That’s it. That’s the secret to finding and staying on (or returning back to) a fulfilling life journey.

Know Your Purpose.

You hear this often — and even acknowledge its importance — but do you take the time reflect on it, think about it and take action?

Do you come to feel and know our purpose? Do you write it down, read it, edit it as it evolves, read it more, bathe yourself in it . . . and live it?

Until recently, I didn’t.

Well . . . I knew my purpose, and I tried to live it daily; but I’d never written it down. I’d never taken the time to reflect on fully on my purpose and capture its many aspects so that I could remind myself of “the particulars” on the days I forgot.

When I finally wrote my purpose, this is what I came up with:

My Ultimate Purpose is . . .

• To live a life that exemplifies awareness; truth; integrity; compassion; health & fitness; professionalism; hard work; immense skill & knowledge; family; and community.
• To have the courage to live to the best of my ability, in alignment with my truth as I evolve in my understanding of what “truth” is.
• To heal others and to teach & empower others to heal themselves and create their optimal lives — To have a significant, positive impact on every person I encounter.
• To be a great example of a loving, caring, teaching, empowering, present husband/father to my wife and children.
• To be remembered as somebody who strived for excellence daily, leaving behind a shining example that guides and inspires others after I’ve moved on to the next life.

And the simple act of writing it represented another significant moment in my life.

It reminds me daily of who I am.

It reminds me of what I was put here to do.

It calls me daily to strive for excellence — and motivates me to do so.

It gives me direction when choices have to be made.

It gives me hope, if I ever wonder, “What am I doing this for?”

It gives me guidance, if I ask, “Why am I doing this?” or “Is doing this taking me where I want/need to go?”

It serves as my compass . . . my guiding light . . . if I ever feel lost.

Surely, if knowing and writing my purpose can do all of the above for me, it can do the same for you. (And it doesn’t matter if you’re 8, 18 . . . 48 or 88!)

So, what are you waiting for? Right now . . .

1. Take a few moments and a small investment of your energy and think about your purpose. (You know, “Slow things down to speed things up!” )
2. Write it down!
3. Start reading it . . . filling your senses with it . . . LIVING IT!!

Do it. You won’t regret it. You might even appreciate it for the rest – of – your – life!

Know your purpose!!

You’re changing your lifestyle and want to eat healthy, but the obstacle that keeps tripping you up is the food preparation.

“It takes too much time! Is there any way to make ‘eating healthy’ quick and easy?”

Sure there is!

You could ask (or find) a loved one who loves to cook every meal for you . . . or you could hire a personal chef. But if that’s not an option for you right now, here are 9 tips that can make your time in the kitchen “quick” and, perhaps, more enjoyable . . .

9 Tips For Quick, Healthy Cooking

1. Make Your Preparation More Efficient. There are two main ways to do this:

• Pick a specific day and time to do basic preparations for the week (Sunday afternoon or evening, for example)
• Prepare start food preparations immediately upon returning from your food shopping trip.

Personally, I’ve always preferred the second option – preparing food immediately after shopping. Separate meats into individual portions before storing in the fridge or freezer. Wash veggies and fruits and store them away. If you’re going to be consuming them in short order, cut/chop/julienne/dice/mélanger them and set ‘em aside so you don’t have to do it when the cooking actually starts. (Note: Always do this food preparation with attention to keeping the food as fresh as possible.)

2. Plan Meals In Advance. Cooking time often increases because you spend time just trying to figure out what to eat in the first place! If you plan your meals in advance (which, frankly, also speeds up your shopping), you can speed up your cooking time. The bonus to this is that, after a few weeks, you’ll have a nice Rolodex of recipes to choose from and rotate through.

3. Get Started The Night Before . . . Or The Morning Of. Pull frozen meat portions out of the freezer to begin thawing. Organize the ingredients you’ll need, either together in the fridge or on the counter top, whichever is appropriate. When feasible, do basic food preparation in the form of cutting/chopping/julienne-ing . . . Pull out the kitchenware you’ll need to use. Now you’re ready to roll . . .

4. Prepare Your Kitchen. Do you have all the tools you want/need to get your cooking done effectively and efficiently? If yes, proceed immediately (!) to cooking. If no, time to shop for some kitchenware!

