Mentors

What makes a good mentor? 

I've been pondering this question for most of my life. Even as a child, I knew that I wanted to help others, and mentor others. As I've grown up and learned from different people in my life, I've realized there are certain qualities they all shared.

*Patience:

If  any of you know me, I am NOT patient. I am working on it, but patience has always been something that I've struggled with. I can be quick to anger and judge, but I really have been trying to work on taking a step back before I let my emotions get the best of me. Everyone that I've learned from that's stood out has had incredible patience.

*Humility:

The most memorable people do things for others, not for the glory and recognition they will receive. When you're more humble while teaching, you're also more likely to be patient. I've learned that as I've mentored others.

*Accountability:

I really like when people make me accountable. It pushes me. It doesn't let me slack. I will admit that I'm a procrastinator, and I forget things easily, but when I know that I have someone who's counting on me, I will work harder. 

*Education/Experience: 

You can't expect to help others if you yourself haven't been completely engulfed in a subject. I don't claim to be perfect in this area, but I'm always looking for ways to further my knowledge on the fitness and health industry.

Of course you could add more to this list, but these 4 are common factors in each of my mentors. 

As I've taught dance, religion, fitness, etc, I've learned that you have to be all of the things listed in order to really make a difference. 

Do you agree with me? What do you think makes a good mentor?

Scale Obsession

I've talked about this subject before, but it's a subject that I feel needs to be touched on more than others. 

This little guy can be your worst enemy if you let it. Yes, it's good to weigh yourself every once in a while to see the progress you're making in you health goals, but this is the number one thing that ruins people. 

I've been down the road taking drastic measures to get that stupid little needle even just the slightest bit down on the scale, and it's not healthy. Obsessing over your weight is NOT HEALTHY. Weigh yourself NO MORE THAN ONCE A WEEK. I suggest every other week, but if you decide to do it once a week, do it, then put the scale away until 7 days have gone by. Put it out of your sight. You don't need it.

I tend to see this more in women than men, and it's because we put this unbelievable amount of pressure on ourselves to be a certain weight and body shape. Guess what people? EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT! Which means that my body is going to look different from your body, and your body is going to look different than your best friends body. It's just the way we were made and we should celebrate the fact that we aren't all robots that came off the assembly line. 

You are NOT broken. You are NOT wrong. 

This is difficult to accept. We (especially women) need to remember that our body weight fluctuates 2-5 pounds a day depending on water weight, hormones, etc. THAT'S NORMAL. If you are weighing yourself every day, or more than once  day you are treading very deep waters. This leads to obsession, which leads to drastic measures to make sure that scale says what we want it to say. Now, I don't just mean eating disorders. There is such a thing as over exercising as well. Your body needs to have a rest day so it can recover from the stress you put on it daily, ESPECIALLY if you are working out heavily.

REST DAYS ARE GOOD. 

Some people see rest days as weak, and unnecessary. NOT TRUE. I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a rest day AT LEAST once a week! (Don't believe me? Research it) 

Another thing to remember is that your body needs nutrients to function. You need to be eating good sized meals each day, especially after a hard workout. Now, when I say 'good sized meals' I don't mean a burger with a large fry and drink. I mean, you need to be eating an entire plateful of veggies, lean protein, and healthy fats. All of these things help your body function the way it's supposed to and help speed up your metabolism along with exercise! 

I cannot stress enough how much easier it is to lose and MAINTAIN your weight when you are eating clean, and working out consistently.

I emphasize this  a lot when people come to me when they think they've hit a plateau. They're eating right and working out but nothing is really changing. It's important to remember that your body adapts to the force you put on it. If you keep doing the same workouts over and over, your body is going to learn how to do those exercises as efficiently as possible, which means you expend less energy, which means you plateau. DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED IF YOU ARE AT A PLATEAU! If you are, like I said, working out consistently and eating right, you shouldn't stress so much. Sometimes, it's your body chemistry that won't let you get the results you're looking for because, guess what? You're not the super model in the magazine, and guess what else? THAT'S OK. 

Why do you think I named my blog HEALTHY IS THE NEW SKINNY? Because I believe that statement with all my heart. 

STOP obsessing about your weight. Muscle weighs more than fat anyway!! Focus on how you feel after your workouts, and after you eat a good healthy meal. Pretty soon, your clothes will feel a little big, and you'll have to tighten your belt a notch or two. 

When you're not obsessing about that .2 lbs that you gained since 9 am this morning, and focusing on being active and clean eating, the fat will naturally melt away. 

