"Several things come to mind. I can fit into jeans that were collecting dust for several years. My percent body fat is in the “green” or “good” range. I’m especially proud of that. I feel more agile and nimble. I have more energy. Perhaps most importantly, my wife thinks I have a “cute” body again!!" - winner of our last challenge, Don S on the results that he achieved during the last challenge.
We kick things off this Friday!
26 days of community, accountability, and results.
Are you in? Get in touch and let me know.
If you're not a COVAL member, then please click here to register for your assessment (we need to get this done before Friday) and then follow-up with a reply to this email.
My weight has been something that I’ve struggled with all my
life.
I was big in high school, but was able to use that for the
sport I loved: football. After I graduated high school, I didn’t have that
association of my weight being a good thing anymore now that I couldn’t use it.
My self-confidence started to take a hit, my social life suffered because of it
and I overall just felt uncomfortable with myself.
PREFACE: I have ZERO college football allegiance to Michigan or Michigan State. Saturday's game speaks for itself. If your team won, congrats! If you lost, well, there's always next year.
I assume that the majority of us have that one moment in our lives where we were doubted. Where we were told that we were nothing. Where we were told that we won't amount to anything. For the sake of the metaphor, that we were "Little Brother".
Sometimes that was someone else telling us that. Other times it could have been that voice in our heads telling us that.
Staying motivated is only part of the game. Sometimes a negative can be made a positive influence. Read some of the COVAL Family's amazing Success Stories
COVAL Fitness Private Personal Trainer in Ann Arbor, Michigan
November-March can be a very brutal time of year for us Michiganders.
Our mood can shift from upbeat and motivated to gloomy and apathetic.
There's a lot of physiology that goes into this, but we will skip all that noise today and focus on what you can do to help combat the Winter Blues.
Most of you reading this will continue to come into the gym which by all means keep on doing so! In fact, adding an extra day would be an awesome idea to implement. As you COVAL members know, as a part of your membership you can drop-in on your own, take the group class on Saturday at 10AM, or add an extra day of coaching to your membership.
But what can be done beyond that?
1) Dive into a new hobby that you've always wanted to try
2) Commit to one social event per week (this is for you introverts)
3) Keep a consistent bedtime and wake schedule
4) Develop & execute a plan to improve your nutrition. What you put into your mouth matters and influences the hormones and neurotransmitters in your body that are responsible for your mood.
5) Add a new form of physical activity to the mix. Yoga, Pilates, salsa lessons, and tennis are just a few ideas that come to mind.
6) Perform an audit of the people that you spend the most time around. Make it a point to spend less time with those that tend to be negative and more time with those who are uplifting and motivating.
7) Figure out how you can be more physically active at work. Maybe it's parking further away from the building, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, taking planned walks throughout the day, or walking to the furthest water fountain in the building when you need to refill your water bottle.
8) Dedicate time to learning mediation or just simply taking time each day to do some deep breathing.
You know yourself best. These are just some ideas to get your wheel spinning which hopefully lands you with a list of 2-3 ways to help yourself live a mentally strong Michigan winter!
