Tag: transformation

Discontinuation Blow-out!

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Hey everyone! I just wanted to bring these two awesome programs to your attention. I am very sad to say that these two programs will no longer be produced by Beachbody. Unfortunately, this includes Beachbody On Demand. These programs will only be available as long as product already made are in stock, but once we sell out, both of these programs are gone for good. Take advantage of the discontinuation pricing and get these while you can!

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LES Mills Combat is honestly an amazing program. This is one of my go-to workouts if I am upset or angry about something. Maybe it is all the kicking and punching, but for some reason, I always feel so much better by the time I finish one of these workouts! One of the things that I love most about this program is that it is 100% gender-neutral. I find that some programs do tend to be more targeted toward one gender than the other, but this program has a perfect balance that I feel would be a great fit for both men and women. Click Here if you would like to watch a video preview.

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The results don’t lie! This program is awesome, and it really does get results. Combat is not for everyone though! There is a lot of jumping around, balancing, and core work in that fitness program. If you have any injuries or joint issues that keep you from doing that kind of high impact activity, LES Mills Pump could be more your style.

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This program includes the barbell and weights that you need to complete the program. Honestly when I first watched the preview for this program, I thought that there was no possible way that I could ever do that! After being involved with Beachbody for over 6 months, I decided to give it a try based on high rep/low weight fat burning method. I found that it is actually very doable, and the instructors show you how to modify every move so that you can gradually work up to doing it the way it was intended to be done. My mom struggles with knee and back pain, so she absolutely loved this program. It allowed her to get a great full body workout in without doing damage to her injuries from high impact activity. Click Here to watch a preview of this program.

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Ready to take advantage of the awesome sale pricing and start working on your health and fitness journey? Click Here to create your free Team Beachbody account, and send me an email to hfmxj@stu.ca with the subject line “LES Mills” for information on how to access the sale in either US or Canada.

I look forward to coaching you along this journey, and watching you transform!

Are you addicted to junk food?

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I saw a post from one of my challengers in my free Health and Fitness group yesterday, and I decided to make this blog post about it because I feel as though it is important. Anyone who has ever struggled with food addiction will understand this, and anyone who hasn’t, probably won’t. Some people may even find this notion completely ridiculous, but if you haven’t been through it, it would be hard to grasp. So, what is addiction anyway?

“A physical or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, such as a drug or alcohol” Dictionary.com

The idea here is that food can be an addiction much like alcohol, drugs, tobacco, gambling, etc. If you struggle with food addiction, chances are you have formed a habit of eating snacks as you watch television or movies. It can be so drilled into your mind that it is actually hard for you to sit through an entire show or movie without getting a snack of some sort. I struggled with this bigtime when I started my fitness journey, and I had to ease my way into eating healthy by still snacking at night with healthier options. It is not easy to change these habits, but just like any other addiction that is damaging to your health, you have to work at it to break these habits.

Maybe this kind of addiction isn’t as obvious or extreme as some of the others out there, but it is still detrimental to your health in the long run. From what I’ve read, it seems there are differing opinions on this topic from health professionals. However, having been through it, I strongly believe that eating can be a psychological addiction.

“A strong or harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble)” Merriam Webster

In this case, the strong and harmful need factor would be applied to junk food, and the act would be considered eating. What a lot of people don’t seem to understand is that for many people struggling with weight issues, eating is more than fuel for our bodies. For some of us, eating is a form of comfort. We get sad, depressed, angry, frustrated, stressed out, et cetera, and we immediately head for the junk food. Sometimes this is completely subconscious behaviour, but we do it anyway. This ends up being a NEVER-ENDING cycle! You eat to make yourself feel better for negative emotions, and then you gain weight. The weight gain makes you feel even worse, so you go for the junk food again to feel better. You then gain more weight, eat more junk, and the cycle goes on and on and on until you put a stop to it.

“… most addictive behavior is not related to either physical tolerance or exposure to cues. People compulsively use drugs, gamble, or shop nearly always in reaction to being emotionally stressed, whether or not they have a physical addiction. Since these psychologically based addictions are not based on drug or brain effects, they can account for why people frequently switch addictive actions from one drug to a completely different kind of drug, or even to a non-drug behavior. The focus of the addiction isn’t what matters; it’s the need to take action under certain kinds of stress.” Psychology Today

What does this mean? Well, what this means to me is that it is possible for you to shift your “addiction” from food to fitness. It honestly worked for me, and I think it can work for everyone else too. Exercise releases endorphins into your brain, which ultimately makes you feel better overall! When I finish an intense workout, I usually feel refreshed. There have been many times when I’ve been upset or angry when I went down to do an intense cardio workout like Turbo Fire or Combat, and by the end of the workout, I felt a million times better than when I started.

