So what exactly is a "fitness coach?"

A decade ago a kickboxing instructor invited me to come to cycling class with her. I went and was by far the youngest person in the dark room packed full of bikes and blaring with loud "motivating" beats. I was in my early twenties and as a certified gym addict, I was in good shape, but after about 15 minutes of cycling torture I thought for sure I was going to die and meet Jesus right there. Either that or I was going to fall off the bike and embarrass myself completely because I could barely feel my legs anymore {think epidural if you have ever given birth}. I wanted out of that class so freakin bad! Except when I looked around and saw all these "old" ladies {back then I thought 30 was old, ok?!} spinning their little hearts out, and knew I would have to see my kickboxing instructor again the next day in class, I kept my little tushy glued to that seat and willed myself not to die. That was the beginning of a long love affair with group cycling for me.

I see my job as a fitness coach to be similar to what my kickboxing instructor did for me by introducing me to cycling. She encouraged me to try it and motivated me to get through the hardest part by cycling along side of me.

As a coach, I am not a personal trainer or a nutritionist.
What I DO is...

• connect my clients to a variety of fun fitness programs created by today's top trainers based on my client's expressed goals, preferences, and time available for exercise
• help clients meet their nutritional needs with meal plans and completely natural products developed by nutritionists and based on the most current scientific research 
• provide resources, support, and accountability through hosting online challenge groups for FREE when clients use my company's products

I love my job because I get to share something that I love and I get to be a part of positive change in people's lives. My own fitness journey brings me so much joy and enriches every other area of my life and that journey is made even more fun by making friends and taking the journey together and cheering one another on. My clients challenge and inspire me to push further and fuel my body right even when I don't feel like it, and I have been so blessed by the feedback I have gotten in the short time since I have started fitness coaching regarding the impact it has had on other's lives.

Unprompted comments like these from my current 21 Day Fix Challenge Group:

"Thanks again for doing the challenge group. It's really having such an impact on my life and is different from anything I've ever tried before, and I never would have done it if you hadn't repeatedly exposed me to BeachBody videos."

"This program might be working...after a {terrible experience today} my first inclination was to go eat a ton of junk food to feel better but I didn't! Instead I chose to come home and have my Shakeology."

"I love that I'm not craving junk anymore! I tried on some dresses that used to be snug a month ago that are now fitting a lot better!"

It is not my desire to sell something to someone that they don't want or need. It is truly my heart to help people who DO want to improve their health and fitness and live their best life.

*Side note: You will not get pressure from me to buy something you can't afford! Our products are affordable, but if it is not in your budget, as a Financial Peace graduate, I totally respect that! So don't be afraid to ask me about our programs for fear that you will get a ruthless sales pitch. I want what is BEST for my friends and clients first. And being financially responsibly is definitely best for everyone! 

So, if you know that you could use to help finding a fitness program that...

• Fits your personality and the type of workouts you enjoy
• Is designed by industry-leading professional trainers
• Provides proven results when done consistently
• That you can do from home (or while you travel) on your own schedule

And/Or...

• You could use some accountability and support to help you succeed at eating right and exercising
• You could use help with a science-based, proven system for balancing your diet
• You know you need better day-to-day nutrition

Then it would be my joy to journey along with you and to be able to help you define and reach your fitness and nutrition goals! 

Furthermore, if you share my passion for fitness, nutrition, and helping others, I would love to have a conversation with you about potentially joining my awesome team of like-minded fitness coaches! 

Investing in Dreams {Stewarding My Health}

What are the top five things that come to mind when you think of what you want to do in life? 

Don't think about it too hard, just the first five that come to mind. 

Mine are:
1. Teach my kids to surf
2. Be an awesome soccer mom
3. Connect with friends over good food and good conversation in our home
4. Always be learning something new myself and passing on my knowledge to others
5. Travel and experience new places and cultures with my husband

The one thing common to all things {and I am willing to bet most of the things on your list too} is basic health and fitness are required and assumed.

Beyond my fun little list of things off-the-top-of-my-head that I want to do in life, I am most passionate about pursuing the purpose for which I was created. While I can surmise pieces of that purpose based on my design and desires and the investments God has made in me over my life, I do not know the fullness of that purpose. But I do want to be prepared spiritually, emotionally, financially, and certainly physically when opportunity arises.

