I missed:(

Have you have been shooting? A gun? An arrow? A nerf gun? A paper at a trash can?  I am sure at some point you have aimed at something.  My question is what do you do when you missed? Do you start looking at where the paper or the arrow landed?  Most people do. They start looking at how they missed, how they messed up. That's what most of us do. We start focusing on how big of a failure we are. "Look, I aimed at that target and hit that tree. I can't believe I hit that tree. That tree is so big, that must be why I missed the can. The can is so small. Look at the tree! It's so big!"
Isn't this what we do in life? "I planned to eat good all week. I messed up! Look at the food in my kitchen (at the party). There is no way I could stay away from it."
"I planned on working out all week but look at the pile of work I had to do!"

Where is the focus? If you focus on how you messed up, that becomes your focus. If there was a a can a little way away from the big tree, and you miss and hit the tree, what becomes your focus? The tree! If the tree becomes your focus, what will you hit? The tree! 

In life if you are focusing on your failures, it becomes the tree in the yard. That tree is now the big presence that has commanded your attention. If you quit focusing on your target in the first place, then the miss becomes your target.

What does this mean? If you focus on your "failures", then that becomes your new focus. Meaning this will become your new goal. You may not want it to be your goal, but if that is what you focus on, it becomes your goal.

Do you want to keep focusing on your failures? No  you want to focus on your desires! Stop looking at how you messed up and start focusing on where you want to be and as long as you keep your target, every time you fire, you will get closer and closer. It is not a game of perfection, but of keeping your focus and practice!  Keep practicing!

Post New Years Excitement!

New Years has come and gone and I bet you made a new years resolution. That's great, if it lasts for more than 3 weeks. This is the common amount of time that people will go full force into their new goals and then lose steam and stop. There are many different reasons for the stop, however, approximately 90% of people who set a goal in the new year will never see it through.

My suggestion, take a step back and look at your goal. Most of us set a goal that is grand and exciting! We expect to get to this goal quickly and awesomely (not sure this is a word but it works for what I am trying to get across!). We have these visions of ourselves as superhero's sweeping into our new status of awesomeness where we totally shock and awe those around us. They stand back and marvel at how awesome we are to have achieved so much in such a short time.

 In our minds we see the whole episode unfold and then when in real life it doesn't quite play out like we thought it would, we get frustrated and stop. Look, I say this all the time, if it was easy, everyone would do it and then what would separate the ones that make their dreams a reality from the ones who fall asleep in class? Consistency.

If you have a goal, establish right away that it is going to take time. Even if some how you are able to defy normal human ability and achieve your goal quickly, it is going to take time and consistency to maintain. Otherwise you are just jumping around without a bra! (you ladies know what I am talking about) The motion is there but it lacks support. In the end things move in ways you didn't intend and the end result is less than desirable.

Take the time to gain support. Build the habits that will help you get where you are going and stay there. These goals you have can be achieved! However, you must understand anything worth having is worth working for. It will take time and support to build the habits that will allow you to achieve and maintain these goals. Surround yourself with people who support, not hinder your goals. Set small achievable goals that you take the time to celebrate a long the way. Rid yourself of all or nothing thinking. If this is where you want to go, don't plan on changing directions once you get there. It will just take you back where you started.

Is is easy? Oh no! But again, anything worth having is worth working for otherwise you don't respect it. If everyone could just take a Lamborghini then they wouldn't be desirable. And if everyone could have a fit and healthy body, there would be no respect and admiration for those who do. It really isn't hard, it is simply consistency. Every day, put one foot in front of the other, don't feel sorry for yourself and don't look back. You know where that path leads. Only look forward and go get it! If you need support, I am here for you!

