12 Ways To A Better Diet ~ #3 "Be Proactive"

3. Be Proactive - Make a list of healthy foods you enjoy, and what foods you can take with you to work, in the car, school, gym etc. You can create entire menus revolving around where you will be at what time of the day. Never give yourself an excuse to not have something available for you to eat, no matter where you are when you are supposed to have a meal. Always keep healthy foods ready to eat on hand. If you don’t you will probably eat whatever is available at the time whether it be fast food, office treats, etc. We all know that when in a crunch to find food we will go right for the fast food. It always seems to be easier to find unhealthy food choices then healthy ones.  Another really bad choice is not eating at all. This can throw off all the hard work you've put in, your diet plan and get you in the habit of making bad food choices and eat whatever is fast, easy and convenient. Know where you will be at what time of the day, when you are open to cook, to eat, to shop for groceries, and plan accordingly. When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

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12 Ways To A Better Diet ~ #2 "Expectations"

2. Have Realistic expectations- Any diet plan needs to work with you and not against you. You need to be realistic when setting up the parameters of your new diet. Your plan needs to work for you and your situation. It needs to fit your schedule and your budget. If you don’t follow your budget, your cooking costs will get too high and you will have to withdraw from the diet you set up. If you don’t cook for your schedule and your eating times you will find yourself without food and scrambling to find a healthy choice.This is what leads to us to making bad food choices when we don't prepare our food ahead for our daily schedule. Poor food choices are all around us and always seem to be much easier, quicker for us to get in a scramble to eat on the go during our busy day. So be realistic with time, and give yourself extra time to prepare food, or have food pre-packed. Also know that obstacles can and will come into your path from time to time to derail you and your progress, so don’t think that everything will be easy and will just happen. This takes work and a commitment to yourself and your body. Just like training your body feeding your body a good, clean diet with consistency will show over time in amazing results you will be able to see in your body.

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12 Ways To A Better Diet ~ #1"Set Goals"

1. Set goals - It starts by having clear and realistic goals. Write a list of things you want to change about your diet. Also incorporate goals that you may have regarding your body and plan your diet around those goals. I recommend setting present goals, short term, and long term goals. If you try and do everything all at once you can be overwhelmed and want to quit. Take it one goal at a time if need be, and one day at a time, this isn’t a race. You may also want to write reasons why you want to make a change in your eating habits. You might share your goals with others who will help you meet them. You can put your goals where others can see them “on the fridge, at work” to motivate you to work harder. This will also get others behind you and involved in your new routine. As you achieve your goals, check them off. This will give you a sense of accomplishment and add excitement leading to your next goal. Keep yourself motivated at much as you possible can!  

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Exercise of the Week♡ "Shrugs"

Dumbbell Shrugs

The dumbbell shrug is a great exercise to strengthen and develop the trapezius muscle. The trapezius muscle is that triangular looking muscle on the upper back that gives body builders that powerful posture.

This is a pretty simple exercise to do. Simply pick up a couple of dumbbells and shrug your shoulders up and down. However, this exercise still has to be done right in order for it to be effective.

You can perform this exercise with dumbbells, barbells, or a universal machine. It's a pretty versatile exercise.When preforming shrugs with a barbell you will grab barbell hands shoulder with apart and raise barbell upwards towards the ears, pausing then lowering weight just as you do if you are using dumbbells.

I really love this exercise and I always enjoy using heavy dumbbells when doing dumbbell shrugs. To me the heavier I go the better it feels. I will go a bit lighter when doing barbell shrugs. I love feeling and seeing all my muscles tighten as I lifted upward holding, squeezing the weight before releasing. For the women out there that think this is only a man's exercise? It's not. It is for us women as well and needed if you want your overall symmetry to be balanced. The taps tie into the upper back and shoulders, and with out the development and strengthening of your trapezoid muscle it will look unbalanced. Symmetry and balance is key to creating the perfect physic. Example: You wouldn't just work out your biceps and not workout your triceps, or your quads and not your hamstrings..would you? Same goes for your traps. All your muscles tie into each other to create beautiful balance.

1. Stand straight with your feet planted firmly with a shoulder width stance. Your knees should be slightly bent.

2. Grasp two dumbbells with your hands spaced shoulder length apart. Keep the weight held at straight arms length with a slight bend in your arms.