5. Eat Raw. Aside from the obvious that “eating raw” saves on cooking time because, well, there isn’t any, consuming lots of quality, organically-raised vegetables and fruits (and some meats) raw, or close to it, actually benefits your body. Essentially, the more “alive” the food is, the more available and beneficial it is for your body. (Think: Life supports life. Dead, or significantly overcooked supports . . . )

6. Review Your Current Schedule. Are there things you “can’t stand” that you can remove from your schedule to create more free time? Remove them! Can you reorganize your schedule to create more time to do what you want? Reorganize it! Of course, if you’ve got loads of time and the “thing you can’t stand” is the cooking and prepping itself, refer to 7 & 8 below . . . or consult with me and we’ll figure out how to help you generate the income for that chef you’ve been dreaming about.

(Now, heading into “mindset considerations” below . . . )

7. Remember That Change Isn’t Always Easy . . . And You’ll “Get Quicker” With Practice! Stick with this change in lifestyle and cooking habits. Do the best you can, focus, and realize that, with more practice and experience, things will only get easier.

8. Remember What You’re Doing This For! The alternative may be ready-made food, but if the ready-made stuff is the junk that was making you unhealthy, less energetic and fat in the first place, what good is it going to do you? To get what you want, this is the route you want (and need!) to take.

9. Recognize That “Slowing Down” Is Okay . . . And Important! “Oh, the horror!” or “You’ve got to be kidding me!” are the two most common responses to this one, but is the suggestion really unreasonable? As hard as slowing down can be in the midst of the hectic life that you live, it’s a great way for you to get in touch with your nature (gathering your food and cooking like this used to be the “norm,” after all), with yourself and your dreams. Yep — the kitchen can be your place of inspiration, even if you’re slowing down in quick-like fashion. And who knows, the inspiration you find may make you even more motivated and productive . . . freeing up even more time to cook!

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You’re on your way to a healthier, fitter you, and the food you eat (and how you eat it) is a central component to your success — so stick to it! As the saying goes . . . “If things don’t change . . . nothing changes!” You are MAKING CHANGE, and by sticking to the simple tips listed above, you’ll make all the change you dream of.

Keep it up!

P.S. If you want to get started on a nutrition plan that will change your body (and your life), feel free to subscribe to “Women’s Fitness Beyond 40″ by entering your information in the subscribe box on the left. The program’s there for you to act on!

The article features a basic training routine, coupled with fat-burning tips that aren’t frequently mentioned in the mainstream.

Please check out the article and contact me with any questions or comments you have!

P.S. Want help with your health, fat loss and/or fitness? Enter your information in the upper left hand “Subscribe” Box and you’ll have access to my simple, potent nutrition program!

Is it possible that the problem is that your body is simply too tired to give you the results you want (even if you’re not consciously aware of it) . . . and that you’re actually digging yourself into a deeper hole with the approach you’re taking to succeed?

If you’re living the ‘typical’ fast-paced, time-crunched, multi-task-filled life of a 40-something woman, it’s easy to be so revved up in the mind and body that you don’t recognize that your body is constantly communicating with you. In fact, your life can be so manic that messages from your body end up completely masked . . . or ignored.

One of the most overlooked physical qualities is fatigue — a symptom that it’s critically important to be aware of, particularly if you’re expecting your body to deliver the results that you want as quickly as possible!

So . . . what’s the source of your fatigue? And what can you do to help you get the results you want? Read on!

What’s the source of your fatigue?

Aside from obvious answers like, “I’m tired because I’ve gone to bed after 2am for the last 5 nights” or “I’m recovering from a long week of work (kids/husband/fill in blank),” consider the idea that your body is tired from the hard work it’s doing to naturally cleanse and balance itself. (This holds particularly true if you’re trying to “detoxify” your body with an effective nutrition program.) Withdrawal from toxins is hard work!

As your body works to regain homeostasis (homeostasis = balance = health), you may note a feeling of increased fatigue. In actuality, this fatigue may have been around for a long time, but was masked by your overactive sympathetic nervous system (Fight or flight on a daily basis, anyone?). If this is the case with you — that your body has been under a state of “masked fatigue” for an extended period of time — imagine what your body has been saying to you as you’ve embarked on killer workouts (on top of a killer days)! From a physiological standpoint, it may have been ready to throw in the towel before each training session.

(Overly) fatigued body . . . just trying to manage basic everyday function . . . getting blasted by traditional workouts.

The training protocol might be ideal in theory, but if the body isn’t up to the task (whether you’re conscious of it or not), is it any wonder that your body isn’t giving you the results that you’re expecting?