Sarah Pawlicki

Monster high

My daughter loves the new cartoon monster high. For those of you who don't have children that share this infatuation, it is about the children of all the monsters and their adventures in high school. At first  I didn't know what to think of this new phenomenon. However, as I watched it I realized that although it has the overtures of teenage drama attached, it also had a very cool and much needed lesson that stuck out. "Don't you want to be a monster too?" This is one of their theme questions. While their charectures are a little frightening at first, they carry with it the age old question: Is uniformity and an ideal look what defines beauty. If we look at literature throughout time, we see the same story told, some disfigured scary monster causing a stir only to realize that they were great and beautiful people. Quasimodo as the hunchback, Frankenstein's monster, etc. So why when many don't encourage monster high to their kids, do we let ours watch it? Well the othe day my daughter saw a mole on my body that she scrunched up her nose at and said "ewwww"! How did I feel? Well I've felt with the dislike of my many and some times large moles for most of my life. I will get over it now! However, it reminds you of how cruel we can be to ourselves and to others. Something that doesn't fit into our Barbie mentality of beauty, can become austrasized.  When austrasized we begin to feel angry and less important. This can lead to all kinds of other problems such as violence to our selves and others. If instead we can embrace the "monster" characteristics in ourselves and others that make us different, fun, and flavorful, our lives will be much more rich. Part of this falls on ourselves. A few years ago, I told a friend who was constantly having people make fun of his calves for bein skinny. Now this person worked and worked on his calves and they honestly look great! However, he was always worried that they were to skinny. So people were always commenting on how skinny they were. I told him to start thinking how big they were. He was projecting an image of himself and others who should prey on insecurities were grabbing it. Once he started making himself think a different way. People started telling him how great his legs were. I have found it is the same thing with all of us! If we think we are ugly, fat, thin, awesome, funny, great to be around, no fun to be around, etc. so we are. Instead do why my 9 year old is learning, be a monster and embrace your stitches, hump, mole, perfect skin, great personality and everything else that you are. Realize that you are the only one that can bring to the world what you bring. The more positive a spin you put on it in your own mind, the more your traits will bless others. "Don't you want to be a monster too?" As far as me, my moles and my daughter go, well, my husband says they are all constellations and just make me more interesting and beautiful. If she can understand that what we perceive as imperfections can be our beauty, she will be ahead of the game! Find your beauty in your differences and share so that others can find there's!

Where is your focus?

The other day, I was having a conversation with my daughter about mistakes. She was very concerned that she could lose my affections if she wasn't perfect. It led to a great conversation about learning. When she was a baby, she didn't know how to do anything. Walking came early for her, 9 months, but not with out it's bumps and bruises. My question to her was what if she had been so afraid of falling, that she never tried to walk? What if she said, "I know I will fall, so I won't try."
 She laughed and said, "I would be asking for you to do everything for me still." 
"So do you think that venturing off the coach and allowing yourself to fall, was a good thing or a bad thing?" "It was a good thing mom."
Some times we allow ourselves to focus so hard on the fact that we might fall, that we never venture off the coach. 
We are focusing on the mistakes and not the direction we are going. A perfect example is a word that most of the world gets very hung up on. That word is sin. For most people sin is this big black thing in the corner to be avoided at all costs as it is all evil. Technically, the definition in its original form, is a very different thing.
The word sin is translated from the Greek work Harmatia (not 100% sure on the spelling but close!). It is an archery term that means to  miss the mark. It makes sense right, when you "sin" you are missing the mark. Ok but lets look at it as the archery term. If I am aiming at a target and I miss it, whatever I was aiming at, I made a mistake. This is normal when you are learning a new skill. You  can't expect to pick up something new and be perfect at it. However, we often expect that of ourselves. I should be able hit the target the first time I pick up that bow and arrow.  In all reality, It's probably not going to happen. You have to learn how to aim at the target and get everything else to line up correctly so that you can hit the target. It takes time and practice.
Now what if you were to do what most of us do in life while learning. What if you stop looking at the target after you shot your arrow, and began looking at your mistake.f You are no longer aiming at the target. Now you are aiming at your mistake because it has captivated your attention.
We bang ourselves over the head with every mistake. "I should have been able to get it perfect the first time." "I should have known better." "I can't believe I messed it up." "I didn't stick to that diet or exercise program again." 
In all fairness, you havn't learned how yet and if you can't get your focus off of your mistake, that is where you will keep aiming. If you are aiming there, then you are training yourself to shoot that target, instead of your original target.
So what do we do? We learn from our mistakes. We take our focus off of beating ourselves up and what we don't do right, and we focus back on the original target and actually allow ourselves to learn how to get where we want to go. We accept that any new challenge or learning experience is going to come with scrapped knees and a bruised ego. We only fail if we fail to get back up or if we allow our mistakes to steal our focus.
This new year, find your target again! Get your focus back on where you are going and the steps you need to get there instead of how you have fallen in the past. I hope to hear what those goals are and I look forward to hearing how your arrow is closer this year than it was last year, even if you haven't gotten a bulls eye yet. Use your mistakes to train you how to do it right.

