Let It Go!

As I recover and I find myself with a lot of free time on my hands. I have been catching up on a lot of programs and one in particular really grabbed my soul. My 600lb Life has become my favorite series. I enjoy this program because I am amazed with just how much the body can handle, the ability the body has to snap back and I am intrigued by just how much our minds are involved in this weight loss journey.

In watching this show I see how we allow our minds to sabotage us. We allow ourselves to become prisoners of the past, past hurt, disappointments and injustices. For some the mind becomes the captor and they become the victim forever locked away by the demons of the past that still haunt them in the present.

There was a particular episode that lead me to an “ah-ha” moment. There was a lady that had not stood up in 2 years she was so afraid of standing that she refused to try after numerous attempts and with assistance. She kept saying that she just couldn’t do it and that her legs were too weak. While it is true that her legs were probably weak she failed to see was that there were numerous people there to help her and equipment was there to ensure she would not fall. She was allowing fear to stop her from progressing.

Fear is what holds a lot of us back from reaching our goals. Some people are afraid of what they might look like once they reach their goal. Perhaps they are afraid of excess loose skin then again maybe because of past experiences they are afraid of the attention they will receive once they reach their goal. Some people are afraid of what will happen if and when the goal is met. Perhaps fear has you paralyzed because you do not feel adequate. Fear could be preventing you from taking a leap in the right direction because once you take the leap success soon follows and believe it or not, many people are afraid of success.

In order to progress on any journey in life and successfully reach your destination you must first address any fears and lay them to rest. This requires a serious one on one with yourself to understand not only what your fears are but also understand where these fears come from – what is the source? Once you find the source of your fear you can now work to deal with the real issue and in turn you will free yourself from the fear that is holding you back from becoming your best self!

Be strong, be courageous and face your fears head on, deal with them and then just, “Let it go!”

Why Would You?

Mindless Meandering

It’s Sunday, we have sprung ahead (that’s right we lost an hour last night!) and for some we are using today to Meal Prep, get our gym bags ready and finalize our workout schedule for the week ahead. All the above are great and indeed necessary to reach our fitness goals, after all we have all heard if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. However there is one thing missing!

I could care less how balanced your meals are, how aggressive your workout schedule is and how cute you are getting ready to look for the workouts (I mean who doesn’t coordinate their workout attire to their sneakers after all this ensures you are going to have the greatest workout ever, right?!). You see if your mind is not in the game then all these time consuming elements are worthless, pointless and a complete waste of your time.

As En Vogue would say, “Free your mind and the rest will follow.” I know, I just took you back and now the song is stuck in your head! See, if your mind is not in synch with your goals then you might as well be up a river without a paddle. For those not familiar with that phrase it means that you are in an unfortunate situation, you are unprepared with no resources to remedy the matter – you are out of luck! The mind is one heck of a powerful force, it can either empower us to move towards our goals or it can hold us captive in the realm of misery and the land of can’t, won’t, don’t and not good enough and cause us to become stagnant.

They key is to learn how to train and control your mind. We have all heard the saying, “It all begins in your mind. What you give power to has power over you, IF you allow it. Notice that give is mentioned, give is an action - it is something you willingly do. We have choices for the week ahead. Although we cannot control the unforeseen occurrences that befall us all which can cause us to feel sad, disappointed, and even feel like we have been uppercutted by life. We do have a choice in how we allow the unforeseen occurrences to affect our mind which in turn has a direct impact on how we execute our goals this week.

This week I challenge you to stay focused on your daily goals while you fight to keep your mind in the game. Here are some ways to control your thoughts and mind so you can stay on track with your goals:

• ·         Feed your mind positive food: read uplifting books/ magazines, listen to   TED talks about success and goal planning.
• ·         Follow people that motivate you on Social Media (you can find me on IG:   SFierce22 or thestacyfierce.blogspot.com - shameless plug J)
• ·         Focus your mind only on the things you can control
• ·         Meditate to clear your mind
• ·         Stay active - physical activity stimulates brain chemicals that can leave   you feeling happier.
• ·        Keep visuals - having your goals in a place that you can see daily is a       constant reminder for your brain to stay focused.

Remember feed your mind and the rest will follow!!!!!!

                                                        

Fitness Friday: Snacking Tips

If only Consistency Was Consistent!

Image is courtesy of internet

Have you ever stopped to wonder why there are some things we do on a consistent basis and other things we seem to constantly struggle to get done? For example, as a child do you remember going straight to the bathroom to wash up and brush your teeth before sitting at the breakfast table? Humph, try to sit at the breakfast table with crust in your eyes and stink on your breath and see what your mom does next! Perhaps you automatically set the coffee pot to brew your favorite morning roast first thing in the morning (Lawd only knows how we would function without that caffeine kick!). Have you noticed that without even thinking about it when you come home from work you automatically take off your shoes, perhaps grab 15 minutes of quiet time (if you are lucky) and then head straight into the kitchen to cook dinner for yourself or your family?

Now stop and think, if we do these things automatically, on a consistent basis then why in the world can’t we be consistent when it comes to our fitness routines?!? Doing just some of the things I mentioned above proves that we are capable of being consistent so what in the world is stopping you from being consistent?

