All Things Goddessy

As a fitness instructor, I’m often asked, what's the secret to getting and staying fit? Believe it our not, it has a lot to do with loving and accepting yourself. Now, you might be asking, what does loving and accepting myself and my fitness program have to do with each other? Well, I’m glad you asked!

We've all fallen victim to the 5 more pounds syndrome. You know that feeling when you finally accomplished your goal but somehow its, suddenly, not enough. Suddenly that 15 pounds that you worked so hard to loose is chump change. Happiness is ‘out there’ somewhere in 5 or 10 more pounds. Its the sickening feeling of never being satisfied with ourselves. Never feeling like enough. The equivalent of constantly whispering to ourselves that we are not enough and nothing we do will ever change that. And so we try to outrun it...


We chase the last 5 pounds as if our lives depended on it. We end up criticizing our bodies, starving ourselves or even abusing our bodies with exercise. Our fitness routines become a punishment. We judge every missed step, raking ourselves over the coals if we don’t see results fast enough and, ultimately becoming discouraged.

Sometimes you abruptly stop working out and sometimes you slowly fade out. Missing a class here and there, until you’ve stopped all together. Your fitness and well being falls to the wayside. One day you look up, it’s been 6 months since you worked out and your looking in the mirror wondering how did I end up here, again?

Sound familiar? You’re not alone.

This is reason that learning to love and appreciate ourselves is so important. It’s about saying that I’m enough and what I’m doing is enough. Even when I miss a day of working out or I slip up in my eating plan. My body is good enough just the way it is and it will STILL be good enough 5 pounds down the road. And I commit to getting back on track, not because I’m bad but because I love myself and I want to have a healthy and strong body.

There is nothing wrong with setting goals and having dreams. There is something beautiful about wanting to improve and grow. We just must be mindful that we are doing these things out of a place of love and acceptance of ourselves and not a place of loathing and/or judgement.

Now, repeat after me: I am beautiful and my body is beautiful JUST THE WAY IT IS! Working out and eating right is what I do because I LOVE not body, not because anything is wrong with it.

Be good to you, you’re the only you you have! 

Big Hugs and Dancin' Love,

Crystal

I got on my scale for the first time in at least 3 months this morning. Ironically, one of the things that really helps me to stay on my fitness path is avoiding the scale. It can be so easy to start defining ourselves and our success by those numbers on the scale. So, I use the scale every few months to discover what I call my 'hover' weight ( It's generally 3-5 pounds of wiggle room I give myself because SERIOUSLY who weighs 132.4 pounds every day of the year!!??).

Since my hover weight has been the same for the last year or so, I generally avoid the scale and choose to focus my energy on how my body feels, how my clothes fit and staying healthy. The truth is, I've seen significant positive changes in my body with NO weight loss at all in the last year. So, if I feel energized, my clothes fit, I like what I see in the mirror, I'm eating well and exercising, I'm good! But this morning the scale beckoned me. I'm in my 8th week of teaching SiZZle and my body is starting to change again. I'm noticing that it appears more sculpted, toned and defined. So, I decided to jump on the scale to check in and to my surprise I'd lost 5 pounds. What a shocker!

The most amazing thing about getting on the scale this morning is that it confirms something I've learned is MOST important part of my fitness journey. The trick is to appreciate my body for all it does for me, accept and acknowledge that it's all a process, commit to sticking with that process and try to avoid judging my body, my weigh or my process. It not always easy but it sure helps me enjoy the ride instead of obsess over it. And if I loose another 5 pounds great, if not I'm completely happy where I am now. And the truth is; I was happy 5 pound before that. At the end of the day, what's the point being on my fitness journey if I don't get to enjoy the ride? May you enjoy your fitness ride!

Big Hugs and Dancin' Love,

Crystal

Summer is upon us and, between vacations, the kids being out of school and summer festivities, it can be so easy to fall off the fitness wagon. I just wanted to send out a little note to encourage you to stay the course.
 
If you're staying the course, I want to say,"WAHOOOOOOOOO!!!" You bedda' DO tha' doggone thang! Its your health and your wellbeing and you deserve to be your fittest, healthiest self!
 
If, however, you've fallen off the wagon, I want to encourage you to jump back on. Even if you can't make it out to Crystal's Fitness Party to get your SiZZle or Zumba on, do something to get that body moving! Take a walk, get on your bike, hop on that treadmill or crank up your music and get your party on right in your own living room!
 
Now, don't go kicking yourself and spending a whole lot of time feeling bad about it. Sometimes, we do such a good job beating ourselves up for not working out, that we end up too tired to work out! LOL. BUT don't procrastinate either. Both of these are a colossal waste of your precious time and energy and will only make it harder for you to get back on track.
 
So what do you do? Just DO it! Stop thinking about it, rationalizing it, judging yourself for not doing it.  Don't over-think it or make it a big deal.  Just get back on the wagon.  It really is that simple: Just DO it! 
I'll see you on the dance floor!  
 
Big hugs and Dancin' Love,
 
Crystal

I must admit, I am soooo DARNED proud of myself! I was soooo nervous about yesterday's SiZZle demo. Even with me taking some of the dance moves from R-rated to PG-13, it was hard to get up in front of a group of strangers and get my 'sexy' on. Okay my 'mild' sexy but sexy none the less. LOL!

To tell the truth, I was having second thoughts about performing at all. Tha' Mista' was supposed to go with me and then he got mandatory overtime and couldn't get off work. So, I had to call my sister, who had her day planned but changed her plans for me. When I arrived, I walked around for 20 minutes looking for the pavilion. When I FINALLY found it, I discovered that the area where I was supposed to perform was outside and NOT covered and since it was so hot as fish grease outside all the other instructors had canceled. So, it seemed I wasn't going to go on after all and to be honest a part of me was a little relieved.

As, I was leaving, I noticed that there were people doing fitness demos in an indoor tent and I got that little gnawing in the pit of my stomach. You know that feeling you get when you feel like you're punking-out. How could I walk away without even TRYING? I knew I HAD to try. So, I stopped for a moment, had a little chat with myself and gathered up my courage. I then decided to ask a total stranger if I could do a demo on their stage. And guess what? He said YES! I was actually the very last person to go on but I DID IT!

Lesson learned: When one door closes, sometimes you've got to put your big girl panties on, deal with your fears and kick another one open!