Excuses, Excuses!

How often do you give yourself permission not to do something?  Do you set goals, create lists, set a calendar?  Do you complete your tasks regularly, reach your goals and keep your appointments?  To be successful in your daily lives, you probably do keep to a schedule and check off your tasks in a timely manner.

But, how often do you include workouts on your To-Do List?  How far ahead do you plan  your healthy menus?  Have you made these tasks a regular part of your checklist and actually "check them off" just like your trip to the grocery store, bank or dry cleaner?

Most of us complete our daily and weekly tasks, but when it comes to healthy food planning and exercise we can probably create pages of EXCUSES.  Why do we allow ourselves to excuse ourselves from taking care of our own bodies when we wouldn't dream of excusing ourselves from feeding our families, making our bank deposits and running our dozens of errands?

Are we lazy? NO.  Are we THAT BUSY?  NO.  Are we that broken? NO!  So why then?

Because its easier to complain about our bodies than work hard to burn a few calories!  We don't see the benefit immediately, so we give up!  We don't like feeling sore! AND WE NEVER THINK WE'LL GET THE WEIGHT OFF OR TONE UP, SO WE'D RATHER GIVE UP ON OURSELVES.

But really, what is more important than getting or staying healthy or having energy to do all the other things we have to do?  NOTHING

So lets do ourselves a favor.  Set time on your planner to work out and plan your meals for the week.  Then during the week, every time you have an excuse to keep you from your workout or meal, write down your excuse.  Place the excuses in a coffee cup or jar and at the end of the week, read through them.  If every one seems like they were completely warranted, great....you were too busy.  But if some or all of them seem frivolous or lame, write them on a sheet a paper or pin them to a bulletin board.

WHEN YOU PLAN YOUR NEXT WEEK, ADD YOUR WORKOUTS AND MEAL PLANNING TO YOUR PLANNER AGAIN AND DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO USE THE EXCUSES ON THAT LIST OR BULLETIN BOARD!

I bet you'll get in a few workouts AND you'll eat cleaner!  If you do this for 4-6 weeks, by the end of this time period, you will have a set workout schedule that is more of a habit than a "special appointment."

Once you get on a regular schedule, use this same technique to plan extra cardio or specific weight training or increasing your workout days.

I promise you will start to feel better, stronger, more toned and maybe even have lost some weight!  I know this because it is exactly what I did to get my rear in gear and stop coming up with excuses!!!

Good Luck!

Gearing up for the Bathing Suit

First of all, don't micro critique your physical appearance.

Today you are the youngest you will ever be and even though you can get leaner or thinner, genetics will determine the tautness of your skin.

So, having stated the obvious, we have to work on making our assets more appealing and our minuscule faults invisible....HOW?? Don't obsess over them!

If you have nice legs, show them off and do a few extra lunges to enhance their definition. If you have a nice back, find a suit that has interesting straps to draw attention to it. Don't worry about tan lines since you should be slathering yourself with sunscreen, right?! Also, when is the last time you tried pull ups? Maybe work them into your workout a little more. Use a pull up bar and bench or TRX if you can't do a regular pull up(don't worry, most of us can't!)

If you have a wide mid-section or a little too much pooch, look for a plunging neckline to draw attention upward and/or a broken pattern (pattern on top, solid or subtle through the middle).

Big booty?? YES! Think JLo and go with it! If not there are a lot of little skirts or shorts attached to bathing suit bottoms this season.

Finally, increase your water intake, eat a few more servings of raw bright colored veggies and stand up straight! Look around, even the skinniest girls have a pooch when they slouch!!

See, bathing suit season isn't so bad after all!

Island Prime!

Just had an amazing dinner at Island Prime celebrating Mackenzie's 19th birthday!

Gotta run tomorrow!

Awesome Anniversary Workout at C3

Had a hard morning team workout at C3 Fitness celebrating 3 years of sweat, fun & fitness! There was a great workout, prizes, food and friendship!

So great we are doing another competition style workout event Saturday, June 2nd! Membership Drive, bring your friends, neighbors and co-workers for a free workout and prizes!

Check www.c3fitnessstudio.com for details.

EXCITED TO RE-LAUNCH MY BLOG!!

HI THERE!  I started this blog to enhance a fitness challenge I set up for employees at my husband's company back in 2010.  I decided to start it up again to help clients, friends, relatives and info seekers with their health and fitness goals.

There are lots of postings that I have updated and made relevant to everyone, so please take a minute to read through them or commit to reading a few every so often.  Just by rereading what I wrote has inspired me to kick my  own fitness efforts up a notch!

ALSO, please feel free to comment, criticize, share or vent!  We all need help sometimes and to make this blog worthwhile, I welcome all comments!

Thanks for joining my blog, for sharing your achievements and struggles AND let me know if I can help you with your fitness goals!

GET FOCUSED, GET FIT!!
ALEXIS MARTIN

You are NOT ALONE!

You are not ALONE!  We all feel that way sometimes or ALL the time, but when you realize that and talk to others about their struggles, you can gain motivation and strength from them as well as give support and strength to them.

If you feel like you will never see results, you are wrong!  You will either feel better, lose weight, feel better in clothes, like who you see in the mirror OR GAIN WEIGHT!  WHEN YOU GIVE UP ON YOUR GOALS, YOU WILL PUNISH YOURSELF BY EATING MORE!

DON'T PUNISH YOURSELF, REALIZE YOU ARE WORTH THE EFFORT AND DEDICATE SOME TIME TO FEELING THE BEST YOU CAN!  ALSO, SURROUND YOURSELF WITH CAN-DO PEOPLE!

Hopefully you've been on track, but if you haven't, don't lose heart.  A healthy lifestyle, which includes, clean eating, exercise and a positive outlook, takes time to develop.  This isn't just 4, 6 or 8 weeks, this is 4, 6 or 8 weeks to get you on track for the rest of your life!

On another subject and one of my favorite subjects....food!  I just made dinner for tonight.

Turkey "Tostada" Salad

I cooked lean ground turkey with no-salt tomato sauce, no-fat refried beans, Spanish rice (using Pam spray instead of oil), raw tomato & jalapeno salsa & chopped lettuce.  I also bought tostada shells, guacamole, shredded cheese & vinegar marinated carrots.

My family makes tostadas out of all this and they absolutely love it!  Kinda "gringo style" but its works!  I make a big salad out of most everything and skip the tostada shell, guacamole & cheese.  I know it sounds boring, but its really good and I feel like I'm eating what everyone else is eating!

4 ounces of turkey 170 cal, tomato sauce 11 cal, 1/2 cup beans 110 cal, 1/4 c rice 53 cal, 1/4 salsa (as my dressing) 10 cal, 1/2 c carrots 25 cal, 2 c lettuce 15 cal.  All together my meal is 394 calories!!!!  If you can't live without the tostada shell or can use more calories, mine are 170 calories each.  If you can, have a fresh corn tortilla instead, you'll cut out a lot of fat.

Hope you like it!

Get inspired by Olympic Athletes!

The Summer Olympics are coming!!  July 27th in London!!  I get so excited to watch these athletes who have committed so much time, energy and effort into being the very best!

I've seen lots of "Olympic" workouts on T.V. recently, and I'm proud to say, "I've done some of those exercises".  But in truth, what the heck?!  They are truly amazing individuals, so take some inspiration from them and recommit to this new lifestyle.  Give yourself the pep talk and hone in on your efforts, food choices, exercise and weight loss goals!  We too can be our own Olympian!

These athletes work their entire lives to their sport and really commit 4 years to this one competition!  Give it 110% and you'll bet 110% back!