Lasting Transformation: From the Inside, Out

As a personal trainer, I help people daily who desire to transform their bodies in some way, to a new shape, or to take on a new form through 1 on 1 training and group classes. I, on a personal level, am also am in constant pursuit of transforming my body to be more attractive, stronger, better functioning, and healthier. I have lately realized that where most of us fall short and why we fail to acheive long-term / lasting results is that we put much emphasis on the outer result instead of the internal reward.

 

We all face conflict within ourselves and the choices we make. Today, I feel compelled to address this issue.

I am completely convinced that outer transformations that are not fueled by internal growth are only temporary.

The only truly lasting transformations are those which first take place within. The process beginning within can sometimes feel like struggle or an obstacle because often the outer results are slowed, but the truth is that true strength is developed during the process.

 

Internal Growth is a process that develops and stretches our mental limits and game, our psychological processing, decision making abilities, spiritual growth, handling of emotions, consistency with discipline, grows our state of gratitude and contentment, and learning to better control our manifestation abilities to get what we want.

 

Outer physical transformation without internal growth is also possible.

Take for instance the "divorce diet". Often times women (in particular), are so stressed out that they loose a lot of weight. Weight loss in most cases in America is sought after, but if it is a result of stress and lack of nutrition happens it is not healthy. In fact, this type of transformation is very unhealthy.

 

There are other instances as well where physical transformation may occur that fits an "ideal image" or looks good to outsiders. These transformations may include someone who loses weight by not eating, drinking alcohol, or purging. Of course, over time all of these occurences will show on the outward appearance, but that will not be until after internal damage is done. This is to say that whatever happens inside of us will show itself externally (eventually), and whatever happens externally will manifest a result within.

Love your body, but also love yourself!

Nurture your inner self and spirit, and your inner self will be sure that your body is well taken care of. I have heard before that eating disorders are not just a problem of the body or mind, but also a heart problem. Fix yourself internally, and you will reap external results in the process.

Being extremely honest with oneself is a good exercise. – Sigmund Freud



Travel: How to Prepare for a Healthy Vacation

Here I am in the Reno-Tahoe airport awaiting my flight to Las Vegas! I am very excited to get a few days off to rejuvinate and clear my mind from the everyday grind. I feel very blessed to be able to focus on some relaxation, blogging and business plan development at a leisured pace free of distruptions.

 

I want to share just a few tips of mine that have helped me to prepare myself for a healthy(healthier) vacation! So here they are!

TIPS TO PREPARE FOR A HEALTHY VACATION!

1. BRING A SHAKER BOTTLE & PROTEIN POWDER!

2. PROTEIN PANCAKES

3. ALMONDS - BRING THEM!

4. VITAMINS & DAILY SUPPLEMENTS

5. PACK YOUR RUNNING CLOTHES (DON'T FORGET YOUR SHOES!)

6. DOUBLE UP ON VITAMINS, MINERALS AND DRINK EXTRA WATER A FEW DAYS BEFORE YOUR TRIP TO AVOID AIRBOURNE SICKNESSES.

7. CONTINUE ACTIVITY! ADD IN HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING (HIIT) TO OPTIMIZE YOUR TIME! FIND HOTEL WORKOUTS THAT YOU CAN DO IN MINIMAL TIME.

8. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER

 

These are just a few tips to help you on your vacation! Even if you do not stick to your normal routine, it is helpful to have your health and routine in mind daily so you can mentally stay focused, even if your vacation is time for a physical break.

Remember you only have one body! Work it AND nurture it. It is okay to relax sometimes, but always keep your goals in the forefront of your mind!

To nurture the body, you must also nurture the mind, spirit and soul.

Achievement: The Importance of a Good Support System

We all know that nothing good comes without hard work and persistence; yet we often miss the importance of how crucial a good support system is to not just our acheivement or success, but also to our happiness.



FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
CONSUMED FROM THE OUTSIDE
NURTURED ON THE INSIDE.



There are many benefits of a good support system such as:

• Accountability
• External motivation
• Encouragement
• Positive Reinforcement
• Outside perspective and counseling
• Constructive criticism and emotionally unbias feedback
• Energy ; specifically feeding off one another's passion

Accountability

Not only will a good support system; whether is by 1 person or 10, help you to focus, but they will also hold you accountable. If you've committed to consistently showing up to a place everyday and they don't see you, you will likely be getting a phone call or text to find out what's going on. Being held accountable by people often gives us the push or immediate motivation to carry out our game plan when we really don't feel like doing anything at all!

