Team Beachbody Coach Summit 2018!

I'm feeling a massive mixture of sadness and excitement as I sit here writing this. There are a couple of tears being shed too.

Today I was supposed to be rolling into Indianapolis for the biggest event in my businesses calendar, Summit. I had my tickets ready, my hotel booked, I was booked into all of the workshop sessions and the super-trainer workouts. I was pumped to be a part of something I’d only ever dreamed about.
But recent events mean that I haven’t been able to get out there.
And I won’t lie, it’s really hard to swallow. I mean, I’ve only been planning this for about 3 years. No, really! For 3 years. And I won’t be there.

I have known that I wanted to be a coach for the longest time. Waaaaay before the company even made any murmurings about coming to the UK. I was using the products and I fell in love with them. They worked, they were different to anything out there and they fitted my busy life as a working mum perfectly. I loved the products so much so that I took it upon myself to connect into the North American coach network. What I encountered there was entirely unexpected and it completely blew me away.

I found a community of thousands of coaches who were changing people’s lives every single day. Helping them through the minefield of nutrition and exercise, giving people confidence and support to achieve things they never thought themselves capable of, helping people get healthier and lead more fulfilling lives.
Giving people HOPE.

These people were friendly, positive, supportive, uplifting, go-getting, action taking, sharing, helpful ——— and I was HOOKED.

From Day 1 I wanted to be a part of that community. I KNEW I WOULD be a part of that community. I felt the passion so deep inside me that I KNEW I would make it happen.

I kept myself in the loop, I networked and I made sure I’d be the first to know when the coaching opportunity was coming to the UK.

I spent all of my spare time researching the company. I researched and I researched. What their mission was, why they were doing it, how they were doing it. Was it legit, was it a pyramid scheme, were these weight-loss results real?
I learned about all of the products, the coaching process, how coaches were rewarded for helping people.
I learnt everything I could over the course of a couple of years. I watched the recordings of the annual Summit gathering and I got excited.
This was the real deal.

I spent my spare time following coaches on social media, deciding which individuals and teams I felt most connected to, whose mission resonated most strongly with me, who had the training and systems in place that I liked best, whose approach and personality I clicked with, who I wanted to partner with in my business when the time finally came when I could become a Coach.

I started running week-long online nutrition and exercise groups - reaching out to support people who needed help.

I was ready.

When it was finally announced in March 2017 that the coaching opportunity would be coming to the UK later that year I was more than ready.
I had chosen the team I was going to join. I’d met them in person when they came over to Birmingham that summer and had cemented the fact.
I KNEW this was what I was meant to do.

On the day the coaching opportunity went live in October 2017 I was waiting. I sat at my laptop counting down the minutes and then, as the clock ticked over and we went live, I became a Coach.
I was almost bursting with an emotional mixture of excitement and pride as one of the UK Founding Coaches for the company, after all this time waiting.

Now I could get to help people reach their weight-loss, health and fitness goals officially, using ground-breaking products, backed by a company I wholeheartedly believed in and a hand-picked team of women who set my soul alight.
Now I could make a difference. Even if it was just to one person, I would be making a difference.

Our annual Coach Summit is a humungous event. Kind of like a conference, girls trip, family reunion, personal development retreat, business and leadership training event, the Academy Awards, and the Olympics all rolled into one!
World stage speakers and best-selling authors such as Brendon Burchard, Gary Vaynerchuk, Simon Sinek, Darren Hardy sharing their insights,
Top coaches sharing how they change lives every day,
Super-trainer workouts - Shaun T, Chalene Johnson, Autumn Calabrese, Tony Horton and more,
New product announcements,
Recognition and celebration.

I was going to be there in the whirlwind of it all, where my heart and soul would be blown wide open with the energy, emotion, knowledge, and sheer joy of spending time with some of my new favourite people, immersed in learning and sharing and living what we're most passionate about - growing and learning and helping other people.

Last year I watched Summit from my laptop. The events were streamed live from New Orleans and I sat up into the night and watched the opening and closing ceremonies in real time. I heard the announcements, saw the new products, celebrated my team becoming the top team in the company for the 3rd year in a row, cried as I heard the stories of the Beachbody Challenge finalists and felt inspired by what they had achieved.

