Terrific Tuesday

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

I think my titles for my blog posts have gotten progressively more terrible as time has gone on…but if anything, a vague title suckers you into ~~looking at my photos, drooling, and moving on~~ reading right?

Today was in fact terrific!

I was up early for a full day of work but made time for a big ol’ hearty breakfast. I had eggs, kale, a sausage, and an apple with plenty of the gingerbread coffee I picked up in the states last week–festive!

Like I said, I spent my day at lululemon today. We were busy–I think now that Santa is in the mall, people have stepped up to their Christmas shopping game. I packed myself a lunch which I half devoured before my shift (apparently hearty wasn’t hearty enough in terms of breakfast) and which I enjoyed thoroughly at lunchtime!

After work, I hustled to bootcamp. I spiced it up and sweat with the gals today–we did some tabata intervals (sprinting, squatting, doing pushups and situps) and finished with a special treat: a burpee ladder. You’re welcome, girls! My arms hurt.

Somewhere in the mix I also ate myself an apple LARA bar to put my hangry on hold. When I got home from bootcamp I had a shower and found some time to listen to the latest Life By Design podcast, which was all about the reasons why LBD is so awesome. I suggested socks or community in response to the question not too long ago on facebook and both were mentioned in the podcast.

Speaking of community, tonight was the 101 night with Gainsborough. For the past few months I’ve been enjoying dinner with some awesome people and bringing some of my friends who are interested in what I’m so excited about or who I think would really connect well with LBD along with me.

Tonight was as awesome as ever–perhaps more! I was in extremely good (and good looking!) company and Dr. K nailed the why behind the what of LBD. Who’s coming next month? I also loved my steak fajitas.

Just a handful of the pretty gals who were there tonight — MIA are a few other beauts!

I get butterflies when I hear this stuff–every time. I also get excited when I see other people recognizing that there’s something great going on.

The biggest thing that I felt so fired up by, connected to, and inspired by today was talking about finding your purpose and doing it. Dr. K mentioned that it might be hard to do what you want instead of what’s safe or what you think you should and hit the nail on the head for me.

I’m not sure if I’ve shared this before, but repeated cheese is still good cheese if the time is right:

…indecision is my middle name.

Two weeks ago I was gung ho to apply to journalism school, but I’m going to share some thinking and some realizations I’ve made:

Going to Columbia, to me, represented doing something remarkable. I remember the praise I got when I was accepted last year–with good reason! It’s no small accomplishment to get accepted to a big name school that’s highly competitive…so props to me.
I feel more confident, capable, and self-sufficient than ever. I think going to grad school was a way of proving that I am in fact independent and that I could live in the big city and thrive.
I know that I deserve to do what I love.

All signs point, from there, towards J school. But…

I already am remarkable and getting a fancy degree in something I admittedly am already doing what I want to do with–freelancing, writing on my blog, and pitching stories about what I want to write about–isn’t really serving my end purpose. I’m not saying that I’m a perfect journalist. I know I have more to learn. But I also know that I’ve learned the most by writing and pitching stories and being mentored by my editors and fellow writers. I also know that I’m remarkable in other ways.
I don’t have to prove it to anyone that I can take care of myself in an extreme, removed location. Yes, NYC is sexy and appealing, but it can be sexy and appealing for a weekend every now and again…
I know not only that I deserve to do what I love but that it doesn’t matter if what I love isn’t necessarily conventional.

So, the applications are off. If you were proud of me for going after my dreams, be proud of me for recognizing that my dreams are changing.

And I have a big scary announcement that I’m really excited about sharing.

I’m going to be a life coach.

Not “I think I want to maybe go to school for a life coach and see what happens.”

I am going to be a life coach.

First step: deciding what I want to do with myself. As I’ve spent more time working on my purpose, delving deep into my journal, and thinking about what really gets me going, it’s become apparent that coaching, mentoring, and leading top the list of the “what” that I want to do. The how will be life coaching, the why and the core purpose is what needs some refining. I think it has something to do with believing that at our core, we’re supposed to be happy, healthy, and whole.

That little idea fits perfectly with a program–The Coaches Training Institute–that keeps popping up in my life:

my gal pal and inspiration Alysha is working on her certification right now

two profs at Western talk about/use co-active coaching and introduced it to us in our classes–I also ran into these folks on a flight home from Calgary so got a little more personal info on why CTI is the best choice
two of my favourite life coaches–Andrea Owen over at Your Kick Ass Life and Christie Inge–actually met through the program

Most importantly though, the idea fits with what I believe. Tidbits:

“Through Co-Active training, CTI is creating a transformative change in the way people relate to and work with each other. The work inspires people to feel engaged in and passionate about their life and work, see the good, get curious, create interactions unlike any other, become visionary, feel more alive, connect deeply to others, give real meaning to their lives, think much bigger, become great leaders and make a difference.”

and

“CTI coaching holds that people are naturally creative, resourceful and whole — completely capable of finding their own answers to whatever challenges they face. The job of a Co-Active Coach is to ask powerful questions, listen and empower to elicit the skills and creativity a client already possesses, rather than instruct or advise.”

