TRAVEL BLOG

Our body achieves what the mind believes!  Life doesn't promise easy but prepares us to become stronger through the process. Obstacles will be part of our life, but we can overcome with strength and determination.  Why do I post this particular picture? It represents achievement, strength, and determination to overcome obstacles in my life. This is one of my most cherished photo shoots with Gene X of Orange photography. I was celebrating many things including my 45th birthday. More than that, I achieved what I thought impossible overcoming a year of physical struggle from injury. This was my true celebration of recovery, happiness and moving forward in my life overall.  I have a cervical injury (double fusion) and unfortunately, another disc herniated above that area. This left me disabled for a year and told it would most likely be permanent without reconstructive surgery. It was a horrible time in my life and all I could do was lay on ice packs and pray. I refused su...

Being healthy is many things but I feel the biggest player in life is how we respond to it. We all face daily situations in our personal lives and even the workplace. How we respond to these circumstances can create a healthier, happier, and stronger person. Being healthy includes more than the physical and nutritional. It also includes our emotional and spiritual health. If anything in our life is out of place, health is just not complete. When a problem arises, we can choose to mishandle the situation or solve it in a healthy way. Many times issues are out of our control. The truth is the only thing fixable or controllable is yourself. We're not responsible for the actions or behavior of others, but what we do have is the actions and behaviors of ourselves. Life can be made to feel complicated and depressing or carefree and happier simply by how we respond to situations. The same principle should be applied to how we take care of our body. Do we nourish it wel l , exercise it e...

Life is not meant to be easy peasy and all wrapped in a pretty bow all the time. The truth about life is it can suck and be filled with very difficult emotional and even physical hardships.  Emotional junk can weigh down our brains and bodies and cause us to retreat into a shell of self-defeat. When we're struggling with emotional upset from any life situation, it's important not to give up on you. During these times we tend to not take care of our health and fitness . We really can become our own worst enemy. Emotional upset can happen at any given time and we can choose to handle it in a healthy or unhealthy way. It really comes down to us being responsible for our own physical and emotional health. This also includes maintaining our fitness and happiness .  Emotional upset seeming to be the most painful occurs in close personal relationships with spouses, significant others, dearest friends, and family. It's also the most difficult to navigate feelings that...

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got .  Henry Ford  Getting fit requires breaking the cycle of bad habits that created an unhealthy body. That means taking responsibility for our fitness and doing what it takes to get healthy. Changing our habits can be tough because fitness doesn't magically happen. Ready for some hard work? Bad habits keep us trapped in a life of emotional stress , unhealthiness, and inability to move forward with self-improvement. Repeating unhealthy behaviors is not loving or respecting our body. In order to create good habits , ending the cycle of what you have always done will be the start of great things. Bad habit cycles can include poor eating habits, sedentary lifestyle, living unhealthy in general and being in denial about it. Many turn to alcohol , drugs, smoking , binge eating or not eating to cope with life. Our choices have created unhealthy people. Being in denial about bad habit cycles is a form of nonac...

Life is not always easy. I'm no different than many of you: woman, wife, mother, daughter, a friend. I do walk the walk of fitness with my occupation as a personal trainer and writer.  This doesn't change the fact I sometimes have up and  down days emotionally and physically. I also experience burnout with my workouts. One of my favorite life quotes is “life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it”.   I came across this quote from a school project my son made in junior high and it has really stuck with me. My son is almost 30 now.   I have realized through my journey of life and fitness we are limited in what we can control. The only thing we can control is how we think, feel, and respond to life’s circumstances. We simply need to learn to let go of the rest. This can be a hard task but a necessary one. Also, we are definitely in control of the choices we make for ourselves to become healthy, fit people. Getting fit and healthy involves both our ...

It took me many years to learn how to set boundaries and even what the heck that meant. Think of a boundary as a shield of protection around you providing health and happiness . Go deeper with the meaning and understand boundaries are an important part of self-love and not allowing others to treat you in an unhealthy way.  When boundary setting is not demonstrated for us as children, it's usually a struggle to grasp as an adult. The sacrifice of self to the point of mistreatment by others can be the result if boundary setting is not put into place.  Boundaries make a clear statement of what is not acceptable or allowed in our life. When those lines are crossed, it's a painful process for the one that has been wronged.   Sometimes clear communication of the broken boundary can resolve the conflict. Other instances will require radical choices of removing ourselves from the situation altogether. The most uncomfortable part of a broken boundary is the trust once there before...

For some reason hiding behind our secrets seems to be the easy and almost normal thing to do in life. I'm not immune and in fact guilty of such past behavior. Years of life and wisdom have brought me full circle to being almost too transparent. Hiding is a tiresome process unfounded and stress producing . It feels good to be free and able to share my life and who I am.  I have learned not to be ashamed of my story because it just might inspire or help someone going through the same things. Everyone will experience circumstances that may or may not be within our control. What we learn from these experiences helps to create who we are.  Why do we get so caught up in what people think it causes us to hide our true self? Our struggles are left in the closet for fear of rejection. Not being accepted has become more important than sharing what is happening in our life. Fear takes over our ability to share deep struggles. We struggle silently even though we may need help or a liste...

Fitness is awesome! I believe we can all agree on that statement. It makes us feel good, look good and should motivate us to continue the lifestyle. Health is about living a quality life and the true definition of fitness . How can something as fabulous as fitness be considered a burden to so many? Workouts and eating right are almost considered dirty words. Many even use exercise as punishment for unhealthy food choices. People are walking around pissed off at fitness because they're not fit. Does that make any sense? Instead of working toward quality life and health, society continues to not take responsibility for their choices. Processed food marketing and a fast paced world have captured the attention of millions. Obesity is growing at an epidemic rate and researchers are scratching their heads for answers. We believe in fitness in a bottle and burning body fat sitting on the sofa. Our mental game about fitness is skewed. How we think about ourselves, life and health need ...

As Valentine’s Day is upon us tomorrow, I think about commitment and how it not only matters in my marriage but also in my fitness and overall health.  They both take dedication and work right?  Think about that: if you cheat on your marriage, it will not work…if you cheat on your health, it will not work…see what I mean.  In order to maintain a happy, healthy relationship, it takes commitment, effort and work on a daily and consistent basis.   In this journey of life, I have learned what I do and do not want, and I certainly have found a gem in my husband and cherish our relationship as top priority.  I feel the same way about my fitness and realize that my life is a precious gift worthy of my time and attention to reduce the risk of illness and maintain a healthy quality of life.  Commitment is a word that I do not use lightly and is a promise that I will maintain my relationship in a healthy way with my hubby and with myself.  Really, I do not need ...

I wanted to take the time to wish all of YOU a very Merry Christmas and an upcoming safe and Happy New Year.  WOW…can you believe how the time has gone by in a blink?  Life truly is like that you know and it is so important to cherish every moment, and really take in the meaning of things.  We get so caught up in busy, busy, busy, that even relaxing has become a stressful event…WHAT??? Believe me, I used to be one of those busy people who felt that time was utilized for work and if I was not doing something productive every minute then I was wasting valuable time.  This can really create a self- inflicted guilt trip that dares a person to even place their backside on the sofa for a minute…back then, it caused too much anxiety.  So, I buzzed around like a bee all the time and I did not realize how much of life I was missing.  I was too busy trying to make a living and not make a life. I truly thank God for my older, wiser, better self who has slowed the pace...