This year I will do the same.
My company are world-class at hosting these events. It's going to be immense.
My timeline is blowing up with pictures as all the coaches are arriving in Indy. The welcome banners at the airport, the stages being built for the ceremonies, the smiling, excited selfies.
I will be there in spirit and I will watch with pleasure as my new friends and teammates experience this crazy event. I will celebrate right alongside them as my team becomes the top team for the 4th year in a row and I will be full of pride for what this company achieves.
We make a difference every single day - We Save Lives.

#endthetrend of obesity

Next year, you guys, I WILL be there. Wild horses won’t be able to keep me away.
Maybe you’ll come too and we can experience it for the first time together. I can’t think of anything I would love more than to be able to share it with you.

XOXO

Oh No - Sore Muscles! What Shall I Do?

I have been working out most days for the past year and I still experience muscle soreness! Just these last couple of weeks I started Insanity: Max 30 after last doing it a couple of years ago and man were my legs hurting!  I have been doing various workouts in the last few months including The Shift Shop, 21 Day Fix and 21 Day Fix Extreme and they all have lots of lunges, squats and ply work but it just goes to show that when you switch up your workouts you still work your muscles in a different way! So instead of taking a rest day and using that as an excuse not to workout when I was so sore, I chose a workout that did not target my lower body, but instead doing an upper body workout! The researcher that I am looked up working out and muscle soreness since so many of my clients experience it when they start my challenge groups. I figured it would be well worth sharing with all of you as well! Who isn’t sore from working out at one point or another! It’s best to know how to handle this discomfort.

It’s common for beginners to experience muscle soreness that lasts for a week or two, just as seasoned exercisers will be sore after a tough work out. Yes, you should keep working out even though you are sore, but there is more to it than that. The only way to avoid muscle soreness is to not workout at all! And that is certainly not going to get you that body you envision in your mind!

Muscle soreness has two primary causes. The first soreness you experience happens during your workout (“the burn”) and should subside within a couple of hours. This is caused by lactic acid production. When you are training and your muscles are not getting enough oxygen (anaerobic glycolysis), lactic acid builds up. You can break down lactic acid by continuing to move and by doing light aerobic exercise (such as walking) after your workout. This is why cool-downs are so important, especially for beginners. The longer you cool down, the faster that lactic acid will leave the muscles (typically within an hour).

The type of muscle soreness you are experiencing up to a day or two (and sometimes even three) after your workout is known as DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). DOMS is caused by microscopic tears inside the muscles, resulting from weight-training or fully exhausting the muscles during cardio. This is normal. Again, beginners will be more sore and usually for longer, but if you really worked as hard as you should have during a session, you should be somewhat sore for the next day or two.

This is where rest comes in. You absolutely must rest the muscles you worked for 1-2 days after a workout. 

This is the beauty of my exercise programs  - they are designed to alternate the muscles that are used from one day to the next. If you follow the workout schedule as it's laid out you should find that you recover quicker because you're resting your sore muscles whilst working other muscles.

If you're not following a specially designed program take at least one day off between strength training sessions, and if you are still very sore, take 2 days off. (This means from lifting, not from all exercise such as cardio). If you don’t let your muscles recover and repair, they will continue to break down and you will actually get weaker.

To help prevent soreness in the future, and alleviate some of it now, be sure to:
1. Always warm-up for 5-10 minutes and cool-down for at least 5 minutes.

2. Stretch after a warm-up, during your workout, and after you are done. Only stretch when your muscles are already warm from some kind of light activity.

3. Stay active. The more your muscles move, the faster they will recover from exercise and soreness. If you choose to rest completely instead of “actively recovering” with light exercise, you’ll probably be sore longer.

One technique I’ve recently discovered and have used with some success to reduce my own muscle soreness is to use a foam roller regularly as a part of my cool down. This has been particularly helpful for me after after I start a new type of exercise or a new training routine. Plus it just feels fabulous to stretch out your muscles. The key is to find the sore spot and lay on it. So use the foam roller find the hot spot and just sink into it slowly moving back and forth almost giving yourself a massage! It might  hurt a little to start with but be gentle and slowly increase the pressure. Feel the knots and tension melt away!

