Walks become step goals.

Vacations become itineraries.

Pickleball becomes a competitive performance review… assuming you even go because who wants to be bad at something?

And somehow even relaxing becomes a task as you sit there Googling:

“Best ways to relax.”

If you’re laughing, it’s probably because you’ve done it.

I know I have.

Because somewhere along the way, a lot of us became very good at being responsible.

Reliable.

Productive.

Prepared.

We’re the women with the backup charger, emergency snacks, and 47 color-coded tabs open in our brains at all times.

We’re the people everyone can count on.

The problem?

At some point, fun became another item on the to-do list.

How Did We Get Here?

I don’t think most women wake up one day and decide to turn life into a giant self-improvement project.

It happens gradually.

You start tracking your steps.

Then your sleep.

Then your water.

Then your workouts.

Then your food.

Then your morning routine.

Then your evening routine.

Then the routine for the routine.

And before you know it, you’ve built a life that runs like a Swiss watch.

Except you’re exhausted.

Not because you’re doing anything wrong.

Because staying busy and in control starts to feel safer than slowing down.

If you’re always producing, planning, organizing, and improving, then maybe nothing can catch you off guard.

Maybe you’re safe.

Maybe you’re enough.

At least that’s what many of us unconsciously start believing.

Slowing Down Starts to Feel Irresponsible

This was the part that surprised me.

I always thought I wanted more free time.

But when I actually had it?

I didn’t know what to do with it.

Instead of resting, I’d start looking for something productive.

Something useful.

Something to cross off a list.

Because that little voice would show up:

“You should be doing something.”

“Don’t waste the day.”

“You haven’t earned rest yet.”

And suddenly a perfectly good Saturday felt like a missed opportunity.

A beach day became something to optimize.

A vacation became something to maximize.

Even relaxation became work.

Recovering from Too-Serious Tammy Syndrome

I joke that I’m a recovering Too-Serious Tammy.

Recovering workaholic.

Former CEO of Control Freak Incorporated.

Self-appointed Fun Police Sergeant.

The woman who could somehow turn a beach vacation into a productivity failure.

And if I’m being honest, that tendency still sneaks in from time to time.

But now I notice it faster.

I catch myself when I’m trying to make everything useful.

Everything productive.

Everything worth something.

Because not everything has to be a project.

Not everything has to improve you.

Not everything has to have a measurable outcome.

Sometimes things can simply be enjoyable.

The Question That Changed Everything

A few years ago I started asking myself a different question.

Instead of:

“What should I be doing?”

I started asking:

“What sounds fun?”

At first, I had no idea how to answer.

Seriously.

I could tell you my protein target.

My workout split.

My morning routine.

My business goals.

But what sounded fun?

That one took some work.

Because when you’ve spent years optimizing your life, it can be surprisingly difficult to remember what you enjoy.

Not what you’re good at.

Not what’s productive.

Not what burns calories.

Not what looks impressive.

Just what you enjoy.

Your Life Is Allowed to Feel Lighter Than This

If you’ve been feeling tired lately, it might not be because you need a better planner.

Or a better routine.

Or more discipline.

It might be because you’ve been carrying the weight of trying to get everything right.

Maybe the answer isn’t another thing to track.

Maybe it’s permission to loosen your grip a little.

To laugh more.

To play more.

To spend an afternoon doing something completely unnecessary.

To stop treating your life like a never-ending self-improvement project.

Because the goal was never to become better at life.

The goal was to actually live it.

So let me leave you with this:

When was the last time you did something simply because it sounded fun?

Not because it was useful.

Not because it was productive.

Not because it made you better.

Just because you wanted to.

Your life is allowed to feel lighter than this.

Could You Be a Too-Serious Tammy?

You don’t need another planner.

Another routine.

Or another way to optimize your life.

You might just need permission to stop treating every moment like it has to be productive.

If you’re wondering whether you’ve become a Too-Serious Tammy, take the free quiz.

You might discover that the answer isn’t doing more.

It’s enjoying more.

👉 Take the quiz.

Am I the only one who can get seven hours of sleep and still wake up feeling like my soul got hit by a bus?

For the longest time, I thought I just needed more sleep.

Earlier bedtime.

Better pillow.

Cooler room.

Less caffeine.

More magnesium.

But lately I’ve started wondering if sleep and rest are actually two different things.

Because you can technically sleep all night and still wake up exhausted.

Not because your body didn’t get enough hours.

Because your brain never actually clocked out.

It spent the night replaying conversations.

Running tomorrow’s to-do list.

