Injuries suck.  Let's just start there.  Whether the injury is acute (happened suddenly) or a chronic issue that has been steadily getting worse over time, they can derail your plans for fitness and weight loss.   All injuries are difficult, shoulders, ankles, elbows, and my dreaded personal favourite, the knee ! If you've followed me on social media, or this blog for a while now, you probably are well aware of my own personal issues with knee injuries.   If you haven't or you're new to my blog, here's a quick rundown:  Torn ACL on my left knee in November 2015 in jujitsu, then I tore my right ACL 7 months later in June 2016, at jujitsu again .  I had bilateral ACL surgery to repair both my knees in September 2016.   Then in May of 2017, I got a small tear in the meniscus of my left knee.  My surgeon was confident it was small enough to heal on its own.  It didn't bother me and I continued to train, lif...

Feelings of anxiety or intimidation in the gym are not uncommon.   If you took a poll of everyone in the gym, I can guarantee you that a significant amount of people  felt the same when they first started.  As a fitness professional, I feel it is my job to help my clients with their gym anxiety and make them feel more comfortable.  A gym is a place for everyone, no matter where in their journey they are.  That being said,  a person who has never been in the gym before, they might not initially share those thoughts.  L ooking at all the equipment that you're not sure how to use, then seeing someone lift a scary amount of weight with ease as you go for the 5lb weights can make you feel self-conscious.  You may feel that you're being stared at or judged for where you are at in your journey, even if you're just starting! Gym anxiety or feelings of intimidation can be because of many different reasons, and each one of them is valid and...

If you're like the majority of the population out there, you've gone through some struggles with weight loss and sustaining your results.   Maybe you tried a new diet or dove headfirst into a new workout routine and then you got tired of it, or fell off track and then reverted back to your old habits.  Any weight you had lost returned and you feel the cycle start over again. Frustrating, I know and I get it.  Sustainable weight loss or habits changing can feel like it's so far away and every time you try, you just go back to what you know as normal. The truth is, to see longterm results, like real life-changing results, you need to change your life.   What does that mean?  Must you lose your life completely, adopt a new identity, with new friends in a new town just to stick to longterm weight loss?  No. But you need to accept that to keep up with your results for good, you will have to change your habits and create a new normal for yourse...