So…I’m starting this process in February.

There are obviously fears that have come up–”I’m too young.” “I’m not ready.” “Being self employed is scary.”–but one of my strongest points is being able to look at fear and either reframe it or take it as a signal. So to “I’m too young” I say “HOW COOL IS IT THAT I’M DOING THIS WHEN I’M 23!?” and to “I’m not ready.” I say “Carpe the you know what out of this diem.” or maybe give myself a reminder that holding myself back doesn’t serve me. To the self employment fears, I have to admit that they’re legitimate. But I’m responsible for taking care of myself–and self employment just makes that more urgent. I’m on it. Remember that article I wrote on just that topic? What a good starting point and reminder that I can learn what it all looks like in due time.

The more important things for me to spend my time and energy thinking about are how I’m going to use it, where it is going to take me, and how I can make it happen.

Did I mention today was TERRIFIC?!

And now for some cheese–it only seems fitting!

Night!

Zonked

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

I had a kickass day, but it kicked my ass.

The insane urge I have to go to bed right now (it’s 5pm) and the flu-like feeling that came over me in a bit of a wave this afternoon…not so awesome, even if all things point towards great.

Morning

I woke up hungry hungry hungry this morning even though I’d snarfed a can of tuna with some alfalfa sprouts/mayo last night just before bed. Weird bedtime snack? Maybe, but it works for me.

I filled my belly with a big bowl of coleslaw and a pork chop. Omnomnom.

This morning I had my re-assessment at Gainsborough Family Chiropractic. The scans I had done 12 visits (approximately 6 weeks ago) versus the ones I had today confirmed what I already felt–things are getting better! I liked the check in and the chance to see how I’m doing in all of the Life By Design elements.

Power by design — I’m clearly moving forwards in this direction! Eating by design is coming more and more easily and I’m adjusting to things. I’m going to add some probiotics and get more on top of things with my vitamin D — easy. Moving by design is a whole lot of fun with the group classes at West London Crossfit–and I’m finding myself more and more drawn to the kinds of things I actually want to do vs. getting caught in the “I have to _______” (go for a swim, run, do cardio, etc.) trap so many of us fall into. Thinking by design is a huge huge huge piece of the puzzle but it’s hugely important, too! The cool thing is, all of the steps in life by design MAKE SENSE, FEEL GOOD, AND WORK TOGETHER! Beauty.

Today I got sucked into a bunch of youtube videos talking about objectivism and to a couple with Ayn Rand speaking…

tidbit:

“Since man’s mind is his basic means of survival…if a man wants to live on earth and to live as a human being, he has to hold reason as an absolute, by which i mean he has to hold reason as his only guide to action and that he must live by the independent judgement of his own mind, that his highest moral purpose is the achievement of his own happiness…each man must live as an end in himself and follow his own rational self interest.”

Workout

After my visit to the chiropractor, I had a great chat over coffee with a fellow crossfit-coach to be from the SC. We talked a lot about how awesome Life By Design is, about ideas, and about Crossfit (obviously!).

My workout was…nuts.

Just kidding. I did snarf some as a morning snack, though. Someone leaked today’s WOD and I got excited and busted out my best Crossfit uniform…

Compression socks and short shorts help and I needed all the help I could get. I think I mentioned that the one thing I’m really nervous about this weekend is having to complete Fran. If you’re not familiar, let me introduce you…

For girlies, the weight for the thrusters is 65lbs. The pull-ups are best performed as kipping pull-ups, a skill I’m not yet a master of.

Notice I said yet?

There’s not a doubt in my mind that I’m going to do this in due time…

Bring on the hard work.

General consensus: the WOD looks deceptively easy on paper but…

You get the point.

Scaled–I used a bar and a set of rings for my “pullups”–it was tough but took just over 4 minutes of wanting to quit.

After laying around and breathing as my main focus for a while, I was good to go except for a runny nose that just seemed to wake up with the workout. Aren’t you supposed to sweat things out?! WTF immune system!?

I got a hefty dose of fresh air afterwards with a hike in Komoka with Cheri. We got a bit lost and ended up trekking and chatting for over an hour, but it was great! I could chat with Cheri all day, so this was great and the leaves just keep on getting prettier on the trails…

off but I could chat with her all day!

