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In this season of love and matters of the heart, it’s important we don’t forget to love and care for our bodies.  Self-love and preservation do not mean you have to be perfect, but we can feel a keen sense of accomplishment if we understand the dynamics of incorporating a Wellness Lifestyle.

A Wellness Lifestyle is a mind, body and soul commitment for a life-changing experience.  It’s a declaration that you will make changes that improve not only how you look, but how you feel for your mental and physical well-being.  When you feel good, your confidence level elevates, which helps you to incorporate positive changes that enhance your life.

Turning your mind to the concept “It’s All About You” is not selfish, it’s self-care. This involves making an allegiance to go within and discover an inner you who appreciates him or herself.

If we lack the confidence to see ourselves healthy, take a journey through memory lane and reflect on a time when you loved (or liked) your body, at least some parts. Hair, breasts, waistline, legs, eyes, hips, there was something you appreciated about you. As you reflect, replace those thoughts with your heart, your mind, your body, your strength and you will find a deeper loving of yourself. While some physical features may be buried in the past, don’t allow your body changes to dictate your health and happiness.

Consider these self-awareness questions.

1.    What do I love about my body?

2.    What don’t I love about my body?

3.    Can I make changes about the things I don’t like?

4.    Am I willing to put in the work to make those changes?

5.    Am I willing to change my Attitude?

Making a decision that supports your health and well-being will create a more successful, vibrant and balanced lifestyle.

Your divine light will shine regardless of the physical evolution of our bodies. Don’t be a prisoner to society which contributes to mental stress and takes you further away from loving you.

Make a declaration today, “I Love My Body and I’m Falling in Love with My Body, All Over Again.”

 

By Sheila L. Agnew

Step Up to Fitness

http://www.sheilaagnew.com

 

Core Exercises

Working with Senior Citizens on their Fitness Goals

can be rewarding.  Many cannot do floor exercises so I use a Bosu Ball to elevate them.

7 Ways To Fall In Love With Your Body Again

If you are beyond the first seventeen days in the New Year and in a slump, with little or no movement or progress towards your fitness and health goals, don’t feel alone.  Millions are struggling right about now and need a boost to continue or ever get started.  Consider this, “Are you in the same place now as you were last year or even years before?”  If the answer is yes, you may be a prime candidate for a “triathlon awakening”, a renewal of the mind, body and soul. 

Athletically, a triathlon is a contest of strength and endurance in three levels often associated with swimming, cycling and long-distant running.  Whether an athletic or not, our minds and bodies need similar types of endurance disciplines to navigate successfully through our challenges, and focus on creating a healthy lifestyle.  This is the race of life.  How we care for our bodies has a direct result on whether we will go a short or long distance.

We all have an opportunity to experience a healthy lifestyle.  All we need do is carefully prepare and train with exercise, fitness and proper nutrition.   The analogy of implementing disciplines similar to an athletics’ training, is to highlight their passion and dedication to whatever their desired goals and the measures it takes to achieve them. The healthy development of one’s body will create a direct flow of energy to the mind for a soul-satisfying experience.

Even though we are pass the beginning of 2016; you can still experience the excitement of achieving success in your health and fitness goals.   Here are a few tips triathlon athletics incorporate that can be useful for anyone desiring a transformation lifestyle.

Set Goals - Goals are important to provide a road map to guide you on your journey. Your goals must be clear, precise and realistic. Write down your goals in journals or create a vision board.

Periodization - Refers to a process in which athletics divide time into manageable blocks designed to produce specific fitness and performance results.  Set your goals so they will be manageable within the time frame you have on a day-to-day basis.  A desire for fast results may soon become discouraging.  If you assign specific blocks of time for each life change objective and pace yourself, results will be more long-standing.

Motivation - Make it personal.  Why do you want to have a transformation lifestyle?  Do you want to shed pounds for a specific event? Do you have a physical challenge or want to look and feel better for a lifetime?  Consider things that will fuel your motivation for achieving your goal.  We should all strive for a lifetime lifestyle.

Measure - How will you measure your results? Give yourself specific parameters such as losing inches, reducing body fat, quit smoking.... Remember, a healthy lifestyle is more than losing weight.

Time Frame - Give yourself a defined period of time to achieve your goals.  If you wish to lose 30 pounds, determine how and when you will achieve the goal.  For example, I will lose 5 pounds a month over the next 6 months by planning my meals and implemented a workout regimen suitable to to help me reach my goals.  Each time you meet your goal, you will get excited about the next interval. Don't set a goal to lose 30 pounds in one month. It may be too much too soon.  Be realistic.

Challenge - Goals should be challenging.  Keep your meals interesting by trying new, healthy recipes. Get your family and friends involved in sharing healthy dishes.  Diversify your fitness routine by experiencing different workouts.  The same workout everyday will eventually bore you. Register for marathon races, run/walk events for charity, or join group fitness classes.  You can also start your own challenge among family, friends and colleagues, which helps to motivate you and others by making it fun.  Be creative.

Envision - Can you see the pounds dropping off, the positive doctor's report, the beautiful outfit in your closet fitting you or crossing the finish line? How would that make you feel? The wonderful thing about vision, it helps you to see what the future can look like.  As mentioned before, create a vision board or simply create a vision where your goals are firmly planted in your mind.

