Body Soiree

As a Personal Trainer you will have all types of clients and hopefully you will at least like most of them. But there are those clients that stand out and insert themselves into your heart without you looking, Patrick is one of those clients for me. Patrick is a tall, gangling young man who happens to be Autistic. His observations on Life and weight loss are simple and direct. I call them: The Patrick Rules- Eating too much candy will Kill you, especially chocolate. Now mind you, Patrick loves chocolate. Rated R movies shouldn't be watched, because you never know what you are going to get. His words exactly. Don't be mean or grouchy, it will steal smiles. Patrick works hard and he is steadfast. He never complains! And I love how he will say to me, when something is new for him and a little bit difficult " Dawn, this is challenging, but I have faith in Me, I can do it." Wow. Patrick is also his own "hype man" whenever he does well, he will say to himself, ...

As I have gotten older I have realized what a know-it-all I have been. I say "have been" because I also realized that I don't know squat about a lot of things. I just turned forty...something, and as I look back I am a little bit ashamed of how I didn't like to take advice or listen to people who actually did know what they were talking about. Is that youth or being a know-it-all? Or are those two intertwined? It was a point of pride for me to be able to figure things out on my own when I was younger. I felt that by asking for advice or seeking help made me immature and that people would think me weak and unprepared for life. How insecure and wrong I was. To ask for help doesn't make you weak, it makes you wise. There have been so many times throughout my life that I have needed help and couldn't bring myself to ask for help. If I had, it would have saved me a lot of heartache I am sure.  One of my friends has a saying "A closed mouth, is a hungry mouth....

I love to see people doing kind things for other people. The opening of a door, picking up something that someone dropped, or paying for someone's coffee. All acts of kindness that back in the day would have been rote; not so much in today's market, huh?  Bad news and bad behavior seem to be king and the king is doing big business. We have two types of people here: The naughty that are never nice and on the other hand the self-aggrandizing, bloated ego and oh, please stroke it! Look at what I did club. The naughty but never nice people I can deal with. We all see them for who they are, because they don't try to be anything else. There is no pretense; they are jerks. It is the other group that bothers me. I started this blog by listing a few kind things that I have seen people do for others, now imagine the same people, after doing these kind acts, running to their computers to  immediately  post, tweet or blog about what they had done? I have seen this happen, on a bigger...

I woke up today aggravated. I mean really in a nasty mood, I don't know why, I was just...mean.  It was a mood where nothing made me happy, the voice in my head was peevish, grouchy and full of snark! and I am not at all proud of this. You know it is a bad mood when coffee won't even help. What!? No, my great comforter coffee couldn't even get me out of this dark cloud. When I get like this, and sometimes I do, the best thing for me to do is a self-evaluation. My first question to myself is: What the @!#& is wrong with you!? It is asked in a very professional way and in a secure environment. Second question: Do you need a drink? Totally out of the question! It is nine a.m. I could go by International time, but I won't do that. Third question: You don't plan on doing anything crazy do you? I mean something that could land you in jail? This is a two part question and must be thought out carefully. Crazy is a harsh term and jail isn't an option; especially if I...

As I sat and listened to some ladies in the locker room today tear themselves down; I wondered: Why?  I have seen the same bunch walking around the gym, talking... talking... and talking some more. Rarely do they really work out, so why the self-deprecating remarks? I know people do this when they are feeling insecure or they are fishing for a compliment. But what I have never understood about this, is the fact that most of the people that I know that are constantly talking badly about themselves, never want to put in the work to change! It is infuriating and frustrating. I have had Clients like this, always ready with the ever present self-deprecating remark, but when I give them a solution for the problem; nope! Too much work, too much time, too much of something that has absolutely nothing to do with the issue at hand. I came to a conclusion, and I might be wrong, but I think some folks love talking crap about themselves and rolling in the same crap. No seriously! Or why would t...

My peace of mind means everything to me.  I find the older and wiser I get, the more I run away, and I mean run, from situations and people that "bring the drama." Being around upheaval is draining. I even noticed when you see people that thrive on drama, it shows up on their faces, meaning they look old and unhappy. Inner- peace is what matters. Research has shown over and over what having that sense of well-being can and will do for you: A better outlook on life in general. Better relations with family and co-workers. Better Health AND a "Youthful" outlook on life. Peace, it does a body good. So what should we do to get this peace? My first move was to stay away from the drama seekers. They are like junkies, always looking for their next fix of  the melodramatic and if they don't find it; they WILL create. I put a no douchebag sign up. Douchebags are in the drama junkie family, except meaner.  I banned gossip and gossipers! This is key to the peace of mind wor...