journey to health and well-being

If it helps one person...

Between posting on facebook, twitter, writing a book and spending lots of one on one time with clients and class participants, I just never found the time to create a blog. So here I am, years behind the times, setting up this blog.  Perhaps people will follow, perhaps they will read, perhaps they will comment, we shall see. So why start blogging now? A viewer of my Workout Wednesday segment on WCPO Channel 9 news at noon in Cincinnati asked if I had a blog she could follow, and I didn't!  So yes, I am creating this in hopes of helping one person who wants to hear my story and to find motivation for making and sustaining lifestyle changes that will lead to a better quality of life. I remember calling my mom the night before my first segment ever aired on Channel 9, about 10 years ago. The producer called asking if I had any "fat" pictures, she knew that I had lost more than 50lbs and wanted to use my "before" pictures in the segment. I called my mom and asked what she thought... I was mortified that those awful pictures would be shown on TV. My moms words still ring in my ears, she said " If it helps one person get motivated to change, why wouldn't you do it?". For nearly 10 years I have lived by those words... If it helps one person, I will.

Why did I change my life?

The question I get asked the most is what drove you to change your life... so here it is, I got tired of waiting for the world to make me happy. At the age of 30 I finally realized that my own happiness was right there under my own skin and that it was up to me, and only me, to bring it out of hiding. I told myself over and over that I deserved happiness and health, that I could achieve it and sustain in using my own energy and that if my life and my body weren't how I wanted them to be in my dreams than I didn't need to change my dreams, but I needed to change the path to reaching them.

It takes courage to admit what it is you truly want, it takes courage to take the first step and it takes courage to leave old lifestyles behind. But once you do, there is no looking back and no turning back. Your body will not fail you, it has your mind and your spirit to keep it going. Your spirit will never fail you as long as you are honoring it, and the movement of your body will literally change your brain chemistry and allow you to begin changing your beliefs and behaviors.

What are you waiting for?

change

I think one of the hardest parts about changing your body and your life is when you come to the realization that you have to change it ALL. That is if you want real change, lasting changing and change that changes you. Holding onto a few vices or a few bad habits (think of Linus and his blanket) will weigh you down- literally and figuratively. For instance, exercise is a great weight loss/health improving tool-- nut unless it is accompanied by healthy eating you will have limited success.

I find more clients willing to move, but often slow to let go of unhealthy foods they have come to rely on for stress relief, emotional support and comfort. But here's the thing, has a handful of cookies ever mended a broken heart? Does stress  eating relieve stress or induce more? Does smoking really calm your nerves (the answer is no by the way!), does alcohol decrease the problems you experience, and does hanging out for hours in front of a tv or computer help you lose weight or tend to those relationships that could be in need of some attention? Of course not... so why continue these bad habits? Why continue to sabotage your own success?

You must first truly believe you deserve the life you want and the body you want. Once you truly believe this you may find yourself letting go of the security blanket. The other part of the equation is trust in yourself. Trusting that you can calm yourself, alleviate stress and enhance your relationships without using something to do it. You have in you all you need for success and to overcome what life throws your way. Write down a few bad habits that you know are holding you back. This week select one to rid yourself of, and do it. After 21 days without that habit, select another and rid yourself of it!

After a few weeks you will see the and feel the change in yourself! (and so will others)

From Donna

• By bhmtnbiker
• Posted June 9, 2010 at 12:02 pm
• 
  

Are you reading my mind today? Because this subject is one that I've decided to deal with...

I'm eliminating my chocolate snacks today. It wasn't alot, but it's still the only thing that I can see in my food journal that's preventing me from reaching my goals. I wasn't ready before. I am today.

Thanks for this post! Donna

You will THRIVE not just survive!

Hi Donna!
Good for you on eliminating the chocolate snacks! That is a big thing to overcome. All of us have strong holds, that one (or two, or three) thing(s) that hold us back, that we don't or won't let go of. Years ago I got the flu and was so sick for 7 days that I couldn't eat anything. After recovering I realized that I had gone 7 days without caffeine and without chocolate-- two things I felt certain I couldn't survive without! Clearly I did survive, and once I let them go for good my body, mind and spirit all began to THRIVE!
Be gone chocolate--- you don't need it and it doesn't need you!

