The top things my most successful clients have in common;

1. They are real with me and themselves.

Heard time and time again; "I just don't know why I am not getting where I need to be?" 

My reply,"Are you tracking your food? Keeping your treats to the limit we set? Are you following my advice?" 

Answers; "No but, some of the time or its too hard", Those are all responses my most successful clients rarely if ever say!

*In order to be staying overweight you are taking in enough calories to keep you there. Whether you are eating once a day and drinking the rest of the calories in coffee cream and sugar. In my experience (and of course assuming there is no medical conditions), when people track their food for the first time it is enlightening to see how exactly the calories do add up. This was certainly the case for me when I started making healthy choices. 

**When fat loss is slow people always think the answer is cardio. I assure you my most successful clients do a mix of cardio and resistance but the answer to the problem is usually in the PANTRY!

2. They show up on the bad days.

Anybody can do it on a good day. I have clients who show up on the awful days; pms, layoffs, relationship issues, a crappy day at parenting, dealt with a customer who is part satan, ... You get the idea.

I have had clients who are injured training other body parts, I have consulted with doctors when clients are post surgery, clients who are almost in tears walking in but feel better by the end of hour. They are called ENDORPHINS people! :) 

3. They set goals.

This is why I host challenge groups. Its like goal setting but with accountability. Writing out our goals and telling others can be a very motivating tool. With a challenge group it is like a built in cheer team. They are all rooting for you. 

Others create a vision board, write it out in their journal or post their workouts/meals online. I kind of alternate between all of these. I also have a before picture that makes its way to the front of my fridge from time to time when I need to tighten the nutritional reigns. 

Visualize, meditate... Whatever works for you. If there's one biggest lesson I have learned in my short coaching career it is that no two people are alike and we all function differently and are motivated differently.

4. They keep progressing and pushing harder. 

Okay, this is a big one! How long have you been planking from your knees? Try from your toes. Same with push ups. How about weights? Been using 15 lbs and they are getting lighter? Up your game. Grab the heavy weights. Challenge yourself. You should not be stopping unless you NEED to.Push yourself. Not past the point where you're going to pass out or create injury but do NOT get COMFY either!!! Ladies, the notion you are going to turn into the hulk is bogus.

When I started exercise, I could not plank or push up from my feet OR my knees, I had to do it from a wall. I worked up from my knees and now I am working on getting those push ups lower from my toes ( I had them mastered before a surgery, but anywho). You feel me? The next time you think you can push harder, heavier, faster or whatever the case may be you need to progress -do it. 

5. They rarely if ever use excuses.

Showing up on the bad days, being consistent, not allowing the excuse voice in your brain to win. Each time you keep promises to yourself you're building your willpower- motivation. Think of it like a muscle, the more you feed it with excuses the weaker it is, adversely, the more you exercise it the stronger it gets. 

Time and money are the two biggest excuses I hear about why people do not eat healthy and exercise. We are for certain a scheduled society so write your fitness into your schedule and make it happen! it is an excuse. There are people busier than you, working harder than me and they still get it in. Time away from kids is not valid- take the kids with you or consider it self care. I honestly save money eating healthy because I eat out less. You can buy in season produce or frozen to save money. Where there is a will there is a way. I quit smoking on my health journey and that alone provided me with extra money to invest into my health instead of against it! I have also cleaned the gym in exchange for personal training and membership. Yup, scrubbed dirty filthy toilets the kids used in exchange for torture lol. 

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right!"

5 major lessons I learned on a journey to over 200lbs of weight loss!

5 major lessons I learned on a journey of over 200lbs of weight loss!

*Not necessarily in order.

1. Attitude is EVERYTHING! Whether you think you can or think you can not, you are right. I couldn't find the author for that quote but I bet he or she is very smart ;). 

I remember feeling very overwhelmed in the beginning, I had so far to go. It felt nearly impossible. Even the doctors were skeptical and suggested surgery.

I would tell myself that I could do it and I pretty much faked it till I believed I could. It took me losing over 100lbs before I really actually saw I could for sure get myself to a healthy place. 

2. EVERYONE is a critic!

Before I began my weight loss journey, every function became a intervention. Guess what? Pointing out an emotional over-eaters weight causes more overeating. True story. You can not want it for someone else. I know how this feels, I have people in my life that I would love to help but they are not at a place to accept my help. 

Along my journey there were people commenting how my weight loss was too fast, others commented it was too slow. 

