Tag: Goals

Hello from the other side…

Post author By AMANDA WRIGHT
Post date July 14, 2016

Hello From The Other Side...

What do we do on the other side of big, monsterous events in our lives? Events of our highest highs and our lowest lows? Those times where we FINALLY achieve a hard earned goal, or those times where we are shocked with circumstances unforeseen, like we all were with last week's national tragedies.

Hello from the other side....this is where I am.

I shared last week that I passed my CSCS test, but I didn't share that the week I took it had some terrible circumstances that were actually far more important to me than my test.

I'm talking about crazy things happening-- like the news of a murder suicide occurring next door the the home we own in San Diego (and are renting out) and other frustrating events like relationship flare ups and disagreements. Unsure if a resolution was in site.

Have you ever noticed how the closer you are to a great achievement, the more "life" (a.k.a the devil) seems to try to get in your way and test you?

Somehow I made up my mind I was going to ignore the temptation to allow the devil use it as an excuse to delay plan of taking the test and more importantly, delay my purpose.

I buckled down and wholly and completely depended on God to help me study and focus. It was touch and go there for several days. But He showed me time and time again that He was with me, even having more than one friend reach out to say I was on their mind, not knowing at all I was struggling.

By His grace I took that test, I passed that test, and the rest of my life gracefully sorted itself out. He does amazing things when we trust that He will and allow Him to take control. This is the art of SURREND’her.

Whew, crossed that bridge!

EXCEPT, then there was last week. We all saw the unspeakable tragedy unfolding….yet again. It rocks us every time. We cry out to God, we shake our heads in disbelief and shed some tears for those we know were taken too soon. We are angry and we seek justice.

And now as a nation, we have found ourselves, once again, on the other side of tragedy.

So, hello, from the other side... again.

Whether you achieved a high of goal achievement or a lows of tragedy, you come out on the other side emotionally exhausted and... changed.

If you have been here before, you might recognize the feelings of confusion in your soul. For me, I feel like EVERYTHING in my life has shifted as I have crossed a great bridge. And YET, in so many ways, NOTHING has changed either.

I am caught wondering what you may be wondering, “Well, what do I do now?" I'm tempted to just go back to how I operated before it all...

But, this week, I came across a scripture I’ve seen before, but it had new meaning to me. I think it can help you too, if you allow it.

Isaiah 40:31
^"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

**LET’S LOOK AT 3 THINGS THE VERSE TELLS US THAT WILL HELP YOU TO FROM THE OTHER SIDE:**

IT TELLS US SPECIFIC ACTION TO TAKE:

Does this confuse you? Yes, I called this passage an ACTION PLAN and yet, this verse very clearly uses one word that I don’t think any human being likes to hear: “WAIT."

But it doesn’t stop there…. it says “Wait on the LORD” which is not inaction, but just the opposite.

Another term you could insert into this context is to SEEK the Lord. Or perhaps another tough word, OBEY.

So, this is NOT time you just spend twiddling your thumbs or waiting on the door to ring and it be the hand delivered news of what you are supposed to do.

No, this is time you spend in His word and in prayer so you have Guidance and *clarity* beyond what your emotions want you to do.

2. IT TELLS US WHY GOD WANTS US TO WAIT ON HIM:

The purpose of us seeking God and waiting on His guidance is not because God wants to drive us crazy and is playing some kind of game with us.

It’s because He sees how emotionally exhausted we are from whatever we just endured. He is preparing us to win THE WAR and what you’ve just endured was but one battle.

It's also a test to see if we really TRUST Him. We’ve all seen that hasty moves that are made under distressed and emotionally exhausted mindsets rarely bring wise decisions.

To our human mind, we think this emotion is supposed to fuel us into action. And in some ways, it is true--emotion is our human fuel.

But emotion that goes untested by God’s Word might make us more of the problem than the solution.

Thinking that our depth of emotion somehow makes us able to play the role of God is not only foolish but idolatrous. This is the trouble we are seeing in the world after the tragedy last week. People are taking justice into their own hands—essentially trying to play god. It will never end well.

THIS VERSE TELLS US THE OUTCOME OF THIS ACTION PLAN:

When we seek God and delay action until His way is apparent, it not only relieves us from the burden of trying to fix it all ourselves, but it also provides us the sustenance to ENJOY LIFE through it all too.

"Mount up on wings like eagles” sounds like a life of delight to me. A way to soar above the fray and rise above your circumstances.

There are more goals to be won. There are more battles the devil is going to wage in our mind and circumstance.

I’m going to tell you something you may not want to hear, but it’s also the truth.

This may take a while. Your purpose; our nations peace; the process of mourning....all of it.

But when we wait on God and seek Him diligently everyday, "we shall run and not grow weary, we shall walk and not faint.” We must keep going.

And the most beautiful part of what God does for us when we seek Him are His gifts of peace and joy and hope and love THROUGH the journey, not just when it’s over and fixed. He gives us these gifts daily, no matter our circumstances.

We all want these every day. But are you seeking God to receive them, or are you seeking others, your government or even yourself to achieve them?

Are you waiting on the Lord? Or is the Lord waiting on you?

Tags Bible, Faith, Goal Development, Goals, Health, Lord, scripture, spiritual health, they that wait on the Lord, tragedy, Women

Health Coaching Spiritual Health Uncategorized

“You’re not bad at it, you just haven’t learned it yet.”

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date November 6, 2015

Are you telling yourself you’re not capable of being in shape? Are you telling yourself you are never going to overcome your serious sweet tooth and overeating tendencies? Are you miserable while eating your healthy food selections and watching the “skinny” girls eat all they want and not gain any weight?

Our health can be one of the most stressful factors we deal with. Last week, I learned a valuable lesson in probably the only other category of our life that is equally as stressful, if not more-> MONEY. I learned some great insight into the “story we tell ourselves” that I think will help you re-write your story today too whether about health, money or whatever!

Here’s how it went down….

The other day, I was at my counselor’s office having our monthly chat. We see her mainly as a marriage counselor, but I go to her independently too. I have found that I really value having a professional to go to for the times where those really tough circumstances come up, as they inevitably do, and I don’t necessarily want to always air my dirty laundry on my mom, friends or husband. If you have never tried seeking a pro, it truly changed my life. She and I were discussing a heated discussion my husband and I had recently had regarding money. Money is just one of the toughest subjects to talk about, ever. No matter how much you may have or don’t have, money is stress-inducing. And as the Bible states, “To whom much is given, much is required.” Being new to the amount of financial responsibility my husband has, there is a significant learning curve I feel the weight of. I have come to realize that whenever he seems to be stressed about money, I internalize it (well, and make it about me, darn it.) I start to think about all the ways that I have not been stewarding and spending money very wisely, often spending out of haste and convenience and just plain old ignorance. Financial stress is something that many people deal with. But it is important to realize that there are ways to get this aspect in your life back on track. Whether someone has decided to start saving for a holiday, budget for retirement, or maybe just wants to learn how to manage their finances better, having a reason to take charge of this situation might make it easier for a lot of people to save money.

I will start to internalize it so much that I will start to regret the very things that have been intended gifts of love from my husband. “Oh, he’s stressed about money, I should never have had that destination wedding….” “Oh, he’s stressed about money, I should have just kept my old car….” “Oh, he’s stressed about money, why did I get so carried away at Whole Foods the other day?”

Let me be clear, these are all actually very valid introspections for me. You learn the best by making mistakes and realizing them from hindsight.

There are some ways I spend money that does not actually align with the kind of woman I want to be and am called to be. I will need to change what I DO in order to BE who God intended me to be. However, my mind takes this ideal and distorts it in a destructive way. This is something we all do. As I was explaining this particular conversation I had with my husband to my Dr., I told her this.

“You see, I am really bad with money….”

And she immediately corrected me. “You’re not bad with money! You just haven’t learned how to do this yet. You are still learning and you need to give yourself some space and grace to process this. It’s a change for you.” Wow, without even realizing it, I just exposed my SHAME. She was right! I had only just discovered that you could get a credit card for no credit history to help build your credit or take out small personal loans at the bank. After listening to her, I decided not to be so tough on myself. Bene Brown, renowned Author of Daring Greatly and many other best selling books, explains the difference between feeling guilty and feeling shame is in that word “AM.”

It’s the difference in saying, “I did something bad” and “I AM bad because I did x,y or z.”

Shame is really common but really destructive and tend to traps us subconsciously. I had taken something I’m inept and uncomfortable with and actually internalized it to mean that “I AM BAD.” My brain will convince me of a distortion of this truth by convincing me of a story that “I AM bad” and then I act from a place of that story instead of acting from a place of my Truth. This means, I act from a place of insecurity, instead of a place of patience and grace that is required for the learning process. I learned from Rick Warren, that the natural ramifications of my insecurity will manifest in 3 ways: I either get:

DEFENSIVE-I start to justify all the reasons why I am the way I am (i.e. bad with money) –DEMANDING– I start to demand that my husband help me with the expenses more. –DISTANT-I’ll avoid the subject and focus instead on something I do feel like I’m good at.

