health coach – Page 4 – Khaos Theory Derby

Facing down the demons

She awkwardly stands up and moves to the front of the room; standing there for a moment, she shuffles her feet and looks at the floor for a moment. Then, steeling herself, she raises her gaze to the room of people gathered in front of her. These are the people she is supposed to lead and inspire; the people she is supposed to be an example and pillar of strength for.

“Hello, as you know, my name is Kristie,” she croaks.

“Hello, Kristie,” the zombie crowd responds.

She takes a breath. She looks them in the eye: “I am a food addict with a penchant for sweets.”

There. I said it. I have admitted it to the crowd. It is something I struggle with every day. It is something I fight within me. If there is food near me, I will eat it. If there is chocolate, or ice cream, or wine or sweets… I will find a reason to consume it.

For those of you now thinking, “Kristie, why is this a confession? You can eat that stuff! Look at you! You can afford it.”

This means that you are assuming I am eating healthy for the sake of a smaller number on the tags of my dresses. Not for the energy. Not to live longer. Not to be a better athlete. Being thinner is a side effect of being healthy, but it is not the only reward for me.

Being able to climb a flight of stairs without getting winded is a benefit. Not feeling like I have to nap at 3pm every day is amazing. Being at the end of an endurance practice and being able to say, “What? We’re done?” is the best feeling ever.

Nights when the addiction overcomes me is not the best feeling ever: Nights when I succumb to rich foods and chocolate cheesecakes and many glasses of alcohol cause me to make excuses. I say, “It’s ok. It’s vacation.” Or “We’re celebrating” or “It’s just tonight.” Really, the piece in the back of my head I’m saying “You just ate 1000 calories more than you should have.” Or “Your sugar count is off the charts and you didn’t work out hard today.” Or “how are you going to be faster than Burning River eating like that?”

Every day around food is a struggle for me, and most people do not realize it. I drink shakes and uber control my diet through high protein means and with the help of Herbalife. I have to be super strict on myself, not just because of my goals, but because of my habits. And the reason I look the way I do, and perform the way I do is BECAUSE I can control myself [usually]. But if I am lax on myself, and give myself an inch, is that allowing myself to be human or is that skirting responsibility? Does it do me any good to feel nothing but guilt after the fact?

So it comes to it.

I do not want to give myself too much slack, because then I could fall into the habit that I’ve seen other people fall into: They know that their threats are empty. They can eat what they want and not follow their plan and it’s ok. They’ll tell their coach that ‘they’ll do better tomorrow’ and that ‘well, that cake really won’t count.” They constantly fail and they blame the crash diet they were on, or the food they ate. Not themselves.

I will not do that. I will pay the consequences. I have let my addiction get the best of me tonight. It happens. I am human. However, that also means that tomorrow I will be doing an intense workout. As my consequence I will do strength training tomorrow as well as 100 minutes of cardio. Yes. Before we go to the Planetarium.

I will not let this defeat me.

Also, tomorrow my Herbalife shipment should be hitting the condo. (I’m at my parent’s condo visiting my baby sister this weekend) I will be fully stocked with shakes, vitamins, supplements and Hydrate. I will continue to strengthen my knee and my body and work towards my Level 10 body.

I may have been a disappointment today to the people who I am supposed to inspire, but it will not be a status long lived. Water intake, up. Goals set. Motivation ready.

I have a Fit for Summer Challenge starting up April 1 and I cannot wait to change lives. I am so pumped up to help other people who have let their addiction defeat them in the past. I am so excited to show each individual how beautiful they are. If you want in on the challenge, just contact me for info at KGreyActiveNutrition@gmail.com .

I am ready to take over the world with health and motivation. I am ready to conquer my demons. I am ready. The first step is admitting something that I have struggled to come to grips with over the course of my growth: I am addicted to food. I am addicted to sweets. I am addicted, but I am ready to change. I am willing to sacrifice. I am going to overcome and to win….

Are you?

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Choice

I’m getting all amped up thinking about being on a rock wall tonight.

Last weekend I got to attend the Frostbite Competition at Climbnasium in the no man’s land between Mechanicsburg and Carlisle, PA. Right after high school, I had discovered my love of climbing and for a while I was going 3 – 5 times a week.

I fell away from climbing when I let my life overwhelm me. I became more concerned with unhealthy pieces of life than the healthy ones. I made excuses: I cannot find the money, I cannot find the time, I don’t want to drive that far.

Honestly the reason was: I did not believe I was good enough to deserve having something in my life that I love.