Kindness cures!

I was completely blessed by the people who went out of their way to help during my recent surgery. People offered to help with children, cleaning and anything else I might need. Others simply showed up with food. These simple acts of kindness went so far with me and my family to make us feel loved and supported. Sometimes those simple acts are more important than we even know. A woman held the door for me and my son as we walked toward it the other day. She waited for us. This shouldn't have surprised me but it did. It seems like most of the time, people are so busy and caught up with their own lives that they don't even notice those around them. Most people any more are grumpy, angry and entitled to their negative feelings. Then we wonder how something as horrible as the Newtown shooting can happen. We live in a state of disconnect most of the time. Many people only interact with others through technology any more and so forget how to interact face to face. So we don't interact. We hustle around the grocery store only focused on our task and not at all at the people we rush past. I have become friends with Kristin at the grocery store, simply by saying hi when I see her every time and genuinely caring how she was.  At first she was surprised that I would take the time. And now every time I go in, she is genuinely happy to see me. One act of making eye contact with someone and taking a second to treat them like a worthy human being, is all it may take to turn someones day or even life around. There are so many people who live in a fog, a life where they feel so alone and unimportant, that they don't even know how to reach out for help. One person taking the time to see them, could mean salvation for them. Imagine if you did this next time you are out in town. Smiled, said hi, were kind to the people you encountered. They may feel better and continue the trend. It's the old pay it forward. Try it. I would love to hear your experiences. Mine have been positive! Not only do you make new friends but are usually blessed to be on the receiving end of their kindness as well. A rich life is measured by the relationships you have and the memories you make. Break the trend, connect today and watch your life get richer and more fulfilling.

Whoop there it is!

Old school music has found it's way into our gym rotation lately. It's funny how music, no mater how basic or era specific, can take you back to a different time or make you feel things you don't expect. Most of the old school rap is about, "tellin it like it is". It's life as they see it and everyone needs to know about it. But I doubt that Will Smith still thinks, "Parents just don't understand". He is now a parent and I am sure has found himself on the other side of the equation. Being on the other side of that equation now myself, I find that I am now, not only re-evaluating my view of my parents, "not understanding", but also, many other things that I was just, "so sure about at one time-or-another. When I first became a parent, I had all these plans about how I would be the perfect parent. My children would be perfect. I would have everything under control at all times, not just in their lives, but in mine as well. As time went on, the reality of life set in, I had to learn to relax my expectations a little. My children did not eat all-natural home-made food at all times. I did manage to nurse them as long as I wanted and most of the food I feed them is healthy. It used to be that I would beat myself up because the result wasn't exactly what I expected it to be. However, now, I'm celebrating the victories I have had and their end results are actually, pretty-darn-good, so far.  Now, I am not making an excuse to give up on ideals, no, in fact it is those "ideals" that propel us forward and help us to keep growing and changing. Rather I am challenging you to look at whether the ideas you hold on to still measure up to where you are in life, or are you holding on to something, just to hold on to it?
I just left the Dr.s office and I have an appointment to have my gallbladder taken out. Now, this is not an easy decision for me. I work very hard at keeping my body healthy and approaching my health in as natural a way as possible. However, I have reached the decision to have mine taken out. It quit working. Why? I don't know. No one knows. The suggestions for preventing this would be to exercise and eat well, but that is not the problem here. It just decided to stop working. I asked, if I could make it work again and was met with a, no. You will have it out, now or later. You can put up with the trouble it is giving you or you can take it out and get on with life, feeling better. Apparently you can operate just fine with out it. So it is coming out. This whole process has made me think about those ideals and pressures that we hold on to that we don't need to. They are only, making us uncomfortable. But because we made a statement at one time that life is one way or another, we feel like we have to hold to our statements and keep ourselves from growing past it. If I am sure of one thing, it is that life will throw us curve balls. If you are too stiff, or too committed before you know what is coming, you are going to get suckered into a strike. Stay loose. Know which direction your aiming and that you will get there, just maybe not on this pitch. Stay encouraged. Stay focused on the over all goal, but let go of the little details that are holding you back, not getting you where you are going. So "Whoop there it is"! Let go of the things that are holding you back and "You got to get up to get down" or get down to get up, it all depends on how you look at it, but, "Jump around"!

