Burn Your Fears

CHALLENGE ALERT

What is your BIGGEST fear? It can be about fitness or anything in life. It can be one fear or 10.

Write it on a piece of paper.

Draw a circle around it.

And then post a picture.

Stay tuned to see what to do next!

NOW - BURN IT. And take an after picture.

You need to tell yourself, out loud, that you can handle whatever come your way and you will work your hardest to reach your dreams and goals. All you can do it YOUR best. Even those things that you wrote down. That gives you control and the fear will drop away. It's an amazing feeling.

Bathing Suit Season

Have you ever felt that horrible awkward uncomfortable bathing suit feeling?

Have you avoided cameras at the beach or the pool?

Have you indulged in too much alcohol so that you don't feel self conscious in your bathing suit?

Or missed out on a beach/pool event?

I have done all of the above. But this summer will be different. I'm going to work hard and I'm going to PUSH during May and June to be the best that I can be... So that I can feel confident and comfortable with my friends this summer.

Do it with me :)

All you need to do is fill this out. https://joycefollows.wufoo.com/forms/challenge-group-application/

Guilt

Guilt eats you ALIVE. I know, I used to practice it ALOT.

I would be guilty if I ate something bad, if I skipped a work out, if I gossiped, if I said something mean, if I was rude, if I made a bad decision, if I drank too much, if I gave into the wrong priorities...

Have you ever stopped yourself mid-guilt and said - 

"So, you made the wrong decision, sucks... BUT THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO TAKE IT BACK NOW. Just DO BETTER the next time, the next day... Just do better next time."

And then really actually do better the next time...

That is how you grow. That is how you don't hate yourself.

We are all human, we are not perfect, so give yourself a break ;) Just do better tomorrow.

For the bikinis

Post Traumatic Growth

Have you heard of Post Traumatic Stress disorder?

What about Post Traumatic Growth?

I have to share what I read this weekend in Shawn Anchor's book, The Happiness Advantage, this weekend.

"Bereavement, bone marrow transplant, breast cancer, chronic illness, heart attack, military combat, natural disaster, physical assult, and refugee displacement. If this reads like a random dip from an alphabetized nightmare list of the very worst things that can befall us, that's because it basically is. But it also happens to be a list of events that researchers have found to spur profound positive growth in many, many individuals. Psychologists have terms this experience Post Traumatic Growth."

"What distinguishes the people who find growth in these experiences from those who don't?"

"There are a number of mechanisms involved, but not surprisingly, midset takes center stage. People's abilities to find the path largely depend on how they conceive the cards they have been dealt."

"The people who can most successfully get themselves up off the mat are those who define themselves not by what had happened to them, but by what they can make out of what has happened. These are the people who actually use adversity to find the path forward."

This weekend was the anniversary of one of my best friend's death by suicide, the anniversary of my break up with my serious ex-boyfriend, and the anniversary of my depression. YOU. CAN. MOVE. FORWARD. I can't even believe that less than a year ago I was depressed, binge eating, in therapy, and an emotional disaster. 

You can get through anything in life, you just have to keep trying. 

Today I told my friend's spirit that I will help as many people as I can and I will be the best person I can... no matter what, for him, and for myself.

                                                               I PROMISE.

Strong girls

True Happiness

Why NOT you?

Join me in a fitness group to reach your fitness goals 

OR 

Become a beach body coach with me to reach your fitness goals while be financially independant so you have the ability to reach your dreams!

Fitness group application:
https://joycefollows.wufoo.com/forms/zg637f21j339lo/ 

Coaching application:
https://joycefollows.wufoo.com/forms/coaching-application/

Gardening For Your Soul

Do you garden? Did you know that gardening can contribute to health and happiness?

It's healthy physically:

• All that pulling, lifting, and digging is a great way to expend calories. A person weighing around 180 pounds will burn about 200 calories after 30 minutes of gardening. 
• Gardens are good motivation for regular exercise! Get's you outside and sweating, ready for more healthy activities.
• People who consume diets rich in fruits and vegetables and get at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day or so are less likely to develop a host of illnesses, including heart disease.

It's healthy mentally:

• Gardens have been viewed as places of wonder, capable of restoring health and peace to those who entered. 
• Gardening inspires patience and contemplation. 
• Being responsible for the care of another living thing "can be very powerful for feeling good about oneself.
• Doctors in Egypt prescribed walks through gardens to improve mental well-being.
• Monks of yore used their gardens to soothe travelers for homesickness and depression.
• Multiple studies show that a plant-filled environment helps people relax, raises pain tolerance for people with chronic disorders, and improves moods. 
• One of these studies, published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, found that regular exposure to natural environments such as gardens helps people recover from the ill effects of stress more quickly. 

It's healthy for kids:

• Get the kids involved
• Your children may moan and groan about having to help in the garden, but you should still insist that they partake. Not only will they develop a lifelong love of things that grow, they'll have you to thank for a healthier diet.
• Researchers at the University of California, Davis, had fourth-graders learn about gardening by doing things such as planting seeds indoors and outdoors, spending time recognizing types of weeds, and studying proper harvest techniques. After 17 weeks of gardening, the children made a surprising discovery -- they liked many vegetables that kids are known for hating. Among the vegetables the children grew to love: carrots, broccoli, snow peas, and zucchini. Now that's the miracle of gardening.

 My mini garden

Hey, if none of these benefits were convincing... plants make oxygen. Who doesn't need oxygen? It's a win-win

Don't give up

Even if you feel like a failure, if you keep going, you aren't one. Keep going and start again! It's only those who give up that are failures!

Fat Crying

Say No to Scale

The weight on the scale is how our brains have been programed to judge our fitness, weight, and health since we were little. We were all measured on scales at school, the doctor, and at home, and we were all measured with a measuring tape against the wall... Even though this is what we were taught, it's not a whole view of our health and fitness.

The scale does show us changes and it is a good judge of a healthy body weight for our height. The problem is that it only shows drastic changes and only weight changes.

The scale does not show our mental changes, our muscle growth, our fat lost, our inches lost or gained... When you are working towards a goal, you need to see change to keep yourself motivated to keep going. You WILL NOT see much change on the scale in 30 days, it's not going to happen that fast.

That is why we recommend to stay off of the scale. You WILL see changes in your mind, muscle mass, fat loss, inches, and how your clothes fit in 30 days. We need to focus on these changes to keep us going.

The scale is not a bad thing, you just have to be careful and tell that depressing feeling to FUCK off, you ARE changing. Tell your brain that things are different this time, don't count on that scale. Take your measurements, and congratulate yourself on the small changes. They only grow bigger.

Ancestors

For our ancestors, PAIN was a lion in the bushes, waiting to eat them. To stay alive, we avoided pain... ran away.

Today, we still want the easy, painless way. The magic diet pill. The get rich scheme. Six pack abs. Today, not next year.

Move toward the PAIN.

Do that last rep that makes your knees shake. Control your calories. Keep going despite all obstacles. 

The pain you experience, the voice in your head telling you to quit, is an antiquated survival mechanism that's as useful as a spear against a machine gun.

Don't stop.

Soon, the lions will be afraid of YOU.

REWIRE YOUR BRAIN. Start again today.

Meal Plan Week 3

Breakfast: 0.5 Banana, Oatmeal, Peanut butter
Snack: Fruit
Lunch: Chicken & Quinoa
Snack: Carrots & Almonds
Dinner: Lettuce, 21 day fix salad dressing, Veggies, Fish, & Shakeology
Dessert: Greek yogurt

 I cooked everything yesterday! I baked the chicken & tilapia, quinoa, veggies...