Category: Uncategorized

This will be the first in a short series of getting to know me better. It’s no surprise that my health and wellness (physical and mental) is a priority in my life. It is a lifestyle I have committed to. But trust me when I say I live so much life outside of fitness! I have fitness goals but I also have life goals. My personal life goal for every single day is to “Live the hell out of life”. Being strong, fit and healthy has opened up so many activity opportunities for me, Im definitely going to take advantage of that! Im not one to turn down fun! Its important to know you can be healthy, fit and reach your goals but still enjoy life! I am an ACE certified personal trainer and health coach. Precision certified Level 1 nutritionist. RYT 200 hr Yoga certified. AFSA assisted stretching certified. Fitness enthusiast. Hiker. Horseback Rider. Adventurer. Entrepreneur. Mom to two kids and 2 dogs!  I often get asked what my daily life looks like? Or what I eat each day?  How often do I work out? What else do I do? Over the next few weeks Ill be answering all those questions!

Although it can be very interesting to know what program and lifestyle someone is following, it is important to remember that not every person has the same goals, and not every person will need to or want to adhere to the same program. What can be learned from what others do is knowing how much you want to change your life, and what level of commitment is right for you. Use a few pieces of someone’s program that feel like a good fit for you. You dont have to use the whole program and probably shouldn’t since we are all so different. . And you dont have to fear that signing up for coaching &/or training will be as intense as your coaches training and lifestyle. But what you can do is learn from it and use the pieces that fit for you and your goals! Im often asked what a typical day looks like for me? How do I fit in exercise every day? I have such a large variety of interests and a lot of stuff going on all the time. I own three businesses. I have 2 kids that are involved in their own sports and I have plenty of animals that make up my family too. It wont come as a surprise that my health and working out every day is a priority for me. So dividing my time between all of these things means that I have to schedule in my work out and meal prep otherwise I wont get to it. It has to be part of my lifestyle for me to succeed.  The goals are big, my expectations for myself are huge, and Ive learned enough to know it takes commitment, planning and lifestyle change to be where I want to be. But please remember that is a different place than where you may want to be.

My workout is a very scheduled routine, but I will flex the schedule on everything else that entails my day. The one thing I never flex is my work out. Its always the first thing I do every day. On most days I can wake up at a reasonable time without an alarm. I go to bed early enough (between 9 and 10pm on most nights) to make sure I wake up naturally between 6 and 7 am. Waking up without an alarm is the best way to ensure your body is getting enough sleep. Sleep is very important and often takes a back seat to exercise and nutrition but the reality is, without enough good sleep, you wont reach your goals. More on that in another post. 

After a some morning stuff (feeding animals, barn chores, making breakfast for the kids, and other household stuff), I work out. I work out first thing in the morning. In my home gym or go to the gym. If I dont work out first, Im too tired, not motivated or run out of time later in the day. When I have an early morning commitment (or when traveling with the kids for horse shows or leisure or work) sometimes I have to set an alarm as early as 4am to have time to work out before my day begins. It is not my favorite. My performance is not nearly as good because Im so tired. But getting a work out in is a priority for me so I commit. I wake up and get it done. There are usually some (ok, many)  thoughts of “why am I doing this?”, “Go back to bed”, “ Just skip today”, etc.… But I do it anyway and when I am done I never regret it. My day is off to a good start and I feel good. Sweating feels so good! 

After working out I walk my dogs for 30-45 minutes. Its a great way to keep my body loose after pushing it hard through training. And it gives me time to relax, meditate and spend time with my dogs who are my best friends!  Walking is a great low intensity exercise. It tends to be highly undervalued. The benefits of walking are endless. My dogs love it and they need exercise too! They are my accountability partners. Sometimes Im tired and I dont want to go for a walk, but they look at me and I know I cant disappoint them, so we go. And like my 4am work outs, Im happy I followed through. For many people having a gym partner is the same thing. Someone you know is counting on you to be there. They are my accountability partners for my daily walk. Get one for the gym if you need one, it helps! 

After walking its time to work. A girls gotta make some some money! Ill work with clients from any or all of my businesses. No matter what job I am doing I stay moving. If Im in the office I use a standing desk. If I am working hands on with a client or teaching I stay walking basically the entire time. I try to move as much as I can all day. Why? Its better for my body. Im not pushing my body hard. Im not breaking a sweat. Im engaging in low intensity movement for the majority of my day. Burning calories, staying mobile, staying loose. Im never stiff or sore. Movement is healthy and I make sure I do plenty of it every single day. I dont count steps, it doesnt matter to me. I just move as much as I can all day long. I dont do anything sitting. After work comes life stuff.

Errands
Cleaning
Cooking dinner for the kids and prepping lunches for school for the next day
Feeding animals (dogs, horses, goats)
Meal prep for me for the next day (this can be as simple as making sure I have what I want to eat in the house already so Im not grabbing take out food or empty calories snacks when short on time. It can also meal packing my lunch and snacks for work if I am going to be on out of my house for long periods of time. Im definitely not skipping a meal or snack so I prep)
Morning work out prep (pre-mixing my workout drinks EAA/BCAA. If I am heading to the gym I make sure my bag is packed and ready on the counter).
Hanging out with kids (games, talking, watching videos)
Basically all things life.

