MAD

MAD.......

I hope that this time of the year finds everyone filled with joy and blessings with friends and family! It is so awesome we get to celebrate our Saviors birth!! Everybody just seems to be in a slightly better mood for one reason or another as well. Really and truly this is a time to count our blessings, think about how many things we have to be thankful for, and how we can impact somebody else! Sometimes it takes us the opportunity to serve others who are less fortunate to really understand all that we have and have to offer other people. I write this because it was on my heart that whether it be this season or not, what are we doing to make a difference?

MAD stands for making a difference!! I'm sure some of you were just interested in reading this because it had MAD at the top!! lol I probably would have done the same.

Many of us think that we don't have an opportunity or the ability to make a difference! However, I'm going to show you that in the health and fitness realm, how much you have to offer other people, especially the ones around you! Get ready to receive the mindset of changing generations. When you make a conscience decision to become more healthy and fit not only do you benefit from it, but your family and friends around you do! How awesome is that!! When someone is changing their life and takes eating healthy and exercising seriously others around them see the difference. You become an inspiration and spokesperson to a healthy lifestyle. Just think about, how many families are left fatherless because of heart attacks? How many women are infertile because of obesity? How many people spend hundreds of dollars a month on blood pressure medication? I could go on and on. But, when you have influence on your family and your friends who have families think about how much you can do to advocate healthy lifestyle decisions. Unfortunately Oklahoma has the highest obesity rate in the United States!!! What are we doing to make a difference?

You can make a difference though by deciding to change yourself and then helping others see the difference. Maybe you get MAD and encourage a friend to go to the gym with you? Maybe you get MAD and learn to cook differently for your family? Maybe you get MAD and have your kids do physical activity and chores instead of video games. This is so serious guys!!! You can make a huge difference by changing daily decisions. If you don't do it for yourself, do it for your family. Usually obesity tendencies are passed down from generation to generation. It is time to step up and put your foot down to letting days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months before you do something!! The time is now. I believe in you and know that the generations to come will see a difference because of commitments and decisions that were made this very day.

So enjoy this season, invite somebody to work out, research some healthy recipes, and ultimately make a difference!!
It starts with us! Love you guys!

Faith.........

def. of FAITH-
1 allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust
3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs

As I embark on a new journey of being a full time self-employed personal trainer I realize that FAITH has started this all........
Because without FAITH, I would still be in the same position I was more than a year ago. The definition of FAITH above can really make us stop and think......Do I really have faith? In what I'm doing, in what God has planned, in what I can't yet see? How thought provoking that can be! It is easy to have faith when things are going your way and everything seems easy. It is when things are really difficult or the future is unknown and fear creeps that having FAITH can be the hardest. In our daily lives it takes FAITH to conquer our day-to-day decisions. We have FAITH that the toilet seat is going to be there when we sit down!! :) I know that is making light of it, but truly we use FAITH to do a lot of things!! So, why don't more people have FAITH in themselves and what God created them to be? Of course there are obstacles that try to get in our way and steal our FAITH everyday, but we need to remember what we believe in and trust that having FAITH in the right things will pay off!! So invest in yourself today and have FAITH that things are going to go your way and that there is an awesome plan for you to have a HEALTHY, exciting, fun-filled life. So as I practice FAITH in the months to come and trust God in His direction for me in the world of fitness, I challenge you to practice FAITH of your own to be great and fulfill all your expectations. I believe in you and have FAITH that you can achieve all that you want! Have a FAITH filled week to come! What's stopping you?...................

Thankful

Looking back on this year and with Thanksgiving recently passed, I would like to thank all my wonderful clients that have made this past year of personal training a success!! I have been training people for just over a year this month. The journey has been extremely exciting and I have made some really great friends along the way. I can't thank everyone enough for all the support, encouragement, and constant laughs day-in and day-out. I truly value everyone that I have come in contact with through my training!

I feel that I have been able to help people and that, truly, is my main purpose in life. I am excited for all the people who have taken their fitness and health to the next level this past year with me. I am thankful to call you clients and friends.

I look forward to the year to come as I have decided to take a leap of faith and make personal training my full time profession! I'm excited and hopeful that this year will be even better than the last and I can't wait to put forth more effort, to dedicate more time, and to commit at a higher level to all of you and your goals!

Thanks again for everything! Here's to the future! :)

The Holiday Survival Comedy

Hey guys! I want to say thank you to everyone who read my first post! This is all so exciting! :) Well, as you can see the title of this blog is "The Holiday Survival Comedy". I say that as I chuckle to myself because I think about the internal fight to stay on track during this time of the year is truly quite comical. Don't think you guys are alone in this battle.......I struggle the same as you. I have the fitness angel on one side and fatty devil on the other screaming to take over!!

