into a backbend? I DIDN'T but Kelly showed me I could. I no longer doubt what I can do. I CAN.

Know that this will take time. Trust the process. Commit to not giving up because that really is the ONLY WAY TO FAIL. And the reason I haven't had success like I'm having NOW in the past 2-3 years? I kept quitting. Yea, I kept going back to it in some form but realistically I was always at 50% of what I'm doing now and maybe 70% of what I did in previous years.

Don't KID YOURSELF and be that person that goes to a Super Bowl party and chows down on wings and all those amazing dips and breads and pizza and 90 beers and then says "I'll do some extra cardio this week. I'll run an extra 10 minutes". Let me tell you something people. Get yourself a good heart rate monitor and it will teach you how you can bust a** for 10 minutes and be breathing heavy with your heart rate at 150 or 160 or more-- and you could burn 20 calories. Yea. 10 minutes can often be a 20 calorie burn. You pig out like I stated above?? Easily can be 1000-2000 calories. ONE order of boneless wings at Chili's (which I LOVE) is 1300 calories. A dozen Krispy Kremes is 2400 calories. Don't tell me you haven't had a pigout somewhere near that. I could EASILY put away Chili's boneless wings and a burger and some fries (maybe not the whole thing) and a margarita-- WAKE UP KIDS that would be 2500-3000 calories. To "do a little extra cardio" to burn that pigout off-- knowing how I burn-- I would have to do an additional TEN TURBO FIRE WORKOUTS. That's right, an extra TEN in addition to what I already do just to justify that pigout. And most people don't just pigout ONE day a week there are 15 little pigouts like having a piece of birthday cake at the office-- and one happy hour with 3-4 beers or 2 glasses of wine and bar food. And then some extra Starbucks. Yup-- a casual week like that and you've added another 1500-2000 calories.

MAKE THE COMMITMENT TO YOURSELF. To go for what you want and to believe you can do it. And then DO NOT STOP. Expect disappointment. Expect frustration. Nothing worth having is easily achieved. DO THE WORK. You'll be SO FREAKING PROUD OF YOURSELF YOU'LL LOVE IT. And it's addicting. ;-)

Have a great Sunday. Kick some a** would ya?? ;-)  The shirt I have on in the video above can be found on REEBOK by CLICKING HERE. Get you some. And the new bootcut pants that you can't see I have on are THESE BAD BOYS. Quite delicious. I have become so spoiled with nice workout clothes and shoes now. Hey -- I'd rather have THAT be my motivation than cookies right? ;-)~

For some blasted reason the below video is not appearing on my blog post where I want it. It's Jeremy's video from his site where he is bringing his bada** self. Enjoy it. And get off the couch.

What's Different.

Happy Friday people!! Are you freaking out that you are getting two blog posts in one day? Good grief I've been such a bad blogger lately- so inconsistent, it's a wonder I have any readers left! LOL but I think this year --- because I am putting things in place in my life (like at least one getaway trip per quarter for mental sanity!!), everything will be different.

You shall see right? ;-)

Salmon. Sashimi. YUM. It's a good thing I like it because OMG I have been eating a lot of of fish lately, especially this week. Michael has put me on some extreme test of character diet alteration for one week that consists of mostly FISH FISH FISH FISH FISH. Seriously I told him the other night I think I'm starting to smell like fish. More details on what this week has been like later-- I'm doing one week of this experiment, partially because I think that Michael enjoys watching me squirm and wince and say "When am I having my next cheeseburger?" LOL

I think I have mentioned previously that I was sent some of Designer Whey's Protein 2Go drink mix.....I used it on my NYC trip and kind of became OBSESSED with it. So each packet as you can see is 50 calories and 10g of protein. And you mix with water and it's kind of fizzy/juicy tasting vs. a protein shake taste. I AM IN LOVE. So easy. So great tasting and flavored with Stevia for those of you that appreciate that. This is a nice segue into the title of my blog post- "What's Different"-- but now, I make sure when I'm on the road or even not traveling, to plan for a mini-meal or meals on the go and I am ADDICTED to this stuff. I just love the flavors, the taste, it mixes well, it isn't another PROTEIN SHAKE- it's like mix up your day you know-- having something more like FIZZY JUICE, I don't know. I really like it.

So-- a TON of you have been writing asking what I'm doing different or what's changed etc. After all, I've changed my body more from even January 1 to now-- in 2 months, than I did all last year and the past 2 years. YES much of it is from specific things like a diet plan that is right for your body/age/goals-- and a workout plan that is balanced and that you stick to (as well as the diet) --- but honestly, I think that the biggest change has been in my MIND. You've heard me talking about in my vlogs lately-- rambling on about all the bad habits I've recognized in myself and now am changing....I truly believe that this is why I am now succeeding so much. THAT'S NOT IT ALONE. The accountability of blogging and being active in social media- that's huge. Having Michael as my in-life coach and nagger I mean gentle reminder- that's huge. STICKING TO YOUR DIET AND WORKOUT PLAN = that's huge. But if your MIND Is in the wrong place, your attitude won't propel you forward. 

If you haven't prepped your mind to anticipate your own internal objections ("I don't feel like it....") and the objections/doubts/skepticism of others (Oh come ON, you have worked out enough!" or "Oh come on, one cookie won't hurt!") - -- you might not succeed.

What's different? I'd say for today's post I will focus most heavily on that-- getting your mind in the right place. Analyzing yourself and seeing yourself and your bad habits for what they really are. NOT making excuses. Being willing to see where you are NOW and that your results won't happen overnight or in two weeks and that you have NO IDEA OF KNOWING WHEN YOU WILL START TO LIKE WHAT YOU SEE IN THE MIRROR. When you are strong in your mind-- all the rest will follow. When you are weak, you are screwed.

You have to make the commitment in your head to START. And not quit. I'm going to make this a series over the next few weeks and divide up all the little sub-categories of what I have done-- as far as behavioral change-- and share with you on this "What's Different" theme. Sound good? Below is Part THREE of the Home Workout DVDs tour that you had all asked for (part one and two are in my previous post CLICK HERE.)

