Fit is Freedom with Kelly Howard

What You Need to Know to Be Ready to Go Part 2 of the Something to Look Forward to Mini-Series

In part one of our three-part mini series, we talked about dreaming up your adventure to challenge yourself and have something fun to look forward to. It’s the idea of giving meaning to our movement and our lives during a time of uncertainty.
Today, in part two of our Something to Look Forward to Mini Series, we’ll be exploring the tips and tricks to planning for your dream adventure.
The most important thing to remember from our show today is that you DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT have to be an expert to try something new and plan something exciting and fun! You simply have to start small, learn as you go, and make sure you have the bare necessities.
We’ll be exploring these necessities that everyone must have in order to start out on a new adventure...
Basic skills
Basic gear
Transportation
Fuel and Nutrition
Navigation
Safety gear
It’s so easy to fret over all of the things that could go wrong, but we need to remember and think about all of the things that could go right.
You don’t need to be an expert to go out there and do something really cool and really exciting. The more you act, the more confident you will be, and the more you will learn!
If you missed part one, be sure to catch it here, and be sure to join us next week in part three. We’re going to be looking at all things training and preparation for your dream adventure!
Don’t forget to join our FB Live Event! I host a new one every Monday from 6:00-6:45 PM CST, where we will be discussing a variety of topics to keep us motivated and working towards reaching our goals!

Dream Big (Even When You Don’t Believe it’s Possible) Part 1 of the Something to Look Forward to Mini-Series

There is so much stress right now. Quite frankly, one of the things adding to our stress is simply that there’s so much unknown about the future as we go live with this episode. This stops us from having things to look forward to, which drags us down; emotionally, mentally, and physically. Having things to look forward to is healthy.
When we’re excited, life is simply easier.
In our podcast today, we’re starting the 3-part Something to Look Forward to Mini-Series. We’re looking at how to navigate in uncertainty.
I’ll be discussing the questions you’ll need to ask yourself including:
What do I want to do?
What sounds most exciting?
What can I do now?
Once you decide what gets you excited, we’ll start thinking about how to:
Create the belief that we can do it
Get the knowledge to do it
Take consistent action

Jump on the Joy Train

With the year that we’ve all been having, it can be really easy to stay at the pity party. On a global scale, it’s been a struggle, and I’m sure we’ve all had our fair share of personal struggles as well this year.
I actually found myself struggling recently. I decided to share this with my audience in one of my newsletters. Soon afterwards, I received an email from a follower who shared that she was unsubscribing because she wanted to surround herself with positivity and people who were going to make her feel better about herself.
So, in this week's episode, we’re going to be switching gears and looking at how to jump on the joy train!
I’ll be sharing and discussing the 7 ways to get joy back into your life, which include:
Getting your emotions out
Connecting with yourself and others
Finding your kryptonite
Getting moving
Finding positivity
Limiting negativity
Reaching out and helping others
Don’t forget to join our FB Live Event for next week! I host a new one every Monday from 6:00-6:45 PM CST, where we will be discussing a variety of topics to keep us motivated and working towards reaching our goals!

Mid-Year Goals: Revise & Reset

Mid-Year Goals: Revise & Reset
We’re at the mid-way mark of 2020 and it’s been a doozy of a year, especially when it comes to wellness and fitness. It’s time for each of us to figure out how to dump the 2020 blahs and create new, easy ways to care for our fitness and ourselves.
But it doesn’t matter if you listen to this episode when we go live or two years in the future. Goals and resolutions have a tendency to slip away if we aren’t incorporating the four faves; fun, simple, desirable and accessible!
What does it take to renew and reset goals to help us feel like we’re on track and making life work for us?
Download & follow along with your workbook here.
We look back, we look forward and we look inward to determine;
What really mattered on your January goal list?
Why “Does this light me up?” is the most important question you should ask yourself.
What do you need to dump?
What do you need to double-down on?
How can you achieve your goals when you can’t go to the gym, a class or an event?
Why judging yourself if you’re off track is a deal-breaker.
Remember, if it’s not written down, it’s not real! Grab your workbook and follow along. Together we’re unstoppable!