"You want to stay on track...

...but you know you want to eat 3 pieces of pie!"

"You don't want to feel like your going to explode...

...but it only comes around once a year!"

This can be very frustrating and if any of you have family like mine our sole focus around the Holidays is fooooooodddd!! Yummy, homemade food. It would be considered treason to pass up rolls made from scratch, sweet baked pies, and deep fried turkey!!! Yikes!!!!!!! That sounds like a couple pounds......however, my mouth is watering as I type this!

In continuing your focus during the Holidays let's go back to what I always say,

"Your diet needs to be a life style change and realistic."

You shouldn't expect to stay completely away from the holiday food entirely. Let's be real and just say it is going to happen. But, good news! There are great ways to still stay on track and enjoy some tasty treats during the holidays!! I didn't get this from a magazine or a health forum, just stuff that I find could be helpful and realistic! Check it out and print it out!

1. Make your portions small!! Only take the amount of a couple bites of each food item you want.
   
   
2. Bring a vegetable appetizer and munch a lot before the "big" meal on those yummy veggies.
   
   
3. Drink two glasses of room temperature water before you start your meal.
   
   
4. This will make you feel fuller and won't make your digestion system slow down as long as you keep the water warmer.
   
   
5. Use fat free whip cream for your pumpkin pie.
   
   
6. Avoid holiday cocktails. Every gram of alcohol equals 7 calories.
   
   
7. Work out 30+ minutes before your day starts (make sure it includes cardio)
   
   
8. Convince your family members to go on a short walk after your food settles! Great time to chat and enjoy the scenery.
   
   
9. Know your limits and don't make yourself miserable. Think about all the hard work you have been putting in.
   
   
10. Last but not least- have an accountability partner in your family. Let them know that you are trying to stay on track and want to keep your food under control. This is also a great time to update your family and friends what you have been doing in your exercise routine and the large strides you have been making!

I know we can do it guys!! If you mess up......it is OK!!! Just make up for it and get a hard workout in soon!! Let's stay strong through the next months so we can get a jump start on the new year! Join me and kick that little voice that sits on your shoulder that wants you to fail this holiday season!!!

Here We Go!

Here we go! Welcome to my blog! I'm not so sure exactly how all this works, but I am willing to give it a try and express my feelings, ideas and dig deep with everyone that follows this..............just kidding! But who knows! I really am going to try to use this blog to be 1.) Interesting 2.) Informational and 3.) Inspirational. This is my first time.........so go easy on me.....that's what all my new clients say!!
Well let's start by getting to know me:
My name is Haley Ray and I am the Personal Trainer at Fit for Her in Edmond. I am 23 years of age (I don't believe in getting old), I am married to Patrick Ray (going on 3 years.....yikes!) and have a background in Kinesiology studies and I am certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine for Personal Training.
I have been the Personal Trainer at Fit for Her for just a little over a year and have extremely enjoyed it. It is not only doing what I love, but I have made some awesome friendships with people that share the same passion for fitness.
I am not your barbie/perfect body type, but one thing I am is real. I am a real woman with a real life and understand real life needs. I have never been a size 3 nor attempted to try to get my jumbo muscular leg into a pant leg of that size. And that is OK! :)
That brings me to the beginning of my interest into the fitness world...................
I was never a small child. I always seemed to be awkwardly bigger than most of the kids in my grade, ballet class, and the basketball court. I was always active, but I kept a lot of baby fat making me an over weight child. I didn't really see a problem with it until I started getting made fun of on the school bus constantly. I got used to people telling me the excuse that I was big boned (which I am), but there was plenty around those bones. Ughhhhh...... So being the determined person I was, I did two things 1.) I punched the guy who was calling me fat in the mouth and made him go to the dentist (mind you I was like in 5th grade)(disclaimer-I am not promoting violence, just justice) and 2.) That whole next summer I did workout sessions on TV! Lame I know, but I was determined to not be overweight anymore! My parents also bought a weight machine and I started lifting weights! This was my decision and motivation, I wasn't foreced to do anything. No parental units were involved in besides encouraging and supporting whatever I wanted to do.
I was always interested in basketball and my new interest in fitness just made my skills on the court that much better. My sister and I would spend countless hours every night going to the gym in town to play bball with the boys (yes I said "in town" bc we lived in the country, but the town only consisted of 500 ppl anyway). Then I started realizing the better shape I was in the better my performance on the court became. It was addicting and I craved the healthy lifestyle even more. I then pursued a dream of playing basketball in college and even in the WNBA :) Didn't make it to the WNBA.....but really that is how my interest in the fitness world started.
I know my story may not touch everyone, but hopefully you can relate to my experience somehow and how I overcame it!
That's all for now, but I intend to be posting more informative information in the near future!!