Let Consistency Be Your Miracle...

I love this quote, "When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet, at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it - but all that had gone before." -- Jacob Riis

The same is true on our journey to good health!  You set a goal to lose weight.  Every week you step on the scale, expecting to see that magic number appear. Finally, after weeks, maybe months of eating clean and working out, BOOM..there it is!  It's not that final day before that brought about that number....it's all those days added together, being consistent, that brought about that achievement!

It's somewhat amusing to me when someone who has not seen me in a while (like 30 pounds ago) meets up with me again, they are a bit surprised at how I look these days.  The first things they want to know are "how did you do it?" and "what's your secret?" I find it interesting how common that initial question is. When we have a problem that we need a solution for... We want a secret! Some miracle plan that will magically solve it! Just watch late night television. All those infomercials claim to have the secret and it is only available there! …or on an end cap in Walgreens or Target.  Except for a few, (Here’s my Beachbody plug ) most don't  deliver. There is no substitute for steady, CONSISTENT work.

 CONSISTENCY builds STRENGTH.

The day-after-day dedication to our fat-burning exercise, using the proper muscles, will bring about changes and strength in our bodies. Eating the proper foods at the proper times, day-after-day will bring about the changes and strength in our metabolism. By being CONSISTENT we will experience changes and strength in our mental and emotional approach to life.

CONSISTENCY eliminates STRESS.

Every day that I eat clean and workout makes the next one easier. It eliminates the stress by taking the "decision" out of the situation. When to eat and what to eat is no longer an issue. If you have your menu planned, your food prepared and on hand, it is much easier to say that little word "no" when presented with the temptation to go off plan. But, we create a lot of our stress by being INCONSISTENT. Use the plan as your reason to say "no" and eliminate all that time worrying or mulling over WHAT to do.

CONSISTENCY brings SUCCESS.

With CONSISTENT days following your plan, they will begin to add up into weeks. The pounds and inches will begin to melt away! And that is SUCCESS! With the pounds and inches melting away, our bodies are healthier and that is SUCCESS! With healthier bodies, we look and feel so much better and that is SUCCESS!

The foundation of every successful weight-loss program remains a healthy, clean diet combined with exercise on a consistent basis! For successful, long-term weight loss, you must make permanent changes in your lifestyle and health habits.

Until next time....STAY CONSISTENT!

Try it Before you Buy It!

It's not often that a company lets you try their product before you buy it, but for a limited time only, Beachbody is doing just that!  

For the month of July, Beachbody is offering 3 of their top workout programs in challenge packs for free.  Yep, I said it. FREE!!!  We supply the fitness, the food, and well...yeah, the fun.   

For this very limited time, you can choose from P90X, TurboFire, or Brazil Butt Lift. You will also have your choice of Shakeology flavors, Chocolate, Greenberry, and Tropical Strawberry. You will only pay $14.95 for shipping/handling, along with tax. 

After 30 days, if you are getting amazing results, you'll be charged the remaining balance. If not, return everything. It's entirely RISK FREE.  

What do you have to lose...besides pounds & inches???

To help ensure your success, once you choose your program and place your order, you'll be added to a special Facebook group with loads of other people on the same journey toward better health & fitness! We won't let you fail!   The ball is in YOUR court. All I need from YOU is to GO.

Click on Shop in the middle of this page. When the pop-up window occurs, click on Trial Offers on the left side (second from top.) Make your choice. Order. Email ME to let me know of your decision, and I'll add you to the Facebook group!   Easy as 1, 2, 3!

Remember, these trial packs are available for a VERY limited time! What are you waiting for??? Go...NOW! 

One of the "Why's" of Why we Workout! (edited and updated for Summer)

Summer is HERE...maybe not by the calendar, but by the temps!   Oh, the joys of swimsuit season. Unlike the perfectly built models you'll see in the magazines and on TV, most of us have our figure flaws that we'd rather not flaunt for all the world to see in some of the barely-there suits that are our choices for summer. For many women, the thought of shopping for a new swimsuit is about as enticing as an IRS audit.

If you've put off getting in shape all year, and vacation time is HERE, the best I can offer for immediate help is:

1. CAMOUFLAGE: ... get a tan! Self tanners and spray tans are the safest & quickest way to get that beautiful bronze look...and most women agree that a bronze glow is the ultimate "do." Or in everyday language...brown fat looks better than white fat!

2. Swimsuit: ... select the right swimsuit and accessories for your body type! There are tons of websites that offer advice based on your body type!

3. SMILE: .... That right!  Smile, be happy, be confident.  If you go around feeling and acting self-conscious, you'll only make others more aware of your body issues. 

And have a sense of humor!!! To that end, I offer the following story....


