When we take on a new eating venture, it sometimes seem overwhelming. And no where is this more evident than with every new batch of 10-Week Best Shape Challengers. It happens around Week 4 of the program (like clockwork!).

“I’m running out of food ideas! Tell me what to eat!” 

“Can you send us menu plans to make it easy for us?”

“Are we eating Paleo / clean eating / Mediterranean or what?”

And especially, “What do you mean we shouldn’t eat sandwiches? Then what do we eat?”

I always say ‘there is life after sandwiches’, metaphorically speaking (it could be anything inserted here, that is our ‘traditionally accepted’ foods like pasta, meat and potatoes, burgers and fries….).

See, our North American culture eats a certain way, which has become the accepted way. But many of us learned to break free of that years ago and eat another way. Today, I eat whole foods, close to the earth, with yes, the occasional glass of wine or treat thrown in. (Why not? I earned it, and eating too clean in my view is counter-productive to good health! Really! The body needs a certain amount of sway factor to stay healthy in body and spirit!).

See, when you first learn to adopt a different way of eating (or training or living),  it’s tough because your community that you live in, your ‘tribe’, all eat the same way, likely, and now you are stepping outside the boundaries of tradition (how dare you!), and you will be met with resistance. Much of that resistance often comes from your own brain, too. that’s because it’s  new territory. But we keep pushing through. We experiment.

In our Warrior Woman World of weight training and healthy eating, we don’t eat sandwiches, because we have learned to eat differently, outside convention, on the periphery. Do I miss sandwiches, or big plates of pasta, or mashed potatoes and gravy, or nachos, or salty fries? Actually no, because I am in a new eating place now, and I shudder to think about putting that stuff in my body, how it will make me feel, and how it will erase all my efforts in the gym. I have grown away from conventional eating patterns, accepted ways. Just because something is ruled by the majority, or is the ‘traditional’ way certainly doesn’t make it right (or better).

Keep plugging at this thing called healthy eating. Keep experimenting. Step outside convention. You really can eat chicken and broccoli for breakfast, and eggs and sautéed veggies for dinner. You really can just eat snacks for dinner. And in time, you will move from your world of sandwiches and fast food and burgers to our way, the Warrior Woman Way, where we eat and train more intuitively, we tread outside the lines. And frankly, we like it out here. No, we love it out here!

See, in our ‘tribe’, we’ve come to look at a sandwich and think, “That’s weird. I would never think to eat a sandwich!”. But at one time I sure did. I was brought up on them, like the rest of the world. But you can break free! And there is a whole community out there of freedom eaters! It’s simply about wearing a different pair of glasses in which you view the world, your eating, and your lifestyle as a whole.

If I had to ‘label’ how me and my clients eat, it would be a bit of everything, really. We eat with our intuition and honouring our body’s individual DNA structure. We eat Paleo, kind of….Mediterranean, ok, sure…clean eating…in a sense, low carb…in a way….ketosis…on some days…. (Do we really have to label how we eat? Do we have to define ourselves as a Paleo / Vegan  / Med gal / Zone aficionada / Low carb-er… (?)) 

So throw out convention, and labels, along with that sandwich. There’s freedom – and good eats – outside the box! Promise!

karen

Summer’s almost finished…the days are getting shorter and ads for back to school are hitting the air waves…

Seems every summer goes speeding by faster than the last, and I’m reminded to get my butt in gear! This is truly my busiest time…September kick-off. Which means throngs of women all returning from vacation, and from the relaxed schedules of summer, the more-than-plenty food and drink and often with that little bit of extra jiggle sitting on various bodyparts.

And that’s what summer is all about: refocus and a re-commitment. It also means the kick off of my fall 10-Week Best Shape of Your Life Challenge (my busiest program, for sure!), and my monthly Healthy Living Program women return to the Fall Session of the HLP. And of course, I have now started doing in-gym group training for women at my newly constructed Studio 8 (there’s still room!) and a new McCoy Fitness Web Site being launched. LOL! Vacation…what vacation!

So let’s get our butts in gear and start shedding and toning! Let’s get our eating back on board, and get our focus and spirit back in line! Who cares if you wavered this summer, or weren’t perfect, or added a bit too much wine / food / weight / time off….whatever! We are works in progress, and every fall we pick ourselves up and get back on that Healthy Living bandwagon, right? That’s what Warrior Women do!

