(Make sure you read all the way through for the special bonus at the end of the post!

Last night went by in a blur as I was preparing for the opening of AverageGoddess.com.  I’m setting up interviews, planning tele-classes, loading articles, filming videos… you name it!

Earlier this week, I interviewed Holly Rigsby, America’s #1 Fitness Expert for Busy Moms, and also the author of FitYummyMummy.  Holly is awesome.  She’s the real deal.  She has a real story of how she came to be where she is, she practices what she preaches, and she and her clients have the bodies to show that it works!  Holly works out every day.  WAIT!!!  Before you go screaming away from this page, guess how LONG she works out for?  Seriously, guess.

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15 minutes.  I kid you not.  I’ll be honest, I was a little incredulous when I read that myself (especially since many of you know my history, and that there was a time in my life when I was working out 90 minutes – 2 hours a DAY), but it’s the truth. 

If you’ve read my book or my ezine (both free – get them here), you know that I ask everyone to tell me about their fitness program, how (or IF) they work it into their lifestyle, and what their challenges are.  Almost without fail, the number one answer I get is “I can’t find time to exercise consistently.”  Well my lovelies, I believe Holly has just solved that problem for you!  And did I mention that she’s FUN? 

I was originally planning to make this interview available only to members of AverageGoddess.com, but after speaking with her for well over an hour, I knew this was information that had to be shared.  This is NOT only for moms!!  Yes, Holly addresses the challenges that are unique to moms, but so many of us lead CRAZY-BUSY LIVES, this is the answer to a prayer!  Mom or not, you need to hear what Holly has to say, so I’m giving you the opportunity to download this entire interview.  Free.  Now.  Go get it here –> http://www.averagegoddess.com/hollyrigsby.html

Ok, so I did the interview, and I loved what Holly had to say, but that’s not actually what I wanted to talk about.  Back to last night.  (Sorry, I digress.)

So I’m eyeball deep in working on AverageGoddess.com and networking with amazing people from all over the globe.  Suddenly it’s 8:00, my husband will be home in half an hour, I’m getting hungry, and I haven’t exercised! D’oh!  Just for fun, I wanted to try one of Holly’s workouts, so I hopped over to youtube and picked her “Fat Blasting Holiday Workout.”  (I picked it because the video was just over 2 minutes long – lol!)

Oh my gosh, it was fabulous – and challenging!  I did three of each of the supersets, and by the time I was done, my muscles were fatigued, my heart rate was way up, and I felt great!  (FYI, I’m no fitness slouch, so I know a good workout when I’m getting one!)  The actual workout took me about 12 minutes, plus stretching before and after, I think I was done in under 20 minutes total.  You have GOT to give this a try.

This video gets two thumbs up from me, and while I may be a KittyMummy, I am just as appreciative of a fast effective workout as a BabyMummy!  Enjoy!

P.S.  Holly is providing a special bonus for the members of AverageGoddess.com.  Click here to get your copy of the interview so that you’ll be notified as the site nears completion.  It’s gonna be fantastic!

While I was working out this evening, and visualizing myself at my target weight by Thanksgiving (what more effective time to visualize than when actively on the road to one’s goal?), I got to thinking about what I could do differently this winter to prepare me for the onslaught of “hibernation mode.”

I think variety will still be my best defense… I need to make sure that I not only have different styles of workout, but different levels.  Going into winter as the new, much saner me, I can see that the answer is not to drive myself to spring like the last five miles of a marathon, but accomodate myself as necessary.  If there are days that all I want to do is stay curled up warm in bed (and here in Chi-Town, that is a straight-up inevitability), but I know that I can do a workout that will ease my frigid muscles while perking me up for the day ahead, I believe THAT is a lot more likely to get me down the basement stairs than a grueling torture session!

That said, I took my after-workout stretching time (usually 10-15 minutes) to brainstorm on what kind of things I’d like to try.  Friends of mine have highly recommended Jari Love, Ripped to the Core;  Jillian Michaels’ 30-Day Shred; and Qui-Gong, so I think I will start with those.  I will also pick up an aerobic step – preferably one that comes with a video.  I’m still hoping I can talk husby into gettin me a treadmill for xmas to keep last year’s elliptical company downstairs, but he’s balking because my fitness equipment is eating up his basement.  (A word from the voice of wisdom ladies:  NEVER promise your husband the basement can be his… you might want it some day!   None-the-less, I’m trying to win him over with the argument that it’s his job to maintain his trophy wife.  Right?  Can I get some back up on this?

