Hey You, You Can Do This

January 2, 2017 LifeOfCarlyBLeave a comment

Hey you, you can do this!

But what ‘can’ I do?

Whatever today is bringing you, I’m here to remind you that you can do it! Roll out of bed with the attitude to take on the world. Step out your front door into the crisp air with the attitude to take on the world. Drive in your car, get to your destination, with the attitude to take on the world. Cook a nice meal, take a nice shower, and go to bed with the attitude to take on the world again tomorrow.

January 2, 2017. To many it is “A New Year”. The chance to start over, to start fresh, to set resolutions. To others a “New Year” is simply another turn in the calendar, and maybe you just keep trucking through life without any resolutions to be set. Regardless of whatever to day means to you, we are all somewhere in life, and we all have somewhere to go.

Maybe today you are starting a new goal, or maybe today you are still striving towards old goals. Maybe today you are saying hello to a new place, or maybe today you are saying goodbye to an old one. Maybe today you woke up and put on 2 left shoes that didn’t match with coffee spills on your shirt, or maybe today things are just going your way and your hair is on point. Maybe today your jeans are fitting a little snug, or maybe today you are reflecting on the 50 lbs you lost last year with desire to keep it up! Maybe today you are starting a new job, or maybe today you are ending an old one. Maybe today you are running on 2 hours of sleep with not nearly enough caffeine to get you through the day, or maybe today you woke up with the most refreshing nights sleep you’ve had in awhile. Maybe today you are hating on Monday, or maybe today you are ready to take on the world, take on the year.

Today you could be embarking on something new, continuing an old adventure, saying goodbye to a loved one, greeting a new born child, and the list could go on. But what is common about today for all of us? That we can do it. If you are setting resolutions I hope you light them with so much fire that even the biggest hurricane couldn’t burn them out. Feel that fire, feel that drive, and never let it go, because it is a wonderful feeling. If you are already feeling on top of the world- you’ve reached last years goals, you are on top of your job, of your fitness, of your life- if you just feel put together- walk around today with a humble attitude. Feel grateful for what you have and what you’ve accomplished. Heck, use that to encourage, motivate, and help others.

Everyone is at a different point in their life, in today, but we can thrive off each other. Build someone up today, I dare you.

Before You Set Your New Year’s Resolutions…

December 26, 2016 LifeOfCarlyBLeave a comment

Before you set your 2017 New Year’s Resolutions, take a step back and allow yourself to think about. Sure, almost everyone sets some sort of resolution at the beginning of the new year, but how many stick to them?

Don’t make a resolution that you can’t stick to. Don’t make it too far fetched or out of this world. Don’t set yourself up for failure. Whatever your resolution might be, fitness, weight loss, relationship management, being smart with your finances, trying better at this, doing less of that, take time to think about it and plan it out.

The reasons most people don’t stick to resolutions could be many- ‘falling off the bandwagon’, everyone seems to give up their resolutions within the first 3 months of the new year, or ‘not having enough support’, ‘setting a goal too big’, or ‘setting a goal too small it isn’t as rewarding to achieve’. But my ever favorite reason for not sticking to the resolutions is…. ‘I’ll try again next year’. NO what if there is NOT a next year?! Do this for you, do it now.

My suggestion? Take it one month at a time. Set an overall goal, but break it down into 12 segments, 12 months. As this is predominately a fitness blog, let’s take a fitness resolution for example:

First off all, let’s call these goals or dreams, ‘resolutions’ seems to have a weird vibe about it. As if everyone expects you to set one, but they also expect you to fail at them. Goals are awesome, dreams are awesome-er!

Say your goal is to exercise 5 days a week in 2017:

Take it one month at a time- pull out a calendar! Maybe in January your goal will be to try out different classes during that month to find your niche. You could sample many different classes and still find one to fit your schedule to make those 5 days a week work.

Using that calendar give yourself a sticker, a sharpie mark, or whatever you want to indicate the days you worked out. Hell, if you’re even following the top predicted trend of 2017 (blog about that to follow) and have invested in wearable technology- write your workout stats on each calendar day!

January could be your month to try fitness classes. February could be your month to bring a friend to class. March could be your month to try one day a week of working out on your own in the gym. April could be your month to try adding functional fitness in, rock climbing, gymnastics (hey it could happen), walking with friends- something that keeps you healthy that can also relate and help you realistically in your normal, everyday life. May could be your month for outdoor fitness. The ideas could go on and on.