DO YOU WORKOUT AT HOME OR GYM OR BOTH??

I'm BACK!

Sigh. I am no longer on this beach, where I was quite a bit last week. And clearly I did partially do the real VACATION thing in that-- you didn't see any posts from me. I actually did not even open my laptop until about 5 days in. The thing is-- overall, although I'm glad I went, I just kind of pushed too much, snuck in some business meetings and then just did TOO much, what with flying into Ft. Lauderdale, staying with Jay (see below, he's at The Arnold Sports Classic right now competing! WOOT!), training with him one day, then heading down to Miami-- and then, having to rush around and change my flights at the last minute to come home a day EARLY because Chicago was getting a nasty mini-blizzard.

I guess I just feel like-- for a vacation-- it was too much rushing. I LOVE Miami and I had a great time but it was too rushed. I did decide for sure-- I've said this for years but really, it's time to make plans and put action steps in place to get a place down there for me. I think inevitably I could live there 100%. We'll see.

If you recall, Jay was my first trainer. And I have to tell you, I just LOVE training with this man. After The Arnold, you'll see more of him in the FitFluential world for sure. Take a peek here at his training style and maybe you'll see why I heart him so much:

He is a crazy beast and I love him. We did the hack squat and some variations on there that had me so sore the next 3 days I was DYING. In fact, as I headed into a lot of my yoga classes down in Miami, I found myself not being able to do some of the poses as long because my legs were FRIED. Seriously. And boy did I do a lot of yoga in Miami and I have SO MISSED IT. Old friend is back. I'll be heading to Hot Yoga here in Chicago again regularly and I cannot wait. 

One day we started with Cat's class-- see above, she has a DVD out now-- she's more of an athletic approach to yoga and OMG I loved loved loved this class. That day I ran in the morning and did not one but TWO yoga classes. The second one was led by my BFF Kelly's manfriend, Gabriel....see the cute couple below.

Seriously, Kelly is just AWESOME. You'll also be seeing more of the two of these fine yogis in FitFluential-Land in the future. I've known Kelly for YEARS- she was originally a client and now is just an amazing BFF who has really changed my life--it was one of my last trips to visit her that we had these long talks and she was the impetus for me coming home, selling my house, quitting my job and building FitFluential into what it is so far. Awesome. And wow, they both are GREAT teachers----- I wish I could have them with me every day to teach me.

Yea. He acts like that is nothing. And then Kelly goes into this like changing her socks-- no big deal:

Now. I will tell you this. I am SO PROUD of myself. I cheated not ONCE on my vacation- that's right -- I was spot ON my diet the entire time. And....I might add, I worked out every single day, most days 2x a day. BAM! I arrived in town Monday night at Jay's house-- got my workout clothes on and went for a run THAT NIGHT!

That was my "see I went running here at night!" shot. Here's a peek of that area, and you can see why I am being pulled to Miami.

I know right. So, yes, I got up every morning and went for a run, about 30-40 minutes. I really really really enjoy running outside in the warm weather. GREAT sweatfest. Then I ran again most evenings. Did a ton of yoga and again- no cheating on my diet. Although when Kelly's daughter made these cheddar biscuits I about died:

Sigh. I was so good. And I came home and gained of course not an ounce. In fact today I am down 2 lbs from when I got home. One of the things I forgot to pack was my blasted remote control for my camcorder and my USB cord. That was it. The only things I forgot. So no videos but hey-- here are some to get us caught up. I promised y'all I'd do a review on the home workout DVDs that I am using and love. See below. And of course, if you decide to order any of the Beachbody ones, you can do so from my Beachbody website by clicking HERE.

Part Two below....

Now I must run-- have a lot to do today and my mom is having a rough time after her last chemo so I need to go be with her. ;-( Please continue to pray for her. So thankful for my HEALTH-- not only because I'm not sick anymore but also because I Think of what my poor mom is going through. Makes me sad. 

But-- she will get through it! WOOT! What have you been loving lately for your workouts??

TGIF

Pretty simple. Right? But yet so many of us in our personal lives, professional lives and fitness lives let the opinions of others RULE our actions.

STOP. STOP ALLOWING THAT.

You all are asking me a lot lately-- and I am happy to share-- what has changed in me? Why am I having success now? It didn't happen all at once people but the big changes were in my MIND-- in my attitude and my belief in myself. And one HUGE HUGE HUGE thing is to -- especially if you are blogging, YouTubing etc--- you will get MORE OPINIONS on what you do or don't do than you ever imagined.

IGNORE. Just nod your head and say THANKS FOR STOPPING BY.

DO YOUR OWN THING. Move in a way that you like. Workout as often as you like. Eat a plan or follow an approach that works for you. The people that pop in and comment and critique you-- NEED TO GET OUT MORE.

Decide right now to IGNORE those that criticize your approach. Decide now. Because it won't stop. THIS change will help you so much, I cannot even tell you how much....until you experience it.

Step one. GO YOUR OWN WAY. Put your virtual ear plugs in and just DO YOUR THING. And then watch how much you accomplish while all these tools out there that want to critique others spend their days getting more flabby and lethargic and bitter. NOT pretty.

Gotta run-more later-- vacation is imminent and I have to prepare! ;-)

Light it UP.

One of the questions I've been getting recently-- and in the past of course, but most specifically very recently-- is about MOTIVATION or energy to keep with the path. "How do you find the energy when you don't like your results?" or "I have so much weight to lose but I can't get motivated to DO ANYTHING about it....." or "I've tried EVERYTHING in the past and I KNOW I need to change but how- how do get started and not give up?"

There is no one answer. If you've been following my blog for a while you know that the years of 2009/2010 and 2011--- those were 3 glory years of hormonal change hell for me. I didn't know it at the time but I was entering into early-onset perimenopause which gifted me first with serious internal temperature change (HOT all the time) then this ridiculously painful and not nice-looking skin condition that no one could diagnose for over TWO YEARS (NOT A TYPO) and then weight gain-- all in places I'd never had it before.

Good Times.

