THE FIRST STEPS IN EATING CLEAN

At least 80% of how we look is what we eat.  For those people who spend thousands of dollars a year on a personal trainer, this may be one of the single most depressing realities EVER.  It's not unusual for a client or customer to tell me that they've been working out, but they can't seem to stay on track with their nutrition, and therefore, they see absolutely no changes in their body.

I myself have been one of those people.  No matter how many push-ups, pull-ups, or crunches you do, if you eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's at end of the day, you're not going to lose a single pound.  In my own journey, I started with a set Nutrition Guide that accompanied my P90X program.  This was the catalyst for learning how to manage my macro-nutrients in the right proportions, and also introduced me to health foods that I could eat on a regular basis that didn't taste like cardboard.

That was all great, and menu plans can be AWESOME, but at some point, we progress beyond them, and have to learn how to eat healthy on our own.  So, where does one start???

The first step in learning what to eat, is to EDUCATE YOURSELF about food.  Scare tactics work fantastically.  Find out where your food comes from, how it's cooked, and what it does to your body.

3 of my favorites:

In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto by Michael Pollan
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser

Even if you only skim these reads, which is not what I'm suggesting, you will learn enough about today's food, that you'll at least probably never eat at McDonald's again.  This should be your starting point, and this is where you will learn about all your food basics.

NOW that you know what's happening to your food before it gets to you, learn what it does for you by learning what foods actually help your body. I suggest the book series by Dr. Steven Pratt:

SuperFoods Rx: Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life
The Superfoods Rx Diet: Lose Weight with the Power of SuperNutrients
SuperHealth: 6 Simple Steps, 6 Easy Weeks, 1 Longer, Healthier Life
SuperFoods HealthStyle: Proven Strategies for Lifelong Health

After you've read these four books, you'll know what foods are best for your diet, hopefully have incorporated them into your day to day life, and know how to put together a meal plan.  These books not only teach you about Super Foods, but how to put your food together from week to week.

So here you are, full of knowledge about what not to eat, what to eat the most of, and how to organize your food on a daily basis. But, there are only so many recipes in those books, so where do you find new recipes?

I'm a HUGE Tosca Reno fan, however I do find the Eat Clean Diet can sometimes seem a bit overwhelming when it comes to the seemingly obscure ingredients that some of the recipes have.  For that reason, I always direct people to The Best of Clean Eating 1, 2, and 3.  All three of these recipe books have easy to make recipes, and the ingredient lists tend to be pretty general and familiar.  You'll find yourself excited to try new foods in new ways, and you will be able to finish your meal without feeling guilty about the choices that you've made.

There is a wealth of information out now about how to "diet" and lose weight.  The most common problem that I see is people wanting to get a quick fix and lose weight easy, and fast.  Well, I'm here to tell you the same thing that you've read one thousand times, in dozens of different magazines:  there is no quick fix to being healthy and looking fit.  If you eat right, and workout hard, you'll lose weight...PERIOD.

Hey Combat Warriors,

So you'll see, if you follow me on Facebook, that I've taken on the new Beachbody workout Les Mills Combat, and started a new Challenge Group.  Tomorrow I will be blogging about the clean foods that this particular program menu plan offers, but right now, I want to provide for you a video on how to make the transition from week one's 7-Day Metabolic Jump-Start Plan, to setting up your day-to-day, and week-to-week meal plan with what is outlined in the Nutrition Guide.

Many people can get lost in where the substitutions should occur, how much should be substituted, and what is considered one (1) count of a specific fat, protein, legume, fruit, vegetable, or starch.  Hopefully, this video will help you see how to use the Nutrition Guide for the remainder of the program, and will also help with your overall menu planning from here on out. I am not a nutritionist, this is just meant to be a helpful guide to those using the program, and making the necessary dietary changes that go along with the program. Again, if anyone has any questions, always feel free to contact me at any time!

KEEP MOVING. KEEP STRONG. KEEP PUSHING PLAY...AND...STAY WITH THE FIGHT!!!