Execution of the shrug

1. Raise the dumbbells upwards toward the ears, pause, and lower the weight. Repeat. This exercise can also be performed with a barbell or a universal machine bench press.  
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Inspire Me✿ "Lift Your Life"

Use your pain as fuel to remind you of your strength. Lift your life up as high as you can and live it exactly how you've always wanted and dreamed of living it. Live your life fit, strong, healthy and happy!

#Liftyourlife♡  

No Pain, No Gain?

Do you stick to the old adage “no pain, no gain?” You could be dead wrong. If you’re experiencing pain while you exercise, something isn’t right – period. Contrary to the popular saying, pain doesn’t always give way to fitness gains, and can in fact hamper your ability to perform exercises and lead to injury. You need to know the difference between good pain and this type of bad pain that could be warning you that something seriously wrong.

Pain indicates that an injury is occurring, whether it’s a minimal strain to a muscle or tendon, or a more serious tear. Even when you’re stretching, you should only be feeling mild tension and perhaps a small degree of discomfort, but never pain. Stretches should be held to the point of mild discomfort, not pain, and held for 20-30 seconds.

If you experience a sharp pain while exercising, or if the pain persists, talk to your doctor or at least a personal trainer at your gym who can help you. If you’re from the “no pain, no gain” era, you should also consider consulting with a qualified personal trainer to learn more about why pain is a bad thing and to learn how to exercise properly.  I am all for the No Pain, No Gain, but we need to be careful and learn to listen to our bodies and know when they're telling us when we feel bad pain. It can mean a big difference if a injury is caught early on and prevent more damage that could hinder you from training all together.  #LoveYourBody♡

Fitspiration♡ "Love Your Body"

Committing to both exercise and nutrition is a part of the total package for being fit for a lifetime. There's just no quick fix to loosing weight or creating that fit, beautiful body we all dream of and aspire for. No matter how many hours your spend exercising or working out in the gym you can never change the dynamics of there's just no way to out exercise, out train, out run a bad diet. Committing to the total package of  eating clean and healthy combined with a regular exercise program as a part of your daily life is the only way to obtain the fit, healthy body for a life time. 

#Loveyourbody♡

Inspire Me✿ What Hurts You....

What hurts you makes you... #Stronger a #Fighter !!!

Kids Follow Their Parent's Lead

You’re bummed that your kid decided not to try out for the soccer team. Instead, he's sitting on the couch watching TV and eating cookies or playing video games. Are your kids just lazy? Think again. You may actually be the one to blame for their inactivity. We as parents need to be that great example in everything for our children and being fit is no different. It can make a big difference in their lives if they are shown how to take care of their bodies the right way.

According to a studies, young girls age 8-10 years old choose their activities based on the interests of their parents. Yes, that means that since you’re in the habit of sitting your lazy butt down on the couch after work, your kid may be falling into the same unhealthy routine too. Young girls it's especially crucial for parents show them a better way to obtain that thin body they so strive for at a early age. We need to show them that their is a right way to get there and teach them how to take care of their bodies by exercising and eating right. If more parents did this and took an active role in their children being fit it could lower the amount of young girls falling in to bad habits which seems to always develop in to a eat disorder. I was adamant that this not happen to my daughter and I always made sure she felt confident about her body image and know she had total control of it and always would. Our children learn this from us as parents and we need to take it more seriously and not let them down in this very important area.

 

According to the same study, gender also plays a significant role in which activities your child is going to engage in. In other words, girls are more likely to engage in sports if their mother also does, rather than if their father was involved. However, that doesn’t get you dads off the hook. Girls were more likely to continue their involvement if their father was interested in the activity too. When I was young even before my teens my dad would take me to the high school track in the afternoons to run with him. It was not only fun to be with my dad it was how I started to enjoy running and making exercise a part of my life for long term even at such a young age. It was such a good feeling I was always chasing that great feeling I got from working out. It came to my attention much later when I found out I was chasing those wonderful endorphins.

Now all grown with kids of my own I passed on what my dad did for me at a young age and I got my daughter to start running in her early teens with me. She was addicted to it as well and she even got good enough to almost run faster than her mom some days. I rarely let her finish ahead of me because I wanted her to push hard and wake up that competitiveness inside her. Some days she really pushed me without knowing she did. I loved seeing her want to be fit and love making exercise part of her daily routine. She grew up in the gym and at bodybuilding, fitness shows so I had no doubt that she would want to make being fit a part of her life as I do.

