Kettlebell and dumbbell workout-my favorite!!!

I do this routine a lot with my clients and I do it myself! Very effective and really targets your entire body!!!

3 sets of 15 Kettlebell squat swings-either rows, straight ahead or side to side

2 sets of "Lawnmowers" kettlebell lunges on each side

Plank side pushups-3 sets of 10 to 12

3 sets of 15 on each leg- kickbacks

Shoulder circuit-front, flys, rows and shrugs-3 sets of 12 of each

3 sets of 20 "mountain climbers"

Triceps circuit-extensions, kickbacks and dips on chair or bench-3 sets of 12 of each

Bicep circuit-curls, hammers, overhead curls-3 sets of 12 on each

***All circuits are done with dumbbells all 3 or 4 moves are 12 reps in a row of each then you rest. Use lighter weights because you are doing so many reps at once. Rest for 1 to 2 min between each set-no rest between each move.

Do it then let me know how great you feel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xoxoxo-A

We will Win today!

 

What will you win today? What will you imagine and then actually go and do? So many things are under our control if we will just do them! What does it take to win, to have what you want??? It takes work , action, determination, belief, passion and mind control! Think about it on the smallest scale....then turn it around to the biggest of your dreams, the biggest goals your mind can think up, the picture of your body in your head. Think and visualize in great detail what you want to look like, feel like, do, achieve,habits you want to kick, habits you want to form, all of it. It is ALL possible!

 



Use your mind to take over your body and I promise you will achieve what you want. It is all in your mind-winning and doing are all in your mind. Once you can overcome your own mind you will overcome your body. Try a little thing today and build on that. Today I will win by not having sugar in my coffee and not let my mind say just a little. Today I will run the entire time and not let my mind tell me to stop when it gets hard. Today I will take a walk. Today I will do something nice for someone else without expecting something in return. Today I will find happiness in making others happy. There are endless "daily wins" you can achieve and I assure you when they all add up, you use your mind and all of its power, you will win and it will become contagious and addicting. You will continue to win on a daily basis because you know what its like to lose and losing isn't what you want (unless you are losing fat-that is great!)

Your attitude runs your life-if you say you can't then you won't. If you say you can then you will. Expect more for yourself and the best part is you are the only one that can make a change so YOU will only have yourself to thank! Having a sense of pride is crucial to wanting to continue to win. Will your name be up in lights on the big screen for winning today? No, probably not but inside where it counts most to yourself is where you will feel like a superstar! Once you start winning you will know that you deserve to win and winning will become what you do.....Once you win you will want to repeat what made you win the first time. You will change those habits into winning ones with ease after you experience the feeling of winning. It will come natural.

Daily wins=Big life changing wins! 

Go you!

xoxoxo-A

 

No, I'm not on crack but I am on flax!

 

Ok, let's talk depression and let's be very honest and real about it. I have never been diagnosed with it but I am almost positive that I was for most of my 20's if not some of my teens and 20's. At one point in my marriage I was told to basically shape up, figure it out or get shipped out, in so many words. Well, we know how that story ended. (I got shipped) So, my point in sharing this is not to blame my ex-husband for not understanding that I most likely needed help (or at least some spinach smoothies with flaxseed) but to get others to understand that there are things you can do when you are faced with non-supportive "shape up or ship out" situations. I am pretty sure that from 2007 to 2010 I had prepartum (no I'm not sure if that is a real thing), partum (this either) and postpartum depression (ha)....it wasn't that I was miserable...its just that I wasn't me, I wasn't the "happy and alive" that I am now. Now, people ask me believe it or not, "why and how are you so happy?" Seems silly right as we should all be striving to be this happy! We should be asking "why are you so miserable and what can I do to help?" Misery really does love company and I will not stand for it or be part of it. I believe in love, helping others and happiness.  I surround myself with others that believe in the same. Surrounding yourself with those that believe in you and your dreams is so important for your happiness! I can literally run people over with my happiness now and its awesome! I want you to feel that way too!

So crack or flax? Its flax......did you know that flax is a natural aid in helping to reverse depression? Read below:

"Flax fights “The Blues” It’s that tired feeling that a good night's rest won’t shake… that listless down in the dumps feeling that you just can’t get rid of. We call it “the blues”, otherwise known as atypical depression, the most common form of depression. Preliminary research suggests that eating a diet rich in flax could slash your risk of ever feeling “down in the dumps”. Follow up studies show that just 2-3 tablespoons of flax daily can help up to 2/3rds of severely depressed women bounce back within eight weeks. Flax, says Udo Erasmus, PhD, has a mood boosting ingredient: docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) that is essential for the proper function of brain cells, yet up to 85% of women aren’t getting enough of it. Early research conducted by Dr. Martha Clare Morris of Chicago’s Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center notes that a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids is believed to be important for brain development. She stated that some participants in the study saw a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s from eating a diet high in Omega-3 fatty acids(Flax is the richest source of Omega 3’s in the plant kingdom). More research is needed in the area of flax and its relation to depression and brain function, however preliminary research is very promising."

When I started adding flaxseed to my smoothies I was only doing it because I thought maybe I should be "going potty" (as my 3 yr old would say) more. Sorry if that is TMI but its true. It turns out that a little dose of flax in the am was actually setting a happy tone to each of my days, along with many other benefits! I am pretty sure I am addicted to it now because of that. How great is it to be addicted to things that make you feel great and are so good for you, like exercise and eating right! I know some of you have addictions to junk food, to alcohol, cigarettes etc......Why not try eliminating one bad habit this week and try replacing it with a good habit until all of your habits are good and you kicked the bad ones all to the curb. That is how you achieve a healthy lifestyle by forming all the right habits. Then it becomes second nature and no longer seems like a chore or a burden.

I hope this info about flax has helped some or one of you as that is my intention in sharing my stories with you.

Other supplements that I feel help keep me happy are:

• Vitamin D


• DHA


• Caffeine- also a natural fat burner (Bonus!) and yes, some caffeine per day is completely fine!!!

Don't forget to be awesome friends!!!
xoxoxo-A