Short Sweet an to the Point!

The half-hour workout that took me from 180 pounds post pregnancy to an overall figure champion  in only 12 months!

    “To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.” Emily Dickenson

    Life is a startling thing.  The terrain changes with every step forward. With every change you have to be flexible to move with it and manage to stay on your feet. To do that, is seems like time gets sucked away from you. There are never enough hours in a day, never enough of you to go around. How to balance everything is one of the biggest challenges that we are presented with. Unfortunately in our society, health has become one of the first things to go. But don’t worry about it because there is always a new pill to take that will take care of the problems. Unfortunately, there isn’t a pill to actually make you fit and healthy both mentally and physically. That takes work. But where do we fit that work in to our schedule?
This question became very present for me when I had my daughter.  This new addition brought lots of laughter and smiles and a lot less time. The miracle of life is amazing, however, it definitely changes a woman’s body. I had worked to stay fit through out the pregnancy, eating well and staying active. None the less it was time to address the stretched out belly and widened thighs. I knew that I needed to get into gear because it was one of my worst fears to forever lose my body to pregnancy. The next question was how was I going to fit it in!
    As a competitor before my pregnancy, my goal was to get back on stage. With a new baby and having to go back to work, my time was limited. I needed to fit my workouts into a half-hour a day. So I developed a specific combination that triggered fat loss while shaping my muscle with weight training. It worked! By only weight training four days a week and two other cardio days, I was able to step back on stage when my daughter was 12 months old and take first and overall. If I could do it, so can you! If you can manage ½ hour a day and a healthy eating plan, you can see major changes in your body in the matter of a few months.
How could this possibly work! It’s simple. During weight training you put small tears in your muscles. Your body then works to heal the tears. When it heals them, you get stronger muscles.  Often when you do a workout you get really sore. This is because the tears are larger and it takes a longer to heal. Instead, with this method, we break down the muscles just enough to trigger the body to heal, but not enough to make you so sore that you can’t work that muscle out again in a few days. You can hit the muscles more often and recover quicker.
The program looks like this: Day one is upper body, day two lower, day three cardio, day four upper body, day five lower body day six upper body, day seven rest. Some of the lifts are heavy so have someone spot you if you can. If not, use a weight you won’t drop on yourself!

Day one: Warm up on a cardio machine for 5 min.
Chest- Choose 3 exercises. Example- Chest press, incline chest flies, push ups
Warm up on the chest press with a weight you can do 15 times pretty easy. Repeat if you don’t feel warm.
Now choose a weight you can do 5-8 times for the chest press
A weight you can do 8-10 times for the flies
Then pump out 15 pushups, as many as you can on your toes then drop to your knees to finish.
The goal is to have zero rest between each set and completely exhaust the muscles in a short time. You know you chose the right weight if you can’t do any more than you are supposed to do!