Interview with Diana Driscoll: Activewear Owner and Outdoor Badass!

Interview with Diana Driscoll: Activewear Owner and Outdoor Badass!
Diana Driscoll is the owner of Vibrant1 Activewear, women’s fitness wear. Exercise has always been a big part of her life. She’s excelled in adventure racing, road and trail running, and has raced in events such as Adventure Race Nationals 3 times (a 30 hr race), ran 45-50 miles in four 12 hr trail runs, completed fourteen 24 hr team relays in eight states plus Canada, and ran the Boston Marathon twice.
Whew!
Along the way, Diana decided that there was a big need for a new type of women’s activewear, clothing that is bright and colorful, highly functional, and USA made with top materials for top performance.
Today we dive into what drives a top performer like Diana, what’s she’s been doing since her entire race schedule was canceled due to the pandemic (virtual races!) and what’s next?
If you’ve ever thought about doing an adventure race but didn’t know where to start, she shares her tips on getting into adventure racing, solo and team racing. And, the way smart women win races (with their brains - not brawn)!
Be sure to check out her awesome activewear line, which includes tops, bottoms, and sleeves designed to help women lead active, adventurous and vibrant lives. What’s not to love about Diana!
https://vibrant1activewear.com/

Friendship - a Key to Your Fitness and Wellbeing

Friendship - a Key to Your Fitness and Wellbeing
I’ve heard a lot of talk lately about people missing their workout groups, missing their cycling friends, wondering when they can reconnect with their Pilates buddies. As this podcast goes live, many of us are still in various phases of social distancing. What I’m really hearing is not the missing of the activity, as much as the missing of the camaraderie.
Playing with friends is as important at 40, 50, 60 as it is at 10. We need connections as much as we need movement. Friends keep us on track, friendship keeps us healthy, friends make our brains work better and our lives fuller.
One of my biggest concerns around the COVID19 pandemic is how we are going to come away from it?
Are people going to be less likely to connect because of a lingering fear of possible consequences? How will this affect our personal and societal well being?
Recently, I was with a couple of friends for a day of kayaking. At the river, my friend Chris recognized an old friend getting in his boat to run the same river. They were so happy to see each other and they hugged. Later she said to me, “oh my gosh, that felt so good to hug and then I remembered we weren’t supposed to”.
A sign of the times.
You don’t have to be hugging but we need to be connecting. Take time on a daily basis to check in with a friend. Not a ‘like or heart’ on social but a real hello. I’ve been finding that there are a lot of people in our world these days that need someone to reach out to them. Plus, by reaching out to them you’re not just helping them, you’re helping yourself too.
Who knows, creating lasting, loving, meaningful connections might just be a silver lining of this pandemic.

Bonus Episode: Applying the 7 Functional Movements with Alison Katschkowsky

Alison H Katschkowsky, MA Ed, CSCS ACSM ACE
Is a Self Care Transformation Coach and Fitness Expert and President and CEO, CU Fitness Inc.
Today we chat about the 7 foundational movements and how doing the right moves leads to the right fitness. More than just having “good-looking” muscles, these seven basic movements are the foundation for what the human body can perform and all other exercises are merely variations of these seven: Pull, Push, Squat, Lunge, Hinge, Rotation and Gait. If you’re doing all of these movements, you’re hitting all of the major muscle groups in your body. Listen in!
https://cufitness.com/ultimate-fitness-club/

Slipping Backward or Moving Forward?