And guess what? I move as much as I can while I am doing all of that too. By moving during all of the things I do each day I am constantly asking my body to move on different planes of motion and in different ways. Up and down. Side to side. Twisting and turning. This will help me stay mobile and flexible as I age. It also increases my NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis). Many small movements make a huge difference in NEAT. Sitting leased to increased risk of CVD, increased BP and BS levels and increased body fat. If what I am doing can be done standing or walking, I stand or walk every time. I only sit when I have to. When there is no other option. Sounds silly but sitting too much is just detrimental to the body and to general health. I also truly enjoying movement and appreciate my body for being the reason I can move and the reason I can do all of these things.  

When I have down time at the end of the day I hang out with my kids and dogs, friends, or my boyfriend. Social wellness plays a huge role in longevity too! So it is important to make time for the social interactions that are good for your energy. Social circles can also help support you on this journey. I also spent time going to my sons sports games (football and hockey!) or bringing my daughter to horse shows. Whatever I have for free time I spend as much of that time as I can outside.  I love to be outside. I believe in getting as much fresh air and sunlight (safely) as possible.

Another important point to note is that I am a HUGE fan of naps. Especially in the sun. If I have a quick 15 or 20 min of free time during the day you’ll often find me napping in the sun in my backyard. These quick power naps recharge my energy and give me the rest I need for going as hard as I do. I fit in a quick nap whenever I can and I dont feel guilty about it at all! It feels so good. And if my body is telling me I need a nap, I need to listen. In the winter you’ll see me pull in my driveway with the heat on in my car and take a quick nap in my car. I LOVE to be warm! Either way, when a nap calls, I listen.

When I have free time (either a full day or a block of time) I try to go on a hike, rock climb, golf or participate in some sort of an adventure. Alone or with kids or friends. I like to try new things as often as I can. These things are great way to stay moving on many planes of motion, switch things up in my program and allow me ways to exercise outside of the gym. They add variety to my training program.  And also balance out high intensity training with moderate and low intensity training. These activities prevent me from getting bored while giving me so many ways to cross train. And as a bonus I have a ton of fun! I add an experience to my life a minimum of once a week. Sometimes more. Its mentally and physically stimulating. Leading an active lifestyle is healthy. Movement is healthy. My day focuses around movement. As much as I can all day, every day. Its good for me. And its an easy way to stack the odds in my favor for longevity and improved health without taking any time out of my day or disrupting my day at all.

One of my favorite hobbies is traveling. I travel a ton. Soon, Ill talk about how I travel so much while maintaining my fitness goals. 

Comment and let me know how you make healthy movement a part of your every day life!

It matters. Your commitment to you matters. This is a lifestyle and to be the healthiest version of you, you need to be ALL IN. We all know health and mobility is often taken for granted until it is lost. Start now so you stay healthy and mobile and remain able to do the things you love to do. It’s not as hard as you think. Why? Because once you build healthy habits, it becomes easy to live by habit.

A lot of clients tell me they lose weight then gain it back. Or they lose some weight but can’t drop the last 10 or 20 pounds. They’re discouraged and sometimes want to quit. But before you quit let’s talk about the three pieces to success and some really small changes that can make a difference. A big difference.

Yes, to lose weight we need to expend more calories than we take in. But, I see so many people eating like birds. Barely eating and barely losing weight! Talk about discouraging. I think, “They must be hungry all the time”. I’m telling you, you can EAT and you don’t have to be hungry to lose weight. Read that again. You can eat. You dont need to be hungry. You will still lose weight. In fact, the less you eat, the slower your metabolism gets. Your body adapts to survival on low energy expenditure and low calories. And guess that it does to do that? It starts shutting down the least important (but still important) body functioning processes, one by one. You just won’t notice until you’re really sick. Your metabolism is fired up when it is processing food. If you don’t give your body enough food it learns to live on 800 calories a day, or 1000 or whatever you are giving it. Teaching your body to change that takes time. But it is doable. But the better option is don’t starve your body to begin with!

Ok, Let’s break this into three pieces. Food intake (energy in). Activity output (energy out). Sleep (recovery and repair). These are your keys to success.

Let’s start with activity. Long term success (this means staying at a fairly stable and consistent weight and health level for the rest of your life) happens only with a lifestyle. For some that is a bigger change than others. But it’s a whole lifestyle. What does that mean? Well, many people start by going to the gym for an hour a day. Some see the results they want to see, other don’t. Why? Well to say it simply, if you exercise for an hour a day but then go to a job where you are sitting from 9-5, come home eat and watch TV until bed you aren’t getting enough activity. One hour a day is not enough activity to keep your healthy, or create enough energy expenditure, so you may not see results.

