I don’t know about you but its COLD where I live!

Many of my “go to” healthy foods end up having no appeal to me in the winter.
I haven’t been able to pop open a Greek yogurt or want an ice-cold protein shake since Fall really set in. I’m always cold so adding in something cold to eat or drink is not what I want.

With a cruise coming up in January, right after the holiday feasting season!, I had to figure out a way to keep my diet on the up & up so here’s an idea to keep your protein shakes working for you even when snow starts to hit the ground.

Winter Protein Shake:

Heat a mug of water in the microwave for 2 minutes.

Put a serving of protein powder and a packet of Diet Hot Chocolate in your Protein Shaker.

Add the hot water to the powder.

Stir it up to get all the powder of the bottom of your Shaker.

Close it up and shake until completely mixed.

You’ll end up with a nice warm protein shake that is disguised as a warm cup of hot chocolate.

What I use:

25 calorie hot chocolate mix

Vanilla Protein Shake Mix by Arbonne (Chocolate would probably be even better!).

Want it creamier?

Heat up some Almond Milk instead of water.

You can find Almond Milk for as little as 90, 60 or even 40 calories.

Remember, this is a snack so keep the calories in check.

So happy to have my shakes back for the winter. Happy Holidays

Motivation comes in many forms. Why do you work, why do you clean, why do you sign up to be on a committee, why do you exercise???

I believe you have to be very honest in why you are doing anything you do. Is it to get ahead in the world, to one-up your neighbor, to be a better parent?? It’s hard to stick with anything if you cannot be true to yourself about why you are doing it.

I honestly have never sat down with someone in the Fitness Biz and heard them say, “I’m tracking my cholesterol and my goal is to drop it 10 points.” Or, “My bone density test came back low so my goal is to do more resistance training and see if I can improve it over the next six months.” Trainers, just like majority of my clients, have a goal to look good…bottom line.

So, why do you exercise or want to start exercising? Maybe for better health, maybe because heart disease runs in your family or maybe to fit into an old pair of jeans. Whatever it is OWN IT! You have to really want something and be honest about why to reach that goal and get it.

I’ll focus on exercise (obviously). It is not easy to stay or get into shape. It takes planning, commitment and hard work on a daily basis.

I believe it can be one of the hardest things to stick with and get the results you want. Not because you can’t, because it takes consistency and honesty to get there. Too many people stop before they even start to see a change.

If you are in this place right now of wanting to be fit or change your diet and you keep “failing” it’s time to be real with yourself. Be honest and figure out why you want it. It can’t be because your neighbor works out or you’re “supposed to” workout. There has to be an end result that you want badly and will commit to get it.

Here’s your starting tips: 1. Figure out why you want to change and DON’T FORGET IT! 2. PLAN! Not for a day or a week but plan out a month of times you can exercise, meals you can prepare and grocery lists. 3. You CANNOT let excuses get in your way. There’s a ton of them and I hear them all.

If you can stick to something for a month and really stick to it, you will start to feel the change and that will become even more motivating than any picture on your refrigerator or any pair of jeans in your closet. Once you feel lean, energized, healthy you will want that feeling forever and you will know you can do it!

Our bodies are funny little machines. If you’ve had 2 good days you cannot celebrate with a meal at your favorite Mexican place. Even a good week can be wrecked by that and then back to square one, disappointment and frustration. Once you FEEL the difference you will learn your time line for you body.

For me, I have to be perfectly on my workouts and diets for at least 7-10 days and then one morning I’ll wake up and WHAM! There are the results. From there on it becomes way easier to turn down pizza for dinner or at least eat 1 slice compared to 3!!

Get motivated, get to the point where you feel the WHAM and you will get it 

You want to start working out but you are not sure how. Before you even pick up your fist weight or head out for your first jog there are a couple of things to do to put you on the success track.

Fitting it in: First, figure out when your workout will fit into your day. If you know you always have plans at night then don’t schedule your workout there. If your evenings for the past 3 years have been filled up with meeting friends for dinner, attending networking events or getting the kids off to activities don’t think you’re going to drop all that to hit the gym. If you try to drop a whole part of your life to add in something new you may be setting your self up to fail. Is a lunchtime workout better for you, can you sneak out for an hour in the morning before your day hits full speed or maybe those after hours workouts are for you. Whatever the time, think about it and pick the time that will most easily fit your schedule so you can commit.

Excuses or Successes: Another key point to get down before you get started is getting rid of excuses. Anyone can come up with an excuse to get out of anything…that’s the easy part. Re-label your excuses as failures or let downs. Do you want to fail or let yourself down? Of course you don’t you want to SUCCEED! Every time you can overcome your excuse and get that workout in remind yourself you have been successful that day. Be ready for these to wonder in to you head; I’m tired, I’m sore, I’ll double up tomorrow or I’ll get it in later. No you won’t, just do it now! You WILL feel better once it’s done.

Give it a try: If you are not in the mood to exercise that day just try doing it for 15 minutes. Get those workout clothes on and hop on the bike or start with a 15 minute circuit of weights. By then you will most likely be ready to get it done and in 15 minutes if you are really not in the mood you can hang up your sneakers for that day and get back at it the next. Knowing you have that 15 minute out clause may be all you need to get started and then end up doing 60 minutes that you were ready to give up on.

Get mentally ready then hit the ground running!