Motivation Monday

“Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what keeps you going”

Finding motivation is the easy part, keeping it is where things get hard. It is easy to plan to do what needs to be done to reach your goal but having to do it day in and day out can get tedious. Don't give up!!

Experts say it takes 3 weeks to form a habit- in my opinion that is three perfect weeks! No slip up on weekends and all planned workouts complete! Don't give up on your plan after a week, everybody is different! Some people may see results in the first few days for others (like myself) it may take upwards of two weeks to see a change. The key is consistency.

Here are my types for keeping your motivation:

1. Always be prepared- Cook your meals ahead of time and store in the fridge or freezer.

2. Mind over matter- If you have resisted temptation before you will most likely be able to do it again with ease.

3. Carry a cooler with you everywhere you go, keep snacks in your purse if you go to meetings often or may not have access to your cooler all day.

4. Go on a realistic meal plan- Stop looking for the next “quick fix” diet! I guarantee your motivation will not last long when you are starving yourself. Eat a mix of complex carbohydrates, veggies proteins and fats every 2-3 hours to keep your blood sugar stabilized.

5. Give yourself 1-2 rest days (If you are a beginner 2-3) Your body needs time to repair so that it can perform at it''s best! Bringing me to my next point.

6. Sleep! 6-8 hours per night! If you are not getting enough sleep you will not make good choices or make the most out of your time in the gym.

7. Have a plan. If you don't have a written plan as to what you are going to do everyday to achieve your goal it is going to be difficult to figure out why it isn't working. Give yourself something that you can alter to get your best results.

8. Share- tell your friends, family and co-workers your goals! It is always motivating when you are asked how your progress is going and you can respond with all the exciting changes you have made! You might even motivate that person!

9. Pick a milestone. Have a reward (non-food related) for when you reach your goal. For me it is competing for others it could be a race, a vacation, an after picture- anything that would make you appreciate how hard you have worked!

10. Make a mantra- This is something that you repeat to yourself daily or when you are needing that extra motivation. Seems silly but when your motivation falters this can really help “I can do this, I am strong”, “I have worked to hard to turn back now” any phrase or quote that reminds you of why you are pushing so hard.

11. Confidence. This is one I have learned the hard way, if you don't believe you can achieve your goals you never will. Be true to yourself and know you can do anything you set your mind to.

12. Motivational pictures, sayings, quotes- I have a whole bulletin board in my room dedicated to this! Every time I look at it I am motivate again.

Most of all remember- “Success is not in how many times you fall, but in how many times you fall and GET BACK UP!”

Stay tuned for my next blog on CONFIDENCE,

YOUR FRIEND IN FOOD AND FITNESS,

Sarah Rennick

Using stitches instead of band-aids

As a personal trainer I hear lots of statements like this – “I have a party this weekend and NEED to fit into my black dress” or “I have a vacation in three weeks and NEED to be down 20lbs.” Hate to break it to you but it’s not that simple. Sure I could tell you to stop eating all carbohydrates, exercise like the energizer bunny and cut calories down to nearly nothing. Would you loose weight? Sure. Would you maintain what you had lost? NO! There is only one secret I know to loosing fat and it is – CLEAN EATING.

There will be fads that come across the fitness forefront like Visalus, Isagenix, the cabbage soup diet, and many other “quick fixes”. You will hear testimonials of people loosing weight in a flash. These people took the easy way out. Loosing weight is hard and I guarantee it will be an uphill climb. ANYONE can loose weight when they are consuming 500 calories of shakes or soups a day but it is merely a band-aid. They will not be able to do this forever. Clean eating is a lifestyle change.

How do I know? I know because I have been there. When I was in high school I went through a stage in my life where I was obsessed with becoming a certain weight. I counted calories allowing myself 300-400 a day and then did cardio where I would burn off double the calories I ate. Yes, I had an eating disorder and in my opinion that is what these fad diets are setting you up for.

