TAG: Is The Ultimate Reset For Me Archives - Traci Morrow Fitness

As a busy mom of 6, with some flying from our nest, I wanted to take a few moments to encourage you parents out there that LOVE covers a multitude of sin/error!

LOVE ALWAYS WINS.

We may not be perfect parents, but we are loving parents; let this encourage you today!

In Relentless Pursuit of Excellence….NOT perfection!

TRACI

Life is busy! As a mom of 6 kids, I get it. But day after day of wishing I was in better shape, wishing I could muster up the energy to workout never actually happened. I wish I could tell you how it works with that moment when you say to yourself “Enough!” and decide to do whatever it takes to make a change. It’s truthfully different for every person but the reality is YOU GET TO CHOOSE when enough is enough!

So IF YOU’RE READY, here are steps to take:

1. Get Accountability! As your FREE Team Beachbody Coach I can help you stay on track if you’ll let me!
I have a private facebook group that I can add you to when you COMMIT to your personal decision to Live Healthy!

2. Pick your Program! Plans fail for lack of counsel. I have a Challenge Pack that you can choose to fit your personal goals, which include – your workout, your personalized menu plan, our meal replacement shake Shakeology. It tastes like dessert, but every 8 oz serving of this meal replacement shake is like going to the salad bar and filling your plate 6 1/2 times!

3. Press Play. Schedule it, and just do it. Every day. One day stacked on top of another day, and with a plan in place, and with faithful execution of the plan – YOUR BODY WILL CHANGE!

So let’s go! Why not you? Why not now? I CAN HELP! Say yes,  give me a high five – and let’s get started TODAY!

In Relentless Pursuit of Excellence!

TRACI

People ask me about how often they should weigh or measure when doing programs like Insanity, and I say HIDE THE SCALE! Don’t weigh in every day because everyone loses weight at a different rate. People can become obsessed with the scale, and if they don’t see what they think they should see it can do a number on your mental focus!

A couple years ago I did a video that seems appropriate to share here, now. It’s kind of funny, but my advice still stands! (be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and Follow Me on InstaGram: @TraciMorrow

In Relentless Pursuit of Excellence….as an Insanity Mom!

TRACI

Bears lining a wall outside of Sandy Hook Elementary. One for each sweet victim.

The Connecticut shooting has been shocking, disillusioning, and many of us have been left grieving for children and adults we don’t know, with the emotion one might expect to feel if the same thing were to happen to a dear friend or family member. I, and the members of my family, are no different. We randomly tear up at the thought of little 6 & 7 year old children dying such a scary, horrific death while at their safe school with their friends and teacher. We are interested in the news of the gunman and are left just as confused as everyone as to how this happens.

Like many others, I pray those families are being comforted in the deepest part of their beings in a way that only God can meet in a grief that’s too deep to fathom. We want to help them, in some way; extend our compassion in a tangible way. Well, there IS a way.

A former student at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, and the gunman’s former babysitter Ryan Kraft has set up a NPO Victim’s Relief Fund. Please read up on it, and if you’re looking for a way to reach out with love to strangers this may be what you’re looking for!

May we all reach out to the God of love, as we try to comprehend the depth of evil that’s a direct result of the absence of God’s love.

In Relentless Pursuit of Excellence in the midst of evil events,
TRACI

Life happens. One day you have a busy to-do list, which in my case included a horse lesson in the middle of the day, and then something happens that alters not only the rest of that day’s routine, but the routine for the next 6-8 weeks! That’s where I’m at. I fell off my horse. I had finished my horse lesson (about an hour) when my instructor had me practice with a little cantering. It slipped my mind to tighten the cinch before I got Cody (my horse) to pick up some speed, so as he did, my saddle shifted to the right of his body and dumped me onto the ground; smack on my tail, then my head ~ straight back.  OWWW. I’m 42 years old and to this point had never broken a bone, but I knew something was wrong. There is hurt, and there is hurt that feels wrong. I now know the difference. I was able to walk to my locker, call KC (at work) who immediately left to come take care of the rest of the kids’ afternoon(hero), and Holli (my 18 year old) to come take me to the ER (heroine). That part is sort of a painful blur; getting checked in, being examined, getting a pain shot (which I tried to decline, but my daughter made the call that it was necessary – so thankful she did), & x-rays. Yep. Its broken, right where the red line is in the photo.  6-8 week recovery of no bouncing, no straining, no bumping the area, then a full week of no exercise AFTER it no longer hurts AT ALL. Today is day 13.

Nursing a broken bone is so different than waiting out a pulled or strained muscle. A broken bone heals at about the pace of putting on three coats of paint on a wall during the rainy season.  Lots of waiting. S. L. O.W. Finding what hurts and what doesn’t. Restless sleep. Achey days. You can’t stretch it, or roll it, or massage it. Its just about time. And so, I wait.