Fast forward six years. I am a Health Coach. I’m 3.5 years deep into roller derby. I am in a relationship with a wonderful man that I’m hoping will let me stick around. I have a nice car. I have a great relationship with my family again. I am almost done school. I am allowing myself to be happy. I have come to realize that there is no such thing as “I don’t deserve”.

We are all worthy of happiness. We are all good enough. We tell ourselves otherwise because maybe we’re afraid of being happy on our own. Maybe we are embarrassed of where we are in our life. Maybe we had failed at something and we feel that we should be punished for it.

A punishment, simply for punishment’s sake, is unnecessary. All it does is make you feel more down about yourself. A punishment that furthers your goals – that can be beneficial. (For example, “I didn’t do my morning workout.” Don’t punish yourself by skipping a meal. Do a punishment of completing an evening workout and stay on the elliptical an extra 10 minutes.)

Know that you control your strength and your future. If you don’t believe you do, or if you just scoffed and said “Yea right. Nothing is in my control.” I completely understand. It’s very easy to be a victim to our circumstances. Don’t allow it. Change your mindset. Know that you are stronger than your situation. Decide to rise above it.

Does that mean taking a good, hard, honest look at yourself? Yes. Self-discovery is part of the long, hard road to success and changing your life. Step 1 is being able to say that you really want to change; that you’re really willing to commit to happiness and a positive mindset. You have to be ready to believe that you deserve that hobby. That love of another person. That cup of coffee.

You have to believe in yourself as much as the rest of us believe in you. On this Valentine’s Day, it’s not just romantic love that can be celebrated. Let’s celebrate our love of who we are. If you don’t love who you are, this is your chance to change it.

A belief is only something we keep telling ourselves. A belief is only something you made up in your head. It is your choice to make up something positive or negative. It your move to make.

For me, I choose the positive. I choose water with aloe and feeding my body what it needs. I choose enjoying my hobbies and pushing my body and my mind past the limits I had previously set for myself. I choose success. I choose health. I choose love.

I have chosen to look at the bad things I have done in the past and to forgive myself for them. I have chosen to take responsibility of the things I have or have not done, and the hurt I may have caused others and myself. I have chosen to accept certain idiosyncrasies about myself that are not negative as I thought. I chose to change my situation, to change my outlook. I choose better.

Tonight .. I choose rock climbing! (You can keep your wine and roses)

What do you choose?

I just signed up for an Instagram! You should follow me at KristieGrey

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This is why I love my job

Ok I hate the cold weather. That’s not much of a secret. I also hate that for the last week straight there has been ZERO sunshine. It’s just grey outside all the time. It is downright draining. On top of that, I have had a really hard time focusing because my laptop’s charger went kaputsky and our oldest boy, Abbey, has been really sick and we had to take him to the vet for hydration and meds.

Yes, Abbey is one of our cats. Don't judge. He is fur children. — Yes, Abbey is one of our cats. Don’t judge. He is fur children.

Well things have been looking up! Though my time at the bridal show hasn’t been 100% successful yet (but I know it will be), I know that I have laid groundwork with brides and some other vendors to be able to start working in the bridal industry again (and I’m so excited for that). In fact, you can check out my OTHER blog – Fit2TietheKnot.com … you should follow that too and tell your friends. I got to connect with old friends Linda Kelly and Mary Ann Naglieri at the Unveiled13 Bridal Show by Metalaye. Who are they? They were my Mary Kay sponsors!! (Ever wonder why my derby name is Merry Khaos?) I also got to see Nuria (who is now the event planner at AACA) and Melissa (who is the event planner at Metalaye). Together, the five of us would brave the weekends of Alfred Angelos together in Harrisburg.

What other job would I have been able to reconnect with them in such an awesome way! I’m so excited to work with all of them in the future! Mary Kay/Herbalife parties… consultations with brides… snacks and health for all!

So, because my charger has not been working, I’ve been looking for another way of reaching out to people and today I followed through on an idea I had a while ago. Why not reach out to my neighborhood? Let them know I’m here? So today I spent a half hour running and dropping door hangers onto my neighbors doors!

Not only was I able to let people know that I’m here, but … I was able to get an extra workout in!! I’ve been having a really hard time getting myself OUTSIDE to run. I’ve been feeling it at practice though. When I jam, my short burst endurance and long endurance are NOT what they were in October. So I really have to push myself to go further and harder on my non-practice days. The big problem getting outside? I have to dress like Nanook of the North because it’s below freezing outside and I was not built for those temperatures.

