The founder of The Strong Academy sat down with me on the most recent episode of Fit Girl Magic podcast to help us out with all of this. Venus (Ve) Davis created this academy so that she can help corporate people transform their fitness as well as work with committed individuals. Ve firsthand has experience with having a very demanding schedule and she is showing us how to put it all together and make time for yourself!

So the big question I get all the time is, “How do we take care of ourselves from home now and find the time to not only workout, but make sure we have food, manage work and work calls, as well as everything else’”  You are trying to find harmony without overwhelming yourself.

There are so many of us out there that are just trying to do too damn much.  So how do break free from that overwhelm’  First you are going to write down 5 things that are creating stressors for you right now. Then you have to take a step back and REALLY try and figure out how you are going to find balance in it all.

The biggest thing that people now at home all day struggle with the most is finding time to move their body and finding something to eat.  And this is when I check in with my clients to figure out what they are doing for THEIR SELF CARE after they are done helping everyone else in the house.  Are you even taking any time out for yourself to do something you want or need or get a workout in’  Chances are you are not because you are not thinking about yourself, BUT you have to make that time for you.

You have to change the way we are thinking about things. Like figuring out how you are going to get your workout in now that you are home all day. This is your chance to accept the challenge because YOUR BODY IS THE GYM!  Figure out ways to make it great outside of the physical gym.  (And if your gyms are now open; you can always split your time between the gym and at home if you want to.)  But you have to create that balance that works for you.

So, what about the peeps that can only get a workout in, in front of a trainer or during a class’  This is when you have to challenge yourself.  What strength training can you do at home’  Whatever you need to grab to make that workout feel better for you. Or find other ways to strength train but get creative with what you are doing and with what you have.  There is always that possibility with RONA that things may shut down again and if you don’t find a new way to train you will be in a world of hurt if you don’t know what to do and rely only on a gym to get it done!

The biggest nugget of knowledge that you must take away from this is TIME MANAGEMENT!   I know that before everything shut down, you put everything in a calendar and treat it as an appointment, but YOU still need to do this!  Time management is so important when you aren’t leaving the house. You have to try and block out adequate time for every part of our day!  Be sure to take the time to schedule the things that are important to keep you balanced throughout the day and week.

During those time blocks, make time to get up and move around.  Take breaks and stretch or go walk up and down the stairs a few times. Rest your eyes from the screen every so often as well.  Create a habit of eating, drinking and moving every single day!

(TIP: in the mornings throw on your workout clothes, that way when you get a break, you can get in a quick 15-minute workout 2-3 times a day.  Or you can head right out to work out once you are done working for the day)  Yes I know some days are going to go as planned, because if you are home with kids, it doesn’t but if you can at least be prepared, it will make it a lot easier to manage.

The movement is such an important part of your day when you are working at home and trying to reach fitness or weight loss goals.  On a zoom call a few times a day’  Pop that camera off and do some squats or sit ups while you listen to your meeting!  Remember, your body is the gym.  You don’t have to wait till 6pm to get it in. You can be doing little things throughout the day that add up so that you feel good about taking care of yourself.

The first thing I always hear from people is that they do not have enough time in their day to do anything.  But you have 10 free minutes, here and there right’  Take 10 minutes 3 times a day and you are already at 30 minutes of moving or workouts. You have 10 minutes in your day to do something, I can guarantee it.

No matter what is happening, no matter the circumstances, we have to always be in the position to take care of ourselves and get the training in to be able to take care of all these other things.  Make it fun, make it interesting and make it so you want to take a quick break and get it in each day.  Set small goals to start with and these will make it so much easier to get to the bigger picture. Just keep pressing forward and remember those small goals and challenges and take them as wins every single day.

It is so rewarding to listen to clients and hear about where they are having challenges and discover how they can make changes with those challenges.  It’s so rewarding because once they take small steps and see those small changes happen for themselves. Then they want to take on those next bigger steps!  They see these changes and want to push for even more change within themselves.

You have to SLOW DOWN TO SPEED UP.   So, for those people who are willing to accept the challenge of slow, they start to realize that, “oh, the more I get  a win under my belt then I can do this, I got this and it’s sustainable.”  And they realized that taking it slow is going to help in the long run. 

