Beauty in the LIKELIEST of Places

I feel like this week has been especially beautiful. Not for the reasons you may imagine though. Anyone from New England knows that it's been dreary here; cold, upsettingly wet (seriously can't we have snow over ice cold rain?), overcast & gnarly...so I haven't really been given the chance to wax poetically about fluffy piles of snow in bright sunshine here!

So maybe the weather hasn't been my cup of tea, but the human spirit has inspired me lately. So here are just a couple stories of what I saw this week...maybe it'll help you consider beauty in a different way and therefore make it more visible :)

<b>Last week </b>I noticed kindness at Starbucks. An elderly couple, the wife in a wheelchair, was unable to get a table because the one remaining seat in the house was along a bench tucked in behind crowded tables. Just as they got their drinks together and were hobbling out (I hate to say hobble, but really they really weren't terribly mobile) a young woman jumped up and quickly offered them her corner seat so that they could sit. She gathered her belongings and wedged herself into the bench seat without an ounce of irritation or concern. The couple was touched and so was I.

<b>Saturday I went</b> and judged for a small CrossFit competition. What made this fun was that it was designed primarily to give new CrossFitters a little experience competing. Anyone that's done one before is aware that there are jitters involved, concerns about fueling (when, what, how much?) and also TONS of excitement! Beauty was defined that day by the tired and sweaty athletes that refused to give up, accepting my cues when needed and pushing through! One WOD was that a team of four must complete 300 burpees for time (of course with a movement standard). For one team, a teammate fatigued a little quicker than the others and was repeatedly struggling to hit the standard. I could SEE in his face that he would not let his team down by either making them pick up the slack or by letting his reps get taken away for incompletion. He was FIGHTING and it was gorgeous. His teammates, instead of getting upset or impatient that his reps were slightly slower supported him and banded together to cheer him on. They finished together and that was truly beautiful teamwork.

<b>The next day </b>I coached an Olympic Lifting class at my CrossFit box. The Open is coming soon and I want all my athletes to get in a little extra work with the snatch before it starts. I had stayed out late the night before and had woken with a bit of a headache, but coaching always cheers me up and rejuvenates me (cheesy? Why yes!! But TRUE!). Afterwards someone came up to me and said, "it's amazing how much improvement you can see in them from just the beginning to the end of class." My response, "YES! It's the best! It's so satisfying to see the change people can make when they're REALLY interested in what they're doing!" Joy is a beautiful thing...and joy works better than ibuprofen anytime :)

So these are everyday expressions of beauty that I know you are also exposed to: generosity and kindness, determination, courage and joy.

<i><b>You can stand at the edge of a river, but with your eyes shut you will never see it. So it is with Life; it is a constant stream sparkling with generous expressions of beauty. It is up to you to open your eyes and see them!</b></i>

 

With fittest intentions,

Michelle

 

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10 Ways to Stick To Your Goals!

Being forced into making a New Year's Resolution is not much fun for most of us. I think making a goal at a particular time that has nothing to do with when YOU actually feel ready to embark on a new project isn't all that wise. Now some people need that external motivation to get moving towards a goal, but notice how many people fail their resolutions? Maybe because resolution sounds so big, so odious, so unreasonable.

The article I linked before, Livestrong's article entitled "10 Steps to Succeed at Your New Year's Resolution to Lose Weight," really just gave 10 steps to achieve any fitness goal from any time of year! Let's look at a few of them.

Step 1 is to make your goals measurable. As a trainer I hear this one a lot.

Me: Okay, so what do you want to achieve? What do you think would be really neat if you could do, 5 push-ups, a real pull-up, run a mile without stopping, what?

Client: I really just want to be fitter and more toned and feel better.

Me: Okay, so how will you know when you're fitter and more toned? So you wake up one day, you come into the gym and you say, Michelle, I did it! I noticed it when....

Client: I don't know.

Me: *sigh*

So let's use the term objective instead. If you don't have a specified objective then how will you know what to do with your gym time? For instance, when you go grocery shopping for dinner you have an objective to buy the makings for meatloaf for dinner. If you don't have a clear objective you may end up walking out with some tomato sauce, some ice cream, a couple bagels and some zucchini. When you give yourself the broad goals of being "fitter and more toned" I can pretty much guarantee that you're going to choose some oddball combination of junk to do at the gym that will give you only 1) discontent, 2) boredom, 3) aggravation, and 4) junk for results.