3 Rules for Staying on Track

"We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." ~Aristotle 

Today, for the most part, I would say that I have a harder time not working out, than I do working out, so I had to ask myself, "Where, and when, did this shift happen?"  I have been overweight for the majority of my life, and I was never any good with nutrition.  It certainly was not over night that this shift happened, but instead, it happened gradually as my lifestyle change became habit, and those habits began to turn into natural behaviors.  However, for the newbie, who's looking to stay on track, who needs some place to start, and needs some guidance, it's impossible to say, "Here you go.  Just do it regularly, and eventually it will happen for you too!"  It would be nice to think that we all have that focus and motivation, but it's just not the case.  For this reason, I'm going to boil it down to three factors that helped (and still help) me stay on track day after day, month after month, until one day I woke up and the idea of eating crap and not working out was just an absolute turn-off.

1.  Have a Plan and Show Up

I don't care if it's hiring a personal trainer and coming up with a schedule, or ordering a program that tells you what DVD to put in that day, you absolutely have to have a plan in order to succeed in your fitness goals.  Actually let me reword that; you absolutely must have a plan in order to succeed with any goals in your life.  Period. End of story.  Need some help with this?  Look into Chalene Johnson's 30-Day Push Program, it has the potential to change your life.  Putting your wishes and dreams out there into the great abyss doesn't accomplish anything. Write down your fitness goals, the steps you are going to have to take to achieve them, and then SHOW UP!  Oh my goodness people, just show up.  Don't feel like working out?  Show up.  Long day and you're tired? Show up.  Favorite show is DVR'd and you really want to watch it?  Show up.  You'll have good workouts, and bad workouts, but either way both of these are better than no workouts.

2.  Nutrition

At least 80% of how we look is determined by what we put in our bodies.  Wouldn't it be delightful if all we had to do was workout five days a week for 30 minutes on the treadmill and then we could get a Big Mac and a large fry and stuff our faces, and still lose weight???  Well, we can't.  Much like working out, you absolutely must have a plan. Know what you're eating, and when you're eating it.  And, don't tell me you don't have time to eat.  Lame. Lame. Lame.  And, total excuse.  Learn how to plan your meals, and learn how to plan your days.  A lot of programs come with nutrition guides.  There are apps for almost everything in the nutrition world.  Educate yourself about how your body works, even if it's on the most basic, elementary level.  Google why hydrogenated oil is bad for you, and what it does to your body.  Once you find out, you'll rethink stuffing your face with fried food.  Utilize your resources and stop making excuses.  One last thing I want to address here is the alignment of diet and exercise.  I've run into this myself, and had friends discuss it with me also.  Why is it that when we work out, we are super conscious of what we eat, but if we skip our workout we'll have no problem eating crap?  Don't let this happen.  Weight loss and maintenance comes down to one thing: calories in vs. calories out.  Pretty simple.

3.  Accountability

Shout it from the roof tops!  When I finally decided that I was going to become a personal trainer, worked on my goals, and created the steps that were going to get me there, I didn't just sit on these pieces of paper.  I posted notes everywhere in my house.  When people used my bathroom, they saw notes on my mirror that said,  "People who succeed have goals, and people who have goals succeed."  I told my mother, husband, friends, co-workers, and of course launched all my new goals and dreams into the Facebook world. When we are accountable to someone other than ourselves, when we have put ourselves out there and there are other people watching if we fail, it makes succeeding a much larger priority.  Plan your weight loss journey with a spouse, family member, or group of friends. Create an accountability group.  In the Beachbody community we create private Facebook Challenge Groups where we share our successes, failures, nutrition tips, etc.  Whatever your avenue, be accountable to someone other than yourself.  This is part of the reason most people want to hire a personal trainer.  Yes, they want someone who knows what exercises to do, in what order, and when, but for the most part, it's that someone is checking in on them to make sure they're staying on track.  When other people are watching us, we feel the need to perform at our best, and we desire to succeed.  

If you do these three activities daily, I promise you that one day, you'll wake up and they'll be second nature.  It won't be something you think about, or struggle with.  You'll wonder how you ever lived any other way.  That slouched, slow-moving, snail-paced life that you once lived will seem like a different person in an alternate universe.  We must first create habits and then turn those habits into a lifestyle.  It can, and will happen.

Keep Strong.  Keep Moving.  KEEP PUSHING PLAY!

Maria

How to Choose Your Yoga Wear: Bikram or Vinyasa

I was recently having a conversation with a friend about yoga, and the different types of yoga there are.  This then led into what to wear while practicing yoga, and I thought it would be amusing to share with you the different things that I have learned.  Being a Beachbody Coach, I have done a few different types of yoga through their programs: Yoga X, X2 Yoga, and One on One's: Fountain of Youth Yoga.  I've also attended a couple Power Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga classes at private studios.  My most recent obsession (by recent I mean a regular practice at least once a week over the last year) is Bikram Yoga.  I was introduced to this yoga by a Groupon deal, visited the Westboro studio, and so began my obsession with all things Bikram, and my yoga crush on my 60-something yoga instructor Ron (he's AMAZING, by the way, so if you're in that area, and want to drop-in on a class, definitely do!).

