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This is one of my favorite podcasts! And hey, listen to it while walking!! :) I looooove walking! Clients always think that they need to push harder, do high intensity interval training and do more cardio to get results and lose body fat. The truth is, it's individual! As you'll learn from the podcast, walking has many many benefits. Not only does it burn calories, it helps you recover from your strength training workouts. In the hierarchy of fat loss, mindset is #1, nutrition is #2, strength training is #3, and cardio comes in at #4. First off, if you don't have a mindset that believes you can achieve your goal, self sabatoge awaits. Being mindful of self talk and creating serving thoughts is essential!! Next, you can't out-train a bad diet. Studies show that the harder people exercise, the more their appetite goes up and the more they justify eating more food. Strength training is #3 because the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest! You want muscle!! **Don't worry girls...we can't get big unless we take drugs** Focus on 1, 2, and 3 and add in easy walking. It doesn't stimulate your appetite and will help you feel better!! Take a listen and add walking to your daily routine for good health!! XO! Michelle

You may have thought that this was going to be an article giving you a workout or nutrition tool. There are a million tools already out there. The challenge is that people try them but don't use them consistently or they move on to the next fad before the first one had a change to create results. Why does this happen? Because your unconscious mind gave you the thought that made you change your actions. It wasn’t until I learned that we all have unconscious drivers that are dictating our thoughts & feelings and this in turn directs our actions and behaviors. If you are struggling to make change and find yourself giving in to your old habits, it’s because of your unconscious programming. Your unconscious mind is "running the show” around 95% of the time. And, you are thinking 60-65,000 thoughts each day with 90% of them being the same as the day before!!!! If you have negative unconscious programming (which most of us do if we are not where we want to be in any area of our life be that health, wealth, relationship, career, etc.) then that means you are thinking the same thoughts over and over and over again. You probably aren’t even realizing it! With those negative thoughts comes a lot of self criticism. We are so mean to ourselves!!! We would probably NEVER talk to other people the way we talk to ourselves. It’s a damn shame. We should be absolutely caring and loving to ourselves everyday. If you are reading this then I know you want better health, a body you feel comfortable in, confidence to go to the gym! Until you re-program your unconscious mind, you will remain on the hamster wheel of 1 step forward, 2 steps back! So what is the first step in changing the unconscious programming? It’s actually rather simple. COUNT YOUR WINS! I’ve been doing this for months now and it will reprogram your mind while you are sleeping! Your brain is always dwelling on something, even while you sleep. Instead of looking back on your day and all the things you should have done or said differently, start acknowledging yourself for all the small amazing steps you took to move you in the direction you want to go. Every time you park a little further away to get more movement or take the stairs, WIN! When you wake up and have a large glass of water, WIN! You had 2 fist full servings of vegetables at lunch, WIN! You showed up to train with Michelle, WIN! You prepped your food for the next day, WIN! All you do is WIN, WIN, WIN!!!!! Get a journal. Sit down at night without any distractions, close your eyes for a moment and take a few deep breathes. Think about your day and all of the things that you did for yourself and others that were good. Maybe you smiled and said hello to a stranger. Yes, that’s a WIN. Imagine you are talking to your child and asking them all the good things that happened that day. Which by the way…I highly recommend you try this with your kids at dinner or some time (my client/friend Jen :) likes to do this in the car when she has picked her kids up from school). You are amazing! You are awesome! It’s about releasing from the reasons that you think you are not!!!! Are you IN? Will you do this with me and start re-programming your unconscious mind so that you can be the BEST VERSION OF YOU? Start doing this and watch the magic happen :) XO! Michelle #lifestyle #health #mindset #weightloss