This is where lifestyle changes come in. We all have to work, but you can find ways to get more movement in during the day. Movement is healthy. Increasing low intensity movement through your entire day will make a HUGE difference. You can park your car at the back of the parking lot when you go to the grocery store, the bank, work, etc… This will give you the opportunity to walk more. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. I know, I know…. no one likes to take the stairs. But, it’s just creating a habit. And once you have the habit, you’ll WANT to take the stairs. Im serious!! If you work in an office, stand more. Take the long way to get to your office. Take a walk during lunch. You will be surprised how much all those little things add up! Start creating new habits. After work, cut out 1/2 an hour of TV and take a walk instead. What about social media? Want to browse? Take a walk and browse if you have to. But move. If you think about all the time you spend watching TV or browsing social media, think of how much time you’d have to move if you traded some of that time for healthy movement time instead or for meal prep, etc… We make time for what we value and prioritize. Is your health on your list of priorities? That’s why I said, are you all in? Or half in?

You don’t have to go to the gym more than once a day. You just have to move. Walking is one of the most underutilized and most beneficial ways to exercise. And it improves circulation. I wear a wrist fitness tracker. I don’t worry about my steps. But I use the data to gauge my all day activity. I glance at it a few times a day and make a mental note to myself. I’m either moving enough for the day based on my personal goals and how my body feels. Or, I say to myself… ok you have a half a day left to find ways to move more. It keeps me consistent from day to day. Most days because of habits I am meeting my goals.

I train almost every day with a heart rate chest strap, yet that little wrist worn tracker is as important to me as my daily training. The 90-120 minutes I spend training each day is such a small portion of my 24 hour day. Even doing that much high intensity training every day (much more than many need to) would not be enough for me to meet my goals, or remaining consistent, without lining up a healthy movement lifestyle all day, every day. I move a lot during the day. Low intensity, healthy movement. It keeps my metabolism firing. It keeps me loose. It keeps me mentally engaged in life. And it keeps my body needing more fuel (calories)! Best of all, It keeps my circulation strong (we all know how important that is!). So can you incorporate more movement into your every day life with some of the ideas above? Start small. Just a few things at a time.

Next let’s talk about energy in. Food. Diet is what makes exercise effective. Read that again. Diet is what makes exercise effective. You can work SO hard at the gym but if your diet doesn’t support your goals you wont see a change. You cant exercise a diet of fast food and sweets. If you could, everyone would be doing it. Committing to health means committing to nutrition. Are you all in? Just just half in? Fitness goals are, seriously, 80% diet and 20% exercise. Yep…. its true. This is why many people struggle with maintaining consistent weight and health. They diet for a short time then revert back to old habits before the new habits have a chance to stick! It takes a year to build a solid habit. A year! But a year is such a short period of time in your entire life. Just think, one year building the habit and the rest of your life its easy! Done deal for me!

We have to balance energy in with energy out. And if trying to lose weight, energy in must be less than energy out. Humans tend to over estimate calories burned and under estimate calories consumed. Keep that in mind. You have to fuel your body with enough energy to be active! But you cant starve your body either. You need balance. A healthy lifestyle is built around balance. Many forget that.

Nutrition is SUCH a big topic. It needs like 100 blog posts of it’s own. But to summarize and keep this somewhat brief. The process of breaking down food BURNS calories and keeps your metabolism running faster. And some foods (protein) burn the most calories being digested! So, eat a lot of clean protein. In fact just eat CLEAN (foods with minimal ingredients or at it’s best not ingredient label). Eat all the colors of the rainbow. Limit 10% of your daily food intake (calories) to processed food. Yes, it’s ok to have a cookie or a sugar loaded coffee, a beer, or a drink, whatever your treat is, as long as it is in moderation. Eat foods that will fuel your body for an active lifestyle. Keep your energy in and energy out in balance. Some days you eat more, other days less. Listen to your body and what it needs. Teach your body to expect that food is always coming so there is no need to store fat for a famine. Remember, limiting your energy in, just teaches your body to adapt to survival on minimal calories. So then as soon as you eat more… Boom! Fat gets stored. Your body prepares for “starvation” again by storing fat quickly. Do not starve your body!!! You can eat and lose weight or maintain weight. Oh and a quick add on, drink a lot of water. Lots! Your body needs water to flush sodium and toxins and to carry nutrients around your body. Water aids in recovery and keeps your body functioning at its best. The benefits of water need an entire blog post!

Lastly, sleep. Making time for your health is the only way to create a healthy lifestyle. Prioritize sleep. This is when your body will rest and recover. For some reason in this country it seems being “busy” and working all the time, sleeping very little, over extending ourselves and running ourselves ragged is somehow like wearing a badge of honor. Wrong! I look up to those that value their health and wellness and make their self care a priority. They make time for their health. They make time for exercise, for sleep, for meal prep. Schedule your sleep. Commit to it. Be ALL IN. If you do not get the necessary sleep you need you will gain weight and/or you wont lose weight. Your body will produce more cortisol and guess what that does? Increases weight. Makes you eat more. Makes you crave sugary, fatty, processed foods. Slows your metabolism. So if you are tired, creating a healthy lifestyle is going to seem much harder than it needs to be. No one likes to feel tired. So rest up! And if you feel rested your all day activity will increase and get easier. And, your metabolism will function better.

