Did you flip the page on your calendar yet? Welcome back Monday and hello August! If you've been following me on social media and here on my blog, you know that I have a theme each month. August is all about making your health and happiness a priority. Sometimes we get so caught up in our manic lifestyles that we forget how important it is to take care of ourselves. Before you know it you start feeling like a hostage in your own body. Stress and fatigue take over and you're packing on the pounds! You catch every stinking cold and virus that comes along, you suffer from things like brain fog, chronic pain and inflammation, and you just feel out-of-control! Your declining health can be like a runaway train, and if you don't slow down and control it, you can find yourself facing a future filled with chronic health problems. Flipping that page today is the perfect excuse to get motivated and set some new goals to make your overall wellness a priority before you encounter a major health crisis.

1. Get motivated!

If someone said to you "I'll give you $1,000,000 if you lose 15 pounds in the next 30 days," would you do it? You bet you would! Is that what you're waiting for? Would that be enough to motivate you to get control of your health? What if someone said to you "If you lose 15 pounds you'll live 10 years longer and get to spend 10 more years with your kids. You'll look and feel younger. You'll be able tot live life to it's fullest at a very old age." Would you be as motivated? In your heart you know the answer should be yes, but when we're not emotionally charged, it's easy to take our health for granted. Don't wait for that crisis to happen to motivate you to change. Whether your goal is to lose weight, get fit, manage a health condition or recover from an addiction or personal struggle; the first few steps are never easy. That mental breakthrough - deciding you want to change more than you want to stay the same - is one big, fiery dragon to slay!

2. Find your reason why

Forget about the unnecessary clutter in your life and get to the real reason you want to change. Don't get caught up in the numbers on the scale or on your jeans size, get to something more powerful, more emotional. It's that deep, emotional need that will drive you to show up every day and not fail. Write it down or find some kind of visual to remind yourself why you want to change and put it where you will see it each and every day. If you do this, soon your thoughts will shape your behavior and you actions and you will be soaring towards success!

3. Set realistic goals

This is not a race. Sometimes it the small, seemingly insignificant victories that will have a huge impact on your success. For example, let's say that you drink one Coke each day. A 20 oz bottle of Coke contains 16 teaspoons of sugar. Replacing that one soda each day with water or unsweetened iced tea might not seem like it is making a difference at first, but it could cause you to lose up to 30 pounds in a year! Even without exercising one bit! So why not give it a try? What's your junk food addiction? Try replacing that 1 item with a healthier choice and watch how your body reacts. After 4 weeks you will no longer miss it. After 8 weeks you will notice a difference and after 12 weeks everyone around you will notice. So start with baby steps and build on that by forming a new healthy habit each week. Before you know it your changes will become a way of life and you will look and feel better than ever!

4. Focus on progress, not perfection

Find ways to measure your success other than the numbers on the scale or the miles you've run. Look for victories in how you feel. Do you have more energy? Are you sleeping better? Can you think more clearly? There are so many benefits to improving your health besides just losing weight or completing a marathon. When you commit to good nutrition and fitness it might take a while to see the physical transformation, but along the way you will you will have lots of small victories to build on. If you get off track a little once in a while, just begin again. Don't let a setback ruin what you've worked so hard to accomplish. A bad day doesn't equal a bad life.

5. Challenge yourself

You do not depreciate. You increase in value with age. Your body can accomplish anything your mind tells it to. So why not invest in yourself, challenge yourself and transform yourself into the best version of you possible. If you're ready to make a commitment to your health and happiness, but you're not sure where to start, an online fitness and nutrition accountability group might be the answer you are looking for. here's what's coming up in August:

• No-fail, Health & Happiness Challenge Starting Monday, August 10
• Clean Eating and Shakeology Challenge Group Starting Monday, August 17
• 21 Day Fix/ Fix Extreme Challenge Group Starting Friday, August 21
• Dance Your Booty Off with CIZE, the End to Exercise Challenge, Monday August 31