Remembering you forgot to switch the laundry.

Wondering if everyone else is okay.

Mentally wiping down the kitchen counters before your feet even hit the floor.

Sound familiar?

Sleep Isn’t the Same as Rest

I think a lot of women have become experts at being tired.

Not dramatic movie-scene tired.

Just a low-grade exhaustion that hangs around in the background.

The kind where you tell yourself:

“I’m fine.”

“I’ll catch up this weekend.”

“Things will slow down after this week.”

Except somehow there’s always another week.

Another project.

Another responsibility.

Another person who needs something.

And before long, exhaustion starts feeling normal.

Not good.

Not healthy.

Just normal.

The Lie We Started Believing

Somewhere along the way, a lot of us picked up the idea that rest is something we earn.

After the dishes.

After the laundry.

After the work is done.

After everyone else is taken care of.

After we’ve proven we’ve been productive enough.

Like rest is some magical reward waiting for us at the top of Productivity Mountain.

The problem?

The mountain keeps getting taller.

There’s always one more thing.

One more email.

One more errand.

One more task you forgot about.

So rest gets pushed to tomorrow.

Then next week.

Then someday.

The Burned-Out Brenda Trap

If you’re anything like me, you’ve gotten really good at functioning while exhausted.

You know how to power through.

Push through.

Smile through.

You can survive on determination, salted caramel cold brew, and pure stubbornness for an impressive amount of time.

But eventually the bill comes due.

You start feeling disconnected from yourself.

Everything feels heavier.

Small things feel overwhelming.

Things you used to enjoy start feeling like work.

And instead of asking:

“What do I need?”

You start asking:

“What’s the bare minimum I can do to keep this train moving?”

A Radical Thought

What if the goal wasn’t to squeeze more productivity out of yourself?

What if the goal was to actually recover?

Not earn recovery.

Not justify recovery.

Not optimize recovery.

Just recover.

Because sometimes the bare minimum is enough.

Not every dish needs to be washed before bed.

Not every text needs an immediate response.

Not every workout needs to leave you wrecked.

Not every second of your day needs to be accounted for.

Sometimes good enough is actually good enough.

Why Slowing Down Feels So Hard

The tricky part is that slowing down can feel wildly uncomfortable.

Especially if you’ve spent years measuring your worth by how much you accomplish.

Because that little voice still shows up.

“You should be doing something.”

“Don’t waste the day.”

“You haven’t earned downtime yet.”

And if you’re a Burned-Out Brenda, that voice probably sounds pretty familiar.

But what if rest wasn’t a reward?

What if it was a requirement?

What if taking care of yourself wasn’t the thing you squeezed in after everything else?

What if it belonged on the list too?

Maybe You Need Rest More Than Another Routine

If you’ve been feeling tired lately, maybe the answer isn’t another productivity hack.

Or another planner.

Or another morning routine.

Maybe you don’t need to do more.

Maybe you need to carry less.

Maybe you need permission to stop proving that you’re worthy of rest.

Because you are.

Right now.

Not when the list is finished.

Not when everyone else is happy.

Not when you’ve earned it.

Right now.

Could You Be a Burned-Out Brenda?

If you’re constantly exhausted, running on fumes, and feeling like you have to earn your rest, you might have a little Burned-Out Brenda energy.

Take the free quiz and discover what’s really draining you and what part of your life might be asking for a little more attention.

Because sleep is important.

But real rest?

That’s a whole different thing.

👉 Take the quiz.

A few years ago, I was working with a coach who asked me a simple question:

“What are your goals?”

Easy.

I told her:

• Grow my business.

• Lose some weight.

• Feel better.

Then she asked a follow-up question that completely stopped me in my tracks.

“What do you think you need in order to make that happen?”

Without hesitation, I answered:

More discipline.

More consistency.

Better habits.

Basically, I needed to become a superhero.

Like bitten-by-a-radioactive-spider levels of transformation.

Because back then I genuinely believed that if I wanted results, I had to work my fingers to the bone.

If I wasn’t struggling, was it even working?

If the results came easily, did they even count?

The Badge of Busy

So I became really good at working hard.

I worked out for two hours because anything less “didn’t count.”

I tracked my food within an inch of its life.

I took client calls at all hours.

I rarely took a full day off without guilt tagging along.

I wore busy like a badge I earned.

Rest made me uncomfortable.

And eventually the grind starts feeling like a side hustle you can never clock out of.

Before you know it, your whole life becomes one giant self-improvement project.

There’s always something to fix.

Something to optimize.

