Consistency is King

Your progress is not going to be made in one workout or meal; just like missing a workout, or eating off plan for a meal, isn’t going to break your progress.

Far more important is how many workouts you’re getting throughout each week for the month. And how many of your days involve some kind of meaningful movement.

You see, consistency beats inconsistent perfection every time. I’m constantly telling my clients, “something is always better than nothing.” That doesn’t mean a balls to the wall workout daily. It can be as simple as taking yourself through some dynamic stretches. Getting outside for a 20 min walk. Doing 50 bodyweight squats before hopping into bed. Just move in a meaningful way.

And rather than worrying each meal, blowing it on one, and then saying “eff it” and blowing each meal for the next 48 hours, try looking at your entire month. Most individuals should be shooting for 80/20, meaning 80% of your meals are clean, or on plan, and 20% of your meals allow for indulgence. Let’s say you eat 4 meals a day, that’s 28 meals per week, 112 meals for the month. At 80%, roughly 90 of those meals should be on plan. That means that 22 of those meals can include some indulgence and you’ll still make progress.

The goal is progress, not perfection, and consistency beats perfection every damn time.

Successful and unsuccessful people don’t vary greatly in their ability. They vary in their desire to reach their potential. And reaching their potential comes down to consistently striving every day.

You’re amazing, so shine bright and light up the world with your awesomeness.✨💕

xoxo -

Jules

MINDSET & MINDFULNESS

The one thing we can control in this life is how we choose to respond to what happens to us. Epictetus said, “We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.”

Jesus said, “It is impossible that no offense will come.”

Buddha said, “You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.”

Lao Tzu said, “Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?”

Do you find you’re quick to react? Even to the smallest things. Maybe your go-to is anger. Maybe it’s worry and anxiety. Reacting is seemingly instantaneous, driven by emotion. Whereas responding requires thought. To take a step back from the situation, remaining mindful, evaluating, and then choosing how to respond.

This might seem minor, but it’s the constant reactions to the insignificant that start to chip away at our mindset, and we start to bring that negativity to the other parts of our life. Even more important, reacting to the small stuff is a clear indication that, when shit truly hits the fan and life gets real, you are ill-equipped to deal.

Mindfulness meditation has been a game changer for me. It’s not about not having feelings. It’s having the ability to be aware of what’s happening externally, as well as your internal thoughts and feelings, observing them, taking them in, and then letting them go.

Our breathing is deeply connected to this as well. The means by which controlled breathing triggers the parasympathetic nervous system is linked to stimulation of the vagus nerve—a nerve running from the base of the brain to the abdomen, responsible for mediating nervous system responses and lowering heart rate, among other things. The vagus nerve releases a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine that catalyzes increased focus and calmness. A direct benefit of more acetylcholine is a decrease in feelings of anxiety.

Just like strength training for the body, you can train your brain to remain calm, thus controlling how you respond.Think of peace of mind like the blue sky. Just because it’s cloudy doesn’t mean it’s not there. Peace of mind is always there, in spite of our circumstances, just a few deep breaths away.✨

“Happiness is an inside job. Don’t assign anyone else that much power over your life.” - Mandy Hale

Have your been responding or reacting to life lately? Are you quick to anger? Find yourself bombarded by anxious thoughts? Have you tried meditation?

XOXO -

Jules

A Simple Guide to Progressive Overload

In order to make any real progress, the body has to experience a stimulus greater than what it’s used to receiving on a regular basis. That’s exactly what progressive overload is.

Let’s break it down...

1️⃣ You’ve got to start with perfect form and progress from there. Do not overload a lift with less than ideal technical form. Figure out where you are on the regression-progression continuum and start getting stronger.

2️⃣ Progressive overload is more than just load. Increasing ROM, improving form, progressing the movement, performing more reps, performing another set, decreasing rest time, lifting with increase acceleration (intensity of effort); it all adds a new stress to the body.

3️⃣ Focus on improving form and ROM first, then focus on load.

4️⃣ Progressive overload takes some serious strategy for veteran lifters. New lifters can make awesome strength gains doing pretty much anything, as long as they’re consistent. However, after a couple years of solid training, you have to be strategic with your programming. Rotate lifts, periodize your programs, and experiment with different methodologies.

5️⃣ You’re not going to be able to increase load on every lift every month, so it’s important to switch up the emphasis with each new phase. I recommend focusing on progressing 1-2 lifts each month. A great way to break them down is this:
➡️ Glutes (barbell hip thrust, barbell glute bridge, Reverse hyperextensions, etc.)
➡️ Lowe Pull (deadlift, RDL, Nordic hamstring curl, etc.)
➡️ Lower Push (squat, RFE split squat, lunge, lateral lunge, etc.)
➡️ Upper Pull (pull up, chin up, bent over row, single arm row, etc.)
➡️ Upper Push (bench press, push up, overhead press, etc.)
➡️ Accessory (lateral raise, rear delt raise, core work, etc.)

Pick 1-2 lifts from the above categories to focus on with each phase of training. By rotating your focus, performing different variations, changing reps and sets, changing tempo, and adjusting rest times you can continue to challenge yourself and set new PRs.

xoxo -

Jules

Breaking the Cycle of Emotional Eating

Emotional eating is real--tired, stressed, bored, sad, even joy can lead to excessive eating. 

