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Yesterday I had lunch with a dear friend and colleague…we chatted about work, training, friendship, children, marriage, divorce, and everything in between. She’s had a tough go of it lately, this friend of mine, but her zest for life is palatable. Her positive outlook is undeniable. And there is a knowingness in her that she will be taken care of, and all is well, even if it doesn’t look like it in this moment.

I spied her fridge, with its collection of inspiring quotes, healthy food charts, pics of women in training, and other such items meant to inspire and motivate.

I loved it. It’s how me, and those around me, have learned to live – by accepting what we have (even when the going gets tough) and learnign to attract what we need, what feeds up. And we are always reaching, believing, and knowing something better is always coming down the pipe, if you just stay open to it all.

Time and time again I am reminded of just how strong the female spirit truly is. And I know that there is strength in numbers, that we are not alone, and that as a group, us women can do more, be more, accomplish more.

So I asked this woman to work for me! Fun!

Many people view what I do as merely teaching fitness and nutrition, but my clients know it is so much more than that. Fitness is my platform that allows me to delve deeper into other parts of myself, and I know this is true for a lot of women. When we learn to apply a healthy eating and a consistent exercise  routine to our lives, we become empowered, stronger, more real. And more accepting of life’s ups and downs.

So wherever you are in your life, say what you want, what you desire, where you are working towards, and stay focused. It’s out there, I promise. You simply need to call it in.

Or plaster pictures up on your fridge! Works for me! And for her too, it seems!

Love you B!

karen

PS Only 6 days left to sign up for my popular 10-Week Best Shape of YOUR Life Challenge. YOU deserve it! Join us! I’m with you every step of the way! Promise! 3 spots left! Kick off is Sept 9th, registration closes Sept 4th!

The Universe has spoken…and I am listening.

I’ve been envisioning building a retreat and studio for many years. About 15 years to be exact. It began when my world blew apart: my son’s diagnosis coupled with severe health issues and childhood trauma that just wouldn’t go away…the perfect storm for a drastic change.

I’d like to say it was a fast turn-around, but it wasn’t. As chronicled in my popular book One Rep at a Time, I was in that dark place for many years. Fear, sadness, guilt, confusion, depression and pain were my constant companions.

Two years of intensive therapy coupled with a long and exhaustive journey into the spiritual and metaphysical realm brought me out the other end. Alive. Healthy. Energized. With fresh tools…

I’ve been using many of these tools in my on-line training and nutrition programs for years. I can’t help teaching what I know, because what I know for sure is that us women are in this together. We are all challenged. We all lose faith. We all need a little more….

I’ve spent the last 6 years building McCoy Fitness and what a great ride it’s been. But this summer (like all summers), I took pause…… I looked around. I took stock. That uncomfortable feeling was seeping back in again…

Uh oh. That only means change is a-coming

So, I am planning my Warrior Woman Retreat and Fitness Studio to be built on my amazing piece of property north of Victoria. And I’m using all my senses and calling on my ‘spiritual team’ to help me. Because I know this feeling, and I know this is what I’m meant to do. How will it come about? Where will the funds come from? That is not for me to ask. My role is to envision and get the energy in motion…break ground. Draw out the blueprints. The Universe, Providence, Divine Guidance…whatever you want to call it, has opened a portal in my mind’s eye. And my role is to step into it and bring it into fruition. That’s all I know for sure.

We all have a purpose in life, and mine is to teach. Not scholastic in nature. But to teach what I know, to connect other women, to support and inspire, and to provide a space of security and openness where it can be done. In all my programs, I have tried to provide this to all my clients, and I think I’ve been successful. But now I need a bricks and mortar place to extend those teachings…workshops, meditation retreats, training and clean eating according to Mother Nature, and in her own back yard. Putting competitors thru the rigors in a place that teaches and builds health and vitality at every step. That’s what women need and deserve. I am merely a vessel, and my new Warrior Woman Retreat and Fitness Studio will be the physical meeting place for all things to occur. I can hardly wait.

I’ve been on this metaphysical path for 20 years. Once born a ‘meat and potatoes’ gal, the what-you-see-is-what-you-get variety (ho hum…), I now know there are other worlds out there, other avenues most women ‘feel’, but don’t know how to access. Or they are afraid to access it. But we need all planes – physical and astral – to move into our greatest and grandest version of ourselves….you with me?

My physical training and nutrition business will continue…it’s my calling, and I love it. It is who I am. But now, it will just include a spiritual and energetic bend to it, the way I envisioned it almost 20 years ago. It’s what women need. It’s what they crave. And I can offer it to them at my new Retreat Center.

To open spring, 2014.

Karen – PS Grab a spot in my September 10-Week Best Shape of your Life Challenge…only 20 spots! Join us!

 

Yesterday I took my son to Canuck Place Hospice for his summer break. An amazing place for children with terminal illnesses.

As we walked in the door, we noticed a candle was lit at the nurse’s station. Whenever a hospice client passes on, they light a candle in her or his name, a chance to remember the young soul now gone.

This always gives us pause. Over the years, there have been many candles lit, many young souls passed on. We love the opportunity to be at Canuck place, a place where my son fits in, a place where he is free to be himself, and we welcome the respite time. But the candle always gets me…

We head into his room and I unpack all his clothes. As I leave, I hug Tristan and tell him to have fun. He looks carefully into my eyes, to see if there are any tears welling up. (“‘Don’t cry mom”, he always says. “I won’t” I always lie). I hug and kiss him, tell him how thankful I am to be his mom, and I leave. I cry on the drive back to the ferry.

When I get home, there is a message on my telephone. It’s from Tristan. “Don’t worry mom, I’m fine. I’m having fun here. I know how sometimes you worry, but I’m fine. I just wanted to call to let you know. Call me tomorrow.”

Then my husband turns to me and tells me our dear Uncle Bernie has been diagnosed with stage 4 inoperable brain cancer. A shock. Last week he was the picture of health, but he felt a little dizzy, went to the hospital and he now has just months to live. We are all struggling with the meaning of it all. Perhaps that candle in hospice was really meant for Uncle Bernie.

People think I train and eat well to look good. But it goes so much deeper than that. I lost my dad at 47 years of age, my step-mom at 44. My dear uncle died at 54, my son diagnosed with a terminal illness at just 5 years old.

I’ve known the fragility of life from an early age. I’ve had my share of life and death upheavals. And it continues…. three neighbours in the past 2 years have passed away from cancer, the most recent is 47 years old, leaving 3 young boys and a young wife. Another, a doctor, has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

For me, taking care of my vessel is my job, my duty. It is the greatest act of self love I can do. And even now, even while I eat exceedingly well and train consistently, I can do better. And I vow to do better. I will tighten my eating up, and ensure that ALL my meats are organic, my processed eats are minimal to none, and my drink is clean, clear and without artificials of any kind. It’san act of self destruction to feed yourself with sub optimal food and drink when we have so many other choices.

Cancer and all disease are opportunists, waiting to invade a body whose defences are down, whose immune system is weakened. So I do so not out of fear, but out of love and respect for this amazing thing called the human body. Because fear simply cannot build health. Love builds health.

Love yourself into health, has been my motto for many years. And I teach this simple mantra to all my clients. Be thankful for what you have. Be kind to your body. Treat it as you would a loving partner, because it is. It has no say in what you feed it or how you fuel its cells. It is a captive audience. Your cells can only work with what you give it, so give them the best nourishment you possibly can.

You just never know.

Karen

 

 

We quietly go to his room and unpack his stuff.