Create Your Balance

How do you feel about the scale? Do you step on it every day and let it determine how your day will go? Are you allowing it to rule your life? Is it owning your feelings?

I can remember letting the scale set the tone for the day. I'd step on it every damn morning and if it went up, it pretty much ruined my day. I had to workout a little more that day and eat better. If it went down, I felt like what I was doing was working and I was succeeding. Can I just say that was NOT a way to live!! It sucked the life right out of me.

If this hits you in the feels and you have done this before, you need to listen to what I am saying in this episode.

WEIGHT: "A body's relative mass or the quantity of matter contained by it, giving rise to a downward force; the heaviness of a person or thing." That's what Google says it is. I'm going to talk about what it REALLY is and what all those numbers added up mean…it's not what you think it is either.

It's time to stop letting the scale define you!!

Well, as of now I am coming up on 6 weeks post-op. I have started PT and I am SLOWLY moving forward.

Am I gald I did it? Well, I can say I am glad I am no longer in the pain I was in BUT It seems the more people I talk to, the more they want to try to confirm my fears. This is why I didn't tell many people I was even having the surgery. Now, I have people asking me how I am doing and then they go into " man, you just hear so many bad stories about back surgery"..yep, thank you for your time, I will gladly show you my hand (thank your lucky stars it is all 5 fingers) and tell you I do not want to hear it. SERIOUSLY, who the fuck does that and why? SHUT THE FUCK UP about it, PLEASE!!

Anyway, I am in a place now where a LOT scares me and I am listening to every signal my body is giving me and taking things very slowly.

Some people aren't happy about that but, again, I am giving ZERO fucks about what someone else thinks. It's real, I was REALLY cut on and I am in recovery and taking it one day at a time. Trust me when I say I WISH I was faking this all along because I do not wish this on my worst enemy!!

Everyone heals differently and every little thing I FEEL scares the shit out of me now. I'll be talking more about all the feels and how my recovery is going in this episode.

So many times we look at our health and weight loss journey and get over whelmed because we look at how far we have to go instead of celebrating how far we've actually already come.

It is truly all about the mindset and the way you look at it. I have my clients break their goals down because I know that sometimes they can seem like they are hard to reach if we look at them long-term.

Every goal you set it ATTAINABLE, you just have to have the right plan and mindset to get there.

One thing I've stopped doing is focusing on how far I have to go. Instead, I'm praising myself for how far I've come. I'm bringing that, and more to this episode.

A little bit or raw honesty here…since I've been doing this often.

When I found out I had to have back surgery, a part of me was TERRIFIED. I had worked so hard on my workouts and strength training to get to where I was at. I feel I was in the best shape inside and out that I had ever been in and I felt so kick ass about my workouts.

For a bit, I thought there was no way I could ever do it again. But then that negativity left me. I made a promise to myself that I would do everything in my power to get back to that, EVEN if it looked a littel diffeenton all angles.

Let me tell you, It's hard ,there are days I long for those workouts BUT I know I am not quite there yet and it will be a while before I do get there. Looking at it from one agle I see how damn far I will have to go BUT, when I take that angle and switch it up, I look forward to the challenge knowing full well I'm gonna love to hate it and hate to love it but I WILL get there. AND when I do get there, I WILL keep going!!

See, there is no start stop for me. There is no start stop for my health either.

Here is your sign that you CAN do it, and that it IS WORTH IT. I see you,, freaking out, wondering how you can pull it off. Feeling tired, or feeling DONE.

But keep going and I promise you will be so glad you did..You CAN do hard things!!

Is there a secret to healing your metabolism? Is it really even broken?

It seems we see more and more out there about WHAT can speed up your metabolism and help you lose weight. There are magic pills, potions and shakes out there promising to help speed up your metabolism…BUT do we really need that?

In this episode I'm going to give you a few simple and easy tips to heal your metabolism and keep it fired up. Let me just first say, you are not broken and neither is your metabolism.

I get it. You may feel like it's harder and harder to keep off gaining extra weight, even when you're exercising and eating the same?

Yaknow they say as you get older, your metabolism starts to slow down. Plenty of food and nutrition companies claim to boost metabolism like it's as simple as flipping a switch. While it might not be that easy, you can still improve your metabolism at any age.

So what the heck is your metabolism and what is its job?

Simply put, metabolism is your body turning food into energy. It's how many calories you burn each day. Having a fast metabolism is commonly thought of as the ability to overeat without gaining weight, whereas a slow metabolism is the opposite; gaining weight without overeating. But, let's not over complicate it.

These 5 habits to get a healthier metabolism are way easier than you have been lead to believe. It really is as simple as:

Building muscle

Getting moving

Eating some fiber

Geting some ZZZ's

EATING!!

Let's dive into these habits real quick…

I have to admit, I've never been a fan of my C-Section scars. I don't wear a 2 piece bathing suit unless it has full coverage of my scars and stretch marks. Can you say body image issues? Yep!! They are there BUT they have been there even before I had these scars.

Let's talk about the scars though since it's awareness month. I've been ashamed of them, not what they brought me BUT the looks of them have disgusted me for years…BUT I'm working on letting that go. No one needs to see them because I think they're ugly and look bad.

Is that a me issue? I believe it is. Shit, my body has been CUT OPEN 3 times ( 2 vertical incisions and one bikini cut) to spew forth LIFE of another human being!! That's pretty much a miracle in itself but put in the fact that I was cut open and then had to be a mother instantly. Not once but 3 times. That's pretty fucking amazing.