My son I waited till he was old enough to lift weights without hurting his growth and around 14 we started to train together. He too was raised in the weight room and remembers all to well waiting for his mom to finish lifting while he played in the kids room or waiting area. He loved when he was old enough to sit in the front waiting area so he could watch me lift and see all the gym action. Now his 17 and has three years of lifting in him and he loves it. I started collecting gym equipment early on so he could have a weight room in our home to lift when ever he wanted. We have added a lot to the weight room since he started lifting with me and he has been consistently committed to working out with me and even on his own. I am proud to see him commit to his training and find the motivation within himself to push and keep training with or without me pushing him.

In helping our children at a young age the importance of being fit and taking care of their body we give them a life time gift.Being role models ourselves so they can see we take it seriously too.Pushing and motivation our children in being fit also in turn pushes and motivations us to keep going for our own fitness as well as theirs. Inspire and have fun in challenging your children and let them challenge you too. Challenge them to be more than just normal. Help and guide them to be "Great" the best they can be.

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Workout of the Day✿ "Friday"

Workout of the day... Everyone needs to start somewhere and here is the perfect beginners workout to get you going on that fit4life path. Make a choice to wake your body up today and give your body a chance to change! 

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Fitspiration✿ "One Beautiful Focus"

Focusing on being skinny seems to be the #1 motivator for exercise in most women and some men today. The most important motivator should be being healthy and feeling good. If you take the focus off this one huge want (Being Skinny) that seems to be consuming so many women today, and put that focus and time into being healthy NOT just skinny. Only wanting to just be skinny only leads to unhealthy choices, then that leads to unhealthy bodies and our body image in the long run. Just put your main focus on your diet, eating right, be consistent in exercising regularly. Keep this one focus and you will see what a beautiful out come that one focus can make inside you and outside of you. You will see and be proud of that beautiful focus every time you look in mirror. #Loveyourbody♡

Workout of the Day✿ "Thursday"

Workout of the day... Everyone needs to start somewhere and here is the perfect beginners workout to get you going on that fit4life path. Make a choice to wake your body up today and give your body a chance to change! 

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Don't Give Up On ... "You"

Having trouble staying motivated and sticking to your fitness goals? Here’s my solution: Reflect on your good qualities every day. First, start with what you do well. Are you a good friend, mother, father or co-worker? Do your actions positively affect others in your life? Try to remember the good acts you’ve done throughout your life in detail. Sometimes we get so down on ourselves and we loose sight of all the goodness we have deep inside of us. If you aren't feeling good about who you are inside or out you will not be able to keep up the motivation and dedication it takes to keep striving towards not only your fitness goals but your life time goals. We all need to start loving ourselves and finding happiness within before we can achieve happiness outside.

You might remember the birth of your child or a good deed you did for someone in need. Recall a time when you were instrumental in making someone else happy. Recall every detail of that memory. For the next few moments, continue to dwell on details in your past when you lived up to your expectations for yourself. Realize that you have done more good than bad in this world. Allow yourself to feel grateful for all you’ve accomplished and allow yourself to really feeling it and be proud of it. Tell yourself.. I am worth the extra effort, and I deserve to take the added time it takes to improve my health and body today!

Today's the day to start digging deep within the depth of your body and soul and find  out what it is you need, what makes you happy and start pulling it all out of you. Empower yourself with all that goodness you start finding deep within yourself. Just keep pulling all that goodness out and allow yourself to shine bright. Keep that daily motivation alive no matter what is happening around you and stay on your path in making all those goals and dreams for yourself come true. Be good to yourself because you do deserve it. #Loveyourself  ✿

Workout of the day✿ "Wednesday"

Workout of the day... Everyone needs to start somewhere and here is the perfect beginners workout to get you going on that fit4life path. Make a choice to wake your body up today and give your body a chance to change! 

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Swimming♡ "Get Your Body Wet"

When’s the last time you hopped in the pool for a good workout? The sparkling blue water in that pool is good for much more than relaxing and cooling off. Swimming isn’t just child’s play. Taking a dive into the lap lane is a great form of cardiovascular exercise that can trim pounds and help you maintain a healthy weight. You can burn 300-400 calories in just 30 minutes of doing laps. Swimming is a great way to mix in your regular training to shock you body. 