Before the hope, self-appreciation, self-love and journey to well being began!

Almost all of those who come to Revolution Fitness have a hard time believing that I have not always been fit. In fact I find most people just assume that fit people have always been fit. NOT SO! There are many trainers and fitness instructors who have always been active and fit, and then there are those of us who found fitness later in life and might wonder why we waited so long to turn the ship around. It doesn't matter when you start, it only matters that you do start. And that each take you take one small step forward. When you check out my before picture will see drastic change (and not just in the hairstyle!)  It didn't happen over night, but it did happen with consistent effort and patience. Years ago there was a frown behind every smile, glad to say that now there is a smile behind the smile

  

 

Roots and Wings

There has been a lot of life changing going on at Revolution Fitness this year and there are a few stories that must be told, for they shall inspire others. 

Today's is about Drew, a friend's husband who joined the January 2010 Fit Revolution 10 week weight loss program. The Fit Revolution program is different than other weight loss programs because we involve life coaching sessions as well as fitness and nutritional advice/help. Drew walked in the door ready, although I am sure he had his doubts, he did not let them see the light of day. He was ready (and willing) for a transformation. And transform he did. As a husband and father Drew was very busy fulfilling obligations, and going the extra mile for his family. Going the extra mile for them often meant not even going one mile for himself. In fact, upon entering our program running a mile was out of the question for Drew. 

Drew never missed a workout, filled out his food log to a t, changed his eating habits and began to wrestle with the reasons behind the behaviors that led to his being overweight and looking older than his years. Every time I saw Drew I could see the  mission in his eyes. Halfway through the 10 week program I saw something else in Drew's eyes, could have been sweat or perhaps his eyes filled with a few tears of relief  of being released from whatever had been holding him back. Either way I knew at that moment he was free. 

As Drew's body and spirit began to thrive I heard him making plans, setting goals for himself that I knew he hadn't let himself dream about in years. He opened himself up to the challenge of a half marathon and potentially a new career, one that honored his new found commitment to health and well-being. For a man who wasn't running at all in January, a half marathon in May was a big step. But with the right approach I knew he would be successful.

Helping Drew prepare for his race reminded me of a saying of my father's that now rings in my head. My dad said this about parenting, " you have to give them roots and wings, and the wings can be harder to give". I use this approach when training clients and seeing them through the earliest stages of transformation. The roots come easy, anyone can show up for a training session and have their trainer tell them what to do and eat exactly what the nutritionists suggests. Setting them up for going on their own and helping them believe that they everything needed for success lies within is the hardest part of what I do. If they leave the program and fall off the wagon, I have failed. But if they leave and carry on the journey then I know they left with both, roots and wings!

Drew's hard work paid off. In early May I picked him up at 5.15 one morning and headed to the start line of the Flying Pig Half Marathon. It was pouring down rain, huge thunderstorms, but nothing would have dampened Drew's spirits. I on the other hand, would have rather stayed in bed that day! And if it weren't for Drew, I would have! I had run plenty of races before and wasn't at all excited about 13.1 miles in a storm. I am not sure Drew even noticed the rain. Throughout his training, Drew and I had discussed his race pace, and I encouraged him to start slow and build into his pace. Even though I had been racing for years, I knew Drew could out run me, and I was fine with that, hoping he would have a great race and telling him that if he felt he could go faster then he needed to leave me and go, and he kept saying no, we are running this together. 

Within ten seconds of leaving the start line I could hear Drew breathing heavy, which is a sign of running a little to fast. More than a few times in the first three miles I said to Drew, I think you better slow down- this is way faster than the 8.min pace per mile you were planning on running. I didn't want Drew to run out of steam but by mile 4 I remembered just how hard it is to slow someone down when they are for the first time in years living the way they dreamed of living. 

At mile 7 I knew I was having a bad running day, and knew Drew was having a great one. I looked over at him and said "it's time". He said "what, do you need something to drink? I said "no, it is time for you to pick up the pace and race." Of course he argued with me for a minute and I finally told him to shut up and go for it! I am so glad he listened, and as I watched him pull away from me (through the tears in my eyes) I knew that he had both, roots and wings.

