The little things will make the biggest impact

It is the little things that will make the biggest difference. Let's take Valentines Day for example. On Vday you get the big bouquet of flowers. It truly is lovely, but it is somewhat expected. Now take for example, a random Tuesday in the fall. You get a single flower. WOW. Not expected. It was little...but the impression/impact was big. 

We expect long hours in the gym, eating low calorie/low fat meals, and burning our reserves (staying busy 24/7), will equate to a body of our choice.  We expect a big pay off for huge workouts, little meals, and strict adherence. I will tell you what you will absolutely get: BURNT OUT! It takes a special kind of crazy to keep up with the gruelling workouts and the small meals. It can turn you into an antisocial....bi#£!  You will miss family and friend events. You will stop eating socially because your 'diet' is not on the menu, or anything your mother inlaw has heard of. You will get up early and/or stay up late to get your cardio in. This hardcore approach will result in a tired, cranky, hungrier you. Enjoying that body yet?! 

Make a little change.  Make changes that will have a HUGE impact without making you obsessive compulsive. Drink more water. It improves your metabolism and rids the body of toxins. Get more sleep. It is safe to bet that sleep is in short commodity. A minimum of 8 hours is required by your body to function properly. Eat food you could grow in your garden (if of course you had the luxury of time and a garden) or food that would eat from your garden (think chickens, cows...not raccoons or skunks...). Pass on the cocktail hour (this may seem antisocial, but I am referring to the daily vino once you put the kids to bed...or wake them up in the morning). These little things will make a big difference in your quest for a healthy bod and they won't make you crazy(er). 

Add a small change slowly. It will become habit and it will add up to a bouquet of simple flowers you gave to yourself. 

Stay happy&healthy 

www.jomoma.ca

Workout for What (sing it like 'Turn down for What')

So I am confessing. Or better yet, making an announcement that I hope holds me accountable. I AM WORKING OUT FOR HEALTH. 

D'uh right?! Before you roll your eyes, read why this is a huge announcement. I have been 'active' since I can remember. Played on every team I could.  All of my waking hours, until recently, had a fitness goal. Being a Highschool and University athlete, my time was spent in the gym. Practicing.  Honing skills.  Putting in the reps to be a better performer on the court. I didn't question it. I didn't make my schedule or determine what I needed to do. I just showed up. The result was a healthy and fit body (minus the periodic injury). Then later, fitness was career oriented. It was necessary that I be in top fighting form...literally, or myself and my colleagues could get hurt, or worse: may not come home. So again, hitting the gym or the track was a necessity. 

Well...now I am self employed. I am not on any team. My time table has opened right up and yet I find I am possibly in the worst shape of my life. The irony is not lost on me (I am in the health and fitness industry...). I train individuals who have fitness goals : strength training, endurance, flexibility ..., goals I insist they identify. I was training these incredible warriors and I myself, did not have a fitness goal.  I was that parent who shouts "Do as I say not as I do". Eeee Gawd. 

Well, here it is: I am working out for health. It is an extremely vague goal, except that I have taken my measurements, determined a healthy body fat % (one that allows me to be lean and still have a period). I have vowed that I will not be depressed or motivated by a reflexion that doesn't meet a magazine cover standard. I am not training for a race or a position on a team. I am training for life. This is possibly the hardest thing and most important. I am accountable to me.  Only me. Except that if I am not my healthiest I am gipping those that love me. 

I am scheduling 'practices' and 'gym' times for yours truly. I will not double book 'my' time, with kid's activities, appointments, or work. I am working out for health. I am working out for me...for the first time in my life. 

Join me! 

Stay happy & healthy

www.jomoma.ca 

Picture this

So unless you are living under a rock somewhere (and if you are WAY TO GO!), you are aware of the media's misrepresentation of women's bodies. The photoshop mishaps, re shaping, digital plastic surgery, removal of pores, and so on. It has become laughable, except that we (women) continue to hold ourselves to an unrealistic ideal. We love the before and after photos. It gives us a sense of hope and is the push to purchase a product promising, well...Let's face it, lies. 