Dare to dream, my friends! When I ask what some one wants to achieve this crazy thing happens. First, their eyes light up for a SPLIT second before they look away and this cloud drops down over the light. That's when they say something lame and generic, "I don't know, get fitter I guess." In that first instant I know all these amazing ideas sprang up: pull-ups, running, push-ups, figure competition, wake boarding, skiing, slinky dresses and then SLAM! The door of doubt comes slamming down on all that. Somewhere they were taught those were crazy ideas, or that they were so hard to achieve it wasn't even worth trying to. Now shutting off those dreams, THAT'S what I call crazy!

You know the phrase, "shoot for the moon so if you fall, you fall amongst the stars." Shooting for the tree line just isn't going to cut it, I'm telling you this because I care! So I'm going to ask you again, what do YOU want to achieve?

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Cholesterol is NOT The Bad Guy!

You're officially off the hook if you love your coffee with grass-fed butter, hurrah!

Yes, you read that correctly. Whenever someone says to me, "I'm sure this is bad for me. It's so high in fat and cholesterol" I respond, "cholesterol is NOT the bad guy you know." Here's a short article explaining why...seriously it'll take you 3 minutes to read it!

Click here to read why Cholesterol is GOOD for you!

With fittest intentions,

Michelle

 

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We Need Moments and Acts of Kindness

Along with everyone else in the nation, and I'm sure the world, I am horrified to think of the atrocity that occurred yesterday in Newtown, CT. I can hardly find words to even begin this post, I mean, what can I say that would even begin to describe how i feel about how the deaths of an entire Kindergarten class, their schoolmates, teachers and Principal? I guess I don't need to get detailed because I'm sure you, reader, feel just as saddened and horrified as I do.

My brother's girlfriend's birthday party came on the heels of this attack. Kind of a rough night to have a party, but it was for the best. After all, when something makes you keenly aware of the love you have for your friends and family I believe it best to go spend quality time with them. The party went well and it also allowed me some time to observe my 2.5 yr old nephew. While I was watching his sweet little face light up as he took in all the Christmas Lights on the gigantic tree, my heart broke to think of all the cold beds in the Newtown area that night.

Facebook blew up yesterday with updated statuses commenting on the news; prayers, best wishes, expressions of horror and so on. A lot of people were saying, "what is going on with the world? There are so many shootings lately, like in the last few years it seems to have become this gruesome trend!" Sadly they're right. Here's the thing though, if we want to see change in the world, we need to be that change. We can't just sit in our homes and be horrified at the news and then say, "gosh I hope I get home safely from the mall today." To act like victims-in-waiting is NOT a proactive mindset at all! If we want our world to be a friendly more loving place, we need to be friendly and more loving.

We all know about the butterfly effect, or the domino effect. The idea is that one small drop in the pond here will create a ripple which will expand and travel outwards effecting many other things, both foreseen and unforeseen. As the common phrase goes: A butterfly flaps its wings in Tampa and there's a storm in Taiwan. So why wait for a ripple of terror to hit us when we can CHOOSE to drop a boulder of kindness into that pond?

So I am taking action by pledging to do someone a kindness today. Two someones. I will buy a coffee for the next person in line. I will insist that the person behind me at the grocery store with a crying baby go before me even though I only have small basket. I will make an exchange genuine by taking it away from the superficial niceties, away from "how are you?" "Good, how are you?" "Good." Instead I will comment admiringly on his tattoo, or her hair, or earrings, or boots...it doesn't matter what as long as that person can feel that they were just recognized as another human being, not simply as a service person. If someone is surprised or shocked, then clearly my act of kindness found a needy home. We can't know what our affect on any one person will be, so dole out the kind acts without judgement. I will not limit my acts to people that look like they'll appreciate or understand.

