Invest In You

Lately, I've been seeing a couple of articles circulating the social media world describing why photographers charge what they charge to 'click a button'.

I have always had a great respect for photographers. They have to buy expensive equipment, computer/programs, props, etc. Not to mention the lengths they will go to to get a shot and the time they spend editing. I have seen many a post from my photography friends at two o'clock in the morning about editing. Seriously... They are awesome, so it kind of irks me when I see someone posting on those yard sale websites wanting professional-amazeballs pictures but they only want to spend $25, or even expect it for free.

This got me thinking... As a personal trainer, I get asked A LOT about how to workout, what to eat, how to lose weight, etc. And I'm happy to help! But there comes a point when I can only give so much advice before I have to start charging.

How many of you have looked into getting a personal trainer? Personal training can range anywhere from $25-$100+ a session. WHAT??? That's what you're thinking, right? Well let me tell you where that money goes.

Education: $1000+ a year (This doesn't include a degree which can cost about $15,000+)
Re-certifications: $500 + a year
Equipment: $1000+
Insurance: $1000+
Business Cards: $30
Promoting: $100+
Gas to drive to and from clients: $100+ Month

Not to mention the TIME they put into PERSONALIZING your workouts, meal plans, etc.
As a personal trainer, I listen to your goals, determine your physical level and map out a plan to help you reach your goals within a certain time frame. Different diets compliment your goals and I can't give a cookie cutter workout/diet to every person. I have to know how to work around injuries, and prevent injuries. I become your psychologist. I become a person you can open up to and talk to. I celebrate your triumphs, and sympathize with your set backs. Even though I may see a client 2- 5 hours a week, I spend 10+ hours a week working for a single client.

Personally, I don't like to charge a butt load of money, but I do believe that I am worth a paying customer. I am not in this profession for the money, but I do have expenses I need to cover. The next time you think a personal trainer is expensive, remember all the work they put into YOU. Everything they do is for YOU. They want you to SUCCEED. You are INVESTING in YOURSELF. <3

MY 600-lb Prison

As I sat here waiting for my husband to get home from school, I watched an episode of TLC's My 600 -lb Life; Pauline's Story.

She started out weighing just under 700 lbs. Her 26 year old son is her care taker. 

At first sight, my heart when out to her. She pleaded her case, cried and gave legitimate reasons for wanting to lose weight. 

All I could think about was how much I wanted her to win, how much I wanted her to succeed. 

In the beginning of the episode, Dr. Nowzaradan told her she needed to lose at least 30 lbs on her own before he would do the surgery on her. 

She "tries" to cut down her portion sizes but she never changed WHAT she ate. On her checkup appointment she had GAINED 4 lbs. 

She is hospitalized via Dr.'s orders and put on a strict 800 calorie/day diet which helps her finally lose enough weight for the doctor to perform the surgery. 

Anyone out there had surgery? I've a couple and the first thing the tell you is to get up and walk around to prevent blood clots. Well, Pauline thought she was smarter than the Dr. and decided that she didn't need to walk at all for a week after surgery resulting in ANOTHER surgery to put a device in one of her leg veins to catch any blood clots and prevent them from going into her lungs. 

The ENTIRE episode she is fighting the doctor at every turn claiming that she knows her body better and that she has to take things at her own pace. Now, I know that listening to your body is VERY important, but there's a difference between listening to your body and making excuses. 

In one scene, her doctor tells her to not eat carbs. Then next scene you see her eating a quesadilla with rice and pico. She says that she knows the rice had carbs but that her doctor doesn't know what's best for her so she's going to eat what she wants. 

WHAT???

Ok, I know that doctors don't know everything, but come on! I wanted to slap her across the face. 

As the episode ended, it showed her in her motorized wheelchair going to bingo and her total weight loss, which was 125lbs.

All of that weight was lost in the hospital. 

All I could think of during this episode was how psychological weight gain is.

 Our perception is our reality.

 Pauline may think she's making changes and eating better, but in actual reality, she's not. 

This is a big reason why I have switched to psychology. The mind is a wonderful thing but it can debilitate us when we don't take care of it. 

Anywho....

Like I always say, the scale isn't everything. In fact it lies... A LOT. But, when you are so big that you can't even help yourself do the basic, everyday things to take care of yourself, there needs to be a change. 

This show just fuels my fire. I get so amped up watching. My heart aches for some of these people. The ones who REALLY want to change don't make excuses. Their WHY-power is bigger than their excuses. It's so amazing to watch people hit goals, change their minds and completely change their lives. It fills my heart with so much joy to see people push themselves, crush their goals, and realize that they can do hard things. 

I love seeing people succeed. 

I love seeing people happy. 

Everyone deserves to be happy and to feel good about themselves!

Experimental

First of all, thank you for all the love and support on my last post! You all rock and I love you all. Seriously ;)

Ok ok, now onto my newest experiment.

2 weeks ago I finished my Insanity Max30 journey and I have been ITCHING to start my 21 Day Fix Extreme journey.

I was planning on doing Insanity for an extra week then kicking off 21DFE, but I decided to show you out in internet land that I am not perfect. Weight loss does not come easy for me and I have to WORK in order to stay fit.