If your body is working hard to bring you back to a state of balanced health, it’s dedicating a SIGNIFICANT amount of it’s energy to rebuilding you . . . and doesn’t have any reserve energy to do much else, including burning fat! As such, it’s very important to make sure you’re supporting the process of rebuilding health by:

• Doing exercise that emphasizes REJUVENTATING you. (Such as? Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Yoga, or any ‘workout’ (including those with weights!) where the emphasis is more on mobility, movement quality and breathing than it is on exerting yourself. If you do more intense exercise, keep the duration short, with equal/more emphasis placed on rest and recovery in between bouts of exertion.)
• Eating nutrient-rich food, drinking lots of pure water.
• Getting high quality, sufficient sleep.
• Doing the things you love.
• Doing all you can to reduce/remove all that burdens you mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically.

Do all of this, and you break the vicious downward spiral of fatigue that’s so common, generating increased reserve energy — energy that can be used to effectively and efficiently transform your body; energy that will increase your body’s capacity to handle stress and avoid illness & injury; energy that will help you to achieve what you WANT in life.

40 is just a number . . . don’t let it, or fatigue tell you otherwise!

P.S.  Want to make significant changes, but you’re not quite ready to start the entire training program?  Download my nutrition program with the form on the left and start transforming your health (and body!) today!

Terry Orlick, author of In Pursuit Of Excellence, did exactly this in his inspirational book . . . so much so that the majority of this post is in his words.

It does not matter WHAT you decide to do, as long as what you choose to do is exactly what you WANT to do. Fitness goals. Improved health and fat loss. Family. Career and financial aspirations. Fun and Games. Travel. Friends. Everything and Anything you want to do, you CAN do. All you’ve got to do is identify what you want . . . and then choose to go after it until you get it.

It’s never too late to start.  Your dreams are important (and realistic!) whether you’re a 6 year-old girl, a teen, in college or a successful woman in her 40s!  This moment is significant right now and time does not have to be a factor.  The only factor that matters is that, if you want something go out and get it!! Take this to heart, and it’s hard to imagine that you’ll ever have an unfulfilled, unhappy-feeling day for the rest of your life!

Excerpt Below from In Pursuit Of Excellence
By Terry Orlick, PhD

Excellence in every part of your life is a decision — decide to excel.

Excellence is a choice — choose to excel.

Excellence is full focus — focus, focus, focus . . .

Decide what it is that you really want to do.

Decide to do what you really want to do. Choose to do it!

Focus fully on doing what you want to do — every day . . .

Virtually everything that you do or do not do in your life is ruled by the choices that you make. You can choose to excel or choose not to excel. You can choose to bring focus and quality to what you do or choose not to. You can choose to get stressed out about things beyond your control or choose not to. You can choose to let other people upset you or choose not to. You can choose to approach obstacles and react to challenging situations in positive ways or in negative ways. You can choose to dwell n the negatives or focus on the positives. You can choose to embrace your dreams and go after them or let them drift away without really trying. These are your choices, and your choices direct the quality of your performance and the joyfulness of your life. You decide.

I have never met an Olympic champion, world champion, or world leader in any field who did not decide that he or she was going to go after his or her goals with full focus. If you want to perform and live to your personal potential, at some point you have to decide to do it with full focus. After you decide to pursue your dream or follow a path with focus and commitment, the next challenge often becomes staying on that path when it becomes bumpy. The first big step is choosing to excel. The next big step, which is sometimes even more challenging is deciding to persist through the obstacles. No one reaches his or her personal potential without facing obstacles, setbacks, and challenges along the way. Adversity is a normal part of the journey to excellence in every field.

People who are successful at persisting through obstacles, challenges, setbacks, bad patches, uncertainties, doubts, and sometimes fear find a way to keep a sense of purpose, passion, or perspective in their pursuit. They feel that they have meaningful reasons for doing what they are doing and are able to retain those reasons for doing it. What are your reasons for doing what you are doing, for pursuing what you are pursuing? Why are you doing it? What are you hoping you pursuit will give you in the short run and in the long run? What do you like or love about doing it? What do you hope it will give you and those who have supported you or those you care about?

If you can retain your passion for pursuing your dream and find sustainable reasons for doing it, pure excellence will become a realistic goal. If you lose your passion for pursuing your dream and are not able to find sustainable reasons for continuing to do it, pure excellence will become an elusive goal. Retention of passion, retention of purpose, retention of focus, retention of love or joy, and retention of choice are all essential for living your dream of personal excellence (pp. 3-4).

