Tag Archives: personal training

Who’s in Charge, Here?

WARNING: This one might sting a bit.

In your aspirations to live healthfully, painlessly or attractively, who’s in charge? Do you behave as though something else dictates your success? The tough truth is: you are responsible for the trajectory of your health/fitness/weight/etc. I am aware that may be an unwelcome reminder and I am also aware that I have probably lost some of you at this point.

MichelleBlakelyFITChasse

The habit of blaming things beyond ourselves for our current position: why we have gained weight, don’t exercise or hate to look at our closet because nothing fits well, is understandable. There are always variables moving in and out of our lives, sometimes harsh and sometimes overwhelming. We can not chose the hand life deals us. But, until we accept that at every turn we are always responsible for how we proceed, success will be elusive.

I share this with you because, as usual, my clients have inspired me. They always do. In some ways it’s hard to be fit and healthy. However, the clients succeeding the fastest are those that quickly move beyond the blame game. Blame is irrelevant. Blame doesn’t fix. Blame offers a fake explanation but never a solution. And, that is the lesson. Healthy living is impossible with out a sense of volition. So, let blame go. Choose to put your energy into problem solving, implementing new habits and enlisting help to find solutions.

Wasting days or months or years ignoring the power you have to improve your life is discouraging. Next time your are tempted to blame, pose the question “Who’s in charge, here?” The truthful (and ultimately, delightful) answer is: you are. Hurdles appear in all of our paths: “The meeting time changed conflicting with my workout.” “The gym was too crowded.” “I’m not a morning person.” “I have bad genes.” “My husband didn’t pay the Comcast bill on principle so our internet is out and I can’t watch House of Cards during cardio like I wanted!” (OK, so maybe all my inspiration isn’t from clients.)

In the end, isn’t the goal to be successful? fit? healthy and happy with the skin we’re in?

Embrace that you are in charge of making your life healthier. Kick blame to the curb.

Email today to get started: train@blakelyfit.com

Strength Training Exclusively for Women, Chicago, IL

Shop Small Saturday Sale: $25 just for you!

Blakely Fit RARELY has sales. WIth our love for small business and our small group training “Strength In Numbers” we are celebrating Small Business Saturday with a sale! 

New clients:
$25 off Strength In Numbers Assessment when you email interest today (click here)

Current clients (because we love you so):

$25 off your next bill when five friends sign up for our Friday Quickie (link here)

Email train@blakelyfit.com. We’ll let you know which of your nearest and dearest signed up – must sign up by Tuesday at midnight.

Current client sample text options to make your life easier:
“Hey pals, sign up for this awesome, quick, Friday morning email for some fitness inspiration. Save me $25 in the process! Thanks!”
“Ladies, as a source of all things fabulous in Chicago, trust me when I recommend you sign up for Blakely Fit’s ‘Friday Quickie’ – concise, inspiring and catering to women. You’ll love it and I’ll save $25 in the process.”
“Remember how we’ve been talking about getting back into shape? Here’s a great springboard- save me $25 when you sign up for Blakely Fit’s ‘Friday Quickie.'”
“You know how I’ve seemed healthier lately… here’s my secret. Join me and we can both save $25. A million thanks!”

Eyeball Deep?

Clients share their stress levels as part of our weekly process. And because I adore metaphors, the idea of standing in water that is up to our eyeballs has fit the bill in capturing the very high stress levels for some this past month.

Underwater too deepWhen life feels like too much, maybe “prioritizing,” “changing our expectations” and “scaling back” are NOT the solutions. (I realize I just lost of few of you with that statement.) Maybe, they are not even options. Maybe, we need to acknowledge that we are being asked to do too much and that it’s not possible to handle everything as well as usual for a while. Instead, we just have to keep temporarily plowing through.

In years of learning from and advising women on great stress management tools, in my opinion, the worst decision in this scenario is adding a guilt trip on top of it all. So, the next time life is asking too much and you have to keep going none the less, recognize all that you ARE doing and say “no thanks” to burdening yourself with a useless guilt trip.