It’s true. Some people don’t like me and that’s ok. It has taken me many, many years to be ok with that. I’m a born people pleaser. But the more I put myself out there, especially online, the more I realize I can’t please everyone. And trying would kill me. Most of the people who don’t like me have never met me. Most of them think I preach a crazy strict workout/diet regimen that’s not reasonable for the average woman. Most of them think I live for burpees and kale. Most of them think I’m obsessed and “disordered” in my relationship with food and exercise.

They are wrong.

But that’s ok.

Here’s the truth. . .

I preach a lot. A. Lot. Because I’m up against McDonalds, Burger King and Taco Bell, all of whom can feed you for under $1.00 with something they swear is “healthy”. I’m up against Microsoft and Apple, who created these amazing little boxes called computers, where you sit all day long, barely burning any calories and get stuck in a posture that can ruin your body and quality of life by the time you’re 65 (no, that’s not an exaggeration.) I’m up against the USDA who says you should have 6-11 servings of grains a day and 2-3 servings of dairy daily – total BS, by the way. I’m up against The Real Housewives of (fill in the city), Mad Men and Modern Family who lure you to the couch the moment you put the kids to bed, so you can lie down after a day of sitting. I’m up against old school philosophies that say women should do more cardio to lose weight and lift light dumbbells for high reps to “tone”. For Heaven’s sake, I’m up against the Shake Weight, which looks more like a sex toy than workout equipment.

I have my work cut out for me. So I will preach. Everyday for the rest of my life I will tell you what you need to do to REALLY change your life. Some of you will do it. A lot of you will not. You know why?

Change is hard.

Change is uncomfortable.

It’s easier to stay where you’re at than try something new and risk failure.

But, you know what?

IF YOU KEEP DOING WHAT YOU’RE DOING, YOU’LL KEEP GETTING WHAT YOU’VE GOT.

Most of you want more. And you deserve more. I’m not in this game of life to be average. You shouldn’t be either. Don’t you want more for yourself?

Heck, what do you want for your kids? Do you encourage them to be average? Or do you tell them they can do anything? Do you encourage them to do the best they can everyday?

Do you do the best YOU can everyday?

Why would you ask less of yourself that you ask of your kids? Seems a little silly, huh? And perhaps not the best way to model for your kids?

The average woman is overweight. As a result, the average woman has a handful of health risk factors that will likely lead her to diabetes and/or cancer and/or cardiac disease – even if her doc tells her she currently has a clean bill of health. The average woman underestimates her daily caloric intake by up to 30%, which is why more likely than not, the average woman will keep gaining weight as she ages. The average woman is unhappy with her body and unhappy with herself for letting her body go. The average woman feels frustrated, depressed and often desperate to change her body, but she doesn’t know how.

I recently wrote an article for another publication and some of the mom readers were really offended by the solutions I offered for women’s weight loss. Here’s what I suggested a woman do if she wanted to lose weight:

1. Lift Heavier Weights
2. Stop doing traditional cardio (add HIIT)
3. Drink more water
4. Eat more greens (and veggies, in general)
5. Reduce or eliminate grains
6. Sleep more
7. Eat natural “diuretics” (veggies that help you shed bloat)
8. Eat less salt (esp in processed foods)
9. Eat more protein
10. Mentally commit to changing your lifestyle

Now, many readers found the list to be helpful, don’t get me wrong. But there was a decent (and somewhat loud) crowd who thought I was completely off my rocker. They thought this was way too much change to ask of anyone. And they were thought I was completely insane to suggest giving up grains.

Again, KEEP DOING WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND YOU’LL KEEP GETTING WHAT YOU’VE GOT.

Yes, it is a lot to change 10 things about your lifestyle. But if you focus on two or three a week, after a month you’ve got them all covered. Even if you just did a few of these things 50% of the time, you’d see change over time.

IT’S NOT ABOUT PERFECTION, IT’S ABOUT PRACTICE.