So these are the three pieces of the puzzle. Are you all in? Or only half in? Commit to yourself. To your health. To your wellness. To your future. I can promise you no one ever looks back and says, “Damn, why did I waste time on self care?”. Nope, they look back and say “Ive never felt (or looked) so good. Why did it take me so long to get started?”. Small changes add up to big results.

As humans it is very easy for us to fall into a routine. So many of us were forced to change our routines with the onset of COVID-19. Maybe you were a gym goer and you had to start training at home. Maybe you weren’t exercising at all but all of the time that you spent in your home started to get to you, so you began going outside and exercising. Maybe your favorite sporting activity was postponed indefinitely so you had to find a new activity of interest.

Change can be hard but it’s the very best thing for our bodies mentally and physically. Our bodies are amazing masters of adaptation and efficiency. When we are engaging in any sort of routine, our bodies will become more efficient and more adaptable, therefore minimizing change and energy expenditure.

What does this mean? You’ll reach a plateau. And most likely, you may even get bored  and start to lose motivation, eventually getting burnt out.

When Covid hit I was going to the gym every day. I was taking the same classes on the same scheduled days of the week, and I was doing the traditional rotation of weightlifting. With the closure of the gym I was forced to change my routine. Since then I have increased my strength, fitness and lean muscle mass AND decreased my body fat percentage. All unintentionally! It was a sweet surprise! 

I was forced to try new things and cross train in ways I had not thought of before.

I found new ways to train and new activities to keep me moving. I also found new ways of taking the activities I loved most and progressively increasing the challenge.

How did I do this? I thought about the things that impressed me. And thought about the people that help motivate me. What do they do that inspires me? What can they do, but I struggle with? And most importantly, I asked myself why. Why does what that person inspire me?  Why do I want to be able to do those things? Or why do I want to change the look of my body? What will that do for me (for me, not anyone else)? And lastly, how can I get to the point where I can do those things more easily?  When you ask yourself these questions you will get to the root of your why. That is what will motivate you. Your why. That is what will help you find your path to your goals. Sometimes its really hard to find your true “why” and thats where a coach comes in. You have to let go of everything except YOU. Especially others perceptions and opinions and your habits and routines.

So, I started getting creative. I did some research. I started thinking outside of the box. I won’t say I developed a new routine because nothing I do is in routine now. But I will say that I am enjoying myself in a whole new way. Ive changed and become stronger both mentally and physically. 

One of my goals is to participate in longer hikes. I don’t like sleeping outside so that meant I needed to get faster so I could cover more ground during daylight hours and not be forced to camp outside. Why did I want to participate in longer hikes? To get more traversing in. To see more areas that are untouched by humans. The other is to climb the NH 48 4Ks. And I have to be able to climb quick. Why? I am a mom and I wont leave my kids all day to hike. So I have to do as many as I can, early and fast. Get to the mountain, run up and down, and be home before they get out of bed or just a couple hours after, or for longer hikes, before they get home from school. Im a mom first. To do that, I had to increase my cardio fitness and cardio endurance. But, I also thoroughly enjoy weightlifting. I want to be athletically strong. I don’t want to be skin and bones. I can have as many goals as I want. And I have many.

When you only do cardio you can potentially lose muscle mass. When you only lift you can potentially lose some of your athletic ability, coordination, agility, speed and endurance. So I train In a heart rate zone (using HIIT) that improves cardio fitness AND endurance at the same time I’m maxing out my lifting. Yes, it’s possible. My lean muscle mass has increased. My cardiovascular fitness and endurance has increased. And my body fat percentage is lower than its ever been (and its staying there) on my body compositions.  And now when I hike, I try to increase speed and agility each time. Why? So I can keep getting closer to my goal of covering more ground, climbing higher mountains and getting it all done during daylight hours without camping overnight outside!! That may be a silly goal to some but to me, its important. When you decide what your goals are, you create a program to help you achieve those goals. Its that simple.  My speed is a competition against myself. Against my last hike. Competition drives me. And I compete the hardest against myself. But what drives me isnt the same motivation that will drive you.

I am my biggest critic. Probably like most of you are on yourselves. What impresses me is not the weightlifter that can keep adding more weight. What impresses me is the person who is mainly a weightlifter but has the drive and the motivation to go out and run as fast as he or she can for as long as he or she can. Why? Because it’s out of routine so that makes it difficult. It goes against the bodies adaptation so it creates more of a challenge. it’s also impressive to see a marathon runner start lifting. Why? For the same reason. Its hard. It’s against that runners body’s adaption.  It takes a strong mind and lots of determination to step outside of your comfort zone and do something hard. Something your body isnt conditioned to do. But by mixing it up you are going keep your body from becoming so efficient that progress comes to a halt. 

So now, that’s how I train. When something starts to get easier I find some thing else that’s more of a challenge. I think about how my body has adapted and then find a way to confuse my body. To give it something it doesn’t expect. This has been the best thing for my physical fitness and strength  and for my mental health. I’m not bored anymore. I don’t exercise just to exercise. Now is a daily challenge that install my mind as well as my physical strength and endurance. I’m challenging my mind to find new ways for my body to move. I’m challenging my mind to find new ways to challenge my body performance. I’m challenging my mind to avoid falling into a routine. Im challenging my mind to push through and tackle something difficult when its easier to do something I am good at or conditioned for.  Working with a personal trainer can help keep your routine varied.

