Measurements & Progress Photos

Measuring & tracking your fitness progress is just as important as getting those workouts in and following your meal plans.  Results don't happen unless you put in the work; but what happens when the scale isn't telling you the truthful story or your pants fit loosely even though the scale says you've gained 5 pounds rather than lost.

Vision Board 101

Vision boards!  Maybe you've heard of them, maybe you haven't!  But if you're thinking this creative way to display your life's goals, ambitions and desires is a cheesy joke then the joke just might be on you!  

"The law of attraction is forming your entire life experience and it is doing that through your thoughts.  When you are VISUALIZING, you are emitting a POWERFUL frequency out into the Universe" according to the very popular book The Secret.  

Fall For You February Fitness Challenge

The holidays have faded and the New Year has begun.  I've been thinking LONG and HARD about how I'm feeling as I am working towards my new goals for the 2016 year.

I feel like I could use a little EXTRA accountability and motivation from some friends!  February 1st, I'll be starting my Fall for You February Fitness Challenge!  

The focus of this group will be surrounded by the usual motivation, accountability and support you receive from my traditional challenge groups, however, we will be focusing on positive thinking and falling IN LOVE with ourselves.

New Year, New You

A NEW year means a NEW me!  I've set some pretty intense and up there goals for the 2016 year!  Some are fitness related while MOST are not!  My goals for the 2016 year are setting the bar rather HIGH and I'm ready to WORK WORK WORK to get there!

With setting new goals and dreaming new dreams I'm EAGER and SUPER excited to also be helping other people in reaching their goals too!  Again, health and fitness related and NOT.  

We're more likely to REACH our goals by supporting, working and encouraging one another TOGETHER!  

Simple Steps to Creating a Happier Life NOW

I have been working on finding happiness for the last 27 years.  It was not until recently that I decided, "Brittany, why don't you just decide to be happy rather than attempting to find it!" 

All of my life I was told that I need to have lots of money in order to be happy.  Little did I know that was VERY far from the truth.  Would it make some areas of my life a little less complicated; possibly.  But, there is no guarantee that money will bring happiness.

However, there are a TON of tiny little things we can do in order to truly BE a happy person outside of our existing circumstances.  I strongly recommend you follow these practices and incorporate them into your life today.

1. Fake it. Someone once told me, "feelings follow actions."  This was an old call center manager who reminded me over and over that my personal life was reflecting through the calls at work.  I was MUCH younger then but it was a hard lesson learned.  He actually purchased a tiny mirror and placed it on my monitor.  I was advised that I must smile through every call and look at my smile.  Eventually I noticed my outside troubles quickly disappeared from the forefront of my mind and I had better shifts at work.

The Master’s Hammer and Chisel – Coming Soon! | Autumn Fitness

Autumn Calabrese and Sagi Kalev team up together to bring you The Master's Hammer and Chisel!  

This new workout program will deliver body-changing results in as little as 60 days!!  The trainers themselves have shelves full of competition prizes to prove they are experts at sculpting spectacular physiques!  In The Master's Hammer and Chisel, Autumn and Sagi share strategies using resistance training to help you shape muscle and shed body fat.

If you want to be the first to know when The Master's Hammer and Chisel workout is available sign up now HERE.

Abs, thighs and buns - Tone your body with your bodyweight

No equipment at home to workout with?  That's okay!  Follow my girl Chalene Johnson during this Abs, Thigh and Booty workout using only your body weight!

You maaaay have seen me using some of these workouts in my videos!  

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram, Like me on Facebook and ADD me as a FRIEND!!  

xoxo <3

What is clean eating?

Many of you might be asking yourself, "what is clean eating?"  And when I mentioned portion sizes; you might be asking yourself, "how much should I eat?" or "am I eating too much or not enough?"  Here I am hoping to clear up any questions or concerns on what "clean eating" is.

Clean eating is a general term for a diet that consists of little to no processed foods.  Processed foods often come in boxes or jar and have added sugars, are low in fiber and whole grains.  These processed foods are high in sodium, high in fat or include trans fats and lots and lots of saturated fat.

How do I eat clean?

