The Power of 12

Hello there !! HAPPY 2012
I hope you all enjoyed your holiday season and spent some quality time with family and friends. I’m sure you all feel like you ate and drank too much, and probably over indulged a little more than the norm, but i’m sure you are just fine. I think I read a statistic recently that the average weight gain during the holidays was only 1 pound. So stop feeling bad about yourself and just get back to your routine.. its pretty easy to drop 1 pound.

I just spent a lot of quality time with my family. We all just got back from a 8 day trip to Cancun. We left on Christmas and came back just after the New Year. It was a perfect vacation with lots of R&R , beautiful weather, turquoise water, cribbage, nice restaurants, and a lot of laughs ( Ok, I will stop bragging now). I actually did not think about work at all ( until the plane ride home). It’s refreshing to clear your mind of something you are always thinking about… and now I am all rev’ed up to get back in the Training Fix.

Hard not to relax when this is what you're looking at.

Family Dinner in Cancun

Since it is the new year I find it appropriate to do a blog post about the new year. I am a little behind due to my vaca so maybe you are sick of reading about new years goals, resolutions, etc… but hopefully my list of what I learned in 2011 and plan to carry over with me to 2012 will inspire you, or strike a chord with you in some way. 2011 was a big year for me. I don’t even think I realized how big it was until I actually sat down to do this post and started reflecting over the last 12 months. With some great new books, new friends, old friends, and life experiences this is what I took out of 2011.

Here Goes Nothin…

1. You are a reflection of those you constantly surround yourself with
Who are the people you choose to be around ? I’ve read this quote many times and I can hear my mom saying it to me throughout my life as well. Whether you realize it or not, the people you spend your time with eventually wear off on you. Take a little time to actually focus on the types of people you surround yourself with. Are they upbeat, motivating, and living their life in a way that inspires you to be better…. or are they negative, unhappy with their job, and trying to bring you down with them?? This year I have made some great new friends that share similar passions as I do, and because of this I think we are always pushing each other to be better at what we do, and we have a great time hanging out !! Time is limited for all of us, so spend it wisely. Make time for the relationships in your life that give you joy and happiness. We’re adults now, not sure when it happened, but it did. Time to take responsibility for how we want to spend our time, and who we want to spend it with.
Its the start of a new year, if you are in a toxic relationship, work environment, and not spending your time with people that inspire you to be better, then its time to step back and think about what you want to gain in 2012.

2. Time to stop worrying about what we can’t control and focus on what we can.

I don’t want to speak for everyone… but I think you all probably know what i’m talking about. Sometimes I make myself sick over things I could never control. Well, I’m trying to stop. There are so many other things going on in my life that I can control, and they certainly need lots of my energy. Taking the time to recognize what you are spending most of your time thinking or stressing about can really help you out. Are most of your thoughts ones that you can act on, or are they out of your control ? Out of your control, then release them. If they are goal oriented tasks, then start Writing up a plan… and get after it !

3. Flossing is way more important than brushing
Random I know. I’ve always thought this, and my dentist proved it this year. My gums had been getting so sensitive to my toothpaste and when I asked my dentist about it he told me I could actually stop brushing and that it really wouldn’t make any difference in the health of my teeth. He said that I could literally floss every day and just brush my tongue and my teeth would remain just as white, and just as strong. I still brush just because it feels a little cleaner, but not for nearly as long as I used to. If you ever try just brushing your tongue you will notice your mouth feels just as clean as when you brush your teeth. I do make sure to floss at least 1x a time, and I switched to a natural toothpaste which is actually a powder instead of a paste from whole foods. It definitely took some getting used to, but Dave and I love it.

4. Always take responsibility… and stop blaming the Universe !!
This refers to everything in life. Work, relationships, energy, body weight, home, illness, etc.
No one likes a complainer. No One ! People may listen, but then they will secretly be pissed that you just drained all their energy. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO MAKE THE NECESSARY CHANGES TO WHAT YOU WERE JUST COMPLAINING ABOUT.
If you are not happy with your job, trust me no one wants to hear it. If you are in a bad relationship, you friends only want to hear about it for so long. If you are always tired and cranky people don’t want to be around you. If you are not happy with your weight its probably because you are eating the wrong foods and not exercising. If you are not happy where you live, with the weather, with the people around you then get up and move.. whose stopping you ?? If everyone is irritating you, you are most likely the problem. I promise I’m not preaching, I have learned these lessons from my own experiences and I’m sure if you think about these you have been there or you know someone who has. Listen, I’m not saying to be a bad friend and turn your back on anyone who ever says anything negative. I’m so thankful for my friends who I know I can call when somethings bothering me so that I can vent. What I’m saying is DON’T TAKE ADVANTAGE of this gift. It is a gift to have great friends and family, but if every time you talk or see them its negative than trust me that relationship will go down hill.
We are all given the opportunity to go after the things we want in life. Then it is up to us to go after them.
I hope the ladies will get a laugh out of my next statement. You ever notice sometimes that everything and everyone is irritating you to no end. Then your boyfriend, husband, mother etc will look at you and say “is it that time of the month ? ” I would always snap back Nooo, but then sure enough you check your calendar and they nailed it.
My point is when everything and everyone is bothering us or making us cranky it usually is something going on with ourselves that we should focus on.