Or if you find a class you like right in January just make it your goal to stick to it 5 days a week for your 2017 year!

Maybe fitness classes aren’t your thing, there’s always online programming, personal training, the buddy system, etc. The goal is to find something that will help keep you on track to your goal/dream!

Oh and another tip about goals. If you set a goal specific enough like working out 5 days a week, or even putting money into savings 4 times a month, going to church 4 times a month, etc. and you can’t make it work for those specific days every week of every month of the year, do not worry, do not give up! The beauty of goal setting is to learn to roll with the punches and to keep going when a lot of things are telling you not to.

So go set a goal, start thinking about it NOW, don’t let 2017 pass by, grab it by the horns and take action! And remember, your goals are for your life. Not everyone will understand or support them, ignore those people, they’re not your people anyway. Find your support system and run with them! You can do this, you will do this.

12 Days of Workouts, Day 10

December 21, 2016December 20, 2016 LifeOfCarlyBLeave a comment

Get ready for some…. core & balance!

10 exercises, 10 reps each, AMRAP 30 minutes

X-plank
Single leg v-up
Plank step through
½ Turkish get up
Panther crawl
Squat thrusters
Crab crunch
Plank inchworm
Flamingo
Plank hold with leg lifts

Exercises:

A1,2,3 & C1,2,3: plank step through (showing both sides)

B1,2: panther crawl

D1,2: squat thrusters

E1,2,3: 1/2 turkish get up

F1,2: crab crunch

G1,2,3: plank inchworm

H1,2: flamingo

Exercise tips:

Plank step through- if your goal is to step the right foot through, your first action needs to be with your left foot. If you don’t bring the outside foot up and out, it does not leave a gap for your other leg to step through, and then the move will be awkward and incomplete

Panther crawl- is kind of hard to show in pictures, but basically you start in a plank position. You then move your right hand forward and your right leg as if you are crawling like an animal- as you move your knee needs to hover over the floor, don’t forget this!

Squat thrusters- starting in a plank position, you either step one or thrust both feet forward towards your hands and then look up as if you were at the bottom of a squat (because you are). Think of replacing your hands with your feet

1/2 turkish get up- make sure your right hand is in the air and your right knee is bent. The goal is to target that hand up towards the ceiling as you sit up. PLEASE use your outstretched left arm to help you get up- this is not cheating, it is doing it correctly!

Crab crunch- starting on all fours BUT facing the ceiling, you lift your right hand to left foot in a crunching motion and then switch

Plank inchworm- in a straight arm plank position, the only thing moving will be your arms moving forward. Think of inching your fingers/hands forward slowly and one-by-one

Flamingo- the best balance move of the day! balancing on one foot, bend over reaching towards your toes, and as you stand you bring your hands towards the ceiling and bring the leg that was balancing behind you (hovering) up with a bent knee

So It’s a New Year

January 4, 2016 LifeOfCarlyBLeave a comment

So it’s a new year, what is it going to bring you?

The new year strikes year after year without failure and what do we see? We see gyms busting at the seams with those resolving to finally get “fit” this year, we see fresh produce flying off the shelves quicker than it can be restocked by those resolving to eat “healthy” this year, we see banks, accountants, etc. with jam packed scheduled by those resolving to get their finances “in line” this year.

What do all of these things have in common? The tendency to dwindle off come March, and even more so by July. What’s the problem with resolutions? They tend to strive off of other’s resolutions. When everyone is gung-ho about their goals at the beginning of the year, it is easy to feed off that energy and stick to your goals, but when everyone starts slacking and making excuses on why this year is just not “the year” to finally reach those goals, it is even easier to follow the pack and ditch yours too.

Humans are creatures of habit, and when year after year you set the same goals, and ditch them the same way, that habit will engrave deeper and deeper.

So how to “fix” it?