Anyway-- I did a whole lot of whining, feeling sorry for myself-- deluding myself into thinking I was still operating at full capacity- still being consistent in my workouts and in keeping a healthy diet, when in reality- for most of those 2-3 years, I was going from doctor to doctor, getting WORSE and just laying around my house hiding out from the world- embarrassed about what was happening to me. I was also in the midst of horrible other STUFF going on- losing my job, I was unemployed for 14+ months--- lots of drama personally and professionally--- yea, lots of "character growth" times.

All that said, I finally started to snap out of this by the end of 2011-- or started to at least realize I had to ACCEPT MYSELF and stop punishing myself every day. And I had to get real with myself in seeing where I was and admitting that in addition to the physical "condition" I have now, I had also DROPPED THE BALL. I stopped PLAYING. And I was out of practice.....to say the least. I had been thrown a curve ball and instead of adjusting, I let it hit me in the head and knock me out.

This is so true and it's not just some cheesy Whitney Houston love song. You have to start looking at yourself like you are the kickass prize that you ARE. NOW. Not when you are perfect- because likely, let's get REAL-- you will never think you are there, right?? Let's get REAL. Like yourself NOW. Tell yourself you won't beat yourself up every day and look for the bad in your body. Tell yourself you are CAPABLE AND UNSTOPPABLE. And commit to treating yourself to a killer journey. 

I've talked about this a lot-- my problem the past few years was researching the elusive PERFECT WORKOUT AND DIET PLAN. So I wanted to KNOW-- to absolutely KNOW that if I started Monday, by X days later, I would be X weight GUARANTEED. And I'd read new books or magazines or research on YouTube or blogs HOURS AND HOURS-- and of course all that time NOT WORKING OUT and probably many nights going to Burger King because 'I'm starting on Monday!' (cough cough)---- if I had just STARTED back then as I have end of last year and now--- OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYY LORRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDD. What a bunch of TIME WASTED.  Stop waiting for your body to be perfect before you workout- DUH. Stop waiting for Monday. Stop waiting for a new outfit or a gym membership. USE WHAT YOU HAVE AND START NOW. 

Once you start--- TELL YOURSELF IT WILL TAKE ALL YEAR. Commit to a year- long journey. Don't be an idiot and commit to 12 weeks. Maybe to start sure but stop putting deadlines on it. DO THE WORK and don't stop no matter what-- keep reminding yourself how hard you are working and that it WILL PAY OFF.

Because it will.

I'll be sharing a LOT of the mind-control lessons if you will that I've learned and conquered to finally turn MY ship around.....so stay tuned. Here's one of last week's ramble-on-a-thons:

The top I'm wearing in the vlog above is from the new Yoga line by Tara Stiles at REEBOK: (click to head to the product page on Reebok.com).

Here's a little peek at a video about the goods-- and I might add I'm heading back to my favorite hot yoga studio this weekend yayayayay!!

Now. Tonight I'm off to meet Michael for LEG SLAUGHTER I mean workout. I love me some LEG DAY. What's your favorite body part to train? Are you doing Yoga-- hot or no?

I did Cathe's Tabatacise workout today -- ONLY TABATA ONE people (there are 5 total on one DVD and 5 different workout levels obviously-- I did Tabata One and did it 3x, burned 350 calories and was cursing her the whole time. Seriously this woman is a genius.

She is a MACHINE AND I LOVE HER. 

Um, also obsessed after hopping on the PB2 train. HOLY cow-- you make a syrup for your protein pancakes (for pancakes I use BSN Lean Dessert) or apparently some gals are adding that to protein shakes-- which I need to do next (for shakes, I use GNC AMP and am loving their cookie dough flavor yesss plus it's low carb too) Gosh I have so much to tell you but I have to get to the gym. 

More to follow tomorrow. But til then- KICK SOME BUTT -- START NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

Quit WHINING. Start WINNING.

What's UP people?? Happy Sunday! I hope you people on the EAST coast of the U.S. are ok. We got snow but not too much and today it's starting to melt. Yea, we got snow the day I was supposed to be going to MIAMI for my vacation. BOO. ;-0

I'm over it.

So the title of today's post is QUIT WHINING- START WINNING. And the picture above speaks to this theme as well. I get a little tired of hearing so many people WHINE about their bodies and they DO NOTHING. I get tired of hearing people act as if those of us that DO workout and eat right have taken some magic pill or we have special skills that make it EASIER for us to DO THE WORK.

NOT. TRUE.

It never gets easier necessarily-- you have to continually challenge yourself in your workouts and yes, most people have to ALWAYS focus on their diet to some degree if you want to stay healthy and fit. Period. Get over it. IF that's what you want-- to be fit and healthy- well, embrace the fact that as you get older, every day, every month, every year, you have to keep taking it up a notch. What's the alternative? Being lazy, getting heavier and more out of shape and unhealthy. Doesn't appeal to me. I'm willing to do the work.

YOU NEED TO DECIDE TO DO THE WORK. Understand that -- probably every day-- there will be a point when you WON'T FEEL LIKE IT. Recognize that thought and that it is your inner evil person trying to sabotage your results. That inner evil person (Remember my mantra-- if you hate it then you need to put a name on it?? Put a name on this inner evil person-- call it the same name as your ex girlfriend or ex husband or your boss or whoever gets on your last nerve-- that will make you want to defeat them even more.) wants to push you BACK into the comfort zone.

WHERE NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS. EXCEPT GETTING COMFORTABLE. AND MUSHY.

I didn't FEEL like doing my cardio this morning. I've been sick all week. Aunt Flo arrived today. I slept in. My brain was on full-blast telling me to NOT workout and to BE A SLOTH. But I recognized it and instead ran to the kitchen for some of my favorite BLUE:

Typically once I have some of this, there is no way I'm not working out. It just gets me GOING. Then I put on my POLAR HRM and once I get the heart-beat in there, IT'S ON:

Please note-- IF YOU DON'T HAVE A HRM -- GET ONE. Do you see above--- that's a one hour workout time to burn 374 calories. I've talked about this before how infomercials and sometimes gyms will advertise classes as "BURNS OVER 1000 CALORIES IN AN HOUR!!!" -- and then people believe that. And they do a class and eat accordingly- as if they burned 1000 calories. I don't know that I have EVER burned 1000 calories in an hour in my life and I KILL IT when I workout. Also-- the machines at the gym-- um yea, sorry to tell you- they are also just GUESSING at what you burned and are usually WAY higher. Give yourself a break and get a good HRM, I have been using Polar for years. Highly recommend.