Something to improve.

Something to work on.

You spend so much time trying to become a better version of yourself that you forget to enjoy being yourself.

The Move That Changed the Question

I’ve been saying “Flip Flop Life” for years.

But I don’t think I fully understood what I meant until I started preparing for our move to Florida.

Florida moves a little slower.

Not in a lazy way.

In a “what’s the rush?” way.

And somewhere between unpacking boxes and staring at kitchen cabinets wondering where the heck everything should go, I caught myself asking a question I’d been avoiding for years:

Is this the life I actually want?

Not the life that looks successful.

Not the life that gets approval.

Not the life that checks all the boxes.

The life I actually want.

Because for a long time, I confused grinding with meaning.

If I was busy, I felt productive.

If I was tired, I felt accomplished.

If I was exhausted, I felt like I must be doing something right.

But being exhausted isn’t proof you’re doing life right.

It’s just proof you’re exhausted.

The Four Ways We Get Stuck

Here’s what I’ve learned from years of coaching women and, if I’m being honest, from being every one of these women myself.

The Woman Running on Fumes

She’s tired all the time.

She tells everyone she’s fine.

She’s carrying more than anyone realizes.

And she’s convinced she’ll rest once she gets caught up.

The problem?

Caught up never comes.

The Woman Who Forgot How to Have Fun

Everything has a purpose.

Everything has a goal.

Everything has to be productive.

She can’t remember the last time she did something simply because it sounded fun.

Not because it burned calories.

Not because it improved her résumé.

Not because it was useful.

Just because she wanted to.

The Woman Who Feels Disconnected

She’s surrounded by people.

She’s active online.

She comments. Likes. Responds.

But she still feels lonely.

Because connection isn’t the same thing as contact.

And somewhere along the way, real-life relationships got replaced by notifications.

The Woman Waiting for Someday

She dreams about traveling.

Starting something new.

Making a change.

Taking the class.

Trying the thing.

But instead of living it, she’s researching it.

Planning it.

Thinking about it.

Preparing for it.

Waiting until she feels ready.

The Truth I Keep Coming Back To

Most of us aren’t just one of these women.

We bounce between them.

Sometimes depending on the season.

Sometimes depending on the week.

Sometimes depending on the day.

I’ve been every single one.

I’ve been the woman who got up at 5 a.m. to work out before a beach day with my husband.

Not because I wanted to.

Because I felt like I hadn’t earned the fun yet.

I’ve been the woman who ran herself into the ground and called it dedication.

I’ve been the woman who looked up after COVID and realized I’d become a full-on hermit.

And I’ve definitely been the woman who spent way too much time overthinking where to put sweaters in a closet instead of just making a decision and moving on.

What I’ve learned is that the answer isn’t becoming more disciplined.

It’s becoming more honest.

More honest about what you need.

More honest about what isn’t working.

More honest about the life you’re actually trying to create.

Because the goal isn’t to build the most productive life possible.

The goal is to build a life you actually want to wake up to.

So Which One Are You?

If any part of this felt familiar, I created a quick quiz to help you figure out where you might be stuck right now.

Are you running on fumes?

Have you forgotten how to have fun?

Feeling disconnected?

Or stuck waiting for someday?

Take the free quiz and find out.

You might discover that the answer isn’t more discipline after all.

It might be permission to live a little differently.

For years, I thought health and weight loss were about one thing: trying harder. More workouts. More rules. More willpower. But here’s the truth I wish someone had whispered in my ear sooner: the harder you try, the more ridiculous it gets.

I learned this lesson the hard way, in Hawaii, of all places.

My Hawaii Meltdown

Picture this: paradise all around me, white sand, palm trees, the sound of the ocean, and instead of enjoying it, I was melting down inside my head.

I couldn’t stop the mental soundtrack:

• Did I earn this Mai Tai?

• Should I have worked out harder before this trip?

• Was my stomach flat enough to be here?

I wasn’t on vacation. I was on trial. And I was both the judge and the jury.

Then I looked around. The locals weren’t hiding under cover-ups or calculating their food. They were laughing, playing, living. It hit me like a coconut to the head: I was missing my own life because I was too busy being the food and body police.

The Birth of the Flip Flop Life

On the flight home, I started rage-writing in my journal. Out came what I now call The Flip Flop Life Manifesto. At the time, I shoved it onto a hard drive and forgot about it.

Fast forward six years, and I realized something powerful: every word I wrote still made sense. Women everywhere were exhausted from white-knuckling their way through diet culture. And we’re done.