The most important piece to remember is that we all have different goals. So, I’ll do me and you’ll do you. The specifics of how I train works for me but may not for you. And vice versa. But I can assure you, variety is important, regardless of how you train. I will support you and cheer you on without judgement and you can cheer on and support those around you without judgement.  We can all strive to be our best and to help others be their best too. We dont have to compete against each other because we aren’t all working for the same result.  So who cares if youre faster than me? Or if I lift more than you? It doesnt matter if you workout more than me or less than me. It doesnt matter if your friends pants are 3 sizes smaller than yours. Im not trying to keep up with you or anyone else. And you dont need to keep up with me or anyone else. Why? We aren’t on the same path! We aren’t working towards the same goals! We aren’t even starting from the same place! Thats the beauty of it!

So when you feel like you have to compare yourself to someone else, remind yourself of that. How can you even compare yourself to someone on a different path? You cant! So let it go! The circumstances are not the same, the goals are not the same and the starting point was never the same. You do you, and I’ll do me. Love yourself and YOUR journey. It’s different than mine. It’s different than your neighbors.

In fact, I can almost guarantee that if you watch anybody around you with true acceptance of their individualism and not as your competition you will be able to find at least one thing you can gain from them, to help you on your path.  if we all stopped judging or comparing and instead shared our ideas with each other imagine how much we could all gain? It’s not a competition between each other, or against humans as a whole, but rather a huge support system that we can tap into for sharing ideas, accountability, bettering ourselves and even creating new friendships. it’s about helping each other be the best version of ourselves that we can be. Remember, its not just about how you look on the outside but how you FEEL on the inside. Do you feel GOOD about yourself? Do you feel good about the progress you have made so far even if you aren’t yet where you want to be? Or do you feel the need to use filters, perfect lighting and flattering poses simply to take photos so you feel accepted? I can promise you that until you feel good inside you will never be happy with how you look on the outside. Even with lighting, filters and “likes” on social media. So stop comparing yourself to everyone else and stop worry about what others think of you and start having fun with this.

Snap out of your routine. Your routine of how you train. Want to see change? Change your training routine. Snap out the routine of how you think about yourself. Want to look better outside? Start working on feeling better inside. Appreciate your progress so far. Change how you talk to yourself. How you see yourself.

So can you start tomorrow? I bet you can. Wait, I know you can. Get out of that routine that makes you feel stuck. Start accepting yourself where you are and doing the same for those around you. Can you change your routines and challenge yourself mentally, physically, or both? Look at others at friends and teachers instead of competition. Its life changing, it really is. And isnt that what your contemplating? What you want? Change. Then take the first step. The only thing holding you back is excuses. Get rid of those. And then you’ll see there really are no limits…. there were only ever excuses.

We all laugh at those grammatical errors we see on social media. Punctuation in the wrong place or misspelling of a word can give a sentence an entirely different meaning! Well, guess what? The use of that little “a” can do the same thing!

I will tell you all day long that your goals are directly connected to your diet. But, I’m not going to tell you to go on “a” diet. Wait, What? “A” diet is not usually a sustainable way of life. “A” diet usually consists of a caloric reduction of some sort or some trendy eating plan that is all the rage at the moment. When someone goes on a diet they make a quick and drastic change to their eating habits. Although “a” diet may yield some immediate or quick results, those results are often very short lived. Diet on the other hand, “Diet” is what you fuel your body with, regularly, consistently, sustainably, as part of your lifestyle. I’m not on “a” diet and I never will be again. In fact, when I sat at the table on Thanksgiving Day my mom said “Wow Angie, Thats a heroic plate!”. My diet is balanced, and my body needs fuel, so I can eat like a hero now and then – Lol!

Think of food as fuel. Your body has a job to do and you need to provide fuel for your body to do it’s job. Are you fueling your body to work efficiently? Or are you clogging up the system with pollution?

It’s not sustainable to diet and exercise. But, it is sustainable to fuel and train your body. Success will come when you create a sustainable lifestyle. What’s the key word there? Sustainable. Look at your goals. Make a plan to get there. Then evaluate your plan. Is it sustainable? Can you do it for the rest of your life, happily? If not, you’ll revert right back to where you are now so create a new plan.

Bodies are amazing! And I a mean Ah-Maz-Ing. Do you know what bodies are REALLY good at? Adapting and achieving homeostasis. It’s survival. Our bodies have to be able to adapt and reach a state of homeostasis to function efficiently. That adaptability and efficiency was the key to survival before all of this modern day stuff. It still is the key to survival for animals in nature.