I share this because I now know what it feels like to wait out an injury. I’m SO thankful

because I know it could have been so much worse, falling off a horse onto the hard ground. But the reality is, its also frustrating to wait out a healing bone no matter how grateful you are that it wasn’t worse. So I put to practice what I talk about during the healthy, whole days. Trusting God. Even when the plan doesn’t make sense.

I am finding a new norm in my now disturbed routine. I have to lay down a lot because the aching gets so bad during the day, and that has to be okay. I’m learning. I conked my head pretty hard (slight concussion) so I’m also dealing with headaches and a pretty stiff/sore neck. I’m learning to just let my body heal when my brain wants so badly to do 15 other things rather than lay my thudding head and throbbing tail down. You may be reading this thinking “I’m so glad I’m not TRACI!” or you may be reading this thinking “I can relate!” If you are in the season of “healing & resting” I’m right there with you. We WILL be active again. We WILL work out and feel fully alive again. But for now, we’ll continue to eat clean (a healing body doesn’t need lousy food, it needs healing, clean foods!) and learn to enjoy down time because that’s our story right now. But so help me if you’re not injured and reading this, I hope you are inspired with a new perspective of thankfulness for your fully capable body and TAKE CARE OF IT! I am still leading people through weight loss programs – my fingers can still type and my phone still works! If you’d like to get your body going and to feel FULLY ALIVE, hit the CONTACT ME button above and shoot me an email! ONE OF  US needs to be working out!

Always….In Relentless Pursuit of Excellence…..

TRACI

……or “Tailbone” as my kids have taken to calling me

This time apart has been DIFFICULT to say the least. You never realize how intertwined your life is with your spouse until they are removed for a time.

I am not very good at down time. It’s why I speak so much on balance. Because I know I need to intentionally pursue it. If you’ve ever heard me speak, I’ll often refer to my husband KC as “the calm to my storm”. He is chill, easy going, fun, funny, and is not a fan when I leave too slim a margin for rest. And while keeping a fast, kick tail pace in this world is championed, it leaves one feeling worn out and run down if rest is left out for too long. That’s my greatest struggle. I want to do it all, see it all, try it all, and experience as much as I can. KC balances me out. So imagine removing that calm voice of reason for 2 weeks.

I had grand designs to overhaul my house, clean out cupboards, and organize everything so the time would pass more quickly and I wouldn’t have time to miss him or waste a moment. It sounded good. In reality it hasn’t exactly played out like that. Picking up the things he does for this family alone has filled my time to capacity. I barely can do the things I normally do let alone organize my house. Oh, the things one learns about herself when life presses in.

For starters, I learned that I need to slow down my pace when I’m going it alone. I was thrilled to be reminded that taking on the world is not my job (said tongue in cheek, but embarrassingly an actual realization). The other thing I’ve learned is that time can be spent on lots of unimportant time filler activities but it doesn’t mean it SHOULD be. When the going gets tough, the tough need to be smart about how we use our time.

I miss that man of mine. But in the process I’m learning a lot about what it is God means when He says to “Be still..and know that I am God.”  Resting in that today.

A bit run down, but always….
In Relentless Pursuit of Excellence,

TRACI

As of October 1, 2012 Team Beachbody Coaching is coming to CANADA!!!!!

Please email me at CanadaFounders@tracimorrow.com if you are interested in joining my team – my assistant Brittany is compiling my list of Canadian Founders and will add you to the list for all up to date information. Check back here often as I will be launching my Founding Team on that day, and want to have many of my team ready for launch by then so we can expand quickly! I am so excited as this is something we’ve been saying for the last 6 years: “Be Patient, Canadian Coaches!” Our patience has delivered us to this day!

Start gathering your team so when I come for training (very soon God willing!) we can huddle up a big team! WOOOT! (Do you say “Woot!” in Canada?? )

I’m looking for builders – people who want to build a lasting impact and business helping others reclaim their lives!!!
Gettin’ ready to build a lasting Team Beachbody Coaching Business in Canada, In Relentless Pursuit of Excellence ~ with YOU!

TRACI

I’ve been blessed to work with people in the Beachbody Community for nearly 10 years now. Hard to believe its been that long, but its like they say; time flies when you’re having fun. When I found this company I was 32 years old, a stay at home mom of 4 (I have 6 kids now and am 42), I was pretty active both in lifestyle, but also in my personal fitness. I faithfully did crunches at night as we watched evening tv, I ran 3-4 times a week and played in two different adult soccer leagues on the weekends. However, I never lifted weights, and had no clue how to eat other than looking for packages that read “low fat”. This was right on the cusp of the internet, full of education on matters such as this just a Google away, so information wasn’t at our fingertips as it is now. And even with that active lifestyle, my metabolism was shot from having 4 babies in 5 years, and pretty much slowed to a halt, which translated into a 15 lb weight gain.