Feeling a lack of control can also contribute.

That’s me. Something I’ve struggled with for as long as I can remember, and something I have been working tirelessly on over the last 12 months. When unforeseen circumstances arise that are out of my control, I take immediate action. I try to remedy. Try to regain control.

When I cannot fix it, when the situation simply is what it is, that’s my trigger.

The truth is once we enter a state of emotional eating it’s almost impossible to to stop. It also brings about very real feelings of guilt and shame.

The key to breaking the emotional eating cycle is to understand your emotions, and the factors that typically lead to the act, and rather than eating to cope, dive in fully and change your actions.

First, just stop. Breathe.

Take a look inward and understand what it is that you’re feeling. Being able to name our emotions as they’re happening has actually been proven to diminish the intensity of it.

Be as specific as possible. For example, when I was in the middle of my divorce, I was feeling A LOT. So rather than stating a very general, “I feel sad,” I would challenge myself to go deeper. What I was really feeling — absolutely terrified that no one will ever deem me worthy of love or being faithful to. That no one will ever want me, and I am going to be alone for the rest of my life.

Go deeper to lessen the intensity of what you’re feeling, and show yourself compassion. Acknowledge what you’re feeling, and tell yourself it’s ok to feel that way. There is no reason to feel any guilt or shame for feeling this. Remind yourself that it will pass; what you’re feeling is not a permanent state.

When I was first practicing this, I would write it all in a journal. I carried my journal and a pen with me wherever I went, because when I was in the thick of divorce, starting over as a single mother, and my mother’s cancer, big emotions would hit at random throughout the day.

Just like anything, it takes practice. I’ve taken myself through this so many times, it’s second nature at this point. I no longer need the journal.

Now, what factors have lead to your emotional eating?

Who were you with?

What were you doing?

What was your stress level?

Did you sleep well?

Remaining mindful in an emotional state is key. Reacting to a feeling is immediate, it’s an emotional state in itself. It’s not based on thought. Responding, on the other hand, requires thought. It requires mindfulness and understanding. It requires compassion.

Understand your patterns.

To break the emotional eating cycle you also want to understand what your typical patterns are. For most, emotional eating is a habit engrained by repetition. They go into autopilot and reach for the same foods time and time again.

So what is your pattern? Do you go to the grocery store? The drive through? Is it food you keep at home regularly?

Once you identify your patterns you can take action to break them. 

Creating new patterns and habits, and breaking old ones takes a tremendous amount of practice and time. Yes, you will stumble. Yes, it is going to feel hard. Some days will feel impossible. But it will get better. It’s only a failure if you stop trying. When you quit, that’s when you fail. But if you get back up and continue to press forward, you will make progress, and it will get better. I am living proof of that.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” - Calvin Coolidge

XOXO - 

Jules

5 Tips to Navigate the Holidays

This time of year isn't always the easiest. From Thanksgiving through the New Year, people tend to struggle, so I had some thoughts I wanted to share on the matter.

1. What you do the majority of the time is what matters most, not what happens over a few holiday events. So, if leading up to your holiday parties and events, you're eating well 80-90% of the time, and getting 3-4 workouts in per week, you're going to be just fine. 

As I like to tell my clients, 80-90% compliance done consistently is ALWAYS going to be more effective than inconsistent perfection.

2. Do YOUR best, and "best" is going to look different for everyone. For myself, I like to stick to my foundational health habits to get me through this time of year. I know that if I'm at least accomplishing these things, I'll be able to bounce back and get into my routine with more ease.

- Build each meal around a quality protein and LOTS of non-starchy veggies.

- Move daily.

- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

- Prioritize sleep.

3. Keep moving daily. This doesn't mean I'm expecting you to hit the gym and crush a high intensity workout every day. It can be as simple as getting out of the house and going for a 20 min walk. I know each one of you can commit to a walk, at the very least.

Really, what I want is for you to move your body in a meaningful way daily. And that can look however you want it to. Just move.

4. Avoid going off the rails with your diet. It can be incredibly difficult to swing the momentum back in the direction of health and wellness when you've let yourself go completely. It's not impossible, but again, much easier to get back to your routine when you've practiced eating moderately.

5. NO GUILT. Regardless of how the next two weeks play out, the absolute last thing I want for any of you is guilt and shame surrounding your food or activity choices. Your progress will not be made in a single workout or single meal. It is a cumulative effort. What matters most is what you do once the events are over. All those other days, the days where there are no events, and you're living normally, those are the days where progress is made or lost.

Regardless of how the next two weeks play out, I want you to enjoy the hell out of them. Enjoy each bite, enjoy the time spent with the ones you love, and enjoy having a break from the normal day-to-day.

And for those of you who struggle actually being around your family this time of year, or for those who might feel their loneliness exemplified by lack of family, I am truly sorry. Stay strong, and please know that you are not alone. You will get through this and life will be back to normal soon.

“The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It's our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.” - Brene Brown

It’s in the darkness that our light can shine the brightest.

XOXO -

Jules