In my opinion, consistency ties in with habits as well as cause and effect. You see as children we developed habits that were taught to us. Our parents taught us to wash our face and brush our teeth before coming to the breakfast table. Our parents/ guardians enforced this habit in us by waking us, washing us and ultimately teaching us the routine by showing us. As we got older, IF we made the mistake of forgetting to follow routine we were quickly reminded to march our little behinds straight back to the bathroom to wash up before coming back to that breakfast table. Don’t you dare let Mami catch you walk over to that kitchen table all crusty and unwashed after 50 million reminders because you best believe it’s on and popping and she is already reaching for her chancelta (sorry its Puerto Rican thing!)  which is about to meet your hind parts!! Ok don’t get all caught up on the disciplinary action and start ranting about your views on spanking a child - that is NOT what this is about! I use this example to show how we are taught certain behaviors and how cause and effect ensure that we keep to our behaviors.

I say all of this to say we need to teach ourselves consistency especially when we do not see an immediate pay off. The million dollar question then is, “How do I create consistency?”  The answer is so simple – YOU create it! There you have it folks the million dollar question is answered.

The work to build consistency falls on no one other than you. As an adult no one can do it for you, no one can make it happen on your behalf, and no one can create the desire for you. YOU have to want to become consistent in order to reach your goals. This means that the goals you set have to be so important to you, so deeply desired and engraved in your soul that you cannot imagine leaving this life without accomplishing and crushing them. You have to deeply crave and have a thirst so real for your goals in order to be able to put in the work to develop a consistent spirit. Oh yea – it takes work!!

Once you have the goal etched in your mind and heart the next thing is implementation. Set out a detailed list of how you will accomplish this goal. This list should include daily, weekly and monthly actions that you need to do. Each and every day you need to see this list and do what it calls for. Each and every day - rain or shine, sick or not, whether in the mood or not, busy or not - each and every day you attack that list and do the work! Each and every day you work at it, you chip away at that list, you stay focused on your goal you feel what that end result feels like and guess what? You have just built consistency!

There is no magic trick, no gimmick I could sell you (or anyone else so save your pennies!) that creates consistency. The key to consistency is YOU creating daily habits in which YOU carry out day in and day out in spite of life’s unexpected curve balls, sicknesses, and feelings of wanting to quit and give in. Being consistently consistent is a daily exercise of your will and seeing things through which will lead to your goal.

Think on that and work at it!

Follow me on IG: SFIERCE22

Shhhhh!!!!

My Setback is my Ultimate Comeback!

This past Monday I had knee surgery. I had put off this surgery for way too long for fear of losing any progress and strength I had gained over the course of this journey.  Over the past few months my workouts have become increasingly painful and my knee was progressively getting worse. Although the elliptical and I became great friends, squats and lounges were becoming my enemy! One of my worries was how will I continue to build up this booty if I can’t drop it like a squat?!? Someone said to me, “With everything that is going on in your life, now is the time to just stop and heal across the board. Now is the time to take care of you and mend so that you can be made stronger and go so much further.”

I had to stop and really think about that. Often we keep pushing ourselves half broken, running on a ¼ tank going in a million different directions never allowing ourselves a minute to rest only to hit a brick wall and burn out. I realized that now was the time! Any deadlines that existed were ones that I had created and ones that can easily be renegotiated.

So here I am on Day 4 of recovery. Knee surgery is definitely not a walk in the park and there were some super painful days however I’d like to think my stubborn attitude, resiliency and drive to get back on my workout grind is helping me on the road to a speedy recovery. Although I can’t workout at the moment there are still things I can do that are still moving me towards my goals.

Here is a look at what I am doing to stay on track with my goals while I am unable to work out:

·         Focusing on eating clean – Laying around can present the challenge of wanting to graze like a cow out to pasture. Prior to surgery I stocked up on veggies and fruits to munch on.  I have some roasted veggies I can eat throughout the day in addition to meals that can easily be thrown together by anyone (such as a bean burger with avocado and some veggies on the side or a side salad).

·         Drinking ½ my body weight in water – Hey, with nothing but time on my hands I can sip on water all day and hop to the restroom as often as I need to! The water is also helping to flush out all these meds from my system and keeping my joints lubed. The bathroom runs can be viewed as physical activity for the day!

·         Keeping my eye on the prize – With so much time on my hands the mind can get idle so I feed my mind things that keep me motivated while I am bed bound. I’ve been researching workouts to strengthen my knees in addition to reading about Fitness experts/ athlete’s that have overcome physical limitations and injuries. I also started reading about chair workouts I should be able to start doing next week which can help to keep me strong and keep my muscles working.

·         Formation – No, I am not talking about Bey’s Super bowl formation!!! I have been watching tons of You tube videos on proper form when working out. Form is so important not only for best results but also to prevent injury. I want to ensure I have it right when I get back to it!

See, although I initially thought this surgery was going to be a major setback the time out is gearing me up for one heck of a comeback!! Anything that life may throw your way has the opportunity of creating a stronger and better you  - it’s all based on your perspective, drive and attitude!