If every one of us gives a moment of kindness to just two people today, I believe we can take back the affection that we felt for our communities. Going to the mall or store will become a happy opportunity to find someone that needs a moment of kindness instead of being laden with apprehension. Sure it may seem a little awkward at first, but change isn't always easy, but that certainly doesn't mean the change isn't worth having! Aren't you a CrossFitter by the way? Wasn't becoming a CrossFitter difficult? Days of being unable to take the stairs didn't stop you did it? Aren't you a yogi by the way? Wasn't finding the time to practice and learning to breathe into poses difficult? But that didn't stop you from seeing the value in what you were doing and therefore from quitting did it?

This is my pledge. What are you doing today?

With fittest intentions,

Michelle

 

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Seriously, Could You Laugh Occasionally?

Life is a serious business. Kids, work, house, car, taxes, workouts, food, world news....it can all add up to stress! You may not even realize it but, as adults, we spend more time stressed and less time laughing or smiling. You're running errands or working to beat a deadline and so hours may elapse between the rare giggle or grin. You may not think this is you, but when you read the following you may be surprised.

"The average four-year-old laughs 300 times a day, a 40-year-old, only four." -Published on June 21, 2011 by Dr. Pamela Gerloff in The Possibility Paradigm

THREE HUNDRED vs FOUR!! Ok, so huge difference but why does it necessarily matter? It matters to your health! Some studies have shown that laughter can boost your immune system, lower and/or help regulate blood sugar and help relax people so they can then sleep better. Some doctors don't think the studies are conclusive enough, but I don't think anyone out there is going to say, "DON'T laugh, it'll make you worse." [Well, unless you've recently had some particular surgeries/ailments in which the shaking from laughter can aggravate an incision site or sore area.]

You can read one of the many articles (this one from Mayo Clinic) on this topic HERE.

Here is a fun Laughter Game you can play. (I never win this!)

• Get two or more people to play.
• First person says, "Ha" once. The next person says, "Ha" twice, and so on.
• As long as you say your correct number of "Ha"s, there's no rule about HOW they need to be said. Loud, slow, deep, high, squeaky whatever.
• Good luck!
• P.S. Kids will kick your butt at this game, and they will love it!

With fittest intentions,

Michelle

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Approach (& Move On) with Gratitude!

The annual Holiday season has officially begun! The first holiday we have, as you know was Thanksgiving. We ate heartily and gave thanks to family, friends, and God for all the love, joy, and abundance we have in this life.

Isn't it amusing if you consider that we enter this holiday with so much gratitude and joy, but many will look back on it with remorse? "Oh my gosh I ate so much!" "Oh my gosh, I gained 5 pounds already!" "Why did I eat and drink so much? I feel terrible!"

Never realized that huh?

Read the rest of the post here!

 

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4 Steps to Damage Control

Did your Thanksgiving meal fall along the lines of "Not Exactly Paleo"? Oops. Now what?!

Thankfully, doing damage control when you eat Paleo is SO easy! Typically, a holiday meal weekend is very heavy in the carbohydrate department. The easiest way to get back to feeling like yourself is to regain your Paleo diet as soon as is humanly possible!

1. Drink water. Wine, coffee, beer, amaretto sours, eggnog etc are not exactly Paleo and aren't exactly hydrating. Drop the liquid carbs and get back to purity.
2. Increase your fat intake again. If you eat Paleo regularly, you are accustomed to eating higher amounts of fat than of carbohydrates. This pattern was switched during your holiday dinner (most likely); mashed potatoes or yams, alcohol, cookies, pies, and even Paleo baked goods are higher in carbs! This week get back to eating green veggies, quality meats and quality fats. Get back to normal!
3. Drop the idea that you need to do a carb taper. I've heard this before, the idea that you should gradually get back into strict Paleo. This is a thinly veiled excuse to finish off the cookies. Just go cold turkey and do yourself a favor! Respect your body and your blood sugar, they SO want to return to normal!
4. Exercise, but don't go crazy. They key word, have you noticed, is "normal"! Get back to normal with your routine this week. If you ate poorly this weekend then your body is likely fighting off a good amount of inflammation. Quiz: Do you think beating the ever loving out of yourself will improve or prolong the body's healing process? (Answer: prolong)

So you treated your tastebuds well this weekend, now give the rest of your body a treat and do what you can to help it heal! With fittest intentions,

Michelle

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