Plan Ahead

Research shows that individuals that plan their workouts have more success at reaching and maintaining their health goals. Since today is Monday, it is the perfect day to start planning your fitness activities for the week... not just your workouts, but also plan ahead a day you will make a healthy meal, what night do you want to take a bath and relax, when is your "me" time? By planning ahead, you make sure you hold yourself accountable, and also make sure that you can fit fitness into your busy schedule - even if all you are planning is a few minutes of deep breathing. Also, if you know Thursday is a really long or extra busy day - don't plan for a workout for Thursday, you probably wont get a chance to fit it in and then you will feel like you failed. Be successful - Maybe that is a good day for rest! Put your activities into you calendar, set a reminder, stick a post-it note of your schedule in a place you will see it daily... and look forward to the time you have planned to spend on you.

A few more tips:
* Ask a friend or family member to help keep you accountable, fitness buddies are a great way to stay motivated.
*Keep a record of your activities in a small journal or purchase a fitness journal where you can also track goals, food logs, and feelings about your workouts.
* If you find yourself with some down time - take advantage and get a quick walk or workout in, you may not get another chance that day or even the day after.

Two Fitness Journals I recommend:
The FitBook by Fitplosophy - You can purchase one through me or through their website: www.getfitbook.com

Nicki Anderson's fitness journal: www.realityfitness.com/shop/success_journal.php

It's a beautiful day... go green!

I can hardly believe this weather, is it summer already? We can be grateful for the sun, but I do hope it rains a little more... I need green grass for my wedding! Bethany and Trevor are going to be taking their engagement photos this weekend, so we will be sure to hope that the sun lasts through Sunday, though I am sure Santa Barbara will not disappoint. In honor of my earth friendly bride to be - I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and take advantage of the higher temperatures by spending some time outside. Think if it as "Green Exercising" ~ working your body without using any electricity.

A few green exercises that are easy to do outside (or inside):

* Lunges







* Incline Push-ups








* Step-ups











* Deep Breathing

Most importantly, enjoy yourself and each other... Have fun B!

Loving you

I will start by saying that I am not a believer in New Year's resolutions - I am a believer in realistic goal setting any day of the year. However, if I was to make a resolution for myself this year, I have decided that it would be to trust myself more, believe in my intuition and my own greatness (I did come up with that before watching Oprah this last week in case any of you were following her shows). Although everyday I try to motivate others, help them see their own strength and greatness, I have to admit that I struggle with believing in and loving myself - but, I think a lot of us do! I had a conversation with a client last week about how difficult it is to see the real "us", how cute and great we really are. Even young women, high school and college aged girls, don't see their own beauty or benefits. We are more used to picking ourselves apart and listening to our negative conversations with ourselves instead of the positive. I don't know about you, but it is easier for me to pick on myself than it is to compliment myself - how sad! So, I have decided I am going to work on being nicer to myself, because I deserve it. We all deserve it, we all work hard and we all deserve to be proud of us. Self-affirmations are positive statements that we can make to ourselves, our inner-dialogue, that can help remind us of who we are or who we want to be. They can help us re-write out "mantra" as some would say. For more information on negative scripts and positive self-affirmations, follow this link: self-affirmation article. It also gives you different ideas for how to incorporate positive self-dialogue into your daily routine. Check it out!

And, I found a website where you can read a free daily positive self affirmation.

I am going to keep a list of some of my self-affirmations right here on my blog - you can ask me if I am listening to them :) Here's to loving you!

Back in the swing of things...

I decided at 9:30 last night that it was time to get back to "normal" - so I started emailing clients, checking unanswered email, and getting my schedule for the week sorted out... I know, at 9:30pm? That's just silly. But, it's hard to get things going again so I figured I should use the motivational streak while it was there. You know, put in a little time while my head was in the right place. It's funny how you really have to talk yourself through transitions sometimes, like I feel as if I have been preparing myself all week for the reality that it would be back to work soon. I even worked out on Tuesday for the first time in 8 days (yes, even trainers need a break) and I was SO sore the next few days... in fact I think my hamstrings are still barking at me. And, although this morning (it's Saturday) was my first workout since then, I feel good for at least doing something, not beating myself up for taking so many days off (you know you are all saying it, "I'm so bad, I haven't done anything in forever!"). Remember that murder is bad, a few days off of your normal routine is "life". So, as we all prepare to wrap up the holidays, put the decorations away, and ramp up our schedule for 2009 - lets remember to take care of ourselves. Ease yourself back into things, one hour here or there to think about the week ahead, send a few emails, go for a short walk, do a mini workout... instead of shocking the body back into reality at 7am Monday morning.

Here are a few pics of my 2-week vacation to share:

Jake and I at a Christmas birthday party, we had a GREAT time



Christmas morning at Mom's



My mom, sister, myself, Jake, and our dogs + a friend's dog



Sunset on my trip to Carmel with my best friend Nicole



Nicole and I on New Year's Eve (I got great use out of my $12 dress!)