There are also some great post workout drinks and foods that you can consume to help reduce the post muscle soreness and help your body to recovery faster.

The most important meal you eat is the one that you have directly after your workout. For about an hour after your workout, there’s a window of opportunity when your muscles are literally starving for nutrients. We call this the golden hour. And the meal you eat at this time is the most important for building muscle and replenishing energy sources.

The first thing your body needs is a fresh supply of amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and are used by your body for making muscles, hormones, neurotransmitters, bones and all sorts of other important things. Exercise depletes critical amino acids such as glutamine, valine, isoleucine and leucine – and the way you replenish your body’s supply is with protein. That means meat, chicken, eggs, fish or whey protein powder.

The second thing you need is some carbohydrate. Exercise draws upon your body’s stores of glycogen, which is the storage form of sugar. Glycogen waits in the liver and the muscles for a signal that sugar is needed: “Hey, she’s exercising, let’s give her some fuel!” Your body can hold about 1,800 calories of sugar as glycogen, which is plenty to fuel any workout short of a marathon, but athletes do best when their glycogen stores are full, so unless you are on a carb-restricted diet, some slow-burning carbs after working out is a good idea. (Hint: The best carbs are oatmeal, brown rice, grains like quinoa, sweet potatoes and all vegetables and fruits).

Your muscles need protein for repair and growth, and your body needs some carbs to replenish its glycogen stores. Truth be told, after a hard workout your body will be crying out “Feed me!” Remember, right before exercise you have to consider the time it takes to digest food, so you need to go light. But post-workout is the ideal time to have a full meal. So what’s the best meal, or combination of foods, to have post-workout?

Shakeology is a great post workout meal. It has a perfect combination of protein and carbs along with all the essential amino acids and nutrients your body needs to recovery from the workout you just did. At least you don’t have to stand there in the kitchen wondering if what you're eating is the right option. Instead whip up a shake and go! Delicious!

Recover Post-Workout Formula –
Beachbody Performance Recover tastes so great, you won’t believe how good it is for you! When recovering from intense workouts, Recover Post-Workout Formula will provide you with the vital nutrients you need to bounce back from your workout. And the delicious, smooth chocolate flavor makes it the perfect post-workout reward.

Benefits:

Promotes faster muscle recovery while helping to manage exercise-induced muscle soreness. Helps muscle strength recovery, especially after intense workouts.
Fast-, intermediate-, and slow-release proteins ensure a sustained supply of nutrients to improve muscle recovery and promote muscle growth.
An ideal 2:1:1 ratio of leucine, isoleucine, and valine, branched-chain amino acids that are unique for their ability to help promote muscle synthesis and support rebuilding.

Chicken and Mixed Vegetables

Four ounces of skinless, boneless chicken breast contains almost 35 grams of high-quality protein as well as small amounts of calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron; 255 mg of phosphorus; 287 mg of heart-healthy potassium; and 75 percent of the recommended dietary intake for niacin, a B vitamin that’s important in energy metabolism. One large (6-ounce) chicken breast is even more loaded: It contains more potassium than there is in a medium banana, plus a whopping 53 grams of protein.

The fat in boneless, skinless chicken is mostly monounsaturated. Only 1.1 grams of the 4 grams of fat in 4 ounces of chicken is saturated fat. The vegetables provide carbs and fibre. If you like, you can have half of a sweet potato with the meal and a spoonful of olive oil and/or almonds on the vegetables.

Breakfast Anytime: Omelette with Avocado

Eggs are just about the best source of protein on the planet. Mix with as many vegetables as you like for a perfect meal. Serve with avocado for a nice dose of fibre and monounsaturated fat.

At the Gym: Whey Protein Shake

I consider whey protein powder the best protein powder available. You can mix whey powder with frozen berries, a frozen banana (my favorite) and water, or with almost any combination of ingredients; I’ve thrown in a spoonful or two of peanut butter, oats, chia seeds, and made it with unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk or oat milk. All work. The whey provides the protein; the berries or fruit provide the carbs. You can of course make the shake with milk or soymilk, but watch out for the calories.

