Being your best at any age!

Everyone keeps asking me how I lost so much weight and what I did to get fit. It is very challenging at 45 and each year gets harder but it is possible! 
My answer to losing 25 pounds= clean eating, drinking a lot of water, working out daily, spending time with family and great  "real" friends, laughing, talking to mom everyday, 8 +hours of sleep and sex!  It is all about loving and respecting yourself enough to make major life changes. 
Each year gets better and better and age is only a number. For me, 45 has been great and 46 is looking even better!

November 1, 2015, I started a 24 day challenge with a girlfriend to lose some weight for our December Christmas trip to Mexico. I went to Crome several times a week, taught my cycle classes 4-5 times a week, played tennis, took my pups on long walks, did yoga and ate clean- super strict on everything I put in my mouth! I felt great, my complexion was clear and my hair/nails were stronger and longer than ever before.

The end of November my orthopaedic surgeon told me to stop Crome and tennis and only do cycle classes along with upper body workouts since he wanted to scope my knee due to a possible meniscus tear. I was devastated since I loved the daily routine I was in and I was feeling great! I continued eating clean and healthy- no processed foods, white flours, sugar, salt, minimal dairy and once in a while a glass of red wine.  I did enjoy a few indulgences over the holidays and my daughters birthday but didn't over do it.  After enjoying foods that had salt and sugar, there was a huge change in how I felt, decrease of energy, sluggish, inside of my mouth raw and I was bloated.  I went back to my clean eating and started feeling better again. I did splurge last week a couple times while celebrating my girlfriends big birthday and Monday I felt horrible again so back to my clean eating an healthy routine.  

People comment how hard it is to clean eat but I disagree. Jacksonville has developed and we have many great options for healthy foods and reasonable prices. Fresh Field Farms, Trader Joe's, Costco, Native Sun, Whole Foods and even Publix- Winn Dixie have many options. Plus we have so many local farms to set up delivery if you don't want to take the time to shop. 

Losing weight and being healthy is 80% +what you eat and 20% exercise, but it is also 150% mental. There is not "quick fix", only a commitment to good healthy, hard work, dedication and will power while also enjoying life.
Some Solutions:

• Don’t go for quick fixes….focus on long term solutions (time will pass quickly enough…as look where you were 6 months ago)

• You don’t have to be perfect to get good results, so don’t beat yourself up for going out and eating things you know you shouldn’t have. Just focus on today and what you need to do. The past is gone, more forward. Do not give up altogether.

• Keep your approach to eating/fitness simple and fun. Don’t look at is as a complicated task, or you will just resent and eventually give it up. 

• Focus on living a healthy life till you are 100.  Diseases are not natural and are something we can help to prevent. With that mentality make the right food choices for a long and healthy life. Then you won’t deprive yourself of any foods.  Choose the ones you want for the right reasons now without anyone else taking them away from you.

• You can be happy right now, it’s all in your head. But it’s something you need to face head on, not avoid and cover up with foods, exercise or other distractions. Once you can master your own happiness, then it’s yours to have every day. 

• Live to enjoy life, eat to enjoy good foods, keep things simple and repeat daily.

Believe in yourself and remember you can do and be anything you want to be! 


Cheers for good health, being fit and lots of happiness. 
Nicole