Miguel used to think I was crazy, but now he loves that I hit the airport prepared with healthy choices. Check out the video below:

Yes, it’s true that traveling can be a stressful (as you can see from my tired face in the video!) and tough time to make healthy choices. And you might have the best eating habits when you are at home, but the second you hit the airport, it’s like a free-food-fest! Yes. I get it. I’ve also been there before.

But when I hear myself or my clients making excuses as to why they can’t eat healthy when traveling, or use the excuse that it is impossible to make healthy choices, it really gets me upset. Because I realize these are just excuses to help make us feel better.

What we focus on is EXACTLY what shows up in our life. Go ahead…keep focusing on “how impossible it is to make good choices while traveling”. Throw your arms up in the air and give up.

I had a bootcamper recently tell me she was having trouble eating healthy because she lives alone and doesn’t cook. Again, that is just another excuse to help justify a current behavior. (or my favorite is when they blame the kids…”they eat chicken nuggets and fries, so I end up eating it, too.” I’m not quite sure why the kiddo is eating nuggets and fries in the first place…but that’s a whole other blog post!) Sure things might not be ideal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make the right choice with a little planning.

Love her or hate her, Jillian Michaels from the Biggest Loser has probably logged a million frequent flier miles since the start of Biggest Loser, but I have heard many interviews with her explaining that she refuses to eat any processed food and packs all natural all organic snacks and meals. It shows in the way her body still looks despite the fact she says sometimes she goes weeks without working out.

Ok, I will get off my soap box now…

I just wanted to show you how I am able to make healthy choices when traveling. And if I can do it, I KNOW you can do it, too!

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

WHAT ARE YOUR HEALTHY EATING SECRETS FOR WHEN YOU ARE TRAVELING? SHARE THEM WITH US BELOW!

I received an interesting phone call

from a camper who just rejoined after taking a few months off. In her words, she had been “drowning at work, filled to the rim with stress, and just couldn’t seem to get out of the rut of having too much to do”, and then making the excuse of being too busy to exercise. Not to mention she injured her shoulder “wrestling and playing with her 2 pre-teen boys”.

Well, it didn’t take long before it became a “downward spiral” in terms of her health, and she knew getting back into her exercise regime was going to be hard, but absolutely necessary.

“It was tough to get back into the swing of things, especially the first week of getting used to going to bed early, and making sure I was doing the right exercises to keep my shoulder safe.” But after the initial “shock”, I’ve realized just how lucky I am that I CAN exercise everyday. It’s easy to feel sorry for myself blaming my lack of exercise on my shoulder, when I have 200 other body parts that AREN’T injured!

So now that I’m back in the groove and getting my fitness (and body for that matter) back on track, I’ve asked myself, ‘Why do I exercise?’ What is the driving force that gets me out of bed and keeps me going? Because lets be honest here…even though Boot Camp is fun…it’s not always fun! So what keeps me going?”

Check out the answers below:

• The feeling I get immediately after the workout.
• The sense of accomplishment
• The adage: how you do one thing is how you do everything…If I slacked in my workout, quit early, didn’t try hard, or just didn’t show up…it would be the same way with any other area of my life
• I am interested in improving all aspects of my life, so that includes improving my body through fitness
• The knowing and belief that exercise will prevent a slew of bad things down the road, increase my energy, and add years of vitality to my life.

Questions for you:

Why do you exercise? What’s in it for you?

Share your answers below and inspire us ALL to make it out our training sessions tomorrow!

It’s my birthday today.

Does anyone else sit around for a while on your birthday pondering the year that just past and possibly the year ahead?

I know I do.

This has been a tremendous year of growth for me. It was almost a year ago that I decided to go all out, stop working for a gym, and create my own business. Little did I know how that one decision would affect virtually every aspect of my life. It has forced me to “show up for my life” in a manner I always knew I wanted to (and needed to), but just never did it.

It’s like all of my good qualities magnified and grew. Qualities like my un-ending energy, passion for what I do, and willingness to never give up. But it’s funny…because all of my “not so hot” qualities (some might call them character flaws…) also became magnified.

Where's my coffee?

Great examples of this might be my struggle with organization (can you say: A.D.D.?) and getting phone calls returned in a timely manner.

No more of this for me!

But the great thing about all the changes that I’ve endured this year is that I no longer have the option of “sweeping things under the rug”. If I don’t return a phone call, then why am I even in business? If my business isn’t organized, then why even bother because without organization it’s going to fall apart eventually! And that’s the genius behind following your chosen path and being true to yourself. Not that it’s going to be easy, but that it’s going to grow you into the person you are destined to become.

So as I put the mirror in front of my face on this 34^th birthday, I have a big apology for you.

In the midst of creating all this “busyness” I have let you down. I have a lot of values, but the one that reigns over all in my business is to over deliver to you.

Yes, indeed I have a big apology to give you. You see, I have been a busy girl lately and I keep using that as an excuse.

An excuse to NOT give you the best service, motivation, and up-to-date content possible that keeps you in-the-know and inspired to keep your body moving and to keep reaching toward your goals.

So from here on out, you’re going to see a huge SHIFT (sorry…couldn’t help it) in what we have to offer you, starting with a fun and motivating workout and talking about what it means to “fall off the wagon, and then get back on”! (Are you wondering what happened with My very own Best Body Challenge? Juicy details are to follow…so stay tuned!)

I just want to say THANK YOU…

for being in my life in whatever capacity you are. I realize fulfillment for myself means giving back and helping YOU reach your goals, strive for more in your life, and to live your life filled with health and wellness (and a hot body never hurts, too!).