The problem with all three of those responses is that it doesn’t actually fix the subject at hand and it causes issues in our relationship. Inevitably, these insecurities and resulting issues are going to come up again until I fix the root issue and finally stick with LEARNING THE PROCESS better. I realized, I need to reframe my intention back toward LEARNING how to be wise with money and it will be an ongoing education. There’s plenty of educational resources online on how to manage your personal finances, such as MyInforms, so I wasn’t concerned about their being a lack of literature out there.

With those thoughts that you have, perhaps subconsciously, been convincing yourself is your “truth” (like, “I am bad at eating/exercise/sticking with a program”) is it possible that you too are just internalizing something you simply have not yet LEARNED yet?? You might be thinking, “Yeah, but Amanda, I’m not new to my body? I’ve had time to learn, and yet I still feel like I have no idea what I’m doing? To that, I think it’s important to understand the complexity of our body. Because our body’s are always changing, we are constantly having to adapt to the ramifications of the changing hormones and metabolic factors (including stress!). So what might have worked for you 10 years ago won’t necessarily work for your body where it is now. Maybe in some ways, but not completely. You have to commit to the process of LEARNING how to take care of what your body is doing this year. In that same way that I had learned how to spend money as a single person just fine, but I still needed to learn how to spend money as a married woman with a whole lot more expenses, you too will always need to adapt to the changes your body may have faced in the last year. Sometimes you may be in desperate need of something but don’t have the funds necessary to attain it. In situations likes these, it may be wise to apply for credit; but before you do, get your free report here. And just like I was exposed the negative ramifications that came from internalizing my shame in the way I would become DEFENSIVE, DEMANDING or DISTANT, you too need to be aware of your own reactions to the story you have convinced yourself too. Realize that if you simply change your story from ” I am BAD at eating healthy or exercising” to “I am in the process of learning about my body this year” you will release yourself mentally from having to be an expert in it right now. Instead, allowing yourself some grace in the space of learning. This week, what are you going to seek and learn about what your body needs from you? What are some things you need to investigate and learn about?

Maybe you have been experiencing some digestive issues and you need to learn about what foods might be causing your issues.
Maybe you have been experiencing some joint and body aches and you need to learn some new ways of stretching and exercising to help alleviate the pain but keep you feeling strong.
Maybe you have a life change going on that is keeping you busy and you need to learn some new rituals to streamline your health so you can still maintain a healthy system required for the additional roles you are facing.

Tags body, Change, Consciousness, counseling, Goals, lies, money, stories, Women

Goal Development Health Coaching Uncategorized

The Quit Quitting Plan

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date October 29, 2015

"You can pray for anything, and if you believe you have received it, it will be yours." Mark 11:24

You make changes to your exercise and nutrition routines. Cut back on those extra desserts, fried foods and other things you love. You feel great off the start, see some results right away and that motivates you to stay the course….for a time.

But then, it comes. Boredom. Willpower drainage. The awkward conversation with your husband/boss/sister/girlfriend/mom that emotionally triggers you to reach for that bag of Cheetos or old stale cookies in the back of your pantry.

Ugh, you just want to quit. What's the point in trying?

#AmIRight?

I have QUIT every single diet I have ever been on.

As a bonafide emotional eater, I couldn’t hang with any “program” I tried to willpower my way through because my emotions ruled my life and my eating behavior.

If I was happy, I would eat.
If I was sad, I would eat.
If I was stressed, I would eat.
If I was bored, I would eat.
When I felt defeated and wanted to quit…..you guessed it, I. Would. EAT!

This overwhelming emotional state of living was not working well for my health aspirations. While I usually tried to compensate for my eating by just exercising more and more (and more), during certain seasons of my life where I was too busy to find time for the gym, my weight crept up easily.

At one point, in the course of just 6 months, I went from a healthy 160ish lbs (standing at 5’10”) to 180 lbs. I was miserable and ashamed but felt stuck.

I had been actively *dieting* right up to this point. But the overwhelm from the stress I was feeling, well, you get the picture. I felt too overwhelmed and just quit trying.

But luckily, things can change...

Today, I am happy to say that I NEVER quit anymore.

It’s not because I don’t have emotional eating tendencies, I still do from time-to-time, although I have a better handle on those too, but because I have built my LIFESTYLE approach to my health and am no longer *ON A DIET* which would necessitate having to *QUIT* my health plan.

I have experienced a freedom that can only come from doing the inside work on my Spiritual life and my relationship with God. This has allowed me to find these KEY True Health Habits that guide me to a healthy living for my BODY, MIND and SOUL. I no longer rely on my emotions to guide my actions, including any tendency to quit, and I am so happy to share with you my...

1. RITUALIZE YOUR HABITS:

A habit by itself gets boring really fast. But when you take the time to ritualize your habit, meaning, you think about now just WHAT you are going to do but HOW you are going to do it in a way that you can enjoy, you keep things enjoyable.

This means anything from wearing your favorite outfit to the gym, rocking out to a specific playlist on the treadmill, buying a special mug and blanket for you to sit with some hot tea at night instead of that glass of wine.

Any way that you can add some special and personal enjoyment into otherwise monotonous habits will serve you in helping you feel more *REWARDED* in the process of your health.

2. VISUALIZE YOUR SUCCESS:

Study after study shows that visualizing yourself succeeding in an action is JUST as powerful as physically practicing the action. Check out some studies here.

And, as I always reiterate at A.Wright Fit, from a high level Spiritual standpoint, it is important to KNOW that God has designed you for something specific and special in this world—a Greater Purpose for your life that only YOU can do, no one else. Your health is a significant factor in helping you achieve all that you can out of life. You are to live and THRIVE by God’s work in you and through you.

If you take the time close your eyes and visualize yourself as this future self, your Greater Purpose self, and focus on her and what success looks like on her, you will train your brain to propel you toward becoming her.

This is why my motto is STRONG’her, WISE’her, SURREND’her because we must all keep visualizing our own her that God will help us to become.

3. JOT DOWN YOUR LESSONS:

Throughout any process and journey in our life, we are learning so many lessons, and unfortunately the HARD way. What seems to happen more often than not, we have to learn things the “hard way” about 30-50 times in order for us to finally *GET IT.*

But it doesn’t HAVE to be this way. By starting a lesson journal you are saving yourself quite a bit of time. By writing down your lessons you are committing them to memory in a better way. If you then read and re-read that journal from time to time, you are further conditioning yourself to remember what you are learning and to keep applying it.

Studies show that it takes 21-days for the neurons in our brain to actually create a MEMORY and a full 63-days to form a HABIT.

Starting a Lesson Journal is a clear way to help keep this process going! Plus, the satisfaction from real life lessons is incomparable in hindsight. To look back on all that you learned helps you endure through painful experiences in the future too!

4. SHARE YOUR JOURNEY WITH YOUR *PEOPLE*:

You are designed for community and so every opportunity given by God also is an opportunity to connect and share with others. Knowing you have friends or family in the background that are backing you gives you more incentive to stay the course.

Choose wisely those people you can share your journey with. Find those people that will be your true Accountability Partners in life, meaning that they account for your abilities and not just your disabilities. You don’t need people that point out your mistakes or guilt you into better behavior. You need people that can see you the way God sees you and you should do the same for them! Believe that they will become the person that God will’s them to be too!

5. ACT AS THOUGH YOU’VE ALREADY WON:

This is everything! God has designed you for Greatness and to WIN in life, and, now have taken the time to even visualize yourself as her, you have nothing else to worry about in this health quest.

It’s already been DONE for you. There is no waiting necessary, really.

Because while you think you are after the specific MEASURED success (which is not a bad thing to have a measurable goal in mind, they do work), you are really after a FEELING, which you actually have ability to choose NOW. You are her NOW.

In Faith, know that if God has put it on your heart to want to achieve a level of health you do not embody yet, He has also paved the way for you to actually DO IT. You have all you need because you have God within you. Focus on Him within and act accordingly.

Tags dieting, focus, Goals, Health Changes, Health Coaching, Healthy Eating, help, nutrition, on track, quitting, Timing

Health Coaching Spiritual Health

Everyone’s Always Searching For the Magic Bullet, Well I Have It For you.

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date August 26, 2015

As a trainer, nutrition enthusiast and “health professional” you get asked all the time about trends, food choices, exercises to do. When I start to field these questions, I realize there is one common goal that many people wish they could have when it came to their health—> the “Magic Bullet” that would make it all easier.

I know they are wanting me to say some tips like, “Don’t eat past 7pm and THERE you’ll have your magic bullet!” OR “Do this particular exercise sequence that only takes 7-minutes and THERE, you’ll have your magic bullet!” These tactics have all been mercilessly exploited.

Unless you are one of the thousands of authors that capitalize on this human “easy fix” desire and decide to write some “Diet” book that promises to “solve all their problems, get them 6-pack abs, and fix-up their husband and clean their house while they’re at it,” MOST trainers and health professionals will say, “There is no such thing as the magic bullet!” mainly so they can reemphasize their own need, right? We don’t want to lose OUR job to some “magic bullet” out there, we need to be needed!