Welcome back all! September is just around the corner….

Coach Karen

PS – There is still room in my 10-Week Challenge, so come join us! Or, if you prefer an in-person approach, I’m teaching in my Studio 8, with room for a few more! Lots of options for you!

As a trainer, a big part of my work is building the body’s musculature. But in my experience, the most often overlooked muscle that defines our success is our BRAIN!

I’ll say it again: health and wellness is an inside job, because long before we’re sidelined with injury, or a tree falls on our car and we can’t get to the gym, or we’re abducted by aliens, we often end up giving up on our fitness goals. Why? Because our underlying beliefs determine our success.

So in my programs, we look at beliefs and what they mean. In my 10-Week Best Shape Challenge, we take a few weeks to look at our beliefs and how they come to define us. And one of the biggest roadblocks is in learning to let go of outdated beliefs, because here’s the catch: we are supposed to update our Belief Map (as I call it). We no longer believe in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, right?

So we dig deeper…what unconscious beliefs are at work within you? Perhaps you were told you don’t deserve success, or you will always be heavy, or you don’t have the strength to make lasting change. Were these your beliefs or hand-me-downs? Is it time to give them back? And ask yourself this: are you wanting and willing to give them back? (Don’t laugh, a lot of people unconsciously don’t want to, because it means owning their life and taking responsibility for it in full, a scary proposition indeed. But there is freedom on the other side….and success!).

Come join us in my Fall 10-Week Challenge and see where it takes you. We will have a Coaching Call on this, and other, very important topics, to try to unravel the ties that bind you, and help you move toward physical, nutritional and spiritual health and wellness.

And you thought this was just another usual training program, eh?

Coach Karen

Spots are filling for my 10-Week Best Shape Challenge! Come join us! I’m with you every step of the way as we traverse through weight workouts, cardio rules, proper (and I mean proper!) eating and nutrition NOT based on Internet myths, and spiritual wellness as well, naturally! Because we can’t get healthy unless it comes from the inside out. You ready to commit?

“Thank you Karen for your guidance and support. I loved the Challenge, and it set me on my healthy path! Keep up the amazing work! Women everywhere need to get on this program! Yes, I lost the weight, but more important, I got ME back!” – Jennifer Turn, Alberta

I heard a scary statistic this morning. By 2020 experts say the number one disability will become depression.

Depression. By the time you hit forty years old, you have likely had a bout with it. That’s what the stats say too. 

I had my time battling depression, and its sister, anxiety, for years. Being brought up in a chaotic household, and overcoming by becoming an over achiever set the tone. Then, with a desire to please, low self-esteem and learned helplessness, I dipped in and out of depression for years. And then I suffered through years of debilitating panic attacks (sometimes 20 a day) as I struggled to work through childhood issues and coping mechanisms that no longer served me, rather, they were  strangling my spirit.

When my son was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, the clouds returned, and stayed for 8 long, dark years. I struggled to get through each day. I cried myself to sleep, night after night. I couldn’t relate to anyone, or to the outside world. I was a prisoner in my own mind, helpless and drowning.

It took a long time to turn it around, but slowly I came to dismantle the destructive thought patterns and beliefs that once had served me so well as a child (in order to survive) but that were now crippling me. I came to understand that when you say, “that’s just the way I am,” indeed there is much hidden deep in our subconscious that simply needs to see the light in order to create the necessary shifts. But becoming objective about your patterns is indeed work.

And I found my path to healing was based in healing my physical body. I re-connected with weight training, because it helped be to connect with my power. Because when we are depressed, we are powerless, lost. Am I here to tell you that weight training or any kind of exercise will miraculously lift your spirits back into the light? No, that would be irresponsible of me. But it did give me a toe hold back into reality. There, in the gym, I could start to feel the connections again between my lost self and the self that had always been there, somewhere. This, along with proper eating and biofeedback work, slowly helped to part the dark clouds, and the sun began to shine bits of rays at a time. I could feel my spirit return. I had been there all along, behind the veil. Now the veil was parting.

