Forward-focused Mindset

Triumph Over Adversity: Celebrating the Joy of Achieving the Impossible.

I hope everyone had a wonderful week last week and you are ready for another phenomenal week.  For those of you who celebrate Easter, Happy Easter as well.  To everyone reading this blog, the most important thing: Make today matter.  Be all in today and focus on your path forward.

I would like to spend a little time sharing why I feel like I have valuable information to share with you.  I want to present my credentials because they are relevant to me and in some ways inform you on the place in which I stand.  But I believe that my positive outlook, forward-focused mindset, and my life experiences make me relevant.  My life has been amazing, but not without heartache.  There has been success and there has been failure.  

The framework I live by:  

1. Refuse to live in a state of failure.  When you feel like you can’t escape the feeling of failure, look for small changes and decisions that you can make to change your situation.  Remember, we have all been there. 

   
   

2. Refuse to live in a world where you spend more time crafting excuses than you do trying to meet the goals that are important to you.

   
   

3. Dig in with both heels and move forward in life with your head held high. 

   
   

4. It is important not to get caught in the weeds, instead, envision yourself accomplishing your goal.  Work back from your goal to determine the steps you need to accomplish it.

5. Lastly, in moments of stress and chaos stop for a minute and catch your breath.  These moments are very important because they allow you to reset your mindset to keep moving forward.

   
   

My passion for health and fitness started very young.  Not in the way you think.  I was klutzy.  I am not even sure I knew where my feet were.  I did not think I had an athletic bone in my body.  This changed with an incredible Physical Education teacher who took the time to share her love of running.  My dad was a body builder.  He got up early and lifted before work.  He taught me to work hard and showed me that building muscles came from consistent action.  I remember reading his “Muscle and Fitness” magazine as a young girl.  I would flip through the pages enamored by the strength that filled the pages. I learned that being strong was “cool.”  

My weightlifting journey started to come together in my twenties.  I wanted to learn how to become a bodybuilder, but I was too proud to ask.  To this day, I remember how overwhelmed I felt when I walked onto the gym floor for the first time.  Part of me wanted to go back to the locker room and leave the gym all together.  I struggled at first because I was scared of looking like a fool. I compared myself to people who had been lifting for years.  I was too intimidated to ask a trainer.  I studied, I watched, and I figured it out.  The important thing is that I did not go back into the locker room. I faced my fear, and I have spent many years loving the sport.

My knowledge has grown over the years.  I have shared my love of sport with many people.  I have given back to others who like me; walked onto the gym floor and became overwhelmed. We all have to start somewhere and sometimes we just need a friendly face to show us the way.  

I take on a lot in my life.  I think big and I have a lot of energy.   However, I only recently made it a priority to get my NASM certificates for Personal Training, Nutrition Coaching, and Weight-loss Specialist.  That said, I have spent many years sharing my passion with others and showing them how to get started.  I do not want anyone to give up their dreams out of fear or lack of knowledge. 

I would like to conclude by discussing my higher education accomplishments. I was very lucky to have the opportunity to obtain a Bachelor of Science in Health in Human Development from Montana State University and a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership. In my Organizational Leadership program, I selected the tract that focused on the study of resiliency.   The topic captivated me.  I wanted to better understand why some people were successful in the face of incredible adversity while others struggled to get their footing.  Resilience is a skill and while it is enate in some it has to be learned by others.  The coursework solidified my desire to help others get their footing and create the “masterpiece” of a life they desire.  

We all need support.  A hand up.  Often, in life, we need support when there is none to be had.   Going to school or working while you have a family is difficult.  It is exhausting.   It is easier to move forward when you focus forward and look to the finish line.  Visualize what it will look like to accomplish your goal and move towards it.  We only get one shot at life.

I value the opportunity to share my ideas and hope to inspire you.   This week, I am including a ‘Building Your Toolkit’ and ‘Recipe’ section.  

Building Your Toolkit

I am going to touch on how to find your “why.”  This is a huge topic, which I will explore with you in more depth at a later time. I would like to touch on the technique called the ‘5 whys.’  According to Wikipedia Taiichi Ohno at the Toyota Corporation first discussed this technique.  He used the technique to determine the cause and effect of a particular problem, but the answers to the questions will help you to begin to determine your “why.”

Let’s say you want to drop 10 lbs.  This technique helps you to drill down and understand why you want to lose weight. I have provided an example below.  In the example the individual determines that healthier food and exercising would help her eliminate or improve the pain she feels in her legs caused by her sedentary lifestyle.  

1. Why do you want to lose 10 lbs.? 

answer: I want to feel better.

2. Why do you want to feel better?

  answer: My legs hurt.

3. Why do your legs hurt?  

answer: I sit all day at work and do not exercise.

4. Why do you sit all day at work and do not exercise? 

answer: I run out of time in a day to exercise.

5. Why do you run out of time in your day to exercise? 

answer: I do not make it a priority.

Recipe of the Day

This recipe is nothing fancy.  I created this recipe when I was cutting weight.  I love pizza.  It is one of my guilty pleasures.  One of the key factors to eating healthy over the long-term is to find delicious food that is full of flavor, but healthy at the same time. 

Tortilla Pizza’s

Ingredients                   

Servings 1

·        2 or 3 Guerrero Zero Net Carb tortillas (small)

·        1 or 2 Tablespoons Roasted Garlic Alfredo or Garlic Marinara

·        ½ oz Pepperoni minis or Hot Italian Chicken Sausage

·        ½ oz mozzarella cheese

·        Dash Powdered garlic

·        Dash Italian seasoning

·        Fresh or canned Mushrooms (if desired)

·        Sundried tomatoes (if desired)

·        Marinated Artichoke hearts (if desired)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.   Place piece of parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet.  Place 2 or 3 tortillas on the parchment paper.  Spread alfredo or marinara on to the top of tortillas.  Sprinkle Italian seasoning or marinara to taste.   Sprinkle mini-Pepperoni and other desired toppings onto pizza.  Sprinkle with a small amount of cheese.  Bake for 8 minutes or until brown.  Let cool and serve.

**Calories depend on toppings. The more veggies you use and the less cheese and meat the fewer calories.     For a cheesier taste use alfredo instead of Marinara. 

**Calories for first 6 ingredients using 2 tortillas is 185 calories.

Reference: (n.d.). Five Whys. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_whys