Well, although I am NOT a “Diet” author hoping to capitalize on the naive hopes of people, I am also not afraid of telling all my clients ALL they will ever need to know in order to MOVE ON and no longer require my services. I have the “Pay it forward” mindset, always relying on God to keep business good and wanting to serve in the health industry which usually means giving most of it away. Convince you that you can do it on your own!

For THIS reason, I must share I DO BELIEVE IS A MAGIC BULLET THAT ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT AND UTILIZE TO RADICALLY CHANGE THEIR HEALTH!

Annnnnnnnnddddd, I’m gong to tell you exactly what it is! Here! For FREE!

The Magic Bullet for your Health is……

Your Greater Purpose.

This is your destiny, your calling and the reason why you were put on this Earth.

Because let me tell you, you are not only BORN TO RUN THE RACE of life, you are BORN TO WIN THE RACE and your health is both a product of and an integral tool in your ability to run this race to win!

Your Greater Purpose in NOT what you do for a career or even a valuable role you play (as wife, mother, daughter etc). Your Greater Purpose is your ROLE in expanding the Kingdom of God and fulfilling God’s perfect plan.

It takes understanding your inherent worth, your DNA genetics and every gift, natural desire, ability, heart, passion, personality trait, and every single experience in your life ALL mold together to propel you down this raceway to not only learn to RUN but to LEARN TO WIN.

You WIN in life when you finally learn why you were put on this planet and you passionately pursue mastering this cause for God’s glory.

So, you might be asking yourself, Amanda, this is no “Magic Bullet” and what does this have to do with my HEALTH?

Ahhh but it is! It IS magic because it takes such a monumental shift if your way of thinking that elevates your Spirit to its highest expression of YOUR. It IS a bullet because it cuts to the heart of WHY you should get healthy, what your health is supposed to help you do in life. That’s all I’m really after in my health coaching and teaching….helping you find your WHY for Health.

Your “WHY” is as unique as your DNA because your GREATER PURPOSE can be achieved by NO ONE but you. You can’t achieve greatly by trying to fulfill someone else’s shoes! If you don’t find it and do it, no one else will. There are things planned out for you that God specifically designed YOU to do, but it will always be reliant on your choice and willingness to do them. It takes trust, hope, faith and above all LOVE to get your head wrapped around this and to say YES to God’s call. It is a process.

The reason why I know that this is THE MAGIC BULLET is because knowing you are designed for a Greater Purpose and knowing what your Greater Purpose IS significantly affects ALL the other areas of your health that truly matter.

I believe there are 4 STEPS TO TRANSFORM YOUR HEALTH:

Greater Purpose- Pursuing Your Destiny for Life

Great Balance- Body, Mind, Soul

Goals -Strive to Win

Go-To’s – Create Your Community

While I don’t have time to go over each of these 4 Steps TODAY, I can tell you the MAGIC BULLET of knowing your Greater Purpose in life DRASTICALLY affects ALL THE OTHER STEPS.

Understanding that you were specifically chosen for a role in this life and a destiny you are to fulfill dramatically affects your GREAT BALANCE because you see such a need to get your Spirit aligned with God in order to know what steps to take to your destiny and you also see the need to keep your mindset aligned with God’s thoughts so you don’t fall prey to the devil’s schemes who of course, wants to convince you never to pursue your Greater Purpose and stay playing small in life.
Understanding your destiny calling will allow you to establish the (w)right GOALS in life to get you there. If you don’t have your final destination in mind, your goals are going to take you off course and will distract you from learning what you need to learn. Not every goal is designed for you to succeed either! Some of the greatest tools God uses in our Greater Purpose pathway is to teach us through Failure. But knowing God will make your path straight and will use all for Good allows you to not fear failure, but to FAIL FORWARD, FAIL FAST and FAIL FAITHFULLY.
Finally, understanding you are born for a gift to the world that only you can offer will allow you to seek and find your GO TO’s in life. Surround yourself with your Tribe of People that “get it” and understand where you’re going in life. They will be there to speak to your gifts and help push you forward with encouragement and love. In the same light, knowing your Greater Purpose will help you BE THE CHANGE that lost people need to see too. To build up God’s Kingdom and show His love and mercy.

So really, there is a HEALTH HIERARCHY that exists in order for you to transform your health and live your greatest life possible! It works and I have several clients to prove it!

If this resonates with you, I would be honored to help expand on what this means in YOUR LIFE and YOUR HEALTH. The main curriculum objective in my 12-Week Health Coaching sequences both the 1:1 Health Coaching and the **STRONG’her Squad,** is to guide you to this MAGIC BULLET and help you renew your mind in accepting this, then your health will fall into sequence accordingly. To learn more and to see when I’m leading my next SQUAD opening, check out the Health Coaching tab on my website HERE or contact me at amanda@amandawrightfit.com!

Tags Balance, calling, community, destiny, Faith, Goals, God, Greater Purpose, Health, hope, Love, magic bullet, race of life, run to win, Trust

Fitness & Training Food & Nutrition Goal Development

5 Proven Tips to Not Let the Weekend Wreck Your Health Goals

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date June 11, 2015

So here we are, Wednesday. Hummmmmmmp Day!

By now, if you’re like most of us trying to be “healthier” you’re on day #3 this week of being “back on track” because inevitably over the weekend, you botched your healthy eating intention by over-eating or over-drinking and vowed to start to be “good” again on Monday. #AmIRight?

This is a dieters mentality and it took me years to stop this “Working for the Weekend” mindset. This is part of what I set out to teach clients and any reader is the power of your MINDSET in helping you accomplish any goal since what you THINK determines what you DO.

If you goal is FAT LOSS for example, taking the whole weekend “off” of healthy eating and fitness is not an effective strategy.

If your goal is MAINTENANCE, this strategy is perfect because you do need several days per week devoted to maintaining.

Since I’m in the business of helping people with their health goals, which 100% of them include FAT LOSS, I wanted to shed some light on this subject of changing up our MINDSET about weekends so we can have more success in our Fat Loss efforts!

I coach many a frustrated client who will work so hard all week, eating well, working out hard for 5 SOLID DAYS and then completely reverse all their progress in just 1 or 2 days of going overboard. That was me for years and years too.

Weekends are HARD. We want to feel rewarded and relaxed which naturally invoke a desire for delicious food and libations, our go to “reward” systems! We also don’t have our go-to routines and some of our weekends get so jam-packed with kids and sports and our social obligations that we don’t have the plans in place that help us to keep on track. These are all valid and understandable!

So what do we do about this natural tendency we have with the weekends when we want to lose fat?

Do you have to be PERFECT on the weekend?! NO WAY.

Being overly restrictive will NOT work and is really NO FUN. Life is about balance and JOY. It’s about working SMARTER not HARDER.

But, there are ways you can simply STRATEGIZE your weekends better that will make a difference! If you’re finding it hard to strategize then you can always use a resource like play sport which helps you organize going to a sports event near you. It’s a great way to meet like-minded people that can help get you through your weekend slump! Plus, you don’t need to limit yourself to weekend use of it as you could use it to improve your weekday fitness too.

Similarly, a lot of people find that team sports encourage them to keep up their fitness. However, if you aren’t into sports like football or rugby, don’t worry. There are other sports, like airsoft, that don’t feel like exercise but still count. With a team sport, it’s vital to perform to the best of your ability because you’re all working together to win. To get into something like airsoft, it might be worth looking at these Airsoft Guns the largest range in the UK. That way, you can improve your fitness whilst making new friends.

At A.Wight Fit, one thing I specialize in is Goal Development and real life strategies to help clients get to their desired health goals and fat loss. I have found these steps as the top strategies I use and my clients have used to see more success!

Top 5 Proven Tips to NOT Let the Weekend Wreck Your Health Goals:

#1 Proven Tip: Don’t overly deprive yourself all week:

If you are eating far too few calories and doing far too much exercise, you are naturally be inclined to binge eat on the weekend because you’ve been starving yourself! It’s the law of “Metabolic Compensation“. Our bodies are hormonally going to fight to keep you at the weight you’ve been adjusted to. After just 5 days of eating too few of calories and/or exercising too much, you’re hunger hormones are going to go crazy. Ideally, your food and exercise should stay consistent straight through the week.

How do adjust: If you think you might be pushing too hard or restricting yourself too much, change JUST ONE of those aspects at first-not both. Don’t try to overhaul your regime all at once, that will likely result in weight gain that will make you freak out and overcompensate to eating even less and exercising even more. The goal here is to take just 1 aspect of your health and make a 10% adjustment in a healthier direction. So if you are doing 5 hours of cardio a week, you are going to need to cut back on aerobic cardio to actually help your metabolism and fat loss. This means you just cut back in 10% of your time this week. The next week you’ll decide if you’ll cut back again (10%) or hold there for 1 more week, etc.

#2 Proven Tip: Treat Your Weekend As It’s Own Goal & Write it down:

Your life likely looks quite different during the weekend as it does during the week so make different habit goals to accommodate the different routines. Focus on just your weekend for a while. Work with the systems you currently have to make those goal changes. With all goals, you have a higher chance of success when you write down exactly what your goals are and the habits you want to enforce to get you there.

