Posted on

What’s love got to do with it?

Love. We use the word for so many different reasons…

I love summer.
I love Star Wars.
I love reading.
I love my family.
I love tacos.

We use the word love so often I feel we have become over familiar with the term. We often misinterpret or miss the full meaning of the word, especially when we hear it said to us. “I love you” is a phrase we all long to hear, but often doubt the authenticity of the meaning. We live our lives wanting to be filled with love but often doubting the giver. What about loving ourselves?

In scripture we are often commanded to love others, neighbors, and even our enemies but we often gloss over the phrase hidden in Mark 12:31:

“Love your neighbor as yourself.“

Whoa! How many of us love ourselves? I know that my inner dialogue most days includes a plethora of phrases loaded with anything but love regarding myself. How often do we come into our health and fitness journeys because of something we hate about ourselves or find disgusting? I started my own personal health and fitness journey because I loathed what I had let myself become and for a while that was a good motivator.

Being tired of being sick and tired can be a good jumping off point, but it does not provide lasting motivation to pursue a healthy lifestyle. In fact, if we still feel disgust and hatred toward ourselves then we will speak negatively into our inner dialogue and continue believing we are failures, disappointments, and unable to succeed. 

What if we began from a heart place of self love instead of disgust or disappointment? What if we learned to care for our bodies because we loved them? Let that sink in for a minute. Don’t we treat other people we love with much more care and respect than we do ourselves? Would you ever speak to your spouse, child, or friend like you do yourself?

How do we do this? How do we learn to love ourselves? Positive mantras and “surfacey” platitudes will not create a new heart perspective toward ourselves. In fact, the Bible says in 1 John 4:19 that we “love because He first loved us.” My friend we must inundate ourselves with God’s love before we can learn to love anybody else well, especially ourselves. We must sit with Him, ask for his love, read about his love, and choose to believe and receive his love. This is the heart of our health and fitness journey. We cannot be healthy without Him.

Monday October 1st we are going to start on a 30 day journey of discovering how to love ourselves well by exploring scripture, our own personal beliefs, and moving our bodies out of thankfulness and gratitude. Are you interested in going on this adventure with us? Join us today!

Posted on

What Keeps You Motivated?

Hello! Welcome to June! It’s finally summer time! Although, you can’t really tell since it’s been raining so much. This is about the time where people who have started a new health and fitness routine start feeling their motivation wane. Are you feeling that way? One of the ladies in my 80 Day Obsession support group asked what keeps me motivated to work out and stay on plan and it got me thinking… what does motivate me? What about you?

It’s About the WHY
I’ve seen many many people start new programs with great goals and passion but fall apart after a few weeks. What makes this happen? I believe that it isn’t really about the goal. Yes, goals are important because they help you focus where to put your energy but the reason behind your goals is the clincher. If you choose something that isn’t a deep seated reason to stay within the fight, you will give in every time. There’s not enough at stake to keep you in it when the going gets tough and it will get tough. I’ve found that if you just want to look better or fit a certain size, there isn’t enough “oomph” into your why. it needs to be something deeper and intensely important to you like you want to be healthy enough to play with your kids or you need to lose enough weight to avoid a serious heart issue. These are the kinds of things that give you the desire necessary to fight for yourself. So, ask yourself what is actually important to you?

Be the Kind of Person Who…
Okay, I know this sounds weird but I actually read it in a personal development book (which I can’t remember at this moment). It talked about becoming the kind of person who does…<insert whatever it is you want to accomplish> So, if you want to be someone who stays on track with your health and fitness plan you would start talking to yourself and behaving your way into actually becoming that person. So, obviously to do this, your internal dialogue has to be one of positivity and pure conviction of your original WHY.