Drew recently made that career change he had been thinking about and I have not seen the man without a smile on his face since March. Congrats Drew on the 46lbs of weight loss in the program, the 13.1 mile race and the running group you have started and now use to encourage others, and for giving us all a dose of inspiration daily. 

Drew before

 

Drew After

 

Is life holding you back? Take back ownership!

We have an amazing group of people participating in the Revolution Fitness biggest loser competition. This 5 week event is not like the one on TV, we take a more holistic approach to weight loss and try to get to the reasons behind the weight. Each week our participants can accumulate bonus points for fully participating in journaling their food, proper amounts of exercise (we have a limit on the number of minutes they get points for so that they are not over-exercising and increasing a risk of injury), and participating in life coaching, nutrition and exercise lectures so that they can leave the program with the necessary tools for success. Last week I sent out a number of questions for the participants to answer for bonus points. The questions were ones that hopefully took them some time to answer, hopefully helped them look at their lives and begin to see what it is that is holding them back.

 

This question is the one that was the biggest eye opener for me

What is your biggest stumbling block when it comes to getting to and maintaining a healthy weight? Most of the participants answered with this phrase “my life”.  It surprised me that they used the work “MY”.  The word my implies ownership, and for those who answered in this manner I wonder if they really believe their lives are theirs.  Giving away responsibility and ownership of our bodies shows up in them or on them.  Our bodies are our responsibility, it is not our employers’ job to make sure we are eating well at our desk, it is not our spouses job to dictate what goes in our mouth or how active we are, in fact anyone over the age of 16 should fee fully responsible for their physical state. I know that sounds harsh, but it is true. And I say this standing in the shoes of someone who waited for 30 years for the world to fix her. I know that I gave away ownership of my body for many years because I did not feel that I measured up. I felt I was a disappointment to God, to my parents, to my brothers, to myself.  I believed that I was just born to be fat, that I had a different genetic code than my tall, thin brothers and I was just stuck living in skin I didn’t appreciate nor love.  For me handing over ownership of body resulted in at least 60, perhaps 70 pounds of unwanted fat,16 years of smoking and little to no exercise or movement. I had every excuse in the book for living the way I did. I did not have the money, the time or the energy to exercise or eat right. Or did I? Once I put aside the excuses, took back ownership and set my sights on fitness and living life to its fullest, it was game on! I had to repeat to myself hundreds of times a day “this is your life, your body, you take care of it.” It was not easy and many days I failed, but I succeeded in owning my life and my body more days than I failed. And although there are days still where I fail, claiming my life as mine and my body as my responsibility has resulted in becoming an EX smoker, shedding and keeping off all of those unwanted pounds.  It has also resulted in a life filled with possibilities, dreams that come true and goals that are attainable.

If you believe that your life does not allow for you to be healthy and fit, take it back! Get up everyday and find the time, learn what you need to learn and stop waiting for tomorrow. Yes you have a job, a family to care for, hundreds of things on the to do list, but your life is still yours. It is composed of thousands of decisions you make for yourself everyday, simply decide to start making the decisions that point to health and well being. When you take back your body you will also be taking back other areas of your life. Having a fit, healthy body does not fix everything, but it does give you the energy and the confidence to tackle those other issues!

Breaking down the barriers

Life is filled with hurdles, obstacles and barriers. No doubt there are days, weeks, months and years that feel like one giant uphill. The uphill will fatigue you, steal your breath, drain your energy, break your confidence and close your mind, if you let it. I have learned that life will always have uphills, but i have also learned that it has downhills. Sometimes the ride down isn't nearly long enough before the next hill, but it is always enough to catch my breath, shake off the last hill, clear my mind and begin to envision my approach to the next hill. The approach starts with reflection of the journey of the last hill. Was there a time that my confidence waned? Could I have done anything differently? What did I learn from it and what did I gain from it. Yes we feel tired, sometimes broken after a climb, but there must be something to take from it. Did it make me stronger, smarter, more resilient? After the reflection I try to move into a place of gratitude and grace. Coming down from a hill or making it over hill after hill, hurdle after hurdle, through one barrier and the next I always come back to the same place, I was not given more than I could handle- and for that I am grateful!