I look at my parent's generation and see how age and poor choices often result in physical ailments for some that limit them from doing the things they want to do in life. Obviously, everyone ages and there is only so much we can do to keep time from taking it's inevitable effect on our bodies, but I do wonder if fitness and proper nutrition over a lifetime might help all of us to continue doing the things we want to do, and the things we were created to do for longer.

To me, fitness and nutrition isn't about looking like a super model {though I wouldn't complain if that were a side-effect}, but it is about stewardship of the precious gift of my health, which is something most of us take for granted until it is threatened. Fitness and nutrition help me to be my best self today and are an investment in my dreams for tomorrow. 

A key to my success in these areas in the past two years has been the programs and products offered by Beachbody. I use to be a group-exercise-gym-addict and I still love the atmosphere of group exercise classes, but as a mom, working my whole day and my kids nap schedules around the particular class I wanted to take was nearly impossible. When I became a working mom with a deployed spouse, it became completely impossible. I quickly got sick of my treadmill and was frustrated because, as a lifelong athlete, the DVD workouts you find at Target or the magazine workouts, just weren't challenging enough for me. That is when I found Beachbody and decided to give it a try because I had taken TurboKick classes in the gym and enjoyed them, and their product TurboFire was created by the same trainer. It was love at first workout! Since then I have also done BodyPump, BodyCombat, PiYo, Insanity:Max30, 21DayFixExtreme, and Cize and have loved them all and continue to use workouts from all of them. More recently I have also gotten into Shakeology, which is a completely natural protein shake mix full of super foods and antioxidants. It fills me up, gives me plenty of energy, and drastically reduces cravings. I also love it because it is literally the only thing I can eat before an intense workout or run without feeling sick. Most of all, because it is made from completely natural ingredients proven to provide vast benefits to my body, I know I am doing something great for my health by drinking it daily.

Never in a million years did I think I would ever join any sort of business selling something because it is just uncomfortable to me, but Beachbody programs and products have proven to be such a benefit to my life that I want to be a part of helping other people invest in their health and steward their bodies well so that they can be their best self today and for many years to come.

If this resonates with you, I would love to hear from you! I will be starting a new challenge group in a few weeks to offer support and accountability and would love for you to be a part of it!

*If you are just wanting to check out the programs and products for yourself, you can check them out here.

Intentionally Focused in 2014

It's a new year! And over the past couple of weeks I have spent some time alone and with my husband thinking, praying, and discussing our goals for this year. Somehow January 1st sneaks up on me every year catching me unprepared to declare grand resolutions and instead is when I start thinking about goals after the busy-ness of the Christmas season has died down and I can think straight again. This year I had clear direction from God before the ball even dropped on New Year's Eve as to my major focus for the year but have only begun to figure out what that direction means in terms of specific goals.  My inspiration for 2014 comes from Hebrews 12:1-2;

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

In 2014, I will fix my eyes on Jesus! I will learn to live the life God has prepared for me with endurance. Endurance. It takes endurance to be the wife, mother, friend, daughter, sister, that God intends me to be. And the only way to achieve that is to keep my focus in the right place! 

Today was our first day back at our home in Connecticut in over two weeks. Since all of us are sick with a nasty cold we stayed home from church and watched Seacoast Church online. Pastor Greg shared a great message which helped me to think more about specific goals for this year. He challenged us by asking What Do You Value? and What Do You Want To Change? because according to 1 Corinthians 10:23, "everything is permissible... but not everything is beneficial" and as Proverbs 17:24 says, "an intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions." He offered four areas to think about making goals in; intellectual, physical, spiritual, and relational. So as I have thought about what I value and what I want to change in each of those areas as well as how Hebrews 12:1-2 could be applied to my life in each of those areas, I've come up with a few more specific goals. 

Intellectual

As a stay-at-home-mom I often feel like my brain is dying because nothing I do as part of my "job" takes much intellect. It is one of my biggest struggles as a stay-at-home-mom because I love using my brain and learning new things. So this year I plan to further study an area of interest to help stimulate my intellect. I have always loves anatomy and physiology and I love fitness and health. I have learned that I don't want to make a career out of those interests, but that doesn't mean I can't learn more about the connection between A&P and my personal fitness routines just for fun as something to stimulate my brain. 

