Free your mind...and the rest will follow...

I used to sing this song all the time, but I am just starting to understand what it means. I can think of cliche after cliche that echoes this same message, I just never got it. "Just do it!" "Get ya mind right!" "Don't overthink it" and the list could go on and on...but everything about this whole concept defies my superly overly analytical Virgo nature. Why wouldn't I want to overthink it? What else is there to do with it? "Just do it?" Surely, you can't be serious.

However, when I was struggling terribly last week in our BABs PT, Dre said "Get outta your head, Robin" and it all started to come together. I never really believed in "a-ha" moments, until I had one. "Get outta your head, Robin" ..."Get outta your head, Robin"... Hmmm....
As I've started to turn my thinking cap off more, I've found that I can accomplish more. It's all mental...finally that means something to me.

I am the first to tell you all about me, I know just about everything about myself. Things that are static, and just are. For instance, I'm not a night owl, I'm not good at math, I am not a runner. Another thing, I can't do pushups, if God had wanted me to do pushups he would have given me stronger arms and a smaller ass. But I am finding everyday that if I stop thinking about what I am not and what I can not do, that realistically I can do anything! Wow! What a concept!

We put our own limitations on ourselves by thinking about what we can't do (and think of how pissed off we become when someone else tells us we are incapable of doing something).
Truth of the matter is, nine times out of ten, if we think we can do something, we probably can. Dre said last night that "consequences bring results". That is true. But for me, moreso than the consequences, it is the self-speak to just keep telling myself "I can do this", "I got this", "Only ## more"...and I find that I have completed the exercise!! Then, I am looking at myself in disbelief.

My mind wants to tell me that I'm in WAY over my head with BABs, because it is soooo very hard. But my instincts tell me I can do this. My solution is to turn off my "over-thinking" cap and to GET OUT OF MY OWN WAY and ACCEPT that I CAN DO THIS!!

By the way Dre...I'm a BAB not a FAB!! :-)

Robin

Article by Katharine Giovanni-MUST READ!!

This is an amazing article, take a moment to read it! It truly moved me! Dre

Mistakes Power Change

23/02/11COMMENTS 2

Failure leads to change.

If you combine failure with determination and persistence and the attitude that you will do whatever it takes, you will go straight to success.

Listen, if you really want to know the truth, I’ve made thousands of mistakes over the years. In fact, I’ve been knocked down more times than I can count. The real trick to life is to get up after you’ve been knocked down.

I actually don’t think there is anything wrong with getting knocked down, it happens to all of us at some point. What’s wrong is when you don’t get back up. Sure it hurts and we all hate it, but you learn to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move on.

So I’ll say it again …

Failure and mistakes lead to extraordinary change.

I ran across a very interesting blog post yesterday by Bud Bilanich. In his blog he outlines 50 people who failed before they became successful. Here are a few of my favorites from Bud’s blog …

• Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times.
• The Beetles were rejected by the Decca Recording Company who proclaimed: “‘We don’t like their sound and guitar music is on the way out.
• Early in her career, Oprah was fired from her job as a television reporter because she was “unfit for tv.”
• The manager of the Grand Ole Opry fired Elvis Presley after just one performance telling him, “You ain’t going nowhere, son. You ought to go back to driving a truck.”
• In Fred Astaire’s first screen test, the testing director of MGM noted that Astaire, “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.”
• Einstein did not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven, causing his teachers and parents to think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social.
• Western Union rejected the telephone when Alexander Graham Bell offered them the rights of manufacture and distribution. They considered the technology as having too many shortcomings.
• A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he had no good ideas. After that, Disney started a number of businesses that didn’t last too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure.
• R.H. Macy started seven failed business before finally hitting big with his store in New York City.
• Winston Churchill failed the 6th grade. Churchill was also hounded by periods of manic depression.
• Milton Hershey experienced bankruptcy in his pursuit as the “chocolate king.”
• H.J. Heinz saw his newborn company forced into liquidation.
• Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard. His first business called Traf-O-Data failed.

Now let’s take a look at the way a few people have turned around their mistakes:

• Thomas Edison “reportedly tried over 2,000 different experiments before he got the first incandescent light bulb to work. When a reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times he replied, ‘I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2,000-step process.’”
• Walt Disney once said, “Never forget that all this started with a mouse.”

Now what do all these people have in common?

They trusted their intuition. They KNEW that they would be a success because their intuition told them to not give up and keep going. Your intuition is like a compass that shows you what direction you should be going. They also never gave up. They did whatever it took to be a success, and it worked.