Now, I am on the high end of average, my goals are mostly to increase lean mass. I have friends and family who comment I should be skinny by now, or I deserve to be, like they assume that is my goal. I will tell you skinny is not even on my radar. The weight I am more focused on are my dumbbells. I am confident in my strengths these days so comments bother me far less. I am long past the day where I did a workout contest outside of a business because a random dude thought my fitness class would be a joke. For the record, I kicked his arse but it doesn't matter to me anymore. I only have to prove myself to myself, and guess what? You only have to prove yourself to you!

3. Find fitness that you like. Fitness is NOT punishment for the fat, it is for everyone!

I will tell you how out of wack my before thinking was, I remember thinking, why are all these thin people at the gym? Aren't they finished? HA. For real. Fitness is for health and everyone should attain it. 

If you HATE biking, do not bike. Find something that is more enjoyable and do it. This is part of the reason I own my own fitness studio. I remember the day I took my first small group fitness class, I fell in love! It was motivating, rewarding and fun. Not every exercise was fun, but doing it in a group was really motivating. This is actually where I learned for the first time in my life that I could be competitive. 

Disclaimer; When I started running I hated it but grew to love it, so make sure you give new things a solid effort! 

4. Healthy eating doesn't have to taste like shit! (or rabbit food)

This is where I struggled the most. Learning how to cook healthily and still having it taste yummy. Now, I actually prefer the taste of my own healthy cooking! I learned to cook healthy when I was a stay at home mom. When I became a working mother with a hubby working out of town I had to become a meal prepper and this was my saving grace. It still is. I literally have my meals within seconds because I took a couple of hours on Sunday to prepare. Play with spices, find your favorite go to's. 

When I started I was making salad with iceberg lettuce and heating frozen veggies. How unsatisfying! Yuck. It takes trial and error but this is so worth while. I mean, I actually love my food. How long do you think I would stick to it if I didn't like it? Remember I have kept extreme weight loss for over 8 years!

5. Do not fall for crash diets, wraps, pills, magic shakes or anything else that promises a quick fix!

I have done many of them before my actual health journey started. The weight always came back. I have had people come to my business just to meet me, I thought they were interested in my program but no, they thought that I must have some magic secret to share. I do not. Healthy eating, exercise and hard work. Those are the tough sells in the health industry. You will never see the hard work book fly off the shelf. 10 top exercises to lose the muffin top will though. FYI, you cannot exercise away fat. You eat healthy foods on a calorie deficit diet to reduce fat. Those exercises will help strengthen those muscles but you will never see them unless you eat right. 

Lies sell. They seem appealing. In the past 8 years I have lost count of the number of people I know who have tried the gimmicks only to regain. It is hard to sell fitness classes when your neighbor down the road is selling cleanse packets which are basically just shit bombs. 

Once you commit to leading a healthy lifestyle for life you are enlightened to the fact that healthy food can taste yummy, fitness takes effort but is rewarding and sometimes it is okay to eat the cake too!

Crazy week in review

Week in review;

This week was CRAZY! I had a few lows but mostly highs.

So as everyone knows I have dealt with a few injuries this year. A pinched nerve issue in my hip and Achilles tendon issues in my left heel. Those were things I trained around. I did a lot of biking instead of running on sore days. Due to injuries,  I erased my goal of sub 2:30 half marathon. The entire month of May however my issues disappeared making me start to think maybe I can do it after all. 

By Thursday, I had myself in a big uptight panic. I read a friends article about one of her races, where she had let herself get into her own head. It was like a light bulb moment for me. I was totally ruining the fun of my race week. I was SOOOOO stressed out. I was sending myself to the bathroom that is how crazy nervous I was. For two whole days I stressed. 

A few things were adding to my stress; my husband and biggest race day supporter wasn't going to make it home. I felt a little sorry for myself about that lol. I did have an awesome support team who I had trained with and also ran into a bunch of peeps at the race. A few clients came to cheer me on also, which of course made my day. I saw grandparents standing in the rain to cheer their family on and it made me tear up! 

The rainy race; as I drank my coffee in the comfort of my car, the rain pelted. I thought geez this really sucks. I was early (because I am an on time or early for everything person) so I went to the porta-potty and then inside to seek shelter. While I was zip locking my phone I started bumping into run peeps. My nerves started to ease and I started to have fun. 

