Savor You

Pushing yourself to be your best is an incredible and rewarding process.  It provides opportunities to watch yourself grow both physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  This process stretches one to become more than they ever thought possible, which is in and of itself an absolutely beautiful thing to watch.  It is imperative to the human mind and soul to set goals and feverishly strive to obtain those goals.  However, parallel to this, it becomes critical to relish in who you are today and find as much joy in that as who you wish to become. 

Don't become so bogged down with an image or idea of yourself that may not exist at this moment because that is when you lose sight of who you truly are and all of the beauties you possess today.  Savor the you in the mirror, and appreciate all you have to offer the world WHILE you stive to become the absolute best you know you can be.

Plan it Out

You've heard it once, you've heard it twice, and you'll hear it again from me...

IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU PLAN TO FAIL!

This phrase rings true time and time again and can be applied to any type of goal or aspiration.  Obtaining your dreams is for the most part merely a matter of adequate planning and preparation. 

Some steps and ideas to help you prepare yourself for ultimate success:

Short Term
Regards to health and fitness

• Plan your meals for the week- pick a single day and time that your meal plan for the week with take place.  Create a menu, and not just a chicken and veggies menu, but have some substance and meals you can look forward to during the week, such as steak fajitas or slow cooker chicken stew.  
• Prep your food for the week- Select one or two days out of the week when you can prep as much food as you can to help you through the week.  This may include making your own on-the-go protein bars, washing and slicing all of the veggies you'll need for the next three days, or grilling up a grundle of chicken breasts to last you through the week.  This is a very important step, as this will help eliminate the need or desire to eat out.
• Visualize your week of workouts-  Create a log of workouts you want to do for the week based on what you are looking to achieve in the upcoming months.   This is not a difficult task as one workout routine will last you a few weeks, however it is important to review this at least once a week and determine what you can change, such as adding more weight to an exercise, greater intensity, or simply more enthusiasm for the routine you are about to embark in.  

Long Term

• Remind yourself regularly why you are committing to a healthy lifestyle.  While a transition into a clean healthy lifestyle may not always be easy it is SO worth it!  You must remind yourself why you want to eat clean and exercise regularly, this will help you maintain focus and positivity through some of the more grueling moments that can come now and again.
• Have a realistic and obtainable goal in mind.  This will help keep you driven and preforming at your best.  Pushing oneself provides opportunities for growth and a continued purpose.  Have a goal you can look forward to, but be sure it does not rule you.  Have balance in your pursuit, and appreciate the fact that good things come to those who work hard and are patient.
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The P's to Success

Patience, Positivity, and Perseverance. 

The Power of Daydreaming

Daydreaming can help you maintain and visualize your goals making them that much more real and obtainable.  Make time to day dream.  I day dream generally before bed giving me more motivation to wake up the next morning and have a great workout.

Protein Shake Recipes

Let Them Eat Pancakes!

There really is nothing like a good breakfast to start your day off right.  A balanced and nutritious breakfast can provide you with all of the energy you need to get through your day, or at least the first half.  That is why breakfast is my absolute most favorite meal!  I occasionally tend to worry less about caloric intake during breakfast, within reason of course, often making it my highest caloric meal of the day. 
In my experience, when you eat well during breakfast, meaning lots of protein, good fats, and whole grain carbohydrates, you will burn more fat throughout the day.  This can be attributed to a revved up metabolism and energy level as well as a suppression of calories in later parts of the day when the body generally starts to slow.  Simply ration the remainder of your calorie limit for the day based on what you have remaining after breakfast. 
For instance, say you have a 1,500 calorie limit, you could ration your calories out like this:

    •    450 Breakfast
    •    150 Snack
    •    300 Lunch
    •    150 Snack
    •    300 Dinner

Below are some of my favorite breakfast dishes which I like to rotate regularly.  They are absolutely delicious, leaving nothing to be desired, and are packed full of balanced nutrition.

Kodiak Pancakes
    1/2 c.    mix
    1/2 c.    water

Egg White Omelet
    1    whole egg
    4     egg whites
    1/2    Bell pepper
    1 c.    Spinach
    1/4 c.     Mozarella Cheese
    1 tbsp.    salsa


French Toast
    2 slices    Whole Grain Bread
    2 egg whites
    Stevia  
    Cinnamon
    1 tbsp.     Peanut Butter
    1 tsp.    100% Maple Syrup
    1/4 c.    fresh raspberries    •    150 Snack

Purchase my recipe book for more great recipes.

Stear Clear of the Sweet Stuff

Everyone loves a good cheat meal, and chances are you plan yours out long before it comes around.  And if you're the type who dreams about Chili's Molten Lava Cake, you may want to think twice about how you are going to utilize your calories for your long awaited cheat chow.

The fact is that simple sugars, such as those found in most baked goods, candy, and other ready-made sweets, can be a real killer to your training or weight loss efforts for a host of reasons including the large amount of stress they put on the body due to the spike in insulin, you may have experienced this before as jitters, headache, or dizziness due to an intake of more simple sugars than your body was prepared to handle.  Other reasons to avoid this dangerous pantry villain include weight gain, diabetes, suppressed immune system function, poor absorption of vitamins and minerals, as well as hyperactivity followed by an energy crash, just to name a few.

But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater just yet.  A cheat meal can be a great way to sharpen the saw mentally and become refocused and motivated for another great and nutrition packed week, not to mention the likely benefit of revving up your metabolism after a week of slightly suppressed caloric intake.  Briefly boosting your calories can be a great way to keep your body guessing and your metabolism burning.  Pizza is undoubtedly one of my favorite cheat meals.  It too offers a type of sugar, but not those mentioned above.  The carbohydrates found in pizza dough burns slow, so it feeds the body longer, avoiding the undesired spike in insulin by supplying a steady flow of glucose to the blood.  It will also provide great energy even into the next day without any type of crash to follow.

So in summary, be wise when selecting how you are going to spend your cheat meal.  Be conscious and continue to be strategize what foods will provide you with the best satiation while fueling your body with all of the good stuff it needs to preform at its peak.  If you follow this guideline simple sugars will not make the cut due to their many negative short and long term side-effects.

Commit to Getting Right Back Up

One thing is certain, it is that we are bound to hit road blocks or experience the brief sense of failure when we are striving to be our best self. 
The key to ultimate success is to pick your self up in the face of despair.  This may mean you ate one too many slices of cake during that one cheat meal at your cousins birthday party, or you missed an entire week of gym time during finals week.  It is these challenges and disparities that provide opportunity for growth and learning.  These opportunities might help you to understand how you can better prepare to succeed when faced with these obstacles or challenges in the future.
There is absolutely no excuse for failure and no reason to not reach your goals.  Often we find that our goals must be modified to better suit the realistic boundaries of our individual life, but within these boundaries we can achieve anything.