How to adjust: Choose 1-2 new habits you want to enforce just for the weekend to improve in your health and stick to those for a month before adding on new goals. Focus on progress, not perfection.

For example, if you normally go to Sunday brunch and order pancakes and bacon, your first habit to adjust is just what you plan on ordering at the Sunday brunch. Make small adjustments every week–what I call “Mini Goals.”

Weekend #1 Mini Goal: Go to Sunday Brunch and Eat 1 Pancake and 3 egg whites + 1 slice of bacon.

Weekend #2 Mini Goal: Go to Sunday Brunch Eat 1/2 Pancake, 3 egg whites + 1slice of bacon.

Weekend #3 Mini Goal: Go to Sunday Brunch and eat 1-2 bites of pancake, vegetable omelette and 2 slices of bacon.

Progress is Progress!

#3 Proven Tip: Wake Up at the Same Time Every Day- Weekend and Holidays Included:

This combines two of the most effective fat loss strategies- being consistent + getting enough sleep. Waking up at the same time every day, no matter what day of the week it is, will eventually allow your body to adjust to the Circadian Rhythms necessary to allow for effective sleeping habits and getting enough sleep will also extend the amount of time you are in the prime fat loss zone (fasting + increased growth hormone etc). If you have been finding it difficult to sleep, you may need to look into a new mattress. Researching key phrases such as ‘mattress reviews australia‘ can help you pick the best one for your sleeping patterns. Alternatively, recent research on the medical use of marijuana has highlighted the positive effect it can have on sleep deprivation and insomnia. These tiny bongs offer a discrete way of finding natural sleep relief. If this isn’t your kind of thing, we have some advice on adjusting below.

How to adjust: Set Your Alarm Clock in the morning and plan the reason WHY you’re getting up early on the weekend. So if you get up at 6am M-F, you’ll want to get up by 630am on the weekends too. But to do that, you’ll need a reason to get out of bed. It’s a perfect excuse to go hit up the gym and get your workout over with. Or it’s a great way to get up go to a Cafe, do some reading, your devotional, or work on other Mind and Soul goals you have. Creating a whole new Ritual out of your early mornings on weekends will be a special treat unto itself!

If you are tired at first, it will take an adjustment. If you need to take an afternoon nap at first, that’s fine, just keep it to the 20-min cat nap that’s been proven as most effective.

#4 Proven Tip: Mentally Prepare for the Weekend Reward:

As humans we all know we use food and drinks as a reward system. This is not a bad thing unless your food reward and drink awards get out of control. High fat, high sugar and excessive alcohol tend to be the greatest “reward” in our brains and can often turn into unstoppable eating binges. SO, preparing for the exact thing you crave and planning where and when you have it will help you to control the natural tendency to let it get out of control.

How to adjust: Think of 1-2 healthier food options that are similar enough to your old bad habits. So instead of red wine all weekend, you’ll drink sparkling water with a splash of cranberry and then 1 really good glass of wine that’s worth it for you with dinner on Saturday night.

Think of 1-2 non-food ways to reward yourself during the weekend too. So instead of your whole weekend planning from brunch, to BBQ to dinner (i.e. all food items) make sure you have a pedicure, group workout class, a walk in the park, a coffee date with a friend or something NON-food related that will add some fun to your life.

#5 Proven Tip: Add some SOUL to your Sundays:

Making sure you take one day in the weekend to get Spiritually aligned will help remind you of your “WHY” you are getting healthy to begin with. While this practice should not merely be practiced 1-day a week, it is great to have a day dedicated to thanking God for our creation and the wonder of our health blessings we have. It is not about RELIGION, but about building your personal relationship with God and doing this in COMMUNITY has been proven the most successful practice. You learn by listening to others who have more mature Faith than us. But the right fit might take a while to find. It might not be a church, but other spiritual practices you do in community with others. Building this through the weekend is the best way to carry it out into the week as well. It sets your heart on the right path again.

How to Adjust: Commit to going to church, watching a sermon/program online with others, or even going on a Spiritual or Prayer walk or hike to get your Spiritual alignment. Pray for your health, for greater wisdom on your health and how you are to use your body and your health to fulfill God’s Greater Purpose in your life.

Try out 1-2 of these new tips this weekend and see if you feel a greater sense of REWARD by Monday morning!

Tags body, Diet, Exercise, fat loss, Goals, Health, Mind, nutrition, Soul, Weekend, Women

Goal Development Spiritual Health Uncategorized

BREAKING-UP IS POWERFUL TO DO, PART DEUX

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date April 10, 2015
2 Comments on BREAKING-UP IS POWERFUL TO DO, PART DEUX

As life would have it, I am finding more and more of my true calling in this effort of writing, blogging and health coaching. It came to me a while ago, but I have realized that my Greater Purpose of this calling of writing these articles are not just for you (although I earnestly hope that you do get some sort of lesson or inspiration out of them) but really a lot of this calling is about ME and gaining some necessary wisdom in my life.

So, as it naturally happens, as I start to put pen-to-paper, or more aptly, fingers-to-keyboard, I start to expose more and more things that I need to focus on and work on.

As was the case when I started to write the blog last week that was just posted yesterday. I have always been so aware of the power that my husband’s and my history holds. I love our love story. I have fully embraced the convoluted, roller-coaster-ride of our history as part of what makes our relationship so powerful today!

I can fully embrace the imperfect ways that we tried and tried to get it (W)right to no avail only to finally, FINALLY, realize what was the missing issue the entire time ——-> BIG MAN himself, G.O.D.

I spoke yesterday that I clearly placed Howard and my relationship ahead of God when I would obsess and worry and try harder and harder.

And as I was journaling these thoughts in our story for yesterday, it all of a sudden hit me like a dagger right between my eyes.

“Consumed with thinking about it all day, everyday.”

“Obsessed with trying to be enough.”

“Trying harder and harder and holding on tighter and tighter.”

These are the EXACT phrases that I could easily put into place regarding my relationship with my body and food as well.

It’s not so shocking, of course, because I’ve already admitted to this behavior, especially when it was at it’s peak as I was training to do a bikini competition.

But I can admit now that these SAME feelings and obsession with my body were still very present when I was planning for my wedding. It was another BIG DAY and I had a lot self pressure to look the best I’ve ever looked, naturally.

I am proud of myself that I did NOT resort to extreme tactics this go round and still treated my body in a much more health-centered way.

But the truth is that mentally, I was just as consumed (if not more so) with worry and fret as I have been before. I hired not 1 but 2 health coaches myself, hired a personal trainer, logged my food every day, paid for extensive body fat measurements and the whole bit.

Again,

“Consumed with thinking about it all day, every day.”

“Obsessed with trying to be enough”

“Trying harder and harder and holding on tighter and tighter”

The results were just about the same as those 6-years of dating Howard. I could try as hard as I wanted but it wasn’t going to change much. I lost maybe 5 lbs and a few body fat % in the entire year that I was working toward my wedding body. For a WHOLE YEAR, with literally thousands of hours logged with worry, obsession and fret, and all I lost was a measly 5lbs.

(Can someone make a t-shirt with that on it perhaps? “I spent 1,000 of mental hours and 1,000 of dollars for this body and all I lost were these 5lbs?”)

Don’t get me wrong, I am quite pleased with how I looked on my wedding day, but I was a little exhausted that day too from all that build up and WORRY, which I have to admit was 80% about my BODY more than about the wedding itself! Also, don’t EVEN get me started on the fact that it took a full 10-minutes and 4 women to zip up my gosh darn dress?! How’s that for a confession?! UGHHHHHH. Literally, I. Can’t. Even. I can't even

But, I digress….

So, it’s been almost 6-months since my wedding day, and I have been trying to pinpoint this emotion that I’ve been feeling ever since.

For the first time, in a long time, I am not obsessing over my body, I am not logging my meals, I am not tracking every workout and measuring the # of calories I’m burning or consuming.

But all of this new behavior has me feeling a mix of emotions. I feel relief that I don’t have to obsess so much any more, and yet, I’m kind of sad and lost unsure of this new phase with my body and relationship food and workouts.

AND SO IT’S HIT ME……

I’m in the middle of a break-up!

It’s not the same as what it was when Howard and I broke-up because I can’t physically break-up with my body.

But I realize now that I’ve broken-up with the relationship I had with my body!

Subconsciously and now more consciously I have exposed that I STILL have a tendency to put many things (i.e. idols) ahead of my relationship with God . These tendencies seem to manifest themselves in my mind the exact same way.

I obsess, I worry, I try harder and yet it doesn’t produce the results I want.

But, for the first time ever, I am not treating my body the same way as I always have. I have some other things that are taking precedence (namely, my time with God, my husband and this business) over my workouts, body obsession and food.

This has meant that my workouts are much shorter (usually about 30 minutes, 3-4 days per week). I also don’t track my eating like I used to (simply because I don’t have time). I am not weighing myself very often at all. I am not even looking in the mirror as much anymore! It’s kinda just “weird” for me. It’s a me I don’t quite recognize and don’t know quite what to do with myself….as odd as that sounds!