Slipping backward or Moving Forward?
What do you do when you feel like the progress you’d been making suddenly starts feeling like it’s slipping all away. Like it’s a thing of the past?
Personally, I’ve had a few health issues that slowed me down lately and reminded me of how tough starting over can be, especially when you’re just going through the motions.
One of my fitness ‘tricks’ to get me back on track and moving forward is to come up with a “Something to Look Forward To” plan. Sometimes a driving factor in getting in shape or starting a workout plan is we feel we need to lose weight or need to “look better” for some upcoming event. It could be a wedding, summer, a trip, whatever it is, it’s something that’s outside of us. It’s not to wake up feeling amazing, it’s a “should” instead of a “want”.
Think about that. A should is heavy. A want is fun.
What’s something that you’d really like to do? Something that would be so much fun and that being in shape for it would make it that much better?
We need things to look forward to and when we aren’t feeling our best, we REALLY need something fun to strive for. Fitness isn’t about how you look, but about how you can perform, what you can do, how you feel.
Start slow and (re)build your foundation
Create your workout schedule. If it’s not scheduled, it’s not real.
But, be flexible with yourself. If something throws off your scheduled workout, pivot and find a way to keep moving forward.
Make yourself your priority wherever and whenever you can. Making your workouts and wellness a top priority means you’re going to increase your energy, clear your mind, and up your mental game for everyone around you.
When I’m sweating for a fun goal, it’s a whole lot easier to stay on track.
Think a Dream Adventure might be a great idea to get you motivated? Jump on the Priority List below and learn more. Together, let’s train for some future fun!

Bonus Episode: Dating with Confidence

Dating With Confidence Coach Raeeka Yaghmai chats with us on this bonus episode about keeping your relationship healthy (which keeps our immune systems purring). If you are one of our single listeners, Raeeka has lots of tips for how to make connections, even during physical distancing! Find out more about Raeeka at https://datingwithconfidencecoaching.com/

Train Your Brain to be Your Best Ally

Train Your Brain to Be Your Best Ally
Frequently, I hear my clients say some version of this: “If I could only get my thoughts and my brain in line with what I want to achieve, everything would be so much easier!”
We can.
We can absolutely train our brain to be our best friend, our best ally. It’s easy if we start by really paying attention to what we’re telling ourselves we’re going to do, in the moment.
If you’re telling yourself you want to make a change, shift a habit, create a new way of being, but you’re not staying 100% truthful with what you tell yourself, then your brain has no reason to believe what you say!
It’s a catch 22.
Anytime you don’t do what you say you’re going to do, you’ve broken a promise with yourself. Think about if you tell your child (or in my case my dog) that you’re going to do something. Then you don’t do what you said you were going to do. And, this happens frequently. Chances are, after a while, they aren’t going to believe you and it is exactly the same with our minds. Tell yourself you’re going to get up at 5:30 and start exercising and you hit the snooze button. You have just reminded yourself that what you say you want or what you say you are going to do isn’t the truth. It’s just a suggestion that can be ignored.
When we have integrity with what we tell ourselves, we can accomplish so much more
To regain integrity with yourself and to start training your brain to follow through with everything you say you want to do, follow these super-simple steps.
Begin by telling yourself what you are going to do next, the exact things you are going to do.
I’m going to take a shower right now, get in the shower. I’m going to eat lunch right now, chow. I’m going to take my supplements right now...which is a perfect real-life example because I didn’t have water on my desk. If I had left the supplements sitting on my desk until I finished writing this, I would NOT have had integrity with myself. It would have been a small, broken promise. Find the water, take the supplements.
Step it up. This is going to be a 100% commitment so make it count. What’s something you want to do, or keep saying would be a good idea, but you’re not doing? Set a time-frame, 30-days is a good start, and fully commit.
For me, it was simply finishing all my showers with a cold water shower*. I told myself that for a month I was going to finish each shower with a 30-90 minute cold rinse. I was nailing it until the night I forgot. Got out of the shower, got dressed, ready for bed and then I remembered. Because I was training my brain to believe everything I said I wanted, I got back in the shower and did the cold rinse. Not what I wanted to do, but after doing so, I felt more powerful and committed to whatever I wanted. This is training your brain.
Always act as soon as you say you’re going to do something. Use an alarm if you need to be reminded to do something at a certain time.
This is a long-game. It’s a daily practice that I’m not perfect at yet, but as with all practices, the more you do, the better you get. And, the more benefits you will reap!
Jump in, the water’s fine!
*There are several potential health benefits for taking cold showers. I’ll let you do your own research.