Experiment time!

Since January 26th I've been skipping workouts, eating whatever I wanted, skipping meals, drinking soda, and chowin down on cookies and milkshakes. I decided to not worry about what, when, or how much I ate.

Now this isn't to say that I ate completely terrible, but I sure as hell didn't eat great either.

Here's what happened:

Do you notice a difference?
I do.

I gained back 2 lbs.
I am more bloated
My uterus pooch is making an appearance
I can feel my saddle bags joining the party
I'm TIRED. Not just I-have-a 6-month-old- tired, but I am EXHAUSTED

It may not seem like much, but that's in JUST 2 weeks.

I am DYING to start 21DFE. I'm ready to have energy back, and to see my abs again!!

Modesty and Fitness

Since I started my fitness journey, something has been on my mind a lot.

Modesty.

As a member of the LDS church, modesty is a big part of our religion.

Let me preface this by saying that this post is my own OPINION. I have prayed about this and talked to my husband about this and we both feel the same way.

Growing up I was taught that we were to dress modestly. Covered shoulders, shorts at least half way down the leg, no cleavage, clothing not too tight, and no bare midsections. It never really bothered me until I was in high school and my body started to change. It's not really a self-esteem boost when you're pits sweat and you have crazy tacos going on. I wanted to wear tank tops and avoid this embarrassing problem but since I was raised that tank tops were a no-no I resorted to wearing black. Not the brightest idea when you're trying to avoid getting over-hot. BUT it didn't show my pit marks as much.

I was never  one that wanted to wear tank tops to show off my spectacularly sculpted arms. (there was sarcasm there if you didn't catch that...) I didn't want to fry. I never wanted to wear short shorts to show off my legs which were, in fact, pretty awesome.

As a dancer, tight clothing was something I was used to wearing and the less clothing you could wear the better. In fact, we were required to wear as little clothing as possible and it had to be form fitting so our teacher could watch our bodies and correct us if we were doing something wrong. As someone who danced 8 hours a day, I was comfortable in my dance clothing. Short shorts and tank tops.

Actually, comfortable isn't the right word. I was comfortable in the sense that I hated clothing. Not comfortable  in the sense that I wasn't ok with the way my body looked in them. I was always comparing myself to the size 2's. (I was a size 6)

During performance season, I was used to making quick changes behind stage which meant I had 2-3 people helping me get naked and redressed in a new costume in under 30 seconds. Once you've done that you become pretty comfortable with other people and you lose your sense of personal space. There is no personal space in dance. Now... I never wore the dance costumes that you see now-a-days on these dance shows. We had bare shoulders and short shorts, but no bare stomachs or cleavage and we always wore leotards underneath.

After my college dance days, I got really into fitness. I had always been into working out but it wasn't until a couple of years ago when I started really getting serious about it.

Ok, hold on.... I know I mentioned this earlier, but I need to explain to you the magnitude of how much I loathed clothing. I can count on one hand the amount of times I wore jeans to class. No joke. Give me sweats and hoodies everyday. Some days I would just wear a sports bra and booty shorts under my sweats, then as soon as I got home, BAM! The sweats came off. I hate winter for the mere fact that I have to put more layers on to stay warm. In  our first apartment, I would have the heat up to 80 degrees while it was snowing outside. I would be in as little as possible. In fact, as I'm typing this the sweater I'm wearing right now is BUGGING THE CRAP OUT OF ME. Boom. Off.....

Ok, ok ok.... Back to my point....

I went through a period of time where I did not feel comfortable in my own skin. It lasted from Jr. High all the way up until just about a year ago. (10 years) It even got so bad that I was afraid to be intimate with husband. It started affecting our marriage. I ended up seeing a therapist for it which helped. Then I found out I was pregnant. It was one of the best days of my life. I told myself that It was ok for me to eat whatever I wanted because I was prego and that I could just lose the weight after my baby was here. I worked out during my pregnancy and I really didn't gain a ton of weight, but I gained more than I would have liked.

Post partum mommy body is hard to deal with. 

I was my heaviest I had ever been. None of my regular clothes fit, and parts of my body that used to not jiggle, now jiggled. It was tough, but I was determined to not fall back into my self-destructive ways. 4 weeks after my little was born, I became a Beachbody coach and started my fitness journey.

It was HARD posting my 'before' picture and sharing my body with the world. I knew I had to do it though if I wanted to not only stay accountable, but also help and inspire other mommy's. I knew what it was like to hate my body, I was ready to know what it felt like to love it. 

As I've seen my body change, I have been feeling soooo much better about myself. 

I have made it my goal in life to HELP others and hopefully inspire. 

To me, that means showing my progress. 

When I show my progress, I show my stomach. Part of my progress is getting my ab strength back which means my abs start to show. The biggest difference from my before and during pictures is in my stomach, so yes. I wear a sports bra and workout pants or shorts. To me, that's ok. I don't do it be provocative. I do it to show women that you CAN get your body back after you have a baby. In fact, you can get an even better body! 

Because I have chosen to do this, I have been judged and ridiculed. 