This relationship I had with my body was around for much much longer than the relationship I had with Howard, so I’m expecting this break-up to take some time. And just like it was when he and I broke-up, I don’t know if I’m meant to get back together with that old me, or if I’m going to find a whole new relationship with my body that is a much better fit!

Either way, I know I’m at this in between phase of this break-up right now and I need to STAY IN THIS PHASE until I have clear direction.

THE POWER IN THIS BREAK-UP:

Now that I am conscious that I am in the middle of this “break-up” with the relationship with my body, I can offer you some insight into what this means for me. What I DON’T have is the actual lessons I’m going to learn. The reason is because I’m not over it yet and I’m feel as though I’m still healing.

But if you’re in this place with me, perhaps realizing that you too have a “bad relationship” with your body, food, or working out, then there ARE some things that I can offer. Things that I KNOW within my soul that are helping through this break-up phase.

1. Doubt Gives Way to Faith:

The power of our idols is incredibly strong. Everyday that I think I have a God-centered, “healthy” relationship with my body, I will all of a sudden find myself in the pantry binge eating some fruit clusters and other treats and then immediately feeling the affects of guilt and mental punishment the rest of the day. Sugar Addiction (or any food/drink/substance addiction) can be a very real idol that we serve before we serve God.

But what I know is that just when I doubt I will ever be strong enough to beat my sugar addiction, in comes these waves of Faith that I know that God is stronger than anything and everything in this world. I can put my trust and hope in God and He will help me beat this body idol and reengage in a new relationship with my body. I can remember all the other hard things I’ve had to give up (anyone read my WINE-O series?!) and how much God has truly pulled me through once I SURREND’hered it to Him.

2. Fulfillment comes from God alone:

Just like I had learned the hard way from my break-ups with Howard, I am seeing this pop-up again in my break-up with my old relationship with my body. I was trying to find fulfillment from my body and my health instead of truly finding fulfillment from God. I know that this break-up will serve as the necessary time for me to reengage with God as my sole provider. To SURREND’her more and more to Him. To truly make Him the center of ALL of my life, not just part-of my life.

3.These Feelings of “Falling Apart” are what is going to lead to the Spiritual Break-Through I need:

[Full Disclosure] I am very, very uncomfortable in this ‘break-up phase’ with my body. A large part of me feels like I’m really GIVING-UP on my body. I have fear that it’s going to all go down hill. I have so much guilt about not working out as much or dieting as hard core as I used to and fear that all this is going to lead me to be a big fat hypocrite on this forum of “speaking about health” all while looking chubby. I am still struggling daily with the feelings of how I should be “trying harder.”

But, what I’m doing about these fears is not “trying harder,” I’m just praying harder. I’m journaling a ton and praying all day long about this body and this life and asking God to use me in these new ways. To heal my mind and body and soul. I know this is exactly the right course.

I am encouraged by the signs that God is giving me for motivation to keep “praying through”. One such sign is from the book I keep talking about, The Circle Maker. The author Mark Batterson gave me a very strong reminder when he said, “If you want to experience a super natural break-through, you have to pray through. But as you get closer to the break-through it often feels like you’re about to lose control, about to fall apart. That is when you need to press in and pray through.”

Pressing-on and praying through is what I intend to do!

4. I’m Grateful for my Imperfections:

I can find joy and gratitude in every difficult thing that I encounter in life. My very struggles in life are the things that keep me leaning on God and keep me looking to Him more and more. My imperfections are the gateway to the true blessings that I’ll receive from this relationship I’m building with God. I know I will never be perfect and this battle with my body and with food will be a lifelong battle. But I can be grateful for that because it means that I will always stay close to God. I can “sacrifice of a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord” (Psalm 116:17)

5. I can Praise Him NOW for what will be:

I can also know that because I’m giving Him this problem He has already answered my prayer. He has already delivered me from this idol of my body and food and He has offered me a new relationship with my body that better serves my Greater Purpose. I can Praise Him for answering this prayer and just wait for this answer to be revealed to me. I know there will come a time and I’ll “just know” what direction to take and I’ll keep taking steps that He leads me. Thank you God for this.

So, while I do wish I had more answers for YOU I hope you don’t mind me opening up more about my struggles and how I’m really not much of an “expert” yet on how to enter into a healthy relationship with your body.

What I do encourage you to do is to self-assess your current relationship you have with your body too!

Q: How do you see your body?

Q: Do you put part of your quest for health or your body before God?

Q: What are the mental cues that recognize as your blocks (i.e. do you obsess, worry, avoid, abuse, or hate your body?).

Q: Can you find ways to use God in those areas and “pray-through” this barrier it plays in your heart and soul. Think of the best ways that you can give this to God (prayer, friends, journaling etc)

Also, I do I highly suggest reading The Circle Maker and journaling a lot more to expose some of your own idols in your life! It might not just be your body or health, it is likely quite a few things! Give them ALL UP! Keep SURREND’hering .

In Love and Healing,

Amanda

Tags battle, body, break-up, breakups, Faith, Fitness, Goals, God, Gym, Healing, Love, Prayer

Fitness & Training Goal Development Health Coaching Spiritual Health Uncategorized

Life is Bootyful

So, if you’ve never met me, you might not realize all that I have going on….

Meaning, I have a pretty big butt.

As a matter of fact, my booty is a flotation device! Yep, when I swim it somehow stays above water the whole time. Don’t ask me how. It’s rather embarrassing, and one strong reason why I am NOT a fan of swimming. I received quite a few chuckles about it when I was young, and can see how cute it must have been back then.

Now it’s just a little alarming. So unless you’re my 2-year old stepdaughter, don’t expect me to hop in the pool much with you.

Yes, the Lord blessed me and my Momma (and my Momma’s Momma) with this “S-Curve” action. (Despite what my husband thinks) I am white and grew up in a pretty white town, so this was not something I loved about myself growing up.

As a matter of fact, when I shared the story of my childhood and how I started to develop deep insecurities about my body aaaallllllll the way back in 2nd grade, it was because I had this big ol’ booty and I got teased about it all the time.

While growing up, I would honestly pray that God would help me lose weight in my booty. Well I think he misheard me, because whenever I lost weight, it was right from my boobies….not my booty. The opposite of my request!!

We all have prayer requests. The bible tells us that no prayer request is too big or too small.

So my prayer to lose weight in my booty isn’t technically too small of a prayer for God, but it was just pretty “small minded” of me! There were certainly things I was in need of in a spiritual sense, more in need of than a smaller butt!

Nevertheless, even though it was always my workout goal to “get a smaller butt“, this goal and this prayer went unanswered. I had to learn to live with the big “bootyful” life I had.

Luckily I did.

Fast forward to me, 25-years old, working as a waitress in La Jolla, CA, at a nice steak house called Donovans.

In walks this tall drink of mochacino man that literally gave me heart palpitations.

I walked by him……he looked at me…..I smiled at him….he gawked at me. I was unnerved and was thanking my stars I wasn’t his waitress! I would walk by his table on the way to the kitchen and try not to look his way. I was hanging out at the bar, and in order to completely avoid looking in his direction, I completely turned my back and was pretending to watch whatever sporting event was on the TV above me.

This move gave him the robust view of…..you guessed it….my large derrière!

This is what we call a HOOK, LINE, and SINKER for my man.

Within just a few moments, his waiter was handing over his business card to me telling me, “the talk guy at my table is into you“. On the back of his card was “Dinner Sometime?“(what a line, Wright!)

And as the saying goes……….the rest is history!

photo (5) — Left: October 2007 when we first met…Right: October 2015 on our wedding day

As my husband describes it, his first attraction was to my face. But what got him to literally “play his cards” right was my big ol’ booty.

So, all those years, God didn’t answer my prayer to help me lose weight in my butt. He knew that this big booty would literally help me get the man of my dreams!

This perspective has helped me love and understand my body goals so much more!

Along with my butt, I have always struggled with the necessary “thunder thighs” that help support my booty.

But now I see my big, stroooonng legs as maybe purposeful. God willing, I’ll never have to lift a car off of a child, or carry my 6’8″ husband out of a burning building. But, I’m (probably) strong enough to do those things. I think that’s kinda cool.

I see the naturally, slightly higher body fat and estrogen hormonal structure unique to my body (pear-shaped as they call it) being purposeful in creating a human life. That might be cool one day, if that is what God has in store for me 😉

And clearly if I’m ever in a boating accident, or airplane crash over water, I could just be used as a, “flotation device” with my buoyant-behind, meaning I could survive to speak to legal help after a crash. (Again God, if you can please make that NEVER have to happen, Amen).

As good as this would be in an event of an accident, such as one in an airplane, I don’t think my “floatation device” would be able to help me cover the costs of any loss of earnings or medical bills, as I’m sure that I would definitely need to have some emergency treatment. That’s when a law firm similar to lamber goodnow would have to be contacted so they could help me in the steps that I would need to complete next. But I’m hoping that it will never come to this.

I see my curves as pretty great not just because my husband loves them, but because they are unique to me and they are what God designed! He is a master crafter! Everything can have a Purpose!