I had a major win last night. I'll be honest, most nights I battle my appetite and some particular food calling my name after dinner because I'm not satisfied. Luckily, I happen to be going through the Mindset Performance Institute modules again, refreshing my memory so I'm practicing what I'm learning more diligently. And this is how the tools saved the day. So it's after dinner and the cravings start. I knew I shouldn't be hungry. I had eaten plenty all day, like I always do, and had a very good dinner of salad, some baked fish and plenty of wild rice that I even mixed some ghee in to...YUM. Yet, I was literally thinking about how good and satisfying it would be to dive in to the nut butter in the fridge. I tried to deny the cravings but the feeling in my stomach and the thoughts in my mind would not stop! I knew I needed to get to the bottom of what was causing the cravings or the nut butter would be ON my bottom! I asked myself, "What are you feeling?". I felt anxious. I realized my heart rate was up, my body was tense and my breathing was shallow. I then asked, "Why are you anxious?". Taxes! Money! I was feeling stressed about financial stuff. As soon as I acknowledged this, I started to relax. I had to tell myself it will all be ok and that I'll simply get on a payment plan but it's not anything I can't handle. I had to check in with myself at least 4 or 5 more times again after that because the cravings kept coming back and each time I'd say, what are you feeling now and I would respond, anxious. I would breathe and acknowledge anxious and I would start to relax again. Anxious was coming from my ego or the subconscious mind. It's not necessarily a bad thing unless I didn't deal with it head on and instead decided to binge on nut butter. It was reminding me that I needed to deal with it. I couldn't just brush it aside and think it would take care of itself. I needed a plan. Most of the time, ego has you playing out roles like jealously, comparison, cynical or annoyance whose scripts run in the background of your mind like an app on your phone that needs to be closed out or it drains your battery. It usually needs acknowledgement like a child nagging at you. I won the battle last night. The only way to maintain this level of awareness is to practice it daily! Doing this once a week or even once a day is not enough. If you want to get really good at this, it must be moment to moment. Every second you are not being mindful and present is an opportunity for the ego to interject. It will happen. It's simply about being awake so you can notice. XO! ❤️

In order to get stronger in a healthy and injury free way, you must have muscles that are able to move through their full range of motion. Flexibility is your muscles ability to lengthen but in order to lengthen your muscles through their full range of motion, you must remove the knots! If you've got any areas in your body that are painful to compression, this is simply stiffness. Repetition of this routine is key to keeping your body pain free. This video is a basic foam rolling routine that you can do before and/or after a workout and before bed. Start with a foam roller that is appropriate for you. Go to Amazon to check out your options and let me know if you have any questions. Don't hesitate to e-mail me. Thanks for watching and hope you have a great workout this week!

Mindset is something I've been studying for many years now. I'm a self help junkie! I guess I'd better be honest here. I've struggled, like many of you, not feeling good enough, dealing with shame, holding myself back, anxiety, depression. It was over 2 years ago now that I was at a personal training seminar where I saw Brian Grasso, co-creator of the Mindset Performance Institute, speak. I was blown away with what he was saying and knew right then that I would be joining whatever program he had! I've now gone through the MPI level 1 and 2 programs, coached personally with Brian's other half, Carrie Campbell, gone to a summit, a retreat and continue my journey with them through their Eliminate Your Limits program and a retreat I will be attending in February, 2017 in Spain!!! You may be thinking, haven't your learned the tools to do this on your now yet? Yes and no. I believe this is a journey with no end point or destination. And, just like any skill you learn, you refine it and make it better. Self mastery, I think, is the most important skill you can work on in your lifetime. I heard on a The Life Coach School podcast, not managing your mind is like letting a 5 year old run around the house with a knife!! Yikes! It drums up quite the image don't you think? But, it's the truth! Your unconscious mind (UM) is running the show 95% of the time! What's wrong with that you might ask? Your UM is made up of all of your life experiences from birth, societal influences, circumstances and events in your life, cultural influences, everything! We have some 65,000 thoughts each day and around 90% are the same as the day before. If you are overweight and really want to be fit and healthy, you can thank your UM. If you are in debt and not in the financial position you would like, yep, good ol' UM. If you are in a relationship that you're unhappy with and it lacks the passion and love you desire, you got it, UNCONSCIOUS MIND is the reason. It's not that the unconscious mind is a bad thing. It's there to protect us and keep us safe. The problem is that it doesn't like change. It's always looking for proof to stay where you are. It is designed to look for the negative. So when you say, I look fat today, your unconscious mind says, let's look for ways to keep you fat because that's what you say we are. Your mind only knows what you tell it! Every little thing you think takes shape in some form. If you think negative thoughts day in and day out, complaining in your mind about the weather, your work situation, your home life, whatever, it will manifest in some way. You know the cliche statement, what you think about, you bring about. Well, it really is true. So how do you start the process of change? LISTEN. Listen all day and hear the conversation that you have in your mind. Do so without judgement and just try to observe. Your internal dialogue is the most important conversation you have everyday. Tune in to how you are feeling. When an uncomfortable feeling comes up, ask yourself what you are thinking in that moment. Often times, the unconscious mind is so conditioned to respond to certain situations that you don't even have the thought. It just reacts. The easiest way to tap in to the unconscious mind is to get a journal, wake up in the morning and check-in with yourself. Take a couple minutes to sit in silence, breathe and let your mind do it's thing. I'll ask myself, what is bothering me or what am I afraid of right now, to give my mind a question to answer. Again, listen without judgement and just record your thoughts. As always, I'm here to help! I've found having a coach to hold me accountable to this process invaluable. It's easy to get distracted and let one day of not journaling turn in to 2, 3, and so forth and then just do it once in a while. THIS MUST BE DONE DAILY like brushing your teeth to keep it healthy! The good news is your brain is capable of change. Whatever you desire can be yours. :) Have an amazingly awesome day! Xo! M