OMG. I swear to GOD if any more technology fails me......the above video for some reason this blasted SQUARESPACE blog cannot seem to recognize the URL. Why? Not a problem with YouTube? Just today--MORE PROBLEMS FROM THIS RIDICULOUSLY ABSURD NON-INTUITIVE NEW BLOG PLATFORM. Yes, the moment I can, I will switch to Wordpress at this point, which I dread-I absolutely dread because I don't like it. I have loved Squarespace for YEARS and years but since upgrading to this version 6-- I want to cut myself. NOTHING WORKS. And everything is soooo counterintuitive.

I have to go. ;-) Writing this blog is putting me into a bad mood.

But I am still a LITTLE sick today so I am NOT leaving the house -----I promise!! I WILL be better tomorrow. I WILL BE BETTER TOMORROW!! ;-)

I am now obsessed with PB2. Holy Cow. Where has this been all my life??

Who told you that you CAN'T?? YOU CAN.

Hey Guys! Happy Friday. We had a pretty killer snowstorm last night, and I'm still recovering from the end of this blasted cold. That said, I still kicked butt yesterday-- did some morning cardio and then, because I knew I wasn't going to attempt to drive in that weather-- I did Cathe's Butts N Gutts like a BOSS at home. THEN I went out and shoveled my driveway! I'm a madwoman aren't I? But I did look up and ask around- the theory being that you can workout when you are sick if your symptoms are above the neck-- if they are below the neck and/or you have a fever-- best to rest.

So, I crushed it. I still have a horrible never-ceasing dry cough and am totally stuffed up. I re-booked my flight to Miami for about a week from now. I cannot wait.

I shot FOUR yes FOUR vlogs this morning-- but they are all uploading so I'll post them later. But---I just wanted to share with you and encourage YOU all to do the same-- that all these changes I'm making in my life-- they are adding up. They are adding up to GOODNESS and a whole lot of it.

1. Variety: My weeks all have variety in my workouts-- it keeps me interested and never bored, and I am also making sure to train the body parts that I usually avoided in the past because I don't like to train them or whatever.
2. Consistency: Regardless of what my schedule is, I workout that day. Even if it is just a cardio day I do it and...I don't quit. I don't quit when I don't know the choreography, I try again. I don't quit before the last 10 minutes because "oh that's enough". I do the entire workout. I don't quit when my arms or legs are shaking and I think I cannot get out one more rep and my face is distorted into all kinds of grimaces and I'm out of breath and grunting like a caged animal- I do not stop.
3. Attitude: Instead of having a -- deep down inside-- doubting attitude where I was filled with insecurity and self-loathing, I now have a HECK YES attitude of I CAN DO ANYTHING and "I'll look in the mirror later". Instead of looking for the bad I could find in the mirror every day and obsessing about it, I find that I spend a lot less time in the mirror and when I do it's usually a double take going HOLY CRAP--- ARE MY THIGHS, ARE THOSE MY THIGHS?? Like, in a good way. I believe in me. I don't doubt me, and now every day is another gift of time-- what can I do with this today?? How much more progress can I make today??
4. New Habits: Tracking EVERYTHING. Planning. Getting more organized and efficient in my fitness life and work life every day. Staying with the plan. Not giving up. Getting to bed earlier. Taking my vitamins/supplements. Getting my rest. Taking care of me-- personal things for ME in my life, not just being a workaholic. SAYING NO TO PEOPLE. Saying yes to things for me once in a while.

One last thing- and it's the reason for the title of this post.

I hear a lot of people saying "Oh, I can't get in shape-- I've had 3 kids and I work way too much.....I don't have time." or "I would love to get more fit but I can't seem to get motivated...."  or "I'd love to lose 10lbs but I've TRIED EVERYTHING. My body just can't lose weight..." or-- "I have a football injury-- so I can't train with weights." or "I could NEVER do what you do, I just don't have the energy!"

WHO TOLD YOU THAT YOU CAN'T? WHO TOLD YOU THAT YOU DON'T?

STOP GIVING POWER TO ALL THESE CAN'T AND DON'T THOUGHTS. BECAUSE THAT'S ALL THEY ARE. YES. YOU. CAN. YES. YOU. WILL.

I dare you to stop giving in to all those wimpy EXCUSES. Give yourself a challenge. Take one excuse and then go balls to the wall to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you CANNOT IN ANY WAY DO IT. I guarantee you will surprise yourself.

YOU HAVE TIME. YOU HAVE ENERGY. YOU HAVE MOTIVATION. YOU HAVE DESIRE. YOU HAVE ABILITY. YOU HAVE ALL YOU NEED INSIDE OF YOU. STOP DOUBTING. STOP BEING SCARED OF FAILING.

"I'm so glad I did NOTHING this year and gained 15 pounds. I feel great that I get out of breath walking up the stairs and have no desire to do anything except sit at home on my couch and watch The Bachelor. Life is good."  -- said NO ONE. Ever.

It's all good. I am SO PROUD OF MYSELF. I am so AMPED. I am so happy. I am TRANSFORMING in every way. Who wants to join me?? ;-)

Focus on what you CAN control.

Hey All. I'd normally say Happy Wednesday but today, Wednesday sucks a bit. Why? I'm supposed to be on the beach right now. Where am I? Home in bed. Sick. #$@(@%@(#*%% had to cancel my flight at 5am this morning because I was up all night with this horrific sore throat. Not only did I know it would not be wise to travel with this condition, but I also knew that it would be really rude to show up at my friends' houses and be potentially contagious.

Yes. You may feel sorry for me.