If you are struggling with your own clouds, know that there are millions of us out there, all struggling to stay afloat, to fight back the clouds. My biggest lesson was in learning to let go, to accept, and to know that ‘this too shall pass’. It was about dismantling the old, and staying open to the new.

Today, in all that I do and all my programs, we touch on the mental and spiritual aspects of things, simply because we cannot NOT touch on them. We are not just flesh and blood, to the contrary, we are a complicated mix of spirit and physical, all colliding to help us to bring our individual gifts and our purpose to life…if only we could see through the clouds. Sometimes we simply need validation that those clouds are real, and that it’s ok to have cloudy days, and to know that we are not alone in our journeys. Many of us have walked the path, and we can help. I believe that’s why we are here on this planet, to use our special gifts to help others. It’s as simple as that really.

Karen

PS: My Fall session of the 10-Week Best Shape of Your Life Challenge starts soon. Grab your spot. We’d love to have you join us!

LADIES: Have you ever found yourself asking the following?

• How much protein do I need?
• Should I do a low-carb diet?
• Should I eat a low-fat diet, and if so, how much?
• What should my caloric intake be at my age / level / weight?
• How many days of weight training is enough?
• How much cardio should I do? What type? Before or after a workout?
• How do I get the cellulite off?
• What about hormones…
• How much should I lift and how often should I change up my program?

Oh yeah, all good questions, and ones that have plagued women for their entire lives (more than likely). Sadly, most women get their answers from 2 sources: the Internet and well-meaning family and friends. Both are fraught with disaster!

Women on my 10-Week Best Shape Challenge get the real goods: we go through it all, and more. What makes this program successful is multi-faceted. First, it’s based on real-life experiences gathered from hundreds of women over the years who have improved and solidified their physical, nutritional, and spiritual health and wellness (yes, spiritual…a BIG component of our work here at McCoy Fitness). We use sound nutritional dictates, sports nutrition research, and yes, we use weights to build, shape, tone and strengthen those lovely vessels of ours!

And we offer TONS of support: coaching calls, email, and whatever a client needs to move forward on her healthy living journey. Because this is a journey, to be sure, and one that we can embrace with confidence, with no gimmicks, built from the ground up, sustainable, practical, and successful.

I created the Challenge 6 years ago because I was frustrated with the fitness industry, and seeing women spend so much money on trainers who simply could not relate to a 40 or 50+ woman and all her complicated needs (really, can a 25 year old really relate? And can you PLEASE not make us do any more burpees?!), and whose nutritional  guidance was based on the Canada Food Guide (really?), or a cookie-cutter menu plan that is neither a long-term fix or something we want to comply to day after day, And what about support or a network of like-minded women to call on, something all of us on the healthy living journey certainly need for success? Something had to be done. I wanted to serve women properly, professionally, with integrity and within a limited budget that they could afford. And so it began…

With the Challenge, you get it all. For the price of four 1-hour sessions with a trainer, you get 10-weeks of non-stop learning about fitness, nutrition and how we can feed our thirsty spirits! And I’m with you every step of the way. Promise! You won’t fall through the cracks!

Come join us. If you’ve got the time and the inclination, I promise to deliver a program chock-full of all that you need. I know. I’ve been there. And I’m still there, right alongside you. Because like I say, no woman is an island. We’re all in this together!

karen
For more info, please visit www.bestshapechallenge.com. We kick-off second week of September! Grab your spot! We’d love to have you join us!

“ I loved every part of the Challenge! I learned sooo much, and there was so much support every week. I especially loved the Coaching Calls and the Q’s and A’s Audios. And you cleared up all the nutrition info that we are bombarded with every day! And I’m loving my body changes. I didn’t think it was possible at 53, but yes, it is! And it’s just the start for me! Thank you Karen!”  – Denise Carbonde, Alberta

“Down 13 pounds and 7% bodyfat. Doesn’t that say it all? Thanks for a non-stop program Karen. It’s hard to explain it to people, there’s nothing like it out there! I’m yours forever!” – Samantha Grabowski, Vancouver, BC

When women come to me, it usually starts out as a desire for a better physique. But almost ALWAYS as we work together, the inner stuff rises….there is a fundamental discourse in how we feel on the inside as we flounder through feelings of lack of love, poor self esteem, feeling unwanted, confused, angry. We often dislike our work, struggle with intimacy, have strained relationships with family or others, and we feel like we aren’t enough, or aren’t doing enough.

