Be Loud, Be Proud

Posted on April 24, 2012 by mmfitness

Ever notice how once you vow to work on something about yourself, you start to become more aware of it and notice other people engaging in that very behavior that you’re trying to avoid? Yep, that’s how the universe works….I know this is true, and yet it still amazes me every time it happens, as though it’s the very first time I’m coming to that realization.

Something that I’ve been actively working on is acknowledging pride in my accomplishments. The type-A perfectionist in me has always struggled with being “good enough.” Rather than seeing my accomplishments for what they truly are, and taking a second to let it soak in and feel good about myself, I tend to immediately move on to the next thing the second after I achieve a goal, without really acknowledging that what I just did was a big deal.

So I guess I shouldn’t have been taken by surprise when I started noticing the little things I’ve heard some of my clients and students say lately, which indicates to me that this way of thinking is a widespread problem. After congratulating one client on their perfect squat form (fitness peeps: please tell me that you also completely geek out and probably scare everyone in the gym with your enthusiasm when you see someone who was struggling with squats finally get it, or is that just me?), their immediate reply was, “I feel like my core strength still sucks though.” I gave another student a compliment in Zumba last week and pretty much got dismissed with the wave of a hand and, “Oh, I’m soooo uncoordinated in this class.”

In both instances I stared back incredulously and said something to the effect of, are you kidding me? Be proud of yourself, right here, right now. What you’ve just done is an accomplishment, and you should soak it in, and appreciate how far you’ve come. Maybe not quite so articulately, but you get the point. I think that constantly negating our achievements can set us up for vicious cycle of never being happy with where we are, which can be detrimental to anyone, whether it’s related to health and fitness goals or our lives in general.

Of course I know that shifting this way of thinking is easier said than done, so I thought that maybe if I shared a few things that I’m really proud of right now, it would encourage you to do the same. Because you have nothing to gain from not recognizing that you are pretty awesome, and you are capable of achieving some pretty awesome things. It doesn’t matter how big or how small it is – whether it’s doing 1 real push-up, or landing a huge business deal – taking pride in ourselves and what we’re capable of is only going to make our lives better. Don’t focus on what you think you can’t do, focus on what you just did. Make that your motivation.

I’ll start: I’m really proud of the fact that, in this past month, I feel like I’ve really grown as an instructor and a trainer. After doing this for almost nine months now, I finally feel like I’m starting to hit my stride and gain confidence in my abilities. I’m proud of the fact that I’ve been able to fit in most of my own workouts recently (even if it’s only 15 minutes) despite maintaining a ridiculously packed schedule each day. I’m also proud that I made the time to chat with you guys today on this little blog, after neglecting it for a few weeks!

Now it’s your turn. What are you proud of right now? Feel free to toot your own horn in the comments below, or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter!

Spring Cleaning

Posted on April 3, 2012 by mmfitness

Hey There! I don’t know about you, but I’m in full-on spring fever mode over here. So far I’ve been able to resist the urge to break out my skirts and sandals (the recent downward trend in temperatures, along with my lack of time to get a pedicure have certainly helped me there), but I am beyond anxious to tackle my closet and drawers this weekend. I’m planning on donating and throwing out the stuff that didn’t get worn this winter, boxing up the rest of my winter clothes for the season and just putting everything neatly back in it’s intended place. Because right now? My closet is in total, utter disarray. Sweaters are piled, not folded, and my shoes litter the closet floor, while their regular spots in the shoe cubby holder-thingy remain vacant.

What does my messy closet have to do with health and fitness, you ask? A lot, actually. Something I’ve heard from various health resources through the years (most recently in a Jillian Michaels podcast I was listening to a month or two ago) is that the state of our homes and our belongings can not only reflect how we feel about ourselves, but it can also directly influence it. This isn’t meant to imply that you need to spend a ton of cash having the nicest belongings, or that you should hire a cleaning lady, but that, generally speaking, when your home’s a mess, your life is probably a little bit of a mess, too.

That definitely rings true for me. I think the fact that my closet is a mess right now (rather than the living room, bathroom, or spaces that other people might actually see) says a lot about my personality; I may look put together on the outside (just like the rest of my apartment), but on the inside things could use a little sprucing up. If I’m being totally honest, along with my closet, I could definitely stand to clean up my eats a little more (a few too many beers and pieces of chocolate maaay have slipped into my mouth recently) and get back to planning my workouts regularly, on the calendar like I used to (rather than rushing through whatever workout I can squeeze in whenever I have 15 or 20 minutes between clients). Nothing dramatic, and not a total overhaul, mind you, just a few little tweaks that will definitely help me to feel better, calmer, and put a little spring in my step.

Now’s the time where I check in with you. Does anything that I’ve said above resonate with you? While the notion of spring cleaning is a little bit of a cliche, the changing season is definitely a great opportunity to re-assess where you are, and how you’ll get to where you want to be. Take advantage of the warmer weather to re-invigorate your outdoor workouts. Rearrange your closet so that your exercise gear is the first thing you see when you open the door. Make a weekly trip to the farmer’s market to stock up on fresh, local produce that will make you feel good on the outside and on the inside.

