Success is a series of peaks AND valleys

When we think of success we often imagine it as a linear line progressing upward and onward. Well maybe in the world of make believe or fantasy it is. Truth is to succeed you must endure both the peaks and valleys the highs and lows of your journey.

When you commit to your fitness health path you typically see initial progress all over the place after a few weeks or months. You are highly motivated. People compliment you. They notice your efforts and changes. You feel better have more energy can walk/ run/ row further can lift more weight have greater range of motion and mobility in daily activities. You may sleep better and may make healthier food choices. Then it dips. It’s kinda like the honeymoon period ends. The body plateaus the mind is tired and it all becomes routine …..but you aren’t succeeding like you were. It’s time to change it up right? Well not so fast! Some change is good but don’t forego everything you’ve been committed to doing. Congratulations are in order. You’ve graduated from the newbie phase! See NOW is where the real effort occurs. This is where the determination that internal drive and desire come into play. This is where you move into the next level. It is where and when you realize it will take years of consistent effort and practice/work to perfect your lifestyle of health and fitness.

Be aware. It will happen again. The dip. Another valley as you cross over into the next level and the next and the next.

Each time you must visualize the dip because after the dip with consistent effort and determination you will arrive at the next peak of success

Wanna lose weight? Plan A Plan B Plan C

Diet plan for weight loss simplified...

Eat less calories than you burn.

Daily.

Diet plan for weight loss slightly more complicated...

Figure out how many calories you burn daily then eat 300-500 calories less than that.

Daily

Diet plan slightly more complicated than that...

Factor in your exercise, activities and cardio daily and then eat 300-500 calories less than that while trying to combine protein from quality sources like meat, beans, dairy and then smart carb choices (rice, grains, potatoes, fruits) with allowing some poor choices for food enjoyment ( desserts, breads, pasta, baked goods) and getting adequate but not too much fat intake without going over your daily deficit goal.

Daily.

Living Lean

Several of you have asked for my top tips for living lean

So here you go

1) Eat lean protein at every meal/snack

2) Start your days breakfast with 30 G protein

3) Eat your veggies 5-7 serving per day

4) Eat your fruit but not too much 1-2 servings per day

5) Aim for Fiber 25-30g per day females 25-35 g per day males

6) Stay hydrated Dehydration Can lower metabolic rate 3-4%

7) Lift Heavy things at least 3 times per week

8) Rest and Recover. Use active rest days. Get your Zzzzzz

9) Eat calories carbs fats and protein according to YOUR GOALS not a random “diet”. Are you wanting to build muscle or lose fat or both or just be happy?

10) Do some activity DAILY that you ENJOY!!!

Trust your struggles

Every day you are growing stronger from your struggles.

Life can be a struggle. It will break you sometimes. Nobody can protect you from that. And hiding alone in a cave somewhere won’t either, for prolonged solitude will also break you with an endless thirst for connection. You must dare to love. You must dare to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth.

You are here to sacrifice your time and risk your heart. You are here to be bruised by life. And when it happens that you are hurt, or betrayed, or rejected, let yourself sit quietly with your eyes closed and remember all the good times you had, and all the sweetness you tasted, and everything you learned. Tell yourself how amazing it was to live, and then open your eyes and live some more.

To never struggle would be to never have been blessed with life. It is within the depths of darkness that you discover within you an inextinguishable light, and it is this light that illuminates the way forward.

Sugar got you craving?

We all have them

Sugar cravings are a common complaint. Usually craving the sweet stuff is one of the main reasons people struggle to remain diet compliant.

But before you justify your sugar indulgences in the name of "insatiable cravings"- REMIND YOURSELF what a craving REALLY is. A craving is merely your body's way of alerting you to a nutrient deficiency or problem.

In the case of persistent sugar cravings, it could be that you are either not consuming enough protein or not digesting the protein you are consuming, properly.

You might think being protein deficient would lead you to crave eggs or chicken breast, but one of proteins most critical functions in the body is to create stability with your blood sugar, which means if you're lacking protein, your glucose levels will start to run amuck, prompting you to reach for a quick fix- like sugar. Instead, try drinking a half serving of a protein shake mixed with some unsweetened almond milk to take care of the craving or nibbling on some chicken breast. And reassess your total protein intake across the day.

A good rule of thumb for active individuals is .85-1g of protein per lb of bodyweight, coming from healthy sources such as grassfed or hormone free meats, cage free eggs or egg whites, wild caught seafoods, plant based sources including nuts or sprouted grains, and quality protein replacement supplements like protein powders.