Take the time to discover your dreams. (If they’re in your heart, they’re important to you!!)

Take the time to write them down.

Remind yourself of those dreams every time you remember, every chance you get.

Go get ‘em!!

Here’s to your EXCELLENT “Life that began at 40!!”

“Turning Fitness Inside-Out.”

Want to get a feel for how this program specifically for women over 40 works?  Follow (and support!) Maria on her journey here.

Have a great day!

How many times have started a ‘new’ diet or a new training program (or a new year) with high expectations and aspirations . . . only to find yourself struggling (or giving up) before you’ve reached your goal?

What keeps you from reaching your highest potential?

What will enable and empower you to reach it?

Brené Brown’s talk on Vulnerability (below) touches on concepts that go well beyond merely “sticking to a training program,” but the simple fact is that these concepts are important to your success in achieving health . . . and sticking to the decisions you make that will bring you the results you desire.

Knowing you’re “worth it” opens you up to listening to your heart and recognizing what you really want.

Knowing you’re “worth it” opens you up to taking action toward the goals/dreams/desires you really want.

Knowing you’re “worth it” fuels you to keep going even during the toughest of times because you’ll find a way to deliver the goods to a worthwhile cause (YOU!)

Being “vulnerable” (because you’re worth it!) opens you to being your authentic self, 100% of the time — speaking your truth, living your dreams and sticking to your plan(s) of action — and not letting the fears associated with vulnerability keep you from reaching your goals.

Essentially, knowing you’re “worth it” and being vulnerable are 2 significant keys for opening the doors to success in any endeavor you decide to pursue . . . including your training.

Enjoy Brené Brown’s inspirational video and share it with your family and friends!

Begin Your Fitness Journey Now

The thing is, women have come to me after years of practicing the ‘everything in moderation’ lifestyle . . . and they’re living with anything BUT the health and fitness they desire.

I believe that ‘everything in moderation’ is a crutch used to avoid choosing a specific path.

It’s an ‘easy way out’ when individuals don’t want to make tough choices and would rather pacify themselves by choosing to be moderate.

Now, some may argue that ‘moderation’ equals ‘balance’ and that being balanced is much healthier physically, mentally and emotionally than living at one extreme or another.

The thing is, 9 times out of 10 when I hear ‘everything in moderation’, the individual saying it isn’t searching for balance. They’re searching for the aforementioned easy way out — the way to live without making sacrifices — while also expecting the world!

And unfortunately, (of course) change isn’t going to come about with that mindset!

Is ‘everything in moderation’ a choice?

Sure!

Choosing moderation is a perfectly viable solution.

So is choosing ‘mediocrity’; choosing ‘average’; choosing ‘standard’.

But you don’t choose ‘mediocrity’ when you aim for improved health, do you?

No! You choose to have the best health you can possibly have, right?

You don’t choose ‘average’ when you’re striving for fat loss, do you?

No! You choose to shed as much fat as you can . . . in the shortest amount of time.

You don’t look for a ‘standard’ training program to do deliver you health, fitness and fat loss, right?

No! You want an excellent training program that’s going to take into consideration all of your needs, and deliver EXACTLY what you’re striving for!

So, than the question is, why would you choose anything ‘in moderation’, when achieving success requires actions above and beyond . . . average?

Take a chance!

Go beyond ‘moderation’ with your nutrition. Dedicate above average effort to your training; commit to the ‘extremes’ of a healthy lifestyle that suits you perfectly . . .

It’s the surest way to go beyond ‘moderate’ to ‘overwhelming’ health and fitness success.

‘Turning Fitness Inside Out.’

Women’s Fitness Beyond 40

The Swine Flu is circling the globe . . . and vaccination is all the rage. EVERYBODY is being asked to get the vaccine and, one day, it may even be forced upon you. To top it all off, there is an incredible campaign that’s been launched to push this whole thing along even further.

Last week, another interview with another ‘expert’ proclaimed that the swine flu vaccine was safe, healthy and necessary; people were shown lining up in droves — some in ‘vaccination drive-thrus’, others in lines waiting to get inoculated with a nasal spray injection.

The thing is, the vaccine isn’t necessarily safe, isn’t necessarily healthy and surely isn’t necessary.

At all.

Why? I’ve got 5 reasons for you here:

5 Reasons Why You Don’t Need the Swine Flu Vaccine (or Any Flu Vaccine, for that matter).

1. Many of the professionals administering the vaccine aren’t even willing to take it themselves.

This point speaks for itself, doesn’t it? If the vaccine was absolutely necessary, safe and guaranteed effective, you’d think these health care workers would be first in line to get injected — whether it be via nasal spray or the more traditional intravenous injection. . .