They exhibited the three keys to lasting change …

1. CHANGE – You must be willing to change

2. DETERMINATION — NEVER EVER give up, no matter what. Do whatever it takes.

3. INTUITION — Trust your intuition! All of the people in the above examples trusted what their intuition was telling them. What if they hadn’t? Can you imagine a life without Hershey Chocolate?

Until next time!

Katharine Giovanni

I DID IT!! I found my gym again and worked it out!!

Last I was at a dinner meeting with some colleagues. Whilst nursing a glass of wine (which someone in the group had bought especially for me, so I felt especially obligated to drink it!) I got a text from my girl Josey. She said she had just finished running 2.5 miles and was going to d3 in the morning. Naturally I felt proud of her for meeting and exceeding her goals but I also knew I had no intentions of going to d3 in the morning. I had signed up for the evening classes and I was going to stick to that and nothing more!!! I need at least one morning this week where I can get up at a reasonable hour not crazy 5am!!
But as I fell asleep last night it occurred to me that I have a gym in my building just 2 floors below me which I have not set foot in in over a year. May be I should follow Josey's lead and head to the gym, especially as I would not be in D3 in the morning. Plus I was working from home so I could get up at a reasonble hour and still get my work out in before 12 noon!!

So this morning I pointedly ignored the buzzing off my phone telling me I had emails and phone calls to return and instead headed straight for the gym!! I jumped on the treadmill and did what used to be my usual 4.0, which typically was no joke. I would be huffing and puffing at 4.0 and often times have a back ache and pray for dear life for the 20 mins to be over!! but something strange happened this time..I kid you not!! After several minutes I felt ok so I started inching up the speed, 4.2, 4.3, no back pain. I was amazed!! 4.4 and then 4.5. I must say I never do 4.5. I`m not a runner in any shape or form so 4.5 for me is like a crazy sprint! but this time I did it and burned more calories than ever. I believe it is a testament to my endurance having increased my number of days at d3. I then jumped to the eliptical and once again burned more calories than ever! In 55 mins I burned over 600 calories. That is huge for me!!

I realise most people reading this blog probably start at 4.5 and end up at 7.0 or higher, but for me I start at 3.5 and usually end up at 4.0. So I am proud of ME for acheiving the unthinkable...returning to my gym and running 4.5, whoop whoop, GO ME!!

Making Haters Your Motivators

Hey Everyone,

I really do not like talking about negative subjects but this is on my mind so I have got to say something.....and I think this blog effects MANY people so I apologize in advance for going here...but it needs to be said! I was having a conversation with a BAB (see the blogs below for what this is :) and she was telling me that since she started to lose weight, people are starting to say things to her that are hurtful like: "since you lost weight, you can't talk to anybody." People are constantly making little snide remarks to her about doing the figure show and although she says it does not bother her, it bothers me! I am so sick and tired of HATERS! Its just a damn shame that people can not be HAPPY for others discipline and dedication. Instead they slander, hurt and try to damage others in anyway they can. Haters are just really unhappy, negative and miserable people and I truly pity them!

What the haters don't realize is... as long as they hate and pray that others do not succeed (which they do often), they will NEVER succeed at anything they do. When you do evil and wish evil upon others, it comes right back to you and slaps you in the face 10 fold. So, instead of hating on others, lets all try to lift each other up and support each other. This crabs in a barrel mentality is ridiculous!

Remember this, your haters are your biggest fans. I bet they go to your FB page the most to see what you are doing...lol!! Let them motivate you to be even GREATER! And the sad truth is, if you have no haters, you are not doing much!! So as Jill Scott says: "hate on me haters"....

I had to get that out!! Whew, I feel so much better now!

Stay Fit Y'all!

Dre

Enjoy the video below...lol. Just copy and paste the link below to your browser! Jill is the TRUTH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw3Z8Oa7E3Y

Hell Week Part 2

So my D3 schedule has been off for a minute because of all my recent work travel and all these other projects I'm involved in that seem to completely take over my life from time to time. About a month ago, I decided to create a challenge for myself called Hell Week. During this week, the goal would be to push myself out of my 2-3 class per week comfort zone and really invest a good amount of time in my physical fitness...the way I invest in these other projects. I wanted to do classess in the morning and evening for at least 6 days. I knew mornings would be very hard for me because I'm usually up late and scrambling in the morning just to make it to work on time! But again, I wanted to challenge myself....