I remember my uncle saying…I have no idea how the hell you walked after that. ( after he watched a live c-section) They get you up and about within 24 hours of this major surgery. Yet we think getting back to our pre-baby body is the most amazing thing our bodies can do. Funny, I will NEVER be back to the pre-baby body because I have scars and stretch marks galore…AND I think what my body went through is the most amazing thing MY body has and will ever do!

Man, I have worn those scars as shame for YEARS instead of being proud of what they symbolize!! It's time we actually DO recognize things like this instead of trying to hide them and that's exactly what I'm bringing you in this episode!!

P.S. I think I recorded this and tired rerecording it 2-3 times because it got a little emotional for me. The end result is unedited and straight forward ( as are most of my podcasts)

If you're over 40 or slowly approaching that age and yuo can't quite seem to keep the weight off, you need to listen to this.

Ever feel like what used to work for you just isn't working anymore? You've tried it all and can't seem to see sustainable weight loss results? No worries, I've got you covered in this podcast.

From weight loss, to weight gain, hormones, menopause and all that comes with getting up there in age, I'm bringing the truthbombs today as to why you maynot be seeing the results you're looking for.

Well, if you've been following me for a bit now, you know I've had some medical 'things' going on that I have mentioned a bit here and there. Well, in this episode, I'm giving you the big update on it all and taking you along for the full journey.

As this episode is airing, I will be roughly 4 days post-op from a microdiscectomy on L-5-S1. A Lot of you know that I have had back problems for a LONG time and twice it has turned into big ass nerve pain starting from literally my ass to the bottom of my foot. Never in my life had I ever felt so much pain.

Surgery was NOT what I wasnted BUT it is what I needed. I had ehxausted all of my options and my body just wasn't cooperating with me.

I had feared this moment would come and in my mind I knew recovering from back surgery at age 49 was probably going to be easier than recovering at 79.

Trust me whan I say ALL the feelings came out, especially over the last 5 months when it all started to go down hill. Anger, frustration, fear, anxiety, defeat, fear…did I say fear?!?! That was the one that held me back the most. And possibly pride. I didn't want to give in to surgery, I wanted to heal without haiving to be opened up.

Well, in this podcast I give a little "pre-op" story that led me to the surgery and over the next few weeks and months, I will be taking you all on the journey of recovery. I have had many clients who have had set backs and, liek me, it IS the end of the world. It really isn't but I was there and feeling sorry for myself and being severely pissed off because I was in a place in my fitness journey that I waskicking ass and taking names ( let me have my moment) THAT right there was a HUGE set back for me because I knew everything woul dhave to come to a dead stop and I'd be starting over AGAIN…but this time, my mindset is different and that is what I am sharing in this podcast.

I am human, just like you and I have had BIG feelings on all of this BUT I know I will make a kick ass come back and live to tell about it all.

If you're a long time follower, you know I've struggled on and off with body image issues and I've discussed the "recovery" process of it all…BUT there are times when those thoughts try to haunt you.

SO what happens when they come creeping back? I always say, its not always butterflies, rainbows and unicorns" and, it's not.

If you've been listening to my most recent podcast you are aware that healthwise, I have a few things going on which I believe hav lead me to a little bit of a weight loss down fall ( yep, I said downfall)

Surprised? I mean who gets upset or has body image thoughts when they lose weight? IT doesnt matter WHAT SIZE you are, if the thoughts are there, they WILL always be there no matter what size you are. It's what's going on in your head that you have to work on not so much that damn number on the scale.

Well, recently these thought have been trying to creep in and I have been fighting them off. I know the old me would be flipping the fuck out with all that is going on. BUT with the mindset changes that I have gone through things are easier to work through and don't freak me out as much as they used to.

SO let's talk about that a bit more…shall we?

I get asked all the time, How can I tone up my Arms? Abs? Booty? Legs?

Well, I'm coming right out and letting you know that the word TONED is right up there with the new word, SNATCHED!! I'm not a fan of either because they are complete marketing words.

I'm sure you're wondering what the heck I am even talking about. I mean they have vidoes and workouts that tell you you can "tone" these parts of your body…BUT do we even know what that really means? Do we know what actually MUST happen in order to have that " toned " look?

YOU CANNOT SPOT TRAIN a specific area of your body. I know the marketing out there will tell you differently and show you some sort of image that makes you believe you'll have a snatched waist if you march in place with your arms above your head or somethe even crazier. The FACT is that your body is the one that decides how and when it oxidizes fat, not there fancy little marketing polys.

SO how in the world do you get that "look"? MUSCLE!!! Yep!

Now before you go jumping in the kool-aid, let me dive into it in this podcast and then you can decide what flavor it is.

Yep, I'm calling it out once again as you all know how I feel about this 'wonderful" little compliment. I pretty much despise it and I'll tell you why once again in this podcast. Trust me when I say I've heard it enough myself and also heard how it has affected a LOT of my clients with their struggles. YES, I said struggles.

Seems we look at that compliment at the surface level but I'm about to take you a bit deeper into how I feel about it and what it says to some of us. Don't get me wrong, compliments are great...BUT, is this the one we want to be throwing around so much?

I suppose it depends on the circumstances BUT do we always know the circumstances? Each time I have received that "compliment" in the past 2 years it has actually made me laugh because I was not in a space of trying to lose weight OR did I feel like I "looked great". It's actually not about a look to me anymore, it's about a FEEL!!

Let me dive right into it real quick here and fill you in.