    

     Don’t give up because you have not begun the program or reached the goals you so eagerly resolved to do in 2016.  You can always start anew at any time realizing each day is a new beginning.  Once you start, if you fall short, pick up where you left off and begin again.  We are all in the race and everyone has an opportunity to cross the finish line. Love yourself enough to care about your health.

Sheila L. Agnew McCoy is a author, entrepreneur, speaker and personal trainer @2016

Mirror, Mirror Please Tell Me The Truth!

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While walking down the street a few years ago in my hometown of Chicago, I noticed a man coming towards me with a decorative wall mirror in his hands. As we approached each other, he stopped and asked, “Do you want to buy a mirror?” I replied “no” as I continued to walk past the man. To my surprise he shouted to me, “You are vain.” I chuckled to myself and without any preconceived thought, slightly turned my head (while continuing to walk) and spoke back, “You need to take a look into that mirror.” Thankfully, he did not reply and I kept walking until I was a block away realizing I had stepped out of my comfort zone and made a comment to a strange man who had the appearance of being addicted to something, quite possibly drugs.

     I was slightly agitated that a complete stranger had the nerve to call me vain, but more hopeful that he took my advice and looked in the mirror. Mirrors come in all sizes, shapes and forms. Some are plain with no distinct features and others are quite elaborate with decorative finishes. Regardless of the outward garnishes, mirrors have one thing in common. They tell a story. Some stories are youthful where others show signs of aging. A mirror will show a transformation of our bodies over the years and when we decide to make significant changes, the same mirror will reverse the transformation. We can depend on mirrors to cut, style and curl our hair, put on make-up or sashay in front of with a fancy new outfit.  Businesses rely on mirrors to help us make decisions about making purchases and mirrors are installed in cars with front, sides and back views to guide us while driving, which helps to save our lives. Yes, mirrors tell lots of stories, but most of all mirrors tell the Truth.

     The truth is we all need to look in the mirror of our lives at some point on the journey. We can learn a lot by studying and examining our life experiences. Each day we look into the mirror of life, we may discover something new. Imagine when looking in the mirror if a line reveals you are on a journey. A bump says you have overcome the blocks on the road. Grey hair is an indication of wisdom and loss of hair means you have shredded those heavy loads.  Mirrors can be encouraging and at times discouraging. You can make the mirror your friend or your enemy. My point in the analogies is some things we see in the mirror we cannot change and others we can by making a commitment to transformation.

     Now days when I think about the man walking down the street selling a mirror, I consider if he looked in the mirror and made a life change, but I also take my own advice. Each day I look in the mirror of life and encourage myself with the thought, “You can do better.” As a life coach, I encourage you to look in your mirror of truth and move past the things that time won’t change to focus on the things that really matter, the things you can change.

The Pros and Cons of Internet Body Images

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Recently I viewed a post on my Facebook page revealing a picture of a shapely woman in a form-fitting dress with grey hair. The post read, “Is this lady dressed age appropriately?" I enlarged the picture and looked at it more closely. The lady had a fabulous body and I imagined the results of hard work as opposed to enhancements and surgery. I was inspired by her appearance, not inspired to look like the lady, who I now know as Shellie Bo Talley, a 55 year old mom of 4 and grandmother from Georgia, but inspired to be a better me and shape up. I knew if Shellie could do it, so could I!

As for addressing the question concerning the matter of Shellie being dressed age appropriately, I prescribe to the late author Zora Neal Hurston’s famous quote, “Those that don’t got it, can’t show it. Those that got it, can’t hide it.” Even so, I do believe we should use discretion regardless of age, which so many women need to be mindful of. Shellie was not trying to be a video vixen or porn star. She was fully dressed and obliviously proud of the results of fitness training and healthy eating habits. Additionally, her grey hair was an indication she was not trying to hide her age.

Some online body images can be an inspiration, but far too often posting nude and partially clad body images has given rise to “false hopes” about our bodies and what we should look like. In some instances, women (particularly young women) believe this is the only way they will get attention from men and many have resorted to getting surgical enhancements at a very young age. Additionally, this quest to become “bootylicious” has created bogus treatments from people who claim to provide shots and pills that allow women to look like the images they see in videos and the Internet. This has proven harmful and even deadly in some cases. Unfortunately, we can become inspired for all the wrong reasons. Our first love should be our own bodies and being the best we can be through creating a healthy outlook on life, adopting a fitness routine and eating healthy. This is self-love!

But wait, one more thing! Men see these women in videos and online and believe it is 100% the truth. I have heard stories where men are insisting that their wives or girlfriends can look like these women, often going so far as to make cruel comments and request unreasonable demands or else. Admittedly, some of these women are the truth, but men should be mindful that many are getting paid (or want to get paid) and maintain their appearances with enhancements that include tummy tucks, liposuction, booty shots, facelifts, computer imaging and more. My good friend once told me you can buy yourself to look anyway you want to. My point is, I agree you should want your lady to look good, but don’t be conformed to what you see on online and in videos as a guide to what you believe your mate should look like.  Remember, you may not look your best either. Try working and working out together. That’s real love!