overcome – Page 5 – Khaos Theory Derby

Stepping into Leadership

Many people claim that they want to be a leader. They want to inspire and encourage people. They say that it is their goal to become the person standing in front of the room that has people following in their footsteps to greatness.

What does that really mean though, and for what purpose do you want to lead?

Wanting to be a leader sounds very self-serving when you break it down this way. It’s not the desire to lead people that we need to focus on, it’s the desire to be making positive change in the world, and being able to affect change in others around you.

It should not be the goal to be the person in front of the room because you want the praise and attention. It should be that you are the one in front of the room setting the example for the NEXT person who will be in the front of the room. Your job as a leader should be to take a machete to the jungle. To mow the path and then to lay a lovely road for those who come after you.

Not for the praise, but because it is the right thing to do and it is for a cause you believe in.

I have, in the past, been one who wanted to be at the front of the room. I wanted to be leading people but I didn’t know in what capacity. I have become very clear over the last few days. I want to be leading people into a better life and a healthier lifestyle.

We all know that I’ve been a health coach for a little while now (about 8 months!), and though my mission has always been to help new friends reclaim their health, now I know that it’s more than that. I want to help people become HarderBetterFasterStronger (the name of my Team) and I want to show people that they are capable of achieving greater wealth and happiness than they ever thought possible.

I want to tell everyone that they are able to unlock their own happiness and freedom – it’s in them. I love being able to motivate people to go out there and just do it.

The first step though, is to understand that I have the same capability. Understand … and embrace. So step 1: creating an event. This Saturday will be my first FIT CLUB!! It will be at Koon’s Park in Linglestown. I’m going to scout out a good spot for it amongst the fields and we’ll do basic cardio and strength training that everyone can adjust to their own level.

Afterwards, we’ll replenish with some tea and shakes (made out of the back of my station wagon lol) and then I’ll go on my way to my bank track game.

Yes. This weekend is also the Derby Ink Invitational Tournament. I want to show everyone that it is possible to be a full time student, full time health coach, full time athlete and still have a chance to dabble in the things you love. Does life get full sometimes? Yes. Absolutely.

I’m doing what I love though. Can’t really complain about that. My hope is that others see me being successful while doing the things I love and they think to themselves, “I’d love to do that too. I’d love to help people be healthy, get awesome results and integrate it into what I love more than anything.”

Thus, building the next generation of leaders.

Let us lead together and lead wholly. Let us find our passions and live through them. Each day is a sprint to the finish line, but we can either hate the journey or we can embrace it and make it our own.

If you want to be a leader with me, please contact me at KGreyActiveNutrition@gmail.com and let’s build a healthier world together!

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Busting up seasonal allergies

It’s the first beautiful day here in Central Pennsylvania. You can tell that the plants were just primed for the weather because branches that were bear yesterday are damn near fully in bloom today! We have gone from 50 degrees as the daytime high to, today, 80.

Well I know that my body wasn’t ready for this –how about yours? I’m regretting letting my supply of Schizandra Plus terminate, because (for the girl who’s never gotten allergies) I think the pollen is putting me to sleep. So how do we combat the fog and the haze that comes over us when seasonal allergies start to get the best of us?

There are many theories and ideas, but here are a few I have seen help and have used myself.

Use local honey daily

No, I’m not joking. Find a farm near you that sells makes honey, go there, and buy some from them. Why does this work? Well… what is honey?

It’s pollen! It’s what you are allergic to in a different form! By building up your tolerance to pollen in small amounts over time, you can reduce (or eliminate) your seasonal allergies. Seriously. Plus honey is delicious and a much better sugar substitute than a chemical product like Splenda or Sweet n Low. Also, it’s a great way to support your local farmer.

Increase your water intake

You should be drinking half your body weight in ounces every day for regular hydration. If you find that you are still having energy drag and effects of seasonal allergies and you aren’t drinking at LEAST this much – get there! When in doubt, drink your body weight in ounces of water per day. (Throughout the day though, do it safely.)

Also – no, eating vegetables doesn’t count as part of your water intake. Stop trying to cheat it and just drink the water. If you are really having trouble with this concept, here is my challenge to you: Go buy 7 gallons of water and on each gallon write a day of the week. For the next 7 days, you will drink the water in the gallon for that day. Carry it with you. Love it.

Daddy’s Little Ghoul takes her ‘hell jug’ to work. The other EMTs and firefighters had some fun with it to support her.

Look at your vitamins intake

Are you taking all your vitamins in the morning? Are you getting vitamin c? How about your electrolytes?

There are a lot of pieces to the vitamin and health puzzle – and if you’re not getting all your vitamins constantly in your day, this could be a major issue. A multivitamin in the morning is going to run through your system and leave your body needing more. Take vitamins designed to be used three times a day. Get other sources of vitamin C, vitamin E and antioxidants. Incorporate Quercetin-rich foods to help as well. (Some examples? HONEY, blueberries, kale, cranberry, sweet potato, red onion)

Electrolytes help keep your body hydrated. Without them, even if you’re drinking water, your body may not be able to put that water to good use. I (personally) use the Herbalife Hydrate to get my electrolytes daily. Putting THAT in your water DOES count towards your gallon a day.