The other prong of my attack will be to continue getting massages at least monthly, but preferably bi-weekly.  It’s amazing to me how it rejuvenates not just the body, but the mind and spirit maybe even more so.

So that’s where I’m at for the moment.  If any of you goddesses have any other suggestions, please do share!

What do you do after falling off the exercise wagon? 

First things first – stop berating yourself.  Yes, you are.  Somewhere in your mind you are feeling badly about not exercising, or you wouldn’t be worried about getting back in control.  So let it go.  That’s the past, and this is NOW, the only time you have.

To get started, it’s important to figure out what happened.  Look back and try to remember how you were feeling when the wagon left you under the wheels.  Were you stressed, bored, frustrated, worried?  See if you can get to the heart of why you were feeling that way – what was the cause of the emotion?  Once you have that pinned down (and there may be several reasons), the next step is to ask yourself a hard question:  What can YOU do differently?  No one can change your circumstances except you, so that’s where the answer has to lay.  If you feel you are pressed for time and it’s stressing you out, stop trying to fit in five hour-long sessions in a week.  Maybe there are three days you can fit in a full hour, but the other days you have to spread it out in 15 minutes here and 15 there… it all adds up the same.  If you’re bored (and falling into a rut is extremely common), what can you do to shake up your routine?  Get off the treadmill and try the elliptical.  Bike outdoors.  Walk with a friend.  Take a dance class.  You get the idea. 

The next step is to look at your schedule and do a detailed time map, allow for a variable schedule, but be brutally honest – it’s pointless to look at your planner, throw your hands in the air, and declare the situation hopeless.  There IS time if you are willing to MAKE time.  That said, you must be realistic.  One of the main reasons people fall off of the exercise wagon to begin with is unrealistic expectations.  If there is a day in which you have precisely 15 minutes you can claim in the name of fitness, it would be absurd to plan to go to spin class.  For example, I have an early morning meeting on Wednesday and Saturday.  On those days, I do 15 minutes of strength training before work.  When I get home, if I feel like it I might do cardio, but honestly, I usually don’t.  I have learned to be ok with that.  If I had to come home after a long day and force myself back into my workout clothes, I would come to resent that commitment in short order.  That’s no way to build a lasting routine.

Ultimately, it boils down to goals and commitment.  What was your initial goal?  WHY was that goal important, and is it still?  Does it need to be reevaluated?  Refocus on your reasons for working out in the first place.  If you are trying to lose weight, what will losing weight do for you?  How will you feel when you’ve lost the weight?  It’s the same process whether you are trying to improve your fitness, train for an event, or work on a health issue.  Remember why that’s important.  Write it down!  Writing has a way of bringing thoughts into tangible reality, and its power should not be underestimated.  One last question:  What are you afraid will happen if you achieve this goal?  At first, that may sound stupid.  What could be bad about losing weight or getting in shape?  The truth is, many of us have underlying fears or limiting beliefs about our own abilities and how others perceive us.  We may be afraid that someone will judge us, or that we’ll no longer be able to use our weight as an excuse for not living life, or that our husband will feel somehow less “manly” because his wife is so strong.  Let those things go.  Talk about them if you need to.  Write them down, and then burn the piece of paper.  Do whatever you need to do to break that self-defeating cycle, or this won’t be the last time you’ll find yourself in this position. 

Now, to get back ON the wagon, the first step is to just get started.  There are many people who would disagree with this, but I suggest giving yourself one more day, just to prove to that snotty little voice in your head that YOU are the one in control, and YOU are the one who decides what is best for you.  Build your routine back up slowly, and be kind to yourself.  Commit to doing ten minutes.  That’s it.  When those ten minutes are over, give yourself permission to stop.  99 times out of 100, you are going to continue longer than that, but if you don’t, let that be ok!  After a week, make it 15 minutes, or whatever makes sense to you, according to what you discovered when you laid out your schedule.  There may be days when no “dedicated” exercise time is possible.  That’s ok too!  (But don’t let it become a habit, or you’ll be reading this article again.)  On those days, just focus on staying active for a while – walk or bike to run your errands if possible, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park farther away, see how fast you can get in and out of the store, jog back to your car, and bring the grocery bags in the house one at a time!

When you have completed your workout, no matter how long it was or what it consisted of, take a moment to pat yourself on the back.  Congratulate yourself on a job well done, thank your mind for providing the motivation, and thank your body for the wonderful work it’s just done.  As your relationship with yourself improves, you’ll come to see your fitness as a reward, instead of a chore – pulling the wagon instead of riding in it!