What I'm trying to say with all of this is that we are all human. We are going to have bad days where we miss a workout, or maybe we eat that extra slice of cake just because. That's ok! The important thing is to not get discouraged. 

Eat the damn piece of cake, and move on.

Tomorrow is a new day, and only you can decide how that day is going to go.

What Would You Do?

What would you do if you weren't afraid of failure, or disappointing others?

Hmmm this is a tough question, because let's be honest.. isn't this what holds us back most of the time?

As a child, I was fearless. When it came to doing things, I wasn't afraid of being embarrassed, or looking like a fool. As the youngest, I was concerned about pleasing my parents. (But who isn't?) 

Sadly, as we age, that confidence decreases and we are more concerned with others have to say about us. 

BUT, given that I had the money, and wasn't afraid to fail, I would open my own dance studio where I could teach dance, as well as do my personal training. 

So far in my life, I've felt like I haven't accomplished much. I always have these big dreams that I think everyone is going to love and stand behind, but as soon as I try to implement the ideas I feel like it doesn't catch on as fast or it's rejected completely. This blog, for instance, is something that I hoped would catch on quick. I was hoping that there would be lots of discussion, and questions being answer, but unfortunately I'm not there yet. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to keep going and keep pushing the ideas of eating right, and loving the body that you're in, I just need to learn patience. If any of you know me....patience is NOT my strong suit! ;)

Well, there's my what would you do answer. What's yours?

Let Me Tell You...

Hello again, and welcome to another post. As I had mentioned before, I will be including posts that I will be writing for one of my classes, and this weeks topic is all about my community.

As I thought about this, numerous people and places came to mind, but I wanted to narrow it down to a specific one. I chose to talk about the community of personal trainers.

Let's be honest, when you think of a personal trainer, what comes to mind?

Body building-judgemental- meat head- machine that only eats chicken, broccoli, and brown rice, who hasn't really had to work to get their body, and who yells at you while you're killing yourself. 

Sound right? WRONG.

Indeed some people may be like this, but MOST are not. I have had to WORK to get my body to where it is today. My nutrition isn't as perfect as you would think, and when I'm training, I'll make sure you're working, but I don't yell and make you feel horrible about yourself. 

When I became a personal trainer, I made it one of my goals to make sure that I broke the mold of the stereotypical personal trainer, and I'm not the only one out there trying to do so. 

Hiring a personal trainer isn't cheap. We aren't out to take your money only to b.s. some workout for you. I take time outside the hour I train my clients to make sure that their training programs are progressive, and challenging so they never plateau, and are constantly being pushed. There's nothing worse than seeing progress, then feeling like you're stuck in a rut and getting bored with your workouts. 

The truth is, MOST trainers (the ones who really care) are like me. They spend hours outside of the gym figuring out meal plans that will work best with the personalized fitness program they build for their clients. Unfortunately, we can be seen like a car sales man; only after one thing. 

Not true. We are just people trying to better the world be getting more people active. I always ask my clients who are unsure about training, "Would you rather spend the money now on prevention, or later when you're in the hospital having health problems?" Most will invest in their health now.

MIA

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted. SORRY!! I've been super busy with dance and school this week especially and sadly this blog has been put on the back burner. BUT, I'm back, and you're going to be seeing a lot of different posts from me from here on out. 

I'm taking a class where one of the assignments is a weekly blog post. So, here is the first of many different posts that will help you get to know me, and what I'm about!

Let Me Introduce Myself:

It's hard to put a face behind a blog when you don't know a lot about the writer. For those of you who know me, thanks for visiting! For those who don't, here's a little more about me. 

My name is Cassie Mueller. I am a certified personal trainer, dance teacher/choreographer, student, wife, and lover of life. (can you say cliche? ha!) I am the youngest of 3 with an older sister and older brother. I grew up in the beautiful state of Utah where I am currently residing and attending school at the University of Utah for Exercise Science with a minor in Nutrition. 

My spark for fitness and healthy weight loss started after high school. You can read more about it HERE. I love learning more about how to exercise based on your goals, and how to eat based on those goals as well. I love the body and think it's an INCREDIBLE machine that we are all blessed to have. I love how the body moves and what it's capable of. I also love helping people realize that their bodies are not against them. We are all different shapes and sizes, and that's ok. What isn't ok is how we treat our bodies based on others perception of it. Ok... stepping off my soap box.

I have been married for just over a year now, and love it! My husband is my best friend and the best companion anyone could ask for.

 I'm still young, and hope to make a difference in the world before I die. I don't want to be there person who sits on the sidelines watching the world go by. I want to be a change for the better.