When I first learned how to eat healthy with Beachbody, and while I was losing the weight, making exercise more of a consistent effort by following the lead of Tony Horton, my personal trainer on my vhs tapes (pre dvd) I felt like I was a bit obsessed with finding more information. I felt like the blinders had been taken off and a whole new world was open to me, and I was hungry to learn as much as I could! About that time, the internet was exploding – still pre-facebook – but information was more and more readily available. But with all things, as I learned more, my “obsession” changed from learning something new, to the battle to create personal accountability by helping others and putting it out there as much as I could that this was how I was choosing to live. No as much ‘obsessed’ with my personal fitness, I’d learned the bulk of new information, it now was about applying it consistently and inviting others to do it too. FUN!

The struggle tends to ebb and flow as it pertains to my enthusiasm level. I WANT to be healthy and feel fit. It feels good. But so does my bed in the early, cool, dark of morning when my alarm goes off. There is often an internal struggle to let myself off the hook, but I chose long ago to not allow my self in the moment to make a decision contrary to my self who made the commitment outside of temptation to excuse myself. Read that sentence again if you need to so you really get what I’m saying. (I read and re-read it many times to make sure I was adequately stating it) But after that workout, my day is off and running as I talk to people, answer their questions, and make personal connections with people. And though I am talking about exercise, I am NOT exercising or obsessing over exercise and my new routines anymore. Because exercise is meant to ENHANCE my life, not BECOME my life. I have a husband, a family, a community where I am active, and exercise just makes me better in all those roles.

I think a big struggle with people, as I’ve seen plenty of times over the years, is a trading of one obsession for another, or even trading of a bad habit or addiction for the addiction of exercise. And while it may feel good at first, addiction by nature is not a good thing, and it can begin to feel like a trap, a cell; something you HAVE to do (and for many, its a certain length of time each day that it MUST be done or it somehow doesn’t count). Only you can be honest enough with yourself to say whether or not fitness & healthy eating has become an addiction, but here are some things to look for:

Do you not allow yourself to eat certain things if you haven’t exercised?
If you work out for less than an hour, do you not feel like it ‘counts’?
Does your food intake consist predominantly of egg whites and protein shakes?
If you want to eat a certain food, do you make yourself work out extra to “earn” it?
Do you feel guilt or shame if you miss a workout?
If you go for a bike ride or a run or work out in the yard all day, do you still feel like you must do a dvd workout?

There are many more, but these are a few that I’ve found to be shockingly common with the people I’ve worked with over the years. For many, they ended up falling back to old patterns and addictions because the exercise/healthy eating ‘addiction’ wasn’t sustainable, or they got injured from over training, or both. If you notice any of these things in you, I recommend googling eating disorders and exercise addictions and if you fit the description, to get some help from a trained professional.

Life is about BALANCE, but some people have a harder time finding it. The comforting news is, you’re not alone. Let your coach know that you’re getting help and stay with the group for accountability, but by all means get some help. You’re worth it.

In Relentless Pursuit of Excellence~
TRACI

I’m getting lots of questions from non vegans inquiring about the Vegan Shakeology flavors: Tropical Strawberry and Chocolate. Personally, I love the flavor of them both, and I’m a meat eater all the way. I highly recommend you trying it, but I’m also open to things that are good for me, without feeling like it boxes me into a title like “vegan” or “flexitarian” or “carnivore”. These questions have opened up lots of new conversation on what it is to “eat healthy”.

Its funny – healthy foods have such a black eye with many people who think eating healthily means we give up tastes and the “good things” in order to be healthy. I actually just had that conversation with my own son this morning. He looked in the cupboards this morning and asked what the choices were for breakfast. I listed it off; steel cut or rolled oats, eggs and toast, Shakeology – any flavor, Greek yogurt with granola and maple syrup, or if he was feeling adventurous, he could make his own whole grain pancakes. My 19 year old son shuddered and said “I dont know why you guys dont eat the good stuff”. He’s not alone in that thinking. I talk to lots of people who hear the words “healthy food” or “vegan” (again, I’m not vegan) and think it must immediately be some weird food or something that tastes like liquid vitamin, or that its only a select group of people who “eat like that”; not your average person. And if you happen to be a person who thinks like that, I encourage you to give yourself permission to explore a new way of thinking about food. REAL food.
Healthy food.

