Let The Gym Be Your Reflection Letter

Empowered Training
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   What is your place of peace and tranquility? Your social hour, or a place of change?

   With the New Year fully in effect, we search for the changes we will make with the days and months to come. We ask ourselves, how will we make this year different and how can we be different? With all the negativity that we see in the papers, television and social media, it can be difficult to be optimistic and find the “good” in the world. Well….what if there is a way to break from it all and what if there is a possible way to begin a new and exciting journey for your health, mentally and physically.

   Our generation is filled with jealousy, selfishness and a lack of confidence. Anxiety is at an all time high as we are becoming increasingly hyper-exposed to everyone's life situations and stress. We compare our life to others’ and complain about how life is unfair and how lucky the next person is because of the glamorous life they seem to have. In a world where everything is recorded and people’s mistakes and imperfections become judged, it might be hard to wake up every day happy and excited that to take on whatever the day brings. So what do you do? How do you break away from the constraints of society?  

    I encourage you to try this: write yourself a reflection letter. It seems like an absurd and almost impossible idea with how frequently and consistently negative mental talk seems to occur, but it’s an important and useful strategy. List a few positive things you’re proud of, or what you accomplished this week, and most importantly: write what you’re going offer yourself. 

   One of the best things you could offer yourself is time at the gym, working on strengthening the greatest tool you’ll ever own: your body. Fitness is one of the best and healthiest ways to relieve stress, overcome self doubt, and gain control of your life.  Getting in better shape physically and mentally can only increase the amount of confidence and self-love you feel. Refocus that negative energy into positive action items you can pursue every day…and while society wants you to think January’s the month for fresh starts, it usually ends up becoming the month of overwhelm. What nobody tells you is that ANY month is the true month for new beginnings -- when those who want it the most rise from the ashes of burn out. 

 

   Let the gym be your reflection letter. Let every sweat drop and muscle gained be your way of telling your bodyI want something serious. Let 2016 be another year of successes and happiness.  

 

7 Ways to Stay Motivated In The Gym

Empowered Training
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We love to look great, stay healthy and push ourselves each day. Health and exercise is part of our daily routine and well, it’s OUR lifestyle. Doing it every day and staying committed to the gym can be tough when you find yourself stuck in a regular day to day routine.  Coming from experience, I personally know the feeling, and it sucks! It takes away the excitement you once had, and instead of it feeling like a lifestyle routine, it begins to feel like a work routine. After seeing first hand, talking to members and things I find to be pretty effective, I have come up with 7 tips to get you engaged and find the excitement into your gym time….

  1. Gym partner- Finding yourself that SWOLE-mate to lift and push you more than you normally do, can do more than just build a stronger relationship. A gym partner that is as serious as you about the gym, will hold you accountable and push you both mentally and physically to help you achieve results.

  2. Change the environment- Changing the scene can make a huge impact. On nice days, take the exercise routine outdoors. When you have beautiful weather, take advantage. Go for a run and after every few miles, stop and do body exercises for a certain amount of reps or time. Rest after and continue. Most local parks have a fitness trail that you follow and gives you an exercise when you reach a check point.

  3. New routine- If you prefer the weights and machines, try changing the way you train. Example, try switching cardio for strength training first and then finish with cardio. Another switch could be the machine or exercise that you do and the reps, sets and rest time. Play with your routine and see what works with you and gives you a challenge.   

  4. Playlist- We all love music, so why not create a playlist that you can pump iron with. Same with the playlist, add and change the songs from time to time.  

  5. Keep track of progress- Record every exercise you do. Write down how many sets, reps and rest time. Each week you repeat the same pattern, you’ll see where you are getting stronger and where you need improvement.

  6. 15 minute prep – Sometimes all you need is a quick prep. Warming up with a motivational audio. Or driving around and taking the long route to prepare yourself with a playlist or just the peace and quiet you have to yourself. 

  7. Rest- If you find yourself doing all of the above and nothing works, try taking one or two weeks off. Maybe your body just needs a rest and often times we ignore the warning signs our mind and body send. Listen to your body and rest, guarantee you’ll feel better when you get back. 

 

"Empowered Training...Change your mind, change your body, change your life!"

"This time next month, I will be different."

              Ladies, what is the one thing that you love, but hate at the same time? If you guessed your husband, then you’re wrong. Great guess though. Actually, the answer I was looking for was food. Speaking in general terms women seem to lose weight at a much slower pace than men. Most men lose and drop weight quicker than women. As unfair as it may be, it is the harsh truth, but I want to give you the right tools you need to build the foundation to a better you.

                As a trainer, I often hear women talk negatively about their bodies. Ladies, you need to understand that by bashing on the situation will not fix it. Face it, it is what it is. If you want to see the change, you have to make a change. For starters, begin by looking into the mirror. Learn to embrace your body and who you are.  Embrace it and tell yourself, “This time next month, I will be different”. I say this because any women that struggle with weight loss knows how hard it is to lose weight. They don’t know what to eat and when to eat certain foods. They know the struggles of finding time to work out when they are constantly looking out for others and not too much on themselves. I know this from working with many female clients who once had this issue. So I get it! BUT, what you ladies need understand is that for every problem, there is a solution. I want to help you get a better start to a new you.