Done with:

• Earning our food.

• Treating our bodies like fixer-upper projects.

• Believing we’re broken because the quick-fix programs don’t work.

The Flip Flop Life is about ease, flow, and living in the now — not waiting until we lose 15 pounds to finally feel good.

The Boring Basics That Actually Work

Here’s the part no one in the fitness industry wants you to know: real change doesn’t happen in 30 days. It doesn’t come from quick-fix detoxes, shiny supplements, or punishing workouts.

It comes from what I call the boring basics:

• Sleep

• Stress management

• Strength training

• Protein and fiber

• Consistency over time

Unsexy? Yep. Effective? 100%.

Why Letting It Be Easy Is Revolutionary

Diet culture taught us health is like building IKEA furniture: miss one step, and the whole thing is ruined. But your health isn’t fragile. One cookie, one missed workout, one skipped salad, none of that breaks you.

The magic happens when you stop overcomplicating and let it be easy. When you choose meals you actually enjoy. When workouts feel doable instead of punishing. When sleep becomes a flex instead of a badge of shame.

And here’s the kicker: no one’s handing out gold stars for suffering.

So Where Do You Start?

Instead of trying to master all the things, pick 1–3 habits that feel challenging but doable. Forget the 10-item checklist. Forget the punishment. Start where you are, with what you can actually stick to.

And then watch how much more space you create in your brain and your life. Space to enjoy dinner with friends, relax on vacation, even just notice the sun when you wake up.

That’s the Flip Flop Life. And it’s available to you right now.

👉 If you’re tired of the mental gymnastics and ready to try a different way, stick around — this is exactly what I help women create.

Free Resources: https://www.fitgirlmagic.com/freeresources_podcast

Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic

Website:  http://www.kimbarnesjefferson.com 
5 Days To Break Free Of The All-Or-Nothing 

You’re not lazy. You’re just done grinding.

Let’s be honest, you’ve tried the 5 AM boot camps, the meal plans that require a PhD in food science, and the workout schedules that make NASA missions look relaxed. You’ve hustled hard, pushed through exhaustion, and white-knuckled your way through more “transformations” than you can count.

And now? You’re tired. Bone-deep, soul-level tired of making your health feel like a second job.

The Hustle Culture Hangover is Real

Here’s what nobody talks about: You’ve outgrown the “go hard or go home” era. And that’s actually a good thing.

Your 20-something self could survive on four hours of sleep, protein bars, and pure determination. Your current self? She needs actual meals, reasonable bedtimes, and routines that don’t require a personal assistant to maintain.

This isn’t weakness. This is wisdom.

Why Slowing Down Feels Like Giving Up (But Isn’t)

When you’ve been conditioned to believe that results only come from suffering, a gentler approach feels wrong. Like you’re not trying hard enough. Like you’re making excuses.

But here’s the plot twist: The women who maintain their results long-term? They’re not the ones still grinding. They’re the ones who found a pace they could actually sustain.

They’re not doing two-hour workouts. They’re taking walks and doing 20-minute strength sessions. They’re not eliminating food groups. They’re eating protein with every meal and calling it a win.

The Nervous System Reset You Actually Need

Want to know the real secret to lasting weight loss after 40? It’s not another workout. It’s learning to calm the hell down.

Your body has been in fight-or-flight mode for years. Between work stress, family demands, and the constant pressure to “optimize” everything, your nervous system is fried. And a fried nervous system holds onto belly fat like its life depends on it.

Try this today: Take 5 minutes with no phone, no noise, no agenda. Just sit. Just breathe. Just be.

I know it sounds too simple. But your body doesn’t need another challenge. It needs permission to relax.

What Sustainable Actually Looks Like

Sustainable isn’t sexy. It doesn’t come with before-and-after photos or dramatic testimonials. It looks like:

• Walking instead of running when your knees hurt
• Having Greek yogurt for breakfast instead of skipping it all together
• Going to bed at [9:30] because you’re tired, vs grinding to get something done
• Saying no to plans that don’t serve you
• Eating the birthday cake and getting back to your routine the next day or heck the next hour 

This isn’t settling. This is succeeding.

The Momentum That Doesn’t Require Motivation

Here’s what changes everything: Stop waiting for motivation to strike. Start building systems that work even when you don’t feel like it.

Motivation is a fair-weather friend. It shows up when things are going well and disappears the second life gets complicated. But systems? Systems work whether you’re feeling it or not.

