Turning your motivation into habit!

When I embarked on my "get my body back to pre-baby shape" weight loss journey I needed to set a plan because otherwise days would pass with another missed workout.  It was a different lifestyle for me, being a new stay at home mom.  I have always worked out in a gym setting so working out at home was a change too!  So many changes in such a short amount of time!  However, I decided the best thing I could do was create a routine, so every morning or afternoon without fail I walked 3 miles, the baby napped, and I got my workout in.  I also decided to start tracking my calories and eating clean.  Which at that point meant to eat small meals and snacks throughout the day, I was not eating bad foods, I was just eating 3 large meals which was not doing me any good.  Slowly the weight started to come off.  I then added weight training a few days a week and slowly and consistently my body started to look better, I started to feel better and the weight was coming off.  My motivation was getting back to my pre-baby weight, this motivation got me started, and it was the habit of walking that kept me going.  It only took me 2 months to get to my pre-baby weight.  I was still motivated to lose more weight, because I was feeling so great.  I was fitting back into my old clothes and could shop at my favorite stores.  I am now 31 pounds lighter than when I started my weight loss journey and I feel great.
     My motivation now?  Getting into the best shape possible!  I want to push myself and challenge my body to do things that I haven't tried before.  My new habit I am creating to do this?  I am doing the Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 workout for 30 days, taking either Saturday or Sunday to do yoga.  I am also working in her Kickboxing and Yoga meltdown workouts for an extra kick in the butt, literally and metaphorically!  I love the challenge her workouts give me and the way my body reacts to the high intensity interval training.  If I get into the habit of doing this daily, it stops being a question of will I workout today, but when am I going to workout today.  You can create this same type of habit.  People that are most successful with losing weight and keeping it off are the ones that create a plan and stick to it.  Food journal every single day, allow for one cheat meal a week, cut out sugar, stop drinking for a while, drink more water and do workouts that challenge you and make you feel like you gave everything you had to that workout!  Pick one small change a week and at the end of the month you will have 4 new healthy habits and the old ones "bad" ones will just slip away!
    What motivates you to reach your goals?  What do you do to turn healthy behavior into habits?
Have a great day and challenge your self to be better today than you were yesterday!

Fear of Failure

     During my morning vinyasa class this morning the instructor was talking about fear.  She was reading a passage from a book, about how your fear will hold you back from doing the things that you want in life.  My fear during class...handstands.  I have always wanted to be able to do a handstand in class, but never even gave it the effort.  How was I supposed to get good at something if I never even gave it a try?  So I did, even though I was so afraid of falling or looking silly, I tried.  With the help of the teacher, she held my legs (I kicked her in the head, oops), I was able to hold a handstand and lower back down with out crashing to the floor.  I had done it, if even for a brief moment and with help I did it!  I decided to practice at home and to one day stick that handstand on my own in class.  This got me thinking about other fears I had off my mat, yoga is great like that, you really listen to yourself during that time and are so in the moment but it carries to other parts of your life. 
     So this reading about fear really struck home with me because when I was contemplating starting On Fire Fitness I had a lot of fear.  I was afraid to put time and heart into something only to have it fail.  There was always that voice lingering in the back of my mind...what if it doesn't work.  I had to work at it, and overcome these fears.  My desire to start my own business, something that I have always wanted, became bigger than that fear.  I started slow and put together my outline, talked with friends, family, and clients and then decided to start a Facebook page.  Again, there was that fear, what if no one likes my page, what if what I post is not worth the time I am putting in.  But I had to trust that if I was patient and worked at it that I would get there.  I know that I have to have the same outlook to my business goals as I do for my fitness goals, give your best, give it time and consistency and don't give up.  If I can help just one person start exercising again, or start to think about the food they are eating then it is worth it.  At the end of the day we have one body to live in and we need to take care of that body, the whole thing, even the mind and the soul.  We have to take ownership and decide that we are worth the time and effort to work at over coming those fears that hold us back from being who we want to be.  Because if we never try then there is not that option of failure, but I realize there is something greater than that fear, regret.  I would rather try and fail than regret never having tried at all.  What would you achieve if you knew you could not fail?  