If you feel like you're getting enough protein but still having sugar cravings, your cravings might come from an inability to digest the protein that you're eating. Sugar doesn't just upset your blood sugar levels and cause weight gain, it also wrecks havoc on the digestive system, feeding bad bacteria and making is hard to absorb nutrients from the food you eat.

How you eat your food can affect the way it digests, so try to chew thoroughly, eat calmly and slowly, and avoid drinking too much water with your food, as this may dilute the enzymes that digest your food. Smaller meals are also easier to digest than larger meals which can overwhelm your digestive system.

Lastly, if you’re eating enough protein, eating mindfully , and you’re STILL ravenous for sugar, you might want to look into your stomach acidity.

Low stomach acid can prevent protein absorption, and high stomach acid can mimic hunger, prompting sugar cravings.

Slow Metabolism? Probably NOT

The hard truth is that most often struggles with weight management are largely the result of simply not taking having care of ourselves the way we should’ve.

Genes are only a piece of the picture. The real issue lies in how our genes express themselves and that is based on a host of factors entirely within our control.

When we over-eat (or starve ourselves for that matter), or yo-yo diet; skimp on sleep and work ourselves to the point of exhaustion; eat overly processed foods, surround ourselves with toxins, or exercise obsessively to the point of diminished health- ALL of these choices influence the way our metabolisms process food, burn calories, and regulate weight.

It’s sadly often our own choices that manipulate our hormones to work against us, rather than for us.

And the only way to reverse the situation is to steadily make the RIGHT choices with as much time and consistency as you made the wrong ones.

Mindfulness

Real Mindfulness is found through your BODY, cultivated through the sacred doorway of the senses and often through a process of inquiry and quiet reflection (*and ideally through your shared presence with a live instructor). 

Mindfulness is a relationship you cultivate with your thoughts, emotions, patterns, conditioning, and behaviors. It's a path to understanding why you do what you do.  It's a pathway to more choice and less reactivity. It has to be experienced to be understood and even then, words can't really describe it. 

It's also not a magic bullet. 

It doesn't create a perpetual state of happiness or bliss but it can make you considerably happier and well-balanced with far less life drama and exhaustion.  It can enhance self-awareness and emotional intelligence. 

Change the story line ….change your life

Too often old stories and worn out ideas hold us down in ways we don’t even realize. We need to practice letting them go. And this letting go has nothing to do with weakness, and everything to do with strength. It’s a process of gradually rewriting the script we’ve been reciting to ourselves for far too long. And that’s what this list is all about—identifying the negative stories in your head, seeing how they effect your daily behavior, and then letting go to make room for positive change.

Life is your story and you can write and rewrite it !! Don’t get stuck in a chapter. Move onto the next. Change the ending !

YOU ARE THE AUTHOR AND THE EDITOR.

Rewiring your mind for success

I wanted to share a great excerpt from an email this morning from Marc and Angel

“The older you grow, the more mindful you become. Life humbles you gradually as you age. You realize just how much nonsense you've wasted time on.

The biggest nonsense creator of them all?

Your mind… and the fantasies it likes to project into every facet of your life.

You’ve likely fantasized your way into headaches and heartache dozens of times already this Fall! And you aren’t alone.

We all stress ourselves out because of fantasies.

We all procrastinate to the point of failure because of fantasies.

We all get angry with others, with ourselves, and with the world at large because of fantasies.

We all miss out on many of life’s most beautiful and peaceful moments... because of fantasies!

This might seem hard to believe at first, so let’s look at some super common examples…

• When we wake up and immediately start fantasizing and worrying about all the things we have to do, we aren’t really doing anything but adding stress to an otherwise pleasant morning.

• When we fear the potential of failure, and we procrastinate in response to our fear, our fearful fantasies force us to miss great opportunities for success.

• When someone upsets us, this is often because they aren’t behaving according to our fantasy of how they “should” behave. The frustration, then, stems not from their behavior but from how their behavior differs from our fantasy.

• When we think about making a healthy change in our lives (like getting in shape), we are initially inspired by the fantasy of how easy it will be, but… that’s not reality. So when the reality of working hard to exercise and eat right surfaces, and it doesn’t match up with our inspiring fantasy, we give up.

• When we’re having a conversation with someone, we’re distracted with fantasies of how this person views us, or we’re distracted by our propensity to fantasize about how to respond before they even finish talking, and thus we miss the opportunity to connect more deeply with them.

Of course, sometimes we get out of our own heads long enough to focus on the present and make the best of it, but it’s NOT often enough.

Just think about your life and how often you let fantasies get the best of you.

How does it affect you?

It certainly doesn’t lead to happiness and peace of mind.

