How workout progress is the same as falling in love...

Wait, what?!

This weekend I recently listened to a "Inside Quest" talk with Simon Sinek on leadership. He was asked, "How do you determine if a leader is successful?" His response blew me away. I thought it can be applied to all areas of life, especially fitness & health.

He asked the host, Tom, "When did you fall in love with your wife?" The answer...over time. The small things you do day in and day out for someone you care about eventually lead to falling in love. It's not a one day thing, its an over time thing.

How can you measure success in our program?

Your clothes slowly start to fit better.

More energy.

Sleep better.

Eat better and splurge less often.

Happier!

It's what you do each and every single day with your fitness & wellness goals in mind that lead to a happier, healthier you.

Are You Dedicated This December?

I hear it all of the time, "I just follow the 80/20 Rule".

What does that even mean? 80% of what? How do I even measure it? 

For the longest time, my clients would struggle in December. The worst part? They became extremely discouraged in January and would want to give up after previous months of hard work. I wanted to create a simple, easy to follow program for this overwhelming month. 

Enter the 80/20 Rule. I found a way to measure this notorious weight loss rule. 

There are 10 daily, healthy rules to follow.

1 64oz of water
2 Eat a real breakfast 
3 2 fruit servings
4 2 vegetable servings 
5 Healthy protein at every meal & snack
6 Avoid eating out
7 No BAD liquid calories (Starbucks, Wine etc.)
8 No food after 8PM
9 Food Journal
10 WORKOUT! WORKOUT! MOVE! 

Your daily goal? Hit 8 out of 10.

I know what you are thinking...but what if I go to a Holiday Party where I NEED to drink a glass of wine, they order out food and it doesn't get served until 8PM? 

There are 31 days in December. I throw out Christmas entirely which makes this challenge last 30 days. 

80% of 30 days, 24 days of hitting at least 8 out of your 10 daily goals. 

This will be our third year of Dedicated December. Clients not only lose weight, but most of them continue to lose weight following this now understandable 80/20 rule. 

The best part? If you hit 80% of the days in December and lose just 1 pound, you will be entered into a drawing to win a FREE month of training with me. 

Perfect for those post Holiday blues :)

Email info@gritfitwellness.com for a print out of Dedicated December. 

Why I (maybe you too) Suck at the Holidays....

Just 90 days after giving birth to my daughter, I planned on attending my year high school reunion. With my profession, I was in a better shape in my late 20s than I could ever imagine as a high school senior.

I made a plan for those 3 months to exercise {safely of course!} and eat clean. I wanted to look and feel good when I saw my high school classmates, most of them for the first time since we graduated.

I wore a pre-baby outfit comfortably, I hit my goal. My three month postpartum self felt victorious.

Thanksgiving came and went immediately followed by Christmas and New Year's.

Well, in January my clothes felt tighter. I finally stepped on a scale and realized I weighed more on that day than the day I came home from the hospital!!

Whoops!

How did this happen? I was so strict with my plan for those 90 days. The next day on Thanksgiving I remember telling myself, I hit my goal so pass that second piece of pie which pretty much became my motto for the next 6 weeks.

The answer: I was living reactively versus intentionally.

Reactive: No intentions or plan; Determined by our surroundings

After hitting my original goal, I did not set any intentions for the holidays. I called it a "free for all" as a reward for being so disciplined for 3 months.

What's most important gets lost depending on what's literally pulling on us demanding our attention immediately. Kids want to decorate cookies. Friends want to have a few cocktails. The word "no" becomes increasingly difficult to say.

Intentional: Setting the tone; Preventing future problem

I wrote a plan and stuck by it. I scheduled my workouts. I planned out my meals.


During the Holidays, routines, scheduled workouts, and healthy eating gets thrown out the door. We react to our friends and family, their togetherness and the plethora of food that surrounds us.

I love this time of year. It's my absolute favorite so I understand the "but it's Christmas, Courtney!" The past few years, I am getting better at enjoying myself and remembering my goals and hard work from the previous 10.5 months. It's a balance all planned out ahead of time.

How many cheat meals this week?

Are you going to have dessert after every family meal?

How many times are you going to workout?

Do you have your workouts scheduled?

How many adult beverages each week?


I'm not saying the days will go perfect, because they will not, but there will be purpose behind your action. Somewhere or someone in the back of your head will be there to remind you that you really do not need that second Christmas cookie.

So what are your plans for this Holiday Season?

"There is enormous magic in the tiny word do. When we tell ourselves, "I'll do it," we unleash tremendous power. That act forges in us a chain of personal responsibility that ups our game: a desire to excel plus a sense of duty plus complete aliveness plus total dedication to getting done what has to be done. That equals commitment" - John Maxwell Intentional Living 

Need help staying on track? Email to receive a copy of our Holiday Goal Sheet. 

"But I weighed again this morning and...."

