First off, what is a vision board? Many of you already know and probably already have one but for those of you who do not, it’s a place where you put photos or quotes of things you would like to have in your life.  Some people cut them out of magazines and some people just throw up words or phrases that they create on the computer.

When The Secret came out, vision boards were a hot topic.  It’s how I manifested my husband in 3 weeks actually.  Jeanne knew this and wanted me to share my experience with their patients to inspire them to do the same and enjoy success in all areas of their lives- esp health and wellness.

How to do a vision board:

• Find and cut out pictures that inspire you
• Arrange and attach them to a cork board or posterboad
• Be as creative as you like or as simple as you like

How to USE a vision board:

Putting the pictures on the board will excite you as you do it.  The good, positive feelings you have will help to raise your energy and vibration causing you to become a magnet for higher energy things.

But once the board is up on the wall and you see it everyday, the effect will wear off unless you use it.

• Stand in front of your creation
• Pick 1 picture to focus on
• Imagine yourself IN the picture
• Concentrate on the smells, the sounds, and the feelings of touch or air on your body
• Focus on this until you FEEL something in your body for 1-2 minutes
• Open you eyes and carry these good feelings with you all day long

Vision boards are like exercise- they only work if you practice!

for guidance and coaching on your weight loss, exercise or wellness vision board be sure to start by visiting www.6weekbeachbody.com and get your free tools and inspiration and call us at 800 571 5722

Click here to view the embedded video.

1. Family time does not have to mean sit and eat.  Quality time together can be spent doing other activities.  Try to clear the table while people are slowing down to take away temptations of over eating.
2. Traditional meals probably contain high calorie ingredients such as pasta, butter, oil, cheese and sugar.  Be creative and consult some low fat cooking sources on alternative ingredients that will cut several hundred calories per dish using items like egg whites, applesauce, fruit paste, lighter versions (not fat free) and etc.  No need to tell the family–they probably won’t notice!
3. Add some new dishes to the dinner table of salads, vegetable, fruits and broth-based soups.  These are generally healthier choices so you can fill up in these and eat less “empty calorie” stuff.
4. Schedule in your exercise in the mornings.  Ask a friend or family member to join, it will help with accountability/
5. Learn to say “No Thank You”.  You do not have to try every dish prepared or eat all that you take.
6. While in preparation, only sample the food that is necessary.  You could potentially eat 500-800 calories in sampling before you sit down to eat.  Save yourself for the meal only to save some unwanted calories that may sneak in!
7. Eat ONLY until you are satisfied, NOT full.  If you sit at the dinner table for more then 2 hours, you are probably going to eat more then you need to because it’s there.
8. Keep a log of ALL of your exercise and food.  The average amount of calories for an adult between the ages of 30-55 who participates in moderate activity of 2-3 hours a week is 1800 (women)-2300 (men).  The average holiday meal including drinks can average around 2800-3200.  Logging keeps you aware of why the scale goes up and down during this time of year.
9. Create a 15 min exercise routine that you can do every during the busy times. Add things like jumping jacks, jump rope, bridge, push ups, etc.  You want to have tools outside of the gym!
10. Holidays are stressful times and sometimes depressing for some.  Exercise boosts your body’s production of serotonin, the body’s “happy drug”.   Don’t let stress win!  If you need some support hire a trainer or a coach.  You’ll be glad you had the discipline and you will be ahead of the game for the New Year!

Get your FREE copy of the 30 Day JUMP Start program workbook and audio on my site!  http://www.invisiblefitness.com

This is the perfect time to print it and use it as a daily log til the end of the year.  It can motivate you as well as be a gentle reminder that the holiday is just a DAY, not a season.

Join me for FREE on Saturday November 7^th at 10:15am at The Scottsdale Weight Loss Center where you will find your Easy Exercise Solution!

What you will learn:

What is stopping you from regular exercise

How to create a 15 min exercise routine that works!