Recognize How You Feel
This one takes a little bit longer than the others, mostly because in the beginning you can be really sore! Think about how you feel after the workout, do you feel a sense of accomplishment? Do you feel the endorphin rush when you push yourself through a hard workout? I know that staying on track with my health and fitness routine keeps my depression managed well and that makes it worth it to stay in it for me! It also makes me a better wife, mom, and friend because I think clearer, sleep better, and have better emotional health all around!

 

Still need help feeling motivated? Join our 80 Day Obsession support group! WE help keep each other going when we just don’t feel like it. 🙂

Posted on

Core de Force Results

My Total Results: 60 days of Core de Force and the 3 Day Refresh

BeforeAfter
Hips36"34"
Waist34"30.5"
Right Arm11.25"12"
Left Arm11"11.5"

 

The picture above is 30 days. The left side picture was taken after the 3 Day Refresh and is at 125 pounds. The picture on the right side is me 35 days later, but also at 125 pounds! See, the scale doesn’t always tell the whole story.

I would love to help you have your own transformation! Our challenge group will provide recipes, tips, how to set yourself up for meal prep success, accountability, motivation, and daily support. We all do better when we have people cheering us on, let me be your personal cheerleader!

Let’s do this together!

Sign up for the 30 Day Accountability Group

Posted on

Core de Force: MMA Speed

 

Doing a little testing of the new Core de Force program today. I tried MMA Speed. I really like it, the instruction is clear and the moves are complex but not complicated. There is even a learning version of the workout you can do first.

Next week we have a challenge group that is going to go through Core de Force through December. If you are interested in joining us, sign up today!

Posted on

Transformation Tuesday: The Purpose of IntentionallyFit

First, I want to say thank you. Thank you for trusting me with your health and fitness journey, allowing me to speak into your life, and pushing me to become a better coach. I am honored that you are here.

I want to share a little bit of the how and why behind IntentionallyFit. To do this, I will need to travel back a bit and share some of my story with you.

dsc00574_edited

This is me on my 30th birthday. It’s the best picture, really. I had a three year old son and a 1 month old daughter. I look back on this picture with mixed emotions. I LOVED becoming a mom. I loved having a family (still do, in fact!), but I was so unhappy with me. Fear, insecurity, and an overall sense of shame for WHO I had become, or let myself become plagued me. I was depressed and really unhappy. This all came to a head in the most inconvenient of places, a dressing room at Target.

The summer after I turned thirty my little brother got married. I was in his wedding. The dress was a size 16. If this wasn’t enough, I had absolutely no shorts to wear, in public anyhow. I took my babies with me to Target and proceeded to try things on. The only pair of shorts I could squeeeeeeeeze into were size 15, and that was with the lay down, hop around, stuff myself in dance. So, right then and there I fell apart, with my two kids just staring at me, trying to figure out what was wrong with Mommie.

img_6662

To make a long story short, I later found Beachbody in a hotel room on the way home from that wedding. I started Power90 at the beginning of January. I worked hard. Sometimes the logistics of exercising with a 4 year old and a nine month old required some creativity, but I did it. I didn’t know it then, but I was drastically changing my health and not just a diet, but a real lasting lifestyle change. During this time period I learned that health and fitness is not limited to just the physical aspect, but includes mental, emotional, and spiritual areas as well.

img_0819

I say all this to tell you. I know how hard it is to change your life. I know how hard it is when nobody is helping and people are criticizing instead of encouraging. I know how hard it is when the kids are begging for attention and all you want to do is sleep (well, after you stuff a big burger or enchilada down your throat). We didn’t have coaches then or challenge groups to help. I don’t tell you this to get pity, but so you know it can be done. You can do it. I know it, because if I could with nobody helping, then you DEFINITELY can because I will help you every step of the way. I will be here for you. I will encourage and not criticize. I will cheer you on, but you still have to do the work. I can’t do that part, but I know you can. Join one of our Challenge Groups and get started on your own journey!

 

Posted on

Core de Force is Here!