Ve and I were talking about this during the podcast and we just LOVE when we say something to a client and they are kind of skeptical, they are willing to try this said thing and then 2-3 months later they are like “WOW you are right!”.  And NOW they want to know what is next!!!  When they finally get on board and see how amazing they can be, you are like, “YES!!! You finally tapped into your vision!!”

We love when we see what you guys can do when you set your mind to it.  As coaches, we love when you can take tips that we suggest and even though you are unsure at first, you persevere, and you crush it!  So that is what we want you to do while you are at home too!  We want you to take your day by the horns and be in control of it.  You set the tone of your schedule, your time blocking.  You make sure you TAKE CARE OF YOU, just like you are taking care of everyone else in your household.  If you don’t keep you on point, then the rest of the house sinks with the ship.  So, take care of yourself, start with those small steps, one thing at a time and we know that you can do it!

What makes you feel magical Ve’

My son! He is 24 and when I look at him every day it is reflective of everything that has been a challenge, that has been a success, everything that has been rewarding. Everything is wrapped up when I see him because he is the story of my perseverance.  That kid makes me feel magical every day. It is a profound blessing and I just look to him every day for strength and encouragement and willpower to persevere and do more of what I love.

Magic Makers be sure to check this girl out over on the socials and her website!  She is LAUNCHING her brand-new program The Strong Academy and will be having a Virtual Launch party for October 8th for The Strong Academy!  Ve’s wisdom and hope for members of The Strong Academy is simple: “Be Well. Stay Committed. Train for Life.”

Ve is totally kick ass, so I wanted to share some more about her, here at the end of the blog.  She has an amazing background in fitness and has her share of experience when it comes to this.

Venus (Ve) Davis is the vivacious and passionate founder of The Strong Academy, an intensive coaching and training program devoted to facilitating transformative fitness for professionals and committed individuals. As a Collegiate Athletic Trainer, ACE Certified Personal Trainer, Functional Movement Coach and USA Weightlifting Coach, Ve has over 10 years of experience in Fitness and Wellness.

LINKS

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/FabFitSquad

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

Website: https://kimbarnesjefferson.com/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fit-girl-magic-healthy-living-for-women-over-40/id1476883661

Ve’s Socials

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Coach-Ve-192943168198932/
IG: @iamcoachve
Twitter: @iamcoachve
Website: https://www.thestrongacademy.com/

The post How To Create A Healthy Routine In A New Normal appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

Some routines are so elusive that we feel like we are chasing shadows most of the time and routines today are quickly looked upon as “boring”. Our society is conditioned to want instant gratification. Right now, RIGHT AWAY!  And this same thing goes for workouts. We are conditioned to change things every single day, and if you do change then you are doing something right. But it is in those routines that we do every day over and over again that is what is really going to lead to success.

How are you defining success”

This is the first thing I ask every single client that I work with. I ask this because years ago when I started working with a business coach, she asked me this question. That question made me take a giant pause because I don’t think many people take the time to define what success looks like for them. You may hear about success for other people and think that you want it, but seriously what do YOU want!! Why are you working so hard’ If you aren’t working towards your goal, what will motivate you to take consistent action.

I ask the question because I want to understand if you have created realistic goals. And then I follow up with Are you excited about that goal’ Can that goal be planned into your life’ Is that goal sustainable’And that my friends is what I call my REPS formula!! As you are building your routine you want to make sure that the end goal is realistic. It’s sustainable and can map it INTO YOUR LIFE!

Many will say routines are boring, but I will say routines are the gateway to success. They help us to establish priorities, help us to stop procrastinating and help us to track our goals. Plus, it helps us to get stuff done!

So, here is an example of that.

I have defined my goal and in the next 12 weeks, I want to drop a dress size or 6 pounds. I start by putting together a plan and look at my routine to see what I am doing on a day in and day out basis to lead you to my result.  While writing this plan, it is easy for us to procrastinate.have to find the right diet, trainer, coach, gym schedule, blah blah blah! It is not about doing 50 different things to drop that dress size, it is me getting my mindset shifted so that I am going to do this and be so crystal clear about what it is we are trying to achieve.