Which exercises increase metabolism

Why you don’t need a gym

Why a plateau is a good thing and more!

JJ Flizanes has been a personal trainer since 1996 and has had her own company, Invisible Fitness, since May 2001.  JJ is well known in the media, she has appeared on NBC, KTLA, CBS, and Fox 11 as well as been featured in many local and national magazines.  She was chosen as best personal trainer in Los Angeles for 2007 by Elite Traveler Magazine’s Global Black Book and one of the featured trainers in Shape Magazine in 2003. JJ was chosen as a finalist for IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year 2009.Before starting her own company, she was the Director of Education for New York Sports Club in New York City. She is also the Fitness Expert for the Nourishing Wellness Medical Center’s Anti Aging Program in Redondo Beach and is also the Wellness Expert for FKC International.

Where:  Scottdale Weight Loss Center

9989 N. 95th St.
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
(480) 366-4400

When: Saturday  Nov 7th, 10:15am

Cost: FREE

To Register:  call 800 571 5722

BONUS:  All participants will also get a free gift!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Please take a minute to read one of my favorite speeches given by Marianne Williamson. I think the title of this is ” Don’t Shrink”.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves,“Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Every time I read that I feel like there is nothing else I could say to make this point any clearer. You always have at least 2 options.  You could go left or right, think of something as right or wrong, go forward or backward as well as many other choices, I am sure you get the picture.  And in life, I believe you have the choice to believe that you are here to serve the world or you are here to get from the world.

Can you have both of those beliefs at the same time?  Of course, but on a day to day basis how do you look at the world and what do you expect?  From way back in my childhood, I can remember KNOWING that I had to give back, serve the world and help people.   And through my journey, it has been revealed to me the most effective and joyous ways I can do that.  Just be me.

Live my life to the best of my ability and be an example of what it is I stand for.  Walk my walk and talk my talk. As I learn and grow, I share that with people around me.  I use my life as an example for others to learn from.  I put it ALL out there because I feel that is how I connect with the teachers I have as well.

It’s inspiring to me to watch other women grow, change, become wildly successful, find their perfect mate, be insanely happy and that inspires me to do the same.  If I looked around, read the paper, watched the news every day, I would probably believe that life is hopeless, hard, unhappy and negative.  But I don’t.

I CHOOSE my thoughts.  I search for inspiration. I choose to live my life as an example of inspiration to others who might not otherwise believe in themselves.  I create products and programs that serve as a way for me to reach out and help others overcome the obstacles in their way.  I love what I do and I love who I am.  And everything I stand for is also about helping you to love who you are too.

“Hi JJ, I had to write to tell you I think you are really gifted at what you do and are passionate about. I can’t tell you how much your own openness and naked honesty about yourself helps me and encourages me in my journey to health, wealth and overall life satisfaction!

I am feeling very encouraged today and feel this sense of encouragement and empowerment that came from our session today will carry me over to the next week, and so on. Thank You again for being true and authentic!” Brenda R, CA

1.       the people who think or are diagnosed as depressed

2.       everyone else who experiences ups and downs

I have talked about this before for those of you who have been with me for awhile.  I wanted to bring it back into focus during this time of our experience because of all the “bad” news that is out there. I first must tell you that I choose not to give it energy- so I feel as happy and as hopeful as ever!   But if you have been subjected to a job loss, stock loss or other circumstances where the energy surrounding you  is sad, fearful and depressed- please read on.

You know that exercise is good for your body, but did you know that exercise is also good for your head? How does exercise compare with medication for the treatment of depression? A recent placebo-controlled study conducted by James Blumenthal, professor of psychology at Duke University and published in the September issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine compared exercise to a common antidepressant medication in a group of individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder, and found that exercise was as effective as the drug at alleviating symptoms of the disorder. In fact, a research team that included psychologist Penny McCullagh, PhD, reached the following conclusions:

1.       Exercise was a beneficial antidepressant both immediately and over the long term.

2.    Exercise was an equally effective antidepressant  for both genders.

3.  The greater the length of the exercise program and the larger the total number of exercise sessions, the greater the decrease in depression with exercise.