So yes, I still have body goals. Yes, I still pray for God to guide me with my body goals. Yes, I make sure I am staying fit and healthy instead of using this perspective of “loving my body” as an excuse to be lazy or not strengthen it.

But I’m no longer praying for God to magically change my “flawed features”, because I see that there is truly Purpose in each and every ounce of my body.

I concentrate on being STRONG’her in body, WISE’her in how I think about my body, and certainly continue to SURREND’her curves up to God so they might be used for you Greater Purpose.

I invite you to do the same in taking part in my 7-Step SURREND’her Goal Development Workshop! It will help you define the (W)right fit of goals for your life. Balance your health goals to empower yourself towards true health and provide you with 7-steps to make your goals a life long commitment!

The emails will be sent to you between April 13-April 20.

There is no extra gimmick. Nothing to sell. Just me, striving to help you reach your goals!! There are limited spaces…. so act fast!

Tags body, booty, butt, christ, Faith, Goal Development, Goals, Greater Purpose, Health, Mind, Purpose, Spirit, Surrender, weight loss goals

Goal Development Health Coaching Spiritual Health Uncategorized

{Public Service Announcement} YOU are WORTHY

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date April 1, 2015

I have to admit, every time I contemplate opening up and writing about certain spiritual moments in my personal life, I get very nervous and unsure if I should. But today, I feel as though this is too powerful and too necessary of a message that I can’t let any fear hold me back.

So here it goes……

As directed, I was standing in the quiet solitude, opening the posture of my heart and wondering if this was really going to work. Pastor Alan Kraft was praying over us in the congregation and was speaking to the areas that we might be “thirsting for MORE of the Holy Spirit”.
He asked if some of us might be contemplating “an area of risk or feeling God might be asking us to step out of our comfort zone in some way.”

He instructed those of us that were feeling this area of “thirst in our souls”, to ask God, in the quiet of our heart, to give us a word or a phrase that He wanted us to know.

In moment, the word that filled my heart was….

“Worthy”

Pastor Alan is the lead Pastor of Christ Community Church in my home town in Greeley,CO. I just so happened to be back in town and of course always love to attend the church where this Pastor played such a significant role in reawakening my soul and therefore my life as I now know it. There is no amount of money or tithe that I could possibly repay this church, and that humble man, for the impact he has had on my life during some of my darkest days (I’m talking about every break-up I ever faced!). It was a divine gift that led me to that church when I did. I am so grateful for this blessed impact.

This day would be another example of God’s wondrous miracles and His abundant grace pouring down on me in this Church.

This word “Worthy” brought me to tears immediately.

It was as though with just the small prick of one simple word, the entire ho- air-balloon
-sized amount of guilt, fear and true UNworthiness I had been feeling for SO long was completely deflated.

This would not be the first time a single word would have such a huge impact on my life. About 4-years ago now, I was living with my parents just after moving back to Colorado from California and was really unsure what I was “supposed to be doing.”

I was watching an Oprah Winfrey, Master Class, about the star herself (see video link). She was speaking about the time she was jogging, literally at a fat farm, and so upset about not getting the role she thought God had called her to get for the movie, The Color Purple. She was tormented by this and in her grief, finally started to spontaneously sing the hymn “I Surrender All”, reminding herself that she needed to just Surrender this expectation and her life to God. She describes it as just words at first, but the more she repeated that chorus and the more she started to pray on it, the more she was truly able to SURRENDER herself and be ok with not getting that part.

The second she got to that place in her Spirit, someone came running out to let her know she had a call from Steven Spielberg himself, offering her the role she had dreamed of. It all happened the moment she truly “Surrendered”.

But the word, as she said it, seemed to leap off her mouth on the TV and smack me upside the head.

“Surrender”

It was, as she would certainly describe it, an “aha moment” of magnitude 10.

As you might have guessed by my repeated use here and now trademarked version of my, SURREND’her, this word became my mantra for living ever since that day. Just as Oprah describes it was just merely a word to me at first, but the more I prayed it out or I wrote it down and repeated it to myself, the more I was able to truly Surrender my spirit more and more. It was so freeing to think that I could loosen the tight grip of all this life choices I thought I was going to have to create for myself. That I did not need to control my own destiny, that I could surrender it all to God and trust that He would take care of it.

Just as he has with Oprah, God has blessed me with the life of my dreams, and I know I’m only getting started! It led me to several life changing experiences and challenges! I have been able to accept and embrace things in my life that I never would have dreamed like step-parenting, forgiving, moving, and world traveling! But here I am , Surrendering to it still now, and loving EVERY. SURREND’hered. Moment.

So now, this new word…….WORTHY.

I realized I had been feeling so UNworthy in so many ways.

UNworthy of God’s presence in my life and for his debt that He paid for my sin.

UNworthy or guilty of the blessing of being back with my fiancé, now husband, Howard and all that we were planning to do and a wealth of opportunity I never had imagined for my life.

I also felt very UNworthy of the calling I had been starting to feel in my soul and all of THIS….

THIS dream, of this very website and the possibility of writing or speaking publicly about my health and my faith is is huge step out of my comfort zone. But I am strengthened only by God’s presence in me.

I had an intense amount of fear that was causing me to procrastinate and divert my attention to other menial tasks, instead of starting this project and site. Even now, there is intense amount of fear that surfaces again and again with each post because it is an extremely vulnerable thing to talk about not just my life, but my Faith. I have always felt very private about my faith mainly because I never, ever want to offend anyone and don’t want to make anyone think that I am trying to force a religion down their throats.

But in this moment, God called me WORTHY and it is now imprinted on my heart. I wear this worthiness like a badge of honor to play this “worthy” role, even if my fears want to try to talk me out of owning it.

Just like I did with ‘Surrender”, I put this word every where! It’s on my Vision Board, on a custom sign I’m having made for my desk and I write it down as often as I can, especially when I’m journaling or feeling especially emotional and fearful.

This word ‘Worthy’ truly became the daily reminder that God is telling me I’m worthy of this all and I’m worthy of His love and blessings He wants to bestow to me if I am obedient to His calling. I should not hold myself back from all of my hearts desires because of the LIE of ‘unworthiness’ I had been feeling for so long.

THIS WEEK…..

I am reminded of this word this week as I have talked to more than one close girlfriend who are also fellow Christians, but are struggling in different areas of their life, like we all are.

Both of them confided to me that they had been feeling “UNworthy” of all of their blessings in their life too. They used that exact word…”UNworthy”….

I realized when speaking to these friends that they too were caught in the fear and the lie of this feeling of unworthiness and it is stalling them in taking the next step they need to take on their path for their Greater Purpose.

And now it’s hit me.

Really, this word was never just MY word to now use.

No, this word that God gave me on that September day was always intended as a gift for you. You, whoever you are, reading this right now.

It is a miracle that you happen to be reading this very blog this day because God has something very special He wanted me to remind you.

You are worthy of it all.

You are worthy of your blessings. You are worthy of His Grace. You are worthy of His forgiveness. You are worthy of YOUR calling to YOUR Greater Purpose. You are worthy of the
price Jesus paid when He died for your sins. You are worthy of your dreams.

You are worthy of your health.

You are worthy of His love.

He wants you to wear this word of “Worthy” like a tattoo on your heart because you will never be rid of your worthiness.

If you feel that you have been holding yourself back from your dreams (whether they are dreams about your health, or dreams about your calling, or anything!) because you have been feeling deep down inside that you are somehow UNworthy of the true blessing God has planned for you, then TODAY is your day to step out from behind those dark shadows and lies of UNworthiness.

FEAR is a LIAR. Your feeling of UNWORTHINESS is a LIE straight from Satan himself that has plagued your spirit and has caused you to hold back from fully committing your life to your Greater Purpose. It is holding you back from SURREND’hering it ALL to God, not just some of your life.

God has created you for a Greater Purpose and you are WORTHY and capable of every step ahead of you!!

If you are feeling unsure about the next steps in your life and unsure if you are living out a life of your WORTHY calling, then I would be honored to help you decide what your WORTHY goals should be!

I am hosting a 7-part/day series called 7-Steps to SURREND’her Goal Development where I am going to take a limited number of participants through the program I developed that I use personally every day and I use with each of my Health Coaching Clients.

You will be creating and designing goals for your life to help you fulfill your Greater Purpose! To put action to this call of WORTHINESS and to start the action steps to accomplish ALL God has called you to do.

You will get the chance to learn how to achieve goals in ALL areas of your True Health (or life!) including Body Goals, Mindset Goals and Spiritual Goals to become….

It will be an incredibly rewarding time of self-discovery, visualization and action steps to achieve all God is calling you to achieve!!

The series will start on Monday, April 13 and will be emailed to you for just 7-Days.

For YOU, I will offer this service for FREE because I think you are Worthy of achieving any goal or dream in your heart.

To take part of this 7-Steps to SURREND’hered GOAL Development click HERE and share with as many people as you think are WORTHY as well.