Branded ninja. You don't see that often. — Branded ninja. You don’t see that often.

So running. And lifting. And doing the 24 week DVD series 24Fit by Herbalife. And lots of protein. And lots of water. And lots of shakes and vitamins and goodness!

This is why I love my job. I get to be healthy! I have to be healthy as part of my job! I get to set goals and accomplish goals and feel awesome about myself because I am the healthiest and strongest I’ve ever been. I get to talk to people about how they can do it too. I get to help my friends live better and maybe make a couple bucks on their own. I’m still finding my way, but I love that my friends are finding their way with me!

And now, I sit with a penguin mug with lemon tea concentrate and herbal aloe. I will be delivering goodies to my friends as soon as I can. I will be helping other athletes in my area be hydrated, stronger and faster. I will help other people be healthy. WOO!

PS Bank track tournament April 19-21 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Derby Ink Invitational. We’ll have a ‘Derbalife’ table there. You should make sure you check it out.

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The Knee, the Updates, the New Year

It is December 29. It is snowing and I am completely overwhelmed at the amount of stuff I am supposed to have done in the next four days. However, get it done, I must. Before so I thought I’d do an update here.

About 2 months ago, I set up a series of goals to hit over the course of my knee recovery. I’m pleased to say that I have hit many of them… The last set of goals was:

Use the bike to complete 70 miles (cumulatively) on level 7 resistance — Did not do this. I got so bored on the bike, and there were many days that I did my workouts at home so I never made it to the gym.
Use the elliptical machine to complete 40 miles on level 6 resistance – I got 30 miles in during one week on resistance 4. Again, not being at the gym didn’t help this goal.
Run outdoors (I don’t care what the temperature is) for 30 minutes one day – Did this the day before Thanksgiving! Well before it was scheduled
Complete 25 one-minute plyometric exercises, with a focus on side-to-side motion – Totally done several times.
Increase weight on all strength training workouts – I can now leg press 60 pounds with individual legs, my upper body has increased weight 5 times since I started too.
Complete 250 pushups (cumulatively) – Ok. Slacked on this. I do about 120 push ups a week.
Complete 30 minutes of derby position (cumulatively) – YES! Did this during my skating session!! My quads are so sore
Complete 60 minutes of Bosu work (cumulatively) – Bosu was buried for a few weeks, but I’m back to it.
Complete an extended Skid/Shrap “Derby Calisthenics” workout 4 times – Hell to the yes.
Cardio should be done 6 days, strength should be done 4 days – Ok, I do my best to hit this. The snow has made it difficult, but I am working out daily.

BENCHMARK 4: After being able to walk, run and cut comfortably and with no knee pain… I CAN GET BACK ON MY SKATES ………………………..
Been able to skate the last few weeks. This week was the first time that my knee felt completely normal as I skated. It did fatigue for the second skating session I did on Thursday, but it feels great today.

On the nutrition side, I had switched from a long-distance nutrition routine to a strength/recovery-based regiment and it seems to have made a difference. For the last two months, I have been using the Rebuild Strength as my recovery, I’ve added the Joint Support and Herbalifeline to my routine, while taking out the Total Control. I also began taking the Aminogen. I drink a 3 scoop shake every morning and I have aimed for a minimum of 120g of protein each day. Thank goodness for the Dulce de Leche, Chocolate and Latte flavored Formula 1 shakes. 😀 And the multi-vitamin. AND the tea concentrate!! They’ve kept my body primed and ready to go.

Some personal goals for the next month:

1. Replace 5 pounds of fat with 5 pounds of muscle
2. Have complete hitting capabilities on my skates by January 15
3. Bench press 80 pounds by January 30 (don’t laugh, I’m only at 45 now)
4. 25 in 3:45 (My best is 3:42 and that was when I was in good form and had been on skates consistently for 2 years)
5. Be able to leg press 250 with both legs by January 30 (I’m at 140 now)

Nutrition goals:

1. No alcohol in the month of January
2. 140 ounces of water per day
3. 115g of protein per day
4. No more than 2100 calories on a hard cardio day, no more than 1800 calories on a strength day
5. Consume a minimum of 1400 calories daily
6. Get back on my fiber/aloe routine

Personal goals:

1. Have 10 Derbalife boot camps on the books for the year
2. Change 15 lives with Herbalife health programs (Check them out here)
3. Find 5 people who want to take the Herbalife journey with me (Learn about the opportunity)
4. Plan and implement marketing goals for Dutchland Rollers
5. Be organized for my last semester, including having my independent studies rolling
6. Have half the money saved up needed to get my own apartment
7. Keep up with my blog, iChange & Examiner pages.
8. Have tables booked at Derby Ink, NE Con and East Coast Extravaganza
9. Bring a guest to the January Spectacular Event in Philly
10. Have 2 more team members attend January Spectacular

January will be a great month to get the year started. I will be stronger and faster than ever before. My journey to the end of my Bachelor’s degree is almost complete. I’m building a strong Herbalife and Derbalife health client base. I have a good outlook. No matter how frustrating it may be sometimes. I will get myself and Matt and our cats to a place where we have space and comfort. It will happen.

If your league is interested in booking a Derbalife Boot Camp, contact me at DerbyAmerica@yahoo.com. If you’re interested in hosting a nutrition class, or just getting a health profile, you can also drop me a line. 🙂 Let’s find good health together.

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November 21 Progress

So… I reached benchmark 1 last week, so I began with other cardio already. That being said, I need to tweak my goals for this week. I also have to consider that I’m at my family’s house all week and they do not have my gym nearby. I am limited to what they have here. So….

Use the elliptical for a total of 60 minutes
Run for a total of 40 minutes
Increase number of reps on right leg by two reps/set on all exercises
Be able to straighten leg completely and walk normally without pain
Complete 60 pushups (cumulatively)
Complete 15 minutes of holding derby position (cumulatively)
Complete 10 minutes of Bosu work (cumulatively)
Complete a Skid Ho “Derby Calisthenics” workout 3 times
Cardio should be done 5 days, strength should be done 3 days

So far here is what I have done:

Logged 50 minutes on the elliptical over 2 days
Ran 25 minutes today
Can straighten leg almost completely without assistance
Completed 40 pushups
Completed 5 minutes of derby position
Completed 5 minutes of Bosu work
Have done 2 Skid Ho Calisthenics workouts
Have done cardio 3 times, strength 2 times.
Can leg press 50 pound with only my right leg
Began lateral motion today with light trials of shuffles, karaoke and replication of skating motion.

Herbalife shakes — Formula 1 Herbalife Shakes

My nutrition has been approximately this:

One Formula 1 shake for a meal & one for recovery
One Beverage Mix per day
One Herbalife Protein bar
A minimum of 120 ounces of water
Herbalife multivitamin, Cell Activator and Thermo-bond
One Herbalife 24 Hydrate
Herbalife Niteworks & Restore before bed
A minimum of 110g of protein throughout the day

I’m excited that my progress is much greater than I expected at this stage in the game! I am excited to start up a Fit Club and begin teaching others again. I’m also excited to help other athletes conquer their own injury with strength and nutrition.

http://www.goherbalife.com/kgrey

Working out with Herbalife — Herbalife has helped so many of us reach our goals!

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Creating a brand within a brand

Both a blessing and a curse is creating a brand within a brand. For myself, I have two brands that I fit my Health Coaching within: Herbalife and Derbalife.

Huh?

Yes. Herbalife is the large face of Nutrition that I work under. I am a Health Coach and I utilize the Herbalife nutrition and resources. Herbalife has been promoting health and wellness since 1980 and are the top nutrition company in the world. I have a strong brand to stand with.

Derbalife is a brand within the brand. Kristen Adolfi created the brand “Derbalife” three years ago when she began focusing on the health and fitness of the roller derby community. It started as a joke within the LA Derby Dolls and now has expanded to a worldwide recognizable name within the derby community.

So, in the everyday community I must create an image of Kristie Grey, Herbalife Health Coach. Then, in the derby community I must create the brand of Merry Khaos, Derbalife Health Coach. It sounds redundant, but it is necessary. The regular person at the gym is not going to recognize Derbalife (or may feel alienated by it). Something similar will happen with derby folks – they recognize Derbalife. They may think Herbalife is something different so I may have to work twice as hard to get their attention.

It is an interesting balance to work within two brands of the same company. Creating my own image as a Health Coach is reliant on the brands I work within, but then I must create my own path. Sports nutrition? Wedding parties? Weight loss? How do you tell people that you do it all without seeming to spread yourself too thin?

Primary audience and secondary audience are in the works. For now, I will work on getting every client I can and helping them get the results they deserve. The branding will have to be balanced as I go. So far, people who who have contacted me about getting results are not as concerned with the logo on my business card. I hope that continues!

See my Herbalife website here and have me as your own health coach!