Hey you. Yes you, you know the one who steps on the scale every single day. You, the one who gets frustrated by not losing weight or seeing the results you deserve. 

What are you doing every.single.day. to hit your goals?

How many of these daily {or weekly} habits do you have?

Step on the scale

Skip a meal

Drink your coffee with creamer

Morning yogurt full of sugar

Mid afternoon pick me up of soda or more caffeine 

Something "sweet" during the day or after dinner

Nightly glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage to wind down at end of day

Think about exercising, but not actually do it

Stay up late

Stress out

Cheat weekend full of drinks & poor food choices

Versus this daily habits:

Exercise daily for 30-60 minutes

Eat 3-5 servings of vegetables or

Eat something green 

Drink at least 88oz of water

Food journal everything you eat

Take your vitamins

Sleep 6-8 hours

Meditate 

Keep a gratitude journal 

Avoid sugary, high fructose snacks

Avoid simple carbs & dairy

So are you watching the scale? Or are you watching what you do day in and day out? Those small habits will turn into something great. Trust the process and make just one small change in your daily routine today and build on that. 

What habit are you going to incorporate into your daily routine this week?

Why We Fail.

Miss our call last night? Never fear, here's what we discussed:

Does this sound like you?

Raise your hand if I hit it right on the head. 

*Courtney raises hand* 

I've been there and I am here to tell you it's ok to fail, but we need to learn from failing, fail again and hopefully fail better. 

The secret to avoid failure? Decide your goals and take those actions steps every.single.day. 

Now the million dollar question, how do you create that routine? Easy! You track it. Yes, write it down on paper or on any one of those fancy phone apps. 

Some tracking journal or app options:

Phone App: 

Evernote

Balanced Goals

Coach Me

Journal:

Passion Planner $18.61

FitBook $23.99

best Self Journal $31.99

Kikki.K Goal Journal 34.95

Daily Greatness Journal $44.95

Grit Fitness & Wellness Journal $9

After spending the last year reading, researching and listening to podcasts of successful trainers, athletes, authors, entrepreneurs, etc., I noticed 1 thing, they all had in common...tracking! They write their goals down and record those steps needed to achieve said goal. 

I am a tracker as a result from my research. I want to be successful. When I look at why I do what I do, three words come up:

Badass, Mom & Example. 

These are the things I track daily to be those 3 things:

Every Sunday, for the past 6 months, I write down 5 goals. To date, that is 120 goals. I failed to reach my goal nearly 40 times. Forty times! 

So let me be the first to tell you, its ok to fail. As long as you keep improving. Our eyes immediately go to the failing 40 times, not the fact that I hit 80 of those goals. 

I guess you can say, either way, I am better off health, fitness & business wise than 10 years ago:

Are you overwhelmed yet? Don't be! When I say the word "goal" where does your mind go? Do you want to improve the way you look? The way you feel? Your work life? 

Decide what areas you would like to track. It's all about progress, not perfection. You might fail on a few goals. Learn from it. Keep moving forward.

A few months ago, my assistant Megan and I started a workout journal. For the past 60 days, I logged my workouts. As you see below, I missed almost 13 days of working out/logging, not to mention 4 terrible workouts. You know those kind of workouts where you question why are you even doing this? Yeah, those ones.

But as I scroll to my wins, I realize why I workout. Those areas of improvement push me. Man, do they ever motivate me. If I did not track my exercises, I do not think I would see any improvement. To see it on paper, now there's the motivation. 

So now is the hard part...START!

Write 5 new goals or habits for the upcoming week. On Sunday (or Monday morning) review. 

Are you making progress? Are you spending time on the right things?

Didn't follow your diet perfectly?

...good! It means you're human.

Grit Fitness & Wellness just wrapped up their July Monthly Nutrition Challenge. For the challenge, we picked 1 diet program (Whole 30, Intermittent Fasting, 21 Days + 21 Foods Challenge) to follow.

This morning I heard a lot of "I had good intentions" or  "I did great for the first week" in response to the post challenge follow-up.

The challenge served a dual purpose for me. I love to motivate my clients, but this month in particular I need some motivation as well. At the end of the month, I needed to finally replace my 2 year + head shots for my business.

It was go time. Until it wasn't {Remember the pizza incident?}.

Every Saturday I promised myself to do better. Every Saturday I caved just a little, usually with some kind of dessert. What can I say? It's my weakness. This month proved to be a busy month full of friends and togetherness. I felt blessed to be around amazing people each weekend. I enjoyed the moment.

But I got back on track every Sunday.

My month of July fit the 80/20 rule perfectly. 25 Good Days vs 6 Bad Days.

Have a bad day.
Eat some ice cream.
Miss a workout.
Feel frustrated.

...but never give up.

And my photos?

I will take it. Sure I could have been perfect, but I did my best. More importantly I kept fighting & refused to give up.