So, you ask, what does this have to do with what I wear???  Oh, let me start here.  With Vinyasa yoga, especially in your house, you can wear whatever is comfortable, and doesn't interfere with the flow of movements from posture to posture.  As long as you have support (I'm referring to the ladies here), you can wear shorts, long fitted pants, or 3/4 length leggings.  Although a little hotter in a studio, you really don't have to worry too much about varying your out fit from practice in the home, to practice in the studio.  For that reason, a lot of people like the very popular LuLu Lemon.  Cute, light-weight, comfortable, moderate coverage,  and somewhat affordable.  Likewise, sometimes you'll find yourself desiring a yoga chalk bag, or slip-resistant gloves or socks to keep yourself from sliding.

So how does this vary from the required yoga outfit for Bikram?  Let me tell you a story of the first Bikram Yoga class my friend Rachel and I attended.

I was sooooo confident when we walked into this class.  I had been practicing Vinyasa Yoga for almost a year, had hand chalk, a yoga mat, leggings and a t-shirt on.  I brought a small hand towel for sweat, as did Rachel, and we walked into the studio, unrolled our mats and got ready.  I took out my chalk bag, put some on my hands, and offered it to Rachel.  As I did this, the instructor walked into the studio, kind of balked at us and was like, "You must practice Vinyasa.  We don't use that here.  It's not necessary.  Also, you both should go grab a large towel for your mat, you're going to need it."

Well excuse me!  Yeah, I had noticed that the studio was hot and humid, but I didn't realize that half way through the standing postures the 105 degree heat, and 40% humidity was going to turn my mat into a swimming pool of sweat, and cause my outfit to go from feeling light weight, to feeling like I had a 40 pound child hanging off of me.  I remember looking at Rachel at the beginning of the floor series and her picking up her tiny little face cloth and us both laughing out loud.  How ridiculous those tiny towels seemed now!  No wonder why the instructor just laughed at us.  "Yeah, OK ladies, let me know how those teeny tiny little towels work out for you...jackasses!"

For whatever reason, we came back.  Again and again, we came back.  This is what started my obsession with Bikram Yoga Wear.  First it was the perfect towel, and I found this Zenzation two pack, which has worked amazing for the two of us! Then it was clothes.  At first I thought these regular practitioners were crazy for wearing close to nothing in the studio, then I realized that when you practice regularly, it's the only way to be really comfortable.  I wanted in! My favorite is Mika Yoga Wear. Well, this is what happened.  The first top that I ordered looked great on the model, and the reviews led me to believe there was plenty of support for the above B lady.  Well, I wore it to the studio twice, tucked my boobs in the whole time, and never wore it there again!

Beach Wear maybe, Bikram Yoga Wear for larger busted women?  Maybe not!  Even more amusing than that, was when I first got it, and hadn't tried it out at all, and was too excited to wait for my Bikram class.  I put in my Yoga X DVD, set up my mat, got ready, did downward dog, both boobs popped out, my shorts went all the way up my butt and I burst into laughter.  People, all yoga wear is not created equal!

The lesson, one of many, learned here is:  there is yoga wear for Vinyasa Yoga, and there is yoga wear for Bikram Yoga.  They are not necessarily interchangeable!

So, my next Bikram Yoga Wear purchase was much more researched, and way more top-heavy friendly.  I stuck with Mika Yoga Wear, because I'm obsessed with their clothes, but I should share with you that when I placed them on my Christmas wish-list, and my husband came across them, he exclaimed, "Oh, you mean the stripper clothes?!?!"  (Truth be told, Mika also sells attire for pole dancing...so...)

This outfit has been much easier to work in, has way more support, and the top and bottom are super comfortable! Again, I wouldn't recommend trying downward dog in these shorts, unless of course you are indeed pole dancing.  If you decide to climb on into these things as well, you may want to let your significant other know about it before he gets a glimpse of the barely there clothing you have on for yoga class.  It could save you some explanation later.