First, we are going to DEFINE YOUR SUCCESS. I already mentioned this above a little bit, and I don’t want this to make you feel stressed out. So, keep it simple and grab out that piece of paper. I want you to go old school and write some things down throughout this blog to help you a little bit better!

Now, let’s LOOK AT OUR ROUTINES. Do these goals you have set for yourself make you feel good or stressed out’? You should have a little pressure, but not a TON! What are your current routines day in a day out to lose those 6 pounds’? Am I tracking my food’ Am I sleeping’ Am I stressed’? It all adds up, it all counts. Write down your routine today on that same sheet of paper and sleep on it. Take out that paper and write what is working and what is not working and go through that routine.? Look at those routines and be very honest with yourself and if you can’t, that is when you hire a coach or get a friend that is not afraid to tell you. This list will be pretty telling because our routines are our guidepost. It’s something that tells you, “Hey Girl You Are off course!

Success needs to feel like something you are marching towards. It should feel effortless. As you write this list, I want you to think about this.  What do you look forward to doing and are you excited about it’ And if you are not excited, what can you do now to tweak this, so you feel more excited about it’  With the list, review your daily activities. Are these things getting you closer to your 6-pound weight loss’ And if it’s not, start reviewing those daily activities. Weight loss doesn’t have to be a struggle, it doesn’t have to be a grind. You can choose differently.

Give yourself 2-week sprints to see where you and how you are doing. So, the next 2 weeks, what am I going to commit to’ Tracking food’ Going to the gym 3 days a week’ Water’ Small micro-commitments it what is necessary so that you can see that progress. And don’t focus on THE SCALE. Come up with non-scale victories. Things that you can feel and see you are doing to say you are on the right path.

Now that you see what is working and not working, you can work on a DAILY SCHEDULE. This isn’t what you think it is either!  Trust me, I don’t like being strictly confined to a schedule All it means is that you want to give yourself some guidance, but I do not want your day to live by the clock.  Just start by giving yourself 3 things to do every single day. (3 tasks to complete in the day). Start small instead of trying to make a list of 500 things because when you only finish 5 out of the 400, you feel like crap and will be hard on yourself, so start small.

Let’s also be sure to take into consideration flexible accountability. You are just playing and seeing what is working and not working as you go along. What do you have to change’ How do you have to change it’ And reduce the scope of how much activity you really have to do! If you can’t fit in 3 hours at the gym, that is okay, fit in 30 minutes of a workout at home. As long as you are moving your body than you got this! (And the same goes for food. Create a menu, meal prep, and be prepared.)

At the end of the day, routines help us become the people we want to be. Start thinking about your current routine, how does it work and how does it guide you to your success. But you CANNOT miss STEP 1, DEFINE WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE SO YOU CAN BUILD A ROUTINE!!

If you are lost and need a little more guidance, grab my 50 Routines to Start. And omg, YOU DON’T have to do all 50, this list is just a great brainstorming tool to help get you started today magic makers!!

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/FabFitSquad

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

Website: https://kimbarnesjefferson.com/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fit-girl-magic-healthy-living-for-women-over-40/id1476883661

The post The Power of A Daily Routine appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

I want you to think about these 10 things as, what feels good’ What feels realistic right now, and what would you be excited about starting right now and is it sustainable’  Read this blog over and over again or listen to the podcast! And really think about these things! 

Multitasking… I AM THE QUEEN!  But when it comes to my health and my fitness, I had to prioritize because I had too much that I was trying to do. And when it comes to health and fitness, I want you to say, “What is my priority’”.  Instead of trying to throw it around everywhere, go all-in on ONE THING at first. What are you multitasking’ What aren’t you doing well with the multitasking’ And what can you focus on until you nail it and then move on to something else’ 

Procrastination… I am just gonna go ahead and raise my hand again on this one… I am ALSO the queen of procrastination!   I like to put things off, as most of you do to the very end, then you can to cram it all in or try and sprint to the finish. Then when you don’t get the results that you want you aren’t happy.  That is because you procrastinated!! With health and fitness, sprinting to the finish line is not gonna let you win. 🤷🏽‍♀️You are always going to feel like the crap is beaten out of you or you’re gonna feel like rocky when he first went up against Mr. T!  Instead of taking on the world all at once, I can’t stress this enough the power of small actions. When you take small actions you get more wins, and when you feel like a winner, you want to go 20 rounds with Mr. T!😍 