Get your free ebook HERE

How To Be An Average Goddess

100+ Secrets of Smart, Savvy, Sexy Women
Blazing a Path Through Life!

This is it! - Average Goddess, meet THE WORLD.  *trumpets!*  *fan-fare!*  *Wahoo!*

As you probably know, my free ebook, How To Be An Average Goddess, was finished a couple of weeks ago.  Since then, I’ve been striving to find just the right way to bring it to you, and how to bundle it with other things you might find equally wonderful and useful.  Ulterior motives?  Of course!  I want you to fall madly in love with all things Average Goddess.  I want to build an entire alliance of Average Goddesses across the globe – a pageant of motivated and goal-oriented women who are NOT afraid of their own strength and success!  I want to provide you with every tool you need to take that journey, and to become that woman… to find the goddess that lives in every single one of us.  I want to over-deliver on all of your expectations.  I want to show you that eating healthy is NOT a monumental task, that fitness does NOT have to be an elusive concept forever just out of reach, that success IS garnered one achievable step at a time, that family and friends CAN be the most rewarding facet of your life instead of the most taxing, and that the universe IS conspiring at every moment to bring you the life of your dreams!

What you get right this second is a FREE newsletter that’s packed with articles, tips, products, and inspiration to get you started.  Join me now and grab your newsletter, Secrets of the Sisterhood, and the book How To Be An Average Goddess, hits your inbox Saturday morning (assuming technology performs as it should!!).  And of course, you still get all of the regular articles here at Divine Musings, as the world continues to spice up my life with things I feel MUST be discussed!  What you can look forward to in the future is a whole series of books, cds, interviews, videos, and an entire website devoted to nothing but helping you achieve your dreams! 

Ready?  Then get your goddess on!  Just click the link below to be a part of this revolutionary community… filled with goddesses just like YOU!

http://www.averagegoddess-freebook.com/index.htm

 

Get your FREE copy of the little ebook

that’s already changing lives!

 

How To Be An Average Goddess

100+ Secrets of Smart, Savvy, Sexy Women,

Blazing a Path Through Life! 

 

 

www.averagegoddess-freebook.com

As some of you know, my current profession is as an interior designer.  I say “current” profession, because I have previously been an opera singer and biochemist, and will probably try other paths in the future.  You may also know that I lost about 25 pounds last year, and have managed to keep them off.  (Ok, it took me two tries, but that’s another story.)  How do these things relate to one another?  I shall explain in my usual (circuitous) fashion.

Losing weight (or getting in shape) requires more than willpower – it requires motivation, belief, and creativity… lots and lot of creativity.  Boredom and deprivation are two of the top three killers of most people’s good health intentions.  The third is something fitness gurus don’t talk about much, but is perhaps the most insidious, in that it is totally unavoidable… REAL LIFE!!  (DUM DUM DUM!)  This is where the creativity comes in.

Last night I did some major Tae-Bo – major in the sense that the soreness didn’t even wait till the next day to settle in – major like I was feeling the burn before the workout even ended.  (It was great!)  My intention this morning had been to get up and do some strength training.  We’re having the parents for dinner tonight (as guests, not food) so I knew I wouldn’t have time after work.  Well, real life dictated otherwise.  When I got up this morning, the effects of my Tae-Bo-of-Doom session were evident, and strength training was not happening.  Now here I am, eight hours later, sitting at my desk.  It’s raining cats and dogs, so folks aren’t really out seeking an interior designer, and for this one brief, shining moment, I seem to be caught up on all my projects… whoa.  Thus, I find myself with some down time, and I’m feeling rather recovered from last night’s exertion.  Guess what I’m doing?

Remember how I promised to get back to the relationship between my being an interior designer, and successfully losing 25 pounds?  Here we are:  creativity, people.  When “real life” intervenes with your carefully laid plans, you must adapt – you must be on the alert for opportunity!  My high heels are on the floor beside me as I do two sets each of squats and lunges.  I don’t have a yoga ball, but I do have a small tufted ottoman which is supporting me nicely through some crunches and bridges.  Bicep and tricep curls?  Well, I don’t have any dumbbells, but I do have… lamps without shades!  (And let me tell you, our lamps are no joke in the weight department!)  Whew!  This was awesome!  I should totally market this as the Designer’s Workout.     Your brain can do more than just talk you OUT of something (although it will if you let it)… if you force it to do so, it can also come up with some great solutions.