Afternoon

After our nature hike, I refuelled with an apple (seriously, my appetite is so off) and then loaded up on Vitamin C. When I didn’t feel instantly better, I moved onto my next best attack: bacon. Joking, but I did eat a bunch because I finally felt hungry this afternoon. I also feel like I’ve got a fever, so I’m taking it easy. I tried to find someone to cover my bootcamp class tonight but no dice. Luckily I can demonstrate without doing a bootcamp class — the beauty of working as a coach instead of being OCD and addicted to exercise like I used to be (i.e. doing every single class, every move, etc.) is that I can do one squat, one deadlift, one pushup, one row, and one burpee and that’s it for my physical requirements! I’m hoping I spring out of bed tomorrow…but this feels a bit like a flu and that blows. Here’s hoping it blows over before my certification this weekend and here’s hoping some kind souls cover my fitness classes tomorrow so I don’t have to spin through snot. Sexy, no?

kale, turkey, bacon, a bit of mayo = dinner of a queen

What did you do today?
Are you in chiropractic care?
Have you met Fran?

Tired but inspired

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

“My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can.”
Cary Grant quotes

Well howdy there!

As my title hinted, I’m tired but inspired–so this is the kind of tired, “I had such a kick butt day” that I think every day should be like…

We started our staff training today at the gym on campus. Since I’m teaching at campus rec this fall, I was in on this. I’m kind of a lifer now–and it feels cool to go back and see a whole new bunch of faces (cough *cute new boys* cough). The aquatics staff, events staff, memberships services, and fitness people all get together and do sessions that we have to (think computer sessions to teach us how to access info) and ones that we get to choose from (think workouts).

I started my day off with leftovers from last night. I’ve commented before about how I don’t really differentiate too much between what I eat in the morning and at night (does it really make sense to only eat certain foods at certain times of the day, after all?), but I did add in an apple to today’s breakfast.

Leftover beef, brussel sprouts, and onions in coconut oil + an apple

After a morning of info sessions, I was ravenous. I ate my lunch out of my lunchbox (hiding it) in the computer lab because I’m bad ass. FYI, stuffing your face with kale and sausage is not really discreet, but it is delicious.

Eating lunch before lunch time meant I had no problemo skipping out during our lunch break to hit up the (other) gym with one of my fellow fitness instructors. While everyone ate pizza, we sweat our butts off. Britt’s trying out for hockey so she’s all about squats and deadlifts, and I’m all about getting back into this so gosh it was perfect to have company for this trek!

After a few sets of each, we did a take on a workout from a crossfit site I’ve been poking around. For me: 15 tuck jumps / 7 modified pullups / 3 ground to overhead every 90 seconds for 15 minutes — it works out to 10 rounds if you’re not a mathlete. It also works out to mass quantities of sweat, dripping on the floor, arriving back at the gym stinking up a storm, and being far too happy to hop in the pool for an “Aquatic Adventure” (one of those optional sessions).

And by hop in I mean get flipped in off a tube — we played a match of innertube water polo. Let me tell you–this was not only FUN but also pretty physical! I spent a lot of energy just trying not to fall off my tube OR trying to get back in it if I had and missing the net on my shots. I don’t “throw like a girl” but I could definitely improve! The moral of the story is: random sports are fun. I want to play more of them. Intramurals, anyone?

After all that splashing, the hungries came on hard at the end of the day so my afternoon snack was a “what the heck can I get in this hangry mouth right now” kind of situation. Almonds and then a banana with cinnamon on top fit the bill — easy, fast, good.

Top it off with an americano between appointments and errands and you’ve got perfection!

I managed to get to the grocery store to pick up some goodies (no labels here) and I am cooking up some chicken and salmon now so I’ll have food for a few days!

I ended my night with the highlight of the day — dinner! It’s not the food that was awesome, although the salmon and salad was pretty bomb.

Tonight was my second Life By Design 101 dinner. I brought a pal along with me today who’s interested in chiropractic and on the same health wavelength as a lot of what LBD talks about.

Last month, I said Dr. K did a really great job of introducing what LBD is about. But today, he was like a whole new level of rockstar! I haven’t seen so much passion and enthusiasm in one person since…the last time I talked to him? I’m not really kidding, but tonight he was on fire! I can’t wait for next month (who wants to join me?). I was sitting there smiling and thinking — I want to do this (lucky for me I have a vision and it’s in line with that…:)!).

In short, the dinner is an intro to what LBD is about — the chiropractic side of things, the thinking, eating, and moving.