Do any of these interest you? Here's what you need to know:

• We focus on nutrition, fitness & overall well being
• Challenges last 21 - 30 days
• You will have the chance to win prizes
• We make it fun
• It's all done in a virtual gym in a private Facebook group.
• Work out in your home, and at your own pace.
• 1:1 Free personal coaching from me. I'll answer questions and give support.
• In order to see the best results, you are required to purchase a Beachbody challenge pack or complete one that you already have. Choose from over 30 programs including CIZE, 21 Day Fix, PiYo, P90X, T25, Insanity, and more!
• We're a team & we help to motivate and support each other
• There is a 30 day money back guarantee
• You can save 25% on your purchase. Ask me how.

Are you ready to make the rest of your life the best of your life? Fill out this form for more information:

Online contact and registration forms from Wufoo.

Scared to Life!

Why do we have to be standing in front of a casket to be reminded how uncertain life really is? Just a few years ago, I stood in silence - in shock - staring at my aunt lying in that casket. She was only 64 years old and without warning, without any signs of poor health, she died of what appeared to be a heart attack. As family and friends were reminiscing about her life and the memories they shared with her, my thoughts were elsewhere. I was rewinding to a conversation I had with her a few months earlier. I had just been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and my doctor asked me if anyone else in my family had the disease. "I don't know, I don't think so, no one ever mentioned it," I replied. My aunt was the family historian. I knew if I asked her about our family's medical history, she could point to someone, somewhere in my genealogy who had the disease. To my surprise, she too had suffered from RA too but chose not to reveal it. "You can't do anything about it, you just have to live with it," she said. End of story.

Unfortunately for her, the medications that are available today to slow the progression of the disease did not exist when she was diagnosed. For years, she just quietly put up with the pain and didn't complain to anyone about her struggles. RA is an autoimmune disease with no cure. If left untreated, chronic inflammation from the disease can damage the lungs, kidneys and the heart leading to a premature death. And it is estimated that as many as one third to one half of RA patients will die of coronary artery disease.









So as I listened to people paying respects to my aunt, I'll admit it, my thoughts were more selfish. I stood there terrified, wondering if I was facing the last 20 years of my life. Did the countdown begin? I stared at the expression on my kid's faces and imagined if that's what they would look like standing there looking down at me. I did not want my story to end that way. At that moment I decided to step outside of myself and take a good look at what needed to change. There's nothing that she or I did to end up with this disease, it was pre-set in our DNA. However, with some lifestyle changes, it is possible to manage RA and lessen the symptoms. For the first time in my life, my health and happiness became a priority.







So why should it take a tragedy or a crisis to scare us into taking better care of ourselves? We spend the first part of our lives on automatic. We don't require a whole lot of maintenance. We live as if there is always going to be a tomorrow, like we have all the time in the world. Most of the time, we're lucky because things work out just as we had planned. The car starts in the morning, the pizza gets delivered on time, the internet is working, the kids remember to take their lunch. But when one of those seemingly insignificant things doesn't happen, it can absolutely ruin our day. We are not prepared for things to go wrong.

But what if all of a sudden, you were faced with an even bigger problem? What if you suddenly suffered a loss, illness, divorce, economic hardship, a life crisis beyond your control -  eventually it will happen. Tragedy, especially when it hits close to home, has the ability to shake us into taking action. It forces us to re-think our priorities and hit the reset button.

I made the decision that day to make the rest of my life the best of my life. I'm happy to say that today, my RA is under control. I look and feel better than I have in years. But it wasn't easy. I had to first change my mindset, then modify my diet and make a commitment to becoming fit. It's not a temporary fix, it is ongoing. It's a new way of life that focuses on replacing unhealthy habits with better life choices. It means putting an end to life in quick and easy mode. No more skipping breakfast, frequenting drive-throughs and concession stands,  juggling stress and chaos, no more self-punishment by putting myself last and rewarding myself with late night Netflix and snacks - sound familiar? All of this was taking years off my life and making me miserable.

