I love my Boss

I love my Boss.

For this to be true for all of you out there I know it would be a dream come true!

I respect my Boss.

She knew she loved her chosen career and stuck with it even when things got rough.

She has a network of health professionals at her finger tips when a client issue is out of her realm.

She is motivated and organized.

She walks the walk AND talks the talk.

She knows that putting herself first will mean she is better for her clients.

Finally I am my own Boss

Proof I've been flexing since age 9 

go ahead, laugh it up folks

January 2012 SEE PROGRESS NOT IMPERFECTIONS

I have had this blog for about four years now.  It was awesome to stumble upon the title Progress Not Perfection and have it stick.

Since I have been running my business out of South Boston Yoga I have a new theory on Progress not Perfection.

To see Progress Not Imperfection

Try this for January 2012. Love yourself.  Watch yourself get stronger. See the good, don’t get hung up on the negative.  This is something that the “yogic mindset” does better than anything I have ever encountered.

It can take around 4 weeks of hard dedication to your training regimen and nutritional compliance to SEE visible results.  On the other hand, learning new movement patterns and moving your body in a pain-free way can happen in just 1-2 sessions! Focusing on these little steps keeps you motivated and positive.  

Your mind can be your worst enemy or your best friend. Yoga helps the later to be the case :)


P.S. If you are looking for something to do this New Years Eve, check this out  celebrate the new year with health and wellness and an amazing community!

Love is my religion

Around the holidays talk of religion increases.

What are you celebrating with your family? 

Where are you going?

What are you doing?

Regardless of whether you believe in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, or Judaism there are important and vital commonalities that go hand and hand with every religion. 

Religion by definition is:  a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spiritualityand, sometimes, to moral values.^[1] Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to givemeaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the universe. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestylefrom their ideas about the cosmos and human nature. ( THANKS WIKIPEDIA)

Two and a half years ago when I embarked on my Yoga Teacher Training at South Boston Yoga, I had no idea that it would be so life changing. For those of you who know me...I AM NOT A BULLSHITTER.

The Body Awakening Teacher Training was just that. It was about delving deep within yourself to become a better person and secondarily a better teacher.  Patanjali and the Eight Limbs of Yoga taught me more about life than anything else I had ever been exposed to. It actually made sense.  These steps were the guide to living a meaningful and purposeful life.  Not only do they address moral and ethical conduct, the importance of self- discipline, they also take HEALTH into account.  Together these eight limbs have undeniably provided me with the most spiritual guidance in all of my 28 years.

On occasion I get asked whether I go to church on Sunday. I thought about this for quite sometime.  I go to my yoga studio every Sunday morning :) 

I have concluded that Yoga is my church and Love is my religion.

There is never a Sunday morning that goes by where I don't leave my studio feeling peaceful, content, balanced, grateful,  or as I like to call it " BLISSED OUT."

Friends and family can tell when I haven't gotten my yoga in. I am not myself. I am more anxious and stressed out.  I begin to let the chaos of everyday life affect me negatively, I get caught up in the thoughts in my head.

Since I am a trainer first and foremost people come to me and ask what yoga can do for them. 

My immediate thought is "What can't yoga do for you?!!??"

But they want to know if yoga can "tone" your arms and strengthen your core. 

I have learned to think before I speak. 

Honestly I don't think of yoga as exercise anymore.

I think of yoga as a path to get more out of life...perhaps everything you could ever want.

Is your present plan taking your future into account?

Throughout my experience as a trainer I have worked with a variety of clientele.  They have always been “regular people “ but I have run the gamete.

I started in downtown Boston with busy office types.  Here I tried my best to undo what these workaholics did day in and day out.

Then I went on to kettlebell specific training.  Here I had a following of former athletes and more of the “hardcore” workout type.

After this I worked in a more corrective atmosphere, this consisted of teaching people how to move better and get the most out of what they could do when they worked out.

Now out on my own, I run my business out of the largest yoga studio in Boston.  These people are already as mobile as can be, oftentimes to a fault. I teach them that getting stronger and more stable is only going to improve their bottom line.

Strength and proper nutrition have always been my common thread amongst the years.  I have experienced training atmospheres that couldn’t be more different and have been able to take what I love about each of them to create my own program.

The following question is something I ask myself and all my clients…

Are your current training and nutrition goals/programs going to work for you presently as well as in the future?