At the start line up, I tried to keep my nerves at bay. I reminded myself I was there to have fun. I did the training and I needed to trust it. The rain ended up not being as bad as I thought. I was literally soaked from one end to the other but it kept me cool. My soaked shoes were annoying but I tried to not focus on it. Something I did do different though was turn off my 10 and 1 timer at 15kms. I just kept going. I knew I had slowed my pace so to make up for it I skipped my walk breaks. When I made the turn to the finish line I knew I was going to meet my goal and I sprinted through to the finish. I couldn't believe that I did what I set out to do. Yay! 2:28!!!

Thank you volunteers for standing in the rain even though you were not getting a medal! Thank you to my support system of training friends, friends and clients who surprised me. You really made my day! I cried in my car, happy tears. I have never been emotional like that. A few minutes after I was finished my run, I grabbed a Starbucks coffee and a cookie and went to cheer friends who were doing the full. I REALLY wished I remembered a change of clothes. Standing in my wet clothes holding a sign was a lot worse than running wet.

I had a lot of phone calls and texts from peeps wishing me well and congratulating me. Thank you!

I read a few things that were annoying lol. People posting times and saying things like "I didn't even train and got a PR" (That were faster than mine).  I really had to remind myself that I had trained and did my best and that is what counts for me. Nothing has come naturally for me lol. I earned it. I trained in the snow, wind, rain. My PR, no matter how slow compared to someone else, was earned. 

This race went in my books as my personal victory!

In other news, two different companies tried to get me to either use or sell their shakes this week. Huh? No thank you. 

This week I also had the opportunity to meet with trainers from another gym. We met on other business but we ended up talking about obesity. As often happens, I was the only fitness professional in the room who had experiences first hand. I am often surprised by the lack of empathy some "professionals" have. I have been thanked on many occasions for shedding light on the topic in a way they can relate to. I also understand how some professionals do not make it in the business. Bottom line; You may have a masters degree in bio-mechanics but if you are a complete asshole towards the people you are supposed to be committed to helping you are not qualified! 

Di

Be ready to change your plan.

I have a coach;

People are still surprised when I say that. I am a coach. My coach has a coach. It is having someone in my health corner to check in with and someone who sees me from the outside in. 

I have been to the doctors, chiro and massage now trying to deal with first a hip aggravation and now Achilles tendon issues. I have been training for a half marathon that I wanted to beat my old time in. In chatting with my coach before I left for NL we discussed how silly it is to expect a personal best when injured. I have never quit a race and I have never signed up for anything I didn't follow through on. My new plan to simply finish slower and try my best to let go of any time goals and just try to have fun and not further injure myself. I may end up with a new slowest time and I need to be okay with just completing safely. 

If you have noticed, I have been biking a lot. I love it. I always have and when running injuries keep me from running I love that I have a back up cardio plan. Having a back up is key for me. So many times in the past year I have struggled through an injury and relied on the plan b. Do you have one? You really should! Otherwise, when plan a fails what happens? You give up? No way!

My plan after my slow half is to take a month off of running and focus on healing my Achilles. I will focus on biking and weight lifting. I also plan to ditch extra lbs which also helps every joint with my running. 

I have had 10,000,000 plans so far on my health journey and I am sure that number will continue to climb as I keep going. Never be afraid of change, never give up and always always be real with yourself. Denial got me to push 400, I aim to always be real!

#noexcuses

Nutrition

Nutrition;

When I started on my health journey I had already tried and failed many diet plans. Slim fast, weight watchers, atkins, cabbage soup, ETC. I am only stopping because I am forgetful, there were many more. They didn't work for me a) because I wasn't fully committed at the time,b) because they weren't really teaching me anything except restriction, c) I can only last so long feeling restricted and d) I didn't learn how to make it work for my entire family.

Eight years ago, I started LA Weight loss and I had success. My mind was made up and I was beyond ready to start feeling good again. What I liked about their program is it didn't tell me what food to eat it told me which food groups to choose from. This was the first time I did a program that I had to do the work. I learned painfully lol through yucky meals how to cook healthy foods. I also got myself measuring cups and started measuring. I still use my half cup for starches, my scale for protein and my tbsp. for peanut butter.

This is not a L.A Weight loss endorsement. I learned the basics with them. I lost my first 120lbs using their weigh in support and food guide.

For a while I tried coaching with Beachbody. I liked it. I don't like using supplementation so it became a conflict of the heart to sell it even though I do love their workout programs. FYI, those little containers from 21 day fix is pretty much EXACTLY the same system I used at LA. My program is similar with my own tweaking specific to each client. I use what I have learned to work with many of my own modifications. After studying anatomy I later studied nutrition and learned even more about our body and nutrition.

