Got snow?

Snowed in and can't get to the gym? 

I used to worry about that a lot when I was a gym member or a member of a studio that would have to cancel classes. Now I don't have to worry about missing my workout ... more importantly, I don't have to worry about not reaching my goals. 

I've got THE BEST workouts on hand 24/7, 365 days a year. No snow days here!    

Time to FIX your nutrition!

21 Days. Dialed in nutrition. 30-minute intense workouts. That's what it takes for SERIOUS results. You can do ANYTHING for 21 days. This program has changed the lives of thousands - and yours could be next.

Sign up now to join our accountability group Feb. 16. Just email me and I will connect with you!! It's that simple :-)

Now's the time to fix your nutrition, fix your fitness ... get the 21 Day Fix Extreme and see results happen.

The Art of Living

I had to share this quote because it changed my life. 

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. 

He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. 

To him he's always doing both. ”

A few years ago I decided to take a leap and change the way I was living my life. I was teaching music at the high school level. I love teaching, but my vision felt limited in the public school setting. I loved my job, but my gut was telling me there was something more. I took a leap, completed my Master's degree, and set out to design my own life. 

Now every day I wake up and I get to teach clarinet. It doesn't feel like a job.
Now every day I wake up and I get to help others in their health and fitness journeys. It doesn't feel like a job. 

I'm sure a lot of my friends (especially those I haven't kept in touch with) have probably wondered what my "job" is or what I'm doing. I'm here to say that I'm living my life by my design and that my "job" is doing what I love every single day. I have my own (VERY large) studio and coaching business. I wake up each day feeling grateful, rather that dreading getting out of bed. I get to do things I wouldn't normally be able to do if I had a normal teaching job, like volunteer with Back on My Feet in the mornings or coach with Girls on the Run in the afternoons. 

(And to be honest, I'm making much more money than I ever was teaching in a public school, which I know is very disheartening for teachers. If we paid teachers like doctors, things would be different in this country, but I digress.)

I get to do the things I'm passionate about every single day. And that is what makes today and every day so amazing. So today I'm sharing the quote that motivated me to take a leap and go for it. 

It's Super Bowl Sunday and the first day of February. Tomorrow I start a new month in my P90 journey and Insanity Max:30. I also get to do the 21 Day Fix with a group of women to help them get their nutrition on track. January has been blessed with many gifts and I'm looking forward to the fabulousness in February. :-)

Week 3 Wrap Up - Insanity Max: 30 and P90

Wow, I can't believe I've completed three weeks of Insanity Max: 30 and P90!!!

Week 3 of Insanity Max: 30 brought a new workout: Tabata Strength!

Yes, slightly different than Tabata Power in that the "water breaks" now become "moving breaks." Shaun T. isn't messing around here. He even brought back Mummy Kicks from the original Insanity! I had a bit of "war flashbacks" the first time I did this workout, but my post-traumatic stress has subsided ;-)

Tabata Strength is harder than its predecessor (hello diamond jumps, abs, pushups ... anything with "diamond" in it). However, I absolutely love the end. It's exactly like a Pure Barre class with pulsing while you're in a wide squat. It felt like home to me and I was ready to take Shaun T. on!

Since I'm also doing the Ab Maximizer Calendar, I did two additional ab workouts: Max Out Abs and 360 Abs.
Do you like genie tucks? Then Max Out Abs is for you ;-)
Want some more lower back work? Then 360 Abs is your workout.
Both are 15 minutes long and fly by. They are great and I love the challenge they both give me.

P90 is doing great as well! Again, I love the fact that I can count on Sculpt A, Sweat A, and Ab Ripper A to keep me on track. When I press play, I don't have to psych myself out and pump myself up like Insanity (although I like doing that most days). I know I can complete these workouts and not have to mentally push myself.

So many things to be grateful for on this journey. Believe me, there are tough days.
There are days I don't "feel like it." But I know my commitment. As the book "The Slight Edge" said, "It's just as easy to not do the things that will get us to our goals." It would have been just as easy to stop. But that's not what I want.

