ONLINE TRAINING, COACHING AND NUTRITION
for the 40+ woman!

Main blog

I can always spot them – the traditionalists in the crowd. During seminars, when I hand out my breakfast recipes, there’s always someone that comments on my tuna recipe. “You can’t eat tuna for breakfast!” they reply. I ask why not? “Because you just don’t! Eeewww…”

Really? Hmmmm… I can see we have some work to do….

People often ask me my secret to living a healthy life. It’s simple, really. I’ve learned to buck tradition

What I mean is this: if you want average results, do what everyone else is doing. But if you want to create a unique life, with profound results, don’t follow the crowd

In my early life, I certainly followed the crowd. I did what I was supposed to do: I went to college, had a 9-5 job, good pay and good benefits, went on the traditional twice-a-year vacations….

But I was itching for more…my spirit was thirsty, and I needed to quench that thirst. And therein started my search for a real life. I started to carve out a life that worked for me, one where I could feel free, empowered and excited! 

Today, I live what some would call an unusual life: I train with the seasons. I don’t eat bread. I don’t do cardio. I don’t text. I don’t answer my home phone. I’m asleep by 9 pm. I eat raw meat and eggs. I don’t plan my weekends. I rarely watch the news. And I eat tuna for breakfast. 

To the average person, I live an unusual life, but to me it works beautifully. I try to teach this to my clients: live outside the box, stand convention on its head, question everything. There’s freedom outside the box. It’s liberating, and you can carve out your own life with your own set of rules, ways of living that better support you. 

If you’re living a traditional life, just ask yourself why. Does it keep you feeling safe? Accepted? Included? Is it easier? See, for me, tradition used to mean constriction, predictability, sameness. Today, living an untraditional life means freedom and individuality, and it honours my body and my spirit.

If living a traditional life means you are empowered and free, then by all means keep on keepin’ on! But always check in: ask yourself it you’re excited by your life. If you’re not, change it. You don’t owe anyone the ‘perfect life’. You owe it to yourself to live your best life, and in doing so you can show others how to do the same.

karen

I have several sets of wind chimes hanging outside my home, and yesterday morning, as I sat on my deck with my morning coffee in hand, they were all singing in the wind!  Then I spied a large spider scurrying across my kitchen floor. It’s official – I thought – fall is here.

I love fall. It’s my New Year, and I get inspired and excited by its arrival. Not that I don’t love the summer. I do, but the Fall always sees me moving forward in new ways and taking on new challenges.

This year, I’m focusing hard on bringing what I want into fruition – my business, travel plans and some other juicy bits. I’ve re-connected to my metaphysical roots (thank goodness) and I’m on the path again. I needed that. The world as we know it is changing, and I plan on riding that wave of change.

How are you planning on living the next year of your life? Just take the time to write something down. Wishful thinking never got anyone anywhere…planning and focus always does. That’s how it all works.

Don’t forget to factor in yourself, while you’re making your wish-list. Get back in touch with your physical self. Get healthy, and feed yourself well. treat your body with respect, because your body is the portal to other parts of yourself – your mind and your spirit. You deserve to be healthy and happy in all these places!

See you at the gym!
Karen

PS – There’s only 5 days left to sign up for my popular 10-Week Best Shape Challenge…only 6 seats left! My popular in-gym Lift n Lose starts Sept 12th, and I’m creating an Advanced Best Shape Challenge for those wanting to get in serious shape!. And my Healthy Living Program, with its monthy workouts, eating and lifestyle teachings, is growing, with 80 members strong!

PSS Grab my September Breathe Newsletter, and enjoy my audio – Top 10 Tips for Getting (and Staying) in Shape!

And join me on Facebook, for tons of free tips, tidbits, videos and more!

Last week, I visited my old stomping grounds near Sun Peaks Resort outside Kamloops.

This was a tough stop for me, but I needed to do it. This place is where I faced my toughest times – I was divorced, raising Tristan on my own, I was broke, lonely and in very poor health. And I was very, very sad.

During those hard days, I would bundle up Tristan and we’d hike up to this waterfall, a short distance from our house. Sitting there, in the cool spray of the waterfall, I would cry, pray and ponder our future while Tristan threw rocks into the water. It was my private place where I could release all my pain, scooping it up out of my body and hurling it into the rushing waters of the waterfall. Day after day, I performed that ritual without fail.

That was 13 years ago. Walking up to that same waterfall last week unleashed all those memories. I stopped and cried for a bit, gathered up my resources, and then carried on. My husband waited patiently.

The path looked exactly the same. Time hadn’t changed it at all. I could hear the roar of the waterfall up ahead. I scrambled over the same big rocks that Tristan used to have such a hard time getting over, because he was so small, and because he was weak from the disease in his body that we had yet to discover.

I sometimes wonder how I ever made it through those times, but sitting at that waterfall again I realized that despite all that I had been through, I’ve always had an unshakeable belief that I was going to be ok. I’m not sure where this came from, but I’ve always felt a connection to something, somewhere, and I’ve always known that I was a part of something bigger. I knew I would survive. And I did.

Whatever you’re going through, know that you too will survive. Don’t give it another thought. You have the strength and the ability, and although you may not always go through it gracefully (who does?), sometimes it’s just about putting one foot in front of the other and taking one tiny step at a time.

This is what my new book – One Rep at a Time is all about. I’ve had a lifetime of fitness, and I’ve spent my life taching others how to build shapely muscle, then I give birth to a child with a muscle-wasting disease.

The irony has not been lost on me.

We all have ourjourney, and your journey is here to teach you. Stay open to it. Listen, really listen. And know that you will survive. It’s your life in the making. Trust in that. Find your waterfall, and know that it will be ok.

Blessings,

karen