I am STRONG!

Hello my dear friends. How are you doing? How's your training and clean eating going? Are you struggling at all? Are you eating cleaner and working out harder every day? We had a moment in camp today that was coincidental - I don't really believe in coincidence, so feel like sharing it with you.

As you set goals for yourself and strive to move the ball forward on becoming more fit and healthier from the inside out, do you listen to how you speak to yourself and about yourself?

Twice today, two different people used the same word to describe themselves. Weakness.

How do you think of yourself? What words do you use when you talk to yourself? Folks typically show up in camp with tons of negative self talk oozing from their lips. They call themselves fat, slow, out of shape, loser, weak, not a runner, not an athlete, and on and on.

This kind of self talk is self destructive and has a powerful grip on you! Stop it! When you speak of yourself this way to yourself and out loud, you are perpetuating the percieved undesirable feature or quality. As long as you keep these thoughts running through your body, you will keep producing results to confirm what you are speaking.

Think about it. Call yourself a fat, out of shape loser right now and see what it does to you. I bet your posture sinks, your eyes cast to your feet, you heave a sigh and your spirit falls.

Now, try this; give thanks to your body for what it can and will do for you today. Be grateful that you are alive and well and able. Be at peace that you are exactly where you are right now and that you are in exactly the perfect place to reach for your higher self. You are in a wonderful place to reach for cleaner food, to plan for your daily activity and complete it. Say to yourself: "Today is the perfect day for me to be a little bit better at being me. I am ready, able and capable of taking great care of myself today and enjoying the way it feels to do so. I am grateful for my body, for the air in my lungs and the nutrition in my blood that is giving me energy and the possibility for greatness. Today I am moving closer to my greatest self and it feels envigorating!"

You sitting up a little taller? Smiling? Breathing easily? Excited about getting going on your goals for today?

My claim to you is that we don't have faults or flaws. We do have habits and practices that take us further away from achieving what have set in our hearts and minds to achieve for ourselves. We do engage in moments in our days where we stop ourselves from stepping into the future we desire to live in. Those are not faults, flaws or weaknesses. They are merely practices, thoughts and habits we would do well to acknowledge and consciously step away from. They are opportunities for us to stop ourselves, breathe deep, get centered and be "thought-full" about how we are being.

When you recognize that you have just spoken in a negative way about yourself, catch yourself. Stop. CHOOSE a different thought. "No, I am not weak. I am strong. I do have an opportunity to create a game plan to strengthen myself here and I am doing that. I give thanks to a body that can and will." And then forge ahead confidently.

Focus on planting wisely the thoughts you allow in your mind. Consciously and deliberately pull the weeds and throw them behind you never to be heard from again. Cultivate strong, powerful, useful thoughts that create you as someone able and moving into your best self and the life you are supposed to be living.

Today is a great day to become all you were always meant to be.

In Fitness and In Health,

Melanie Churchwell