How to Lose Weight With NO Effort At All.

OH SNAP! Did you really click over here and think you were going to find a real answer to that one? 

The clue phone is ringing folks and it's time to pick it up. Do you think this dude just woke up looking like that? HELL NO. Getting your body that conditioned takes TIME and EFFORT and DEDICATION and STRATEGY. IT REQUIRES A PLAN, AND STICKING TO IT.

This game of getting more fit is one that doesn't end. It's one that isn't ever going to be "easy". You can't take a pill and make it happen. You can't buy a $15 gadget on an infomercial one night and instantly have rock hard abs in a week, while you eat Ho-Ho's and drink a case of beer every night. 

You have to make the effort. It's an EFFORT. Well worth it, but it's work.

It's work to not eat out and order the super-size option at the drive through every day. It's work to say no to the chips/dip and brownies and cookies for some Jag's birthday at the office. It's work to get up at 5am so you can workout before work, and it's just as much work to NOT sit on your butt watching American Idol and instead go get in a workout after work. 

GET OVER IT. It's a choice. Decide what you want and then DO THE WORK.

It took me two years of a lot of drama and whining about this and that and not really finding my plan and sticking to it......all that said guess what, each week, each day-- as much as I LOVE working out and I ENJOY healthy food, it's an effort for me to stay on my PLAN. But what is the alternative? I don't want that. I don't want another year of feeling like my jeans are too tight to strut in them. OH NO.

I have a meeting to get to. Then I'm coming back, because I was up until 1am working last night (NAUGHTY KELLY!!!) and slept in until 8am-- which then made Kelly even naughtier because she didn't workout this morning. I'll be gosh-darned if I won't do my workout this afternoon. 

Guess what? I like what I see more EVERY DAY in the mirror. The effort is paying off. And it makes me want to work that much harder tomorrow. And I will. 

Here's my ramble-on-a-thon from actually- the end of last week. Whatevs. Enjoy it. And go out and make PROGRESS today, not EXCUSES.

Just do it.

That's RIGHT.

Go get you some.

Things Will Only Get Better.

Hey Y'All!!! I'm BACK BACK BACK!! OMG Vacation was WONDERFUL. Just what the doctor ordered-- I listened to my own advice and did NOT work in any way while I was gone. I unplugged and chilled out and was on NO schedule at all. It was heaven. I stayed ACTIVE too. The first day I did a 90 minute power walk in the HOT Miami sun. Total Sweatfest. And then every day except Monday I got in a great workout, from power walk/run/sprint/walking lunge intervals (90 minutes) to some INTENSE Hot Yoga. Kids, I'm DOWN with the yoga more than ever now. And, I'm also kind of dating RUNNING again. He and I are taking it slow but I'm cool with it...it felt great to run again and for me, it's all about the breathing and then I'm ROCKING IT.

Check out my post walk/run/sprint/walking lunge vlog:

I LOVE this stretch. And wow I did things in yoga class that I've never done. DANGIT I didn't shoot a vlog with my BFF Kelly, the Yoga Queen of all-- but even though I didn't, stay tuned because she will be a part of our upcoming FitFluential Road Trip Events!!! So if you want to take some seriously intense and educational yoga sessions, stay tuned. ;-)

Much of what resonated with me in these yoga sessions was how important it is to overcome our fears. Kelly asked me to do drop-backs-- where basically you arch back and end up in a backbend. I was like HELLLLLLLLLLL NO I WON'T. She said, "Why not?" I said, "I can't". And she goes, "Oh you will now!". While I started sweating bullets she came over to spot me and guess what, I did it, and then, the next three days I did it. And guess what- I'll be practicing daily and WILL do them unassisted. 

Go ahead. Call me a tiger. Cuz I'm GREEEEATTTT!!! Anyway, I was sooo enjoying the hot yoga, the running outside, the down time and of course just Miami. I took time out to focus on my future, on what I want to do in LIFE and what I saw, what I plan to do, what I know will be is AMAZING. Life-- well things will only get better. 

Word UP.