Swimming was my passion before I began lifting and bodybuilding. I swam most of my younger years into late teen years where I swam competitively in high school and college AAU teams. I just loved the feel of the water and how peaceful it felt working out in water. Swimming burns so many calories and works out your entire body. My favorite was how great I would feel after a good, hard swim workout. I stopped swimming when I started competing in bodybuilding, but the years of swimming only helped with my bodybuilding in that I had much longer muscles from swimming all those years. Me being small the long muscles helped my body be symmetrical and more appealing than if I had shorter muscles on my small frame. When you're a smaller bodybuilder you never want to look boxy and having shorter muscle belly will do that. So without even knowing it all my years of swimming helped me in becoming a better more successful bodybuilder.

Swimming in a lap pool is much different than swimming in the open ocean. So you need to realize that you may be great at swimming laps in a pool and then try to take it to the ocean and see it's just not the same. It's much more difficult to swim in the ocean because of strong currents of the open water. It makes it much harder and more difficult to swim if you not accustom to it. Your body will work much harder swimming in open water than in a lap pool.Both a extremely beneficial and a tremendous workout for your entire body so give it a try and challenge yourself and your body to something different and new. Changing it up and continuing to push and challenge yourself is the best thing for you and  your body.

If you have yet to learn how to swim, or need tips on how to keep breathing while you swim laps, sign up for a class at your local YMCA or gym. If you already know how to stay afloat, just remember: It’s not your amazing skills that are keeping you buoyant in the water. Fat floats, muscle sinks. So get your booty in that pool and start swimming! When floating isn’t so easy anymore, you’ll know you’ve reached your weight-loss goals
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Workout of the Day✿ "Tuesday"

Workout of the day... Everyone needs to start somewhere and here is the perfect beginners workout to get you going on that fit4life path. Make a choice to wake your body up today and give your body a chance to change! 

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Workout of the Day✿ "Monday"

Workout of the day.... Everyone needs to start somewhere and here is the perfect beginners workout to get you going on that fit4life path. Make a choice to wake your body up today and give your body a chance to change! 

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Inspire me✿ "Be That Champion"

Champions aren't made in gyms.

Champions are made from something they have deep inside them... A desire, a dream. A vision.

#BethatChampion

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Exercise of the Week✿ "Hack Squat"

The hack squat is a variation of the traditional squat done on a hack squat machine. Most commercial gyms will have a hack squat machine.

This exercise isolates the front thighs more so than traditional squats. This exercises doesn't use the lower back and glutes to the extent that squats do. However, this exercise does a pretty good job of strengthening and building the front of the thighs.

The primary muscle group is the front thighs and secondary muscle groups include the glutes (butt), hamstrings and calves. This exercise comes close to traditional squats but the difference is that it takes some of the pressure off the lower back and glutes.

Position for the hack squat

1. Firmly plant your feet on the hack apparatus. Keep your back straight and flat against the hack rest with your trapezius muscles under the shoulder pads.

2. Place your hands on the hack handles. Keep your head level.

3. Slightly angle your toes outward.

Execution of the hack squat  

1. Slowly bend your knees bringing your upper body downward.

2. When your knees are at 90 degrees, slowly push your body upwards back to the start position. Repeat the movement.

When doing this exercise, keep your feet firmly on the platform and butt on the back pad at all times. By changing the positioning of you feet you're able to hit other area's of your legs to get a more well rounded, full muscle development. Start first set with you feet forward, then turning them outward and then inward to hit all area's of your legs. I have even done the hack squat facing face first and doing a reverse hack squat. This is hard on your lower back so you need to be very careful, but it really hits the glute and hamstring area and will guarantee some major soreness the next day.

Free weight style 

To execute a perfect hack squat using free weights, you need to get a weighted straight-bar with the amount of weight added that fits your level of strength. If you've never done Hack Squats this way you may want to start light to get the form and positioning correct before adding more weight. If you have a partner or spotter they can hand the weighted bar to you from behind. You will be placing you arms and hands behind your back to grab a hold of the bar. Keeping bar in place behind your back with palms facing outward just about glute (butt) level. 