Are you someone who loves MMA or a good kick boxing workout? I am and I’m super excited to let you know about this new program that is available. I just got mine and will be offering two different challenge groups. One, small personal group of very determined people for my test group starting December 5th and another group for people of all fitness levels starting January 2nd.

What Is Core de Force?

It is a 30 Day MMA style workout program created by Beachbody Trainers Jericho Mathews and Joel Freeman. The workouts alternate boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai combinations, cardio spikes, and bodyweight training to define and sculpt your body without needing any equipment. The workouts are broken down into 3 minute rounds at a time for a total of between 27-47 minutes total. The moves are designed with something called 360-degree Core Training that works your core from every angle to really target that bulge and belly fat. Nutrition is what makes a big difference in any program so Core de Force includes an eating plan with recipes, food lists, and sample menus to help you stay on track.

week3_day18

The workouts are challenging and are recommended for intermediate to advanced fitness levels. There is a modifier for each workout, so even if you are a beginner and an MMA style workout excites you, you can go for it! This program is not “dancy” or a set of choregraphed moves to music. If you are interested in that kind of program, something like TurboFire might be what you are looking for. This is good solid punches, kicks, blocks, and elbows in your own time for the allotted set count.

week1_day3

What comes with the Core de Force Base Kit?

8 workouts on 3 DVDs

  • 4 MMA-inspired workouts, each with a step-by-step breakdown of all the moves
  • 2 bodyweight resistance workouts
  • 1 CORE DE FORCE Relief workout
  • 1 Active Recovery stretch workout

The CORE DE FORCE Eating Plan with food lists, recipes, sample menus, and more so that figuring out what to eat is never a battle.

A Quick-Start Guide with 3 simple steps for starting CORE DE FORCE strong.

A 30-Day Calendar includes your daily workout schedule.

PLUS 2 FREE BONUS WORKOUTS

  • 5 Min. Core on the Floor: 5 challenging plank movements to help burn the belly and define, flatten, and tone the tummy.
  • Core Kinetics: Strengthen your core with  moves designed to help carve flat abs and tight obliques.

You will get a FREE Bonus Workout—MMA Mashup. A mix of the best moves all in one workout!  A $19.95 USD value, you get it FREE when purchased from me as your Coach.

How much does CORE DE FORCE cost?

Base Kit: $59.85; Club member: $53.87
Deluxe Kit (Base + Deluxe): $119.70; Club member: $107.73

https://youtu.be/BQHjbItlwE8

CORE DE FORCE and Shakeology® Challenge Pack

The Challenge Pack contains the CORE DE FORCE Base Kit, your first 30-day supply of Shakeology, a 7-piece color-coded portion-control container set, a Shakeology shaker cup, and a 30-day trial to Beachbody On Demand so you can stream CORE DE FORCE and hundreds of additional Beachbody workouts.

Challenge Pack price: Normally $160, but on SALE now for $140 (which is like getting the entire program for only $10 with your Shakeology purchase!)

* NEW Digital CORE DE FORCE and Shakeology Challenge Pack

The Digital CORE DE FORCE and Shakeology Challenge Pack is great for  anyone who prefers to stream their workouts. It includes unlimited 90-day digital access to CORE DE FORCE on Beachbody On Demand, where you can also try some of Beachbody’s most popular programs. Your Digital Challenge Pack also includes your first 30 days of Shakeology* and Portion Fix (includes 7-piece portion control container set, Portion Fix recipe book, large blue container, and Shakeology Shaker Cup.) CORE DE FORCE DVDs are not included.

week0_day1

What Is a Challenge Group and How Do I Join One?

A challenge group is a small group of people that I personally coach through a specific program or “challenge” like a clean eating group. We meet through a free app where we support and encourage each other in a private, judgement free, safe environment. I provide recipes, help with questions, motivational tips, and sometimes even prizes.

To participate in one of my challenge groups, you’ll need to:

*If you already have a Team Beachbody Coach please contact them first to see if they are providing a group for you.