I saw this video yesterday and had to share it. I won't tell anyone how to workout but when I do it, I like to PUSH IT, whether it's 90 minutes of hot yoga or just a killer session boot camp like this. Especially now. I'm in it to win it.

I'm back to wearing Under Armour sports bras for running-- although I'm going to start trying a lot of brands. I'm determined to find other fits and ones that I like. For those of you busty chicks like me, what's your fav??

Also, do you bring your phone with you when you run- for long runs? 

Here is my ramble-on-a-thon vlog from earlier in the week. Please forgive the ratty-ass hair thing going on, I couldn't see that it was sticking up all over the place. I was talking here about my love affair of yoga, beyond the workout part.

Ahhh. Good times. All that to say, I am very much about a whole lotta Namaste in my life here and forevs!!! ;-) 

I'm sharing this gem from Tony Horton, because if any of you are skeptical of yoga not being tough or for guys or an intense workout, check this:

I'm in Miami!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right kittens! I arrived last night, like around 9pm. And then I almost kicked someone's A** got into a verbal alteracation with the people at the rental car counter, who didn't give me my car IMMEDIATELY. I'm standing there with my two suitcases, yes, two suitcases and sweat dripping down my back feeling tired and bitchy and this guy is like flirting with this girl "Oh is this REALLY YOU on your license? hehehe" I'm like, "Dude. I'm about to kill you if you don't give me MY CAR!". #FAIL

Anyway. I finally got my car and then arrived at my BFF's house. I'm staying with my friend Kellykins and she is uber awesome. Stay tuned, I'll shoot some vlogs tomorrow- I took a break from technology today and roughed it out at the beach. That's right. ;-) Then I went to the grocery store on the way home to get some:

• Fruit
• Starbucks
• Hummus
• Albacore Tuna
• Thomas Bagel Thins
• Chobani
• Water
• Coke Zero

And then I had a BITCH of a headache so I took a nap. I started off my day RIGHT with an hour + power walk in Kelly's neighborhood. I forgot to put my Polar on but I'd say it was a 250-300 calorie burn. I was supposed to meet Kelly at her yoga class tonight at 6:30pm but my headache was so bad, I told her I'd skip it tonight, since we will likely do yoga several times- since she's a yoga teacher and all and and and I just found a Hot Yoga place one mile away! BOOYA!

It appears that the hot yoga place here is like mine at home- not Bikram just hot yoga -- the above side plank move is one we did on Sunday, held, then going up and down. Whoa. Killer. 

Also, I'm sure I've shared with you all how addicted I've become to PINTEREST and TUMBLR. OMG. Now Pinterest has me on a boatload of topics--- home decor, fashion, food, fitness, vacation, memories, while on Tumblr I tend to follow just fitness peeps. I stumbled on this picture today and it sparked that topic that I talk about a LOT, that knowledge is power, especially with "diet", or what we eat, and especially when eating out at restaurants:

Or, this one:

Both of these I found via the original blog post, so you can see more by clicking here.

It really annoys me when I check in on Gowalla or foursquare to a fast food place and people start attacking me, "OMG! Why are you at McDonald's?? Or What are you doing at Arby's??". First of all, it's RUDE to make fun of or cut down someone's choices just because they don't match yours, but on the other hand, HELLO-- people that are into getting fit and losing weight #1) can have an "indulgent" meal when they wish and #2) you CAN eat reasonably healthy even at fast food places simply by knowing the nutritional value. Now-- the examples above are NOT to encourage you to have Krispy Kremes for lunch or 2 cheeseburgers all the time. It's to make the point that the ignorant people out there--- some will start to "diet" and they'll start their "diet" by changing their regular fast food choices with a "Salad". Well--- those people might wonder why a month later the scale ain't moving!!

Do the research. I have been looking up calorie counts for years now so it's a habit for me, and now more often than not, many restaurants offer nutritional info on the packages of food (McDonald's) or on the menu board at the counter or on the menu (at sit down restaurants). Knowledge is power. Don't be stupid. ;-)

and now...some Nike inspiration, until my vlogs will find you tomorrow. I'll get my BFF Kelly to tell us some Yoga goodness. She's bada**. 