5. You will never conquer your health, weight, training goals if you don’t change your daily nutrition habits.
It simply can Not be done. It does not matter how much you exercise. If you eat like crap, you will look like crap. You may gain muscle and lose some weight, but you will never fully get to where you want to be. I used to say that it was 50/50. Find the balance and make sure to exercise and eat good. That scale has definitely changed. It is at least 70/30 nutrition to training. This scale is referring to weight loss, not enhancing muscle or gaining size. I have no doubt that if you took two groups of people, one group on an exceptionally nutritious meal plans but w/ no exercise, compared to the other group that worked out hard but continued eating crap there would be a clear and obvious winner. The group eating well would feel much better about how they look and feel. Its the new year. Some of you may have started new diet plans. Some of you may have already cheated or given up. Stop doing that to yourself. Refer to number 4. Stop blaming the universe, or your job, or your kids for your lack of time. Do what you have to do to find the time to get healthy food in the house and get it prepared. There is no other option.

6. Nut and Nut Butters should always be refrigerated.
Just learned this one a few months back. I never realized that nuts and nut butter will actually go rancid at room temperature once they have been opened. For anyone who follows the paleo plan or eliminates grains this also refers to almond flour or any other nut flour you use. Once you open the packaging on your trail mix, nut flour, or any nut butters put them in the refrigerator to keep fresh.

7. In 2011 I decided I hate the saying ” People always want what they can’t have”
Why Not ? Maybe I am just an optimistic mood as I write this, but whats really out there that you want, but can’t have ? This one makes me think of my husband. He was at a job that wasn’t working out so well for a while. He talked to me about it, but never once complained. Next thing I know he is interviewing, finds the exact job he wants, and gets it. He’s watching football on tv one day and a commercial comes on for a website that is only for people interested in race cars, or something like that. The commercial says that they have over 50,000 users. Dave thinks about how many guys love football and would love to just reconnect with former teammates. This is how HeyNelly was created. ( which now has every single NCAA college team in the country on the site… so sign up). Dave’s current full time job has him on the road a lot doing sales. His favorite spot to stop at for lunch is Be Good in Legacy Place. Dave is a man of routine, and once he finds a spot he enjoys he becomes the most loyal customer. He is now friendly w/ all the employees, managers, and even the owners. He even gets the family discount, which cracks me up. He loves it so much that if they decide to franchise one day he wants to get involved…. therefore I have a feeling that if they do decide to franchise we will be purchasing a Be Good and thats just how its gonna be.
My point to all of this is… I hope you all have everything you want. If you don’t, try harder. And also I love my husband for always working so damn hard.

6. FARMERS MARKETS ARE SO VITAL TO A HEALTHY FUTURE AND WE NEED TO SUPPORT THEM

This past summer I bought all of my produce from Langwater Farm in Easton. We are so incredibly luck to have a certified organic farm right in the middle of our town. This was no joke the best tasting produce I ever bought, and I was also a part of their flower CSA which provided the cutes bouquets each week. I highly recommend that everyone looks up local farms in their area ( especially ones that use organic farming methods) so that they can enjoy this process as much as I do. It made me feel so good about the food I was eating. I literally felt so much healthier eating food that had literally just been picked from the fields hours before… instead of weeks before like the regular supermarket.

7. BAKING ESSENTIALS
In 2011 I learned how to bake.. with healthy alternatives. I don’t follow a strict paleo diet by any means, but because I am metabolically a protein type, I do quite well on paleo recipes. I learned how to use healthy substitutes such as almond flour, coconut milk and oil, raw cocao powder, sooo many healthy, delicious recipes. I have a few baking/ cooking essentials that I couldn’t live without. 1. My food processor. Its simply amazing. I make my own nut butters. I make the simplest recipe so much tastier just by processing a bunch of veggies and adding them to it. 2. The VitaMix. Now this is an investment, but well worth every dollar. Most people I know with one of these has had it for over 10 years.