I’m certainly not perfect. I have stretch marks on my hips, thighs and boobs – from being an overweight teen and young adult, not from pregnancy. I still have days when I look in the mirror and I’m quicker to see what I don’t like rather than what I do like. I can’t keep baked goods in my house because I have no power to say no to them. If I weren’t pregnant, I would be sipping a glass of wine right now, and every evening. Many days I don’t feel like working out. If I weren’t so scared of cancer, I would drink Diet Coke everyday. Sometimes I’m really short with my husband and I talk to him like he’s 7. When I’m hungry I can’t have a rational conversation, and I frequently have feed-me-now meltdowns. I don’t sleep well because I can’t turn my mind off. I never drink enough water.

But everyday I practice being better. You can too.

Practice making better choices. Practice eating more greens and fewer grains. Practice working out 3 days a week. Practice going to bed 15 minutes earlier.

PRACTICE MAKES YOU BETTER.

And better is, well, better than where you are now, right?

Many of my moms DO practice making all 10 changes listed above and you know what happens? They dramatically change their bodies, their health and their life in a very short time. In just a few weeks, in some cases. In fact, I just got an email from a SuperMom graduate who lost a bunch of weight, was wearing an entirely different wardrobe than two months ago and was able to get her thyroid back in normal range by focusing on these 10 things for 5 weeks. Do you think it was easy for her? Not at all. But was it worth it? Ummm, yeah!!

I’M NOT SAYING IT WILL BE EASY. I’M SAYING IT WILL BE WORTH IT.

This SuperMom potentially got out of a lifetime of medication by changing her lifestyle. That’s HUGE. Thyroid disorders and the lifetime supply of medication that comes with them are no laughing matter. I’ve worked with many women who live this day in and day out. It’s rough. So it’s certainly worth making a few changes, even uncomfortable ones, like minimizing or reducing grains, to avoid these kinds of health conditions.

So, let’s talk about this ridiculous grain thing. I’m not trying to ruin your life. I’m telling you what will be crystal clear in the coming years. MOST GRAIN PRODUCTS SUCK. They are processed and full of sugar. A recent study showed that whole wheat bread is so processed that it now raises your blood sugar as much as just sucking down two tablespoons of straight sugar. The research coming out on processed grains and how they impact our health and well being is overwhelming. Maybe someday I will be considered a pioneer for saying this before the masses, haha. Maybe I will stand up and cheer, “TOLD YA SO!” Again, I’m not trying to ruin your life, I’m just telling you the TRUTH.

IF IT DOESN’T CHALLENGE YOU, IT WILL NOT CHANGE YOU.

I know it’s hard to imagine making a bunch of changes at once. It’s hard to imagine the success you’ll have when you do so. But it’s also hard to imagine staying in a place where you really don’t like yourself very much.

I got out of that place a long time ago and I’ll never go back. I hated my body. I hated that I couldn’t do anything athletic. I hated that my stomach hung over my waistband in every pair of pants I owned. I hated buying all clothes in the biggest size they came in, so I could hide beneath them. I hate wearing a bathing suit. I hated being in pictures and seeing how my body took up more of the shot that anyone else’s. So I made some serious changes.

It wasn’t easy. And it wasn’t fun. But it changed everything about my life.

Like I said, I’m still not perfect. In fact I don’t want to be perfect. Yuck. That’s way too much pressure. I want to be happy and healthy. For me that means I work hard to SWEAT and EAT CLEAN 80-90% of the time. The rest of the time I do whatever the heck I want. I eat cake, drink wine (when not prego) and watch my Real Housewives. Yup, go right ahead and judge me. I have a healthy relationship with my body (I don’t love it all, but parts of it ROCK) and with food (I love my kale just as much as my cake.)

You don’t have to like anything I say. But if you want to change your body, I would encourage you to listen to what I say and know that it comes from a place of education, experience, passion and genuine concern for YOU. Because I think you are better than average. I think you deserve to live a better life than the average woman. I want you to think that too. If you do believe that you deserve to be better than average, make some changes. Be bold and brave and take a step. Just one step. From there put one foot in front of the other following the truths I preach here everyday on Fit Healthy Moms. Sooner than later you will wake up to a better you – a you that has a little more spunk, a little more muscle, a little less fat and a much brighter future.

And if you still don’t like me I’m totally fine with that. I’m not here to make friends.

I’M HERE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

And if you’re not ready, that’s ok. I’ll be here when you are.

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