External Motivation

While all who are truly successful are self motivated individuals, external motivation, I believe, is just as important! This could look like texts or emails every week to start your week with a positive or encouraging word. The best part about external motivation is that you can use it to fuel yourself later on as an affirmation. For example: If someone texts you and says "You`ll do great!" , right before your performance, or even during the preparation phase you can draw on those words as a source of affirmation to yourself that "Hey! They think I`m great and I am".

Encouragement

Let's face it, we all face our own obstacles and struggles and sometimes we even fail. It is so extremely critical during those times to have encouragement from a positive source! When I speak of a positive source, I am speaking of someone who will not just side with your emotions and down play truth, but someone who will genuinely have compassion for you and want the best in your success; therefore they will build you up with strategy and truth. A good encourager will always have your best interest in mind, and you will find comfort and accountability in that alone.

Positive Reinforcement

This is a trait that comes naturally in any good support system. Positive reinforcement is encouargement, accountability, and motivation given to help positively reinforce the end goal. Often times, we lose sight of the end result because we are so focused or stressed out by the process. While other times we are so focused on the end result that we fail to see the importance of the process and game plan we must follow in order to succeed.

Outside Perspective & Counseling

For anyone who wants to take their life to the next level of success, an outside perspective and counsel are underrated. While it is helpful to have friends and family to love and support us no matter what, it is also important to have a coach or mentor to give us criticism and an emotionally unbias perspective of our growth. Think about your manager at your job. That person is supposed to help develop and coach you do succeed within the company and perform at optimal efficiency to meet the needs of the position you contracted for.

In goal chasing, it is much the same. I encourage each and every person to seek a coach and counsel with someone who is better then you are, and has acheived things that you want to achieve. Not only have they gone through the process and excelled,  but they have learned what works, doesn't work, and have been through the same emotional process you are going through. This allows the coach to not only provide a straight shot look at your process, but also compassion.

Constructive Criticism:

This is mainly the role of the coach. While we hate to admit it, we all get emotional and defensive when those who we love intimitately or are close to us try to give us criticism; often because too much emotion is triggered. Constructive criticism is just another benefit that will help guide us on the right path, and force us to look in the mirror when we don't want to. I`m not saying that friends or family can't provide this to you, but more often then not we look at ourselves in the mirror less when confronted by someone too close to us. For whatever reason, someone on the outside who is developing us as players in our lives, will usually cause us to question ourselves first.

ENERGY!!!

There is so much to be said about ENERGY. Every single thing that we do and are composed of is ENERGY! ENERGY IS EVERYTHING!

When wake up and feel great and set our minds to be great, we usually are! Contrary, when we become negative we manifest negative things and people around us. The great part about surrounding ourselves with people with high and positive energy is that they will not allow negativity around them for too long! So, if we're out of place, they will tell us!! This benefits us greatly.

While it's completely unavoidable to experience low energy or negativity; especially during fatigue or exhaustion, it is imporant to be able to turn that energy around. There is no better way to do that then surrounding yourself with positive ENERGY flowing people! Ever walked in to a room or a club that was just dull and your whole night was a bust? That's energy. On the other hand, have you ever been feeling somewhat down then walked in to a room of people that the ENERGY was fun and high, and you ended up having a great time?! ENERGY!

ENERGY pertains to our food, exercise, our bodies and the people we surround ourselves with! Choose the ENERGY you want to be around!

It will undoubtedly help you at all times!

Mental Barriers - The Power of a Positive Attitude

The truth is we all have our own mental barriers that we often let distract us, or hinder us from accomplishing our goals. I define a mental barrier as: An imaginary limitation the mind creates, that is driven by fear and / or frusteration that gets in the way of your focus toward acheiving a specific goal.

 

Most mental barriers create an emotional response and end up taking a physical toll - Stress.

Mental Barriers can consist of:

I cannots

I wish

I hope

BUT

If...

Excuses

Unrealistic aims toward perfection rather then progress.

Not only can negative "doubts" in one's ability be harmful, but also expecting perfection. Often mental barriers may be created subconsciously with good intentions. One example of this would be the creation of doubt in the mind. While we all doubt our abilities from time to time, dwelling in the doubt can breed a large amount of stress and stunt the growth process.