So all in all, I think what we've learned today is this:  Ashtanga and Bikram are different.  They serve different purposes in the yoga world.  Each has many a great things to offer us, but we need to be wary of what outfits we choose for each practice.  Walk into a Power Yoga Class with booty shorts and a bikini top, and you might actually get some dollar bills thrown at you.  Walk into a Bikram Class with long leggings and a t-shirt, and you may find yourself passed out on the floor, not because you can't breath, but because your clothes are literally too heavy for you to stay standing.  Whatever you choose, be comfortable.  Too little, too much, it's really all relative to what you prefer to have on!

Keep moving.  Keep strong.  KEEP PUSHING PLAY!!!

Maria
www.beachbodycoach.com/MLBARCLAY

P90X Certification Weekend = Ass Whooping Now Offered at Your Gym!

I'll openly admit that I over train.  There's probably not a Personal Trainer in the field who can honestly say that they don't.  I personally don't teach classes right now, but with or without classes, I've found that Personal Trainers tend to be the type of people who love to kick your ass, and their own.  They want to find boundaries, and push them to the absolute limit.  Call us sadistic.  It is what it is. This over training surely did not stop any of us in our certification class from going all out in our one hour workout at the very beginning of our scheduled weekend.

As I was in my first thirty minutes of my P90X Certification this weekend with my instructor Brian Sweeney encouraging me to do Frog Burpees, and this is after my Plyocide workout on the previous day, I realized that sometimes, we do need a little surrounding "competition" to push us a little further.  I work out to extremes every single workout that I put in.  I never dog, I never half ass, and I NEVER quit.  That being said, I have probably never executed Jump Knee Tucks like I did that day, nor have my Frog Burpees ever reached that kind of height at my house.

I point this out because I have often said that I don't really understand why people pay for gym memberships when they can work out at home.  I understand that they do, and for many it is necessary or else I wouldn't have gone into Personal Training, but I personally couldn't relate.  I now know that sometimes being pushed by someone bigger and better, with other people watching you, makes you dig deeper, push harder, and makes you give an all out effort that you didn't even know that you had.

So I retract my previous statements about needing to attend a gym.  I won't join one myself, and I don't think it's necessary to achieve great result or maintain and stay in shape, but every once in a while, when you're feeling bored, and you're feeling like your workouts have become repetitive, there's nothing quite like getting together with other people who share the same goal, and like kicking each other's asses.  

I LOVE BEACHBODY.  There I said it, AGAIN.  Here's this company that gives us structured programs that allow us to get super fit in our homes, gives us nutrition guides so that we can learn to eat right, and then let's us enter contests to win money for getting fit and healthy.  And, if you don't win the money, so what?  You've regained your health, learned to eat right, and you probably feel better than you ever have before (and you do get a free t-shirt for just entering your results, so hooray!).  AND NOW, they're offering us training so that those of you who just can't find your own motivation, who need a group setting, who need someone to tell you to jump, push, squat and v-up can also see the changes that are achievable with P90X.  Show up, follow the program, put in the work, and get the reward: a better body, life, emotional state, and overall happiness.  So no matter what your favorite avenue, we're here to offer it for you.  So what's your excuse now?  Just decide how you want your ass whooping, and we'll give you an option!

I love you guys.  Keep moving.  Keep strong.  PUSH PLAY EVERY DAY!!!

Maria

I Am So Happy that I was FAT!

As I was watching the first two episodes of The Biggest Loser yesterday with my husband, I couldn't help but think to myself, "I am so happy that I was fat."  To most people this probably sounds like a really weird statement, but let me explain.

As these contestants were describing how they had arrived at their current weight, many of them kept saying, "I used to be an athlete, and I don't know how I let myself go."  Well, I was never an athlete.  I couldn't run one mile in under 9 minutes, I didn't know how to hit a ball, I wasn't active for the fun of it, I felt uncomfortable in the locker room, and I was uncoordinated.  From the time I was a child I was overweight, I was always uncomfortable in my own skin, I could never really find clothes that fit, I had no concept of portion control, and I used food to comfort myself.  This is where I come from, and this is what I know.