I treasure my body, and thank God for it everyday. I also treasure the covenants I have made with God and I have a strong testimony of the blessings I receive when I keep those covenants and wear my garments. I don't wear them when I workout, but I put them back on as soon as I get home from teaching or getting my sweat on. Some people workout in them but I don't judge them so why am I being judged for not wearing them?

I have had a lot of health problems and through that have turned to my Lord and Savior for help. 

I believe that I have been through what I have been through so I can help others. 

I believe that everyone goes through certain trials in their lives so they an be an example and help others. 

I believe that I am on the right path for me and sharing my journey is part of that path. 

No matter what people say, I will keep sharing my journey and helping others with theirs. I believe that loving yourself is the biggest part of a transformation and I am finally in a place where I love myself. 

This is the first year that I have EVER been excited to go swimming. I used to dread putting on a swimming suit.... I would put on a face for everyone because I was embarrassed for being embarrassed about my body. 

I was scared to be vulnerable. 

I have learned that being vulnerable is the only way to grow. So I will continue to share my journey with the world. I will continue putting myself out there and hopefully inspiring others to make a change for the better. :)

** FYI. It's late... if I ramble... I'm sorry :) I had to get this out though.

You Were Born To Never Give Up

As I'm sitting here thinking about how incredibly blessed I am to be a SAHM (stay at home mom), I couldn't help but think about how much my little is teaching me. 

She is now 4.5 months old and has mastered holding her head up, rolling from her front to her back, then back to her front, and she's realizing she can put her legs underneath her and rocket herself forward. It's so much fun to see her hit these milestones! 

It's also really hard to watch her struggle when all I want to do is help her.

It would be so easy to just craddle her to sleep every time she woke up but then she would never learn to fall asleep on her own.

It would have been so easy to give her that little push and pull her arm out from under her when she was trying to roll to her front. 

It would be so easy to pick her up and move her to her toy but she would never learn to crawl.

As I was thinking about this, I came to a realization. 

Have you ever noticed that babies never give up? Yes they may rest their head when they are learning to hold it up, and they cry and get frustrated when they get stuck on their sides trying to roll over, but THEY ALWAYS KEEP TRYING.

Light bulb!

WE WERE BORN TO NEVER GIVE UP.  We want something so bad that we fight for it. 

You will fall. You will cry, scream, and probably throw a tantrum. You will want to give up. When you feel that way take a break like a baby who rests their o-so-heavy head while they are trying to hold their head up. Then, like that baby, lift yourself back up and KEEP TRYING.

You will get better. You will be able to hold your head up over time.

Attitude is everything. 

New YOU Resolutions

The year I'm not doing New Year's resolutions.... I am however, doing New YOU resolutions! 
Life is too short and if you wait until you're ready, you'll never start. 
I started TODAY, here are my New YOU resolutions: 

Read more (personal development)
Workout 6 days a week
Lose 10 pounds of fat, gain 5 pounds of muscle
Get my 5k under 30 minutes
Trim 10 minutes off my tri time
Run at least 1 half
Read scriptures daily
Go to the temple at least once a month
Become a diamond coach
Grow my PT business
Become a Piyo master trainer

What are your New YOU resolutions?

Shame the Shaming

Working in the health and fitness industry, and being a WAHM who uses social media a TON for my business, I'm exposed to a lot of different people in all shapes and sizes.

I've noticed something that keeps coming up in my news feed, emails, newspapers, etc. SHAMING.

You've all seen the dog shaming (which is actually pretty funny!)

The child shaming (can go either way...)

 Then there's the worst....

Body shaming.

Look, I've been there. I've hated the way my body looked. I thought that my body was supposed to look a certain way because society said so. And I'll admit, my body isn't what I want it to look like at the moment, but that doesn't mean that I don't LOVE my body!

I am not over weight, nor am I skinny. I have a bubble butt and a flat chest with a little pooch that pads and protects my uterus that made a now 3 month old little human. 

The body is an AMAZING thing and we are all incredibly LUCKY to have one! 

In this day and age the 'ideal' body type is always out of reach.

We put so much pressure on our selves to achieve what we think is the 'perfect' body that it leads to drastic measures in an attempt to achieve it. 

First of all, we need to STOP IT. Seriously... STOP.

No good comes from hating your body. 

Second, we need to STOP judging others, no matter their size.

No good comes from judging another body.

Size DOES NOT determine health. 

We are all made in a unique way by a loving God who gave us our bodies as a GIFT. We are not robots that are mass produced in a factory. 

STOP SHAMING the mom with the six pack 3 months after the birth of her 10th child. 

STOP SHAMING the woman who is a size 18 and posts selfies of herself in a new outfit. 

STOP SHAMING the size 0 girl who can eat an entire village and not gain a pound. 

STOP SHAMING the people who don't fit the 'mold'.

I have an idea. How about instead of bashing the mom with a six pack, we congratulate her on her hard work.

Instead of calling the size 18 names, we compliment her sense of style.

Instead of bad mouthing the size 0, we go to lunch and get to know her.

Instead of SHAMING everyone, we realize that we are all beautiful in our own way and that's all that matters!

*Thank you Dove for your awesome 'real-women' campaign*