Tags body, Christ Community Church, Faith, Goal Development, Goals, God, Health, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Surrender, Weight loss, Worthy

Uncategorized

Even Pastors Mess This One Up | From SURREND’her to STRONG’her

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date March 31, 2015

(Be sure you read to then end of the blog to sign up for a limited opportunity!)

Your Greater Purpose and Your Health—

My husband, Howard, tells a story about a fiery pastor who was responsible, along with his grandmother “Gammy”, for my husband first giving his life to Christ at the age of 12.

He was the Pastor of a predominantly African American church in Los Angeles, CA and out of respect, I’ll omit using his name here. Howard describes the man as one of the most powerful orators he has ever met. He laughs saying, “Pastor would suck in a big breath from his big belly and then all of a sudden fire out the longest sentence of the gospel you had ever heard.” The man was, by all who can attest, a brilliant Pastor and surely living out a Greater Purpose from God by bringing so many to know God more.

Unfortunately, this pastor died at a young age, in his late 50’s due to a string of ailments some of which were due to his weight, including diabetes. It is a sad ending to a great man’s life.

Upon hearing this story, I couldn’t help but wonder how many more people could have been led to God had his life not have ended at such a young age. While admittedly, I do not know the specific circumstances of this mans health, I do know that his story can fit the context of the hundreds and thousands of deaths we see plague this world. Far too many people are dying from preventable or manageable health issues in this world! With all due respect to the legacy of this man’s life, to me, this story is another example of one great man’s Greater Purpose being cut short by his inability to take care of his body’s health.

As you may know by my writing, that my views on health have been enhanced in recent years and I am on this forum trying to promote a less “body obsessed” version of health and replace it with a more balanced, deeply rooted, approach to “True Health.”

To me, in order to build a STRONG’her body, you have to be able to change the way you think about your body and your health and become WISE’her. But to gain true wisdom, you have to dive deeper in your Spirit to the depths of your character, core values and relationship with God to SURREND’her your life to your Greater Purpose.

However, this path is not linear with all roads leading to that SURREND’her goal, it’s circular! While I make no quips about the fact that I absolutely believe that SURREND’hering ourselves is the only way we can ever TRULY LIVE, this is not where the road ends.

Once you have SURREND’hered your life to God and to the path of your Greater Purpose, it has to circle back to you building up a STRONG’her body.

My beliefs on this are based on the simple question:

How can one truly LIVE out your Greater Purpose without being diligent to keeping your body healthy along the way?

The answer is:

you can’t

Living out your Greater Purpose requires just that—LIVING. You simply cannot live the life you were designed to truly live without properly taking care of your body along the way.

Afterall, to go an do GREAT things in this life, you need:

Endurance and sustainable energy,

A body strong and capable of living out whatever God is calling you to do

A strong immune system to prevent illness and disease

The ability to sleep soundly to truly rest your body and mind

Strong bones and muscles to help prevent pain and injury

Properly functioning organs by supplying them with the necessary nutrients

Do we have control over all aspects of our body? Certainly not. Can we prevent all diseases and ailments, unfortunately, no.

But should you have the audacity to full take control of those aspects of your health that you CAN control and work to establish a balanced and true health for yourself by depending on the strength of God, He will bless your efforts and bless your path to your Greater Purpose to a Greater Health.

No matter what God has has established as your Greater Purpose, it is your responsibility to properly take care and nourish your body to do it!

While it is easy to feel the responsibility of your to feel like a burden , but if you take on the tasks as an act of gratitude for your life and for the body you have been blessed with, your health will no longer feel like such a burden but rather a blessing! God will bless you in your obedience in taking care of your Holy Temple.

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;” (1 Corinthians 6:19)

Being healthy and exercising your body is so much more than our bodies “looking a certain way”, God does not care about that.

“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7)

Your true health is much more about what you can go out and DO for others, for yourself and for God.

Make sure your “Temple” is representin’ God’s greatness!!

FOR EXAMPLE:

If God has called you to be a teacher, take care of your body and eat in a way that will inspire your students to do the same for themselves. While you are cultivating their mind, cultivate their own self worth and self care by showing them what health looks like.

If God has called you to be a mother, in the same light, take care of your body so you might show your children how you love your body and you love God. Show them how with God you can overcome the temptations of food addiction, idolatry of food/alcohol/substances, and even the temptation of self loathing or lethargy. That you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

If God has called you to go climb the highest mountain in the world so you can shout His name from the top, I’m pretty sure you are going to have to get in some pretty darn good shape to be able to do that.

If God has called you to travel the world as a missionary, you are going to need sustenance and a good supply of nutrients now to endure what lack of you might receive there.

If God has called you to be a singer, public speaker or Pastor, you bet you’re going to need to some energy to truly get up on that stage and have an impact with your voice. Your body will be used physically and as a shining example of the woman God created.

If God has called you to solve medical mysteries and diseases, your mind will need an incredible amount of nourishment in order to be able to critically think for so long. You will need energy and a body that can allow for true wisdom to come through which will require rest and exercise.

If God has called you to be of service by being an incredible friend or mentor to those around you, you too need to represent the love of God from the inside out. Show the people you love what it looks like to love God and to yourself enough to take care of your body too. Do not be mere words.

It is time that you use your Greater Purpose of this life to finally find the TRUE motivation to get to your TRUE health!

You will no longer be working out to “look like her.” You will no longer be “on a diet” to get a “bikini body.” You will no longer resort to surgeries, drugs or supplements to try to “cheat” your way to “looking better.”

Just to be clear, your Greater Purpose in life is not to look good in a bikini or to be able to take the perfect selfie for social media.

Your Greater Purpose is found in TODAY, not in tomorrow. So you are going to start TODAY, no, RIGHT NOW to make this life a life worth living.

Take your next step toward your Greater Purpose. Take your next step toward your Greater Health!!

Want to know how we’re going to do it?! Well here is where you might take advantage of an exciting opportunity with yours truly.

The key to success in your health is simply establishing the right goals and setting out to fulfill them in effective ways!

I have a 7-Step SURREND’hered Goal Development I designed and implement with each of my Health Coaching Clients!

It involves:

-Setting (S.M.A.R.T) specific goals that fit in with your Greater Purpose way of living for you Body, Mind AND Soul.

-Using the power of Visualization for success and retraining your subconscious brain.

-Creating and implementing daily habits to establish effective results daily and to override the less effective ones you’ve been using.

– Ritualizing those habits to make them uniquely you!

If you are interested in participating in my 100% FREE 7-Step SURREND’hered Goal Development WORKSHOP, please subscribe to this email link HERE. It will be a daily emailed workshop that will last just 7 days! It is a one-time event and will only be offered to a limited number of subscribers, so sign up quickly!

The workshop will cover not only these steps to TRUE HEALTH Goals, but will also include some BONUS workout guides, Nutrient-Based Eating Guide and Recipes!

So if you’re ready to make some changes in your health and need help figuring out the necessary steps to take to create some life changing goals, sign up for the GREATER HEALTH series HERE that will begin on:

Monday April 13!

Share the link and tell a friend and get excited about changing your health and changing your life!

If you are interested in getting started right away, I have just a couple positions open in my roster of 1:1 Virtual Health Coaching practice. Contact me at amanda@amandawrightfit.com or click on the Health Coaching Tab of my website.

Tags body, Body Goal, Goal Development, Goals, Greater Purpose, Health, Mind, Pastor, Purpose, Soul, Stong'her, Surrend'her, Wise'her

Fitness & Training Food & Nutrition Health Coaching Spiritual Health Uncategorized

“I just want to fit into my skinny jeans” and other ways we fall short

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date February 4, 2015

One of my health coaching clients sent me an article she received from her gym in New York City. Coincidentally, it was also an article about overcoming the urge to quit and she asked me what I thought about it. A couple days ago, I debuted my first blog also on ‘not quitting’ (which I purposely chose the positive affirmative of “Tips to Keep Climbing”). If you didn’t see it, check it out HERE!

This other article was written with the intention of helping keep people from already giving up on their New Years resolutions, which as we all know is very common around this time of year! Just 1-month in the New Year and a large population of people have already forgotten those new habits they were so determined to get right this year! Like many in the Health and Fitness Community, this gym came up with a very concise and straight forward list of tips:

1. Remember the reason why you started
2. Speak Positive Truths
3. It’s Just A Valley (ie. don’t quit from the challenge)
4. Play It Loud (get new music)
5. “They” expect you to quit (do it to show others they’re wrong)
6. Look at the ladies (or guys) for motivation
7. Eat Well (don’t cut too many calories)
8. Go To Bed (sleep)
9. Picture the New You (imagine your success)

They are all friendly reminders and with good intention behind it. I am not bashing the intention of this article at all and on the surface, they are all great tips.

But that seems to be my biggest issue with the way the Health and Fitness generation is trying to teach health. Everywhere you look, you are given tip after tip after tip! Often times, they are contradictory too and more confusing than anything.

But the reason why I feel I am called to this platform writing and expressing my view of health and why God is calling me not only to write my truth but to also question the truths that I have long been accepting from “experts”. My whole life I have been trying “harder” to follow ALL the tips at once, and feeling defeated when I couldn’t sustain any of them for very long.