First let me start by saying that there is nothing wrong with counting calories or not counting calories. I think everyone needs to do what works for them! The key is to do what works. If something isn't working, change your approach. I decided to break up with My Fitness Pal (a free calorie/food tracking app) about 2 months ago. I counted my calories for over a year and maybe even up to 2 years. We had a long, good relationship. I actually enjoyed it most of the time. I like structure and I LOVE food! It worked well but it was, well, work. It took time and energy. I also got to the point where I was, you could say, obsessed. I finally realized that maybe what I was doing wasn't necessarily "healthy". I think nutrition and food is somewhat of a spiritual journey. I know that sounds a little hippie, wait, isn't it cool to be like a hippie now anyway. :) I've always been somewhat of a spiritual person. I find it fascinating the way food can heal, give you energy, make you smarter or make you feel the complete opposite. The older I get, the more I've noticed that food has a profound effect on me. Or, maybe I'm just noticing, the older I get! When I was counting calories, I still focused on food quality but I tended to eat the same meals over and over. While I like simplicity, it did get boring. It made it easier to fill in MFP. I lacked variety of nutrient intake and flavor. I also missed having more fat now and then. And here's the thing, our bodies are constantly burning a different amount of calories daily. I decided to shift my focus to food quality, variety, and awareness of different vitals like energy, mood, and sleep. The main reason, to evolve and grow. I was also greatly inspired after reading a book by Dr. Kelly Brogan, A Mind of Your Own. She preaches a "Paleo" style of eating while including whole food carbohydrates. I leaned in, put my food scale away, and started eating yummy, satisfying meals. I think whatever style of eating you do, it must fit your personality. At the end of the day, calories do matter most but how your body processes those calories is going to be different between macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fat). It will also be very different from person to person. Nutrition is a science that could be debated because there are so many schools of thought and a lot of them are right. I think the stress of eating can be more harmful to someone than the food itself! So, for now, I'm enjoying new recipes, made with quality ingredients that are gluten & dairy free (more on that in another blog). I am monitoring my weight as well as the vitals I noted previously. I should also note that my goals are to maintain my weight while doing a little body recomposition (build muscle and thereby lose fat because of increased muscle tissue). If I was trying to do a bikini competition (which I don't plan on doing at this time) then counting calories would be beneficial to dialing things in. If you are over weight and trying to lose fat, most would benefit from simply focusing on food quality first. Whatever you do, I hope that you do it because it makes you feel good! XO! #nutrition #health #lifestyle #diet

I love to know the "why" behind something. Why...it makes me want to do it more! If people really understood how flipping amazing weight training is for you, I think more people would be stepping off the elliptical and picking up the weights. Here are just a few of the benefits: - Increases insulin sensitivity. In other words, you can eat more carbs because the carbs will go to refuel your glycogen stores in your muscles rather than turn to fat! Hello carbs! - Breaks down bones and gives your body a reason to rebuild them. Use it or lose it! - Increases growth hormone which is our fountain of youth hormone. It is essential for the growth & repair of our muscles, improves sleep, enhances sexual performance...enough said. - Makes you look freaking awesome with sculpted arms, shoulders, butt and legs! - Gives you a feeling of empowerment and confidence. This translates in to other areas of your life! - Mood lifting helping to fight anxiety and depression. Bring on the endorphins! - Improves flexibility and overall body mechanics. In turn this helps prevent injury and pain in the body. Got back pain? It's likely due to a weak core and tight hip flexors and hamstrings! Short on time? A full body workout of at least 2 times per week of a quality workout will be enough to start getting these benefits. If you are already doing this, pat yourself on the back. Otherwise, let's chat and see how we can get you on a program to start turning back the clock, feeling great and loving your body! #Training #lifestyle #health