There are more but I chose to list the top 3 in my opinion.  Why not lose weight, increase your stamina, AND heal depression at the same time?  And the best part- it’s FREE!

I know it’s considered easy in our society to take a pill. Everyone wants the magic pill for everything.  But pause for a minute and think about where this mentality has gotten us?  What has this type of mentality COST us? I think we can see evidence of it in our health, wealth and happiness.  Here are some shocking facts for our current health status:

• The world now has more people who are overweight than people who are hungry (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2007)
• It is projected that by 2023 there will be a 42% increase in cases of the seven chronic diseases, which will cost $4.2 trillion in treatment and lost economic output (DeVol et. Al. 2007)
• According to the World Health Organization, The US is the world’s fattest nation, with over half of adults overweight or obese. But China and India are growing fatter at a faster pace. By 2015, the number of overweight and obese adults in China and India will grow by 66% and 44% respectively (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2007)

Then there’s our economic status- which I do not need to tell you about.  The point I am making here though is that the way in which we have done things before are proving to us to be ineffective, costly and even deadly.  It’s time for CHANGE.  We voted on it so let’s DO it!

For those of you who are not “clinically depressed” but definitely get into a “funk”, all the same info applies.  Chemically, we stimulate our brains and our bodies to produce our own natural “happy drug” when we exercise- so if you are feeling low… spend at least 10 min doing something to elevate your heart rate and circulate some happiness!

J.J. Flizanes is the Director of Invisible Fitness and was named the best personal trainer in Los Angeles for 2007 by Elite Traveler Magazine. Invisible Fitness offers fitness coaching, workshops & seminars and corporate programs. 800 571 5722  http://www.invisiblefitness.com

Sources

Psychosomatic Medicine, September 2007;
Babyak, M. A., Blumenthal, J. A., Herman, S., Khatri, P., Doraiswamy, P. M., Moore, K. A., Craighead, W. E., Baldewicz, T. T., & Krishnan, K. R. (2000). Exercise treatment for major depression: Maintenance of therapeutic benefit at 10 months. Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol. 62. pp. 633-638.

North, T. C., P. McCullagh, and Z. V. Tran. (1990). Effect of exercise on depression. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews Vol. 18 pp. 379-415.

What if I am just NOT motivated?

I have gone through some major life changes in the last few months and I myself have been extremely exhausted–sleeping 10-11 hours every night and still having no energy!  I was so UN motivated and tired to the point of wondering if it was mild depression!  I want to share my story with you for two reasons.

First, I am human too and feel ALL the same things you go through to the extent of my experience.  It’s always amazing to me to hear what clients think I am “like”. I am not super human. Secondly, through my pain and suffering, I hope to provide some hope, insight and maybe a new perspective on your own journey. I also want you to know that I truly understand.

As some if not most of you know, I got married in early August.  In the few months prior to the wedding, I was on “super overdrive” trying to get all details taken care of and successfully fund our event. I had a wedding planner (who was great) and that did help but the stress of this undertaking especially when we did it as a destination wedding was HUGE- more than I thought.  Well, more than I was aware at the time.

The wedding was fabulous and the wedding day was stress free thanks to all this planning! On our honeymoon, we got a call from Jeanne Peters who shared with us a “healer” named Ken that creates and works with flower essences.  Jeanne had encouraged us to have a session with him if we could before we left the island.  And we did.

To keep it short and simple, my reading was one of the deepest and intense readings he had ever done.  He said it 4 times in the 45 minutes we spent focused on me. I think he was relieved when my reading was over because he wasn’t used to delivering such powerful news.  Most flower essence readings are “kinda nice” as he described it.

The gist of my reading had to do with very early patterns growing up that I developed to compensate for something I didn’t want to feel.  There has been a feeling for 30+ years that I have NOT allowed myself to feel!  The flower essences were suppose to bring those up in order to balance them and dissolve them.