Pregnancy and being a new mom

When I found out I was pregnant it was one of the best days of my life (until the birth of my daughter of course) I always wanted to be a mom and knew that I would love it.  I had an "easy" pregnancy, nothing out of the ordinary, although there are a lot of things they don't warn you about like the killer hip pain!  I'm sure I am not the only one, but I had this weird constant worry that somehow the pregnancy wouldn't take and I would lose the baby.  It was this fear that kept me from working out like I had been.  When I stopped working out I got extra tried, the first trimester will do that to you and I started to crave carbs.  I am not a big fan of white carbs, never really have been, until I was nauseous all day and the only thing I could get down was a bagel.  Sure enough, as white carbs do, I was stuck in the cycle of wanting more.  I guess looking back I can't really explain why I ate the things I did, don't get me wrong I still ate healthy, but my portions were out of whack and I was eating way to many white carbs.  Long story short, I ended up gaining around 60 pounds.  The thing is when you are pregnant people tell you its ok to gain weight and eat what you want, the reality of the matter being you really only need about an extra 300 calories per day for the baby that is growing.  You are not eating for two, although my pregnant brain said I was, you are eating for one and a tiny little baby.  The day I gave birth I weighed a staggering, for me, 228!  I look back at pictures, and I don't feel that I looked that big then, now I realize how big I was.  When I got home from the hospital I was down to 200, and I knew that I had to undertake the task of getting back to my pre-baby weight.  However, I was a new mom and that is what I focused on, not the weight or how my body looked.  I was nursing which definitely helped shed some of the initial weight (mother nature is smart like that), but once I was cleared for exercise by my doctor I started walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes at a slow pace and doing some light weights.  I am fortunate enough to have a home gym, so I would put my little one in her bouncy seat, the sound of the treadmill lulled her to sleep, and I would get my workout in.  I was gentle with myself and was ok with the fact that I wasn't working out like I used to.  I knew in time I would get there.  With some advice from a blogger at Can You Stay for dinner?, I just kept moving!  When the weather got nice I started to walk 3 miles everyday, and as the days got warmer, I found myself getting stronger.  I added weights back into my routine.  It took time and commitment, and most of all consistency to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.  Once I got there I was determined to lose another 10-15 pounds, and I challenged myself to do the Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 DVD for 30 days in a row (I took a rest day on Sundays).  It was hard, but so worth it. I added a few of her other DVDs to the mix to beat the boredom.  I am happy to say that I am actually 14 pounds lighter now that when I got pregnant and I have built my muscle back up to where it was.  I am still a work in progress, as I constantly set new goals for myself and am working on losing another 10 pounds and building more muscle.  I am back to designing and doing my own workouts, making sure I challenge myself.  I want Jillian Michaels arms and abs, and I know that with the determination that I have I will get there.  I want you to know that whether you are a new mom or have older children that it is never to late to get the body that you want.  Focus on eating real whole foods, ditching the sugar and processed junk and exercising consistently.  It is important to me to set that example as a personal trainer and a mom.  I want to live life healthy and happy, and I want the same for you!

The first picture is me about a month before I gave birth, it actually still hurts to see how much I gained..  The second was taken when my daughter was 19 months old.  I'm actually about 15 pounds lighter than I was when I got pregnant.

Before (2007) Now (2012)

Me in 2007- the summer after the wedding and my friends passing.

Me Christmas 2012- This is 11 months after having a baby!  I'm much happier here!

I thought that I would share my photos with you.  It still hurts to see how much I stopped caring for myself.  But, we live and we learn.  I am so happy today, I exercise regularly, eat healthy and work on my mental self too.  I really love who I have become. 

 

My Story...

I started working out when I was 15 years old, my brother showed me how to weight train, once I started I never looked back!  I loved to run and play sports, which was something that my mom made each of us do (I still thank her for this to this day).  I found a love for tennis and was pretty good at it.  Working out with weights helped to make me stronger and better at the game.  This is something that has carried through to who I am and why I do what I do. 
     I became a personal trainer after I lost 50 pounds on my own.  I guess I should explain why I had the 50 to lose in the first place.  I had just gotten married to the love of my life and we returned home from our honeymoon to some life shattering news, my best friend took her own life.  I went into a deep sadness and state of disbelief.  We had been friends since high school (in fact we used to workout together) and she was in my wedding just weeks before this happened.  I stopped taking care of myself until one day I looked in the mirror and realized how unhappy I was with who I had become.  My husband, bless his heart, signed us up for the gym and was my biggest supporter.  I knew how to workout, but I also needed to clean up my eating.  I had stopped cooking and started eating out, sad to say a lot of fast food was consumed.  I was reading Oxygen magazine and came across "The Eat-Clean Diet", needless to say Tosca Reno taught me how to eat the right foods to fuel my workout and to see the results from all the hard work I was putting in at the gym.  It was a hard road, but I stayed committed to my goal and lost the 50 pounds, and in the meantime I gained a love for fitness and eating clean.  I also found out how therapeutic exercise was and it helped me to deal with the grief that I felt, to this day when I am feeling down all I need is a good workout and my mood is lifted!  I was so in love with how I felt that I wanted to help others feel this way too!  I did some research and became and NASM Certified Personal Trainer.  I got a job at Life Time Fitness, where my education continued.  I became a TEAM instructor, and a nutrition coach as well.  I loved my experience there, however when I had my daughter I decided that I wanted to be a stay at home mom. 
     Now I am a mom of an amazing little girl and I am still a personal trainer, I just work for myself now.  On Fire Fitness is my other "baby".  I have developed an online personal training program that allows clients to have the guidance of working with a trainer and the flexibility to workout on their own schedule.  I also do some one on one training, and outdoor boot camps when the weather is nice.  I can truly say that I love being a mom and a personal trainer.  I hope to share my love of fitness and living healthy with you and set a good example for my daughter!