We live in a time and country unlike any other; where our stores are filled to heights only reached by ladder with foods packaged in brightly colored boxes made to taste good, but where it takes a chemist to help us decipher the ingredients list. These food “products” dont even really resemble real food in most instances – colorful rolls, bright colored gel stuffed pastries, little rainbow drops of goo with our kids’ favorite characters on the front, boxes of “add water meals” that expand in the pan as you watch it heat up, and cans filled with chemical liquid that we guzzle in the heat of the summer sun to quench our thirst. These have become our new norm slowly, over a number of years and brilliant marketing strategies, and we somehow bought in that we were feeding our kids (and ourselves!) healthy nutritious foods. ?? I can barely believe I bought into that when I type it up like that, but I did. In fact, I would load up on said goodies at Costco in bulk! And then I started educating myself, sort of unknowingly.

You see, I bought my first Beachbody program thinking I was going to try the newest fad that promised results. And then I read the little piece of literature that came with Power90 on how to get the “best results” and I was intrigued. I wanted “best results” and was willing to try eating a new way for 90 days. But those 90 days have now turned into 9 1/2 years of healthy eating. Because Beachbody has a marketing plan too, except this one is even more brilliant. Its honesty…in stages. Change – big change freaks people out. Well, it does me anyway. Tell me I “cant” eat something anymore makes my rebellious side say “I cant have that? Um…then I want that right now.” That stubborn thinking works great if someone tells me I cant do something positive and I commit to prove I can. When its denying myself food, my thoughts suddenly rebel against my greater desire for myself and rears its ugly head: “dont tell ME I cant have those doughnuts – I will think of nothing else until I’ve had one – or two – or three! Take that!”

Rather than say “Change the way you eat forever!” which would probably scare 98% of the population of Americans, because we change our phones almost as fast as we change our shoes or hairstyles – its a 90 day commitment. You can commit to anything for 90 days. And in those 90 days, while connecting with the accountability of a Coach and the Beachbody community of folks trying this healthy living for 90 days also – something happens in the process. We want more. And we’re willing to pay a higher cost (exercising regularly and re-learning how to feed our families) to get it. The cost of our time and sweat. Our bodies respond to good, clean food; fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains & healthy fats. We lose weight. We have more energy. We FEEL better. We sleep better. We think more clearly. We feel in charge of our bodies again and our health. Some peoples Dr’s take them off their medicines as they drop the excess weight. And the cravings for neon rainbow colored snacks and food products diminishes. For some it goes away altogether. Our bodies respond to REAL FOOD rather than the processed, chemical foods we’d been living on for years. Its like putting clean fuel into your car rather than sewer water. We ‘taste’ what it feels like to really thrive.

Our bodies were MADE to run on the very nutrients found in the natural foods of the earth. Why did we ever start putting anything else in it? Whatever the reason, give yourself 90 days of clean eating and see how you feel. I guarantee you will FEEL differently – better!

In Relentless Pursuit of Excellence!
TRACI

JOIN ME HERE!

What does that look like? As a child my mom was a stay at home mom, and I’m so glad she was! Her mom was a stay at home mom as well. I BELIEVE in being a stay at home mom. My life just looks different than anything I’ve known, or that is familiar to me, and I’m learning to find a new norm in that. But what does it look like when you’re a stay at home mom and you’re building a stay at home business that you love? Good question. For starters, its complicated and easy at the same time.

Its complicated because sometimes my kids need my attention and I have a scheduled phone call. Its easy because I’ve scheduled that call and I’m training them to be patient and wait for Mommy to finish. PATIENCE is a quality I want to teach anyway.

Its complicated because sometimes my kids interrupt my webinars with silly questions that could absolutely wait till the webinar was over, but they’re testing the boundaries. Its easy because my husband and I are a good team and because my webinars are on his calendar, he knows he’s ‘on’ during that time, and all I have to do is send them to Dad.

Its complicated because I sometimes have guilt about not being available to my family whenever they want/need me. Its healthy because I am their mom, and its good for them to respect my time as they learn to respect other people’s time.

Its complicated because life gets messy and I cant be all things to all people. Its freeing because I’m not supposed to be. Not even to my kids.

I love what I do. I love being a mom and I love running a business that inspires passion in me! I think my kids see a healthier mom, though at times out of balance (just being honest) but it is my absolute hearts intention for them to know that THEY are my first priority and should they truly NEED me to be there when I have a previously scheduled appt or call; I can be, and I WILL be there. A home based business allows me to make – and KEEP! – those kinds of promises.

If this seems like something YOU’D like to build as you raise your family – I’d love to share with you what my business is. I’ll warn you: it can get complicated as you try to master both. But I cant think of anything more meaningful than raising up solid people to be a contribution to society and this world’s future (our kids) while we help other people reclaim their health. That’s what made the decision so easy ~ in a messy sort of way!

Come be imperfect but inspired with me ~ you’ll be glad you did!
In Relentless Pursuit of Excellence!
TRACI

To learn more about what it is to build a home based business as a Team Beachbody Coach – please join TRACI on Monday’s at 6pm PST by following this link!