The Three S’s: Salmon, Spinach and Sweet Potato

Here’s the ideal balanced meal. Wild salmon for protein and omega-3s, spinach for the cornucopia of vitamins and minerals (including the superstar of eye nutrition, lutein), and a sweet potato for slow-burning carbohydrates. It’s an almost perfect meal. You can add a little flaxseed oil (or olive oil or butter) to the sweet potato but watch your portion size: While these additions are all brimming with health, they’re also high-calorie items.

Bodybuilder’s Delight: Tuna, Brown Rice and Vegetables

You can’t go to a “hard core” gym without seeing a bodybuilder eating this old classic from a Tupperware box. A single can of tuna in water provides an astonishing 42 grams of high-quality protein for under 200 calories. That same can has more than 100 percent of the daily value for niacin, 29 percent of the daily value for vitamin B6 and 82 percent of the daily value for vitamin B12. And tuna is a superb source of the vitally important cancer-protective trace mineral selenium. Add some brown rice for fibre and carbs, load up with vegetables and you’re good to go.

You can’t go wrong with any of those five, or variations thereof. They’ll load up your body with the energy needed to refuel and the protein needed to rebuild and repair muscle. Couple them with frequent workouts, and you’ll be on the way to the body of your dreams.

Staying Successful - How to Change Your New Years Resolutions into a Way of Life

Hi everyone! I hope your 2016 is going great so far!

Towards the back end of 2015 I posted on my Facebook page and Twitter how I wouldn't be making any new years resolutions. Rather, I was making a year end resolution. That year end resolution was to finish 2015 fitter and stronger than when I started. And I did! I'd been following my fitness programmes and eating clean (with a little balance thrown in on occasion) since October. I'd lost weight, toned up, and was beasting my workouts because I was fitter and stronger *round of applause!*

I've never been one for new years resolutions, I can't really see the point. Surely if you're that bothered about losing weight/giving up smoking/cutting back on alcohol/insert your vice here... then you'd just do it. Wouldn't you? I'm always surprised that people are willing to wait until January 1st to make the change.
Oh, please don't get me wrong. I'm playing devil's advocate to a degree here. Anyone that makes an effort to start a journey towards better health and fitness is frickin' awesome in my mind. It's not an easy thing to commit to and I salute anyone that goes balls out for it. It's just the January 1st bit that I don't get. Forgive me?

Anyway, so as not to run the risk of offending anyone who has made a new year resolution to get fitter, stronger and healthier in 2016 I wanted to give you some tips on how to keep that momentum going.

After the initial excitement of it all the reality hits and excuses start creeping in as to why you don't have time to work out today, or some of those unhealthy favourite treats start to creep into you shopping trolley. But you know that if you want it bad enough, if you have a strong desire and motivation to do something then you'll find a way! If you're not highly motivated then you'll find excuses instead.

So here are my TOP TIPS FOR STAYING SUCCESSFUL WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH:

Number One

A strong 'Why' or driving force to change your nutrition and fitness levels is absolutely essential. I made sure to ask my challengers in our recent 5 Day Introduction to Clean Eating group what their 'Why' is. It's easy to answer "to lose weight" or "to look better" but it's often deeper than that. Lack of confidence, health concerns (either current ones or potential issues in the future), worries that you won't be able to keep up with your kids/grandkids as they (and you!) get older, a desire to set a good example to your children, wanting your family to be proud of you, wanting to feel ALIVE again! The list is endless and much more involved than any superficial 'vain' reasons.

The point is that you have to really want to change. If your 'Why' is strong enough it serve as an internal motivator that keeps you going even when the novelty wears off. You have to want to change more than you want to stay the same!

Number Two

Be committed. You have to commit in order to succeed. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get there. You've gotta go all in!

Number Three

Stick to good nutrition. The 80/20 rule won't put you far wrong! Have a treat then get straight back into the game. Make sure you're drinking lots of water. You may find it helpful to track your daily food intake in a journal. You will make steady and healthy progress.