If you want more ideas, or need a little extra help when it comes to cleaning up your motivation, or your health and fitness, feel free to reach out to me. I’d love to hear from you!

Work/Life Balance and Two New-to-me Workouts

Posted on February 21, 2012 by mmfitness

Hi Everyone! I hope that you all had a nice, restful long weekend like I did. It was everything I needed and more; the perfect mix of activity and downtime. I went to bed early, I slept in, I went to yoga, I walked my dog, I watched the entire first season of Homeland for the second time (yes, it’s that good), I saw two movies, I caught up with good friends and ate ice cream. All the good stuff. I accomplished more normal, “real life” stuff in one blissful, three-day weekend than I usually do in a month’s worth of weekends.

See, the thing is, one of the challenges with juggling two full-time careers is that my days are packed so full that by the time Friday rolls around, I am usually so exhausted that I tend to collapse in a heap on my couch, dozing off to whatever DVR’d shows I didn’t get to watch earlier that week. After five “typical” days in a row of waking up at 5 or 6 am to head to the gym to train clients (and hopefully squeezing in a few minutes to work out myself), and then heading into the city for my 9-to-5, followed by training or teaching classes in the evenings, the last thing I want to do by the time the weekend rolls around is to make plans and add more things to my calendar.

Now I want to make it very clear that I am NOT complaining or whining about how busy I am; I choose to fill my days in this way and am truly happier when I’m working hard. I am more professionally fulfilled right now than I have been since I graduated from college 2004, and I am so grateful for all of the opportunities that I have worked my ass off to pursue. I also realize that I am very, very lucky to have stable employment that I enjoy. I only mention how busy I am because it helps bring into context the real point of this post, which is to tell you something I’ve noticed as I’ve been working to establish more of a work/life balance.

One of my struggles has always been that I take on so much, and while it’s worked for me professionally, it’s definitely affected my social life in a negative way. I end up making so many plans, feeling guilty that I haven’t seen X person in 3 weeks or so-and-so in a month, filling up my calendar so quickly that before I know it, I get overwhelmed by it all and want to crawl in a hole just to avoid it. Social plans start to feel like obligations, and I really, really don’t like feeling that way.

The thing is, I do this to myself – I create that overwhelmed feeling; no one else makes me feel that way. It’s just in my type-A nature to sometimes take things a little too seriously and put too much pressure on myself, and so it’s nice to take a step back from that every now and then and remind myself to chill out. Because the thing is, whenever I actually do take a step back and allow myself to just go with the flow – either by making plans on a whim if I’m feeling up to it that day, or doing something low-key like meeting up with someone for a workout or coffee rather than scheduling a dinner weeks in advance, or by doing nothing at all if that is was I really feel like doing – I realize that I have so much more energy than I thought I would have, and I end up feeling more refreshed than I would if I spent the entire weekend on the couch.

So instead of making a bunch of plans that were set in stone, for the last month or so I’ve tried to take a more relaxed approach to fit in friend time and to spend time doing things that I really want to say yes to, and I have to say that it’s gone really well so far. I recently even said yes to trying two new-to-me workouts, and so I wanted to tell you guys a little bit about both of them.

The first is Moksha Yoga, which my good friend Katie introduced me to. They have studios around the world, but only recently opened one here in NYC. Katie raved about their hot yoga classes, and even though I’ve always been intimidated by hot yoga, I decided it was finally time to get over the fear and so I went to check it out with her. I ended up LOVING the class and have even gone back a few times, bringing other friends along, too. I definitely recommend checking out their studio if you get the chance – everything is pristine yet comfortable, and the instructors are all really kind and great at giving an easy-to-follow (yet still incredibly challenging!) class.

The second was that I finally took a Refine Method class last week, which is something I’ve been wanting to try for awhile now, thanks to reading all about it for the past several months on Dori’s blog. From what I read, I knew I agreed with founder Brynn Jinnett’s approach to exercise, and so I’ve been really eager to check this class out. But of course I had put it on the backburner for months because I was always “too busy,” until last week when I finally felt compelled to sign up, and so I did and took a class with Dori the very next day. The class was everything I was hoping it would be, and exactly what I needed. As a trainer, I’m learning that sometimes it’s nice to have other people lead me through a workout for a change, and after pushing myself harder in that workout than I have it months, I left feeling content and pleasantly sore the next day.

These experiences have reminded me that saying yes to plans doesn’t always need to be stressful; even though I’ve technically done more stuff, I feel happier and more balanced than I have in awhile. I’ve tried new things, I’ve spent some quality time with friends, and I’ve gotten in some good workouts along the way. And I haven’t even had to neglect my couch and DVR all that much.

How to you achieve balance in your work and social life? Any tips to share? Since I have less time for my own workouts these days, I’m finding that workout dates are an excellent way for me to be social and stay committed to my health at the same time. Which fits in pretty nicely with who I work for, right? That’s my idea of the perfect professional/life balance, if I do say so myself.