Let’s just say that for the past few weeks, since returning from the wedding, I have been not motivated, exhausted, depressed, and physically weak.   This phase went on for 3-4 weeks!!  ( I feel better now)  If I didn’t have to leave the house, I wouldn’t.  I even cancelled all my appointment one day because I was immobile and my body felt heavy and weak.  Even going for a walk would get me in my target heart rate zone!  Just WALKING!  I saw physical effects of my emotions.  I had plenty of rest, I ate fairly well (I am still gluten free) so the only thing it could be was emotional.

Wow.  What do you do when you feel this way?  I had no idea.  Normally, I just talk myself out of it! And choosing your thoughts is how to gain control of your life but I was doing it to AVOID feeling what I felt.  And so the feelings would get “Swept under the rug” so to speak and have built up over my life time.

So what if you are not motivated?  I wasn’t.  But what I was- was curious as to WHY.  Of course I have the desire to be as healthy and as fit as I can.  I didn’t like that I wasn’t working out.  I didn’t like feeling exhausted.  But just like a detox, I came to understand what was going on with me to except this “phase”.

Had Ken NOT explained that the emotions would be triggered, I may have not taken the whole prescribed bottle.  But I knew to expect a detox of sorts.  I also while really IN this, made peace with myself, forgave myself and tried to be as loving as I could.  And then it passed.  I didn’t fight it.

For some people, feeling unmotivated is the excuse to stay in that stage longer than you need to.  It could be fear.  Fear of failure.  Fear of success. Fear of lack of support or fear of the unknown.

What is the underlying reason of your lack of motivation?  I believe, once you can pinpoint that, it dissolves.

For all the ladies who have made it to the end of this story, Jeanne Peters Rd and I are hosting a women’s only workshop called LOVE YOUR BODY.  If you would like to get to the bottom of your lack of motivation or any other feeling that is stopping you from attaining the health and body YOU deserve, call or email to sign up.  We’d love to help you transform your relationship with YOUR body.

Written by JJ Flizanes, Director of Invisible Fitness

800 571 5722

http://www.invisiblefitness.com

Watch this first: http://twitpwr.com/Oprah/

1. Oprah’s exercise form is AWFUL.  She is probably doing a few different exercises for the camera but she has not control, she is swinging her arms and she isn’t doing enough weight or reps to get real benefit.  Whether this was staged for camera or not, it’s bad.

2. She isn’t wearing a Heart Rate Monitor.  HOW CAN SHE NOT KNOW about a HR Monitor?  Bob isn’t that good…. This is inefficient use of her time.  The talk test is not very accurate in telling you when it’s time to change your cardio to get the most bang for your buck in time.

3. She is working out 6 days a week?  No wonder she can’t stick to a program…..it’s all or nothing.  There is a happy medium….

4. I am sure she knows nothing about Gluten.  And I would bet money she (since we all are) is gluten sensitive.  The only thing I could see in her diet that’s gluten is probably the salad dressing…

5. Mental/ emotional- she didn’t touch on that one… but it’s the foundation.

6. Hormones- Oprah DID NOT test the right things- very incomplete.  She only did TSH. There are 3 Thyroid hormones: TSH, T3 and T4.  Dr Oz is BEHIND the times…..

7. I heard nothing of Cortisol.  That’s an adrenal hormone that I am SURE was elevated because of her imbalance of stress and schedule.  She probably had adrenal fatigue but would need to test DHEA to know for sure.  DHEA helps to make your Thyroid hormones so this would be WHY her medication didn’t work.

What IS good about this video

1.      She is scheduling herself in it for balance- good!

2.      Her food is charted out ( seems a bit boring of a menu to me hence why someone would fall off b/c it’s not very fun and it’s too repetitive)

3.      She gets her exercise in

When wanting to follow or create a program – please get some personal help with it!!!  That way you don’t waste time, deal with your real issues and have success from the start!  No one likes to waste time..