                First thing you want to do, like I said, is embrace who you are right now. Learn to silence the negativity and tell yourself every time, “This time next month, I will be different”. What I mean by this is by seeing yourself every day, you are creating the image of your future self in 30 days. By being negative about yourself you are mentally defeating yourself. Never giving any change a chance. You need to first understand that change comes from action. Action comes from having a vision, and that vision comes from having a positive attitude.

                Now, we move onto the basics. The basics meaning working with what you have control of. We all know that the key to results is watching what you eat and being physically active. If you do, then you are on the right track. So, if you know that eating less than what you burn in a day helps to lose weight, and eating more than what you burn makes you gain, then you know that the first thing you need to start doing is eating in portions. Controlling your portions will not only help you to lose weight, but it also helps to build the foundation to understanding the importance of it. Doctors say that you should have at least a serving size cup, or no greater than your own fist, because the size of your fist is the size of your stomach. Begin by reducing the amount of food you put onto your plate every time you eat. Don’t go from large meals to small meals in a heartbeat because you are not mentally and physically ready for it. Start off by having small portions in the evening. Gradually work yourself into the habit of having small meals every time you eat. As for physical activity…

              You hear “physical activity” and you assume hard tiring work that requires every bit of energy. Wrong! Physical activity can be as simple as taking any 30 minutes of free time to go for a power walk. Ask a friend to join and help each other to make a change. Those 30 minutes will eventually become easy and soon be 45 minutes and soon 60 minutes. Physical activity can be anything that requires you to move around more than the norm. By norm I mean anything that doesn’t involve the daily slow paced or no movement that happens in your everyday life. It’s important that what you choose as your physical activity that you make it fun and exciting. If you are making a change and going on this journey to a new you, wouldn’t you want to enjoy it and tell your friends on how easy and exciting it was to lose weight?

             These steps are your basic tools to creating the foundations to a new you. It all starts with how fed up you are with being where you are and wanting to make the change. Let the frustration out of your mind and learn to accept the way you are and the only way to change is by action. Action comes from telling yourself, “This time next month, I will be different”. YOU are in control, YOU have what it takes. You have to take control of it and make it happen and YOU have the power to create your own happiness.

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve”

 

               

                 

 

You Will Never Know, Until You Try

Muscle & Weight Loss Made Simple
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Why do we stop working for what we want? Why are we so quick to give up before actually investing time into something worth investing? Well one word comes to mind, Frustration. Frustration from things never going as planned. Frustration from constantly having setbacks that makes us feel like failures. Frustration from the thought of all the hard work you must invest to get to where you really want to be. Frustration can really push you or break you. It may set you in a negative state of mind that causes you to quit. Any frustration, big or small can stop you from thinking clear on what you want to get accomplished. It could also be the other way around. Frustration can be the reason why you achieve the success you want from any goal that you set. In other words, you find the opportunity in a negative situation.

Everyone wants to get to their end goal as quick as possible, right? It’s like driving a car. You start from point A and you drive until you get to point B. You estimate a 45 minute drive if you leave early to avoid any major traffic. You decide to play it safe. Making it an easy and stress less drive. Just like you planned, no traffic and arriving at the time you estimated to arrive. Awesome! You’re happy you got their safe and everything went as planned. Often times, goals can indeed be very similar like the car example. Everything goes smoothly because you decided to play it safe and planned ahead on how you would reach the end goal. But sometimes destiny has its own plans and well, everything can go out the window, despite how much effort you put to avoid any obstacle.  

Let’s take that same example and add a twist. So, you start from point A and plan to arrive at point B in 45 minutes. On the way, your car gets a flat tire. You’re 30 minutes into the drive and your destination is only 20 minutes away. You are by yourself, cell phone reception is low, the nearest gas station is a few miles away, and you never changed a flat tire in your life. So what do you do? You change the tire any way you can, despite never doing it a day in your life. Why? It’s either find the solution in yourself or stay there longer until a miracle happens. You realize you are almost to your end goal, turning back will be pointless. If the tire can be replaced, its common sense to keep going forward until you get to your point B, or nearest help. Once you get the spare on, you slowly drive with precaution. Now you’ve arrived to the nearest gas station, found someone to fix it and got yourself back on the road.

With all that talk about cars, I want to make it clear that all goals can be very similar to that of the flat tire. How? Why? Well in the scenario, the flat tire represents the obstacle. Fixing the flat tire is best solution. You know you are not far from your goal and if you decide to quit, then you will never know how long you will have to wait until help arrives. Once you let the frustration pass, you take the time to think clear and find the solution within yourself. You not only begin to find various solutions, but you learn to be stronger and more confident. Once you take your solution idea and put it into action, the results only move you forward. Taking every step along the way with precaution, until you’re confident enough to move forward with ease.

We shouldn’t be too quick to give up the moment frustration comes into play. Obstacles are inevitable and you can only have control over so much. Do not allow frustration to overcome you. Let it pass, take the time to cool off, or even sleep on it. I guarantee results will come when you have a clearer mind and begin to brainstorm. Treat each obstacle that comes your way as a flat tire, the only solution is to fix it and once its fixed, keep moving forward. I’m sure you wouldn’t abandon your car and begin to walk home. Fix the solution and with every step along the way, you will realize more about yourself then when you started the trip.  

“To conquer frustration, one must remain intensely focused on the outcome, not the obstacle.”