Number Four

Trust that you'll be successful. If you really want it you can have it! So give yourself some credit - you can do it! It may be trial and error for a while. It may take some time to find out what works best for your body, but it'll come. Go ahead and tweak things as you go along. Progress is slow, you just have to have faith that you'll get there. Give it time and don't give up too early because you've got this!

So now you’ve started, don’t let anything stop you!

Progress report! General ramblings on how my first 5 weeks has gone.

Hey all you lovely people!

It's now been 5 weeks since I began my concerted push to improve my health and fitness by starting my workout programme and by committing to clean eating.
Today sees the end of the particular phase of the HIIT programme that I've been following. and I felt it was as good a time as any to tell you how it's gone for me.

I can honestly say that I've been fully committed and dedicated to both the working out and the clean eating. Have I been 100% perfect? Well... not entirely, but it was never about being 100% perfect. It was about the 80/20 balance so things didn't feel overwhelming and out of my reach. So where did that 20% rear its head during these last 5 weeks?
I've stuck to eating clean meals and honestly that part has been easy as I'm already used to it. I've been trying out new recipes and I've found some great new snack recipes to keep my sweet tooth at bay. But, I have allowed myself some treats . This has solely been in the form of Halloween sweets that have lingered in the house longer then they've been welcome. I didn't have the heart to throw them away though. So they've just been sitting there calling my name until I was able to devour them all so they couldn't haunt me anymore. It's fair to say that I have limited the extent of my sweet-eating in any given day, so I've managed to keep my troughing within reason. To balance this out I've made sure that I haven't had any cheat meals. This was intentional, but actually I just didn't feel I wanted or needed to. I'm quite happy with my clean meals and I know I feel better for eating them. I've been drinking lots of water and haven't felt the need for a glass of summer fruits squash since 'water week'. I call that a result :)
The workout schedule I've been following is prescribed and it tells you exactly what workout to push play on each day. This is perfect for me as it tells me what to do and I just do it. No procrastinating umming or ahhing about what workout to do, it's all laid out for me - no excuses! I've missed 1 out of the full quota of 25 workouts. That was yesterday! I had fully intended on doing the workout. I was even in my workout clothes and trainers already, but then my Mum and Dad decided to pop round for an hour, and 3½ hours later they were only just leaving! I love them very much and it was great to see them, but I hadn't factored that time in. I could have just done my workout in the evening but I'd already set aside that time to be with Rog (it was Saturday evening after all) and I didn't want to compromise on that. So I made the decision to miss my workout yesterday.
All in all though, it hasn't been a bad 5 weeks!

The workout programme I've been following is based on HIIT (High Intensity Interval training for those that don't know). It takes on one muscle group at a time, works it to exhaustion and then moves on to the next muscle group. It's only 25-minutes a day, but it's full-on, without any rest. It's been challenging at times but I know that it's worth it. So I've been making that small decision to push play each day for the greater goal. It's worked!!

The benefits I've seen in just 5 short weeks are:

• I'm noticeably stronger. I've progressed to my heavier set of weights in all but one of the moves in the whole programme,
• I'm fitter. I can go longer in each move without having to take a break or modify,
• My clothes are fitting better. Less of the waistbands digging in and jelly belly hanging over the top. I generally feel less wobbly and I can't feel the rolls so much when I'm sitting down,
• I can see visible changes to my body. I can manage to look at it in the mirror now without pulling a disgusted face! This has made me so much more confident about myself,
• I feel like a badass lifting weights!!!!!!
• I'm feeling in control, 
• I've lost 7 lbs. 

You might have noticed that I put my weight loss at the end of the list. This is completely intentional. My weight is not something I'm obsessed with, it never has been. It's not something I measure my progress or success by because it's just a number. Weight is affected by lots of factors that can change on a daily basis. I would much rather go by how I look and feel. I did weigh myself before I started the workout programme purely as a baseline because I know that people tend to be interested in that. It's the first thing anyone ever asks you - 'how much have you lost?' So I'm using that information for those of you out there that want to know. I have no interest myself in whatever that number is. I will be using the mirror as my monitor.
I also took body measurements and I have before and after photos. I'm choosing not to post the photos here (mainly because I'm not brave enough to), but they're good for me to use going forwards as reference.