We offer a free program to help you get started!  Our 30 Day JUMP Start at http://www.invisiblefitness.com 800 571 5722

I have gone through some major life changes in the last few months and I myself have been extremely exhausted–sleeping 10-11 hours every night and still having no energy!  I was so UN motivated and tired to the point of wondering if it was mild depression!  I want to share my story with you for two reasons.  First, I am human too and feel ALL the same things you go through to the extent of my experience.  It’s always amazing to me to hear what clients think I am “like”. I am not super human. Secondly, through my pain and suffering, I hope to provide some hope, insight and maybe a new perspective on your own journey. I also want you to know that I truly understand.

As some if not most of you know, I got married in early August.  In the few months prior to the wedding, I was on “super overdrive” trying to get all details taken care of and successfully fund our event. I had a wedding planner (who was great) and that did help but the stress of this undertaking especially when we did it as a destination wedding was HUGE- more than I thought.  Well, more than I was aware at the time.

The wedding was fabulous and the wedding day was stress free thanks to all this planning! On our honeymoon, we got a call from Jeanne Peters who shared with us a “healer” named Ken that creates and works with flower essences.  Jeanne had encouraged us to have a session with him if we could before we left the island.  And we did.

To keep it short and simple, my reading was one of the deepest and intense readings he had ever done.  He said it 4 times in the 45 minutes we spent focused on me. I think he was relieved when my reading was over because he wasn’t used to delivering such powerful news.  Most flower essence readings are “kinda nice” as he described it.

The gist of my reading had to do with very early patterns growing up that I developed to compensate for something I didn’t want to feel.  There has been a feeling for 30+ years that I have NOT allowed myself to feel!  The flower essences were suppose to bring those up in order to balance them and dissolve them.

Let’s just say that for the past few weeks, since returning from the wedding, I have been not motivated, exhausted, depressed, and physically weak.   This phase went on for 3-4 weeks!!  ( I feel better now)  If I didn’t have to leave the house, I wouldn’t.  I even cancelled all my appointment one day because I was immobile and my body felt heavy and weak.  Even going for a walk would get me in my target heart rate zone!  Just WALKING!  I saw physical effects of my emotions.  I had plenty of rest, I ate fairly well (I am still gluten free) so the only thing it could be was emotional.

Wow.  What do you do when you feel this way?  I had no idea.  Normally, I just talk myself out of it! And choosing your thoughts is how to gain control of your life but I was doing it to AVOID feeling what I felt.  And so the feelings would get “Swept under the rug” so to speak and have built up over my life time.

So what if you are not motivated?  I wasn’t.  But what I was- was curious as to WHY.  Of course I have the desire to be as healthy and as fit as I can.  I didn’t like that I wasn’t working out.  I didn’t like feeling exhausted.  But just like a detox, I came to understand what was going on with me to except thi”phase”.

Had Ken NOT explained that the emotions would be triggered, I may have not taken the whole prescribed bottle.  But I knew to expect a detox of sorts.  I also while really IN this, made peace with myself, forgave myself and tried to be as loving as I could.  And then it passed.  I didn’t fight it.

For some people, feeling unmotivated is the excuse to stay in that stage longer than you need to.  It could be fear.  Fear of failure.  Fear of success. Fear of lack of support or fear of the unknown.

What is the underlying reason of your lack of motivation?  I believe, once you can pinpoint that, it dissolves.

For all the ladies who have made it to the end of this story, Jeanne Peters Rd and I are hosting a women’s only workshop called LOVE YOUR BODY.  It’s happening November 7-9^th, 2008.  If you would like to get to the bottom of your lack of motivation or any other feeling that is stopping you from attaining the health and body YOU deserve, call or email to sign up.  We’d love to help you transform your relationship with YOUR body.

Written by JJ Flizanes, Director of Invisible Fitness

800 571 5722

http://www.invisiblefitness.com