"Sport makes you whole."

Bob Babbitt in his speech at the start of my race this weekend said,

"I believe that sport makes you whole."

I never really thought about it but it is so true. If I didn't have sports, fitness, athletics, a way to move my body and do something or achieve something I would feel incomplete. This organization that I was racing to raise money for, Challenged Athletes Foundation, gives people who have had sports taken away from them by having no legs or missing an arm or being paraplegic or quadriplegic or in my niece's case having cerebral palsy and not being able to participate in sport or fitness as most people do, the very thing that makes many of us whole.

This organization gets these individuals what they need to compete and to be an athlete. It was amazing to see these challenged athletes pushing their limits with sport and getting the feeling of achieving something. Many of them had bikes especially made for their disability, in the swim they had a partner either that they held their feet or that helped them to swim and a number of them have running legs which are prosthetic legs to run on. There were also two 8 year old boys who were double amputee, with no legs who did the kids swim and their dads grabbed them when they finished seeing their son for the first time accomplish a sport- it was so emotional.

I was with a guy on the bike most of the way who had one arm and this was his first triathlon and he was having a blast and so excited to be a part of it. He did the mile swim, the 56 mile ride and the half marathon. Imagine riding a bike with one arm. I know it seems like, with one arm you could do it but your balance and everything has to be off. He was kicking my butt though.

Sport makes you whole really means a lot more after seeing all of these people be a part of sports and athletics when something as simple as jump roping at school with the other kids may have never been an option for them. It also makes me appreciate being able to participate in an event like this and that I am able to do a Half Ironman and can do whatever I want physically. It reminds me not to take advantage of that or take advantage of the feeling of being able to do a sport and accomplish something physically.

Thank you for the amazing, inspiring event CAF! I was honored to be a part of it and look forward to it next year.

Doing it for the experience....

This weekend I am participating in an event that I am so excited about the experience and being a part of something so special. It is the first time that I am going in to a race without a set time I want to hit. I haven't been totally Type A about my training like I usually am. I am really just looking forward to going and being a part of the event and being inspired by the others participating.

This morning I took my bike out for a 10 mile spin to make sure it's ready to go and spin my legs out a bit and the whole ride all I could think about was how honored I am that I can go and do this race which is a Half Ironman (1 mile swim, 56 mile bike and a half marathon) event among other's who are passionate about making a difference for someone and that it really doesn't matter what my time is as long as I give it 100% and bring everything I have.

You see this race is a fundraiser for the Challenged Athletes Foundation. I have raised money for the foundation and in honor of my niece who is 7 years old and has cerebral palsy. She will be able to take advantage of what the Challenged Athletes Foundation offers and be a part of the experience. This makes this race especially special to me.

It is really a different amazing feeling to truly be going to the race to enjoy the day and be a part of the experience. I am looking forward to it! Stay tuned for my recap next week...

If you want to make a last minute donation go to my website at-http://sdtc09.kintera.org/rachel

Awesome stuff on Body Image- A Revolution!

Did you see this story or hear about this picture of Lizzie Miller? It is so awesome what it has created- women who have realized that they they have to stop body bashing. In my book, The Female Body Breakthrough....coming out very soon....one of the Fit Female Credo's is to Stop Body Bashing and Celebrate your Strengths! I love this article which goes right along with the message I am trying to get out.

Seeing this story and what Glamour magazine is doing with it is awesome!

They are starting a revolution to finally end all of the negative dialogue going on in women's heads.

When I started writing my book over a year ago it was originally supposed to be a book about strength training for women but as I got into the book and interviewing my clients and other women I realized it wasn't about strength training at all. Strength training was just the form of exercise that is most effective to help women to change the way they feel about their bodies, think about their bodies and treat their bodies. My book went from being a book about strength training to a complete mindset, nutrition and training overhaul for women.

We currently run Skinny Jeans Challenges at our gym. The big key to this is that these aren't skinny jeans the style which the average woman doesn't fit in or look good in, and I don't even like the word "skinny." But these are YOUR Skinny Jeans. Every woman has a pair of "Skinny Jeans" in her closet, for some these might be size 6, others size 12 or 14 and of course a pair of Fat Jeans. I don't care what size YOUR skinny jeans are but when you are in them- you feel like a million bucks!

The interesting thing is that the average woman is a size 12-14. Yet, many of the fancy designer clothing brands max out at their biggest size being a 10, maybe a 12. Hopefully this revolution will have an affect on these clothing designers to start making clothes for real women with curves. Having a strong, toned butt is a very good thing!