The Bathing Suit (by an unknown middle age woman)

When I was a child in the 1950's, the bathing suit for the mature figure was boned, trussed, and reinforced; not so much sewn, as engineered!  They were built to hold back and uplift; and they did a good job.  Today's stretch fabrics are designed for the prepubescent girl with a figure carved from a potato chip.

The mature woman has a choice, she can either go up front to the maternity department and try on a floral suit with a skirt, coming away looking like a hippopotamus that escaped from Disney's Fantasia, or she can wander around every run-of-the-mill department store to make a sensible choice from what amounts to a designer range of fluorescent rubber bands.

What choice did I have? I wandered around, made my sensible choice and entered the chamber of horrors, known as the fitting room.  The first thing I noticed was the extraordinary tensile strength of the stretch material.  The Lycra used in bathing costumes was developed, I believe, by NASA to launch small rockets from a slingshot, which gives the added bonus that if you manage to actually lever yourself into one, you would be protected from shark attacks.  Any shark taking a swipe at your passing midriff would immediately suffer whiplash.

I fought my way into the bathing suit, but as I twanged the shoulder strap in place I gasped in horror!  My boobs had disappeared!  Eventually, I found one boob cowering under my left armpit.  It took a while to find the other.  At last I located it flattened beside my seventh rib.

The problem is that modern bathing suits have no bra cups.  The mature woman is meant to wear her boobs spread across her chest like a speed bump.  I realigned my speed bump and lurched toward the mirror to take a full view assessment.  The bathing suit fit all right, but unfortunately it only fit those bits of me willing to stay inside it.  The rest of me oozed out rebelliously from top, bottom & sides.  I looked like a lump of Playdoh wearing undersized cling wrap!

As I tried to work out where all those extra bits had come from, the prepubescent sales girl popped her head through the curtain, "Oh, there you are," she said, admiring the bathing suit.

I replied that I wasn't so sure and asked what else she had to show me.  I tried on a cream crinkled one that made me look like a lump of masking tape, and a floral two-piece that gave the appearance of an over sized napkin in a serving ring.  I struggled into a pair of leopard skin bathers with ragged frills and came out looking like Tarzan's Jane, pregnant with triplets and having a rough day.  I tried on a black number with a midriff and looked like a jellyfish in mourning.  I tried on a bright pink pair with such a high cut leg, I thought I would have to wax my eyebrows to wear them.

Finally, I found a suit that fit.  It was a two-piece affair with a shorts-style bottom and a loose blouse type top.  It was cheap, comfortable and bulge-friendly, so I bought it!  My ridiculous search had a successful outcome, I figured.

When I got it home, I found a label that read, "Material might become transparent in water."  So, if you happen to be on the beach or near any other body of water this year, and I'm there too, I'll be the one in cut-off blue jeans and a T-shirt!!!

***You better be laughing or rolling on the floor by this time.  Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain, with or without a bathing suit!

NOTE: Anyone who reads this - who wears a single digit dress size - YOU'VE ARRIVED HERE BY ERROR, I'M SURE; but I hope you got a good chuckle out of it anyway!

Remember, the best way to deal with excess body fat is with proper diet and plenty of exercise!  If you'd like help with that, click here and let's get started together! In 90 days, you'll look back and wish you had started TODAY!

Did you P.P. today?

Most people only commit to a workout program for 3 full weeks.  After that, most get side tracked and allow other things to come between them and their workouts.

I hope today's post will help you to either keep pushing play or start pushing play again. (I'm using the term "pushing play"... aka PP... because I work out at home with my Beachbody workouts.  You can insert "working out", "going to the gym", "running"..whatever form of exercise you do.)

I don't know where you are in regards to your workout program or your workout goals. But I do know that no matter what happens in your day to day life, pushing play can be vital to your success. If you want to be successful at work, happy at home, excited to hang out with your friends, then keep working out. Exercise directly affects your attitude; how you approach life, and how you operate on a daily basis.

The more you exercise....

• the better you'll feel.
• the more you'll feel good about yourself. 
• the better you will perform at work.  
• the better you'll treat your children.
• AND the more you'll want to make your spouse/significant other happy! **BONUS** 

Why?  Because when we feel better about ourselves, we treat others better! The fact of the matter is, exercise positively affects everything in your life. It's a win-win situation.

Take a few minutes and focus on what's most important to you. Is a healthy lifestyle one of your top priorities? Are you committed to feeling good, looking good and being healthy? If not, make the decision today to change your top priorities, and watch your life become much, much better!  Do you need help getting started? Click here and we'll get started together on the road to YOUR success!

