So many times, women want to know exactly what my programs are and how it’s different than other stuff you’d get on the Internet.

“I can get that for free on the Internet already,” said one woman recently. I didn’t try to convince her: her goal was clear…its was all about info, thank you very much, and that’s cool too. Because if what you want is to see how to do a bicep curl, then it’s all there, in colour, on YouTube or whatever.

But if you yearn for a community, for something inspiring (and extremely cost-effective!), uplifting and something to define us older women, to help carve a different path of purpose, health and vitality, then that’s where the roads converge. Because while we love our reps (and the lovely biceps it carves), my gals know there is so much more to it! But you gotta do the work! If you don’t then it’s time and money wasted!

Yes, we do weight training exercises, with specific sets, reps, weights, exercise orders. We use drop sets and strip sets. We learn different lifting and breathing techniques. We do whole body fat-burnign moves and shaping, isloation moves too.

We talk clean eating, carb cycling, sports supplements, macronutrients. We swap recipes, listen to tele-coachign calls to inspire and uplift us, and we chat with each other via a Private Facebook page for my ‘Inner Circle’.

We come from all corners of the globe, and share a common philosophy: we want to be well and we want to do well. And we want to share it.

More than anything, what we do here at McCoy Fitness and within my Best Shape Challenges and my Healthy Living Program is we live, eat and train from a different place. A very different place.

We call ourselves Warrior Women. Empowered Women. Women who walk in truth, strength and heart. We share, laugh, cry and support other women in being healthy and whole. Oh yes, and we do lift weights. They are one of our many tools to get us there…

I thought I would share with you last month’s Tele-Coaching call – The Warrior Woman Within. Because what we do is so much more than lift weights. We live and breathe and think from a different place.

We are Women Warriors!

Thanks to all my Women Warriors on the HLP who have been on this journey with me, and who have allowed me to teach them our way, and to help me create a reference point for other women searching….

We are women supporting women, I always say!

karen
We are Warrior Women!

Sisters, what’s going on?? 

It’s crazy but true, some of the worst support systems in the world are other women…friends, family, co-workers.

I see this all the time with women getting healthy for the first time…their women friends are apparently supportive, and then the innuendos and soft undercuts come… WHY? “You’re too skinny”. “You’re obsessive about training,”. “How does your family put up with all this?”

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Ladies, IGNORE THIS! If you stick with your healthy eating and training lifestyle, you eventually find another ‘tribe’, the healthy kind, because you’ll find you have less in common. It’s not bad to leave your old life / friends / community or tribe behind if it means you can move toward health, vitality, and power.

You have 2 choices: you can either move forward or you slide right back into unhealthiness again, and re-join the old pack! DON’T let that happen! They chose their life, you chose yours. You don’t need to join them on their self-destructive path! Nor are you responsible for them. And if they make you feel gui…lty about not partying, always going to the gym, or not ‘hanging out’ because youd rathre be moving forward, that’s THEIR deal, not yours, but they are trying to sucker you into the old ways, to make themselves feel better.

It’s almost as insidious as the druggie or alcoholic that reams all over a newly-sober person who has walked away from that life. I’ve lived on the other side of the track, like a lot of you. And I made a choice many moons ago to make the most of my body, this life and this opportunity. And I know it all too well with parents who died in their 40’s and my son who lives life from a wheelchair, and can never know the beauty of a strong, working body.

Just walk away. You can let go with love. You don’t have to preach or fight back, just smile, grab your bowl of chicken breast and greens, and know that you are on the right path – YOUR PATH and at any time they are welcome to join you. Surprisingly some do, most don’t. Live your life wearing your fullest colours. It’s how it’s supposed to be!

It was inevitable…I started my own radio show!

Yep, I’m a busy gal, but I really don’t feel like it. My work is my life, really and it’s 24/7. And besides, there is still so much work to be done….

There is so much confusion among women on how to train, how to eat and how to live in balance, with purpose, health and passion, in this new millenium. Info is everywhere, but there is little knowledge, less wisdom, and fewer real leaders.  We need more authentic, experienced-based voices, voices like ours, you and me, the 35+ woman, struggling to find balance, working through challenges, trying to reach for the stars. Can we reach them? Yes we can!

