Summer Ready

After a weekend of BBQs, outdoor play and the first glimpses of bathing suit season, reality may be setting in.

It was a long, snowy winter. Month of being trapped under heavy and figure-forgiving winter clothes, kept away from the gym thanks to snowy roads and cold morning houses aren’t always a good thing for our health or fitness. 

I know I did my fair share of baking this winter and depending on how focused I am on that cooking being healthy, that isn’t always the best thing for my waistline or hips. Thankfully this winter I stayed relatively on track but honestly, so much of that was thanks to the accountability I had with my challengers. We kept each other on track and helped make sure we didn’t eat our way through the millions of snow days trapped in the house with the kids.

Now that spring is undeniably here and summer is just around the corner, it’s harder to hide from reality anymore.

I have officially broken back out the summer clothes. This weekend was the first time I donned a bathing suit in months and I’ll admit, I was a little scared to see what it would look like on. Years of bathing suit trauma doesn’t go away overnight. I know I’ve worked hard all winter, I’ve stayed consistent with my workouts, I’ve subscribed to the 80/20 rule with my food and I know I’ve gained in strength but yet I STILL was nervous. Bathing suits are terrifying. Maybe if you’re that waif-ish type it’s not (I don’t know though, that’s never been me! I’d imagine they too have their issues with bathing suits…) but for me, bathing suits, bathing suit shopping, all of it, is just plain terrible. I’ve experienced many years of cover-ups, of making sure there were no pictures taken on the beach, of trying on a million bathing suits before settling on the one that was the most tolerable or least unflattering, it was, however, never one I actually felt GOOD wearing.

So, back to today. I broke out a bikini and actually felt pretty darn good in it. No, I won’t be strutting my stuff on a runway any time soon, or ever for that matter, but after months of hard work, sweat and clean eating, I felt confident, less flabby than ever before and strong.

To what do I owe this “pleasure”? Clean eating, a 30-minute daily workout and the support of a group of pretty darn amazing women who like me, are also working hard to make healthy living work for them. We’re normal people, not athletes, chefs or superwomen. We work hard at work and at home. We’re by no means perfect; we fall off of the wagon our fair share, we occasionally sleep through our alarms, we have our weekly cheat meals (PIZZA!), and we sweat, groan, grunt and modify our way through our 30-minute workouts. But you know what? WE DO THE WORK. WE SUPPORT EACH OTHER. WE KICK ASS, every day because we can. We aren’t willing to resign ourselves to accept less than we deserve, and WE DON’T GIVE UP ON OUR GOALS AND DREAMS. WE MAKE THEM HAPPEN.

We’re one month out from summer.    

• So what if the shorts are a bit snug and you can’t even fathom putting on anything but a moo-moo at the beach this summer?
• So what if your kids keep you up at night and you can’t remember what a good night of sleep feels like?
• It doesn’t matter if you’re the least athletic person in the world or if you haven’t worked out since over a decade ago.
• Even if you REALLY like your nightly pint of Ben & Jerry’s and the couch calls to you more than the gym does, that’s no matter.

WHAT DOES MATTER? Your mind set, how you FEEL about yourself. What you WANT for yourself.

Maybe you’ve been watching me from a distance over the past few months and wondering about what it is that I do. I’m always posting about these groups that I run. What’s the deal with the groups?

Well, think of them as an online community of support from people like you who are also committed to being healthy (some are already there and want support staying healthy, while others are just starting out and trying to figure out what the heck that means for them.) We “meet” together virtually in a closed Facebook group where only members can see each other, post and share. Over the course of the group, I post a daily motivation or tip, members check in daily and rate their day for eating and workout. Depending on the angle of the group, we focus on different things to support members as they work through potential pitfalls around holidays, seasonal stressors, balancing life/work/family, share about the workouts themselves, etc.

This month I have 2 groups running and I’m beyond excited for both of them!

21 Day Busy Women’s Group

and 

Body Beast for Women

Fill out the application below for more info on either group or just to talk. I'd love to support you in whatever way I can.