• Keep protein bars in your car
• Set out your workout clothes the night before
• Schedule your walks like important meetings
• Prep snacks when you have energy, so they’re ready when you don’t

You’re Not Behind — You’re Right on Time

That voice in your head saying you should be further along by now? That you’re falling behind? That’s not truth talking — that’s comparison and old programming.

Your timeline is your timeline. The woman who loses 50 pounds in 6 months isn’t better than the woman who loses 20 pounds in a year and keeps it off. Different journeys, different victories.

The Permission You’ve Been Waiting For

Here it is: You have permission to take the pressure off. To stop making your health another source of stress. To find a rhythm that feels good instead of one that looks good on paper.

You have permission to be gentle with yourself while still moving forward. To prioritize sleep over early morning workouts. To choose consistency over intensity.

Ready to create momentum without burning out?

👉 Day 5 of my 5-Day Belly Fat Reset podcast wraps everything up: how to build lasting habits that don’t require constant motivation. We’re talking about systems that work for your real life, not your fantasy schedule.

Because you deserve an approach that gives you energy instead of draining it.

The Great Midlife Body Plot Twist

Here’s what nobody warns you about: Your body doesn’t send a memo before it changes the rules.

One minute you’re cruising along with the same habits that always worked. The next, you’re googling “why do I look pregnant but I’m definitely not” at 2 AM while stress-eating pita chips.

Welcome to the wild world of hormonal chaos, where your body decides to store fat in places it never bothered with before.

It’s Not Your Fault (But It Is Your Problem)

Let’s get one thing straight: This isn’t because you got lazy or lost willpower. Your hormones are literally rewiring your metabolism like a toddler with a screwdriver.

Estrogen starts ghosting you. Cortisol moves in and makes itself way too comfortable. Insulin gets moody and stops doing its job properly. Meanwhile, your metabolism is like, “You know what? I think I’ll just… slow down. A lot.”

The result? Your body starts hoarding fat around your middle like it’s preparing for the apocalypse.

Why Your Body’s Actually Trying to Help (Plot Twist!)

Here’s the mind-bender: Your body isn’t betraying you — it’s trying to protect you. In your mind you are like, I don’t need this kind of protection! 

When hormones go haywire, your smart little system thinks, “Something’s wrong! Better store some emergency fuel!” So it parks extra fat right around your organs, just in case.

Sweet of it, really. Completely annoying, but sweet.

The Simple Evening Ritual That Changes Everything

Want to send your body a different message? Try this tonight: Take a 10-20 minute walk after any meal today. 

I know, I know. It sounds almost too simple. But here’s what happens:

• Your blood sugar stabilizes (no more fat storage signals)
• Cortisol starts to chill out
• Your body gets the memo that everything’s actually fine

It’s like a gentle conversation with your metabolism instead of a shouting match.

The Real Story Behind Your Stubborn Belly Fat

Look, you deserve to understand what’s actually happening in your body. Not some vague “hormones are crazy” explanation, but the real deal about why this is happening now and what actually works to fix it.

Ready for the full story?

👉 I break down exactly what triggers midlife belly fat in Day 2 of my free 5-Day Belly Fat Reset podcast. We’re talking about the specific hormones, the timing, and most importantly — what you can actually do about it.

Have a listen, because once you understand what’s really going on, everything starts to make sense.

As I read Day 13 of Make Cause Miracles this one was like a gut punch. It asked. What are my ego’s beliefs about my body?

Whew. This one hit me hard today.

My ego tells me: “No one will work with you because you have belly fat.”

WTF Is Happening to My Body? (And Why You’re Not Alone)

Yep, the mean girl in my head still gets loud some days. I’ll catch myself standing in front of the mirror thinking, “What the actual F is going on with my body?!”

There’s shame. There’s judgment. And this belief that my body has to look a certain way for anyone to trust me to believe that I know what I’m talking about when it comes to weight loss, fitness, or health.

That my worth as a coach somehow hinges on how me having 6 pack abs.

Yes, I know it’s BS, but some days, my inner mean girl comes in HOT. And today’s journaling prompt from May Cause Miracles cracked it wide open.

But here’s the thing those thoughts don’t drain my energy. They fuel it.

If anything, when I hear that voice? It makes me want to figure this out. For me. For you. For every woman standing in front of her mirror wondering the same damn thing: “Why isn’t this working anymore?”

It’s not a sign to give up. It’s a sign to get curious.

I know I’m not alone in this. I hear it every day:
“Why doesn’t what used to work… work anymore?”
“What am I doing wrong?”
“Do I need to do more? Less? Different?”