Are you having trouble staying committed? Leave me a comment below or email me at susan@fitjourneyforlife.com , and let's work together to keep you on track!

Are all Calories created equal?

I recently had a friend who was trying to lose weight, and was growing ever more frustrated by the fact that the scale was not cooperating.  When I asked her what she was doing to try to lose weight, she said she had reduced her calories to 1300-1500 a day.  That sounds reasonable, don't you think?  When, after a few days, she still was seeing no change on the scale, I asked to see her food journal. 

Sure enough, she was only eating those calorie amounts, but it was WHAT those calories were that was the problem!  A typical day consisted of a sugary cereal for breakfast, fast food chicken strips and small fries for lunch, and 2 slices of pizza for dinner, with a snack of 3 musketeers bar...for a total of 1495 calories. Yep, that was within her range she had set for herself.  What she was not taking into account was the 66 grams of fat, 166 grams of carbs, and 2700 mg of sodium, and less than 45 grams of protein.  All of these are factors in what makes up your body composition.


What if she had had a day of oatmeal with blueberries, and whole wheat toast for breakfast, still going with fast food, a Subway Philly steak without cheese on flatbread with light ranch for lunch, and a dinner of grilled salmon, roasted sweet potatoes, grilled asparagus, and a small dinner salad. During the day she has snacks of strawberries, string cheese, and THEN has dessert after dinner of Skinny Cow Caramel Truffle bar!!! Would you feel deprived with all that food? That's 1278 calories, 38 grams of fat, 127 grams of carbs, only 1478 mg of sodium and 88 grams of protein.

Instead of "dieting" and trying to cut calories, focus more on eating healthy! Fueling your body with nutritious foods will lead you towards your goals at a steady, healthy pace. You will look better, feel better and perform better throughout the day!

Benefits of Drinking Water

With the holiday weekend here, I thought it would be a good time to remind us all of some of the benefits of hydrating our bodies with good ole H2O!  Many of us will be out on the lake, at the beaches or parks, and now that the summer is heating up, we'll be drinking ALOT!  Alcohol, cola, and coffee all can leave you dehydrated quickly. The more alcohol you drink, the more likely you are of becoming dehydrated!  WHY?  Yep, the more you drink, the more you need to "go"!  If you are drinking alcohol this weekend, try alternating a bottle of water between beers!

10 Quick Reasons to drink water:

1. Water suppresses the appetite.

2. Water helps to reduce cholesterol.

3. Water helps to tone muscle.

4. Water is necessary for proper digestion.

5. Water helps the liver to function.

6. Water helps soothe digestive problems.

7. The right amount of water causes the body to stop retaining water.

8. Water stops you confusing hunger and thirst.

9. Water help moisturize the skin and makes it more radiant and supple.

10. Water helps wash the toxins out of the body.

I hope you all have a happy and healthy Memorial Day weekend!  Remember to honor our service men and women, and remember those who have given their lives to preserve all the freedoms we enjoy in this great country.

There's no time like NOW to create a new YOU!

An important first step to making significant changes in your life is to sit down and give some serious thought to what is going well for you in life and what is not.  You're probably used to avoiding this issue, but it's time to face it!

MAKE A LIST! The act of writing down your thoughts makes them very real.  You'll be much more likely to follow through with your plan if you write it down!  You'll find when you make a list that there are going to be some things that you just can't control.  Don't let that get you down.  Focus on the things that you CAN control!  Everything starts with YOU; so focus on YOU!

When you make changes in your health and appearance, and like what you see in the mirror, everything else will look differently to you too.  The old adage about "rose-colored glasses" is really true!  So don't worry about those items on your list that you can't tackle right ---just tackle YOU!

It doesn't matter what else is going on in your life; no one controls what you put in your mouth except you.  Forget the reasons why you can't make it work and as Nike would say, "Just Do It!"

If you need to lose a large amount of weight, don't despair! Never think in terms of "I'd have to diet for a year to look good!"  Instead, tell yourself that you are going to "eat healthier today". Each new day you'll want to focus only on that day!

Set small weight loss goals and celebrate each five pounds that you lose.  You'll find that the longer you stick to your plan, the stronger your MOTIVATION will become!

If you are just too overwhelmed by the task ahead of you, select several small changes to transform your diet---that you know you can commit to....

1. Decide that for one week you will eat 3 small meals and 2 snacks each day.
2. In addition, you will finish eating for the day before 7 pm.
3. Next week, add another couple of goals.  You will have 3 ounces of lean protein at each meal..in addition to the first two items from the previous week.
4. You will only have 1 diet soda (or none) each day.

And on and on, adding a new item to the list each week.  YOUR GOALS ARE ATTAINABLE!!! You just have to want them more than you want to stay the same.