You start believing your own lies and your behavior naturally backs the lies up. You start procrastinating. You put your biggest goals on the back burner. You always feel guilty and regretful for not taking action. You give up when the first obstacle comes your way. You blame others. Your important relationships take a major hit. And the list goes on and on.

And you know what the really scary part is? Most people don't know they are digging themselves a hole by repetitively listening to their fantasies and the negative self-talk they produce.

To get yourself out of this mess, you need to literally rewire your brain and replace negative, distracted mindsets with positive, productive ones. For example, instead of saying, "I don't think I have what it takes," you must start saying, "I can figure this out!" And by doing so, you'll stop saying, "I’m not ready yet," and you'll start taking action because the new mindset is something along the lines of "I am ready to learn”

So listen up crew …It is only at this point where we have awareness enough to write out new life our new plan for success and begin our new path. 

Welcome Dana !!!

Dana Weigel Sheedy has been teaching Hatha yoga since 2008 and practicing since 2006.  Dana is trained in Anusara (Hatha) yoga with Darren Rhodes and Christina Sell, and YogaHourTM with Darren Rhodes and Sam Rice at Yoga Oasis in Tucson, Arizona.  Dana is a registered yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance (E-RYT-200 no. 79458).  Dana believes that yoga can benefit everyone and strives to teach a diversity of classes to bring the philosophy, principals and awareness skills of yoga to all ages.  

Dana Weigel Sheedy opened the first yoga studio in the rural Clearwater Valley, Idaho.  As the only studio experience for more than 75 miles, she brought affordable yoga to many groups of students ranging in age from 3 to 70+.  

 We welcome Dana to In Sync Fitness and Yoga.

She will be teaching YogaHour on Mondays from 6-7pm beginning May 6 2019

She is also looking to teaching a mom kid class this summer. Stay Tuned!

The PASSION to do

You know the thing you’ve been putting off the longest? That thing you’ve been procrastinating on for the last several weeks?

That’s the thing you need to start doing, with passion!

And remind yourself that passion is not something you find in life—it’s something you do. When you want to find the passion and inner strength needed to change your situation, you have to force yourself to step forward.

Passion isn’t something that magically appears and sweeps us off our feet. It’s in the action of DOING!

Find your authentic flow to success

Your flow comes from being your authentic self. Listen to what feels right to YOU, not what seems popular at the moment. Tune into your own vibe. Fully embrace it and let it flow through the thoughts you think, the words you speak and the way you do business. There's nothing more beautiful, than a soul that's brave enough to dance to their OWN heartBEAT. If you get glimpses of your unique vibe and you love what you see, yet you're not fully owning it………strip away the beliefs that hold you back and uncover your authentic, beautiful, vibrant self. From this space anythings possible."

““Authentic is defined as: “not false or copied; genuine; real.” And, my favorite definition, “representing one’s true nature or beliefs; true to oneself or to the person identified.””

— Dictionary

The why….

Here's what you need to know... and why I program a variety of training techniques through periodization to change your physique. 

People who only lift heavy or only do Olympic-style lifting rarely have impressive arms and shoulders. The exception is heavy lifters who include high-rep, isolation work.

Doing only the big basics can lead to strength imbalances that will ultimately impair your performance and size.

Trisets, supersets and giant sets cause muscle contractions which restrict blood flow and lead to the release of local growth factors. Thus better overall development. 

Embrace the lifestyle

Once you get out of your head.  Embrace the lifestyle.  Pick up heavy shit and put them down..

Understand that this is a life change which means there is no ending just forever progressing to the best and strongest versions of ourselves. 

We are meant to be more than what we are.  

We are meant to be strong and fit.. 

Lead the way ladies.  You are now the new standard of what strong women look like. 

Key to success

Weight loss really cannot be subject to a time frame, lose weight in 30 days, 8 weeks, 12 weeks. We are all different, have different goals, we have different stressors, we are motivated by different factors, in truth it takes a lifetime because it’s a lifestyle change. Weight loss is different for every individual. In fact I think weight loss is really the wrong term. Don’t we all really want fat loss? 

Some say it takes 21 days to break a habit but research will show it takes 12 weeks to establish a new habit and if we remove one what is gonna replace it?  Truth is a happy healthy, lean body is only achieved thru change of lifestyle. It can't be done overnight. Especially gaining lean muscle. Do you know it take approximately 4 months to truly gain muscle mass density that will impact your physique?  It is learning to eat correctly, exercise daily, manage our stress and to change our overall mindset. Focus on the daily small steps that lead you to the goal. And most of all enjoy the journey. Yes you will fail on the journey you will make mistakes and mess up!  But those are lessons that will teach you along the way. Those lessons should allow you the flexibility to tweak your goals and plan to fit your life. Because you know the gym is one thing. It’s maybe an hour of your day and food prep and such another but your mindset is everything. And if you choose a the wrong key for your lock so to speak don’t quit try another key! Find the key to your door of success!

