30 days of full health documentation begins NOW

Posted on 9 January 2012 | No responses

On Sunday, I spent some time looking at my gym’s class schedule and ’scheduling’ my workout each day.  I strategically chose different classes each week and even scheduled week days. I feel this will help me stay accountable and not allow silly excuses or reasons for skipping a workout.  It also releases me from trying to decide all day which class I want to take and what time, etc. I tend to over think things, can you tell?  Check it out..If you click on the image it will enlarge.

Additionally, I will journal my food each day, good, bad and chocolate. Literally, if I have to chew it, it goes on the log. Again, this is for accountability.  Lots of people are confused when they don’t lose weight.  What we take in (food) is different than what we thought we had eaten each day. It can be a real eye opener.

At the end of the 30 day period I will weigh myself and celebrate all my accomplishments and evaluate any downfalls.  I will then know what worked and what did not work for the following month.

It is in writing…it’s official. My intention is to be consistent in keeping to my workout schedule and logging all my eats. I can do this.  Not a resolution though…and intention..just happens to be the first of January .

Here’s to our health!

xoxox Stephanie

Let’s set those goals

Posted on 31 July 2011 | No responses

It’s the last day in July, can you believe the year is half over, wow!  This is a follow up to my last post titled ‘goal getter’.  I took some time this weekend to reflect upon July and check in with myself.  Based upon that, and what I want to accomplish in August, I made my green smoothy and went to work.

My first step involved a bit of a dream.  I asked myself ‘what do I want to bring into my life this month?, what does that look like? How does that feel?’  I then created my vision for August.  More like affirmations if you will.  All sentences are positive & in the present tense as if they were currently happening right now.  You will not see any ‘mights, maybe’s, I hope to, If time allows’…etc.’

You want to attract happiness & success, then you must breathe it, think it and believe that it is possible. There are many ways to do this, below is just an example of one way.  Notice the heart in the center? Coming from a place of love… It could be any shape you choose or design. Whatever feels organic for you.  How I will use these ‘affirmations’ is to read them each day. This will remind me of what I want to attract into the month. Read them with out judgement. Believe the words you wrote and proudly say them as if you are currently living this ‘dream’.  It’s a vision. Basically, if I reviewed your monthly goal list and asked you ‘What does that look like?’ this is where you describe what your month will look & feel like.  Make sense?

I then chose two areas to focus on in August. This month was health and wealth.  I then made a list of goals that I want to accomplish in August.  You can have as little or as many goals as you want. There is no right or wrong way to do it.  You do what you feel you can handle in one months time.  But, be cognizant of how much you are writing down. It’s easy to list your life’s bucket list here all with great intentions.

Next it was time to break it down even further by week.  Starting with the week ahead (week 1). Plan only one week at a time.  I looked over my monthly goals, my calender for the upcoming week and chose how much and what I could commit to working on this week, using the AIM SMART method. Now in this area, you can even take it a step further and plan the day you will complete each action item.  I do that occasionally, but I like to be a little looser with that.  If I become too scheduled I get suffocated and paralyzed by stress and that’s never fun – just personal experience.

I use a workbook my friend Margalit designed & created for her Women’s coaching workshops.  It’s such a great planner.  In fact, I learned how to really look at goals, set what is reasonable and break them down into actionable steps.

Obviously the want to set goals that can be accomplished but that are also a stretch for you each week.  Don’t fret if you don’t, I will show you next week what your action steps would be.

I hope you found this informative and insightful.  If you would like to have a personal goal setting session with me, please leave me a comment, email me, tweet me.  Here’s to a fantastic August!

Cheers!!

Goal getter

Posted on 20 July 2011 | 1 response

Ever had a goal but didn’t know how to make it come to fruition?  Yeah, me too.  Many times we have a ‘goal’ or things we wish to accomplish and muddle through life hoping to get there without a solid plan.  This applies to any type of goal, no matter how grand or inconceivable it may be.

A goal without a plan is just a wish. Antoine de Saint-Exupery

So, what is your plan???

You may think you have a solid plan.  It may be a number of ideas swirling around in your head and your at the mercy of relying on your memory, or you may have it planned out to the day in your date book.  You must put it on paper (or computer) and take steps each week to get you to your monthly goal which will get you to your longer term goals.  This process works perfectly for short term and long term goal setting & getting.  I learned very valuable tools from my friend Margalit Ward of Get Up Girl using her goal planner/tracker/workbook she created. It is so genius…absolute fail proof.

How many times I’ve heard ‘I just can’t lose the weight’ or I don’t know what’s wrong, I’m doing everything right, I exercise, workout etc. but I just can’t shake these last few pounds?  Upon further coaching it has been discovered that a person has been working a plan from their head but has no real concrete ‘evidence’ of what they are doing or not to constantly work toward their goals.  Their so focused on what they want, but haven’t set a plan or taken the first step.  That’s where I come in.  Meet Stephanie who will help you hurdle over those obstacles higher than an Olympian.  When you have a written plan, your mind is free and you are more present each day because you don’t have that worry about remembering anything.  So, below is the formula for goal planning.  Some people prefer to just use the SMART portion of it.  Try it both ways and see what comes of it.