We ARE enough ladies. And so, while we build those biceps, and chisel those shoulders, try to get those glutes to firm up, I want you to focus on your inner world…that’s why I created Power Words for you to use…and how many of you use them? How many tools do we have that we simply skip over, tuck away, ‘don’t have time for…’.

My whole life I never felt like enough. I was brought up with an over-bearing father who demanded A+ on everything, a mother that was distant, and a step-mother who I could not connect to. The end result: guilt, self-loathing, never good enough, scarred, unable to connect. And I dragged these feelings with me all through adulthood, like a ball and chain.

Today, whenever I feel those feelings rising up, I say aloud, I am enough. And I have a poster in my training studio that sits on my wall, to remind me and all other women who enter my space that we are enough. I bought it at a flea market years ago. It’s funny where we can find lights of inspiration…

It is these feelings that steer our lives, and which used to steer mine. (I’d be lying if I said they never  pop back in. They do… just to remind me that those nasty leftovers are never far away!).

So every day you MUST practice self-love. Tell yourself in the mirror. OPEN up to those feelings. Feel them. They won’t get bigger. In fact, they get smaller, and pretty soon you will look at them as pathetic thoughts that have no bearing on who YOU are.

You are real. You are worthy. You are Spirit. You are loveable. And you are worth loving.

Coach Karen.

I promised myself I wouldn’t cry. And I did OK. Well,  sort of…but as our son wheeled himself across the stage to accept his graduation certificate, I could feel them fill my eyes. Then when he received the Spirit Award for Courage, the tears started to spill over. Then his Valedictorian speech…well, we were all a wet mess by then! 

On Wednesday evening, over 100 young adults received their Dogwood Certificate at the Parkland’s Graduation Ceremony at UVic. The room was filled with parents, siblings, friends and supporters, all working hard to hold back the tears. I was in good company.

Thirteen years ago when our son was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the thought of him graduating seemed incomprehensible….I simply couldn’t contemplate it. I was awash in grief and fear, wondering what the future held. Then as we saw our son’s abilities diminish year after year, and as we struggled to create yet another ‘new normal’ every year, we faltered in our resolve. Who wouldn’t? But the journey continued, despite our silent protests and prayers.

But Wednesday night, when we watched Tristan cross that stage wearing the widest grin on his face, I said a silent thank you to above, for allowing us to be right there, right then, in that moment. And a sense of peace flowed through me: this is why we’re here, to enjoy the now. It was enough.

Our family has learned that it is a choice of where we put our attention: on future fears, the ‘what if’s, and the ‘why’s. Useless, really. There are no answers. And do we need them anyway? Searching and wondering is wasting precious time. So we learned to accept what is, and to live in the light of the moment. It has been my greatest lesson, and the greatest gift of all. No resistance. Let go. Accept what is…and move on.

None of us knows that the future holds, but a select few of us, our family included, has the inside scoop on things, and we live it every day. We no longer live in fear or grief, because it is simply a waste of time. Time waits for no one. So stop looking for answers. Stop pointing to the negative. Start now, today, and look to the light. Because darkness is not its own entity, it is merely the absence of light. It cannot co-exist when the light is on. So make that choice: turn on your own light in your own lives.

This, and other simple things, is what our son has taught us.

Love Karen, Neil and Tristan

It’s always sad when my 10-Week Best Shape Challenge finishes up. After 10 weeks, I feel like I’ve really come to know each woman in her own unique way, and they all bring something different to the Challenge. (My favourite part of the Challenge is when I do our one-on-one coaching calls, and I really learn just how different, yet the same, we all are!). 

What are the reasons women dive into the Challenge? Some women have fallen off course with their health plan and really need a structured program to get them back on their feet again. Others are confused about all the information out there and want to clear the air. Still others can’t commit to a set time in the gym and pay the fees of a trainer, and so an on-line program suits their time constraints and their pocket book. And others are trying to reverse the signs of ageing (yes, you CAN reverse it!) and reclaim their health and their bodies once and for all.