So how does all of that relate to “a” diet? You can’t sustain a lifestyle on 1000 calories a day for the rest of your life so why train your body to survive on 1000 calories a day? I tried it. I was working out intensely 2-3 hours a day and living on 1200 calories a day. I was on “a” diet. Why? I didn’t know how much I was harming my body living that way. I had no energy. I wasn’t getting stronger. Just thinner, more sunken in, more deflated. I was slowly starving myself and I didn’t know it. I was too afraid of gaining weight to see anything else. It was not a good idea!
This is is why you need to look at your diet and not go on “a” diet. What are you eating? And how can you find a balance? You need days when you eat more and days when you eat less. You need days when you eat less carbs and days when you can carb load (Hello Pizza!). Why? So your body doesn’t know what to expect. So your body cant reach homeostases. If your body reaches homeostasis you’ll stop seeing results.

But, I’m not going to lie to you. To maintain a sustainable healthy lifestyle that aligns with your goals, the vast majority of your diet has to be clean food in appropriate portions. And yes, if you want to lose weight you have to take in less calories than you expend per day. But drastic reductions in calorie intake isnt sustainable. What is sustainable is finding a caloric number that matches your goals. Remember, not all calories are created equal. 1800 calories of fried foods and processed “junk” is not going to give you the same results as 1800 calories of clean foods. You can’t out exercise a bad diet, no matter how hard you try. But do you know what’s great about clean food? The portion size in relation to calories is HUGE! So for those of us that like to eat (…. me!) its a win-win!

I’m all about keeping it simple, like really simple. The less ingredients your food has, the “healthier” it is. It’s that simple. Eating clean is easy. There are not any special food lists to avoid or add. Just eat clean, whole unprocessed food. Foods that don’t have an ingredient lists are the best! But, to maintain a balanced and sustainable lifestyle we are all going to have manufactured foods as part of our diet . So just give it some thought. When you choose manufactured foods, what are you choosing? Some choices are better than others. Remember, you are trying to create a sustainable lifestyle, not a habit and not “a” diet. Most importantly, you want to enjoy your lifestyle. If you don’t enjoy it, what’s the point? This is why finding a way to achieve balance is key.

I happen to have an insane sweet tooth. I love my sweets. So I have found a way to live in balance keeping sweets in my diet. I can enjoy sweets by adding “good” stuff to them. Instead of Little Debbie snack cakes I enjoy Kodiak Protien Brownies. Or even better, a Whoopie Pie Recipe I created using Kodiak Brownie Mix and Fage Greek Yogurt. Whoopie Pies are my absolute favorite! The Whoopie Pies I made have 237 calories (some calories are worth it), 2g of fat, 7g carbs, and 17g of PROTEIN each!  So even though I am eating something sweet, I’m making it just a little bit better for me. And, I’m living in balance. I won’t eat 6 at a time, but 1 satisfies my sweet tooth, while keeping my lifestyle in balance and helping me stay on track with my goals. Ive learned to make my favorite foods in a “healthier” version instead of giving them up totally. It takes some time (research) and creativity, but I am worth it. And so are you. If I was on “a” diet, I’d have to give up Whoopie Pies…. not going to happen!

The key to sustainable change is to make small changes and adjustments. If you wake up one day and decide you are going to eat all fruits and vegetables after eating fast food for years, you will likely struggle. Habits are hard to break. But, If you make one small change at a time, the change is easier to sustain and build on. You will have a higher rate of success. And you will have an increased chance of creating a new sustainable lifestyle. What does that mean? You don’t have to think about lifestyle choices. Now that I have created a lifestyle, I don’t walk through the grocery store considering a purchase of Little Debbie Snacks. It doesn’t even cross my mind. Why? It’s not part of my lifestyle. That makes it SO easy! It all started with one small change at a time. And all of those small changes created a whole new lifestyle.

So, if it’s so easy…. why do so many people quit? Or fail? For many, it’s mistakes. We are all going to make mistakes or mess up. So many people give up because they made a mistake. Let me tell you mistakes will happen! A mistake is not a reason to give up. Your day isn’t blown! Your lifestyle isn’t blown! Your goals aren’t blown! I promise! Instead, just think of your next snack or meal as an opportunity to get back on track. Whatever you do, please don’t quit or give up. Even if you make mistake after mistake after mistake, you have thousands of opportunities to get back on track. Every moment is an opportunity to start over or get back on track.

In addition to mistakes, there are obstacles that will inevitably arise. Having a plan ahead of time to deal with this obstacles is important and something a Health & Wellness coach can help you with. Your list of perceived obstacles will differ from mine. This is why you need a plan specific to YOU. The most common obstacles are social situations, holidays, and travel, among others. We are a culture that shows appreciation and love with food. We are a culture that has been taught to use food as enjoyment or to “medicate” our emotions, instead of using food for fuel. That can be a challenging obstacle to overcome. But, it’s not impossible. Not even close to impossible. There are techniques you can use to face these obstacles and live in balance.

Remember though, your goals and choices are yours and yours alone. They may not be the same as your spouse or your friends, so be prepared ahead of time to make a choice that is best for you. Even when those around you may order a pizza with extra cheese or an extra glass or two of wine. This is about creating YOUR best lifestyle. And the one thing I can promise you is this: Once you get to the point where you’ve created a lifestyle (90 days)… the choice wont be as hard anymore. It will start becoming easy, I promise, I really do! Remember, these words are coming out of the mouth of a girl that ate pizza and a donut every day for years. Your mistakes will become less frequent. You will have replaced old habits with new habits. You will have created a sustainable healthy lifestyle. It’s all in your mindset. Mindset through this process is HUGE. But, we’ll save that for another post!