Eating "clean" is a relatively easy and simple principle once you get the hang of avoiding processed foods as much as possible and learn to read nutrition labels.  Follow the easy principles below:

7 Clean eating principles:

• Eat more and more often approximately 6 meals a day.  This includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack.  Breakfast should be the largest meal of the day with a snack about 3 hours later followed by a moderately sized lunch another snack and dinner which should be your smaller meal of the day.
• You should be eating this way because if you're not eating enough your body will actually make the most of what you're eating by hanging onto the fat to store for future energy.  Your body actually goes into "starvation mode."
• Eat breakfast every day!
• Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  You've probably heard this statement since you were a child and this couldn't be truer.  Eating a healthy breakfast can give you energy to fuel you through your day, satisfy your appetite and sets the stage for making smart decisions all day!
• Skipping breakfast can also cause you to over eat later in the day.  
• For an easy breakfast I like eating egg muffins!  These have vegetables, lean proteins and complex carbs necessary for me to start my day on the right food!  Check out the recipe HERE.
• Eat a combination of lean protein and complex carbs at each meal.
• An excellent lean protein for breakfast is eggs!  Pair up eggs with green veggies or whole grains such as whole grain bread or oatmeal (no seasoning or sugars added).
• Eat sufficient (two to three servings) healthy fats every day.
• Healthy fats consist of coconut oil, olive oil or avocado.
• Carry a cooler packed with clean foods each day.
• Rather than eating out or going through a drive through; BE PREPARED!
• If you fail to plan you plan to fail!
• Depend on fresh fruits and vegetables for fiber, vitamins, nutrients and enzymes.
• You should be consuming LOTS of fruits and veggies!  Fruits and veggies are LOADED with fiber, vitamins and nutrients needed to fuel you for the day! 
• Be mindful of high sugar fruits such as grapes and bananas.  Eat these in moderation.
• Adhere to proper portion sizes.
• Many of us are under eating but a lot of us are OVER eating!!  Or eating too much sugar from fruits! 

What foods should I avoid eating?

• Avoid all over-processed foods, particularly white flour and white sugar.
• Avoid all chemically charge foods.
• Avoid foods containing preservatives.
• Benzoate Preservatives (BHT, BHA, TBHQ)
• Avoid artificial sugars.
• Acesulfame potassium, aspartame, Sucralose 
• Avoid artificial foods such as processed cheese slices.
• Avoid saturated and trans fats.
• Avoid sugar loaded beverages, including colas and juices (even if they are from 100% juice).
• Avoid or do your best to limit alcohol intake.
• Avoid all calorie dense foods containing little or no nutritional value. I call these anti-foods.
• Avoid super sizing your meals.

Proud Moment

Sometimes I think that we forget to pat ourselves on the back.  I've been working vigorously to provide excellent content to my audience, training material for my team and continuing to help others.

Today I have stopped to take a look at my accomplishments this week.  While my laundry is clean and still needs to be put away I have done a lot!

The house is a hot mess but hey, something's gotta give!

I am SOOOOO proud of myself for getting my website going and truly cannot wait to provide nothing but THE BEST stuff for you folks!

Are you excited?!  I am!  

I'm taking some suggestion now for content.  What are YOU in need of?  Motivation?  Support?  Recipes?  Need more tutorial videos?  

Whatever it is I want to know!

XoXo,

Jam <3

Pushing on the Pavement, RAP River Run 2015

My feet are beginning to become rough and warn; my toenails are cut too short.  My calves are sore and I am exhausted.

It has been a long and enjoyable race weekend.  Keith and I ran the RAP River Run in New Port Richey, Florida.  It was my first time running the course and Keith had return to set a dominating PR (personal record) from his first 5k nearly 5 years ago.

As we arrived to the race, Keith warmed up and I had met with new friends.  As I mentioned in a previous blog post I decided to join a local running group, The Suncoast Striders.  I have always wanted to be a decent runner but never truly felt motivated; I desired the encouragement and like mindedness of others.  I seem to have found that in less than a week thus far.  Keith ran off to warm up and stretch as I gabbed with my new Suncoast Strider friend (we will call her Sasha) and her long time friend.  We discussed our goals for the day’s race and any training we have done lately.