Regardless, what I know to be true is this: no matter where you are in life, no matter your challenges or health issues, there is always a different road available to you. Maybe not now, but somewhere, out there, on the distant horizon, lies your chance. And in that moment, when you say, ‘yes’ to re-claiming your life, the Universe will conspire to bring it on!

Many thanks to all you brave women who broke out of your comfort zone and dared to step into your potential! And you’ve found a new tribe….and we’re waiting in the wings to help support you. Because we all know that the world is not set up for healthy living, and  we must take the reins ourselves and carve out a new way.

And that’s why we call ourselves Warrior Women!

Karen

PS Challenger ladies, don’t forget to test-drive your free Healthy Living Program E-Workout for June, and check out the HLP Lesson tabs (along the top of the page) that includes your monthly coaching call, interview, Tips video, recipes and more!  Because getting to your fitness goal is one thing…staying there is another! Let’s keep the momentum! (If you didn’t get your June HLP Workout Card, email me!)

“Thank you Karen. I had no idea what an on-line program was all about. I assumed it was just getting a workout card and emails from you…so much more! And tons of support, and always from you directly! I am lighter, brighter and feeling great!”  – Melissa M, Alberta

“The Challenge was just what I needed! Down 11 pounds and loving the skin I’m in! Finally!” – Sandy B, Vancouver.

The next Challenge starts in the FALL! See you then!

In Week 8 of the 10-Week Best Shape Challenge, we are looking at the Law of Attraction and how it works in your life. What does this have to do with physical fitness and health, you ask?

In a nutshell, everything. Well, almost everything (you still gotta lift that iron yourself…you can’t manifest muscle!). But this is where some women get stuck – life happens to you, some things are not within your control, some things just are.

Sure, this is true, but I don’t believe we are in a position to say which events this is true for. But I do believe that the concrete world – your finances, your earthly possessions – all fall under the rule of the Law. So for me, when I thought about building a small fitness studio on my yet-to-be home on Vancouver Island, I called in The Law.

For 8 years, I envisioned my studio. Heck, I even have the small brown napkin I penned my plan on 8 long years ago, while living in Ottawa, Ontario. I was sick, depressed, and my son had just been diagnosed with a devastating disease. I couldn’t work, no family around…very tough times.

I knew that I needed to move forward in some small way, to start to create a hopeful feeling in my body, to feel excited about life again, amidst terrible odds. So one night, I sat down and drew out what I wanted for my work future, on a brown napkin (I’d show it to you but there is a 4-part plan on it, and well, I’d just as soon leave it private…helps me to stay more focused). I had no idea how it was to transpire, given our dire circumstance (I’ve learned that it’s not my job to have the ‘how’ figured out. In fact, that halts the whole magical process.)

Here I am, 8 years later, with an active online health and fitness business (Part 1), and a great new training facility that I have opened up to small groups of women on my amazing property here, on Vancouver Island (Part 2). Parts 3 and 4 will also unfold…it can’t NOT unfold, if I keep the focus…

Studio 8 is rockin’! And I’m loving it. And so are my clients! It’s a true testament to the envisioning process, and to the continual action of focus and faith, and yes, there was hard work involved (these things don’t just fall out of the sky, you know!). You gotta meet the Universe half way, I always say.

With over 100 women on my on-line fitness programs, I’m living proof, and so are they, that online CAN be a great way to train (and emailing a workout and email support is NOT what I call an on-line program…sorry, I call that an email program. For our HLP gals, we have audios, videos, recipes, seminars, webinars and more!). And now I can branch out to those women that would prefer the in-gym experience, because for those women, they want and need the in-class continuity. So now I’ve reached both types of clients. Cool!

Whatever your goals, know that you need to start the envisioning process, and take action on it every second of every day. Don’t just wish for it (that’s a sure-fire way to NOT get what you want), walk and live like you already have it! And voila! In time, you will (let go of the ‘how’ too. It’s not your business!). Me and the clients I have in my Women on Weights classes are living proof of that!

Many thanks to Menuccia, Nancy, Brenda, and Alison (pictured above), and to my evening class mates- Christine, Heather, Samantha and Liz for showing up every week to our new digs here at Studio 8! Let’s keep on rockin’!

Karen
PS For more info or to inquire about our classes, please CLICK HERE!