The journey of health and fitness isn't about working out; it's about finding your potential and being uplifted to live your best life.

Digging Deep

 Did you read that correctly? Yes, it says that my maximum heart rate during my workout was 193.

193.

I've run two full marathons, several other races, and not to mention train for those events. I have never seen my heart rate that high. EVER.

When you're a runner, you try to stay in your target heart rate zone and work to increase how fast you can go in that zone.

But this is Insanity Max:30. There's these exercises called power jumps, plyo pushups, tricep dips, and burped lunge. They work your entire body AND your heart rate. How will I know know that I will be ready for my next marathon this year? Because I can do Insanity Max:30.

I am now in the second week of this year-long journey. Yesterday on Sweat Intervals, I had to dig deep. It was a workout that I've already done, but my mind was not in it. I'm still not sure why there was a disconnect yesterday. Nevertheless, there was one. It took everything I had to get through it. Shaun T's motivation definitely helped.

Yes, I have those days. It's okay that you have those days. That's life. It happens. Just keep going. 

That's why I've been looking forward to my P90 workouts more and more each day. I KNOW I can do them. There is no doubt. I'm liking the balance between the difficulty (both mentally and physically) of Insanity Max:30 and the levelness and consistency of P90. I've been doing the same 2 workouts of P90, Sculpt and Sweat, and I won't change those until this month. They are the "yin" to Insanity Max:30's "yang".

Speaking of yin-yang, for as hard as I had to push myself through yesterday, today was the opposite. I felt so motivated and energized, that I did what I'm now calling the "trifecta"  - I did 30 minutes each of P90 (strength), Insanity Max:30 (cardio), and PiYo (stretch and flexibility).

Yes, I did and I am still feeling the afterglow of that amazing trifecta. If only one day I could teach a 90-minute live class of those three formats ... (and now my mind starts turning with how to get there).

This is the journey of completing this project - all P90 and P90X, X2, X3 AND completing the entire Insanity series.

"It's not about exercise. It's about your life." - Shaun T.
Yes.  Yes, it is. :-)

I'm Betting on You

I spent my Saturday morning with over 400 amazing people who made a commitment to changing their lives for the better. It's why I teach clarinet and also why I'm a fitness coach - to change lives. Fitness, health, and music; a powerful combination to see the potential in you, to realize that, yes, you can achieve anything you want in your life.

We come from all walks of life - teachers, corporate CEOs, nurses, doctors, lawyers, accountants ... but when we joined this group, we became ONE - because together we are stronger.

When you join us, it means:

- You become a champion of your own goals and we will help you reach these goals.
- You are betting on YOU and WE are betting on YOU.
- You are believing in YOU and WE are believing in YOU.

I'm making a commitment to uplift others - to empower YOU to take that step on your own personal journey. This year, every one matters. You matter. Your dreams matter. Take that step and join this incredible and powerful movement of people changing other lives and changing their own lives each and every moment!

So in keeping with my goals, I'm announcing my February Love Yourself Challenge, starting Feb. 2 and now is the time to sign up! If you want nutrition made simple, 30-minute workouts, and a group of positive encouragement, then join us on this journey! 

We are doing the 21 Day Fix … yes, the program with the colorful portion control containers!  

Nutrition is well over 70% of the equation to seeing results in your weight loss journey. I did this program in November and lost 6 pounds in 21 days. My good friend lost even more pounds AND kicked her soda habit. Our relationship with food is often a key priority in learning to love ourselves. 

Eat like you love yourself.

Move like you love yourself.

Speak like you love yourself.

Act like you love yourself.

Remember, I’m betting on you. I know you can do this. Let’s connect if you’re ready to bet on yourself and join our group 

The Next Chapter

Rarely do we know when one chapter of our life ends and another begins. On those occasions where we can feel the tides change, go out and catch the wave.