If you don't have a spotter or partner you will be picking bar up backwards by bending down and reaching back to grab bar and then stand up. Once your set and ready with bar is in position you will then squat down just as doing a regular squat, but the trick is you will be holding bar behind your back just at or under your glute area. As you squat down the bar will move with you and lower as you squat down and raise with you back up to same position. It may feel strange and can be difficult executing free weight style, but if you don't have a Hack Squat machine to use then you know you can always perform them free weight style. It's a great way to confuse your muscles as well.. I love doing them both ways to keep my muscles guessing and keeping my training fresh by never letting my body adapt. #LoveHackSquats♡

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"The Right Workout Partner"

Having a hard time sticking with your fitness routine? Find a friend to help you out and you may experience more fitness success.  Partnering up will make you accountable to someone other than yourself. Which means you’re more likely to make the effort even when you really don’t feel like it. Knowing someone else is counting on you might just give you to boost you need to get yourself in gear. Just make sure if you're going to take on a workout partner you choose wisely because if you pick a close friend who has never worked out or hates exercise you could have some problems. You want to pick someone who is motivated enough to push past their comfort zone and not give in to the temptation of just leaving you messages at the last minuet that they will be missing today's workout. This could hinder your own progress and motivation and then you could skip your workout as well.

Picking a workout partner is not personal so if you choose not to pick your close friend to be your workout partner don't feel bad and they shouldn't either.  Now if your close friend or family member has the same goals and motivations as you, but your not sure about them committing and keeping to a schedule with you then give them a probation period. If they cancel, change or miss more than 1-2 workouts within a months time then it might be better to separate and find a new partner. You can still be close friends, but when it comes to your fitness, health and motivation you need to count on yourself most of all and if your partner doesn't have those same wishes, goals or wants as you do it will not work. You and your partner need and have to be in sync with each other to make a workout partnership work for both of you!

I only had one real workout partner and that was my brother Dana who taught me all about working  out with weights. As I fell in love with weight training my brother and I became more than trainer and trainee, we became true workout partners and relied on each others motivation and drive to keep us both accountable each workout and our set workout schedule. In the beginning I would have to be at my brothers house by 5am in the morning and it was brutal. He picked that time purposely to see how dedicated and serious I was by choosing such a grueling time. I had to leave my house by 4:30 am to be there on time and my bother was always ready at 4:50am so I had to be there and be ready to train at 5am. To my bothers surprise day after day, week after week and so on I kept coming back to train and continued to get my butt kicked at 5am 3-4 days on to one day off then back again.

I didn't love the early mornings, but I loved the feel of it when I was there pumping the iron before sunrise and the great high after we kicked our butts for 90 minuets working out. So I continued to be there and my brother always knew I would be there to train with him so he was too pushed to be up early and ready on those occasional days he wasn't feeling so motivated. When I had those occasional days I knew he would be waiting for me so I could NEVER let him down and most of all I couldn't let myself down. The feeling of not going and missing a training workout was a far greater disappointment to me and I could never stand that feeling so coupled with that strong desire to not let myself down and then not letting my brother down it gave me exactly what I needed to keep pushing myself past any barriers that came my way.

So if you feel a workout partner will help and it's exactly what you need to push and motivate you past your own barriers then start searching. If you don't have a close friend or family that holds the same desires and goals in fitness and you do or want to have then try the gym and see who trains at the same time as you do.  Ask around the place you train, run or take workout classes at and see if their is anyone like yourself who wants or needs a partner. I am sure most gym's have bulletin boards that you could also place an ad and see if you can find someone that way too. Sometimes the best workout partner is someone you don't know so well at first as it can make it that much harder to let them down and you also may feel that wonderful competitiveness come out inside of you to prove yourself to your new found workout partner.  Man or women will do as long as it's a workout fit and the motivation keeps coming as you become in sync with each other as training partners. #TrainHard   

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"There's No Magic in Being Fit"

Many people drop their exercise routines before they ever get to experience weight loss. They expect to see change too soon and when it doesn't happen they feel why bother? Some exercisers set their expectations too high and go all out in the beginning, then fail to keep up with the unrealistic demands of their WAM-BAM plan.

Don’t overload yourself with unrealistic expectations when you’re just starting out with a new fitness program. You can’t expect yourself to work out three times a day if you’ve been sedentary for years. You’d be so sore after the first day or two that you’d end up back on the couch by day three. Quick-fix plans have you putting all your hopes into a rigorous routine that you think will work in no time at all.

Unfortunately, weight loss takes time. But don’t let that discourage you – the slower you lose it, the slower you gain it back. Start out with a slow, steady routine to get your body adjusted to new movements, and then slowly increase the intensity, frequency or duration of your exercise sessions. Crash diets and grueling exercise routines will get you nowhere. The slower you start, the longer you’ll stick with it and the better your body will be able to adapt and progress. This could take weeks or even months, so be patient. 