I’ve asked myself those same questions. For years, my reflex was always: “Go harder.” More workouts. Less food. More restriction. More pushing.

And when it didn’t work? I’d think maybe this is just how it is now.

But that’s not the truth.
Just because something hasn’t worked yet… doesn’t mean nothing will.

The Truth About Belly Fat After 40 (It’s Not What You Think)

Your body isn’t broken. It’s different. It needs a different strategy. One that works with your body — not against it.

That’s where I am now. Leaning into giving myself time. Trying new things. Ditching the old “go harder” mentality and instead asking: “What does my body actually need today?”

Because if I can crack this code? You can too.

And if you’ve been looking in the mirror thinking WTF is happening?! I recorded a free podcast just for you: 5 Ways to Crack the Belly Fat Code.

You’ll walk away knowing where to start — no more guessing, no more harder-and-harder. Just smarter.

Go listen now, comment below or shot me an email. I’d love to hear what lands for you.

The biggest enemy of any diet is boredom. People lose their motivation to stick to a diet and so they begin to cheat here and there. Before you know it, your diet is basically done with and you are back at square one. Sound familiar’ So, the key too sticking to a diet is to keep up the initial motivation that you have when you first start the diet. With this in mind, let’s discuss 4 tips that will keep you motivated for the entire diet.

Realize You Don’t Have to Be Perfect

A big problem people have is that the moment that they deviate from their diet, they feel like they’ve lost all their progress and that there’s no point in continuing with the diet. This is what people call a perfectionist mindset and it can be very difficult to overcome. If you’re one of the many people who have this mindset, then you need to get it into your head that the occasional mistake doesn’t set you back to square one. Just because you went out and overindulged one night doesn’t mean that you should give up on a diet.

I coach my clients to focus on the 80/20 rule. Out of your week if 80% of your meals are healthy and clean don’t sweat the other 20%. This is the main key of moderation. When we cut out the fun foods, the struggle becomes real!

With the 80/20 rule it helps you to blend in fun foods vs banning the outright. Say you love French fries, every time you go out and you gotta have French fries, but instead you tell yourself you are on a diet, so you have a salad instead. But those fries are on your brain.

What if instead you ordered the fries and didn’t have the bun on the burger or maybe you ordered the fries and didn’t dessert or a glass of wine. Do you see what I’m doing’ I’m making trades so that I can have the fries AND have clean food choices.

Make Sure That You Regularly Reward Yourself

Ideally, the knowledge that you’re becoming healthier would be motivation in of itself. But, that’s just not the case. So, from time to time you need to make sure that you’re rewarding yourself. It will give you something to look forward to, which will help with motivation, especially in rough patches. As for what the reward is, that’s entirely up to you.

I encourage my clients to have at least 2 treat meals/week. This could be a scheduled date night with your sweetie or movie nights with the kiddos, but it’s a meal where you have your fun foods. With that said, this isn’t the lose my shit at night. You will eat normal portions without the guilt. What are some of your favorite treat meals’

Set Realistic Goals

This is the crux of my REPS Formula . For the past 15 years I’ve seen so many women struggle with their goals because they reach for the stars and then get frustrated when the results aren’t coming as fast as they want them to.

When you are setting goals I ask my clients to work through their REPS
Your goal is it REALISTIC’ For example, it’s not realistic to lose 30 pounds in 30 days despite what you’ve read on Facebook 12 Something more realistic would be to focus on losing 1 pound a week.
Are you EXCITED about your goal’ In order to reach your goals do you need give up your fun foods’ Do you need to spend hours at the gym’ If that doesn’t excite you then you will not stick with it long term.
Can you make a PLAN for it in your life’ Can you make this work in your current lifestyle without a lot of gymnastics’
Lastly is your goals SUSTAINABLE for the long term’ Can you see yourself doing this for the next 30 day, 1 year or 5 years’

If this interests you, take a listen to this podcast where I go into greater detail.

Don’t Weigh Regularly

I get it. You want to lose the weight and you want to lose the weight right fucking now!! Repeat after me this is a long-term goal! You will need to pack your patience. You will see basically no progress when you first start. A lot of people make the mistake of weighing daily. This will kill your motivation because you’re going to have days and weeks where the scale barely moves if it moves at all. Weigh once at the start of the diet to set a baseline, then don’t weigh for at least a month, if not longer.

There are so many factors that go into your scale weight.
Many you haven’t pooped, you drank a lot of water, ate a lot of salt, you are getting your period. So instead of just using the scale, find some other non-scale victories.