So, I think today is a great day to make that first small change, don’t you? What’s it gonna be?

#FageYogurt #KodiakCakes

I lost over 55lbs …on my own. I didn’t have a dietitian or a nutritionist. I didn’t have a personal trainer. Heck, I didn’t even have an accountability partner. But guess what? That is not the hardest thing I have ever had to do. This is. This, right here. That’s why I have been procrastinating. Writing about parts of my past that I want to forget and posting my “before” picture. This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Im embarrassed. I have anxiety about it. But, I’m doing it.

People that meet me now look at me and assume I have always have been an athlete. Or that health, fitness and strength come easily for me. Or that I have always looked the way I do now. The reality is I have spent most of my life struggling with food addictions and emotional eating.

As a child I was teased a lot about my weight. I was chubby. Chubbier than most of the girls. In middle school. I was nicknamed “the beef”. When the Oakhurst Truck delivered milk at school, I was compared to the cow on the truck. So yeah, Ive struggled with weight. I’ve always felt that I can gain weight just breathing air, even as an active kid. I was also always picked last in gym class. I was that kid.

In high school I thinned out as so many kids do when going through puberty and growth spurts. I wasn’t as thin as most, but I wasn’t teased about weight anymore. I was relieved. But little did I know my struggles with weight, emotional eating and food addictions were far from over.

As a young adult, I was a professional athlete for years. I had a national sponsor. Life was good. Life was great, actually! I was active, fit, strong and healthy. I was living the dream. After having kids, things changed. I had to give up my sponsor and my main focus became my son, not competing profesionally. I have to say, it was wonderful! Being a mom was so much better than I anticipated. But I didn’t know at the time how much those kids would play a role in my health and wellness and bringing me to where I am today.

Now jump forward a few years, I have a son in hockey, a second child, and I’m in an unhappy marriage. How do I cope? Eating and drinking, uncontrollably. I host hockey parties to distract myself from the unhappiness I feel. I eat and drink non stop at the parties, at the tournaments, at the practices. I mean isn’t that what hockey is about? It’s fun! It’s a party! But, I take it over the top. Like I am known to do. No moderation. All or nothing.

Additionally, when I am home I eat when I am sad. I eat when I am angry. I eat because I like food and I am addicted to it. Literally addicted. Not just any food. Chocolate. Sweets. Sugar. Bread. I go out and drink with my friends all the time. Why? It distracts me. I didn’t know at the time I was unhappy. I thought I was happy. Everyone wanted to be around me because I was always the life of the party! I was living like I was having fun, right? Wrong.

So what came next? Yep, you guessed it. Divorce. More unhappiness. Stress. Kids. Struggles with money. The divorce was tough so guess what I did? I ate more. I drank more. I had less time, less energy. So we just ate out all the time. Pizza on the way to the rink? Sure. Applebees after practice? Why not?! Feeling bad about myself and the way I look…. Whoopie pies will fix that! I gained more and more weight and became more and more addicted to food. I used it to cope. I was not only addicted to food, I was also an emotional eater. Portion control was non existent to me, with both food and alcohol.

I couldn’t stand the way I looked in pictures so I didn’t take any. I didn’t like buying clothes because nothing looked good on me. I lost myself as so many moms do. As so many humans do when going through tough times. But something changed and Im not sure why, it just did. I woke up one day and I looked in the mirror and thought “This is NOT who I want to be. This is NOT who I am. I need to set a better example for my kids. I want to be healthy and around for them for along time”. And I decided that day to make a change. We hear so many say ” It doesn’t matter what you look like, its what inside that counts”. But, the truth is…. I wanted to look good too. I wanted to love the body I was in. I wanted to feel pretty. I wanted to feel sexy. And most importantly, I wanted to set a better example for my kids and be there for them for years and years. I saw them developing unhealthy eating habits and could not sit by and watch that happen. I worried what would happen to them if became unable to care for them. Kids learn from what they see not what they are told.

It started very slowly. One small change at a time. I didn’t start with the intention of losing 55 lbs. I didn’t start with the intention of eating clean and healthy. I didn’t start with the intention of being strong. I didn’t start with the intention of becoming a health and wellness coach. I just started with a vague goal of wanting to lose some weight.

This may sound silly to some, but if you struggle like I did, you will understand. My first goal – Only go to Dunkin’ Donuts 2-3 x a week instead of every day. Then, my next goal – walk by the Pizza Hut at Target without buying breadsticks for a snack. Yep, those were my initial goals. And they were SO hard. Do you know what my hardest goal was? Parties. I would sit at a table… and as people were conversing, I would be having my own conversation in my head. I was constantly talking myself out of the food. For hours. Negotiating with myself to only take one cookie or one handful of chips. I wasn’t present with my friends or engaging in the conversation. It took all of my energy and focus to talk myself out of binging. And there was shame if I relapsed. Lots of shame. I would punish myself by working out longer and more intensely to make up for the binge. My food addiction had control of me. And it sucked. Badly. It shouldn’t have been that hard. But, when you truly struggle with food addictions, it is that hard. And day to day life is a struggle. My lifestyle was full of unhealthy habits. One by one, I had to develop NEW habits to replace the unhealthy habits. I had to work through the addiction in steps.