Eat To Live, Don't Live To Eat.

Lately I've been reading a lot about food, and nutrition, and I've been getting a lot of questions about what to eat to lose weight, as well as how to fix achy joints, and low energy levels. 

This post is all about what you put into your body and how it effects how you feel. 

Ever heard the saying, "You reap what you sow?" This applies to your nutrition as well.

When you eat fast food, you're putting huge amounts of fat, sodium, and calories into your body. When you ingest sodium, your body produces urine to get rid of it. When you ingest too much sodium, your body can't handle it and it stays in your system. This can cause tons of problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, weight gain, stroke, and it can even pull the calcium out of your bones making them more fragile. 

After you eat fast food, your body puts all it's energy to digest it and doesn't get much of a reward. Not a lot of vitamins and minerals are digested which help give you energy and help regulate your bodies systems. When you're not getting those essential nutrients, your body keeps losing energy with no way of replenishing it which slows down your metabolism, which means of your food is stored as fat. After eating a huge hamburger with a plate of fries and a soda, have you felt sluggish, tired, and lazy? Step away from the fried starches and start eating some clean, raw veggies! :)

As we get older, our bodies start to ache and sometimes we can't move the way we used to high school, but when you're still in your 20's and 30's and you have constant aches, muscle soreness, and headaches, something is wrong. Soda and/or diet soda drinker? 

Please, if you are having health problems and have gone to the doctor numerous times and come up empty handed. Just take a look at your diet. What you put into your body DOES effect how you feel, look, energy levels, and most importantly, your HEALTH. Take care of your body because it's the only one you have. 

When you're feeding your body with foods packed full of nutrients, you're going to feel better, look better, have a TON more energy, and you will live a longer, healthier life! I don't know about you, but I plan on being the 80 year old going to yoga class still, and I know that that's not going to happen if I don't take care of my body now. 

Make the promise to yourself that you are going to respect your body, and take care of it. YOU are responsible for your health, and YOU are in charge of your future. Make it a future full of happy memories, and not one full of misery and doctor's visits. 

Eat to live, don't live to eat.

The Number On The Scale Got You Down?

When it comes to weight loss there are a couple of things that you need to remember in order to reach your goals. 

1: Keep your goals realistic.

Your body needs a certain amount of fat on it to remain healthy. Fat cushions your organs and helps insulate you. A pound of fat weighs the same as a pound of muscle, but the difference in size is crazy. 

A pound of fatis roughly three times the size as a pound of muscle. When your body is full of lean muscle and not fat, your BMR (basal metabolic rate) is higher which means you burn more fat throughout the day. A pound of fat burns only about 2-3 calories while a pound of muscle burns 7-10! 

2: Set Small Do-able Goals

There's nothing worse than feeling so overwhelmed that you give up. That's not what you want to do when it comes to your health. Don't set goals that are so unrealistic that you give up after a week. Instead, make goals that are stepping stones to a larger goal. 
Set goals to lift heavier, run further, workout a certain amount of days during the week, etc.

3: Don't Obsess!

I cannot emphasis this enough. DO NOT OBSESS! When it comes to weight loss especially, what you eat is going to impact your results more than workouts will. Now, when you're eating right and working out, they go hand in hand and great results can be achieved. BUT, when you obsess, the opposite of what you want can happen. I try and follow the 9:1 RULE (click for details). It's ok to 'cheat' every once in a while as long as you control your urges, and when you do eat too much of something not so good for you, the important thing to remember is to let it go and do better the next day. You can't get down on yourself, especially when you are just starting to change your lifestyle. Fall off the horse 8 times, get back up 9!

4: Motivation is Key!

Find any way to keep yourself motivated. Create a reward program for yourself by putting a dollar in a jar for every time you complete a workout, then at the end of month or so, go spend that money on ANYTHING you want. Do the same for healthy eating. 

Post your goals online, tell your spouse, friends, family, anybody! When you have someone to be accountable to, you're way more likely to stick to your goals.
Workout with a partner. When you workout with someone versus by your self, you would be surprised on how much more you can do with someone there watching you. ;)


5: Track Your Progress

When you first start to change your lifestyle to a healthy one, one way to keep going is to take your measurements, and keep track of it. Remember that the scale can trick you because muscle weighs more than fat. Take circumference measurements instead. I measure the neck (mostly for men looking to bulk), biceps, chest, waist, hips, quads, and calves. You can also do weight. Every month, remeasure and track your progress. As your body starts to transform, you won't notice the changes as easily as someone who hasn't seen you in a while, so seeing the results on paper can keep you on the right track.

You can do it!