I decided that I would strip down to almost nothing to provide a 'before' and 'after' photo for you lovely Jo:Moma followers. The catch: the photos will be taken within minutes of each other. I will change the lighting, my posture, and camera angle to make a point.  The point being: it is ALL a bunch of horse sh!t. We can convince ourselves we are far from the ideal. We can focus on the negative. The cellulite, the extra weight, the softness of our bodies. OR we can shift our perspective. We can see ourselves from a different angle. One that highlights the strength in our body, the curves that make us feminine, and the sheer incredible beauty that is our vehicle to enjoy life. 

I am scared. I don't want to take a picture, let alone share a picture that shows what I am programmed to recognize as unattractive. And because it terrifies me, I will do it for YOU. I will get uncomfortable so that we can all appreciate ourselves a little bit more. 

So, here goes everything (because nothing doesn't seem fitting)....

Done.

Stay happy & healthy

www.jomoma.ca

And the AWARD goes to......

Do you have somebody in your life that is responsible for pumping your tires? I am not referring to your car/bike, I am talking about your self esteem. 

I have had two people who have held this position in my life. The first was my Mom. She and I would talk for hours, feet tucked under our legs, sitting on the couch, and she would listen. Really listen. Not wait for a break in my emotional tangents to start to talk about herself or anything else. She was there: hurting, laughing, cheering, right along side me. She gave me much needed perspective (when asked), and made me feel special.  I needed her. I needed that. Fast forward a couple decades and I have a full-time tire inflator sharing my everyday with me. My best friend.  My heart. My hubby. True story. He is better than I deserve and he has taken the reigns from my mom and steers my zig-zagging esteem safely to a pasture where I feel safe, important, and loved (daily). I think it must be exhausting repeating the same message to me. I know that what others think of me, or what compliments I receive from others should not matter (wisdom from my mom and my man). I know, (really I do!), that true happiness is loving myself. Being happy in my own skin. Not allowing others to dictate my self worth. I know this. Yet... I have my own personal maintenance man to keep my tires balanced. 

This weeks pity party for yours truly, involved 'lack of success'. I was sharing my past awards/recognitions/commendations with my main squeeze and had said:  "I am a failure. I used to be the top dog...I used to be the cream of the crop...I used to get awards, and now I am somebody who is not pulling their weight in the household...I am nothing. I used to be something...." .  And this is when my Knight in clean underwear swooped in to inform me: "You are self-employed. Who is going to acknowledge your greatness? Give yourself an award!"  He was partially kidding.  But his message was not lost on me. I am not in an environment that strokes my ego. I live in a home with children and pets. I am the one who takes care of schmidt...literally. There is no award for making beds, doing dishes, folding laundry, cutting grass! I know this because I do not reward anybody in this household for doing what needs to be done. As for my job...which is really 10 months old and created in the dark corners of my imagination and the dark hours of the night, I am IT. I am the president, CEO, accountant, warehouse manager, administrative assistant, organizer, scheduler, marketer and more. There is nobody else. Just me. And in ten months I have not grown my business into a Fortune 500 company so I am a bit bummed. Perhaps my goals are somewhat lofty, but that is how I roll. So, I am going to start doling out awards for the varying positions in my organization. I am going to start giving accreditations that I create and deem necessary to have a position in a future thriving, international business. 

The first annual award for "Best new business on a shoestring budget" goes to ME. Sole proprietor of Jo:Moma is pleased to accept this award. Thank you to everybody who has followed, joined the family, critiqued, purchased a product and/or service, and has supported by making the name Jo:Moma bigger than the 6 people who live in the Jo:Moma headquarters. Thank you to the tireless effort of the president, manager, trainer, and well everyone on the Jo:Moma staff. And mostly thank you to my tire inflators. Without you, the ride is much less comfortable and much slower. 

 

Stay happy & healthy

Jo:Moma 

www.jomoma.ca.