What makes up metabolism???

1. BMR: As you’re sat reading this there are a bunch of chemical processes occurring inside of you like, your brain using calories to process this article, your eyes flicking from the phone screen to the pretty girl sat opposite, simultaneously making your heart beat faster as she stares back. All of this stuff, believe it or not, burns calories and is your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate. BMR makes up the chunk of your metabolism and accounts for around 60-70% in most people.

2. NEAT: Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis is all the activity that isn’t intentional exercise; fidgeting, walking, playing with your dog, etc. NEAT accounts for around 30% of total energy expenditure, but can be higher for certain people depending on how intensive their job is.

3. EAT: Exercise Activity Thermogenesis is intentional exercise. Depending on what sort of exercises you perform, the number of calories you burn can vary. For example, strength training would burn fewer calories than an hour of running. For most of us, EAT accounts for around 10-15% of calorie expenditure. Which is why it’s fairly impossible to out train your diet. 

4. TEF: Thermic Effect of Food is the number of calories you burn digesting food. Even though TEF accounts for only 5-10%, it still factors into energy expenditure.

  5. (Body) weight is everything that makes up your body mass — things like your muscles, body fat, organs, water, bones, etc. Weight loss is easy: deplete your water levels, remove carbs from your diet …hell, stop eating altogether and you’ll lose ‘weight’. You’ll probably also die.

Fat loss is the process of losing body fat while maintaining your muscle mass and/or even gaining muscle mass.

With that in mind, there are a few key requisites to a good fat loss plan.

• Sufficient protein intake

• Engage in strength training

• A reasonable calorie deficit

Your words create your reality

I want (I lack)

I wish (I am not in control = disempowering)

I need ( I don't  have/I lack )

I'm trying ( I am not committed )

I hope ( lack faith)

I should ( but maybe I won't and maybe I don't wanna)

I don't know (spoken as truth,slams door shut on finding out)

INSTEAD SAY:

I have

I create 

I am grateful for 

I enjoy

I can

I choose

I love

Do more small meals boost metabolism???

The theory: If you keep adding small amounts of food to your fire (the fire being your metabolism), you will keep it going strong and burn more calories overall.

The reality: Food intake has a negligible effect on metabolism. Some foods, including those with caffeine, may slightly and temporarily increase metabolism, but the effect is too small to help you lose weight. What most affects your basal metabolic rate (BMR), the rate at which your body burns calories at rest, is body composition and size. More muscles and bigger bodies generally burn more calories overall.

Your best bet for sustained fat loss is to build muscles. 

There are other benefits to eating 5-6 micro meals such as preventing binge eating and leveling blood glucose in those who have issues with BG levels. However in my experience both of those may be affected through providing balanced, varied, high quality nutrition. 

Typically if we have "cravings" we are either not meeting appropriate macro or micronutrients in our dietary intake

Life changes

Some life changes look negative and painful on the surface, but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new and beautiful to emerge.

For those who have not been privy my husband lost his job last week.

A job he was at for 27 years.

A career

it was his passion for the first 25….. circumstances changed. Politics got involved personal and otherwise. And he not being one to “play the corporate game” became a target and outsider It was no longer about the resource it became a game about money and greed. A game he was never interested in playing. A game that tore at his soul and integrity. Of course he hoped for resolution yet the writing was on the wall so to speak. Change is almost always painful. Because well because it’s unknown. Because for some reason we are taught to fear change. Yet change is almost always a blessing. Even things we may perceive as negative at first. Truth be there is nothing good or bad in the world only our perception.

We must release let go and close one door for our true opportunities to come calling and to grow to our fruition. We must take the step to look away from the closed door and see all the open doors around us and step through with confidence!!! Fearless!! And FREE! There’s a quote “jump and the net will appear.” I have always said jump and you shall grow wings and soar beyond your wildest dreams.

Right now

"Learn to love yourself for where you are RIGHT NOW. From the bottom of your core, love every inch of YOU regardless of what you want to change about yourself. You can NOT go anywhere without self love. Sure you can take a few steps forward, but that lack of love will always creep back.  Instead, make an agreement with yourself, like you would for your best friend, and agree to LOVE, agree to laugh and agree to release yourself from the constant notion that you always need to improve.  It is only then, when you accept yourself lovingly, for the way you are, that you will find that yellow brick road of endless possibilities. It all starts with LOVE"-