Last weekend I had a party for my local clients at my house. What a blast.

What’s always amazing to me is seeing the profound changes in those women who have been with me for awhile. I likely see it easier than they do, because I don’t see them every day. (And I have photos of many of them when they started with me too! Oohhhh, I should bring those out one day!).

It’s not just the changes in physiques, although that is cool too…mostly I see weight loss and a slow emerging of shape and tone, things lessen here, move about there, the body tightens up….all the good things (and yes, most of my women are 40+).

It’s also how they walk and stand: with confidence, body awareness, and style! They move like they are so comfortable with themselves, and excited by the on-going transformation they see every day. And they also know there are days when we falter, things slip through the cracks. And that’s ok too. We just get back up on that horse again…

As I looked around at the lovely bevy of strong women, I realised how blessed I was, and I told them so. To be able to do what I do, and support other women in finding health and happiness…well, it doesn’t get any better in my books! And when my life careens out of control, or I am feeling despondent, tired or just beat up from life, I know that when I show up for my work, my girls lift me up! It’s a 2-way street really, and women in community is what we all need.

Many thanks ladies for making all of this a reality. Love yourself. Pass it on. Help others.
See you at the gym!

Karen

PS Sign up for my popular 10-Week Challenge has begun…the program that started it all. Come join us! We start in 6 weeks!

I just have to vent…

I have a private Facebook page for my HLP weight training / nutrition women, and one of my ladies posted a pic of her abs…WOW, B….54-years old and rockin’ it!

B. wasn’t always that way, but we’ve watched her re-make over the past year…. she’s done the work, put in the time, tends to her eating, and she stays focused and consistent.

Then some other woman commented, “yeah, but I bet she doesn’t have  a life…she probably spends all her time in the gym.” (No, this was not one of my clients…they know better. That’s ’cause my clients are in the gym working it!)

Oh boy, another excuse-maker weighing in….

Here’s the deal: there are no women on my programs that don’t have a full life. The days of retirees playing with their fitness is gone…my women are mothers, wives, workers….we ALL have huge responsibilities (and none, my dear excuse-maker, than yours truly. I always say that I think the Universe gave me all the bumps and challenges so that I could tell other women, ‘well, if I can do it, you can.” And anyone who knows me, can attest to my over-the-top challenging life with a special needs boy who is a quadrapelegic…and no, I have no care worker.)

And B…yep, she’s raising 2 highly active teens, has a full home business, and also works outside the home. She’s a no-excuses kinda gal, the kind that do well in this life, and the kind I love to work with!

Life is a choice. Everything is. I chose. B chose. And this woman…well, she’s choosing her path too…hopefully she’ll choose another (healthier) one and get off the excuse-making merry go round….so unattractive!

Like I always say, focus on your own journey and never mind the comments from others trying to upset the apple cart. Likely, their apple cart could use a bit of healthy living too!

karen

PS Sign up has begun for my popular 10-Week Best Shape of Your Life Challenge! The September one fills up fast, and I only take 20 gals! Join us!

Seems every year there are more and more myths to debunk when it comes to healthy eating….gosh!

Here’s a link to last week’s Talk Fitness with Karen McCoy. Hopefully this will help clear the air and set you on the right eating track! I’m on the radio every Monday from 9-10 am, Pacific (Mountain) time! Ask me anything!

Debunking the Myths!

PS: Sign up has begun for my popular 10-Week Best Shape of Your Life Challenge! September start! this one fills up fast, and I only take 20 gals! Join us!

A few weeks ago, I held a retreat at my home for my HLP and Challengers clients ….fun, fun, fun! I gotta say, these women were looking great! (My husband agreed!)

I was impressed with how many women were seriously contemplating struttin’ their lovely, shapely bodies on the competition stage. Yet many were hesitant, having heard all the craziness around contest prep. So it was inevitable: I had to start something new…

My new Warrior Woman Competitors Program has started, but it will be different than other programs. Simply, it will be based on building health, not eroding it, a fresh perspective in a sport that is sometimes known for its extremes and its harmful approach to training and eating.

In my view, there are gaping holes in the sport of competition. The sport has grown in numbers, but so too have some of its practices.  I am a minimalist at heart, and I’ve always believed less is more. Case in point: doing endless bouts of cardio will erode health, harm your metabolism in the future, and set you up for metabolic disaster later in life. Cutting calories below 1200 will only teach your body how to really save up that fat in the future, and make future fat loss next to impossible (without doing the same drastic things, because the body knows, and tries to protect itself, so more interventions are required now..)

Some competitors down crazy amounts of so-called supplements whose ingredients I question: colour additives, ingredients you can’t pronounce…really? And women put themselves through sodium manipulation, severe carb depleting, drastic calorie cuts (below humanly possible)….yet you are supposed to walk up on stage looking like the epitome of health. A spray tan and a sparkly suit and heels do wonders to mask the metabolic damage that’s been done over the months leading up to show. Sad but true.

The Warrior Woman’s Competition Prep is rooted in Mother Earth  – our fare is organic, clean, real. Our supplements are real too, basic, with ingredients we know and trust. We do no drugs or dangerous fat burners, and we not buy into marketing hype and the ads that support them. We do not partake in artificials, colours, dyes…we will do no harm to the body. Our training (and our cardio, which is minimal), is the key, and we do it in Phases, much like the phases of the seasons.

I prefer women learn to live like an athlete year round, not a competitor who drastically changes what they do at 12 weeks out, steps on stage at her peak (hopefully, anyway), then loses it all afterwards. That, to me, isn’t fun. I’ve done it. It confused me then, and it still confuses me today. I prefer women live, eat, and train a different way, the Warrior Woman Way. That’s what I want to teach other women – to honour the body. I want women to honour and build strength and vitality in that amazing vessel – our body. And the trophy, the reward, lies in the fact that she looks and feels strong and powerful, fit and healthy, year round.

Onward, Warrior Women! See you on the competition trail!

Karen

PS  – Please join me this Monday at 9 am for my next radio show – Talk Fitness with Karen McCoy, where I debunk the eating myths once and for all! CLICK HERE for more information.