So in a way, it’s selfish. In order for me to feel alive and fulfilled, I need to give to you. And right now, I’m not feeling as good as I want to, which leads me to the conclusion that I am not giving you all that I have to offer.

I know….Some people go out and party and drink on their birthday’s…I sit around analyzing “what’s not working”, and then I come up with a plan to fix it!

So to that end, I would like to wrap up by saying THANK YOU for letting me help and serve you while you work on the very important values of health, fitness, and nutrition (because after all, if you don’t have that…. You can fill in the blanks), and be on the lookout for us to take this fun and fabulous fitness and nutrition company to the next level!!!

And now after going to Bootcamp at 6 this morning (thank you Kat for the intense workout!), and working a full day, I think it’s time to have a little fun. I’m off to Los Gatos’ Jazz in the Plazz for a little music and wine! Happy Birthday to me!

Love,

Audra : )

Ahhh yes. You’re craving something crunchy, a little salty and oh so yummy.

If your first inclination is to grab for the infamous potato chip. “HALT”, I say! Before you go on ingesting tons of extra calories that are nutritionally deficient and caloricaly dense, you should try kale chips!

Now, I’m not going to spend too much time boring you to death with how insanely good-for-you kale is…but I will say that in terms of nutrition density, it literally doesn’t get better than this!

Kale is the highest rated veggie on the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) scale, which basically measures the potency of the veggies antioxidant and phytochemical properties. Kale comes in at the top with a number 1770. The next closest veggie is spinach, with a rating 1260. Not to mention it’s loaded with calcium, iron, and vitamins A, C, and K (build those bones Mama!)

Okay…I’m finished talking about how good it is for you. Now I want to talk about how crazy delicious this little snack is!

You seriously have to try them to believe it yourself, but the crunch, the texture, and the taste make this a treat that even your kids will love.

These leaves lay flat when you are baking them.

First, start with the “Dinosaur Kale” variety. The leaves are flat (as opposed to it’s curly counterpart), which make it easy to lay out on the cookie sheet.

Kids LOVE veggies with cool names!

1. Wash the Kale leaves, then remove the thick stems (not that the stems aren’t delicious, too. If you want, you can actually chop the stems up and saute them in a little olive oil, garlic, and onions….)
2. Lightly coat the Kale leaves in a little olive oil. I like to throw them in a big ziploc or a big bowl, add a Tbl of oil, then churn the kale around with my hands until it’s completely coated
3. Use a spray oil on the cookie sheets, lay the Kale out on the cookie sheet, and then sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
4. Bake at 350 for anywhere between 9-15 minutes.

Timing is everything here. If you take them out too soon, it won’t have that crunch, but if you leave them in too long, it can burn.

One client who couldn’t get her kids to eat greens to save their life, now finds her kids begging for more!

Question for the day:

Do you have a great veggie recipe that you and your family love? Share it below!

“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”
- Beverly Sills

I’ll admit it…I love shortcuts and quick fixes. Cliff notes saved me in high school literature classes. : )

But the truth is anything I want out of life that matters most to me takes my attention, focus, drive, and energy to get what I want. And it goes without saying, that all the above apply when you want to improve your fitness, health, and waist line.

I’ve been talking to a lot of past members this month. People who absolutely love our training program, but for one reason or another, they decided to call it off. I decided to reconnect with many of them over the course of this month to ask how they have been, and to inquire about their health, fitness, and weight loss goals.

It’s been great to reconnect, but the one thing I keep hearing from our past clients is how they’ve “fallen off the wagon” and are so bummed to be “starting over again”. This above everything really bums me out, but the story is the same over and over again. See if you can relate:

You see some success (as there is no way you can’t see success with our training programs…but that’s a whole other story…), you get excited about your success, and then all of the sudden, your fitness, nutrition, and weight loss goals that were so incredibly important to you only a few months ago, fall by the wayside to all those other “more important” things.

Why?

Well, usually for very good reasons. The reasons I’ve heard this week have to do with new jobs, stressful jobs, late work days (which makes it hard to make to their 6am training session), family activities, or basically just “too much on their plate”. (AKA: STRESS!)

Trust me. I know. Ever since I turned my idea of running a “fun boot camp class” in to a full blown business, I can’t believe how much time I spend stressed out, sitting on my bum, in front of a computer, and even worse…making excuses to miss my training sessions.

Me! I’m fitness professional! So if this is hard for me, I imagine you might be having a hard time, too!

But lets go back to the top of the article: “There are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going.

And yes, my friends, this includes your health and fitness. The truth of the matter is that when you are taking care of yourself, consistently making it to your fitness training sessions, and taking care of your nutrition, then you have positioned yourself to handle all the stressors of life with ease.

Once your workouts fall off, then it seems that everything else slowly starts to fall apart. And then the next thing you know you’re getting a phone call from me to find out what’s going on!

Take this moment today, on MOTIVATION MONDAY, to dig deep and ask yourself what’s been stopping you from taking care of yourself? What’s been keeping you from your training sessions that give you relentless energy to conquer the stressors in your life?

It’s the start of your week. How can you reconnect right now to what matters most?

I’ll see you out there!

Audra

Ps…if it’s been awhile since you’ve been on a consistent workout program, we have numerous times and days each week in Los Gatos, Gilroy, and Willow Glen. All you have to do show up. It’s that easy.

QUESTION FOR THE DAY:

HOW HAVE YOU “FALLEN OFF THE WAGON” LATELY AND WHAT WILL YOU DO TO GET BACK ON? Check out MY ANSWER below!