Physical

I have a pretty good exercise routine as it is so I plan to keep that up. I have missed my gym in CA that had great childcare because here in CT there are no gyms in my area with childcare so I have just been working out at home on my treadmill and using free weights. I greatly miss PiYo, Kickboxing and Spin class. I would love to find a video for one or more of those that I actually like. Any suggestions? I'm also open to trying one of the popular high intensity video workouts but don't really want to spend the money on one before knowing if I even like it since I've never seen a workout video I actually liked. 

Spiritual

For the past couple of years I have participated in Good Morning Girls online Bible studies which I plan to continue in 2014.

Scripture memorization has had a powerful impact on me over the past year so I would like to be more intentional about hiding more and more of God's Word in my heart. 

An area I want to work on personally that I think will pay great spiritual dividends is my desire to constantly be doing something. I attribute this to the ADD that I have had all my life. I often get bored even with just a few spare minutes. And boredom is one of my biggest fears and something that I am constantly running from. So I frantically fill my time with unnecessary tasks to make sure I am never bored. I think this attitude is hindering my spiritual life. I think I need to learn to be okay with quiet moments. I need to give God the chance to speak to me. And therefore I am going to take steps this year to limit some of the typical time-fillers I use to fill the quiet, beginning with a 21 day fast from facebook. I love facebook for keeping in touch with friends and family who are far away and I will miss you guys! But I find myself popping on there on my phone for no reason but to pass time so I think a break will be good. I will use the time to work on Scripture memory and prayer and hopefully fleshing out more of my goals for the coming year.  

Relational

2014 will be a year of lots of relational transition. We have just settled into a new home and will likely be moving again in a few months which will involve reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. Additionally, hubby will be returning to sea tour and deployments which means a transition in our marriage and also for our children. During this time, we want to make sure that we continue to be intentional about building into our marriage. One way we plan to do this is my having more media-free nights at home where we play a game or talk rather than reading our own books or watching television. I also look forward to being intentional about building relationships in our new home, wherever that may be, but don't yet know how that will look. 

These are rough starts at goals, but I wanted to write them down while they were fresh in my mind and before it gets too far into the new year to be making New Years blog posts! 

my ball-obsessed family {a day in my life}

Everyone {and every dog} in our house is ball obsessed. Except for me, the loner with no hand-eye coordination what-so-ever. But I am happy to watch my family enjoy playing ball!

 This little guy has literally been playing soccer since before he could walk. Not surprising since his dad loves soccer and looks for every opportunity to play.  But we never pushed soccer on Q.  We didn't even have a soccer ball for him until he found a mini one at a friends house and loved it so much we bought him his own. Before he could walk he would hold our fingers and kick his pink (that's another story...) soccer ball around the house with a huge smile.  It was soccer that motivated him enough to start walking in the first place.  It was the first thing he went after when he was confident enough to start taking steps on his own. Who knows if his infatuation will last, but for now, he loves it!

 It was hard for him to kick the full sized ball in the grass so he used his hands some when he got frustrated.

And that is hubby! Q kept trying to crawl out on the field to get to him :-)

On beautiful Saturday's like today, I take Q and the dogs to watch hubby's soccer games.  Everyone got in on the ball fun today!

A Cure for Crabbiness

Little man and I both woke up crabby today :-(  He has been a little under the weather so his crabbiness is understandable.  Me on the other hand... who knows.  Now that Q is well over a year I think I need to stop blaming every bad mood on pregnancy and breastfeeding hormones :-P

So I took matters into my own hands! Q and I each have pretty reliable cures for our moodiness.  Q needs fresh air and a change of scenery. I need exercise-induced endorphins!  We make for a pretty good pair since I can fulfill both of our needs by taking him for a jog on the coastal trail.

We are very blessed to have a lovely paved trail that goes for something like 18 miles along the central Cali coast right by our house. Monterey is the perfect place to be a runner.  Beautiful scenery and perfect running weather year round. Just to make my fellow runners drool, I stashed my camera under Q's stroller and took a few pics of the scenery along our route.

The marina

Seal Beach (those grey things aren't just rocks... they are harbor seals!)

Fisherman's Wharf Monterey

Heading towards Lover's Point in Pacific Grove; the surf was up and there were ocean sprays up over the trail even! Wish I'd had my board (and a very thick wet suit!).

Q enjoying the fresh air at our turn around point