But wait, do you still have thoughts like “lazy,” and “fat-ass,” running around in your head when you think of yourself?  You seriously need to stop that.  You ARE what you think – no more, and no less!  You’ve all heard about the power of affirmations, positive thinking, and visualization.  Maybe you even think you’ve tried them, and they haven’t worked.  That’s because underneath your conscious positive thoughts, the negative ones were still running SUBconsciously.  I had read about folks who managed to lose weight just by “thinking thin.”  I’m here to tell you, this made a huge difference for me in my second time around the weight-loss track.  When I stopped abusing myself mentally, and started thanking my body for all of the wonderful things it does for me, my fitness world changed dramatically.  I now eat almost totally intuitively (with no calorie counting).  My fitness is improving and my weight is lowering even WITHOUT an hour and a half of exercise every day (which is what I was doing the first time around).  Pounds are shedding just because I THINK they are.  I feel lighter, airier… happier.  Now don’t think this is some sort of miracle where I just woke up at my goal weight one morning, cuz not so much.  (I’m still not quite at my goal weight, but I should be soon.)  It’s more like I’m not at ODDS with my efforts, and everything is happening with greater… simplicity.  Keep in mind the entire rest of this article.  It’s not as if I’m sitting on my sofa, meditating on my perfect health goals, and expecting to open my eyes and see it manifest (although I believe that’s theoretically possible!).  I’m still eating sensibly, I work out regularly, and I get at least eight hours of sleep a night so that my body can rejuvenate.  The difference is now that I have my brain’s cooperation, it no longer feels like such a struggle.

So if you’re trying to lose weight, get fit, or improve your health, follow these two important steps:

1.  Be kind to yourself.  Be grateful for all that you possess, physically and mentally.  See yourself as you wish the world to see you.
2.  Don’t fear life’s regular interruptions, because that’s what LIVING is all about!  Just keep your eyes open for unexpected opportunity, and be creative with how you approach your diet and exercise… it doesn’t always have to occur in the gym at 6:00pm sharp.

Here’s to your health!
All my love,
Kristy

Are You READY??

It’s almost time!!

We’re counting down to the release of

How To Be An Average Goddess

100+ Secrets of Smart, Savvy, Sexy Women, Blazing a Path Through Life!

I bet it’s a question many of you have asked yourself.

WHY do I persistently resist having to exercise??

Allow me to review the things I know regarding this subject:

1. Exercise is good for my body.  It keeps me strong and healthy.  I believe that my body is my temple, and it deserves to be treated as such.
2. Exercise is good for my self-esteem.  When I’m working out regularly, I feel sexier, my skin, hair, and nails look healthier, and my clothes fit better.
3. Exercise is good for my mind.  It gives me more energy to get through a hectic day.  The increased flow of blood and oxygen to my brain sharpens my clarity, focus, creativity, and acuity.
4. Exercise is good for my diet.  I love to eat!  Exercising regularly frees me from the tyranny of counting every calorie, and desperately having to resist EVERY tasty morsel that crosses my path.
5. I ENJOY exercising!  95% of the time it feels really good to be doing it, and 100% of the time, I feel like a warrior when I’m finished.
6. Exercise is good for my spirit.  There’s just nothing like pushing my physical boundaries to connect me to my spiritual source.
7. I’ve SEEN the effects of regular exercise in my loss of 30 pounds last year!

So what gives?  Why are there so many days that I view putting on my gym shoes like a sentence to the iron maiden?  Can I argue that working out is not a valuable use of 30, 45, or even 60 minutes of my precious time?  Hang on a moment while I refer back to items 1-7.  … … … Hmm…. Nope.  While I could simply chalk it up to the crazy person who lives in my head (!), the real answer for me (and those of you for whom this is a familiar scenario) is two-fold. 

The first issue is that all of us have an inner three-year-old with a tyrannical demand for instant gratification, and the fact is that the benefits of exercise take time to reap.  Then, once you’ve attained them, they require constant maintenance!!  In our world of one-button, one-pill, one-surgery, one-hour satisfaction, this long road to Nirvana feels just plain unacceptable.

The second factor, which is infinitely more complicated, is an issue of deserving.  Clearly, on an unconscious level, I still do not believe I deserve all of those benefits which I know exercise will bring me.  Fortunately for me, I have at least reached the stage where my will is stronger than my whim, but I evidently have further to progress before I can view those gym shoes with the gratitude they warrant. 

So how do I combat the situation?  Before each workout, as I face “The Shoes,” I walk myself through points 1-7.  This pretty effectively negates and silences all objections, leaving me with no recourse but to do what I knew I should do in the first place!

Are there any points you’d like to add to the list?  How do you get YOUR workouts done?  Leave me a comment and tell me about it!

All my love,  Kristy