First things first: you do not need FIXING, maybe you just need to find the inner desire and strength needed to accomplish whatever it is you want to accomplish

Stop calling it a resolution, a resolution means to resolve, and the resolve means to find a solution to something that needs fixing. You do not need fixing, you just don’t. You need goals, goals are dreams with deadlines

Set small goals, I REPEAT, set small goals! Why does January have to be THE month for goals? Why does January 31st have to be the do all, end all, of those goals? My suggestion? Have a big picture called a vision, or a dream if you will, comprised of 12 smaller images called goals. If you make a new goal towards the big picture every month you will be more likely to stick to the goals because you are eliminating boredom, self deprivation, or just a crazy state of mind telling yourself to fix something all at once. Small goals work- scientifically proven

STOP COMPARING, in fact make it a goal to stop comparing yourself to others. It does no good, not now, not tomorrow, not ever! PERIOD.

Set goals that follow your dreams and aspirations and that are unique to you- you will forever be uniquely you, treat yourself that way.

So what do your goals look like? Will your January be focused on something different than February, will you give yourself time to see change, to see results? Will you be proactive?

If you need extra help get ahold of me! I am offering online personal training, nutrition consultation, or just online help! And if you’re in the area I am offering face-to-face personal training!

Follow me on instagram at commit_fit_carly or email me at carlymae717@gmail.com

🙂

HOW TO: Holiday Health at Home

December 24, 2015 LifeOfCarlyBLeave a comment

The holidays are the time of year where it seems that everyone vows to get through the season as healthy and as on track as they can, but as soon as you binge into 5 cookies 3 nights in a row, you teach yourself to accept that this is how the holidays are supposed to be and you will get on track next year.

WHY WAIT?!

If you start your New Year’s Resolutions a year before the new year starts, you are that far ahead of the game and have already subjected yourself to the hardest season to be true to your goals during. If you can get through that you can get through anything! Go into the new year already feeling great about yourself! Feel confident the moment 2016 starts and I guarantee the rest of your year will follow suite. So don’t wait, start now, you still have 1 week left of 2015 and here are some tips to get you through the holidays happy, healthy, and confident!

It’s about control, know it, have it, embrace it

When baking: try to keep track of the calories per delicious cookie, cupcake, etc. If you know the calories before you eat it you will be more likely to eat just one rather than five.
And if you are tempted with something sweet in front of you and are torn over what to do- GRAB the treat! By giving yourself permission to enjoy, and I mean fully enjoy, that treat you will feel more satisfied after-the-fact, and less likely to binge on more later on
Trying to be the healthy person in a room full of 20 unhealthy people is hard. Provide some of the food! Find a healthy recipe that is both nutritious and delicious that can satisfy a sweet tooth or will leave a “salty” lover wanting seconds. You’ll know it’s healthy, they’ll think its delicious- it’s a win/win! (Pinterest is FULL of these kinds of recipes)
People will ask you why– tell them why you are doing it! Everyone commits themselves to something, some people commit themselves to work, to their family, to their wardrobe, commit yourself to your health and be PROUD! Others might respond awkwardly to it, but 9 times out of 10 it is because they don’t know how to respond to health because they don’t know how to be healthy themselves- but wish they could be

It’s about making do with what you have. Try this at home workout:

Home Tabatas: 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, complete each exercise 6 times before moving on

Jumprope (real or invisible)
Box jumps or chair step ups
Alternating ski jumpers
Jumping wall taps
High knees
Rapid jumping jacks (shoot for 25-30 in 20 seconds)
Alternating front kicks (add a hop in between to make it harder)
Burpees

And remember: you have one holiDAY to enjoy, it is not, and I hope it has not been a month of holiWEEKS

2016 Fitness Challenge

December 21, 2015 LifeOfCarlyBLeave a comment

I believe that your health and fitness is the single most important thing you can invest in, so why don’t more people do so? There are reasons, or “excuses” for everyone who chooses not to work out, eat healthy, go to the doctor regularly.

I am challenging all of my followers, friends, family, clients, passerby-ers to challenge their health and fitness in the new year!

I want to help you reach your goals, which is why I am putting together a 2016 health and fitness challenge group! You might all be on different plans, but you have similar goals. You have 10 days left of 2015 to make this promise to yourself, commit to it before the new year! Ask me about personal training, online personal training, group fitness packages, or Advocare products to help you reach you potential. YOU HAVE POTENTIAL, now go find it!

So tell me, ARE YOU IN?!

For more information on products, packages, or how the challenge will run, email me at carlymae717@gmail.com

To keep up to date on future announcements, follow my blog page or my instagram pages carlymaee7 and commit_fit_carly