I want to use my story to help other people transform their lives. I want to show you how to make your health and happiness a priority now, before a crisis happens. How you can take much better care of your family if you care for yourself. I'm inviting you to Join me for a 30-day online fitness and accountability group. It's not selfish, it's personal development. When you shift your focus to the things in your life you can change and control, you will be prepared to rise above any challenge.

No-fail, Health & Happiness Challenge Starting Monday, August 10

Here's what you need to know:

• We focus on nutrition, fitness & overall well being
• Challenge will last 30 days
• We will have prizes
• We make it fun
• It's all done in a virtual gym in a private Facebook group. Work out in your home, and at your own pace.
• 1:1 Free personal coaching from me. I'll answer questions and give support.
• In order to see the best results, you are required to purchase a Beachbody challenge pack or complete one that you already have. Choose from over 30 programs including CIZE, 21 Day Fix, PiYo, P90X, T25, Insanity, and more!
• We're a team & we help to motivate and support each other
• There is a 30 day money back guarantee
• You can save 25% on your purchase. Ask me how.

Are you ready to make the rest of your life the best of your life? Fill out this form for more information:

The easy to use Wufoo form builder helps you make forms easy, fast, and fun.

Brenda

Curiosity Killed the Fat!

Curious about Beachbody? I was too - for a long, long time before I decided to consider it. I knew a little about Beachbody fitness programs because my husband, Bill, used them regularly. At 50, Bill is in the best shape of his life! He tried his best to encourage me to use the fitness programs and to get in better shape and it frustrated him and the kids to see me spending so much time laying on the couch, tired and in pain. When I was 42, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I spent 2 years trying to get pain free, and the last thing that was on my mind was getting fit!

Little by little I began to recover and after 2 years of medical treatment and modifying my diet, I received the good news I had been waiting for - my RA was in remission! I was very fortunate to be in this category and I was finally beginning to feel like my old self again. At this point, the best thing I could do for myself would be to get in shape, lose some weight and gain strength to protect myself against any future flare-ups.

It is Not Mission Impossible!

I'm not athletic and I didn't know a whole lot about fitness, and let me tell you I was overwhelmed by choices. I thought about joining a gym, but I wasn't looking forward to the drive back-and-forth plus the time it would take to complete a workout - especially in the dead of winter! Friends offered to go walking and invited me to yoga classes, but I just didn't feel like it was enough. To accomplish my goal of losing weight, getting stronger and gaining mobility, I needed to get serious! I need a complete lifestyle adjustment!

Stop Putting Yourself at the Bottom of Your To Do List!

For the longest time, I thought you only had to exercise if you wanted to lose weight. But over the past few years, I've changed the way I look at my health and I've learned to put myself at the top of my to do list. Not because I'm selfish, but because I decided to make happiness and health a priority.

Invest in Yourself, Challenge Yourself, Transform Yourself!

I lead my family by example, and I can take much better care of them if I first take care of myself.
I found success through Beachbody because it is a complete wellness system, not a fad diet. It's convenient and I can workout at my own pace and in the privacy of my own home. I have done 21 Day FIX, P90, PiYo and Slim in 6. I also drink Shakeology every day and follow a clean eating lifestyle. As a coach, I do not SELL anything except a healthy lifestyle that is based upon the principles of eating whole natural foods and regular exercise. Of course, I do promote Beachbody Fitness programs and supplements because they work! I have tried them and I know that if you follow Beachbody's blueprint, you too will get the results you want.

Share Your Success!

Not only have I transformed my body, but I now have more energy and a more positive outlook on life and today, I love to share my success with others through coaching. It's not a get-rich-quick scheme, I do it because I want to make a difference. I do it to help end the trend of obesity and to promote wellness. I do it to help give hope and encouragement to people who feel like giving up and giving in. Yes, I do work at it... but it is as rewarding as it is challenging to help people get fit and feel great, just like I did!

Still curious, CLICK HERE and read more about how Beachbody coaches change lives!

Brenda