That said, in all seriousness, I will just go later. I have a nice window of time before The Arnold, and I am not staying at hotels so it's easy for me to just change my flight. Am I happy about being sick? NO. But -- I've learned-- probably one of the best lessons I've learned as an adult --is to recognize that over which you have no control. It makes it a LOT easier to get through life when you LET GO OF OBSESSING OVER THINGS you cannot control. I've spent WAY TOO MUCH OF MY LIFE obsessing over things that I had no control over and guess what-- 90% of the time, what I was worrying about and obsessing about-- NEVER HAPPENED. 

People - call me a Self-Help Book Wannabe but really-- LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES. Too many people live in denial or refuse to look hard at themselves and see what behaviors they need to change. You can change everything but-- to do so, you have to CHANGE something. Not always fun to realize, as you learn lessons in life-- that you've wasted time maybe. But trust me when I say this, the you embrace the concept of objectively looking at yourself and seeing where you need to change and then CHANGING THAT-- and being humble enough to admit your faults, issues, problems, fears, doubts, insecurities, whatever-- YOU WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Trust me. This can be applied to work, to relationships, to fitness, to anything. Stop being so proud and thinking you have nothing to work on. WE ALL DO. Get over yourself. 

What are the biggest lessons I'm learning? THE ONES ABOUT MYSELF-- what's in MY HEAD that impedes my progress in my fitness journey, my work, my company, my past jobs, my relationships, etc. It is so freeing to figure that stuff out and then to CHANGE. Now that I have my mind open and am able to recognize how often I would find a reason to quit-- a workout DVD series or a style of workouts or a training plan-- now that I have seen it in myself, put a name on it-- NOW when that happens, my mind has become trained to TRAMPLE THAT BIOTCH. That's right. When I want to quit, I realize that's my mind not my body. And I remember how much a** I am kicking. And then, I keep going.

I babbled on about this habit in the above vlog. Please enjoy while you fall asleep. ;-) But really people-- change your mind.

If you don't like something, AND YOU CAN'T CHANGE IT, CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT IT.

I don't compare myself with other people anymore. If I'm at the gym and I am running on the treadmill and 6mph is a great pace for me, I'm not gonna give up if someone gets on next to me at 10mph. That's THEIR run. If someone lifts 10lbs heavier than me who cares? I get stronger each workout and go heavier than the last time, THAT'S WHAT COUNTS. I compete with ME. And the results are dang nice.

I kid you not people, the amount of times I am doing a double take in the mirror lately- cannot even count anymore. Seriously.

That said, I'm planning to kick this cold's A** to the curb pronto so I can get my vacation on. I've read that it's ok to workout when you are sick as long as it is above the neck-- so I might get some cardio on later. I hate just lying in bed. UGH.

But, this is temporary. And I'm gonna enjoy Miami THAT MUCH MORE when I feel better in a few days. ;-)

Manic Monday. Blah.

Happy Monday everyone. Sigh. I have to be honest, I'm not crazy excited as I type this, I've been in bed most of the day. ;-( What's up with that? I think the madness of last week (because I'm just back to posting regularly, I will have to explain that situation later but suffice it to say I got NO SLEEP at my hotel last week, except for one night. Meaning I was tossing and turning and not able to sleep 5 out of 6 nights. Misery. And y'all know that's the #1 way I get sick is when I'm missing sleep. Where was my Technogel mattress and a portable air conditioner??)  plus travel in general has given me a touch of a cold- AND I was a bad girl last week taking my vitamins too! NAUGHTY.  So today I woke up with a sore throat. I thought it was like -- just a dry throat but after I did some cardio, I realized that OH CRAP I really DO have a sore throat. UGH. 

So, I'm writing a quick update here and then crawling back in bed. Taking Zicam every 3 hours as that usually knocks any impending cold out fast. I have my humidifier going in my room and of course I'm totally all over my Technogel pillows-- being that they keep your face/head COOL it's even better when you are sick with a slight fever.

There are times like this where I just want someone to be here all day and wait on me hand and foot. Is this wrong?

I'M SUPPOSED TO LEAVE ON VACATION ON WEDNESDAY! WTH.

So here are a few updates on -- what's my gig lately-- what I'm doing now that's working for me and what I'm loving and what is helping me.

Diet To Go Meals. Here's a little video that Dr. Mike did about Diet To Go and there is a certain woman he's talking about in this video that might sound like me......hmmmm..

Dr. Mike is brilliant. For me, as he said in this video, we also added one protein shake to match my training. It's working. The meals are fantastic. Honest to God, so convenient-- no brainer. You don't have to think-- you just pop in the microwave for 2.5 minutes. Bam. Really making my life at home when I'm not traveling a BREEZE. I cannot recommend them enough. I'll keep featuring photos of the food so you can see examples. 

Still using my vitamins (except last week LOL even though I did pack them) and supplements. GNC Genetix HD, GNC Vitapaks and probiotics, and I'm adding in some BSN goodness very soon. Stay tuned for that. Good thing is- I've developed ROUTINES and HABITS. Things are flowing-- it takes a while to do this, to get things where your mind and body expect them- BUT WORK FOR THAT. IT IS SO WORTH IT.

I am tracking everything. Use my Polar HRM for measuring all my workouts. I am weighing myself daily when at home but-- far less attached to what the # on the scale says because my body is making REMARKABLE changes. Seriously. I saw Michael when I got back and he did an informal assessment and said I am much farther along than he expected. Dang that felt AWESOME to hear. And it makes me work even HARDER. Success breeds success people. But like I said in the last post-- you have to wait for it. Don't keep starting over like I did in the past. HECK-- ONE MONTH IN TO THE NEW YEAR AND I AM IN AWE OF WHAT I'VE ACCOMPLISHED. How long has it been since you've heard me say that?? And why?? Why can I say that??