If you start gradually decreasing your bad food habits and exercising on a regular basis, you WILL start to see results. You’ll start to feel better about yourself, you’ll sense the brain fog from all of the junk food start to lift, and you’ll start regaining your confidence as you lose weight from your positive life choices.

Are you ready to start working toward a happier and healthier life for yourself and your loved ones? If so, send me an email to hfmxj@stu.ca with the subject line “I’m ready to transform”.

I can’t wait to help you along your journey as your free coach, and I look forward to watching you transform!

On a diet do you look at junk food and think “I can’t have that”?

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Chances are, you probably do. This is something that a lot of people do, myself included.

Here is the problem with that: You know that common saying that you always want that which you can’t have? Well when you think that you “can’t” have something, it makes you want it that much more. In order to change your eating habits long term you have to change your way of thinking about it first.

From now on, instead of saying “I can’t have this” to yourself each time you see a treat you’d like to have, but know you shouldn’t – try saying “I don’t eat this”. Think about what junk food does to your body and mind. It causes you to gain weight, it causes brain fog, it causes drowsiness, and much much more. Then think about your goals and what you want for yourself with respect to your health and your life.

Is your goal to be healthy, have energy, lose weight, etc.? If the answer to that question is yes, then you need to start telling yourself that you don’t eat junk food anymore. Not because you can’t have it, but because you don’t want to put all of that junk and toxins into your body.

Click Here if you would like to create a FREE Team Beachbody account to gain access to a variety of information on health, fitness, and nutrition.

My Transformation: Body and Soul

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In honor of #ThrowbackThursday, I thought I would post an old photo of myself! I look at this photo from Christmas at my grandparents house a few years back, and it amazes me how different things are now. I had no confidence in myself to speak of, so I would do my hair all fancy and wear nice makeup to try to instill confidence in myself. I still do those things lol, but now it is just for fun!

For me the best part about having lost this weight is simply regaining my confidence. I love that I no longer avoid public places, and I can actually have fun. I love that I finally get to experience things that I was forcing myself to miss out on because of my weight, like swimming and tanning on the beach. I love that I finally got out of my shell and went after a dream on mine this summer! Until summer 2014 I hadn’t flown in an airplane, I hadn’t left Canada apart from going shopping in the states a couple of times, and I hadn’t travelled or explored much at all apart from the smaller cities surrounding my own. I am so proud to be able to say that I’ve now flown 6 times, I’ve had the opportunity to explore Barcelona, Paris, and London, and I’ve found a new passion that I can’t see ever going away. I NEVER would have had the confidence to do that prior to finding Beachbody and changing my life through this health and fitness journey. 

Most of all, I just love that I’m not sad and down on myself all the time anymore. I have become a much more positive person overall. I am kind of shy and awkward by nature when it comes to talking to new people in person, but I have seen a dramatic increase in my sociability since starting this journey. I’m not nearly as shy and afraid as I used to be, and it has allowed me to meet more people than I have in years. If you’re struggling with your weight and dealing with depression or isolation because it, please come and talk to me. Beachbody changed my life, and I would love nothing more than to see your life turn around for the better too. 

Send me an email to hfmxj@stu.ca with the subject “I’m ready to transform” if you’re ready to take this leap!

What a coach should do

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I always felt out of place at the gym before I started this fitness journey. I always felt like everyone was staring at me and making fun of me behind my back for being so overweight. I couldn’t stand to go to the gym, because the whole time I was there, I was more focused on watching the other people to make sure they weren’t staring at me. It seems silly to people who never experience this, but you’ll most likely understand to an extent if you are overweight.

The fact of the matter is, chances are they aren’t actually paying any attention to you. Even if they are, their opinion doesn’t matter! I think a majority of people would look at someone overweight in a gym and think “Good for them, they are doing something about it and working towards being healthier and happier!” Everyone has to start somewhere, and anyone who really matters will be proud that you are making that effort to better yourself.

You shouldn’t have to worry about people putting you down for your weight to try to “fat-shame” you into working it off. Getting down on yourself and feeling like crap about your body the way it is now is NOT going to help you get results. What will help you get results is being motivated and encouraged by a positive force. Someone who will help you learn how to love and appreciate the small steps forward, and who will help you through the small steps backward without judging you for them.