I feel for the children of my generation, and of this current generation who deal with childhood obesity.  I know too well the feelings of insecurity and self-doubt that accompany that excess weight.  However, from where I stand now, having found Clean Eating, and Beachbody, I realize that in a lot of ways, I'm lucky for where I started.  I will never look back at my teen years and think to myself, "I was in the best shape of my life", or  "I wish I could get back to the same size I was in when I was in high school or college."  Those are not my glory days.  This is not when I felt like I was at my smallest, most fit, most active.  Every ounces of muscle that I have gained, and every inch of fat that I have lost, has been leading me toward a version of myself that I have dreamed of becoming for decades.  Instead of looking backward, and dreaming of being somewhere I was in the past, I look forward toward the person that I have always dreamed of becoming, and up until now, had thought I was incapable of being.

I don't envy those people who are constantly looking back at pictures from high school, or pre-baby, or pre-surgery, or pre-whatever-it-was-that-made-me-overweight.  They are so often looking behind them, instead of looking ahead.  Who wants to go backwards?  Who wants to move in reverse?  I say to those of you who fall into this category (and there are more of you out there than would like to admit), stop reliving your 'glory days' and start creating glorious days.  Look forward toward who you are able to become if you just make up your mind, commit to a change, and work toward succeeding.  I'm not saying that it's easy.  I worked out six days a week, followed a provided nutrition plan, prepped all my meals, used all my will-power to avoid eating the horrible food that surrounded me, sacrificed hours to my workouts, and struggled every single day until one day it happened.  I did my first push-up on my toes, I fit into my first size 6 jeans, I did my first unassisted pull-up, and above all that, I woke up happy.  I progressed, day by day, week by week, month by month. MOVE. MOVE FORWARD. MOVE BEYOND YOUR PAST.

I can provide you with everything you need to just move forward.  Diet, exercise, personal development.  It's not free, but believe me, it's cheaper than the unhealthy lifestyle you are leading right now.  So you were blessed with amazing genes in your youth, and you were active enough to keep yourself in great shape.  But we're not 18 anymore, and most people aren't that active.  Build new habits, healthy habits, and stop looking back at the old you.  That picture from high school that sits on your mantel is not who you are anymore.  Let's place an empty frame there, and in three, six, nine months, let's put a new picture of the new you.  The you that you are capable of becoming if you just decide to make the change, and commit to a new way of life.  You're totally worth it, and totally capable of it, you just have to DECIDE!

I love you guys!  Keep moving, keep strong, and PUSH PLAY EVERY DAY!

Maria

It's Either My Goals or Someone Else's: I CHOOSE MINE!!!

For those of you who know me well, one of my most recent "upgrades" as a person is to really work on personal development, in particular, goal-setting in order to achieve the life that I imagine I am capable of living (for our purposes on this blog we'll refer to this upgrade as Maria 2.013).  My most recent purchase was my very first audio-book, "No Excuses: The Power of Self-Discipline" by Brian Tracy, and three chapters in, I'm feeling like a new person.

I woke up late today primarily because I didn't sleep well the night before, and my body and mind were exhausted.  I needed to be at work by 10, so I didn't have quite enough time to fit in my scheduled workout. I am someone who does well with getting my exercise in early in the day, or else it might not happen at all.  Well, as I was leaving work, I was having the typical mid-afternoon battle with myself about whether or not I was going to workout, I turned my car on, hooked up my iPod, and resumed my audio-book from yesterday.  It moved onto a chapter about goal-setting, which I have been actively working on over the last month, and with all of the results I've been seeing, I am super passionate about how effective this lifestyle becomes.  In it, Tracy states, "In life, you either work toward your goals, or toward someone else's.  Which will it be?"

Light bulb.  A lot of my goals are career driven, but I always want to be better physically, do more, move more...just be better.  Firstly, that moment was my, "Yup, I'm working out before dinner with my husband."  Secondly, it made me reflect on my current job: A bartender at a family-run, high-end steakhouse.  The yearly gross revenue is in the millions, and it hit me like a bus: I have been working toward someone else's goals.  Holy crap, I have never realized this before.  Do you know that only 3 percent of adults write down their goals??? 3 percent!!!  And...by just writing down your goals you multiply the probability of achieving those goals by ten!

