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!

This past weekend, 3 lovely clients of mine graced the stage at the Kelowna Figure and Bodybuilding Show. It was the first-ever show that offered a Grand Masters (over 45) category. And they rocked it!

After 5 months of hard work (we work hard year round, but the pre contest months are toughest!), these ladies shed the fat, and toned and tightened their 50+ physiques into their best shape yet! Their stage presence and posing was spot on! They simply radiated!

As older mature athletes, we are building in numbers. There is no mistaking the energy when a mature woman steps on stage…there is something intoxicating and real about it! (No offense to you younger gals, but you have age-related bonuses that come with being young that you won’t understand until you are older!). And each of my competitors did it the Warrior Woman Way – without drugs, fat burners or estrogen blockers….real, organic, and honest.

As older women, we have come to honour our bodies, to respect its yearly changes and work within this moving landscape of ours, and to know that we stand proud as a tribe. We work hard. We eat plentiful and clean. We train with intention. We are focused and committed. 

Many thanks to Francesca McCallen (center, 2nd place), Sherry Findlay-Russell (left, 3rd place) and Lynn Willard (right, 4th place) for putting their faith in me. But more importantly, thank you for believing in YOU! You are a moving, gaining force and you are parting the waters for other mature women to enter through a door once thought to be closed to us older gals. You are redefining what over 50 is….

Because 50 is not the new 30. Fifty is the new 50!
Rock on ladies!

Coach Karen

I love teaching fitness and wellness, but running all over the place – from gym to gym – isn’t my cup of tea any more. I want to spend more time at my oasis I call home, a home we’ve been building and adding to for over 10 years. I want to spend more time with my family, rather than travelling, and to provide clients with an intimate setting in which to train, learn and grow!

So I built a fitness studio. I’ll be offering small fitness and nutrition classes for women, and I’ll be teaming up with various practitioners in the field. (First up, my Spiritual Intuitive teacher, Cheryl Forrest of Kelowna. Look out Universe! More info to come!) 

Studio 8 is here. Funny, I still have the tattered napkin that I first scribbled out its plans on (as well as a few other things I want to accomplish), because creating is about envisioning, and putting it out there to the Universe. But it’s not magic: we had to work very hard to make it happen, but happen it did!

Please take a tour of my lovely space (video below). I think you’ll agree that it’s a pretty cool place to hang out and get healthy. Once I get my feet wet and start getting a schedule of classes and programs in place, I’ll put it out on this blog or on my McCoy Fitness Facebook page at …So stay tuned! We’d love to have you join us!

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Our recent 10-Week Challenge Luncheon at my home is always something I look forward to. Each participant brings something yummy to eat, and we eat and talk about our journey over the last 10 weeks.

It’s so interesting how each lady weighed in on a different facet of the journey. Some ladies said they now look at a plate of food differently, or they look at what others are eating and realize they too used to eat that way (and they too thought it was healthy). They can now see more clearly when / how they procrastinate with their own healthy living efforts, and recognize how and when they question their success and sabotage their efforts.

See, something like the 10-Week Best Shape Challenge is not just about losing weight (there is always some woman who says she doesn’t need to join because she doesn’t need to lose weight). It’s about finding your power again, recognizing your worth, and knowing that life can indeed begin at 40 (or 50, or 35), and that the body can change, indeed, in amazing ways, regardless of its age.

See, us older women (in my book, that’s 40+) are the largest population group on this planet, but we are still not being catered to in the proper way. (If I see another 20+ trainer putting another 40+ woman through burpees, I think I’ll go insane!). We need someone who knows about hormones, juggling career with family, having acquired injury, being on medication….we need someone to validate us and hear us!

That’s why I do what I do…because I know how women feel. I’ve been there. Heck, I’m still there, juggling career with family, struggling to fit in fitness amongst all the other things I must do in a day, watching certain bodyparts sag, mopping up after hot flashes….LOL!

And all the women on the Challenges have these, or similar, issues. We share, support, and know that we are not in this alone. That’s why so much of what I teach is spiritual / emotional stuff, life stuff, really. And I don’t pretend to have all the answers…but we just keep on trying…

We are a powerful force, us women, and we deserve to be supported and aided along in our journey in the best way possible, for the Warrior Women that we are! And that’s my promise to you: to try to give you what you need in a sincere, supportive and honest way, and to help move you forward in whatever way I can.