That is what I had when I started my fitness journey almost 2 years ago, and it is a big factor in my becoming a coach. I would LOVE to be that person for you!

Click Here if you are ready to start working on your own health and happiness :)

Are people trying to sabotage your success?

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You probably wouldn’t expect this, but people (including those closest to you, like friends and family) do tend to sabotage others unfortunately. A lot of the time they will do it subconsciously, and they don’t realize that they are doing it. This happens because you act as a mirror to them, meaning that you reflect their bad choices.

Seeing you make positive changes in your life makes them feel bad about themselves because they know they really should do it too, but they don’t have the strength to do it. Instead, they try to bring you back down to their level and get things back to the way they once were. When this happens you need to be clear with those people that they need to accept that you’ve made these changes, and don’t let them discourage you from doing something that is going to improve your life.

It can be really hard, especially if that person is your significant other. Unfortunately I’ve seen many cases where one member of the relationship chooses to change their life for the better, and the other does not. What tends to happen here is the person that chose to make good changes will revert back to old habits to ease the pressure, OR the relationship will end up on the rocks.

This can be REALLY scary for people, because essentially in some cases you are choosing between your relationship or your health. The way that I see it though, is that if your significant other can’t support you in your decision to get healthy and they would prefer to make you keep your unhealthy habits – they simply do not deserve to be in your life. You should surround yourself with positive people that motivate and encourage you, not people who try to bring you down.

Having a good support system is crucial for most people to be successful on their weight loss journey, so it adds a lot of pressure when those closest to you are not supportive. If you have someone (friend, family member, or otherwise) like that in your life, I would strongly recommend that you sit them down and tell them how you feel. If they still won’t budge, I would consider how much you really need them in your life. If you don’t want to cut them out completely, it would definitely be a good idea to at least limit the time you spend with them temporarily. Once you’ve fully established your new healthy behaviours as habits, you can then reintegrate them into your life if desired.

Click Here if think you could benefit from some extra support through myself as your FREE Team Beachbody coach as well as through our challenge group of like-minded individuals going through their own transformations,

Do you blame your coach?

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This happens all the time! People cheat on their meal plans or they skip out on workouts, and then they are shocked that they aren’t seeing progress. The fact of the matter is, you need to earn your missed workouts and your cheat meals. When you’re starting out and you cheat regularly, you are not going to see the progress you’re hoping for.

People like to blame their coach or the program if they aren’t successful, but the reality is that the products are proven to work. Everyone that purchases a Beachbody program is provided with the exact same tools! Though the results do differ depending on personal body types and different starting points and whatnot, everyone should be able to achieve great results for their own body type. Getting results depends on your commitment to following the program as it was meant to be followed.

If you refuse to change your eating habits, you’re not going to see the results you want! Some people tend to think that since they just worked out, they’ve earned themselves a treat of some sort. If you have that line of thinking, you’re setting yourself up for failure. All you do when you give yourself a treat after a workout is negate all of the work that you just put in!

If you think you can skip out on some workouts because at least a couple of days is better than what you did before – nothing – I repeat, you’re not going to see much results! You have to work out consistently if you want to see positive changes. A few times a week is better than nothing for sure, but if you’re serious about this weight loss journey, you need to make the commitment to AT LEAST 4 days. You should be working out more days than you aren’t if you want to see progress.

If you want to blame your coach for not seeing any progress, you need to take a close look at yourself first. Ask yourself if you’ve been following the plan exactly as it was designed. Ask yourself if you’ve been cheating on your meal plan. Ask yourself if you’ve been skipping workouts. If you’ve been following everything as it was designed and still aren’t seeing progress, then maybe you could blame your coach or the program – but chances are you would be better off visiting your doctor to try and determine if you have some kind of health issue that is preventing you from successfully losing weight.

Click Here if you want to try a program that definitely works. I have personally tried 7 different Beachbody fitness programs, and know from personal experience that they work. I would be happy to speak with anyone about these programs, or any others. If you are ready to commit to a program and get started on your own transformation just let me know!

Will weight training make women bulky?

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The answer to this questions is plain and simple – HECK to the NO.

