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February 24, 2015

Fit Bod, Fun Life Series Week 1: Finding Your Fitness Sweet Spot

It's been 8 weeks since I made my New Year's resolutions of health and wellness. I don't know about you all, but I didn't just fall off the bandwagon... I willingly jumped it seems. So in an effort to re-motivate myself, and hopefully a few of you along the way, I asked my dear friend Mariah Secrest-Comer to share a healthy living series for us, and so Fit Bod, Fun Life was born!

Mariah is one tough lady! Not only is she an advanced little yogi powerhouse, but she also is a certified personal trainer and owns Elevate Mobile Fitness. Also, I want to invite you all to join me in signing-up for her FREE 14 Days to Fit Lifestyle Jumpstart, where she offers great one-on-one and group motivation to help whip in shape nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle. I did it last month and it really motivated me to be the best version of me, and I felt so encouraged!

You know you are interested in getting re-motivated! She packs 2 weeks of awesome motivation into this program and even has a private Facebook interactive group so you can share and ask questions. Check it out HERE - I know you will love it! So without further adieu...


Fit Bod, Fun Life Series Week 1: 

Finding Your Fitness Sweet Spot



When it comes to staying in shape, I think there’s a piece of every girl that has a “frienemy” relationship with exercise and healthy eating.

Of course we want to have lean legs, tank-top ready shoulder cuts, and the can-do satisfaction of knowing we can bust out 15 strict-form push-ups. Of course we would sign-up for more energy, brighter skin, and increased confidence.  Of course we know we’re better off in a million ways when we’re active and eating well.


The reasons we don’t always take these things—which are ours for the taking, by the way—are equally obvious. The steps to getting healthy don’t always feel FUN. It’s not fun turning down the office birthday cake. It’s not fun to spend an hour or two of your free time on the weekends prepping healthy meals for your busy week. It’s definitely not fun turning off that 5:30 a.m. alarm to go work out before your long day.


It’s similar to saying we all would love to be millionaires, but we don’t all want to do the work required to earn a million dollars. (Gold-diggers aside! Queue my new obsession with classic movies to Marilyn Monroe’s film How To Marry a Millionaire).


The really good news, we’re finding, is that we don’t have to work at it quite as hard as we once thought, in order to have firm bodies and feel great! In fact, science has clued us in to the fact that there is actually a point of diminished returns when it comes to over-training.


Sadly, they haven’t yet told us that eating too much kale and tofu is harmful to our health—but we’ll talk about balancing food choices too later on!


My goal in this weekly series is to help you identify your health-and-fitness “sweet spot”—that beautiful measure where the rewards far outweigh the effort you put into it. This sweet spot looks different for everyone, but we all have one. 



Mine lies on the gung-ho-but-not-psycho end of the spectrum. (That’s a technical term, I’m sure.) In other words, I like the rewards of exercising 5 or 6 days a week and eating lots of veggies (and even tofu) most meals of the week. This type of effort usually scores me a tummy that doesn’t bulge in weird places, the dress size I like, and--much more importantly--enough energy and mental refreshment to not turn into a nut job from stress.


But it also allows me the wiggle room to go out for Mexican or order pizza once every week or two, and a glass of wine at night (but not 3 or 4). It allows me to dial down my effort to a moderate hike or gentle cardio session for a few days if I’m feeling particularly overwhelmed or tired. Could I do these things if I were training for a bikini competition and 12-pack abs? Honestly, no. So, for me, I know that competitions and looking like a bodybuilder are not part of my plan. At least not now.


I like my balance. It works for me now, and it’s worked for me for several years. Not having to re-purchase your wardrobe every time you gain or lose weight is an added bonus of this lifestyle sweet spot!


So here’s your homework this week: Find YOUR sweet spot. 
Make a list of what you want from your fitness plan, and another list of what you are (and aren’t!) willing to sacrifice to get those things. And of course, share them with the rest of us!!


Hint: you’re more likely to find staying power if you include some things that aren’t related to what you look like—for more on this, read my guest post on Meg’s blog from the fall: 5 Reasons to Workout This Week (that have nothing to do with weight...)

You don’t have to put all the pieces together at once, or totally makeover your life in one fell swoop—in fact, you probably shouldn’t. But do begin thinking about what efforts will give you the biggest payoff. After all, if you had a million dollars but had zero time to enjoy it, it wouldn’t be worth it, right? But if you can work just a little harder and a little smarter, you may find that you get to enjoy new options that make your life a LOT MORE FUN!



.:::.:::.:::.:::.


Stay tuned for week 2 of Fit Bod, Fun Life series!

In the meanwhile, definitely join me on signing up for Mariah's free 14 Days to Fit Lifestyle Jumpstart, and we can get back on track together!



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