Think physical
Less heartburn
Increased sleep Less pain
You get sick less often
Increased mood
Less cravings

What’s a non-scale victory that would work for you’

5 Days Effortless Weight loss.My signature weight loss mini course that teaches you the 4 disciple changers that will leave you feeling better, stronger and more confident. This time you’re guaranteed not to fail. 

Do you exercise’ If you do, that’s great. Most people don’t. With the “busyness” of life we are more sedentary and less physically active than at probably any other time in history. Given what know about the Corona virus, we see it playing out on many who have higher rates of obesity and other metabolic disorders. Now more than any other time in history we need to focus on working out, exercising, staying physically active and working to lose and/or maintain our weight, good for you.

How often do you exercise’

I know you’ve read or seen some social media influencer tell you that you need to workout everyday and you must be SORE! That seems a little overwhelming when you have so many other things on your plate.

For my clients I recommend that you lift 3-5 days. Put those days in your calendar and treat it light an appointment that you can miss.

Now let’s look at how many meals you eat every day.

The average person eats either 2 or 3 major meals each day. Many people enjoy a snack or two daily as well. The human body craves hydration more than it does food, so throughout the day make sure that you are drinking water. . Did you know that the human body can go more than 30 days without food, but only about 3 days without water’ Make sure you are hydrating frequently.

How many meals should you eat’

Focus on eating when you are hungry. I was of the school that you had to have 5-6 meals/day or you wouldn’t build any muscle. When you start to feel hungry ask yourself are you even hungry give yourself 30 minutes and if you are eat, if you aren’t ride it out a bit longer.

What should you eat’

Why yes you need a caloric deficit to lose weight. HOWEVER you need to figure YOUR caloric deficit vs blinding following someone else “plan”. Yes, this takes a bit of fine tuning but once you do it! Man, you will be very happy you did. No more struggling or suffering!

On your plate focus on having 30 grams of protein and at least 400 grams of fruit and veggies.

Nutrition alone accounts for as much as 60% to 70% of your fitness level.

I am not saying exercise is bad, but as the late great Jack Lalane said, nutrition is queen and fitness is king. We all know if the queen is not happy, then no one is happy.

Have you fully considered that losing weight is a 2 prong approach’ I’m a big fan of the show CSI. When you watch CSI they enter a crime scene and do an analysis. The same can be said for your nutrition. Take a look at your results up till now. If you haven’t reached the weight loss and fitness goals you desire so far, but you exercise all the time, you may not be giving nutrition the best opportunity to help you get where you want to be.

Would you like a lifestyle assessment to see where you can fine tune your current program’ Schedule right here 

Together we will take a look at your current routines so that we can see where refinements can be made. I will walk you through my 4 pillars of wellness so that you can determine where is the best place to start. Then we’ll walk you through my REPS formula so that you are guaranteed to not fail.

There are many aspects to weight loss, and one is learning (or re-learning) how to decipher what your body is telling you in regard to hunger. In many cases, it is still telling you the same thing as it always has… just you are not listening anymore.

To begin your journey, you first must know where you are at now to know where you want to go and need to be. The best way to do that is to keep a food journal. I get it tracking food sucks. HOWEVER…. It’s truly one of the few ways we have to figure out what you are eating and it gives both you and your coach clues to help you make better decisions moving forward.

What should you track’

In your journal you will want to write down:

• What you eat
• When you ate it
• How much you ate
• What you were doing at the time you ate
• How you felt afterward 

Sometimes you get into an eating habit based on the time of day and not if we are really hungry or not. Other times you may be distracted when you eat and not realize how much you have eaten. Still, sometimes you eat out of boredom – it gives you something to do. Again, you usually are not focused on the eating part and in a short period of time have consumed far more calories than we need.

This is where your food journal entries can help. After recording the above information in your journal for a couple of weeks, you should start seeing a trend in your eating habits. This gives you a clearer picture of where you are at now with your eating habits.

Now you can focus on the things you need to change to get where you want to go – your goal if you will. In many cases it will be losing weight..

One of the main reason why I love tracking is that instead of looking at someone else nutrition you are looking at yours and figuring out how you TICK!

It frustrates me when I see folks trying to follow a ridiculous calorie plan, instead track your food and see how you feel.

Are you hungry’

How is your energy’

Are you craving’

When you shift the focus off of what others do and focus on what you are doing losing weight becomes effortless. Your body is always giving you feedback. You just have to listen.

For women over 40 who are TIRED of dieting and want to get and stay fit, you’ll want to hop into my newest mini course 5 Days Of Effortless Weight Loss.