I don’t know how many times I have heard a woman say that they don’t want to do any weight training because they don’t want to get bulky or huge. Either that, or their significant other has discouraged them from lifting weights because THEY don’t want their girlfriend to get big and bulky. Well, first of all, if you’re in a relationship like that – you should probably get out of it. I am sorry, but if someone tries to tell me not to do certain workouts because I *might* end up with a certain body type, I would kick them to the curb in a heartbeat and say “See ya, don’t let the door hit you on the a$$ on the way out :)” That to me sounds like a toxic relationship, and you do not need that kind of negativity in your life.

Furthermore, the claim is just plain wrong to begin with! We, as women, simply do not produce nearly enough testosterone to allow us to get huge like some of the male bodybuilders that you see. You won’t get bulky from weight training unless you actually are TRYING to do so! Even the women who are actively trying to get huge muscles through bodybuilding and lifting heavy weights do not get nearly as big as the guys in most cases.

The bottom line with weight training is the more muscle that you build, the more fat you will burn! Muscle has the ability to continue burning fat long after your workout has finished, so the more muscle you create the better. I personally know a lot of ladies that lift weights both through Beachbody and simply through personal connections with ladies that enjoy competing in the fitness competitions, and none of the ladies that I know have gotten huge or bulky.

When women put on muscle, it helps to lean us out and gives us a nice toned and strong appearance. In May of 2015 it will be two years since I started lifting weights when I began P90X. I have not gotten huge or bulky, and you won’t either! Leave those misconceptions behind and just give it a try for a month or two. If you find you’re getting “bulky”, just stop! But I am pretty much 99.9% sure that you won’t. Instead, you’ll get some pretty awesome results and you’ll be happy that you didn’t listen to all of those people telling you to avoid something truly great!

Click Here if you are ready to give this a try, and I can help you find something that will work well for you and your individual goals.

What is Shakeology and why should you drink it?

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Since I’ve spoken to a bunch of people in my Bikini Bootcamps and Challenge Groups, I have had numerous people ask me “What is Shakeology?” Many of you seem to be wondering if you can skip the challenge pack and just go straight for the program to save money, and you can, but I just wanted to share this so that you can see the true value behind the challenge pack.

I am a firm believer in the value of Shakeology, because I have felt the effects firsthand. Those of you that know me personally would know I used to promote Visalus back like 3 years ago, so you are probably skeptical, and I totally wouldn’t blame you one bit. However, I stopped promoting Visalus for a reason.. I gained all of the weight that I had lost back as soon as I stopped using the product.

I was super skeptical to try shakeology myself when I started P90X for the first time, and it took my coach a few months to finally convince me to give another meal replacement shake a try. I bought shakeology after being told of the bottom of the bag guarantee, where if you don’t find that shakeology works, you can send it back for a full refund – even if the bag is completely empty. I’ve been drinking shakeology daily ever since.

I find that it gives me a boost in energy, helps with regularity, makes me feel healthier, and because I make it in a way that I LOVE, I’ve found it has helped curb my sweet tooth cravings. If you asked any of my family members, they would be able to tell you that growing up I was always pretty sickly. I would get sick multiple times a year. Since I started drinking shakeology, I RARELY ever get sick because it has boosted my immune system.

Shakeology is NOT a weight loss drink. It is a nutrition dense shake that helps get your system functioning normally, which ultimately does help with weight loss. Even if you are not ready to get into fitness, I would strongly recommend you at least give shakeology a try – not just for weight loss, but for your overall health.

Click Here if you would like to learn more about Shakeology.

Sometimes all it takes is for you to make up your mind

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One quote that has been resonating with me ever since I became a coach is that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. This could not be more true, and I’ve seen it time and time again. I can give you a million reasons why you should work out and eat healthy, but until you DECIDE that you need to change, it is not going to happen.

I can not physically force you to exercise, and I can’t force feed you healthy food or follow you around and slap your hand every time you reach for junk food. You are in control, and it is ultimately up to you to make the choice to create a healthier future for yourself!

You honestly just have to reach a point in your life where you know that you need to change for the better, no matter what the reason may be. For me it was because I was sick of isolating myself and being lonely and depressed. I wanted to regain my confidence so that I could start living my life again. Once you reach that point in your life where you just know that things HAVE to change, I sincerely hope that something will click in your mind and you will gain a sense of determination. That is what happened to me. I just knew I needed to make a change so that I could have a better life, so I decided to push through workouts that nearly killed me and to eat healthy because I was determined to reach my goals.

Click Here if you’re at that point in your life now, and you’re ready to make a change.