I'm Back.

Good MORNING Kittens! I feel like I've been out of Blog-Land forever! Dang! I will say this, the title of this post is true. I'm BACK. For all of you that have been emailing me, thank you. It appears that everyone has 'turned the corner' sickness-wise. My poor niece broke her fever on Friday, after 6 straight days of a HIGH fever in the hundreds. I was SO worried about her! ;-( Anyway, she was happy that she got to go see "Tangled" over this weekend, so it's all good! AMEN!!

I'm so thinking of Amy at the Vegas Rock n Run right now. I can't wait to hear how she kicked butt, I just know she did. I'm disappointed I am not there, in a big way, but I know I did the right thing. I don't regret staying here one bit. I just got my latest Runner's World magazine and plan to pick my next first (ha ha!) 1/2 Marathon for 1Q2011. I think there is one in Miami!!! Yummy. 

So I had to feature my girl crush Jessica Biel today because she's just killer badass chick. I love her workout approach, you can see that she mixes it up all the time, which is what I love to do, or I have found I love to do. I LOVE running now and can't wait to really be back at that on a regular schedule of some sorts, whether I'm training for 1/2 marathons or not. I love heavy isolation training in the gym, and I also love kickboxing, kettlebells, yoga, bootcamp and SOON.....TRX and Crossfit.! WOOT! That's me. What works for me and what I love may not excite YOU- and that is the key!! YOU have to find what you LOVE to do- because that is the training program that will be most ideal.

Granted, if you only like to sit on the couch and do curls with your Cheetos and Bud Light, you aren't gonna end up looking like this:

*Ahem*

And if your idea of staying active means twiddling your toes around while you sit at your desk drinking Frappuccinos with whipped cream and reading People.com, you probably won't end up looking like this:

So, be realistic. You want to lean? You gotta move. You want fantastic muscle? That doesn't come without moving some serious weight. Ladies, do we really need to get into the whole "I don't want to be bulky..." whine fest? I don't think so. 

I've learned some GREAT (yet difficult) lessons in 2011. I've learned to conquer my psycho-diet mentality and have a more reasonable approach to food. (Yes, for those of you that have asked I will shoot a vlog about the ESE approach and how it helped me and what I'm doing now....) I've learned to stop adjusting MY training whenever I hear some advice, unsolicited or not, about what's the "best" cardio or the "most ideal" way to train in the gym. 

Eat Less, Eat Good. Move More. Lift Heavy. 

That's how I roll now. 

I'm not obsessing over training in a Heart Rate zone and flipping out if I went to 161 instead of training at 155. I'm not losing my mind if I'm on the road and have to have Arby's for lunch instead of that ideal salad with tuna that I'd really like. I'm not pissed off if I only get in 45 minutes of working out instead of 90, when I'm at a conference that keeps me busy from 8am to 11pm. 

I will run when I want to and not listen to ridiculous advice like (cough cough JNL) "No one that trains in the gym EVER runs!! We laugh at those people and call them skinny fat!" #FAIL. 

Jessica Biel is my girl crush because she is buff and isn't trying to look like everyone else in Hollywood. She trains hard and it is clearly a lifestyle choice. I finally feel like that's where I have arrived....this is all part of my life, I'm comfortable with what I'm doing, I'm seeing MAJOR RESULTS now (fat loss AND muscle conditioning and growth plus cardio capacity that blows my mind) and I'm making no apologies.

 

I've read some questions sent in to fitness magazines about "waaah I'm bored with my workouts". Seriously? There are like 100,000 things to do to get/stay fit. My Gosh, I am at the point that if I wanted to, I could do a different routine every day for 5 years. Really. Get creative! Who is going to take the time to write in a letter to a fitness magazine instead of going online and reading some killer blogs and checking out YouTube and getting off you DUFF??? 

  

 Do you see what she's using here? Those are the lovely ValBands from Valerie Waters that I've told you about in the past. AWESOME. I use these when I do Butts N Guts by Cathe. Holy Crap. (Firewalkers!!)

I've also told you about Valerie's Valslides. Seriously, if you want to invest under $50 for two little tools that travel well and have about 200 different moves for your core, your butt and your legs, BUY THESE. I have one set for at home and one set for travel. Best investment ever. I've provided the link HERE and no I don't earn a dime from sending you there. Val is my BFF and she is awesome. 

This really is just a peek. I find that the more I vary my workouts, the more fun it is. It becomes more of a choice in my mind of "What do I GET TO DO TODAY?" as opposed to "What do I HAVE TO DO TODAY?"

Success is all in your head. The only way to FAIL is to QUIT. 

So, the QUESTION OF THE DAY IS: How do you plan to kick it up a notch this month so you have a head start on 2011???

No Excuses.

Without a doubt, the #1 question I receive from men and women that want to get fit is, "How can I do it without any time/energy/motivation?"

I'm going to say this as emphatically as I can. THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSES FOR NOT GETTING YOUR BODY IN THE MOST OPTIMAL STATE OF FITNESS AND HEALTH. PERIOD. 

Understand this, if you are frustrated with where you are. Everything you need to lose weight and get healthy or healthier is RIGHT IN YOUR HANDS. You have all you need to get fit and that is YOUR BODY and YOUR WILL. That's it. You don't need special equipment, you don't need a gym membership, you don't need a personal trainer, you don't need a personal chef or dietitian, you don't need unlimited wealth, you don't need a babysitter, you don't need a special pill for motivation, you don't need a different job, I could go on and on.

What you need is an attitude check. YOU CAN DO ANYTHING THAT YOU SET YOUR MIND TO DO. 

Trust me when I say this, I've been in that state of frustration. I've been in a state where I thought there was nothing more I could do or fix or alter to make my results better. Guess what?? I was wrong.

If it is your career, your marriage/relationship or your body/mind, you have NO EXCUSES for not making it better if you aren't happy. Stop whining and start winning. 

Lately, I've had a lot of comments, emails or shouts on Facebook and Twitter saying, "Wow you travel all the time for work and you still workout!! How do you do it?"  Guess what? It isn't easy. It's a perpetual struggle to some degree to keep my GOALS in mind, to keep what I want to NOT BE in mind and give THOSE concepts more focus than my desire to be lazy and go to bed or hit a party or whatever......it's WORK. 

There is nothing worth having that is easy to achieve. (In my opinion.)

Decide what you want MORE. Do you want to sit around the rest of your life whining about how unfit you are, being jealous of others that ARE, that are enjoying their lives MORE, instead of getting off your duff and making some changes?? What will make you feel more proud of yourself? Working hard or being a lazy whiny bad-attitude jag??  ;-)

I'm going to start taking the excuses I hear one by one and doing a blog post on them here so I challenge any of you- give me some excuse (aside from being in a hospital situation or dead!) for not being able to get fit, or change your career, or improve a relationship or move on.....I guarantee you I can show you how to STOP SETTLING, STOP WHINING and START KICKING BUTT IN LIFE. 

Stay tuned. In the mean time, since I'm stuck in an airport and can't upload my vlog, enjoy some inspiration from Val Waugaman below. She rocks.