Yes, Grab My FREE Spot

Laziness is something which many of us have experienced at some point or another. We’ve all felt like we don’t want to do something, or like we’d just rather do nothing. 🙋🏽‍♀️  Laziness can become a lifelong habit that could start to negatively affect your life and work. If you are reading this right now it’s telling me that you don’t want to be one of those people who want to go through life being chronically lazy or wanting to improve themselves never doing anything about it. If you want to overcome laziness and get some motivation, here are some things you can consider.

Don’t try to do everything at once

When you attempt to do too many things, you can lose motivation for all of them and burn yourself out. I want you to tell yourself success takes time. With that said, the slowness can you make you pissed off and frustrated.  If you feel like you have a lot of things on your list, break them down into smaller lists or categories. This will help you to at least see the smaller successes along the way, and it’s a good way to trick yourself into thinking you are finishing the tasks quicker. Plus you will feel like a winner!

Move your body

Many people think that exercise needs to look a certain way. A bootcamp, cross fit, a workout so hard that you can’t lift your arms to wash your hair or have trouble getting off the toilet.  This certainly isn’t always the case. For those of you just trying to get consistent with exercising try walking.  It’s called NEAT, non-exercise activity thermogenesis. That’s fancy talk for movement, just acts of daily living. Playing with your kids, playing with your pets, cleaning your home, gardening. You’ll end up burning more calories if you remain active through out the day vs focused on hitting the gym “hard”.  How many steps a day are you able to get in’

Stay organized

The less organized you are, the harder it is to feel motivated to workout. This key here is that you need to have a plan! The plan doesn’t have to be written in stone, it can be flexible. You want an outline to help you stay the course, because as a recovering winger it doesn’t work. I challenge my clients to focus on one of two ways to create a plan.

1. 24 hours, each night sit down and map out what you will eat and if you will workout that day
2. A weekly plan mapping out how the week will unfold

Now I know that the weekly plan may seem like a lot of work or not given in any flexibility or a change to have any spontaneity. However I ask that you give yourself structured flexibility so that when fun things to arrive you shift into “if/then” thinking. That looks like this If I’m at dinner and someone orders dessert I will ask myself do I feel like having dessert. If I say yes, then I will enjoy it without guilt.   If I tell myself that I will exercise then I will exercise on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays at 8am.  

Do the things you enjoy

Here’s where I ask you to stop doing the workouts that you feel that you “should” do or you heard will give you a killer workout!! When you start doing things that you actually love you will look forward to it.

When I first started working out I found myself blowing myself off. So, I found a class that I absolutely LOVED! I looked forward to and I made sure that I went every Monday and Saturday to this kickboxing class. What do you love to do”

If you are tired of waiting to see results and are starting to feel as if there is no point to what you’re doing. I’ve got four disciple changers that will leave you feeling better, stronger and more confident. This time you’re guaranteed not to fail.

I invite you to join me to the 5 Days Of Effortless Weight Loss.  This 5-day minicourse will help you to discover 

👉🏽 Building habits that help you to create long term sustainable weight loss

👉🏽 Finally start to focus on getting healthy vs always seeking a way to “fix” yourself

👉🏽 Exercise is the gateway habit to helping you feel great and see success.

👉🏽 Nutrition is the cornerstone to sustainable weight loss through finding a way of eating that works best for you in the long term.

We start on January 10^th – click here to reserve your spot!

You love treats. You want to have cake at your kids’ birthday party or hell your own birthday. You love a good glass of wine or your alcohol of choice. Many health coaches will tell you just say no but is that really life! I’ve seen this firsthand when you tell yourself you can’t “have” a certain food you can’t get it off your mind. Interestingly enough this can be a healthy or an unhealthy food.

When I work with clients, I encourage them to break free from the good/bad food list remember number 2. I work with them factor in their fun foods. I also ask them what foods are non-negotiables (ie. for me it’s cream and sugar in my coffee)

Think of it like this, you love French fries you could torture yourself and not have them or steal them off your dining partner’s plate OR you could order your own.

Take a look at what you are ordering is there a healthier choice you can add. If you are having a burger can you tell them to not serve you the bun. Can you order a side salad’ Can you ask them to grill or broil it so you can have those fries.

Are you picking up what I’m putting down’ Finding a way to make it a “bit” healthier but not denying yourself. As I mentioned before when you keep denying it sets you to go on a big-time bender. 

Would you like a few more tips” Grab my #invincible40 Guide. It’s a resource guide that can help you fight and beat weight gain over 40.