1. I haven't given up. Absolutely there were times I wanted to -- probably when I first stepped on the scale! But I kept going. I have not given up -- even before the start of the new year, but for record keeping on this blog, let's just refer to the new year for reference. All January-- I have been ON IT.
2. I am tracking things-- tracking me-- my behavior and results--- objectively. It's like studying yourself and figuring yourself out and then editing yourself. It gets fun, in a sick way. LOL
3. I am pushing it EVERY WORKOUT. Not quitting early. Always going heavy with weights. Heavier each time. Cardio-- mixing it up. Adding new stuff to keep me interested, amped, excited and having fun. See below.

PHOTO SOURCE.

You all know I've been addicted to Ilaria's Bodystrikes DVDs forever. She has brand new DVDS out now, I have yet to get them but I'M ALL OVER THAT. I was supposed to meet with her in NYC last week but OY VEY I got too busy. Stay tuned for more on her. But highly recommend her DVDS-- you can see previews on Collage Video.

And then of course, I've always been addicted to ANYTHING by Cathe Friedrich. And now she's done it again with Xtrain. I'm spoiled as heck because she is on my FitFluential Board of Advisors and so PERK I got the Xtrain series sent to me. Kittens - OMG. She has put together a KILLER KILLER set of workouts here. I talked about it in a preview here in this video:

I did the lower body cardio DVD the other night-- and of course was not disappointed. Seriously- EVERY SINGLE DVD BY THIS WOMAN IS STELLAR and she offers about 2 billion premixes on each DVD as well.

People. I am NOT just saying this because I am a Beachbody "Coach" and can make a commission if you buy this. I've been a coach forever and I recommend both BB products and non-BB like Ilaria etc. I AM SO ANNOYED AT MYSELF FOR NOT GETTING INTO THIS EARLIER. I remember over a year ago my friend Jess loaned me her copy while she was pregnant. It was right after I seriously hurt my left shoulder and I couldn't do it so what did I do?? GIVE UP. Now, I'm using it and I AM SO IN LOVE WITH THESE WORKOUTS I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH. The music is high high energy. Chalene (full disclosure, she is a friend) is soooo adorable and her body is enough to make you want to do this alone. There are like 700 DVDS in this package. OMG. I cannot get over how many workouts-- tons at 10 minutes (HIIT), 20, 30, 40 and 60. I can't say enough how addicted I am to this. (You can order from me on my BB site by CLICKING HERE.)

And y'all know when I saw this preview for Les Mills Combat I was DROOLING. I'm a huge kickboxing fan. HUGE. And it's been hard because Billy Blanks- love him but his workouts the past many years have not been hard or sweatfests in my opinion. Um. Les Mills is FUN totally fun and you get your sweat on. LOVE LOVE LOVE. (You can order at my site as well-- they appear to be down right now, hopefully Beachbody will fix that by tomorrow. OY)

TOTALLY BADASS. I TOTALLY LOVE. I am like a kid at Christmas each day that I do a workout at home---because I have all these amazing workouts to choose from. FREAKING AWESOME. And with all the DVDS and then Cathe's premixes.....helloooo. I have variety forever. Then I add my time at the gym where I KILL IT and that's what is making life FUN. It makes it easier to choose grilled chicken and wait a bit longer untikl my next Giordano's Pizza party. ;-)

I'm going back to bed. Taking care of me. How about you? What new habits or workouts or treats are you giving yourself to keep you motivated and amped????

DISCLOSURE: GNC, Technogel, Diet To Go, Polar USA are all clients of my company, FitFluential. All opinions are my own. I am also an independent BeachBody Coach and if you order products via my site I will earn a commission. 

It all adds up. Seriously.

Happy Superbowl Sunday people! Of course, those of you that know me know that I could not care less about the Superbowl. I didn't even know who was playing until Thursday. You can see I'm really bothered about that. NOT. ;-)

So I took this photo this morning after my killer sweatfest- went for some old school Insanity-- Plyometric Cardio Circuit. OMG.

I haven't done Insanity in forever but wow, I forgot how fun it is and how badass you feel doing it. I burned a bit over 300 calories, see below:

.....and that brings me to a point I made on Instagram today (you can follow me on Instagram -- KellyOlexa.) -- get yourself a Heart Rate Monitor people. Seriously- y'all know I've been using them for like 5+ years-- you cannot trust what a machine at the gym tells you or what some marketing push for a class is (Burns up to 1000 calories in an hour!!!) People pleez, I workout HARD and I have yet to burn 1000 calories after A TWO HOUR WORKOUT. Get real. Don't kid yourself-- you want to really track results, get a heart rate monitor. Of course, I've used Polar for years and now (Full Disclosure, they are a client of my company, FitFluential-- but clearly these opinions are my own) I'm even more adamant about it when I see how far off the gym machines are. It bothers me to see people relying on that and getting frustrated by their weight loss or lack thereof. They probably eat MORE because they think they are burning more.

Now....in the spirit of catching up on things.....and in the spirit of talking about how people think they've burned more calories so they tend to eat more.....I think we all have a pretty good concept of the fact that how much we eat is -- well it is a BIG predictor of how well we will do in the weight loss area. And you've heard me talking about this new company I discovered last month (late December) called Diet To Go. So-- while those of you that are connected with me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have seen all of my yummy photos and discussions about this already-- see below my little video review (Disclosure-- Diet To Go is a client of my company, FitFluential, but as we know, all the opinions expressed here are my own.)

Now the picture above was a typical dinner meal from Diet To Go. They've been kind enough to let me use their meals exclusively for a couple of weeks (with the addition of a protein shake each day to meet my protein/supp goals). 

As you can see, the Chicken Fontina I had was quite delicious looking-- it's REAL FOOD and -- also -- note, I've been using the Lo-Carb plan as recommended for me by Dr. Mike Roussell who you know has been coaching me on my diet plan. I'd say 99% of the meals I've had are under 500-600 calories. I've liked pretty much all of them. The pork meals didn't rock my world but-- here's the thing. I don't like Pork. So I can't fault DTG for that. I also felt a bit biased in that I think MY Turkey Meatloaf is better than theirs. Is that wrong? Go ahead and judge me. I will tell you this-- the breakfasts blow my mind. Many of them under 300 calories-- and how easy is this-- ALL MEALS YOU JUST UNWRAP AND HEAT IN MICROWAVE FOR 2 AND A HALF MINUTES. Brilliant. I can't say enough how much I think this is a valuable service --- for convenience, for portion control and value. No more worrying about going to 7 grocery stores and spending 4 hours prepping meals on Sunday. (Not that I ever actually DID THAT, but I did talk about WANTING TO DO IT....#fail) I'll share more photos in my next posts. I'm a massive fan and am totally addicted and spoiled. Seriously-- check them out-- all meals are under (by my calculations) $8 and hello that's what quite often a fast food drive through meal can cost. HELLO!