So every Monday morning from 9-10 am, I’m hosting Talk Fitness with Karen McCoy on Blog Talk Radio. Did my first show today…cool!

It’s just another way to reach out and help women everywhere with their training, eating and lifestyle questions, especially in this day and age when we’re all getting older (yikes) and there is sooo much info out there, we’re getting confused!

Upcoming episodes will be posted on my McCoy Fitness Facebook page. Because I find we’re all thinking the same things, same questions, same struggles, same ponders. Women supporting women, I always say!

Here’s today’s Q and A  sent in by several women:

– What’s the best way to get in shape for the summer?
– What’s the best fat-loss supplement?
– Should I choose a low-fat diet and how much should I eat?
– How do I stay motivated?

…and more!

Join me Mondays, 9-10 am for Talk Fitness with me!!

It’s the Real McCoy of fitness, eating and living.
No holds barred.
Straight, honest, real answers for todays’ busy, awesome woman!

karen

After training month after month, people ask me, “What do I do now? How do I change it up? What’s the next step?” 

Here’s my audio response, in a nutshell! How to keep on keepin’ on! (And yes, you do keep on keepin’ on!)

Enjoy!
My Healthy Living Tidbits.

Karen

PS I’ve got 3 spots left in my How to Eat, Live, Train and Think like a Competitor (but not necessarily compete). For women who have been weight training  for a time..I’ll tell you how we stay motivated, train and reach  goals month after month. And I’ll share a  few secrets us competitors use throughout the year! 

When: Saturday, June 29th, my place (North Saanich), 9am-3:30 pm. Only $59.00! Bring a healthy lunch! And come meet some cool, fun women like you! Directions sent out upon sign-up.

By invite only, so email me and we can chat and see if it’s a good seminar for YOU and your goals!

I’m a Starbuck’s nut. I admit it. I simply love a good, strong Americano or two each day. And every day I pass by the lovely tray of goodies they have sitting in waiting…

People ask me how I do it. How can I resist, day after day, one of those lovely displayed treats. You have your own version: chocolate. Or chips. Or whatever your weakness may be (and we all have one!).

I love people’s comments: “I could never do what you do (compete/stay lean), because I love food too much.” (Yeah, that’s the secret, I simply hate food. Done!). Or, “Everything in moderation,” (I love this one…usually said by people who really don’t know the first thing about discipline or moderation.

Really, I like to teach all my clients that when faced with your own version of temptation, walk on by….and do it again and again. THAT’S how you build resistance, control and resistance. Really! You build your outer muscles by applying resistance to them (weights), yes? They won’t get stronger without it. So, you do the same with your inner muscles – you walk on by that pastry tray and say silently that today you will resist. There…you just built up your inner muscles of choice and discernment a little bit more. Feel good?

Then, if you like, you build in one day a week in which you get to buy whatever you like as a treat, and you go for it. I do this with all my clients – build in a treat day. (Funny thing is, you’d think that they would go crazy. They do, the first time, but after eating clean, they feel awful. Good. Welcome to our way of  living).

It’s about you being in the driver’s seat. It’s about you being in control. Carving your own destiny. Building your own lifestyle. Having a strong, sexy, energized body. And yes, enjoying a treat, once in awhile. With discipline, respect and control. That’s how the clean eating athlete lives. See, we live a different way in our head. Like I always say, all success starts and ends within. How you think is how you live / train / eat / love / make money / succeed…..health and wellness is an inside job.

For me, a Starbuck’s chocolate chip cookie is a slice of heaven. Or Nutella, oh yeah, Nutella. In fact, I have a jar of it sitting in my cupboard right now, and when I need a fix, I grab a spoon and dig in, and I allow myself one teaspoonful….however high I want to mound it up. And I put it back. For next time, maybe in a week or two. I’ve had that same jar of Nutella for over 2 months now. My friend, my saviour, my once-in-awhile high.

Put limits around your cheat. Once a week, and one TBSP (or cookie, or whatever). Make it the same day of the week, if you want. And I promise you, you will get back in the drivers’ seat and start gaining control over what was once the uncontrollable. It’s how we’re supposed to live.

And you will feel free, really, really free.

And lean. Promise!

karen