What is the point of a being able to do this

Or this

When by the age of 60 you aren’t able to enjoy everyday activities without pain?
The same applies to the way that you eat.
Are you living life so restricted that you cannot even enjoy fruit?
Or are you fueling your body with processed carbohydrates day in and day out?
Again two extremes.

My point is its all possible, it also means that you have to be ALL IN :)

It’s not about moderation or limiting your experiences when it comes to fitness or food. It’s about training smart and looking at your ultimate goal in a healthy way.

Food and Relationships

Now folks I’m not talking about your relationship with food.  I am talking about how your partner’s habits influence what you eat.  Not even necessarily your partner, the same can hold true with your family, your roommates, or even your co -workers!

Most people with “normal “ jobs have Saturday and Sunday off….correct? People still feel that cheating or splurging the entire weekend is fine. Year after year, I see my female clients start to get serious with their boyfriends…they move in together and the next thing I know, they have fallen into the eating habits of their significant other. This happens with both MALES AND FEMALES! I just happen to train a shitload of ladies.

Gaining weight, feeling tired and unmotivated is not easy on anyone’s self esteem no matter how much somebody loves you.  It’s all about you loving you :) And we know the fundamental difference between males and females hahahaahh

With the change of season I cannot tell you how many of my clients are coming to me complaining about how HORRIBLE they feel after their weekends of “falling off”.  Whether it be, too much wine, too many meals out of the house or too many shitty snacks while watching Sunday football. They come to me self loathing, unmotivated and BLOATED!

To me, poor nutrition is a deal breaker.  If you don’t care enough about what you chose to fuel your body with, you order out every night, or beer is considered an entire food group to you…

I am not the girl for you.

Some may say I am basing this on vanity.  The truth is I bust my ass training so that I can feel good mentally and physically.  I eat healthy because it makes me happy. But I also take care of myself out of respect to my partner!  You had better believe that if they’re the one I’m going to be getting naked with for the rest of my life they had better like what they see :D  They had also better be around when our kids are growing up, and not go croaking on me because they didn’t take care of themselves!!!

Now I have never lived with a guy, granted I have spent 99% of every waking day for years at their apartment, but I have NEVER lost my own kitchen.  I have never been without the luxury of “returning to my comfort zone.”

I also do not have children. 

The fact of the matter is most of us don’t have the greatest will power to not eat the things that are in our kitchen cabinets.  If we can establish better nutritional habits as a team there is no denying that we can be a happier healthier couple and family for the years to come!

I love it when I see younger couples venturing out together to support each other on the road to healthier living :)  Whether they are running together,  hitting up the gym at the same time; or taking active vacations to ski and snowboard …I dig it.

I find however that the nutritional portion of the lifestyle change is much more prevalent with people of my parents generation.  Whether it was a health scare or just aging in general many couples in their 50’s and 60’s successfully improve their nutrition TOGETHER and inadvertently they strengthen their union as well.

Don’t be afraid to sit down with your partner and have an honest conversation.  If something matters to you speak up and let your voice be heard.

And together take baby steps towards being more nutritionally responsible ;)

And if you like, next post I'll help you with some baby steps!

SOUL's DESIRE

Each and every month I read Yoga Journal, and without fail there is ALWAYS a passage that speaks to me.
Take me 4 or 5 years ago, I don't even think I'd really ever read the magazines I would get!
 Instead, I would skim through looking at the photos and never find any meaning in what I was "reading".

This month was a particularly special month for me and so was the passage that spoke to me.  Unless you come to my apartment and teach me to use my scanner ;), or hit up the shelves of your local grocery or bookstore....the following link will have to do!

As September (my first month of working for myself) comes to an end I would like to share an excerpt from Rod Stryker's book the Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom.

"If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made up of."- Bruce Lee

I love T-Nation,  but to your average girl or even guy the very appearance of the site may be intimidating.
I have read a few of my favorite articles on this very site.

 This one really hit home with me.

Funny that I was just discussing this very same topic with a client the other day, even though I'm just 27 I'm getting used to "coincidences" happening like that.  Everything does happen for a reason folks ;)

So this client of mine, she loves what I have done for her in terms of functionality because it has enabled her to ride her bike with greater ease...
she loves riding her bike, it is one of her favorite pleasures in life.