After I reached my “goal weight” it was nearly impossible to maintain. So I began to cut my calories even more. My disorder became worse and I went through a period of bulimia. Eventually it became apparent to close friends and family that I was getting to thin. I was unhealthy, unhappy and absolutely exhausted all the time.

I can remember the day my mother introduced the new concept of clean eating to me. I still remember being baffled at having to eat more to lose more; as I had trained myself to do the opposite.

One of the main points was to eat protein and carbohydrates every 2-3 hours to keep your metabolism revved and not count all calories as equal. It wasn’t about counting calories but about the nutrition value in food and instead counting fats, proteins and carbohydrates rather than overall calories. Clean eating taught me how to be healthy.

As I began to lift weights and eat clean the number on the scale went up but my body completely transformed. I had curves, muscle tone and best of all was no longer “skinny fat” - I was healthy.

I know what it is like to lose weight. I have had to loose 20+ pounds both times I competed in order to be ready. I don’t slash down calories but I consume more greens, less carbohydrates and more protein depending on what stage of the process I am at. I give myself 15-20 weeks to do this and never expect myself to loose more than 2lbs per week.

Right now I am eating around 1200 calories a day and still loosing!! It is the type of foods you eat not the amount calories you consume. I don’t even count calories anymore I only count carbohydrates, proteins and fats. You would be surprised to see the amount of food on my meal plan.

I hear- “I have to eat more so I can loose more?” nearly every time I introduce this concept to a client and it still makes me smile

Check out “The Eat Clean Diet” By Tosca Reno.

I am a Holistic Lifestyle coach and do online meal plans if you need education and help. Teaching this concept is my favourite part of my job as it completely changed my body, mind and life. Let if change yours too.


Your Friend in Food and Fitness,

Sarah Rennick
bodyrevival@hotmail.ca

Making Your Resolutions Come True- Part 2

The holiday excitement is over. Your social schedule has slowed down and you are ready to commit to a fitness goal.

I find resolutions to be very vague- “I am going to loose weight this year” “I am going to start going to the gym”, “I am going to build more muscle this year” or “I will not eat ______ this year”.

What happens when you slip up? What happens when you have to go away for a week and don’t have access to a gym? What happens when your goal is taking so long to achieve that you loose your motivation? YOU FAIL. By setting a goal so big it is nearly unattainable you are setting yourself up for failure.

Start a goal journal! When beginning your goal journal I suggest you make three lists: 6 month goals, 1 year goals and 2 year goals. There may be big things you want to achieve that will take longer than this year- the 2 year column is where you would write these goals. I don’t like the word resolution I like the words small goals. You shouldn’t have one big resolution you should have 10-20 small realistic goals per column. Studies have proven that when a goal is written down you are more likely to achieve it.

Don’t make your goals vague and overwhelming “I’m going to loose weight” instead write something like “I’m going to loose 10lbs by March 1st” This not only gives you a deadline but it is very possible that you could achieve or surpass this goal. If this was your goal you should have small goals surrounding it as to how you will achieve it. “I will do 30 minutes of cardio every week day”, “I will do 30 minutes of weights every other day”, and “I will eat clean 90% of the time”.

Here are some examples that I have in my journal:

6 month goals:
Compete in the Cobourg Naturals- April 2012
Follow my contest diet 100%


1 year goals:
Qualify to compete at OPA provincials
Stay withine 7lbs of my contest weight post-show

2 year goals:
Complete second level of Holistic Coaching
Have a published fitness article
IFBB PRO :)

As you can see I didn’t overwhelm myself with big unrealistic goals. I set small goals and left my larger goals for 2013.

Share your goals! Show close friends and family your lists; sharing your goals holds you accountable to achieving them. Plan! Make detailed plans as to how you are going to achieve your goals. This is how you can fill the pages of your journal. Every Sunday write in detail what you are going to do the following week to get yourself closer to your goals.

Stay tuned for my video on goal setting :)

YOUR FRIEND IN FOOD AND FITNESS
Sarah Rennick