Email. . I have had to train myself with email. I stink at email… Well, I choose not to be good at email! I would get into it too early in the morning and I would get an email that either pissed me off or made me get to work earlier than I wanted to. And my whole day was thrown off.  So now I have it blocked until 7 am.  I only allow myself to get the weather and my podcast to listen to.  And I have seriously had to train myself with this, and the same goes for social media!  I check email 3 times a day most days and that is it.  But you need to ask yourself, will this work for you’ How do I need to break habits from letting me live my best life’ 

Nutrition.  The bulk of my clients I work with, we work on nutrition and mindset.  Some people are really great at it, and others are just meh..  Now when you are working out, the workout is only as good as the workout you’re doing at that moment. Nutrition is going to last you way longer!  Jack LaLanne the father of modern-day fitness says that “Nutrition is the Queen and Fitness is the King.” and we know if the queen isn’t happy, then the king isn’t happy!  if you truly want “results” it’s time to start to look at your nutrition. What can give you consistency’  

We have noticed with the coronavirus is that it attacks most people that have a chink in their health chain. So, it’s so important to stay healthy so that we are keeping ourselves from getting the virus.   How can I work best to improve my nutrition’  And it’s not about completely removing things either.   It’s about ADDING things instead.  I am consistently not seeing adequate protein and fruits and vegetables in diets of not only my clients but tons of people.  We lose muscle mass as we age, it is just the way it is. And for us to spin the tide we have to strength train and eat enough adequate PROTEIN sources. (We need 20 to 30G every single meal that is like a cup of cottage cheese or 4-6 oz of protein.)  I am asking you to eat more than you normally do so that you can help fight that muscle mass loss.  

Eating fruits and vegetables is huge too!  And you aren’t gonna get fat eating too much fruit! It just doesn’t happen; it is other things that contribute to that.😉  It’s a natural source just as vegetables are. There is never any natural source of food that is off-limits. I will never tell you anything is off-limits; just how much you eat of something. Vegetables have tons of fiber too and it helps you poop! The more you poop, 💩the fewer toxins that you have in your body!! So, eat fibrous vegetables as much as you want! 

I want you to live your best life and I want you to live it at 80%! 80% gives us wiggle room to have cake on our birthday and drinks on vacation!  While still, be focused in your everyday life about your choices.   

STOP Complaining! This really grinds my gears and the complaining makes me cuckoo for cocoa puffs!  Some people complain about everything! My butt is this, my thighs are this, yet I do not see the actions taken to do anything about it!  Plenty of you can identify the behaviors that are tripping you up, yet you continue complain about it!  Right’  So, what are you complaining about on a regular basis and is there something about it you can change’   You don’t have to suffer to hit your goals! Please read this again!  

I am too busy to “fill in the blank” is something I hear ALL THE TIME!  I want you to say to yourself, what is your current schedule right now and how do you feel about it’  With the quarantine, I want you to think about what extra time you have if you aren’t commuting to work’ Do you have a little more time to spend it focusing on food or your workout’  Post quarantine how do you want your life to be’ Do you want to go back to that “busy” or will you start to crave some time to hit your health and fitness goals’ What’s possible for you to stick with’  You DO NOT need a 2-hour workout with a full day of meal prep!  Can you get in a 30-minute workout daily or every other day’ Can you find yourself making shortcuts to being able to cook more and bring your lunch more to work’  You have to figure out how to break free of telling yourself that you are “too busy”! 

How much time are you watching TV’ Or spending on social media scrolling. Are you watching it as a detriment of doing something else’  I will never say don’t watch TV, It is my relax time for me to watch an hour before I go to bed.   And I had to turn off social because otherwise, I was spending all day stuck in the scroll and it was eating up all of my time.  Be judicious with your time and see how much time you are actually spending on social and tv.  