I can relate I replied,
it's like me with weights.

She looked at me surprised.
And I found myself a bit surprised.

I'm not sure how to describe it,
although Nate seemed to have climbed into my brain and did some of the work for me.

I encourage you to read it,
I promise you will be able to relate to it in some way shape or form :)

Life is yours

Don’t wait for someday. This is the day, this is the moment, this is your opportunity to live.

Let go of any thoughts of unworthiness or limitation. You absolutely deserve every joy you can imagine and you’re fully capable of creating them all.

Stop settling for what’s merely easy or comfortable or convenient. Give yourself the respect you deserve and take on the difficult challenges that bring real fulfillment.

Give your life some beautiful, meaningful substance today. Remind yourself of how fortunate you are to have each moment, and sincerely, authentically fill those moments with richness.

Acknowledge and be thankful for what you desire to experience, to express, to give and to live. Then, fully engage the power of your purpose and make it happen.

The best of life is never out of reach. It is yours to fulfill, with richness and substance, right now.

— Ralph Marston

Lessons Learned

You remember my inspiration for first competing!?!?!?
Alli McKee!

Well we still have yet to ever meet in person,
but we email and facebook message and
I feel like I know her and we are close
even though we've never met!

As you know a lot has happened in the past year and as a result I have learned incredible lessons.  You also  know that I wouldn't take back any of these experiences because they have made me who I am.  As well as helped align me on my path to happiness.
The following is an amazing read that will touch you no matter who you are.

http://allimckee.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/my-perspective-25-values-and-lessons-learned/

My Butt is Big

Now.
A year and a half ago, not so much.


Along with a bigger butt came bigger legs and a bigger back.  A more muscular me.
Some LOVE it, some don't.
I myself struggled to accept the new body I created by training for figure competitions. 

The muscle that you work so hard to put on by training like a madwoman for months and months doesn't just magically disappear once you walk off that stage.

“You’re going somewhere, but I’ve been to somewhere, and I found it was nowhere at all.”

-Scott Abel

This guy is one person in this industry who isn't afraid to talk about the darker side of what can happen when you compete. 

Make sure you understand that I am not saying this happens to every girl who steps on stage but it DID happen to me and it happened to the EXTREME. 

One of my main goals for 2011 is to get healthy again.

-to get back to the point where I have the energy to do all the things I love.

-return to a place where I am comfortable in my body and can move freely without restriction.

- have the time to try new things and step outside of my comfort zone.

- spend more time with family and friends.

The first step for me was to get my nutrition on track.  

In order to achieve this I sought out help from Aubrey Thompson.

In order to share with you all that I have learned throughout my process with Aubrey blogging would become my full time gig.  

For now I will share with you an article fellow RKC Andrea U-Shi Chang shared with me which touches upon quite a few of Aubrey's teachings.

http://www.mercola.com/nutritionplan/beginner_fats.htm

Warning---this is a somewhat long article, don't just skim through it!

You never want what is true, you are so entangled in the illusion of the false.

You want what you don't have, and you don't have what you want and so you suffer.

It's so perplexing why not simply reverse it, why not want what you have and not want what you don't have?

It's so simple.

You could be happy.

Freedom is here for the taking.

You want little things when you could have the entire universe, eternity, eternal life...

Take that.


-Nisargadatta Maharaj

What is to give light, must endure the burning. 


Viktor E. Frankl

Exceedingly Positive

Don't worry about getting it done. Just get it done.

Don't complain about what has gone wrong. Just do whatever is necessary to make it right.

Your time and energy are too precious and too powerful to waste on things that will just bring you down. Instead of bringing yourself down, lift the whole world up.

Decide to live life on your own terms and make those terms exceedingly positive. Choose to spend each priceless moment in the service of your highest values.

Whatever the situation, you get to decide how you will be. So always direct your energy to where it will bring new richness to your world.

Take everything in stride, and respond with your own unique, positive perspective. Live on the highest level you can envision, and cheerfully encourage everyone else to come along.

-- Ralph Marston

Happy 5 year anniversary to someone special who exemplifies this in every way possible

xoxo

I wanted to find out who I was...

"Many of you worry that you are unable to meet the challenges that lie ahead. I want to assure you that you can. I am a man who started from nowhere; I was heavily disadvantaged in many ways. After much time and effort, I began to reach somewhere. I literally emerged from darkness to light, from mortal sickness to health, from crude ignorance to immersion in the ocean of knowledge by one means alone, namely by zealous persistence in the art and science of yoga practice. What held good for me will hold good for you."