Take the lead of the healthcare workers shunning the vaccine . . . and stay away.

2. ‘Swine Flu’ may be spreading quickly, but it isn’t any worse for you than the ‘average’ yearly flu.

In fact, data is pointing to it being less deadly than the flu bug strain(s) that annually work their way around the globe.

If vaccinations are optional for the ‘standard’ flu, and the standard flu is more dangerous, what’s the point of getting a swine flu vaccination?

3. There’s no guarantee the Swine Flu vaccine will keep you from getting the flu.

One of the most ridiculous arguments given for using the vaccine is that it’s perfectly matched for the strain of swine flue that currently exists. (One of the first times this has ever occurred).

This doesn’t guarantee anything!

Influenza has the unique trait of containing 8 genetic strands per viral capsule, leaving it incredibly vulnerable to mutation, especially if it replicates in the vicinity of a different strain.

(Example: Horse flu replicates in the vicinity of bird flu, resulting in a new flu strain that is a hybrid of horse and bird flu).

So, the vaccine may be ‘perfect’ now, but if the virus mutates, even the slightest bit, the vaccine you’ve been given is rendered useless.

4. You’ve got innate immunity — customized, ‘built-in’ immunity that will take care of you.

An argument made for vaccination claims that the vaccine is necessary ‘because people haven’t developed immunity to this flu strain yet.

There isn’t a virus on the planet, including tiny little cold viruses (of which there are over 200 strains), that you’ll have immunity for . . . until you’ve been exposed to it.

And when you are, your innate immunity ‘kicks in’, recognizes the flu as a foreign object and then builds up defenses against it. Sure, you might get sick — even if you have a strong, optimally functioning immune system. But it’ll only be temporary as adequate immunity is built up to specifically defeat the flu that you’ve acquired.

Why go through the trouble of inoculating yourself unnaturally when your body is perfectly capable of taking care of you on its own?

5. The vaccine poses a greater risk to you than the swine flu virus itself.

The chemicals used to stabilize the vaccine and/or boost its effects on your immune system are often toxic, capable of leaving serious side-effects.

Even additives that aren’t outrightly toxic can harm the body because of the way that the vaccine is administered. For example, Squalene, is a naturally occurring compound in the human body that is used as an adjuvant in the swine flu vaccine. If it’s produced or ingested by us, all is well. As soon as it’s injected as part of a vaccine, however, Squalene is seen as an ‘invader’ . . . leaving open the possibility that the pre-existing squalene in your body is subject to an auto-immune response . . . leaving you with a list of symptoms to deal with when all you were initially looking for was protection from a relatively harmless virus.
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Of course, the question remains . . . if you’re not going to vaccinate yourself, what can you do to prevent (or lessen the effects of) swine flu infection?

EASY!

The answer lies in what we talk about all the time: Build a foundation of health with . . .

. . . Awareness and Clarity of Purpose — manage your stress and bring invigorating energy to your life by knowing what you’re doing and why you’re doing it . . . and then actively pursuing it!

. . . Quality Nutrition — eating nutrient-rich, whole foods that cater to your individual needs, giving you the ingredients to build an optimally structured, optimally functioning body. Of course, one of the critical factors in all of this is drastically reducing/ fully eliminating sugar from your diet, as sugar negatively effects immune system function.

. . . Adequate Sleep — a healthy body prepares itself to stay that way by getting sleep, with the hours between 10pm and 2am being the most critical for physical repair and a ‘boost’ to the immune system.

. . . Exercise — a well-designed training program will enhance the effects of your healthy lifestyle choices.

. . . Good Hygiene — wash those hands!

Once again, staying healthy comes down to simplicity. There is nothing that we can do to the body/for our body that is more effective than what the body can do on its own.

No treatment. No drug. No vaccine. At best, our interventions simply create an opportunity for the body to do what it does naturally; at worst, they cause problems that didn’t exist to begin with . . . that could have been avoided.

Cultivate the health that your body is innately designed to maintain, and you’ll thrive perfectly well without the swine flu vaccine.

Thanks for reading. If there’s anything you’d like to add or discuss, please leave a comment!

