Body Soiree

I have always said how much I don't like the word Challenge or how people will try to make everything a challenge. I don't like weight loss challenges, squat challenges(really?! you don't like your knees or your back much.) or don't drink wine for a month challenge( this one is just down right evil). But I realized that every day that I get up, I am and have been challenging myself to do something new or something that takes me out of my comfort zone: This has always been my Challenge. Talk to someone new, smile and speak to strangers, get out of my own head. Most people don't understand how hard this can be for some of us, when you would rather be reading with a cup of coffee. They tend to think I am full of it when I say it is hard for me, seeing the profession I am in. Just because we can do certain things, doesn't mean it is easy, right? So, when I wake up most mornings, I do try and set a goal for the day, albeit small(some days the big goals are just too b...

I heard a story the other day that made my hair stand on end(that says a lot seeing that my hair stands on end anyway!) My hair on end and anger growing, I listened to this story told to me from a young lady that I have known for some time regarding how she was hurt by a Personal Trainer. Hurt how? I asked.  She responded by telling me this Trainer's training style: If you say the exercise is hurting you, they respond by saying "PUSH THROUGH!" You say it is really hurting your back, they say "NO PAIN! NO GAIN!" Really? She told me a few more things that were upsetting and I apologized to her for all of us Trainers that try and leave our ego's at the door. Here is the deal everyone, and I need you to remember this: Exercise, though sometimes difficult to get through, is done to make you feel better! Hiring a Personal Trainer is a smart and honest move for people that understand they aren't going to go the distance on their own. So I wonder: Why hire some...

“You were born with potential.  You were born with goodness and trust. You were born with ideals and dreams. You were born with greatness.  You were born with wings.  You are not meant for crawling, so don't.  You have wings.  Learn to use them and fly.”  ―  Rumi    I love asking my kids, friends and Clients to list all of the reasons they are great. What I, and you will notice, if you do this little test, is that people get so shy about talking about what they love about themselves. As if saying that you think you are wonderful is a sin, and maybe for some that is how they were raised. To praise oneself is a form of arrogance and conceit? But those two words have nothing to do with True love for yourself, so don't worry! Arrogance and conceit usually comes from insecurity anyway and today we choose not to be insecure. Today is the day we stop with self-deprecation! Today is the day that we embrace, kiss, and enjoy who we are! This is a lo...

I say something to my Personal Training clients that I always said to myself and still do: "Don't make this whole weight loss thing bigger than what it is(excuse the pun). In fact, don't make most things going on in your life bigger than you! Put everything that is going on in your life in the correct place and order; from the issues that are out of your control to what can be done right now to make your life better. No one can tell you what is the most important issue, because what might be a problem for me, might seem like a non-issue to you, and this is why you have to sit quietly and go over your priority list. I try not to say write a "Problem List" I use the word priority instead; it is way more positive and why turn it negative if we don't have to? So, sit and write your priority list, once you have finished, look and see what is number 1, is it your health?  9 out of 10 times, for most of us, it isn't. The list usually goes like this: 1. Pay car/h...

No one, when I was a kid, ever called depression, depression. Did we even know that word existed in the eighties?  It was referred to as "being blue" or "having a case of the blues." I didn't know that word, depression, until I got older and it became the "it" word for everything. Oh, he isn't talking today, he must be depressed! She has been a bit standoffish and quiet; must be depression! Regular folks became mini psychiatrists and got on everyone's nerves with their two bit analysis of your bad day or week. I can only speak from my truth, which I always try to do and it is not easy. Why? Because you don't want people to know when you are in a depression. How can you explain what you are feeling? I almost feel ashamed, being my worst judge and critic, as if I caused it in some way. How can I speak about positive thinking, exercising and being emotionally and spiritually healthy when I am struggling just getting out of my bed? I went again...

It is amazing to me how being near the ocean( pick one, doesn't matter) can make you feel. Some people say they feel their mortality, small and insignificant or even scared. But as I sit here watching the Atlantic, all I feel or have ever felt, is hopeful. I have had the pleasure of living on both coasts, always near the water and nothing makes me feel so full of wonderment than the ocean. I am always in a better mood when walking a beach (who isn't?) I am able to think clearer, plan better and all of this without wine! A good friend, who is very much into astrology, tried to explain to me my love for water and anything aquatic by saying it is due to me being a Pisces. Hhhhmmm.... I said, because if that were the case I would be able to SWIM! This is what makes this all too funny to me; I don't swim. I was never taught and I love the water. I am not afraid of it, I will get in it with you, splash about and even put my head under, I just can't swim to save my life OR you...

As a Personal Trainer and fellow Human Being, I tend to wonder about the mental state of people. Look! I get it! Everyone wants the "hot and perfect" body(as if that exists) but what I don't get is subjecting our children to these crazy, unrealistic expectations.  Why are parents hiring Personal Trainers for their pre-teens? Nine and ten year old children with Trainers? Really!? Unless they are some type of sports prodigy; I don't get it. Shouldn't outside be their gym? Whatever happened to playing outside? or if it is too cold, playing INSIDE!? When did this become passe'? I actually heard a group of twelve year old's and I knew they were twelve by the class they were in, discussing how they try not to eat carbohydrates! At twelve I didn't know what a carb was. I knew meat, vegetables, fruit, rice and potatoes, I didn't even know those were starches! Now where did those children learn this? The Parent(s)! Body Dysmorphia and myths regarding food a...

"You know I'm cursed with morals. I was raised a certain way. I wish I wasn't. I wish I was raised by wolves."  Carson Daly  It's funny how you read something and it expresses just what you are feeling or going through at the time; almost God sent. I read this quote while pondering if I should keep a friend in my life who, by past experiences, isn't much of a friend to me. I guess you call people like this 'associates?' Yes, they have been relegated to the associate shelf. It isn't as if they are this horrible person that tosses cat's for fun; they just can't seem to rise above their raising. And the sad thing is; they don't want to. If you have never heard the phrase "Rise above your raising" let me explain it to you: some of us have parents that weren't always the best examples in certain situations. Bad habits, no coping skills and a general skewed perspective on the world and life is sometimes the legacy we inherit....

"Nobody cares about your excuses.nobody pities you for procrastinating nobody is going to coddle you because you are lazy.its your ass you move it." I saw this quote and had to share it. When I saw it; it was as if someone had been listening to my inner thoughts when I first started seriously exercising.  My mantra, said while power walking, jogging, or anything that I didn't want to do and had to force myself, was: Get up and MOVE! Move that fat ASS! Seeing that it is my butt, I can call it fat all I want and I did. Everyone has their own mantra and motivator's, we also have our excuses: I don't have time, I don't like to sweat( seriously!?), I feel funny working out, people are judging me( they already have, who cares!), my body jiggles( yes, because you don't workout!) etc. And while we have all used one of these or created new excuses, it is still our butts getting wider by the minute. Sitting on the sofa, watching whatever television show is caus...