For most people their skinny jeans will not be and will never be a size 2 or a size 4 realistically without starving themselves or doing some crazy fast...I know for me my skinny jeans are a size 8. When I am creeping up into my 10's I know I need to tighten things up. But I do not beat myself up to get into a size 4 because that is the ideal. Plus I feel great in my size 8 Skinny Jeans- I am fit, I am strong and I can actually eat and don't have to be consumed by workouts or counting calories or grams of food!

I have had clients go from a size 22 to a size 16 and feel sexier than ever and their confidence in themselves skyrocketed! They were so excited to be able to go shopping and not go to the Plus size section. THAT is what it is all about- feel confident and sexy in your own skin and finding the right type of exercise and nutrition to help you to feel that way in YOUR skinny Jeans no matter what size they are.

In my book I call them Thermometer Jeans. They tell you if you are hot or not. I am hoping we can rename them to be our thermometer jeans instead of calling them "skinny" jeans once my book comes out. The key is to keep your thermometer jeans close by, wear them once a week and make sure you are still HOT in your thermometer jeans. When you start to stuff them back in your closet and pull out the baggy clothes you know you need to get back to your workouts and fueling your body with healthy food.

Stop the body bashing once and for all and thank you to Lizzie Miller and Glamour Magazine for opening our eyes that we can feel confident, sexy and good about ourselves even if we aren't a size zero.

Another reason strength training is better than endurance for women...

I was just thinking that one of the number one goals I have with my clients to change their bodies is to change the negative mental chatter that goes on upstairs all day long. Most women spend a lot of time each day talking negatively to themselves and have to consciously stop themselves and catch themselves. I had a realization that when women are using the wrong type of exercise to lose fat it not only doesn't work physically but it doesn't work mentally as well. Long runs or steady state cardio on a machine perpetuates this negative thinking that is so common for women.

Picture this - A woman running for an hour- what is going through her mind? Maybe she is thinking about her day ahead or her kids or a vacation that she has coming up but I bet you most women spend a lot of their time thinking- "Ugghh I can still feel my stomach jiggling when I am running...my thighs are rubbing together....gee, look at that runner- why don't I look more like her? Uh Oh, someone is coming up behind me and probably noticing how wide my ass is...How much longer...If only I hadn't pigged out last night I wouldn't have to torture myself like this..."

Ladies? I know you won't admit it but aren't these the kind of thoughts you might have while running at a steady state with nothing to think about except the tortuous exercise of repetitive motion you are doing to try to drop a few pounds and fit in your jeans so of course most of the time you will think about your body and how did you let yourself get here in the first place and beating yourself up?

Now Picture this- A woman goes to the gym to lift weights. Her focus is on the exercise she is doing, keeping her stomach tight and focusing on lifting the weight and keeping her form. She has to be thinking about what she is doing at that moment and most of her thoughts will be "I need to squeeze my butt and keep my stomach tight. I have 5 more reps, I can do this...."

I am not saying she won't have the occasional fleeting negative thought but it will be a lot less than if she has an hour of doing nothing but the same motion over and over again with nothing but her thoughts swimming around in her head.

So not only is strength training better for women for all of the physical reasons but it is better for them mentally too. And having less negative thoughts and more thoughts about keeping your stomach tight and being strong and finishing your set will lead to better results. The mind and body are connected. If you are spending an hour everyday doing steady state cardio thinking negative thoughts to yourself you could be undoing exactly what you are trying to do while you are trying to do it...Because your body is listening to what your mind is telling it.

I love my legs!

It all started in dance class, looking into the mirror at my legs which were not as long and thin as I would like them to be. Other dancers in my class had long legs, but I was all torso with short legs. I used to use tricks such as hiking up my leotard with a string that I used to tie through and in the back with a bow to make it high cut showing more hip making my legs look longer. I also used to get in trouble from my dance teacher because I would tie a sweatshirt around my waist to cover up my lower body. And like many women, when I sat in a chair with shorts on I was self conscious of how my thighs spread and if I got a glimpse of myself in a window my eyes would go straight to my legs thinking - "Ugh! My legs are so chunky." I also remember standing in the mirror and from behind grabbing my inner thighs to see what I would look like if my thighs were thin and didn't touch. C'mon girls, you have all done this…if only I had longer, thinner legs…

My legs were strong and had muscle and could do lots of turns in dance class, I could even do the splits. Actually I tore my hamstring doing the splits when I arrived for a performance late and didn't warm up and went in to the dance cold and dropped in to a split and ripped my hamstring. I had to wear a big brace to school and hobble around. But my hamstring miraculously healed and I was able to do the splits again. Isn't the human body amazing - how resilient it is? But I never appreciated this; instead I just hated my legs.

As I started to learn more about exercise science and realized all of the aerobics I was doing might not be helping my lower body situation and was making me store more fat than I was burning there, I switched up my exercise routine and made strength training my priority workout. My legs started to look closer to the shape I wanted, looking more toned and defined.

