Treat yourself. Better.

Yes, this is me after a workout. I'm always smiling and feeling great. And I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that I'm focusing on improving my life- every part of it-- by treating myself better. That means no more negative self-talk. Been there, done that for several years, y'all know. Perimenopause hit me and I fell down and then just did a lot of whining and moaning about it, a lot of beating myself up about everything, a lot of picking myself apart from head to toe....where did that get me? NOWHERE. Now, my attitude IS UP AND UP AND UP. I accept me now, then and future. I recognize MY UNIQUE talents and beauty and I own it. I'm not competing with you or anyone else. I am unabashedly ME. God created me with unlimited potential and I aim to own it. God created me with a mind and body capable of great things and I will treat that mind and body like a temple, as I should. 

How else can I treat myself better (in ways I haven't in the past few years) and how can you adopt simple things that will make BIG lasting changes??

Spend more time with friends. I spent two years doing NOTHING but working......all the time. ALL THE TIME. I had no social life and I lost touch with a lot of friends. Now it is WONDERFUL to have great friends like Jami, among others who just bring me so much joy. Heading up to WI with Amy for the KOSS event-- we had SO MUCH FUN!!! And I get to see Laura in Atlanta soon (yea I'm there on business but seeing her and my Hotlanta friends-- sooo exciting). I get to see Carla at Fitbloggin next month.....and my friend Linda here locally-- let me tell you, when she and I get together for sushi and girl talk (this weekend we went to see that movie The Wedding- LOVED IT) --- it is just pure fun. I am blessed with friends and LOVE making time to spend with them. 

For me, the more yoga I do  the better. It's both for my mind and my body and it's the only time- other than during massage or sleep that my mind is STILL. I need that.

I cannot tell you how much massage does for me. My muscles get soooooooo tight and having the best massage is not only relaxing, it helps with overall conditioning. And I have yet to meet a spa service that I don't like. I don't need fancy cars and ridiculously huge houses with too many rooms, but give me more spa time and I am golden. ;-)

I've really gotten back into my skincare rituals again. Yes, rituals. Allowing myself the TIME I deserve to take care of my skin. At 44 I feel fantastic about how I look- I have used Arbonne skin care for about 6-7 years now...adding a lot more products for the face and body, and also starting to use some of their health/fitness/spa products too-- that's a separate post. But taking care of my skin in the morning and night- it makes a difference.

Vacations. Plural. Not just talking about it but actually BOOKING them. Lots more to come. Because, I work hard and relax WELL.

Treat yourself with mini-rewards. We all work hard in this fitness journey-- and now I like giving myself (non-food related) rewards along the way. Something like new sneakers (why do I think that word sounds so dorky?? I say tennis shoes, which is even more dorky because I don't play tennis....HMMM) or a great new workout outfit or....the new Sparkly Sould headbands I just got (addicting!!! sassy plus they keep the hair back and they do not move!!)....(To get the shoes above, visit Reebok.com.)

I'm taking more time to READ. For personal and business instead of all business. 

All of this-- all that I am changing -- all that I am making time for in my life- it's making me more effective in my work. It's changing everything.

And then love happened and now I make time for that. Clearly I don't need to explain why. ;-)

Balance. It's doable. It looks different for everyone-- but -- it is attainable and probably will always transform as life progresses. What I can say is this....all work and no play is no way to live.

LIVE your life.

DISCLOSURE: Reebok and Sparkly Soul are both clients of my company, FitFluential. All opinions shared here 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??