I have been trying to catch that wave for a while, and I am finally riding it smoothly. I am blessed to know to this is indeed a new chapter of my life. Last year, I graduated with my Master’s Degree. I also started a long-held dream of having a full-time clarinet studio, not to mention that I finally made the dive in the deep end of the pool in my other passion of fitness. So to say that “it’s all happening” in my life right now would be an understatement.

How else do I know this is a new chapter? Because I can see the fear and doubt I have engraved for many years are starting to become a distant memory.

I’m not a quitter by any stretch of the word, but I do have fear and doubt constantly trying to make me go off course. It’s happened plenty of times. I’ve gotten off track in many journeys. But only on rare occasions have I ever given up.

This time is different. It is with bated breath I say that fear and doubt haven't woken me up in the middle of the night and told me I’m not good enough to do this. That “noise,” as I call it, has the volume turned down to a virtual 0.

It’s taken a long time to quiet fear and doubt this much. A LONG TIME. As in over a decade. In fact, it wasn’t until college that I realized that I wasn’t supposed to be hearing them all the time, constantly knocking me down. It was a silver lining that taught me that, one of the many silver linings that my father’s death has bestowed upon me.

Do you hear them, fear and doubt? You’ll know they’re there when hear things like, “You’re not good enough,” or “That’s too hard,” or even the classic “But it has to be perfect, otherwise there’s no use in doing it.” One of keys for me to get them to shut down is by stopping, taking a few deep breaths, then having a personal mantra ready to use. It’s more or less a short form of meditation. I am not a master at meditation by any means, but the stillness of a minute can happen if you work on it little by little.

These past two days, fear and doubt haven’t entered my mind about conquering my fitness project. Yesterday was Sweat Intervals for Insanity Max:30 and Sculpt A from P90.

Let’s talk Sweat Intervals first. Um … there was A LOT of sweat involved. Shaun T really put the “sweat” in sweat intervals! I maxed out at 16:45. This is a basic Insanity-like cardio exercise that are set up in intervals … shocking description, I know. Some exercises like squat lunges, power jumps, jump and cross twists will push you to your limits. Add this workout to another one of the hard cardio challenges that Shaun T offers in this program. But this isn’t about exercise, it’s about your life. Keep moving, keep pushing.

Next up was P90 Sculpt A. Hey, I had the door attachment today!!! I bought it for $8 off Amazon and had it in time for this workout (My heart goes out to the delivery men who are braving this weather to deliver things like my resistance band door attachment). 

The one move that I noticed a difference with the resistance bands versus the weights I used the first time was the tricep pulldowns … ow! My triceps were on fire (sang in Alicia Keys’ voice)!!!

Today’s workout were a repeat from Tuesday, Tabata Power and Sweat A.

Tabata Power: I. will. conquer. power. jumps.

Seriously, the amount of expletives that go through my mind the last three seconds of each exercise should be illegal. But I get through it and get it done!!!

Sweat A: STELLA!!!! I love you, Tony Horton. I also love Tony’s “H” tape on the floor. It’s good for form and helps with speed-like drills.

Ab Ripper A: I added this today because I forgot it on Tuesday (oops!!).  It’s a little over 8 minutes long and my abs will feel it tomorrow. That Plantain roller got my abs shaking. This is the “hardest” workout so far in P90 for me. Glad it’s short :-)

It would have been easy to not do these workouts. It was like the North Pole outside both days (school was even cancelled!) and fear and doubt could have popped into my mind in these ways:

“Hey, no school today, so you should enjoy this day! You don’t have to workout!!!”
“This Insanity Max:30 is too hard. You’re really going to keep doing this???”

“This P90 is really easy. You’re really going to keep doing this???”

See, when you write out what fear and doubt are telling you, it becomes a hilarious reel of craziness.

I’m so glad for this next chapter in my life. It’s unwritten, but that’s the most beautiful part. (Cue Natasha Bedingfield song ...)