But I could do all of the Pilates and stretching I wanted and my legs are not going to become "long lean dancers legs." They were still short and still my least favorite part of my body. Even with being in the best shape of my life, my legs would still be my least favorite part. When I competed in fitness competitions my abdominals would get leaner and leaner and my legs were the very last to respond. I would usually stick with baggy black pants, the baggier the better!

The ironic thing is I married a man who happens to be a "legs" guy. He loves my legs. If I had a choice I would always wear pants, but with his encouragement occasionally I started to wear skirts. Isn't it interesting how my least favorite part of my body is his most favorite part? Sometimes we girls are just so hard on ourselves instead of enjoying our bodies. We are our own worst critic.

But this past year I had a huge realization about me and my relationship with my legs. I finished writing my book, The Female Body Breakthrough, and in my Fit Female Credo I have a ton of stuff about mindset and having positive mental dialogue and how powerful it is. And every once in awhile I would still catch myself having the occasional negative thought of, "My legs look fat." I always catch myself and say something positive immediately because I know how damaging this mental dialogue can be, but I was disappointed at how often this would pop in my head.

Between my legs looking closer to the way I want them to(they still aren't long :)) by using strength training and wearing skirts more often and the fact that I had graduated from my big baggy black pants to tight black pants that hugged my butt and legs, I was pretty proud of myself and how far I had come. I feel confident wearing and showing off my butt and legs in tight pants and tight jeans and in a skirt and do it more often and very rarely have issues with my legs anymore.

As confident as I feel now about my body(which I do) I am still a woman.... And occasionally even I would slip back into my old ways and have negative thoughts enter my head about my legs. Then a client said something to me - "You always wear black pants. So do I because it hides my legs." And I thought to myself…hmmm, why do I always "hide my legs" with black pants because I wanted to tell her, "You should show off your legs - they look great and you have worked hard to look as amazing as you do!"…but I couldn't because I was guilty of the same thoughts - to "hide my legs" with black pants. I was still self conscious of my legs.

Then I had lunch with a friend who I used to dance with and she mentioned something about how she wore pants because there was no way she wanted to show her legs off in the gym where she was meeting me because she was self conscious about her legs. Again this seemed absurd - why would she think that she has to wear pants to come in the gym? She isn't overweight and in fact looks great. But then I realized these are the exact same thoughts that I have.

A few weeks ago I started training for the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) Half Ironman and am raising money for the organization. My niece is my inspiration and is who I am doing it in honor of because she is going to be able to benefit from CAF and what they offer to get her involved in sports she may otherwise not be able to play. I was out on my bike riding 50 miles or something crazy like that and it hit me - Why in the world would I ever spend another day, minute, second not being completely grateful for my legs and what I can do with them - I can run, I can bike, I can lift weights, I can dance, I can do anything with these wonderful legs and my niece would love to have them. I love my legs! My legs should be my most favorite body part, not my least!

You see, my niece came in to this world with determination, born 3 months premature and weighing only 2 pounds. She is truly a miracle. She spent the first months of her life in an incubator at UCLA to continue her development until her lungs were strong enough to breathe on her own. She had to have Lasik eye surgery a couple times because her eyes weren't developed yet, she also had to have a shunt put into her head which drains fluid off of her brain and she will have that for her lifetime. And as she grew into the unstoppable girl that she is now we discovered that being born premature had resulted in her having Cerebral Palsy (CP). Her CP affects her lower body and basically means that her nervous system is telling her legs to be switched on all the time so she can't relax her muscles and then contract them, instead they are always contracted and in tone. This makes it difficult for her to control her legs and walk without a walker. She has to wear braces to put her feet and ankles in a position so that she can walk on them. She can take a couple of steps, but needs a walker or help for anymore and is unable to run. This is a permanent condition and will not get worse, but is not something she will grow out of. She has hit many milestones in her development and has pushed her limits to do more than the doctors thought she would. When she was first diagnosed, the doctor said - "See how she doesn't move one leg and then the other." Well, within the week she was moving one leg and then the other. Then it was that she couldn't go from kneeling to up on her knees and once again she was kneeling no problem within the week. It was like she just needed to hear what she couldn't do and she was determined to prove them wrong. After being told she would never be able to get around on her own she now, using a walker and with braces on, gets around with no problem.