How Do You Know if You have a Mental Barrier that Should be Addressed?

Ask Yourself these Questions:

• Do you often get frusterated during physical or mental perforances that are consistently not where you hoped they would be?
• Do you find yourself negatively speaking about your progress?
• Do you include the terms: And, If, But, I wish into sentences involving your progress as a means to an escape (also known as excuses)?
• Do you negatively look at your current progression; rather than being proud for the accomplishments you've already acheived?
• Do you find those who have your best interest constantly giving you advice to re-charge or think positively?



If you answered yes to one or more of the above questions, it may be useful for you to evaluate your current limitations you have put onto yourself. Here are some tips to rid yourself of self-created mental barriers:

• Write down your affirmations
• Build faith in yourself & your mentors
• Continue consistent hard work via willpower (despite negative states of mind) - JUST DO IT
• Rid yourself of unnecessary stressors.
• Keep a stress journal to pinpoint your triggers for creating problems that do not exist.
• Surround yourself in a positive environment.
• Create your own supportive environment and choose who is involved.
• Practice daily gratitude.
• Set aside time for yourself.
• Get adequate amounts of food and sleep to help yourself think clearly.
• Do not listen to too many opinions - listen to those you trust.
• Educate yourself as much as possible in how to acheive your goals in different ways. Create a plan A, B and C.
• Do not allow yourself to fail because of an emotion (doubt).

Remember that you have power over your thoughts. Think of your mind as your body's control center. If you have a negative thought, do whatever you can to re-direct your energy in a positive way (Find the good in things). Many people do not realize that our negative thoughts can create physical responses from our body's in the form of stress. Stress has many negatiave health affects, and should be managed with care. While stress is a state of mind, it is important that we change our way of thinking in order to address the root causes of our stressors.Many methods provide a temporary relief, but I urge you to consider your current thought processes in order to attack your stressor from at the root of the cause.

So, stay positive!! I encourage you if you are lacking progress to look at your mental barriers. You will be surprised at the things that can manifest just because of your words or thoughts. Your thoughts turn into actions. Attack the negativity head on and you will be sure to succeed!

The Sky is the Limit - The only real challenge we face is allowing ourselves to think beyond "realistic", and embrace the possiblities.

My Truth: Time to Shine (Poem)

At the forefront of my mind is my time to shine,

But I must deal with the fact that the obstacles I face

 Have put my progress at a slower pace.

I know without a doubt,

I am being setup to be in a better place.

Emotionally and physically I have much growing to do.

I know this because I am not yet ready;

 Like I told you I would be.

Don't mistake me.

I am enduring and persevering through the battle of time.

I've told few I'm not ready yet to compete,

But some who know continue asking me details

As if I've faced defeat.

Please be assured I am ok.

Is your pressure intended to help pain go away?

I have not lost focused. I am not astray.

So silence you out I will.

Be concerned with your own goals.

Quit sitting still.

This is about me.

My transformation, my plea to the universe for success.

I am already sucessful because I give it my best.

I`m already on top,

Though you have not yet seen.

I will not flaunt as an example

When I am an exception.

I will only stay determined and working.

Outworking you.

No justifications or explainations.

I choose to stay behind the scenes.

Until the world's views can respect me.

It's not just a night on stage,

It's redeveloping a thinking process.

Those who say I can't or won't have too much time.

You're not doing your best.

When my time comes I will show-case like they never knew possible.

When you see me on stage, I will be un-stoppable.

So judge as you must, and waste your time.

But my time is precious.

There is so much to do.

I am not concerned with him or her or who

There are those who have been there,

Never judged. Never doubted.

You just cared.

To you I owe my success.

Your encouragement helps me do my best.

Life is not perfect.

Neither am I.

But I am proud because I continue to try.

My heart respects those better than me.

I love them because they see me for me.

And help me to grow to be a better me.

The transformation process is what I preach.

But I must learn, if I can ever successfully teach.

So learning I am.

I`m growing it's true.

I`m not ashamed to admit I`m flawed.

But progress is my priority.

Not a stage. Not a competion.

Just my destiny.

Here I go lacing up my Nike's...

I`m out the door.

See you on stage.

"A SETBACK is a SETUP for a COMEBACK"