Positive Thinking

The power of the mind! It is a huge factor in your health and fitness and a fact many over look, thinking it is just silly. Some may even think it to be a New Age concept. I disagree. The Bible even says, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23:7. Wow! Pretty powerful stuff! Research is now showing that our brains are like computers waiting for a program to be installed. Our own thoughts, repeated daily, are one of the primary ways that our 'mental computer' is programmed on a sub-conscious level, which is the level of beliefs, habits and automatic behavior.

The point: we must re-program our subconscious minds with our goals.
The result: you will begin to believe that goal possible. You will begin to live out the steps necessary to reach that goal. You will achieve that goal.

This is powerful stuff. Is it easy? No. Is it instantaneous? No. This takes much practice and daily reprogramming and taking purposeful action of writing and speaking affirmations and visualization. An affirmation is a statement written as if you have arrived at that goal, in the present tense and it will also have more affect if you include the emotion that you will experience when you do reach that goal. First, write your affirmation. Second, read your affirmation out loud every morning and evening. And finally, if you can find a picture of that goal that can help you visualize then create what many are calling their visualization board.

Remember this isn't magic or a New Age hocus pocus practice. This is positive thinking! Let's get rid of our negative programs and replace them with positive living!

For further reading I highly recommend: The Success Principles by Jack Canfield

Goal Setting

Each new month and each new boot camp session requires a new goal and a fresh start to work hard, get perfect attendance, discipline yourself in your nutrition, organize your kitchen, say no to fast food, live healthy, reach your goals and motivate others. Never forget that motivating others is an undeniable result that will happen when you focus on reaching your own goals. Inspire others to better themselves by deciding to better your own health and fitness. It's amazing how your health spills over into other areas of your life. You're happier, less stressed, get better rest, have more energy, are more pleasant to be around, and get to buy the clothes you want. HA! Yes, being fit does so much more for you than just getting you the aesthetic results you crave, it really is a lifestyle of feeling your best!

Ok, so write that goal down. Write it in the present tense as if you've reached your goal. Write how you will feel when you experience the thrill of obtaining that goal. And I want you to write it on a post card and place it somewhere you will see it every day. You are writing an affirmation. Reading it daily, your brain will start to believe it. You will unconsciously begin to do the things required to reach that goal and make it come true. Here are some examples:

• It's the last day of boot camp and I just ran a mile without stopping! It feels exhilarating knowing I didn't stop! I feel like I can do anything!!
• I just bought a size smaller for my Labor Day weekend trip! WOW! Now I don't have to suck in to button my pants. I'm so happy!
• It's Labor Day and I get up every day now and eat a balanced breakfast of oatmeal and scrambled eggs. It's such a habit now I don't even think! It's so freeing knowing I'm eating healthy and I'm enjoying food again!

More to come on Postivie Affirmations and Goal Setting. Powerful stuff!

Yours in health,

Sara Oliver

Balanced Living

After our discussion yesterday about nutrition I wanted to come back today and talk a little about living a balanced life. I was reminded today after hearing a radio show, about how obsessed women can be about getting, staying and being thin. Being "thin" should not be ones ultimate goal in life. If it is your # 1 goal, watch out! It can become an obsession and possibly a prison. I've never believed that "thin" equals good or that it should be the only goal one should strive for. Actually, there are many unhealthy "thin" women who actually have high body fat, not enough muscle, and probably as a result, have weak bones too. There is so much more to be gained when one starts down the road of eating right and working out than just getting to and maintaining a look. After you are in a good routine where you consistently work out 4-6 days/week and eat healthy, you will reach your body's best potential. Then you need to accept the body that brings you. We all have different body types and we will not all look the same when we are the healthiest we can be.

So what am I saying? Becoming healthy should be our ultimate goal. And that includes all parts of ourselves. We are made up of body, mind and spirit. Make sure you are feeding each part of you. Make sure you are in balance. Don't get caught up in the trap of living your life around counting calories all day and becoming obsessed with it. Yes we need to learn about calories, educate ourselves on how to consume calories throughout the day to keep our metabolisms fired up, but make sure to enjoy life. Enjoy food. Enjoy books. Enjoy friends and family. Enjoy church. Enjoy prayer. Enjoy fitness. Enjoy your hobbies. Feed your faith. Feed your knowledge. Feed your body. Train your body. Sleep. Exercise. Eat. Read. Pray. Love. Laugh. Relax. Play.

Feed your faith and you will starve doubt.

Have a fit & fabulous day!

Yours in health,
Sara Oliver

www.GetToBootCamp.com
www.TheStrongWoman.com
www.MyNutritionStore.com/saraoliver
phone: 713-515-5081

Eat every 3-4 hours

We are bombarded with so much mis-information in the area of nutrition. Where do we start?

The biggest thing to start implementing today:

Spread your calories out throughout your day! Most people are afraid to eat calories early in the day for 2 reasons. First, they want to "save" calories for later. By doing this you will slow your metabolism down because your body will know that you only eat once a day and it will store fat! And second, campers complain of being more hungry when they eat breakfast. Guess what? That's good! When you get hungry by 9 in the morning it's time to eat again! You should be eating every 3-4 hours! This is how to speed up your metabolism! Buy and read UltraMetalism today! The cookbook is amazing!

Don't stress out about keeping up with your calorie tally all day long. The strategy that works for me is to break down how many calories you should eat at each small meal and only focus on that amount at that moment. For instance, if you know you can eat 300 calories for breakfast, go in your kitchen and eat 300 calories and be done. Then at snack time eat your 200 calorie snack and move on. Just focus on that small meal at a time. Follow the chart below depending on how many calories you should be eating to reach your goals. (You can calculate that by attending our next FREE Nutrition Lecture.)

1st #: 1200 calories/day
2nd #: 1500 calories/day
3rd #: 1800 calories/day
4th #: 2000 calories/day
Breakfast
300
300
350
400
Snack
100
150
200
250
Lunch
300
400
400
400
Snack
100
150
200
250
Dinner
400
350-400
500
500
Snack (opt)
100
100-150
150
200

We are here for you and we want to see you succeed. Please always feel free to ask me questions about your eating plan. I'll do my best to help you!