Women’s Fitness Beyond 40

• You’ve stopped doing ‘traditional cardio’ in favor of strength training.
• When you ‘do’ cardio, you do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), not long slow distance (LSD).
• You’ve done ‘total body training’, 3 days per week, because studies (and work in the trenches) have shown that this is the most time efficient and effective way to transform your body.
• Everything you think, feel and do is dedicated to turning your body into a fat-burning furnace via higher metabolism and increased strength.

The only problem seems to be that all of this scientifically-justified, ‘in-the-trenches’ training isn’t working for YOU.

All your hard work . . . and all you’ve got to show for it is fatigue, frustration and little to no fat loss. Or, worse yet, you did succeed, but have since regressed and are left wondering “What happened?” as you begin again from square one.

If this describes you or somebody you know, here are 5 reasons why your fat loss training program is failing you:

1. You view training as if it’s a ‘magic pill.’
Common sentiment these days seems to be that exercise is the central figure in getting you healthy. You buy the optimal training program, you train hard, you train consistently . . . and the rest of your life falls into place.

You eat what you want — “No problem! Exercise makes up for it!”

You drink regularly with your friends – ‘No problem!! Exercising harder ‘cancels out’ the beers.”

But training isn’t a remedy for fixing or ‘overriding’ consistently poor choices. It just doesn’t work that way. If you view it as a ‘magic pill’, you’re setting yourself up for disappointing results because, frankly there’s a little more to training than ‘just training’, whether that’s a premise you want to accept or not.

2. You worry more about the quantity of calories you consume and less about the quality.

To this day, the common focus by those fixated on fat loss is on burning calories.

Eat (a little) less! Burn more!

It’s as if food’s only responsibility is to provide you with energy when you’re depleted . . . and, again, that’s simply not the case.

When eating, your primary focus should be on the quality of the food you’re eating. Quality food builds a quality infrastructure while building an optimally functioning body — one that will favorably respond to the rigors of your training.

3. You’re using a training program that’s not aligned with your specific training goals.

A healthy lifestyle is important for having any program work, but assuming you’ve got ‘healthy’ down, you’ve got to make sure that you’re using a training program that will deliver according to your specific needs.

If you’re going to burn fat, you’ll best be served by strength training and metabolic conditioning. If you’re trying to add significant muscle, you’ll want a training program that delivers high intensity and high volume. If you’re simply looking to kick the living heck out of yourself because, well, you can, then you’d be served by some incredibly intense conditioning. Point being, after (or concurrent with) cultivating health, if you want to get specific results, you’ll want to choose training that will deliver those specific results as efficiently and effectively as possible.

4. You view exercise as an ‘isolated event’ in your life and not as part of a lifelong journey.

If you do this, you tend to treat your ‘exercising self’ as an alter-ego of the real you. You live one way when you’re not training; you live another when you are. You eat ‘good foods’ when you’re training; ‘bad foods’ as soon as you get into shape.

The thing is, of course, that the ‘exercising you’ and the ‘real you’ are one in the same person, living one life — a life that responds best to consistency and flow. If you live a life of inconsistency, where you ‘live healthy’ only when you’ve got to burn fat and fall off the wagon as soon as your use of the ‘perfect fat loss program’ has finished, the roller coaster ride that your body has taken leads to hard-to-achieve (or fleeting) results.

5. You’re using a training program that’s not ‘ideal’ based on your current stress/health status.

If your underlying health isn’t supporting the fitness program you’re doing, you won’t see the results you expect.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the greatest training program on Earth!

It doesn’t matter if you feel you can do the training — ability to do a program doesn’t imply guaranteed results!

Quite simply, you’ve got to choose exercise that will bring balance and harmony to your underlying physiology. If you’re chronically over-stressed your body is going to respond best to activity that encourages rejuvenation, rebuilding and recovery (think: qi-gong, yoga, a walk in the park, etc.), not to the latest, greatest ‘run yourself into the ground’ fat loss program.

In the end, it comes down to this:

Blindly choosing exercise because ‘it’s the best method for fat loss’ without looking at the big picture and considering such things as ‘what your body needs from ITS perspective’ can end up being an exercise in futility. You might feel good in the moment (because you feel the burn and you’re sweating profusely), but what you’re doing could be the exact opposite of what’s necessary to truly transform into the image of what you want.

Take this into consideration, and you’ll have much greater success with any fitness program you follow from this point forward.

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Are you getting the results you want from your training program? Let me know in the comments! If you’re stuck and looking for suggestions I’d be happy to help!

Thanks for reading!

Women’s Fitness Beyond 40