Marie is 7 years old now and has had more obstacles in her first years of life than most of us will ever have in our lifetime. Heck this little girl has had 5 brain surgeries, and 2 Lasik eye surgeries and she is legally blind in one eye. So having CP isn't going to get her down or keep her from doing everything she wants. Where there is a will there is a way, and let me tell you this little girl has the will! She has an amazing personality, is so outgoing and smart and is one of the most popular girls in school because she is so friendly. The last thing she wants is for you to feel sorry for her. She just wants to be your friend and may need some help getting around every once in awhile, but loves to have fun! Like I said, she came in to this world determined and will go after and have everything she wants in life. Nothing will stop my niece as she grows up and overcomes the obstacles she has been faced with at such a young age. She is always asking me to go exercise and loves coming to the gym to do a workout never putting any limitations on her self.

Despite having, as my niece's best friend at school puts it, "legs that don't work very well", my niece will grow up being active, using her body and loving her legs and everything she has because she is a miracle. She doesn't see any limits for herself. I hope to inspire her to be the best she can be. I feel like my niece and I are kindred spirits - she inspires me everyday and my motivation for what I do in life is to be a role model for her as she grows up.

I think about her when I think about the vision for our gym in 5-10 years and how it will be a place she can come to exercise, she can work, and be involved in exercise and fitness. I think about her when I work out and how I have no excuse because she doesn't give herself an excuse. She inspires me every day.

Then it hit me - How can I possibly hope to be an inspiration to my niece if I am still having occasional thoughts that my legs are fat. How can I even think that? Why would that even cross my mind?

I have no reason to complain. I vow that I will never ever have even a fleeting negative thought, feel ashamed, self conscious, or ever feel anything other than total and complete appreciation for my legs and what I can do with them. I will wear shorts and skirts more often, I will show them off and I will even try to stray from my favorite black pants every once in awhile. Although I do love my black lululemon pants, so no promises to not still have them as a staple in my wardrobe, but I promise to not use them to "hide my legs" and instead to show off my legs! My legs will be one of my favorite parts of my body!

I hope this article will open the eyes of other women in the world who might feel self conscious about their legs to once and for all enjoy your body! Enjoy your legs! Run and cycle more miles with them, lift more weight with them, dance to more songs with them, do those last few reps you didn't want to do with them in your workout and never ever have a negative thought about your legs again! Think about my niece who doesn't complain and I think you can agree you have no reason to complain!

I hope you will join me in this vow to stop body bashing as the Fit Female Credo goes (learn more about this in my book, The Female Body Breakthrough, released November 10th) and enjoy your body!

To help me raise money for the CAF organization click my website to make a donation - http://sdtc09.kintera.org/rachel

If you think you can or you think you can't....

I was working out and I had a set of 10 box jumps at the end of my workout.I did the first set of these no problem, flew up and landed softly on the box. Then the second set I did one and my office manager came around the corner and said, "Show off! I couldn't jump to that box. I have a mental block."

I said to her- "It is completely in your head. You must be thinking that you can't do it so ofcourse you can't do it." Then I... with the thought of, "you must have been thinking that you can't do it..." in my head go to jump on the box and completely miss by not jumping high enough and practically tripping myself. My office manager thought is was hilarious but I thought it was such an amazing lesson that you have to have your mindest right when you head into a workout. If you have negative thoughts floating around in your head while you are working out, every rep you do you will not do as well as you can. Now it is obvious on a jump like this but it may not be so obvious on a lunge or a row but if your mind is not giving that movement 100% and doing everything to focus and lift as much with perfect form as you can you will be cheating yourself out of better results. Interesting isn't it?

I think it was Henry Ford who said, "If you think you can or you think you can't you are probably right..." So true!

So I want to challenge each of you to enter in to each workout with a focus and attitude of challenging yourself to see what CAN you do. Keep focused, positive thoughts in your head and get the most out of every rep leading to a more effective workout, more calories burned and faster results!

You can only go up from here...

Do you ever think about the fact that where ever you are right now you will only improve, get better, make progress and move forward from there? It is a pretty exciting, motivating thought when you think about it. This, right now, is basically the worst it will ever be (which doesn't necessarily mean it is bad now)...

What is "it"?

"It" could be:
1. Your fitness and health
2. Your finances
3. Your career
4. Your business
5. Your relationships
6. Whatever it is in your life that you want to improve.

If you decide to improve and take forward action to do that you can guarantee yourself that this is the worst it will ever be, today right now and you are still living and breathing...

So instead of focusing on where you are today, focus on where you are going and that you will start now making forward progress toward where you want to go. You will start to move away from where you are now into a forward direction to fulfill your ultimate vision for yourself.

If you aren't happy with the way you look and feel, start making forward progress toward where you want to go and don't dwell on where you are today because by tomorrow you will already be one step closer to your goal. Infact, with your next meal or your next workout you will feel a little more empowered and confident that you can take steps to get to where you want to be.

Don't be a victim of circumstance but instead realize that you are in complete control. Decide what area in your life you want to make forward progress in and start today and move away from where you are right now with your actions.