Onward Warrior Women! We’ve still got a lot left to do in this lifetime…!
Karen

PS We have 3 days left to sign up for my Spring / Summer 10-Week Best Shape of Your Life Challenge….we starts Friday April 11th! Next Challenge does not run again until September! (Challenger Graduates, you now qualify to join the 12-Week Advanced Best Shape Challenge…!). Let’s get Summer-Ready, ladies!

After 30 years in the business, I thought I had heard it all.

But when a woman sheepishly told me she decided to not joing the  April 10-Week Challenge after all, I had to ask why. First, she said she didn’t want to do it because she would ‘lose her social life’. 

Did she mean she wouldn’t have as much time to socialize? Or she wouldn’t be able to indulge in excess food choices like she used to? Or perhaps she didn’t want to pair back her alcohol consumption. (All of these, by the way, are workable ‘lifestyle’ habits we can still maintain under certain conditions…). I told her that wasn’t the case.

Then she spilled the real goods. “I fear my friends will be jealous of me. You know, it’s kinda vain, don’t you think?”

To what…want to get into awesome shape? Too look and feel great? To be able to have energy to spare and stay strong and healthy?

I was dumb-founded. Nope. Nada. No Way. That’s something I would hear from someone from my mom’s generation (sorry mom!). For this woman, the explanation I would have offered her would ahve been way too much trouble for me to get into, and probably way too much for her to absorb. She just wasn’t at the proper place to listen.

In any case, she simply isn’t ready. When women have a burning desire and a sense of excitement about positive change in their lives, then it’s an easy fit. And I simply love being the catalyst for these transformations! I’ve always said I have the best job in the world!

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear,” so goes the saying. Maybe one day you’ll be ready, S.T., and I’ll be here waiting for you. Honest!

karen

P.S. Sign up has begun for my Spring session of my popular 10-Week Best Shape of Your Life Challenge, now in its 5th year! It’s the last one before we break for summer! Only 20 seats! Registration closes April 9th. we start April 14th! JOIN US! (I’ll save you a seat, S.T…..in case you change your mind!) For a more detailed description, GO HERE!

“As I look back on the challenge I can see that I have learned so much and for that I am grateful to you. I have gained strength, a smarter way of eating and a stronger belief in myself. I realized that lifting weights and seeing results in how we look and feel is a product of a few things: Consistency, Patience and Lifestyle. This has been a journey for me and it is not done. Thank you for the inspiration on so many levels Karen…you are truly remarkable.” – Alison West

Today my son is off to Canuck Place Hospice in Vancouver for a visit. It’s an amazing place for kids with terminal illnesses, a place for them to get away from it all, and to offer up a rest to parents.

Many years ago, Tristan was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. Since then, we have learned to live every day to the fullest, to treasure what we have while we have it, and to accept the lot we have been given. Because to deny the truth, and to live in resistance to what is, is surely damaging to the body’s delicate cells.

I know. I lived there for many years. And for years, my body was awash in pain, depression, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. The labels or the diagnoses never mattered to me: I knew it was a result of a broken spirit, and the subsequent 8-years of my ill health were due solely to this single event.

As a coach and a trainer, I am keenly aware of my health, and the health of the people I coach. I know when something is amiss, it has its physical manifestations, sure, but the emotional and spiritual are running the show. Truly. If you are sabotaging your eating, if you just can’t motivate yourself to go train, then you need to go inward….what’s standing in your way? What are you really saying to yourself? Maybe you’re just not ready to change, or don’t want a healthy physique just yet….believe it or not, this is true also.

Fitting in yet another training session, and having to spend the extra time to shop, cook and prepare clean food can be time consuming. But it’s a choice we need to take if we want a healthy, fit, active body, and a healthy mind. Because good health never happens by accident. It is a constant choice and a movement into action. Period.

So when people ask me why I continue to train well into my 50’s, I say I train because I can. Because my son does not have the luxury of living in a strong, capable body. So when someone makes an obvious excuse for not training, I listen to their reasons, but deep inside, I silently wish I could trade that moment of opportunity and give it to my son, so he could feel the wonder of being able to move his body with strength and purpose. Sometimes health is wasted on the capable among us.

So next time you go to over indulge in poor food choices, ask yourself why you want to hurt yourself. Next time you feel you are too busy to train, think of those who cannot experience the pleasure of that movement, people like Tristan, and the many others struck down with disease and ageing, who can only hold the dream of one day being able to enjoy what we all sometimes take for granted.

karen