Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!! Here we are January 3, 2010 and I'm happy to report I am still down 15 lbs and 23 inches from last January 1 2009! What an accomplishment! How did I do it? Consistency - Consistently working out each week and consistently eating 90% clean each week - remember if you are eating 5 meals a day, that is 35 meals a week, which means 3.5 of your meals or snack can be "cheats". Of course I was down a full 20 lbs and almost 26 inches before the holidays, but no body's perfect - right?

So I'm off again - just finished my kitchen cleanse, just finished restocking my fridge and cabinets with clean food, and lastly have a plan in place to get my 5 to 6 workouts in a week! 3 - 40 min cardio sessions and 3 - weight training sessions - of course both with include my valslide!!! Have you thought about what your health intentions are for this year?

Intentions are basically goals - goals you set for yourself. Setting intentions get you focused and clear on what you want. Becoming aware of your intentions brings them to the front of your mind and once they come to the front of your mind, they will happen. If you haven't seen the movie the Secret yet, I highly recommend it. It talks about the law of attraction and how by setting your intention in the positive way, you will attract / make the results you want happen. For example - you wouldn't say I don’t want to be fat because your mind will hear I want to be fat. You would say I intend to be 145 by Feb. 28th.

Here are some sample intentions:

• I intend to weigh 145 by Feb 28th.
• I intend to fit easily into a size 10--and my old favorite jeans!--by Feb 28th.
• I intend to reduce my body fat to 31% (according to my body fat scale) by Feb 28th.
• I intend to attend my running class 2x per week and do my individual running workout each week.
• I intend to do 3 full body strength workouts in the morning each week.
• I intend to track my workouts and my food in my journal.
• I intend to pre-plan my meals and bring my snacks to work.
• I intend to limit sugars, refined starches, alcohol, and eating dinner out
• I intend to read my intentions daily and transform my mindset to a positive, can-do attitude over these 8 weeks.

To stay focused it is also very important to have some kind of motivation / deadline - Why do you want to get fit? Class reunion; be healthy for your kids, fit into your skinny jeans, a wedding, a vacation etc. As I've mentioned before there has to be a reason attached.

Start by taking before pictures, take your measurements, and weight and write them in a journal. Journal your food and exercise daily to hold yourself accountable – at the end of the 8 weeks allow someone to take your after pictures. If you are consistent you WILL see results.