7. People can change… but you can’t change people !
I always used to say and hear other people say ” people don’t change”. That is entirely not true. People are always changing. I have changed so much over the last year some of it without even trying. No one tried to change me, and if they did I probably would have rebelled… but my lifestyle, work, family, friends, and priorities has without a doubt changed me. I’m sure the word priorities is the most important word in that list. In high school your priorities are different than when you are in college, and then they change when you get your first job, and then they change once you are married, and again when you start a family. We always have different priorities that naturally force us to change. Of course most of us will always maintain certain personality traits that may never change. And of course if I have a friend whose boyfriend cheats on her I will without hesitation say ” that jerks never going to change” and I will most likely mean it. This doesn’t mean that they can’t change as a person, just this slimy specific trait may stick with them
Something I haven’t talked to many people about is my self diagnosed “social anxiety” I have developed over the last year or so. I used to love to go out , have some drinks, dance once I was drunk ( because I can Not dance for the life of me), and just have a good time. Even when I got into health and wellness, and once I was married, I would still love to take the occasionally Saturday night and go into Boston w/ friends. We would have a great time, I’d stay til 1- 2 a.m. and then drive home. The thought of that now makes me anxious. I love my friends and I love seeing them, but if you ask any of them I usually only see them when we meet for a lunch, dinner, or some shopping. If any of you have seen me at a bar in the last 6month to a year, chances are you heard me say I had to leave because I was feeling dizzy or nauseous. Most people think its a cop out because they noticed I haven’t even had a drink so how could I possibly be sick ?? There was no specific incident that scarred me from being social. I get this dizzy feeling even when Dave and I just go to dinner sometimes and are in a crowded, loud environment. It is so interesting to me so how much I have changed over 3 years. I’m actually not quite sure why I am even sharing this.. maybe some of you feel this as well and we can relate to one another. So what I will take from this with me into 2012 is that I now know the environments I am comfortable in ,and I know the ones I am not. I use to force myself to try and go out, or drink because I didn’t want to lose that part of myself… but maybe thats just not Me anymore.

8. Building off # 7 – Make time for those that are important to you.
Like I said in # 7 I have changed. Well, most of my best friends are people I went to high school and college with. And since I went to college w/ most of my best friends from home these have been the same friends for most of my life now. Everyone has got their own thing going on now. Different jobs, different home towns, different boyfriends/fiances/ husbands, different schedules, etc. Just because I don’t like to go out anymore doesn’t mean I have to lose these relationships I’ve had for so long. We definitely don’t all see each other nearly as much as we would probably like ( because we always have a freaking great time when we’re together) but we do make an effort to get together, hang out, have a meal, and just catch up. I will always make time for my shweeeeties because no matter how much we all change i’m pretty certain we’ll always be friends.

9. ENEMAS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR INTERNAL HEALTH
When I started working with Aubrey Thompson I was thinking 2 things. 1. This chick knows her stuff 2. Run for the hills. When Aubrey casually told me I should start doing enemas regularly for colon health, and to cleanse my liver, and many other health reasons that you could look up on the internet I thought she was nuts. Then I did some research and learned that enemas have been around for years and years. Of course talking about bowel movements is probably making most of your cringe, ( if you’re still reading, this is getting longer than I had planned) but I am just going to say it. ENEMAS ARE AMAZING. You will feel so much better about your health, and about your body when you take control of your nutrition and follow that up with a cleanse. If you are uncomfortable doing it yourself you could always pay for a colonic…but honestly thats a waste of money. Just to make you cringe a little bit more. For those of you that have never cleansed…. you have no idea how much toxic crap is literally built up inside of you. Trust me you want to get rid of it. Where do you think diseases come from ??

10. STEPS TO WELLNESS
Speaking of the scary enema lady I respect her work so much that Aubrey and I have also somewhat gone into business together. This past year Aubrey and I were talking casually one and we both starting talking about the exact same idea we share where we wanted to start a program that would help people transform their lives over at least the course of a year. It would include metabolic typing, clinical work if necessary, postural and movement assessments, specific functional training programs per client. We have spent hours talking and meeting and have come up with Steps To Wellness. As of right now we are in the early stages and just over the last few days got a blog up and running. This blog combines the work of my company The Training Fix, her company Living Balance, and also cooking and food posts from The Paleo Princess. For now we have simply created a blog where we can all share our work so that you can all get tons of information on all different health topics. Like I said we still have a lot to do on it, but if you want to just check out some of the past blog posts from any of the 3 of us you can check it out here STEPS TO WELLNESS You can also check out our new facebook page , and LIKE IT. Coming soon but not in the immediate future, Aubrey and I are also working on a book, which will eventually be turned into an E-Class. We are so excited about this, but obviously it is very time consuming, and since we both have full time jobs we are going at it as quickly as possible. I promise to continue updating you as I learn more and as we progress. Look forward to workshops, E-Classes, and hopefully an amazing book.

11. Exercise should be fun… but until you start Exercising you will never think its Fun
First off, any time I exercise I feel better about almost everything in my life. Exercise just has that effect on the body. I like to do things that I enjoy instead of forcing myself to do boring stuff. In the summer I like to be outside so I bike, run, hike, paddleboard, walk, swim. In the winter I hate the cold so I stay inside. When I have specific goals it makes my workouts more fun. Picking a goal that you know you could accomplish, but you know will be really hard work is the best. Take Pull Ups. Not many people can do them. Make it a goal. Make a program on how you’re going to get there. And then practice, a lot ! Enjoy what you are doing or you will never stick with it.

12. HAPPINESS
We are all trying to find happiness. Even those of us that are happy are trying to be more happy. I started to read the book The Happiness Project, but to be honest it couldn’t keep my attention. But, I like the idea of it ( even though I don’t know what her outcome was). I never want to stop trying to be more happy. A lot of things made me incredibly happy in 2011 and hopefully I will find even more things that make me more happy in 2012.