It wasn’t until I dug deeper into my health in my spirit and my mind that I was finally able to have real impact on my body’s health. I believe that we as a society need to GO DEEPER in order to invoke any real change in the trajectory of our health both as individuals and as a nation.

We can see all around us that we have a health epidemic on our hands. Our nation is sick, literally dying from health related causes. Our kids, our elderly, our poor and our rich–it doesn’t escape anyone. Our health has everything to do with much more than what’s on the surface too. Ironically, there have never as many Diet and Fitness Experts in society as there are today too. Thousands of them out there that will give you a thousand different “Tips” on how to lose weight and meet your goals. And YET, if you look around, all these “experts” aren’t really having any impact.

To Me, most people will fit into one of three categories:

A. Yo-Yo Dieters— hopping on and off the health bandwagons in an “all or nothing” fashion

B. Apathetic— that choose not to pursue their health and quit before we even start, seeing that the struggle is not worth the fight or it’s just “how they’re built.”

C. Extremists— The Uber fit, overdoing our goals to meet some unrealistic body image that doesn’t actually exist for long-term health.

As I read the list from the New York City gym, I don’t disagree with any one of the tips. But I also find the list to be very shallow in motivation and severely lacking in the DEPTH or any real CONVICTION behind it.

For example, if I were the old me and thinking about my New Year’s resolutions of years past, for Tip #1: Remember the Reason Why You Started?, my answer would have been something like:

“I want to fit into my size 6 skinny jeans so I can feel confident and better about myself!”

And I would log hour after hour at the gym until I reached my goal! Then, yes, as I slid on those size 6 skinny jeans I would feel really good about myself…….for about a week. Maybe two.

Then I would need another “motivation” or new “goal” to keep me going further otherwise I would just go back to drinking and binge eating and soon the skinny jeans wouldn’t fit so well any more.

That is literally how I lived the majority of my life. I was a “new goal” junkie, just creating more and more goals to get me “fitter” and “fitter.” Never having actually felt fit at all. Making small-time goals and reaching them, only to not feel as great about them as I thought I would. Most of the time I actually felt disappointed by them! Something was lacking. There was no “Joy” in my success. There was no real success!

The type of True Health and thus True Goals I am talking about are much deeper than this. To make goals based on FAITH and not FEAR. To use GOD and not GUILT. Tying our goals to our Greater Purpose makes the reason why we get-up-and-going to be a much deeper and much more life changing.

My True Health Goals look something like this:

I want to feel loved, fit and good enough no matter what my jean size is. I want to go to the gym and increase my strength and power so that I know if God calls on me to do something great, I will be physically strong enough to do it. I want to be a shining example for my kids, my friends and my family and I want to show them that anything is possible at any age. And, I know I can do this because I know “I can do all thing through Christ, who gives me strength.” (Phil 4:13)

Doesn’t my WHY resonate SO much deeper to SOULFUL level? Doesn’t the above goal not just hit what I want for my Body, but also my Mind and my Sprit too? Doesn’t it sound like the kind of life-changing conviction that will change my whole life and keep me motivated for longer? Not just help me with some small-time skinny jeans goal for the New Year?

So what if we turn that list into something with more DEPTH? Take their great tips and just add some Greater Purpose thinking behind it?

I think it would look something like this:

1. Remember why God is calling you to be fit, how does it tie to your Greater Purpose?
2. You are able to speak positive truths because you are perfectly Loved
3. Valley’s are purposeful so you always must rely on God. Embrace the challenge and draw nearer to Him.
4. The Music Lives Within— No matter what beat you hear, the movement will come from within you. Tap into that beat.
5. “Do Not Judge or You Too Will Be Judged” (Matt 7:1)- Think about ways you can support others in their goals and you will find that they will support you back.
6. Look to your soul for motivation and the men/women will come in the right time.
7. Eat Well to sustain your fuel for your Greater Purpose.
8. Find REAL rest to renew your body, mind and soul.
9. Picture Yourself Living Out your Greater Purpose!

Journal/Thought Provocation:

What are some of the goals that you have made so far this year? What are some ways you can re-frame those goals to serve your Greater Purpose?

If you are struggling with knowing what your Greater Purpose is, I invite you to sit and pray about it. Even if an answer doesn’t come to you immediately, the act of listening will be rewarding for you soon enough. What God might be telling you is that your Greater Purpose for right now is to do exactly what you are doing, but do it in a way that would bring honor to Him. Do it with integrity, courage, faith and love. Their is purpose in everything we do, so do it well and do it for Good.

In Good Health,

Mandi

Tags Diet, Exercise, Faith, Fit, Fitness, Goals, God, Gym, Health, Love, New Years Resolutions, Obesity, Obstacles, Perseverance, Weight loss

Hello From The Other Side...

**LET’S LOOK AT 3 THINGS THE VERSE TELLS US THAT WILL HELP YOU TO FROM THE OTHER SIDE:**

IT TELLS US SPECIFIC ACTION TO TAKE:

2. IT TELLS US WHY GOD WANTS US TO WAIT ON HIM:

THIS VERSE TELLS US THE OUTCOME OF THIS ACTION PLAN:

"Harvesting My Health" Free Download!

So, we’ve all been there before.

If I’m being honest...

But luckily, things can change...

TOP 5 HABITS TO STAY THE COURSE WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE QUITTING!

Greater Purpose- Pursuing Your Destiny for Life

Great Balance- Body, Mind, Soul

Goals -Strive to Win

Go-To’s – Create Your Community

Hello From The Other Side...

LET’S LOOK AT 3 THINGS THE VERSE TELLS US THAT WILL HELP YOU TO FROM THE OTHER SIDE:

IT TELLS US SPECIFIC ACTION TO TAKE:

2. IT TELLS US WHY GOD WANTS US TO WAIT ON HIM:

THIS VERSE TELLS US THE OUTCOME OF THIS ACTION PLAN:

"Harvesting My Health" Free Download!

What are the stories you have been telling yourself about your health and body these days?

Here’s how it went down….

“You see, I am really bad with money….”

It’s the difference in saying, “I did something bad” and “I AM bad because I did x,y or z.”

SO, let’s flip this back to health.

So, we’ve all been there before.

If I’m being honest...

But luckily, things can change...

TOP 5 HABITS TO STAY THE COURSE WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE QUITTING!

For THIS reason, I must share I DO BELIEVE IS A MAGIC BULLET THAT ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT AND UTILIZE TO RADICALLY CHANGE THEIR HEALTH!

Your Greater Purpose.

This is your destiny, your calling and the reason why you were put on this Earth.

It takes understanding your inherent worth, your DNA genetics and every gift, natural desire, ability, heart, passion, personality trait, and every single experience in your life ALL mold together to propel you down this raceway to not only learn to RUN but to LEARN TO WIN.

You WIN in life when you finally learn why you were put on this planet and you passionately pursue mastering this cause for God’s glory.

I believe there are 4 STEPS TO TRANSFORM YOUR HEALTH:

Greater Purpose- Pursuing Your Destiny for Life

Great Balance- Body, Mind, Soul

Goals -Strive to Win

Go-To’s – Create Your Community

Top 5 Proven Tips to NOT Let the Weekend Wreck Your Health Goals:

#1 Proven Tip: Don’t overly deprive yourself all week:

#2 Proven Tip: Treat Your Weekend As It’s Own Goal & Write it down:

#3 Proven Tip: Wake Up at the Same Time Every Day- Weekend and Holidays Included:

#4 Proven Tip: Mentally Prepare for the Weekend Reward:

#5 Proven Tip: Add some SOUL to your Sundays:

Again,

AND SO IT’S HIT ME……

I’m in the middle of a break-up!

THE POWER IN THIS BREAK-UP:

1. Doubt Gives Way to Faith:

2. Fulfillment comes from God alone:

3.These Feelings of “Falling Apart” are what is going to lead to the Spiritual Break-Through I need:

4. I’m Grateful for my Imperfections:

5. I can Praise Him NOW for what will be:

Meaning, I have a pretty big butt.

This is what we call a HOOK, LINE, and SINKER for my man.

And as the saying goes……….the rest is history!

The emails will be sent to you between April 13-April 20.

So here it goes……

“Worthy”

“Surrender”

THIS WEEK…..

And now it’s hit me.

No, this word that God gave me on that September day was always intended as a gift for you. You, whoever you are, reading this right now.

You are worthy of it all.

You are worthy of your health.

You are worthy of His love.

God has created you for a Greater Purpose and you are WORTHY and capable of every step ahead of you!!

The series will start on Monday, April 13 and will be emailed to you for just 7-Days.

To take part of this 7-Steps to SURREND’hered GOAL Development click HERE and share with as many people as you think are WORTHY as well.

(Be sure you read to then end of the blog to sign up for a limited opportunity!)

How can one truly LIVE out your Greater Purpose without being diligent to keeping your body healthy along the way?

you can’t

Monday April 13!

Join the A. Wright Fit Inner Circle!

**LET’S LOOK AT 3 THINGS THE VERSE TELLS US THAT WILL HELP YOU TO FROM THE OTHER SIDE:**