Above is a typical breakfast with sausage and a quiche and some peppers. YUM.

Now, I'm about to head out-- but the title of my post is, "It all adds up, seriously" I think you might know what I mean-- I've been babbling on about this but really-- this month of January as I kicked more butt in the FOCUS department and in the CONSISTENCY department and in the STICKING TO THE PLAN department- I am seeing the results. I have never seen such significant changes in my body in such a short amount of time. In fact, I'd suggest I've made more progress just this month than all last year, in fact I know it. I have not had one cheat meal the whole month. I'm eating Diet To Go meals at home, and on the road I pack proactively and order carefully. I feel fantastic. Mentally and physically. I have energy and drive and -- wow it's hard to not be psyched as heck when you get up each day FEELING GREAT and seeing it. I am TRACKING EVERYTHING and will now-- NOW THAT THE BLASTED BLOG IS FINALLY UP AND VISIBLE TO THE PUBLIC AND I CAN POST AGAIN-- I will now start sharing more of my training and my eats and all of that. I'm learning so much. 

I'm loving every second. I am so freaking excited and so proud and just amped.

How are YOU FEELING as we head into Month #2 of the year?? Are you crushing it or have you stalled? or did you even start? What's stopping you??

Welcome Back.

Happy Saturday people!! OMG. Seriously-- so I am home yes and I did my nice little sweatfest this morning-- Cathe's Xtrain Lower Body Cardio. And here I am finally putting up a blog post -- because we finally got my BLOG functional, and now guess what??? YES I AM ON THE PHONE WITH COMCAST TECH SUPPORT TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY SUDDENLY ALL OF MY EMAIL IS NOT BEING SENT ON THIS COMPUTER.

Yes. More technical problems. I swear to God I am going to lose my freaking mind soon if SOMETHING doesn't just WORK. We had to switch servers for our company email because the company we were using InMotion Hosting was um, not working. So we researched and switched to Google Apps as a hosting solution and now that is apparently affecting my gmail.com stuff and it is SO ANNOYING. Here's the thing-- I spent more than 4 hours on these settings on my laptop on Monday. Not a typo - yes, 4 hours--and finally got it working on my Outlook etc. on my laptop. So I come home and come into my home office today and think, I'll copy the settings here on the new PC and go. NOT SO FAST. Everything on this PC is set up EXACTLY WITH THE SAME SETTINGS AS MY LAPTOP but here-- it's not working. So now I am YET AGAIN on the phone with some guy in tech support who can't seem to figure out why this is not working.

PLEASE KILL ME.

Just to reiterate why I am SO SO SO ANNOYED -- here is everything that I've bought or upgraded in the past 30 days that is not working:

1. Brand new DELL XPS All-in-One: have been on the phone 2x with tech support fixing apparently BIOS settings that made the entire systems inoperable.
2. Brand new Jabra Bluetooth Headset system for Land Line, Mobile and Skype- finally got it working AFTER I had to go buy a corded phone (WTH) and now every time I use it there is echoing and feedback-- so MORE time I will have to spend with tech support to see if I can fix it.
3. Brand new iPod: not functioning correctly. Need to exchange.
4. Brand new wireless mouse for the computer from Plantronics: does everything great but no functions like copy/paste. Good times. Can't use it.
5. Brand new iPhone 5- no Mophie extended battery for the phone so after you make like 1 phone call your battery starts dying, oh and there is a totally different charger so it won't work with all the other iphone chargers you have. #FAIL
6. Brand new Bluetooth Plantronics Headset: barely fits my ear. 
7. My old blog- upgrading from Squarespace version 5 to version 6 took about 2 weeks to become functional due to strange WHO KNOWS WHAT.

Whatever. I'm SO OVER THIS. My GOD.

Fun right? I had to modify seriously a lot in this because I messed up my right shoulder this week doing Les Mills Combat (boo hoo Kelly) so after about 50 minutes I burned about 325 calories. LOVE me some Cathe.

Now I have to deal with more tech support BS so I am leaving you with a few peeks from this week of me kicking a** in NYC on my trip.

Even in the airport with a delayed flight, I did not cave and have Auntie Annie's Pretzels. nope. I had Designer Whey Protein to Go. I gotta tell you guys and gals, I dig this stuff a lot-- great flavors, a little fizzy too and you can mix/match the flavors-- whey isolate so I can take it. 50 calories each packet with 10g protein so I use 2 or 2.5 to make my drink with water. YUM. 

Had a LOT Of grilled chicken breast this trip- I seem to like it when they butterfly the chicken breast and it's more well-done. Just my thing.

Also did great at the hotel and out with clients. Yes I went to a fabulous Italian place with my friends at Runner's World Magazine and ---- I had chicken breast only! BOOYA. I ordered sashimi only with seaweed salad. BOOYA. I had egg white omelets for breakfast with MY OWN OATS in a Shaker Cup booya I roll that way people. Packed my coconut oil so I had my own coffee too. Felt great.

Brought all my friends with me to train in the room. LOVE IT. And the hotel had a DVD PLAYER BONUS!

SO. I'm off. Have things to do and frustration to take out at the gym. ;-) Did you guys have a great week?? 

All Together Now.

Hey All. Happy Sunday. I'm in NYC this week, just arrived today. It feels kind of weird to be blogging again after all the technical difficulties the past 2 weeks. I still have a lot of stuff to work out for this new site, but we'll get there. 