Have you ever noticed that Monday's are always the busies day at the gym and for training. Tuesday is busy again and then by Wednesday you see it start dropping down a bit. By Thursday and Friday it is down to the regulars and what I call the "Die Hards"  Same thing goes for the beginning of the New Year, a few months before Summer and the beginning of each new month. Everyone has the best intentions to start their fitness program and be fit and healthy, yet will go to hard trying to make it happen too quickly and when it doesn't the discouragement sets in. This is why you see a drop off in people by the end of the week, by February each New Year and by middle of the month because too many expect by week two or even three they should see their fit, amazing body happen. Sorry, but it just doesn't appear like magic. There's no magic involved in being fit, healthy and feeling good about yourself. Embrace the wonderful, alive feeling you get from working out and continue for that reason alone and not just for obtaining a beautiful body. If you enjoy that and be consistent then you will see the beautiful body forming right before your eyes like magic.

Consistency is the main key to weight loss, getting fit, and maintaining not quantity or how much you do in one day or week. You would be better off doing less and doing it every day consistently than doing a lot a few times a week. If your trying to get fit and lose weight you do need to put the time in to see results. 4-6x per week. 1-3x per week will not get you the results you want if you're wanting to become fit, lose weight or improve what you already have. You need to set yourself up with a good fitness program to begin and be consistent and think of it long term, a life time commitment and stick with it. Only then you will reap the benefits you so desire to have to body of your dreams. There's NO easy way around the hard work that needs to be done. Do the work... Reap the benefits!    

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Always Train like a "BadAss" 2 Be #1

Training for speed is no cake walk, but it could be the difference between completing a race and competing in a race. There are a number of things you can do to become faster, but you won’t find “do the same old program you’ve always been doing” on the list.

You can’t expect to run fast in competition if you don’t run fast in practice, which means that strength and endurance training won’t make you faster. Instead, try adding intervals to your training regimen. This can be as simple as adding hills or sprints to your normal routine. Running uphill makes you work twice as hard, which builds strength, power and speed. Surprisingly, running downhill can also improve your speed.

While training for a super fitness competition I had to train for a half mile beach sprint which wasn't going to be easy. My bother had me doing quarter, half and full mile interval sprints for at least 2-3 consecutive miles. Running each one full force sprinting. I chose a area I could run and we marked the course out with spay painted dots. White was quarter mile, green half mile and red one mile. I would rotate which color I was running each day I went to train. Between each interval I got a break of 100 yards which I had to keep walking at a fast pace to prepare for the next interval run. My brother even had my rest/walking period marked for each color run in black. Those color dots came up fast and when I got to them it was time to start hauling butt again. Red, while, or Green day we called it. Of course red was the hardest because it was a mile haul out sprint. I called red dot day barf day because it always made me barf after I was done sprinting a mile.

I also did a lot of hills and down hill running for speed. I also ran in the sand so I would get use to running in the sand for the race. I would always run in soft, dry sand with my shoes on to make it tougher for me. Certain days I would also wear leg weights in the sand to make it even more tough on me. Making my training tougher  would only prepare me for the race that much better. I also ran at the hottest times of the day to make it again that much harder and tougher on me. My run in the competition would be late morning or early afternoon and would be in the hot sun so I made sure I was used to much hotter and tougher conditions to be able to run my best that day.

Add plyometric (explosive movement) drills to your workouts to increase power, coordination, agility, and speed of movement. “Bounding” is a good example of a plyometric drill that can help you run faster: As you run, push forcefully off the ground with your feet for each step you take. This exaggerated version of running will have you literally leaping as you run. This improves both your explosive power and speed.  If you decide to follow a speed-training regimen, just keep in mind that it's especially hard on the body and shouldn’t be done on consecutive days.  I chose a video below with some of the drills I was taught by my brother for my own speed, power and endurance training. Some of the drills my look funny and odd and some are funny to preform as well, but they work and they do prepare you for any type of competition you may be entering or if you just want to improve your skills to be more all around fit, healthy and completely "BadAss"   

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Motivational Note✿ "Get Back Up"