 

So what's next I hear you cry!

Well, my personal health and fitness goals for the end of the year (my year end resolution if you like) is to remain accountable going into the festive season. I am committing to:

• Follow the next phase of my workout programme and not miss any workouts. It'll be a step up and it's focused on getting lean, strong muscle whilst burning fat. It relies even more on using weights,
• Stick with clean eating but allow myself one laid back meal or an evening where I have a few drinks or sweets,
• Stay accountable by checking in regularly with you all on my Facebook page and Twitter (feel free to follow me!),
• Meal plan every weekend and keep clean eats in the house to reduce temptations  (this week is already planned out and set in stone),
• Rock it!

I'm gonna make 2015 better than I started!!!!

How I'm Feeling Three Weeks into Sweating the Small Stuff

Hey everyone! Today marks three whole weeks since I started Sweating the Small Stuff in the form of this blog and my Facebook 'like' page. It's been an odd thing for me. Those of you who are my close family and friends will know that I'm quite a private person so putting myself out there in the public domain has been both exciting and scary for me.
I'd been working on building the blog for a while and it had been a long and difficult process. I'm not very techy and I had to google what to do every step of the way. I can't believe I was writing code!!! It was tedious and there was a lot of trial and error but it was important to me that the blog looked and felt right before I published it. It isn't perfect still, there are lots of things I want to do with it to make it more user friendly and to improve how it looks but I had certainly got it to a point where I was happy enough for it to go out to the masses. However, I became aware that I was at the stage where I was just tweaking bits and bobs here and there, and I realised it was because I was procrastinating about putting it out there for all to see.

It took me a few days to pluck up the courage to publish both the blog and my 'like' page, and I was so scared about it! I reasoned with myself that publishing them wasn't really an issue because if nobody knew they existed then nobody would see them anyway! So I went ahead and published them with a rush of blood to the head!

I'm not even really sure what it was that worried me. I was a bit concerned about what people might think, but then I'm not generally bothered about that sort of thing. People can think what they want but I know me, who I am and what I'm about and so do the people who I care about. That's good enough for me. I was certainly worried that I didn't know what I was doing! It was a massive leap of faith. I even had to teach myself how to do selfies as I'd never done them before! I was also worried that people would get irritated by the Facebook feed. But then I had to remind myself that was why I'd set it up as a separate 'like' page instead of using my personal page so that people could choose whether or not to follow me and see the posts.

It was Roger who pushed it through for me. He went and invited people to like my Facebook page and, much to my surprise, people did!

I've been overwhelmed by the support and positive comments that I've had from people. Thank you to all of you! The feedback I've had has made this so much easier for me and has spurred me to keep going when I've been wavering on my ability to do this. The children and Roger have helped and are fully participating, and I've got a new-found 'cool mum' status now that I'm a 'blogger'! It's probably only fleeting so I'll take if for as long as I can!

 

Although the main intention of all of this was for my own accountability in my health and fitness journey I truly hope to be able to inspire and motivate other people on their own health and fitness journeys. I've been surprised and humbled to hear from people who have taken action towards their own fitness as a result of what I'm doing, some of whom I'd never had imagined would be inspired in this way. I'd love to be able to help other people and am more than happy to do it. Please reach out to me if you think I can in any way. I'll do my absolute best to help you or at least to find the answers you're looking for. I'm certainly no expert but I've learnt lots and I know what has worked for me. On that note, I really would welcome any constructive criticism you feel you can give me regarding both the blog and my Facebook 'like' page. I want everything to be useful to other people so please connect with me so I can focus on things that would be beneficial to you.

Also, if you feel happy to, please invite others to join me on my blog and 'like' page. The more people that are watching me the more accountable I feel!

In summary, I'm so glad that I've done this. It's been challenging and I'm sure it will continue to be, but I'm really enjoying it and it's given me a new lease of life that I didn't know was missing. I'm making great progress in my own personal journey and I'm loving being able to share my passion.

I truly hope that you're getting something out of this too and I'd love for you to stay with me as I push further.