For me, the refresher brought some new insight. I think a big part of this whole journey for me is waking up and being present. Getting to hear about something I’ve already heard about but from where I am now is a cool experience.

One thing that Dr. K stressed and that I even took the time to write down in my trusty notebook was that it all comes down to reality and responsibility.

Building off of that, I’ve been thinking. I started to beat myself up for having heard this and not acted sooner. After talking about squats and my (poor) mobility, I had to shift my focus.

On that topic, I don’t have the greatest mobility. I don’t squat very deep. Dr. K suggested a wesbite to me, but as it was coming out of his mouth I already new what he was going to say (so of course I said it along with him)–mobilitywod.com. So if I know about it, I must be using it right?

Uhhhh. Not so much. Cue thinking by design and focusing on what’s strong and not on what’s wrong. My job isn’t to beat myself up over not doing something sooner. Like I talked about yesterday, you’ve got to be okay with where you are in order to improve. So instead of calling myself lazy I am recognizing how cool it is that I realized that I can do something about all of this and taking this increased consciousness as just another awesome side effect of what I’m doing — taking ownership (responsibility), for the way things are (reality).

Other conscious thinking today involved re-reading my vision, chatting, hearing LBD 101, and the reading I’m about to do! Last night I cracked Atlas Shrugged and now I’m ready to get back into it before I fall asleep.

Like I said, it was a tiring day, but the good kind of tired. Here’s to more days like this — filled with awesome! Let’s just say that I feel even more excited about what I’m doing. I feel connected to something bigger. I feel like I’m on fire by association–cuz I am!

What’s something you neglect in terms of fitness that you could give more attention to?
Do you eat breakfast for dinner? What about dinner for breakfast?
Have you ever played innertube water polo?

It’s about time

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

This post has been coming together in my mind, on napkins and scrap paper, in journals, and all over the place for a while.

It’s about time I put it all together and just got real about what’s up with me…

I think the life coaches and inspirational junkies of the world might be out to inspire me:

Monday’s quote from Andrea Owen, in my inbox:

Last week’s behappy.me daily quote, also in my inbox:

So I’m going to do it….

So after a whole lot of thinking, blogging, journalling, talking, reflecting, etc. etc. I can say I’ve had a hella summer. It was filled with awesome things–travelling, meeting all kinds of people, making mistakes and learning lessons, having more fun than ever–and it brought me a lot of insight.

This week is the start of that Life By Design Challenge I mentioned earlier in the month. If you’re not familiar with Life By Design yet, puh-leeeeeeze check it out:

Read about the training and the eating.
Listen to the podcast.
Get in on some tweets.
Get in on one of the the pioneer’s thoughts.

I’m telling you — whether it found me or I found it, I think there’s a match made in heaven here. This is my interpretation and what I’ve taken from being exposed to all of this –> Living by design means realizing that we’re MEANT to be strong, fit, healthy, beautiful, powerful, successful, _____________ [insert great adjective here] and then going after it. It’s about living on as awesome a level as you can and being awake and conscious of your life–not just settling for being okay or going through the motions but actually taking responsibility and stepping up!

I think it’s safe to say I’m pretty hooked. I am drawn to these people–and not just because they’re jacked and fun to be around (this stuff works!). There’s something about the energy and the fact that they’re doing something on purpose that’s really refreshing–cuz it’s rare (but it shouldn’t be this way–how great would it be if we all woke up and actually lived?!) and cuz it’s inspiring! Safe to say I feel lucky to have met Dr. K at Starbucks one day and had an impromptu coaching session when I timidly talked about not being sure about becoming a dietitian and mentioned that I have a blog (without any confidence or feelings of deserving–in short, with much lower self esteem than I have now!).

So at the same time that I am really energized, motivated, and excited about all of the changes I’ve made, I feel like there’s a part of me that’s been holding back. Yes, I’ve made serious changes. But I’m frustrated and I feel stuck–and I know it’s up to me to change it!

As far as I’ve come, I still don’t feel like I’ve got it together. And that’s fine and dandy–you have to be okay with where you are to get anywhere better–but I’m not going to hide it: I want to be stronger. I’m sick of feeling soft and pudgy. I’m done pretending that I’m really fit when I realize I’m neglecting a whole lot of what it takes to train properly. That being said, I’m already working on these things, but I haven’t really announced it: I’m eating by design, I’m giving up my old approach to working out and training, I’m getting my power turned on with regular chiro visits, and I’m waking up for all of this. In short, I’m working on living by design.