So here's where I'm going with this whole rant:  Accountability.  To yourself, to your loved ones, to a fitness community.  When we take our 'before' pictures, when we commit to a program, when we write down our 'goal weight' and size, we are stating with clarity: "I am going to actively work to change myself!"  Stop working toward someone else's goals, and start working toward yours!  You want to be healthier, more fit, feel better?  Well, join a community of people who also want that, for themselves, and for everyone around them!  Everything else in your life aside, sometimes to get back to healthy (physically and emotionally), all you need is one goal:  "I am going to make it through these 90 days of workouts.  No excuses!"  You don't typically set your goals so large that you shout out, "I am going to change my life forever and become an overall better person."  I am telling you, from personal experience, and from meeting hundreds of people who have also achieved personal success, that if you commit to any program for your health for 60 or 90 days, you WILL change yourself for the better.  SO...STOP!!!  For a moment look at your life and ask yourself, am I working toward my goals, or someone else's?  There is nothing in the world I want more than to have other people feel the way that I feel right now.  I don't have all the money in the world.  I have bad days.  I don't always walk around with a smile on my face. But, you know what???  I am better.  I am better than I was one year ago, 6 months ago, two weeks ago.  BE BETTER!  Start your journey today.  Come join us in the Beachbody community. Start with your health, and go forward from there! UPGRADE YOURSELF!!!

<3  Maria
www.beachbodycoach.com/MLBARCLAY

IT'S 2013! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! NOW CHANGE...

Resolution: a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something; the act of  resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.; the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose.

Well, 2013 snuck up on us so fast, I'm sure some of you are wondering how you arrived exactly where you are.  Minutes creep into hours, hours into days, days into weeks, weeks into months, months into a year, and all of a sudden you realize you haven't accomplished anything more than making it through every day.

YUCK!  What a depressing thought that sometimes we do little more than make it from minute to minute.  Everyone makes New Year's Resolutions, even those people who say they don't make them.  They are like so many other people who don't want to share their resolutions out loud, because this means accountability, and accountability means people there watching them if they fail.  We all  view the new calendar year as an opportunity to become a better person, change who we have been, and move on toward our larger goals.  The problem is, so few of us actually make a plan, take charge, and work toward those goals.

I want to share a few links and resources that I have been blessed to find on my new journey in the fitness field.  First, is the Beachbody Company, which includes all of their programs, products, and supplements. There is a program for everyone, a nutrition guide with every program, and a support team available 24/7 to help anyone who needs motivation moving forward.  I'm sure this seems like an endless plug for a company I work for, (and I do so because I truly believe in their products and programs), but there are quite a few realities that come to light after reading Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.

Mainly, when you exercise you are smarter.  Period.  So imagine, that you can change yourself mentally, be more positive, more productive, and overall better at everything that you do just by getting a combination of strength and cardio exercise.  WAIT. WHAT??? All the whining and complaining you do about how you don't have enough time for exercise and proper diet becomes null and void, because if you do those two things, you gain more energy, which makes you more productive, which provides you with even more time.  STOP MAKING EXCUSES!!!  That, BTW, is exactly what you're doing.  I'm just calling a spade a spade.

The awesome part about Beachbody, is that they offer you the opportunity to learn about diet.  So many programs are just DVD's, and since 80% of how your body looks depends on what you put in it, it seems pretty absurd to only offer people a small percentage of the puzzle.  From there, you can jump into some awesome books about Clean Eating, and then begin really fueling your body so it can function at top capacity at all times.  DOESN'T THAT SOUND AMAZING?!?

Lastly, I want to talk about personal development, and putting it bluntly, getting your shit together.  We all have that one friend who is super organized, and we probably consider them a little bit crazy in one regard, but in another, we envy the control that they have over their lives.  Well, life is about habits; the habit of exercise, the habit of eating right, and the habit of organizing our daily lives.  We just have to learn these habits for ourselves.  In Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy writes, "You can increase your productivity by 25 percent or more--about two hours a day--from the first day that you begin working consistently from a list." (15-16)  HOORAY!!!  We exercise, we gain more time.  We organize our lives into lists, we gain more time.  Read this book.  Once you have read it, make a commitment to change your life, and check out Chalene Johnson's 30 Day Push.  It's free, and it has the potential to change you into someone you had only dreamed of becoming.

So 2013 is going to be your year???  I know it's going to be one of the best of mine.  I'm working every day to make sure that it is amazing, rewarding, productive, and truly reflects who I am as a person, and who I want to become over the next 12 months.  You made a resolution.  Write down your goals, print them out, print out the definition of resolution, and tell yourself every single day:  PEOPLE WHO HAVE GOALS SUCCEED, AND PEOPLE WHO SUCCEED HAVE GOALS.  I AM NOT AFRAID OF FAILURE!!!

I love you guys.  Keep strong.  Change for the better. PUSH PLAY EVERY DAY!!!

<3 Maria