One by one I replaced unhealthy habits with new, healthy habits. I started cutting out processed foods and eating cleaner and healthier. I worked on my addiction. I didn’t do it all at once. I used small incremental goals. And as I was able to celebrate my small accomplishments I found myself adding more goals. Small goals and big goals. I still didn’t have a plan of exactly how much weight I wanted to lose. Or that I wanted to lift. I just went day by day trying to be a little bit better than I was the day before. And, making one additional heathy choice or change each day. One by one, those changes and choices created big changes and big gains…. and more importantly, new healthy habits.

I started to feel better. I started to see changes in my body. And the best part? People around me started noticing. That added to my motivation. My kids started to notice I could challenge them more in yard games like basketball, volley ball, etc…. We were having more fun together. Not only was I able to keep up better, I was less stressed and that allowed me to enjoy my time with them more.

Shortly after, I found myself going to the gym. It was hard but I just gave myself small incremental goals. I would go 5 days a week for 1 class. As I became more fit and I started to enjoy it (seriously… I would look forward to going), I found myself adding more to the mix. I would train a little longer. Or add an extra day. I started weighing myself. I was noticing changes. Those changes motivated me to keep going. During this time I kept making small changes to my diet. Eating cleaner and healthier. And my children followed in my steps. Our dinners changed. Our deserts changed. I found ways to make our favorite treats healthier. I did it for them. I wasn’t eating much. They’d tell me, “Mom, you hardly eat” or ” Mom, you need to eat”.

That was when an obstacle showed up. I started to see changes and I wanted to see more changes. Quicker changes. I became obsessed with looking better, losing more weight and getting more fit. Remember how I said I am all or nothing? And that I was addicted to food? Well, I went to the opposite extreme. I wasn’t eating enough and if I’m honest, I was barely eating. My caloric intake was ridiculously low. I was addicted to food. Yet, I didn’t have control of my addiction. My addiction to food was controlling me in so many ways. So in a sense, I tried cut food out of my life to gain control. I had to stay away from food to talk myself into believing I had control. I told myself I was on “a diet”. I wasn’t on a diet, I was starving myself. My body was weak and out of balance.

So, I started lifting because I wanted to be stronger. I loved it! But I struggled. I’d fade out early no matter how hard I pushed myself. I wasn’t getting stronger. Why? I wasn’t eating enough. After struggling in that place for a bit I realized food is fuel. I needed to eat to lift. So I started eating more. Healthy and clean, but more. Food wasn’t the enemy anymore. It was my fuel. I was an athlete. I needed fuel. Athletes don’t diet and exercise, they fuel up and train. I told myself that over and over.

With proper fuel, my body really started to change and I enjoyed being strong. I started new activities and experiences. I participated in things I never though I would do! I tried trapeze, I started hiking mountains, I started doing anything and everything I could that kept me moving. I had freedom. I was living a life I had never even dreamed of when I started this process. I started with the goal of losing a little weight. I ended up losing over 55 lbs. I’ve been able to enjoy a wide variety of physically active experiences that I never would have been fit enough to try before. And, I gained the confidence to be authentically me. The confidence to love the body I am in. Now, food is fuel and exercise isn’t a punishment anymore for eating. I’m getting there. I still have progress to make. I still have days when I fight addiction tendencies. I still have days when want more progress. But, I’m getting there, one small step at a time. My thoughts and my body are more balanced. And that’s healthy. I am strengthening my mind and my body through this journey.

The highs, the lows. The process. The progress from day 1 to now is not something I can put into words. The emotions. The details. The events. It’s so much more than anything words can capture. However, when I started reflecting on all of it, and its a lot, I realized I wanted to help others. The way I feel now compared to how I felt at the lowest part of my life is indescribable. I want to help others gain confidence, reach their goals and just love their life and the body they are in. So I decided to pursue a career in Health & Wellness coaching. I know how it feels. I haven’t always been healthy. I haven’t always been strong. I haven’t always been active. I know how hard I had to work to get to where I am now. But I also know how good it feels and how attainable the goals are. I wish I had started sooner. It’s been the best journey of my life. I enjoy life in a whole new way now. I am happier than I have ever been. Not because of how I look but because of how I feel. Because of what I have accomplished. Because of how far I have come. Because I am now the best version of me that I can be. Because I took my life back. I like that feeling. I wont lose it again. I wont lose myself again. I’m better than I have ever been. And you can be too. I am no different than you are.

So now the hard part… the before and after photo. I guess I can’t procrastinate anymore. I have wanted to post this for a year but I have not been able to. I’ve been too embarrassed. It’s a photo of me when I was in my most unhealthy state. But, today is the day I overcome my fear, my embarrassment and my anxiety. It’s the next incremental goal for me. Finding a before picture was very hard. I avoided photos as much as possible. But, I found one so…. Deep Breath….. here I go…. If I can do this, you can too.

• 

•