Starting point:

It is what it is. I weigh 142lbs. I don’t lift weights very much, but I do a lot of body weight stuff. I don’t do 2 hours of cardio like I used to, but I still fall back on cardio workouts and sometimes think I need to do one every day. I like yoga and I do more of it. I play sports every once in a while. I read books, I spend time with friends, and I think I’m pretty conscious of what’s going on in my life. I’m actively working on my values, I’m defining my mission, I’m setting goals. I eat a lot of real food but I also have a lot to learn. I drink a lot of beer, eat a lot of froyo, and I sometimes let my emotions drive my food choices. I look like this:

Again, it is what it is.

So what’s it all mean?

I just made this kind of a bigger deal since I want to get even more conscious about what I’m doing. My posts are going to be more forwardly talking about applying the stuff I’m sure you read about — eating, moving, thinking, brain body connection, by design:

Health –> Not waiting for something to be wrong to care. Keeping a clear connection. Sleeping.
Eat –> Eating more real foods that are by design. My new idea is “nonfiction” food — real stuff that I can actually say where it came from. Sure “by design” foods from WalMart are better than BigMacs, but I have the resources and time and motivation to seek out stuff from real farms and producers that aren’t so far removed that I lose sight of where my food/nourishment is coming from. Recognizing that froyo and treats are fine–but they’re not “food” or fuel.
Move –> Working on that broad definition of fitness. My decision to get crossfit certified + being willing to make a little bit of an ass of myself learning the stuff that I don’t know (mainly: olympic lifts) and to play around with things (finding a balance between the cardio I love and the training I need to be strong and fit and all those good things) = next steps.
Think –> Focusing on the good stuff. The motto is “Focus on what’s strong, not on what’s wrong.” Working on my values, my purpose, and then acting on it. Reading more things that lift me up and less that just fill my world with fluff. Spending more time doing the things I like to do with the people who lift me higher.
Other –> Using my energy for the things that matter. Freelancing, teaching fitness, and blogging = doing more of what I love. Not signing up for a course this fall just because. Applying the if it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no theory. Living out loud. Simplifying. Moving. Learning how to budget. Spending more time outside. Trusting the process.

NOW I feel ready for that 30 day challenge. Might as well start early, might as well go big, and might as well blog the heck out of it. There’s inspiration in seeing someone else’s trials, successes, progress and all that jazz and that’s what I want to do with this and that’s why I’m giving you this novel of a backgrounder. Accountability, motivation, something to reflect back on–those rock too!

Bootcamp and can I get an amen!

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Cheryl Madliger

Tonight’s bootcamp was small. i.e. it was me and one guy who didn’t expect to get so much attention.

Seriously though, I would do this whether 1 or 100 people showed up. I decided to opt out of my planned workout and step it up a bit for this friend, who I know is in good shape and who I thought would like something a bit different than my normal routine. Plus, since there was just him, I could do something out of the ordinary so I went with it! And since I felt a little weird just playing personal trainer and full of energy myself, I did the workout with him.

Without further ado, tonight’s workout looked like this:

Warmup
With a jog to the playground looking for monkey bars.

Workout
10, 9, 8,…,1,10 each of pull-ups, sit-ups, pushups, burpees, and squats
10 minutes of running (approximate, there’s a nice loop in Canatara)

Cooldown

This might sound familiar because it’s a take on my workout from Monday. I thoroughly enjoyed it (again) and I think I perfected the order–heart rate stays up, arms aren’t dead dead dead, and you want to quit but can make it through it. Luckily tonight it was a bit cooler in the shade and with some breeze, so the workout flew by! I’m hoping for a bigger group tomorrow, but like I said, I’ll take everything with a smile.

After bootcamp, I’ve been sitting around reading and listening to podcasts and just enjoying a low key night. I had a bowl of greek yogurt/peanut butter mix and have a happy belly, happy heart, and is it bedtime yet?

I mostly posted because I’m I abso-freaking-lutely am having one of those “oh my gawd you took the words right out of my mouth” moments right now.

I’m listening to a Life By Design podcast from January. Go to number 29–”Turning Resolutions into Results”. These guys are speaking to everything that I’ve been realizing about focusing on the behaviours when you’re trying to get to a new goal instead of focusing on that end goal and that alone:

“It comes back to…Cause vs. effect. Your resolutions are not causes, they’re effects. You look at what you don’t like about your life, what you don’t like about yourself, you look at what you don’t like about yourself and you say, ‘I wanna change that,’ but you never actually change the behaviours that would actually lead to that.”

Whatever you’re doing, you should probably just be listening to this.

And now for my final move: the faceplant. Nighty night!

Happy is the new healthy

Tag Archives: life by design

Terrific Tuesday

Zonked

Tired but inspired

It’s about time

Bootcamp and can I get an amen!

Follow “Happy is the new healthy”