Cardio burst! This is where we keep you moving. Jump on a bike, a treadmill, grab a jump rope etc. Now go three minutes as hard as you can!

Back- Choose 3 exercises. Example Lat pull downs, Seated Row, Reverse grip pull downs. Warm up on the Lat pull downs with a weight you can do 15 times .
    Now use a weight that you can do 5-8 times on lat pull down
    Move directly to a weight you can d 8-10 times on the seated row
    Back to the pull down to a reverse grip you can do 12-15 times.

Cardio burst! 3 minutes as hard as you can!

Shoulders- Choose 3 exercises. Example shoulder press, side raises, front raises
    You should be warmed up by now so go right into the first exercise
    Shoulder press with a weight you can do 5-8 times
    Side raise with a weight you can do 8-10 times
    Front raise with a weight you can do 12-15 times

Cardio burst! 3 minutes as hard as you can
Biceps: 3exercises Example- Straight bar curls, hammer curls, dumbbell curls
    Straight bar curls with a weight you can do 5-8 times
    Hammer curls with a weight you can do 8-10 times
    Dumbbell curls with a weight you can do 12-15 times

Cardio burst!  3minutes!

Triceps: 3 exercises Example- Rope press downs, overhead dumbbell extensions, bodyweight dips off of bench
    Rope press downs for 5-8
    Overhead dumbbell extensions 8-10
    Dips for 12-15
(the more you bend your knees the easier it is. Use this to find the resistance that is right for you!)

        Cardio burst! 3 minutes last one!

Day 2: Warm up for 5 min.
    Legs: The fist group is going to primarily hit the quads, the second will focus on the hamstrings

    Quads: 3 exercise example squats, lunges, quad extensions
        Warm up with some light squats.
        Choose a weight you can do 5-8 times
        Move to lunges, hold weight you can do 8-10 times each leg
        Extensions for 12-15

Cardio burst! 3 min as hard as you can. A fun mix up here is to add plyos! Pop squat for 1 minute, Step up for 1 minute, then pop lunge for 1 minute.

Hamstrings: 3 exercise example Romanian Dead Lifts, machine hamstring curls, ball hamstring curls.
    Warm up with light RDL’s
    Use a weight you can do 5-8 times on the RDL’s (Versa grips help!)
    Machine hamstring curls for 8-10
    Ball hamstring curls for 12-15

Cardio burst! 3 min as hard as you can! Pop squats, soccer drills on medicine ball, jump rope!

Abbs: 3 exercises example weighted decline crunches, v crunches, leg lifts
With abbs you can’t quite fit it in a rep number. So instead push each exercise to exhaustion before moving to the next!

    Cardio burst! Last one! Pop lunges, pop squats and mountain climbers!


Day 3 Just cardio! Incorporate the HITT principle here you get done in ½ hour and get a killer workout!
    Warm up for 5 minutes
    Now push yourself as hard as you can for 1 minute
    Slow down to a moderate pace for 2 minutes
    Push yourself again for 1 min.
    Repeat this until you have 5 min left then slow it down and cool down.

    You can do this cardio anywhere! Use a treadmill, bike, elliptical etc! If you prefer to do it outside, run for a min, walk a min. Even in your living room, jump rope for a min, then walk in place etc. The possibilities are endless!
Day 4: Switch up the exercises, this time do:
    Chest: Incline press, flat press, cable flies
    Back: Bent over rows, modified pull ups, one arm rows
    Shoulder: Upright rows, bent over rear delts, barbell press
    Biceps: Cable curls, wide grip barbell curls, supination dumbbell curls
    Tricep:  Dumbbell kickbacks, reverse grip pull downs, v bar push downs.
   
Day 5: Dead lifts, walking lunges, ball extensions
    Good mornings, one leg hamstring curls, decline bench hamstring curls
    Abbs- Hanging leg raises, scissor kicks, oblique twists

Day 6: Hitt cardio again!


    That’s it, it is that easy. If you push yourself you should be fatigued by the end! Now you can fit your workouts in only minutes a day and get the results you want