AIM SMART is an acronym for:

A – Acceptable – what is the ‘minimally acceptable?’

I - Ideal – what is ideal?

M – Middle – what is the middle; a realistic stretch?

After you have the goal to AIM, follow the SMART Process:

S – Specific:  What exactly is the very first step of action/learning for the goal identified?

M – Measurable – for what you’ve listed in Specific make sure you have you have qualified or quantified the measure of success.

A – Achievable:  Is the initial step possible to achieve

R - Reasonable:  How reasonable is it that what you’re saying you’re going to do can be done at this time?

T – Time Oriented:  By when exactly will you complete this first step of the goal? (not the entire goal).

Here’s one basic example

If you’d like a fun, upbeat healthy girl to help you along the way, just drop me a line.  Personal goal setting and coaching is my forte!

Stay tuned for more on goal setting!!

Where there’s an obstacle there is a BIGGER opportunity

Posted on 18 May 2011 | No responses

Today I wanted to do the sandcastle workout Tone it up just uploaded to their YouTube channel. I got my laptop ready and set it up on a speaker that was mounted to our wall in the living room next to our flat panel T.V. so that my laptop was near eye level. Wouldn’t you know the darn thing just died. As in no battery juice. What the heck, it was plugged in all night?

This is the part where others would get frustrated, mad and upset and start spinning a web of negative energy around them and allow that to derail their plan of exercising. Instead of allowing negative energy take over I just took that moment to set aside the laptop and not think another minute about it. Grabbed my iphone and was in business. This was hilarious. My little iphone sitting on a speaker mounted to the wall next to our flat panel TV and me doing a workout from the small iphone screen with weights. But you know what?  It worked.

When obstacles come up, it’s just life testing your reaction!  Things happen every day that could hold us back, stop us from succeeding, etc.  But when you have a strong ‘WHY’ – you cannot be stopped! When you come face to face with one, DO NOT back away. Find the way over, around, or under. Persistence will pay off. DO not give up.

I did the sandcastle circuit (a realllllly hard one too! – thanks Tone it up!), then went outside between the rain and sprinkles and caught a 25 minute jog/walk. I’ve been introducing more running recently to bump up my efforts. Had my favorite workout playlist and we were in business again. I quickly walked for one song and jogged for the next song. Repeat for 25 minutes (1.7 miles). I get such a high when I workout. Full blown crack addict style. A super motivating song came on right when I was approaching my building. There was no way I was going to calmly ride the elevator up to my floor. I immediately recognized the opportunity. The opportunity to really enjoy the song and allow it to propel my workout harder.  I seized the moment by tackling the stairwell. I ran up 8 flights of stairs. Ran like I stole something.  All the way to my floor. Walked into my apartment breathing like I outran a Cheetah!!! Booyah. That’s how we roll!

Bye bye 20lbs…you will not be missed

Posted on 3 October 2010 | 2 responses

Okay…so.  Today is the day of major celebration.  I hit the 20lb weight loss mark.  It feels so good to know that I have the ability to achieve what I set out to.  I’ve had many ask me what my ’secret’ is.  There are no secrets.  I am not on any plan like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutri System, Atkins are anything else wonky.

Here’s how I began & some things that have helped me:

1. Made the decision I wanted to lose 42lbs.

2. Made the commitment to myself.  This by far is the most important thing.  If you have the commitment the process is a whole lot easier.

3. Eat breakfast.  Always.  This is essential to ‘breaking the fast’ that you’ve endured for the last 12 hours.  As of late my breakfast has been one slice of whole wheat toast with a thin spread of healthy peanut butter (made by me at Whole Foods YUM) and half a banana sliced on top.  This is soo good.  It combines carbs (which you need for brain function) protein and fruit.

4. Although I don’t follow any specific ‘plan’ I have adopted a low GI (glycemic index) diet inspired by Jackie Warner of Thintervention and author of This is Why your Fat. I had seen her at a Q & A briefly at Barnes and Noble and liked her no nonsense approach – it made sense.  I always look at the sugar grams of everything I eat and aim for foods that only have 5 grams or less.  I NEVER drink any sugar drinks (juice, gum, mints/candies included) and do not eat any ‘fruit added’ foods such as flavored yogurts, cereals with fruit etc.  I aim to eat foods that are supportive to my body.  I.E.  foods that are nutritious and will give me vitamins, minerals, and energy.  Things that my body will be able to use to get stronger and more fit. I eat very clean foods.

5. Serving sizes.  Along with keeping with a low GI diet I am always conscientious of portion/serving sizes.  I read every label on packaged foods/snacks and ONLY eat the serving size listed.  Whether that is 12 almonds, 12 chips, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, etc.  I NEVER go over.

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