New Years Resolution, Eat That Frog!

It is that time of year!

New Years Eve, 2012.

We look back at what we have accomplished, how our lives have changed and think about what we want to do differently next year. It is important to remember that writing down your goals has UTMOST importance. I was recently encouraged to read a book called Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy ( You can read the whole thing here online). It is a quick easy read (took me 3 hours) that will seriously change the rest of your life. I really encourage that you read this, and I will apply a small snip-it of his theories to the New Years Resolution below:

First, divide your life into different sections - 

Family, Work, and Self, or Mom, Wife, and Self, etc. 

It is only natural that we will have different goals for each of these areas of our lives.

Write down what your goals are in each area. Then look at that list, and prioritize it based on what will have the most impact on your future. Re-order the list beginning with the goal that will have the most impact and then down to the least impact. 

It is always difficult to get started on a list of 10 things you hope to accomplish in 1 year, so don't think about it like that! Break it down. Take the first item on your list (which should have the most impact on your future) and put it on it's own piece of paper. Then give yourself a deadline and start mapping out a plan of action for you reach that goal. Write down everything that you can think of that you will need to do to be able to reach your goal.

I am a personal trainer, and my biggest goal is to increase my income in 2013.

To do this, there are about a million things I will need to do, like:

marketing, advertising, selling camp Gladiator, perfecting my craft, be on the cutting edge of new fitness trends, be everywhere there are people spreading the news and importance of fitness and health! - just to name a few.

Once I write all of my ideas on paper, I rate myself on all of those things on a scale of 1-10, 

1=I dread this; 10=I am awesome at this.

Then I can easily pick out the WEAKEST thing on my list. That one thing will hold me back and potentially inhibit me from reaching my goal.

Once you find that weak link, you know where to start. You have to convince yourself to bite the bullet and get better at that one thing, and do it NOW! It doesn't matter how great you are at all the other things on the list, if you suck at one, you will NOT be your most successful self until you improve your weakest link!

(Your list could be for anything. If losing 30lbs would make the most impact on your "Self" next year, then your list would include completely different things.)

These lists are all works in progress, and you should be constantly adding to these lists during the year and as things come into your thoughts. 

Once you find the weakest link that is prohibiting you from reaching your goals, implement ways to get better at it into your daily life. As you get better at this, start working on other low ranking areas that you need to improve on! 

This has changed my life and it has only been 2 days since I read the book! I did all the exercises he tells you to, and in the past 2 days, I have been more productive than I have in a long time! Heck, this blog post was on my list of things to do for the WEEK and it is getting done on MONDAY, because guess what, by implementing his theories, my MONDAY tasks were accomplished in record time. I shaved off all the little wastes of time that are usually interspersed throughout my day, and I was done with my REAL WORK by 1:30! Get that!

So DON'T WAIT! Read Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy, and get ready to reach your 2013 goals at mind-blowing speed!

Happy New Year!

I am sure you are planning an amazing one!

Cheers! from rainy Dallas, Texas!

-Whitney

The Best No Calorie Drink, Ever!

As I waited for my amazing campers to arrive to 5:30am Camp Gladiator this morning, 

it actually started SNOWING! 

Now, if you live in North Texas, you know that until today, it has pretty much been unseasonably warm this "winter"(you can barely call it Fall). And boy, do I LIVE for the cold weather. I love it when my ears are freezing, toes are cold, I am wearing leggings under pants, and when the warmth of my coffee cup is what thaws my frozen fingers. It is the time of year when we feel like indulging in a Pumpkin Spice Latte, Peppermint Mocha, or Salted Caramel whatever, drinking coffee with every meal, OH!, and every time we go to Target, Walmart, the Mall, or wherever. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE my coffee, but this insatiable love of coffee is what made me think...when is the last time I sat down and drank a glass of WATER? 

(Yes, I said it, SAT DOWN, as in NOT while I was on the treadmill or working out!)

Water, It's not only for the gym.

During this amazing holiday season, we have countless beverage options, but how often do you really choose water? As we learned in elementary science, our bodies are made up of 65%-70% of water! Water does so many things that help our body run efficiently, 

and we are so lucky that FAT LOSS is one of them! 

Water helps move not only toxins, but also fat, through your system before it has time to be stored. Water also transports all the valuable nutrients, that I know you are consuming, through your body! Water also helps curb hunger cravings. Many people actually confuse hunger with thirst, which can add many extra calories to your daily intake! I find that drinking a glass (or two) of water before a meal can really help me regulate how much I am eating while sitting a the table. 

We should really be drinking about HALF OUR BODY WEIGHT in ounces of water on a daily basis. So if you weigh 150lbs, you should drink 75oz of water a day.

200lbs, 100oz of water, etc.

Sure, you will have to make some extra trips to the potty during the day, but is that really that horrible in the big scheme of things? Most people are willing to starve to lose weight, and all were asking is you take a stroll to the powder-room a few extra times. 

(Not to mention the extra steps you are racking up on your pedometer!)

As a singer, to ensure that our vocal chords are hydrated and ready to perform at their best, we always learned that we should "pee pale". If you have super yellow urine, that is a good sign that you are not drinking enough water!

So, with delicious hot beverages and festive adult beverages taking center stage this holiday season, you will likely be drinking more caffeine (which will cause you to pee [valuable water] more often) AND more sugar and fat (which will be stored in your body as glucose/fat reserve until you call it to do work, as in workout!), thus making your water intake even MORE important.

So don't let water get bumped from the playbill just because that White Chocolate Something-Or-Other is more appealing. Drink up! Save the calories, and enjoy staying a little slimmer this holiday season!

Cheers!

W