I recruited my AC buddy Dupe to do it with me and her initial reaction was hilarious, as suspected! But after the shock wore off, she agreed :-) and we emailed each other our proposed Hell Week schedules to keep each other honest. So our minds were made up, but unfortunately my body had other plans. I got very sick that week and was still able to complete most of the classes, but I couldnt give it 100% because I felt awful!

Which brings us to Hell Week Part 2. Last weekend, I returned home from another week-long business trip and really felt out of sorts. One thing I think we all can all agree on is once D3 is in your system, it's hard to get rid of! So bootcamp was calling me and I decided again on another challenge to make up for the previous one. I once again recruited my AC buddy Dupe....who agreed quickly and has been doing great! I wanted to push myself to see how many classes I could complete in 7 days. I also wanted to incorporate a couple of runs since I'm preparing for the Shamrock in April.

In the past, I created excuses about not being a morning person, not finding the time, being too tired, other priorities, etc. but none of those excuses are allowed to exist during Hell Week. My goal was to complete 13 classes in 7 days and two 2-mile runs. So far I've done 7 classes since Sunday and one run and I feel great! Sore...but great. I go to bed at a decent hour because I know I have to get up early in the morning to go to class. I've also eaten much healthier this week than I have in a while and have already noticed a difference in my clothes!

This schedule would be a lot for me to maintain continuously, but I'm thinking of doing a Hell Week at least once a month and maintaining a certain minimum of classes during the other weeks ....especially now that I proved I was able kill my excuses!

It truly is mind over matter.

Stay tuned......

PEAKS AND VALLEYS

Hey Everyone,

Dre encourages us to 'keep it real'..the good, bad and the ugly so here goes...
Today is one of those days and it ain't a peak! I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and knew it immediately! It has to be hormonal. I'm usually pretty laid back but today everything is driving me crazy. I tend to be a 'glass half full' sort of person but today has been a struggle. And I also am of the thinking that shifting your thoughts once you're tempted to get in a rut is important too but sometimes (usually once a month), it all goes out the window! This is not unusual but on top of our schedule, it's almost unbearable! The thought of a burpee, pushup or anything related to exercise makes my a$$ hurt (and yes I know it's not involved in burpees or pushups).

It started this morning. There was some craziness on LSD, doubling my commute to work! And then I didn't feel like eating my next meal but of course made myself eat. I ran out of my vitamins (which I could've sworn I re-ordered 2 weeks ago), a retired co-worker showed up today and decided to brainstorm to me about re-entering the workforce and possible opportunities along with his fears and trepidation about doing so (I swear any other day it would've been fine...any other day) and all I could do was nod and think damn, damn, DAMN I have to pee again. I rue the day someone started packaging and selling brown rice. And I can't lie...I'm dreading, D-R-E-A-D-I-N-G having to work out tonight. This is the pitts!!!! My mind is most definitely not right!! I'm gonna dig real deep, have a chat with Jesus and pop some Aleve and a couple of energy balls to get my self together. There's simply no other option...

Diva Mechell - VN Plan Client Blog 2

Okay just had my first weigh-in since starting the nutrition plan, and I lost 5 pounds, I am so excited the scale actually moved downward it has been moving upward for some years now. The most exciting thing from the weigh-in was that I lost 2 inches from my waist, I knew something had changed because when I sit down now my pants do not feel like they are cutting off my circulation in my stomach anymore.

I was telling Dre today, that I finally got the hang of this program now, I finally am comfortable in my new lifestyle of eating. Last night I went to an anniversary party for my friend, I was asked to bring a pan of chicken wings. I pick up the pan of wings freshly cooked, and I rode all the way to Lynwood from the city with these "fried wings" in my back seat. The smell was driving me insane, I wanted to pull over on the Bishop Ford expressway, and eat a couple of wings but I kept driving to the destination. Once I got to the party there was so much food, fried chicken, rib tips, macaroni & cheese, spaghetti, meatballs, cakes, pies, I was so nervous to be around all this food. But D3 family you all would be proud of me I got a plate of salad and fruit and did not touch any of that other food, my friends were amazed at me, but very proud and inspired by my willpower.

I have come to realize that I am on a mission here not to just be a "hottie", but to make sure I become the healthiest person I can be, and I can only do this by being committed and disciplined to myself and my body.

The most exciting experience from the weigh-in today, was to see how Dre was elated at our results today, it was like a proud mama being so proud of her children. Dre I truly thank you for your commitment and dedication, it keeps me going.

Until the next blog, D3 have an "Awesome and Healthy" week.

Diva "Hottie" Mechell