 Even when I feel I am on the biggest hill of my life and there are a 1000 hurdles right in front of me and my legs are tired I think about someone I know who has it worse. There are bigger hills and heavier burdens. This not only centers me, but enables me to continue moving forward. Life could be worse, so lets make the best of what we have, ourselves. Lets move forward with grace and gratitude.

" No one ever climbed a mountain, got to the top and wished they had stayed at the bottom"

Author unknown

Turning self-destruction into Self Construction

In my last post I talked about hills, hurdles and obstacles, what I failed to mention is that often times some of them are self-imposed. Ugly thought, I know, but a truthful one. One tool that I use is to make a list of my goals and the hurdles , obstacles and barriers that seem to prevent me from reaching them. Once I have my obstacles and barriers listed I then pick each one apart, becoming aware of which ones are self-imposed and which ones aren't. I then try to employ a strategy around moving the self-imposed barriers. It is amazing how freeing this practice can be, and frightening. Many times upon removal of the self imposed barriers I recognize that the goal can actually be realized. And that is frightening, because if I have convinced myself that I am a failure what would happen to that belief I succeed?  And that gets down to the heart of it all-- what do you truly believe about yourself?

My life coach and friend, Chris Halter, told me this " If you listen to yourself, you will hear your true beliefs. Listen and you will hear what you believe". He goes on to say that our actions come from our beliefs. If you believe you will fail, then you will act in a manner that delivers failure. If you believe that you are worthy of love then you will receive love. If you don't believe that you deserve love then you might as well stand on a street corner and scream, DON'T LOVE ME!

If you hear in your head that you are not worthy, then it is time to work on changing your beliefs. We are ALL worthy. Make your list, move the self imposed road blocks one at a time and see where your road takes you.

Does life feel heavy? Does it all come with a cost?

Last Saturday while teaching spin class I found myself talking about the price of life. The cost that we feel when life is a burden, when the road to travel is not clear, the path covered up and our days are filled with have tos' instead of want tos'. I remember those days, my heart, my head and my body all felt heavy. Everything was measured by what it cost me - perhaps the price was paid in energy, maybe heartbreak, failure, disappointment and no doubt I felt like I kept paying into the pot but was never able to take from it. Whatever life brought me I noticed the sacrifice. Live like that l long enough and the chip on your shoulder becomes more than you can bear. Fast forward 15 years from then to now and nothing in my life feels like a price being paid, I don't notice any sacrifice and I would describe my life as one filled with joy. It almost feels strange to write that as I know that I am coming out of what might be two of the hardest years of my life. I have paid through the nose, been hurt tremendously and have so much that I am responsible for that if I felt the heaviness of it I know it could crush me. But I don't feel its' weight. Instead I feel its' buoyancy. How can that be? I believe it is because I am living out my purpose. Earch one of us was born with certain strengths, characteristics, traits and talents. I was 30 before I began to discover what my strengths were and where they would be most useful. Today, at 42 the path is certainly more clear that 12 years ago, but I am not sure it has been fully revealed. And even though it is not fully clear where I am headed, the fact that I feel no weight from the responsibility of life tells me that I am on the right path. Don't get me wrong, life is HARD,it is fatiguing and there are many days where I feel like throwing in the towel. But for every hard day there are 10 days where I am filled with passion, desire and fortitude. Days where my feet hit the floor and the song "put me in coach I am ready to play" runs through my head. Days where a cement block could be dropped on my head and I would say "I'm okay!", and would keep plugging along. 

For me training clients, teaching classes and coaching people through a life transformation means way more than losing weight, way more than removing the barriers and moving through life a healthier version of you, it means finding you... weeding through the enormous garden of life to find  where your path begins, feeling strong and confident to take the first step and then teaching your body, mind and spirit to endure the journey. You must first  learn that it  YOU who creates the energy to fuel the passion, to dream the dream and to then follow through with that purpose.

Do not worry if your path is still covered up. Keep renewing your energy daily, striving for the healthiest version of you.  I know that what has been planned for you is big, so big that you will need the strongest version of you for the journey. Ready yourself, polish your coat of armor and your path will be revealed!