Are you still looking for the next diet plan to get the weight off and keep it off? Unfortunately, diets are usually short term solutions that end up backfiring, leaving you only to look for the next diet plan. The secret is, this is a lifestyle. Unfortunately you've been marketed into believing that you need a secret plan that eliminates a food group or involves drinking shakes all day. You already know, that is not sustainable! This is a lifestyle. Period! It means wrapping your brain around the fact that these coping mechanisms of drinking alcohol every night or turning to sugar when you are stressed need to be replaced with lots of water, good sleep and daily movement. Those are the things that are going to really make you feel good. The truth is consistency + simplicity = success. Make changes but try to be as simple as possible and do that consistently. Over time, those simple, daily changes add up. My goal is to hopefully inspire you and motivate you. I love answering questions so please don't hesitate to reach out to me so that I may help you! #nutrition #health #lifestyle #diet

Dieting is hard, right?! Under eating for an extended period of time is almost my least favorite thing to do. But, if you know which foods to choose, you can make losing weight almost effortless. I say almost because let's face it, it's still work. Studies show that the average American only gets 12 grams of fiber per day. We are supposed to be getting upwards of 25 grams per day...minimum!! Fiber puts the brakes on stomach emptying which allows you to stay fuller, longer. It also helps you poop. Yep, I said it. Good digestion and bowel movements are absolutely critical for good health. The benefits don't stop there. It helps feed the good bacteria in your gut and improves nutrient absorption. Fiber prevents free fatty acids from accumulating in your bloodstream. A buildup can create insulin resistance. Lastly, your colon puts fiber to good use converting it to short chain fatty acids which gives it the energy it needs to keep metabolic machinery humming. My favorite choices for fiber are raspberries, beans & lentils (especially refried black beans...but not the crappy kind with nasty, processed oils added), raw cacao powder, cruciferous veggies like broccoli and cauliflower, sweet potatoes, fiber supplements like this one or this AMAZING TASTING bar, click here. I aim for 50 grams per day! Now, if you have been eating a low fiber diet, you want to increase the amount each day, slowly. You could get some digestive discomfort by increasing too quickly. Also, higher fiber intake means you need to increase your water intake as all that fiber requires more water to pass through your digestive tract so make sure you are drinking lots of good quality water. Here is how you can work this much fiber in to your day. Note: This is simply a SAMPLE day. It does not take into account training with weights. Breakfast I love making a smoothie with a high quality protein powder. Add in 1 cup of frozen organic raspberries for a whopping 9 grams of fiber. I also add 2 TB of ground chia seed for an additional 4 grams and a couple teaspoons of a fiber supplement with 5 grams of fiber. Total = 18 grams of fiber Lunch I make a bowl of some sort starting with a base of quality fats like olive oil or coconut oil, protein, tons of veggies like steamed frozen broccoli (1/2 a bag) with 7 grams of fiber, 1/2 cup of refried black beans with 5 grams of fiber, and 1/2 of a small avocado with 4 grams of fiber. I almost always have 4 squares of Trader Joes 85% Dark Chocolate Lovers for about 1.5 grams of fiber. Total = 17.5 grams of fiber Afternoon snack Things really vary here. You can have an apple with a yogurt for about 4 grams of fiber, or a pack of Trader Joes unsalted dry roasted almonds with 4 grams of fiber and a green drink, raw veggies like carrots, celery, bell pepper or cucumber for around 4-6 grams of fiber with a good quality hummus (look for one with no oil added, or just tahini oil but NO CANOLA OIL!) with around 4 grams of fiber are a great option. Total = average around 4 grams of fiber for simplicity Dinner A typical dinner for me is an organic turkey burger with a veggie and a starch for sides. Again, I have a LOT of veggies. I love steaming greens beans (1/2 a bag) with about 6 grams of fiber and topping with olive oil and a sweet potato with about 5 grams (obviously depends on the size) and top it with a little ghee. Total = 11 grams of fiber Woot woot, that's 50.5 grams of fiber! Yes, it's a lot of food but it's real food that body will use up for building your body and all of the many chemical processes that take place. Think how great your workout would be with all that quality fuel! Hopefully you can incorporate some of this in to a meal plan that works for you. :) #diet #lifestyle #health #nutrition