Anyway, I am actually going to get my workout clothes on and get my sweatfest going shortly. My flight got in around 2pm EST and I was so so so tired. OMG. I did not sleep well last night and so after arriving and unpacking, I actually for the first time in YEARS...took a NAP. A NAP. I actually slept. I was that tired. I usually can't sleep unless it's bedtime and unless I have my BFF Advil PM with me. Apparently sometimes being just plain TIRED can work too. Who knew?

Amen to this one. I will tell you all this, I can easily say that I've done just as much work on my mind and changing my mindset the past few months as I have on my body. And it's all coming together now. It's a beautiful thing because I wake up feeling invincible. I wakl around feeling unstoppable. I am EXCITED about my next workout because I know that each workout is adding to the INVESTMENT I'm making in myself. It accumulates and becomes visible at different times and in different ways for all of us. I'll tell you one thing it feels like HEAVEN when people you haven't even asked -- just out of the blue start telling you how different you look and asking what you are doing differently. ;-)

So true. Michael and I were talking about food the other day and I shared with him my mind fascination with Giordano's Pizza and how on my birthday I am SO HAVING IT. I'm being SO SO good and focused on my dieting for NOW-- I'm being more disciplined than I honestly EVER have been. And really it's not this horrible agony of obsessing about what I am not eating regularly but yea.....you mention pizza and I want it bad. But I sure as heck like seeing what's happening with my abs more. That's the thing. Is a taste of something NOW-- something that you know you can have regularly later in life (the "dieting" thing is temporary and then you are into more of a maintenance mode where indulgent meals are more common) really worth it more than what you are creating? For me the answer is no. I have never felt so good and never been so amazed at what I'm accomplishing. That's the funny thing-- my mind is more focused on the process than on obsessing about WHAT I SEE IN THE MIRROR. I'm tracking everything and treating myself like a scientific study and it ends up distracting you in many ways from being obsessed with THE SHORT TERM instead of focused on the LONG-TERM.

I have the perfect ANALOGY I'm going to tell you tomorrow-- I actually shot a vlog tonight in my hotel room but the lighting was so bad I kind of just gave up. It was not acceptable. So here is one of my last vlogs and then we should be I think caught up.

Ahhhhh. Another thing I have to figure out on my new blog platform-- formatting the videos. I'll get to it. Right now they show up just plain black no title. We'll work on that. Now I am off to sweat. I packed all my favorite workouts and this hotel has a 24 hour gym that I will probably go preview now......weights tomorrow, but cardio tonight. ;-) I am ABSOLUTELY LOVING AND ADDICTED TO TurboFire and also Les Mills Combat. And Cathe's new XTrain series with 140 premixes and some serious hard core advanced weight training and mixes, I am a kid in a candy store every day. Only not candy. Um, protein shakes. ;-) 

DORKY.

I am off to sweat. Pictures later. Videos tomorrow and this blog will GROW AND FLOURISH as it is now live again. AMEN.

What did you do this weekend??

FINALLY KO is BACK IN BUSINESS. DANG!

Oh my goodness people. It's been rather  whirlwind of sheer madness around here the past few weeks. I don't know if you have seen THIS blog or my old one but let's just say for about 7-10 days I had some SERIOUS ISSUES getting my blog transferred and LIVE. I was on the phone with GoDaddy and Squarespace and pretty much everyone you can imagine. Then-- I think I may or may not have mentioned that I've just had all my cool new technology that I bought in December like NOT WORK on me.

Seriously. I need Botox from all the frowning I've done the past few weeks. So I've been kicking a** in the gym and the kitchen but DANG PEOPLE, every single technology thing has been destroying me. My new Jabra headset, my new iPOD, my blog transfer, my garage door broke, my new iPhone-- um, no Mophie available until the end of January and I rely on the extra battery time ok.......my new DELL has had me on the phone with tech support at least 2x with utter like BREAK DOWNS. People-- I am not a newbie. I can safely call myself an intermediate level tech savvy person. But DAMN. 

I'm just saying it again DAMN!

So...........

Isn't that awesome? Saw it on Pinterest of course. And I will tell you this, I'm going to talk and blab a LOT about this in my vlogs but this is true people-- OUR FUTURE SUCCESS IS SO MUCH ABOUT OUR MIND. It's our mind that tells us to get OVER not wanting to get out of bed in the morning and go to the gym. It's our MIND that tells us "Yea, that extra happy hour this week DOES matter if I want to be as ripped as I wanna be..." It's our MIND that makes us keep going when we are busting our a** in the gym and then we weigh ourselves and don't like what we see.

The big challenge isn't really (in my opinion) what your body CAN DO. Your body is amazing. You CAN do so much more than you think. It's our MINDS that have to push it.

More later. I'm heading to NYC tomorrow- will be there all week. Now that my blog is finally functional again I will get caught up-- more blogs daily as I promised before but forgive me, technology gave me a time out.

That said-- am I still crushing it? OMG YES. I was at the gym today with Michael doing shoulders and how much does it make my day when someone walks up to me and asks how much weight I've lost because I look so different?? Unsolicited comments like that ROCK MY FACE OFF. I got my nails done on Thursday and SHE said "What is your trainer doing to you because your body looks totally different?" It's ON people. I haven't been this focused or consistent in 2+ years. This is the year that everything DOES change.

PSYCHED.

If you are in NYC and want to join us====on Thursday we are doing a little throw-down workout with Brett Hoebel who is also recently FitFluential-ized. He's such an amazing person, and y'all know I've loved his workouts for a while. JOIN us if you can NYC peeps. But you must RSVP. ;-)

Now. I must go chill out a bit, then pack. Limo gets here pretty early tomorrow morning but I'm fine with that cuz I get up at 6:30am regularly now. BOOYA.

Here is one of my recent Ramble-On-A-Thons from .....well last week probably. Sorry guys and gals, I'm seriously catching up this week. ;-) PROMISE.

Hmmm. Still learning how to post all my stuff on the new blog but I am liking the look of it. Do you?? Are you all at the right blog? ;-) I'll put up a note on my old blog so everyone comes HERE.

WELCOME BACK TO ME. ;-)