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
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
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
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
Sunday, January 6, 2013
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
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
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
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.
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
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