There is one thing I am sure of in this world...is that those individuals who win in life, whether in love, sports or in business, know that they can never have what they desire if they give up after getting knocked down. So if you get knocked down just get right back up, dust yourself off and keep pushing toward your goals, dreams and desires in this one life we have to live. There's only one other alternative and that is to stay down and cry about it.. right? You can cry, get mad even. Take some time down there, but don't take too long because life and time is always moving. So get up and move with it and make it all happen for yourself and your life. #Getbackup ✿

#8 Steps to Be...."Summer Ready Body"

✿✿ 8 Steps to a Summer-Ready Body Summer just around the corner and does the thought of putting on a swimsuit, bikini make you panic? Take control of your fitness and get your body in the tip top shape and ready for summer time. Here are 8 Steps for you to get started on your swimsuit ready body. ✿Step #1 ~ Start by taking note of what you eatOver a typical three day period write down what you eat, paying attention to when you eat, portion size, ingredients and calories (calorie counters are available on the internet). Don't forget to write down every morsel that passes your lips in to your mouth...including liquid. ✿Step #2 ~ Reset your bodyDetoxing brings your body back into balance so you feel healthier, burn energy more efficiently and reduce water retention-all which help you lose weight. A guided detox program is the best way to cleanse, but if you can’t join one either do a juice fast or try the following for at least 3 days, up to 2 weeks:   1. Squeeze lemon in to warm water and drink first thing in the morning..This stimulates the liver. 2. Don't eat dairy, meat or refined foods. They produce large amounts of acid wastes in the body.  Don't eat salt, sugar or foods with added sugar. Use honey, agave or stevia if you need to sweeten something. Don’t eat fried foods or foods cooked with oil. If you want to use oil drizzle cold-pressed organic olive or flax seed oil over food just before serving.  3. Eat as many raw organic fruits and vegetables as your body can handle. If your digestion is weak, you may need to eat some steamed or baked vegetables. 4. Drink at least one raw fruit or vegetable juice per day.  ✿Step #3 ~ Review your food journal Identify foods which are processed, high calorie and low nutrition, and contain lots of salt and sugar. Replace them with more nutritious options. Focus on foods that have a high amount of nutrients per calorie such as leafy greens. Replace processed foods with high fiber foods like oatmeal, fruits or vegetables, which help you feel full longer. Replace high fat foods with low fat options. Note times that you eat unhealthy foods, and replace them with wholesome snacks. If you crave something sweet, choose fruit instead; salty and crispy-try snacking on nori or celery sticks. ✿Step #4 ~ Keep hydrated Water helps us feel full and flushes out toxins– two key factors for weight loss. But most of us don’t drink enough. During the program drink a minimum of 3 liters of water per day and avoid dehydrating alcohol, coffee, soft drinks and diet soda. ✿Step #5 ~ Work up a sweat   Cardio exercise is the best way to burn fat, and intense intervals burn fat up to 3 times faster. Try walking, swimming, running, or any cardio class for 30-45 minutes, 4-5 days a week. Get your blood pumping and your body moving and work up a good sweat... Keep your metabolism fired up and burning the fat. If you can manage to do your cardio workout in the early morning which will kick start your metabolism and keep it burning throughout the day. ✿Step #6 ~ Tone, Shape and define Although it weighs more than fat, muscle uses energy. So the more you have, the more calories you burn – even at rest.  So get at least 30-45 minuets of strength training in to tone, shape and define your muscles which will make your body look fit, firm and sexy.  Strength training of some sort is a MUST... So make sure to do this along with your cardio and you will be thankful when you get into you swimsuit for your first summer beach outing. ✿Step #7 ~ Triumph over cellulite The unsightly texture that can appear on legs, hips and stomach is due to fat, water retention, reduced circulation, fibrous tissue and weakened cell membranes. The recommendations above will improve cellulite, as will eating plenty of healing nutrients. Healthy fats found in nuts and seeds heal cell membranes. Vitamin C, zinc and silica found in fruits, vegetables, pumpkin seeds and oats improve skin’s elasticity.  We don't want any unsightly bumpy cellulite on our body when we get in to our swimsuit... That's just not happening is it? Do the work and it won't! ✿Step #8 ~ Get the right attitude The confident people on the beach aren’t always the fittest. How people see you is influenced by how you feel about yourself. Taking care of your body makes you appreciate it more and feel like you look better, which is half the battle. So be confident in yourself, secure and happy in your own skin and it will show inside and out. Do the work and get your body healthy, fit and ready for the summer and for the rest of your life.. You will glow in your swimsuit this summer.