QUESTION OF THE DAY: DO YOU WORKOUT ON VACATION? I'm gonna CRUSH IT THIS WEEK!! 

No Limits.

Hello my kittens. I am truly sorry for being that MIA blogger this weekend--- needless to say, it was VERY busy at the FitBloggin conference. Kudos to Roni for a wonderful experience, and I encourage all of you to try and make it next year. We had some non-stop activity from the time I arrived on Thursday, until leaving early this morning. I am a wee-bit tired, but still, very happy from the experience. 

Let me tell you one of the HIGHLIGHTS of the weekend was getting to, drumroll please, meet CATHE!! OMG!! Hello- take a peek to the right of my blog at how many tags refer to a Cathe workout. I have been a massive fan of this woman and her amazing workouts for YEARS AND YEARS!! When I saw that she'd be there I was like OMG in a big way. Then when I went into the expo room and saw her, I just about started foaming at the mouth. Funny thing is, I don't get all goo-goo-ga-ga over celebrities if I meet them. I simply couldn't stop gushing to Cathe when I met her #1) because of her awesomeness and #2) because now I can help the world know about her greatness and kick butt workouts!! Without giving anything away, let's just say, you'll be seeing a whole lot more of this Super Bada** Chick in the world of KO:

I'm also going to tell you all that she is even more adorable in person than on video, if that's possible. 

Ahhhh. 

So--- the weekend was busy and I sat in on some great sessions before speaking on a panel with Andrea Metcalf, (@andreametcalf), Liz Neporent (@lizzyfit), and Karla Walsh (@karla522). That was a whole ton of fun, I must say. 

Now that I am home and getting ready for a new week of busy-ness, I found myself today doing a little bit of my old behavior- bad thought patterns. I started mentally bashing myself because I didn't get my workouts in -- while I was at a dang FITNESS conference hello! And I started freaking out at how I put myself BACK THREE STEPS by "wasting" three days. Then, thank heavens, I realized what I was doing. I stopped. I had that inner conversation with myself to realize that every day is part of the process.....and we will "fall down" but it's the getting back up that matters. If we fall down and stay down, that's the failure.

The only way to fail is to quit.

I'm realizing HOW IMPORTANT it is for me to make these changes in my life every day....because as I have more and more "A-HA!" moments and SEE things with objective clarity, I realize how destructive some of my thought patterns and attitudes were. I've told you kids before, that if you would have asked me 5 years ago if I'd be reading the type of "Self-Help" or "analyze your life" books that I'm reading now, I would have laughed and said no way....but so many of these books, coupled with some HUGE moments of clarity earlier this year-- have helped me make some BIG changes in my attitude. I'm becoming less stressed. Anxiety is not part of my daily diet. I'm LIVING my life again instead of putting everything off until the day I am perfect. I am truly beginning to ENJOY my fitness journey again, after "The Bracket Years" where I went crazy trying to 'fix' my body overnight. 

I am repeating this mantra daily, because it is so true. I've talked about how, in the past, I've made mountains out of molehills and it has gotten in my way. I wouldn't do a workout because I thought "OMG no way I have time for a 90 minute workout PLUS a shower PLUS doing my hair PLUS getting dressed and being on time....", or I'd mentally beat myself up because I either missed a workout or had dinner late with a client and had a martini or dessert that wasn't planned and thus I'D FAILED AND RUINED EVERYTHING and thus I WOULD NEVER REACH MY GOAL. 

This is not true. But that WAS my truth, my reality for a long time. 

I'm learning to TRUST MYSELF again. I'm learning to have FAITH IN MYSELF again. I'm finally TRULY believing that I can do it, instead of turning to everyone for some new fast solution to fix me and make me perfect. I'm figuring out WHY I have some messed up feelings...and as I'm getting to the core of that, it's helping me make REAL CHANGES instead of focusing on practices based on PUNISHMENT and DENIAL. That's no way to live. 

Amen. That's what I'm doing this year. The past is just that- OVER AND DONE. My life is now, and so is yours. And, there are  NO LIMITS to what I can accomplish. 

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WHAT IS HOLDING YOU BACK FROM DOING WHAT YOU REALLY WANT? And how are you gonna change that?