...

"This practice provided me with the tenacity of purpose to continue even through trying times. My disinclination toward laxer lifestyles kept me on the straight path, but I never shunned anyone, for I have come to see the light of the soul in all. Yoga ferried me across the great river from the bank of ignorance to the shore of knowledge and wisdom. It is no extravagant claim to say that wisdom has come to me by the practice of yoga, and the grace of God has lit the lamp of the inner core in me. This allows me to see that same light of the soul glowing in all other beings."

...

"What most people want is the same. Most people simply want physical and mental health, understanding and wisdom, and peace and freedom. Often our means of pursuing these basic human needs come apart at the seams, as we are pulled by the different and often competing demands of human life. Yoga, as it was understood by its sages, is designed to satisfy all these human needs in a comprehensive, seamless whole. Its goal is nothing less than to attain the integrity of oneness-oneness with ourselves and as a consequence oneness with all that lies beyond ourselves"

"The Light that Yoga sheds on Life is something special.

 It is transformative. 

It does not just change the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees."

B.K.S Iyengar- Light on Life

The Best Damn Cardio Article - Period

LADIES LADIES LADIES!!!!
You are the ones I see filling the countless elliptical machines each time I am at the gym!
GUYS you are getting to be a close second!

WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?!

;)

Can we make sure we throw in some ABS today?!?!

On a daily basis I hear this question. OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

Clients that I have trained for years know better, but newbies are still hanging on to this idea.

After having had this request for years I started to pay attention to when the clients were asking for ABS. 

Low and behold it was frequently after a vacation or a long weekend.

...The vacation and long weekend where they didn't eat as clean as usual and maybe indulged a lot more than they should have.

Please tell me how feeling fat coincides with wanting to do this.

Clean up your diet first. This is the hard part. It takes time and effort and planning ahead but I assure you you can do it.

I got tons of questions on how I got "ripped abs" for my show.
Well I'll tell you one thing.
I didn't do a single crunch.
I did a whole lot of big lifts and used my core in all planes of motion.
Here is a MUST READ article courtesy of Mike Robertson.
Do me a favor and try some of these INSTEAD of those crunches I see you all doing ;)

Working out versus Training

Courtesy of Coach Nick:

There's working out and there's training. 

Training is when you have a progressive plan with measurable goals and continual challenges. 

Working out is anything that makes you sweaty and tired but not necessarily bigger or stronger because it lacks consistency, direction and specificity.

Long time no see guys :)

I have been struggling a little lately with time and feelings and have not blogged as much as I would like to.  I will have a new computer soon so you will see more of me :)


YES, I have prepared for a Figure Competition before.
NO, each time a girl prepares it is NOT THE SAME.  


Each time you go through the process, you have new experiences and encounter different obstacles. 

For instance I have been through the diet before so now I know the challenges that lie ahead, but that doesn't mean it will be easier ;)


Seeing as I ended up accepting my PRO CARD with the WNBF I will now be competing at the PRO level.  This is a completely different ballgame than Novice or Open Division. I will find myself amongst the elite, women who have worked for years to develop their physiques.


I have no expectations for my first PRO show I am just going to take it all in.


What I do have are goals.  
GOALS to go in HARDER and BIGGER overall, with specific focus on my legs and shoulders.


I have to admit its been tough to put on weight for this process. Even when you are doing it on purpose, its hard to stay positive when you see your body changing.
THERE I SAID IT.


I am definitely getting BIGGER and STRONGER. 
Therefore my TRAINING is working.


I have learned OH SO MANY VALUABLE lessons throughout this process.  When I first made the decision to compete I gave several reasons and one of them was to relate to my clients when they were on a strict nutrition plan. 
Now I can add to my resume the ability to empathize with them when their weight fluctuates and the emotions that go along with that.  This ability is VERY POWERFUL and something new to me.  And I believe it gives me another advantage when communicating with clientele.


I will continue to be positive and grateful and have faith in the process, REMINDERS are always welcome in case I forget ;)

WWW.BODYBUILDING.COM

:))))))))

Please check it out!

http://www.bodybuilders.com/stacy-schaedler.htm