You may find a program that gives you fast results but buyer beware; If you're losing more than 2 lbs a week studies show you aren't just losing fat, you are losing muscle too. That is
NOT what we are going for with health goals. Health is more than a number on a scale. If you are losing weight rapidly without eating properly it will likely catch up. If your diet program suggests that carrots are too high sugar, find a new program!

If you are drinking plenty of water, eating lean protein, lots of vegetables and some complex carbs, throughout the day, you are set. What I offer is support to go with your plan and that is where I feel I differ from most. My clients contact me for extra support all the time. It is the accountability that many peeps need. Nothing makes me more excited than helping others learn to cook healthy and having them text me healthy recipes!

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." Hippocrates

workout break and holiday cheer!

6 week hardcore workout break;

I really wrestled with deciding to write this blog post. On one hand, I have always been an open book with my healthy peeps. On the other hand, I have also dealt with hardcore judgement. After having a few healthy peeps checking in to see if I want to run this week I have decided to go full disclosure lol. 

If you are easily offended stop reading now...

Two weeks ago I traveled to San Diego and had a breast lift with augmentation. 200+ of weight loss doesn't do much for the appearance of breasts FYI. It is the one area most negatively effected by weight loss and given that the breast tissue is all fat they generally sacrifice themselves in weight loss. 

You know when you inflate a balloon and a week later let the air out. It has already been stretched out and despite you letting the air out it still doesn't go back into shape. I am sure you recognize my breasts are the balloons in this analogy. I am 34 years old and as much as I am all about self acceptance and working hard to be the best version of me there was no improving this one part on my own. I did a lot of research and found the best for me surgeon. 

Monday will be two weeks post op so I can get outside walking, I will then gradually increase speed and distance. I have one month until I can run and then I only have six weeks to train for a half marathon. I will cross the finish line but not with a pr. Nevertheless, I am excited to get back into it! 

I am healing well and my new boobs are looking great if I do say so myself LOL! I just wanted you guys to know I am still in the game if you miss my run posts or workout videos. Whatever I lack in workout posts I assure you I will make up for in healthy food posts!!! :) 

Christmas Spirit; 

Every year I up my giving game for the holidays... Last year I did random acts of kindness every day and posted them. What does this have to do with health? well, lets call it well-being or soul health if you will. Anyway, someone had sent me a nasty message about how I was looking for attention for giving and how wrong that is. I stopped posting. I let that one negative message overpower the many kind messages I had received. I am a sharer. I don't sugarcoat a bad day, I am not a perfect parent (or wife, or friend, or trainer, or...), I get road rage (too often), I struggle with motivation occasionally too. We are all in this short life together for such a small amount of time. Why not be authentic? Why not give when you can? Share ideas, tips, motivation and truth. That is who I aim to be.

On that note; Some of my random acts lately are; Paying for the order before me, donating to a school in Africa, collecting items for a sick mom, filling stockings for underprivileged children, crossing the boarder into Mexico and shopping for sick kids staying at an underfunded hospital (both the most awesome and most awful experience I have ever had), buying a meal for a poor family, treating all my nurses to gifts of appreciation, giving items to a needy family rather than selling them. I share because when my friends share their great ideas with me it inspires me to do better and in the end that's what I believe life is all about.

XO,

Di

This week has had many high and lows;

I LOVE my job. Even on the days when I am sick and tired I look forward to going to work. As with any job and life I have really high points and some times a low one. 

Highs;

This week started with my healthy trip to Costco where a long time Healthy Club peeps introduced herself to me and told me she finds my page inspiring. What a honor! 

At the gas station a guy told me he recognized me from running and told me to keep up the great work. He said that he could never do that so then i took 20 minutes telling him he sure could. lol. He likely regretted his compliment.

I won a free T-shirt #butchgunner this week and I am contemplating a spartan race. Maybe 3, trifecta is cool. Just concerned about the jumping but thinking I may be able to pull it off with my knee. 

My clients have all been doing fantastic work and my tire is inside for the winter. All positives...

Lows;

Not being able to hammer home the message clearly that nutrition is 80% of the magic equation for weight loss. You want to add exercise AND proper nutrition to achieve optimal results. If you are KILLING it with exercise, seeing crazy strength gains but no scale movement (assuming you have a larger amount of fat to lose) then it is time to look at your nutrition and get down to brass tacks. Not even mentioning of course the health benefits for all of proper nutrition.

I know the struggle is real I live the life too. Own your choices. Do your best. Be strong!

XO,

Di