I am always on the go.  You simply cannot use this as a crutch to not take care of yourself.  You need to slow down in order to speed up.  If the ship goes down and you are the ship, you have to take care of that ship, plug the leaks and take and plug your own personal hole.  Think about how you can prioritize your time. Take REPS and initiate preemptive planning. Life will always get in the way, so you have to plan for it.  You have to make sure you get to your non-negotiables every day so that we know we are taking a smidge of care of yourself before you go on the rest of your day.  

Goal setting.  I am a goal-setting fool!  Goals are literally what gets me out of bed on a cold Boston morning.  It helps me with my business and helps me with my clients.  If you want to achieve your goals, the best way I can tell you is one, you have to tell someone, and you have to ask them to support you with it.   

You have to ask them to hold you to be accountable to it.  

And two you have to write it down!   

I write mine on post-it notes all around my office, so I am seeing them and visualizing them!  Think about yourself and do you have goals that you just say, or are you really wanting to land the plane and hit your goals’ 

Lastly… YOU NEED TO STOP GIVING UP!   I am totally guilty of this if something is not happening as fast as I want it to.  And I feel like so many of you are inches away from the breakthrough, but you don’t PUSH THROUGH and go, “whelppp I gotta find something else.”   This is a mindset game, and sometimes I have to scale back my goals and focus on one thing at a time. I will feel more motivated to go on if I do one thing at a time instead of multitasking and doing tons of things.  Don’t go for the A++ go for the B+, I feel like more of a winner and I keep on going when I am hitting my goals one at a time.   

THIS is a mindset shift!  Instead of saying I WANT THIS, say I AM CREATING THIS!  You are creating your reality and you are creating your life.  When I created Fit Girl Magic podcast, I knew that when you have great habits, you will have amazing routines. Once you have those amazing routines, you have unstoppable consistency. And guess what, once you are consistent, boom results, right!’!’  NEED THE RESULTS’ It starts with good habits! Then we can start building those routines from those good habits!  It works, I am telling you, you just have to start, that’s all!  

Do you need help getting started, I have got a list of 50 routines to help jumpstart your brainstorming!   Grab them here 

Let me know what you think of these 10 things and what do you struggle with’  Are these stopping you from reaching success’ 

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/FabFitSquad 

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

Website: https://kimbarnesjefferson.com/ 

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fit-girl-magic-healthy-living-for-women-over-40/id1476883661 

The post 10 Habits Holding You Back From Success appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

When we get into a routine, it can be hard to stop and ask ourselves if it’s working as well as it could be. Even more importantly, with a routine and a set of habits firmly established, it’s easy to keep going even when the circumstances changes. That’s why it’s important to take some time every now and again to review our routine and habits, to see if they are helping you to achieve your goals.

As you accomplish your goals, set aside time to review your routine(s). Put it on the calendar and make sure you do it. It won’t take long and it will be a very valuable exercise in the long run. Our lives and circumstances change. Our routines should change with it. Just because something has served us well over the past few weeks and months, doesn’t mean it will continue to do so. Which brings up a good point…

When you sit down to review your routine(s), ask yourself this:

Is it working’ Is it working really well’

If it is, simply carry on. If it isn’t, it may be time to make some changes and tweak it until you find something that works well for you at that particular point in time.

Another way to look at it is to find what you love and what you hate about your routines. Change it accordingly until you get as close as possible to loving everything about it and still getting the results you want.

Remember, routines will change and evolve over time as you, your circumstances, and the people in your life change and evolve. Embrace the changes and look at them as an indication that you’re making progress.

What I love about routines is that are easier to track your changes than it is to physically results at times.

I challenge you to keep tweaking and improving your routine. Don’t be afraid to mix up things up. Maybe you started out by making exercise a priority first thing in the day. As time goes by and you become more fit and make time for it later in the day, your focus may shift to meditation, or learning a new language. Keep evolving, keep changing, and keep using those precious first few hours of each day to establish some positive change in yourself and those around you.

If it’s time for you to start to learn some new habits I’d love for you to join me in my 5 day FREE challenge. You and I will work together to create a routine that you will love and will help you hit your goals. Join the challenge right here.

The post How Often Do You Review Your Routines appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.