Do 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise once day

It doesn’t have to be anything insane. I’m not saying go run a 5k each day. I’m saying get up and move around! Sometimes seasonal allergies get to us simply because our body is not processing everything very well. If the blood is moving, things are healing. If the blood is moving, adrenaline is being created (and adrenaline is one of the BEST cures for all things wrong in the body). Besides – it’s nice out!! Go for a walk, a jog, a bike ride or go play soccer with your kids for a while.

Sweating is a way that body cleanses itself too, so go get a workout in! Your whole self will be thankful later.

Eat more consistently & healthier

Just like with working out, if your metabolism isn’t running than your blood isn’t circulating as well. You want to do everything you can to make it easy for your heart to do its job. When the blood flows, the body can heal. Also, giving it the good foods it needs to function is critical. Avoid fast foods, fried foods, overly processed foods. Stick to protein, veggies, fruits, good fats (like in olives and avocados).

The body is an intuitive machine. It can detect when something is wrong and if you are giving the tools to fight an enemy, it will destroy all that opposes it. Your body can be like Gandalf and your seasonal allergies and lethargy will be like a Balrog that has felt your strength!

Yea. Kind of like that. You’ll be smoting your enemy upon the mountainside in NO TIME

Detox

Ok, everyone has a different image in their head for a “detox”. Sometimes it can be a cleanse, sometimes it can be changing to all organic. The idea behind this detox is simply giving your body shots of powerful doses of antioxidants and cleansing agents. Like 2-3 oz of wheat grass. 2-3 oz of apple cider vinegar. Juicing carrots, beets, alfalfa, apricots, pumpkins, sweet potato .. they can all help with boosting your immune system, washing out toxins and getting your body healthy enough to deal with the invasion of seasonal allergies.

Make sure you follow this blog for updates and random tips. Also – subscribe to my weekly e-mail! Check out the left side of your screen for the link.

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Can’t I Stay in Florida?

Let me open this blog by saying that I do not want to go back to Pennsylvania. I’ve been in Melbourne, Florida for almost a week now and to say that I’m dreading going back is not that far away from the truth.

So while I’ve been in Florida there have been a lot of things happening. One is that my business seems to have hit some kind of speed up track. You know, like in RC Pro Am, when you would hit the arrows and suddenly you’d be going a lot faster?

**I couldn’t find an image of the RC Pro Am cars on the acceleration feature! #NESscreenshotFAIL**

So I have a lot of awesome new clients and new coaches and potential clients and potential coaches. It’s been an amazing ride while I’m down here. I’m so grateful for my coach, Krissy Krash. Without her, I would not have been brave enough to dive head first into this business. I would not have gotten awesome health results and would not be building a strong team of amazing people.

That being said, I know that she didn’t do it for me. I did it. I have taken the steps I needed to advance my business. I have talked to people. I have reached out and I have gotten results and SHARED them.

I honestly believe that ANYONE can be a successful health coach. I know that anyone could get the financial freedom they desire while helping people be healthy and happy. Not only am I getting to live the life I want, and am building to be a financial powerhouse, but I am impacting the lives of people as I do it.

You can’t ask for anything better.

Part of my job is to push myself physically. Most of you reading this know that I have injured my knee a couple times in the last two months. Well … I kind of made it owie again at my bouts in Richmond. I thought maybe it wasn’t healing. I thought maybe I was in trouble.

Now, I think that it just was still draining from my last big owie.

I’ve run 14 miles in the last 3 days. I’VE RUN 14 MILES IN THE LAST THREE DAYS!!!

I can’t even believe it!

My legs can’t either. Or my back. Or neck. In fact, the whole of me is pretty sore. I also got a bit sunburnt between the two runs and the day at the beach. Um. Totally worth it though. Because, you know. I was at the beach while my boyfriend was prepping for the snowfall.

I will say this though … If I didn’t know about my protein levels. If I hadn’t been eating my mini meals, hydrating, taking my multi, cell activator, Restore and Herbalifeline… I think I’d be in REAL trouble. I’m sore; not dead. I really thought I’d be dead.

I am so happy. I am getting to challenge myself. I can walk around in a bikini and not hide. I can go to practice tonight sore but energized. The tea concentrate is keeping me on my toes and alert. I have a ton of appointments in the next two days. I am building my team members.

I am changing lives. Mostly mine. I am so happy. Thank you to everyone who’s let me into their circle. Thank you for joining my tribe.

Now… if any of you have any tips for sore muscles … I’d love it if you would leave them in the comments section. ❤

Oh!! And don’t forget about the Fit for Summer Challenge that I have coming up on April 1!! It’s an 8 week challenge. I want to fill it with 100 people. Let’s get something mind blowing going on, people!!

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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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I feel awesome

I feel awesome.

And you know what? There is nothing wrong with feeling fantastically strong and confident. There is nothing wrong with believing that you can accomplish the greatest feats. That you DESERVE happiness, health and wealth. There is nothing wrong with promoting yourself. There is nothing wrong with believing you are beautiful and a contribution to the world.

We don’t want people to think we’re arrogant. We don’t want other people to believe we’re full of ourselves. Aside from all that, we are so busy telling ourselves that we can’t. Or it wouldn’t work. Or it would be uncomfortable. You know what’s really uncomfortable? Holding back. Bottling up. Keeping your joy to yourself.

In high school, a teacher of mine, Bill Johnson, was known for being loud, honest and hurting feelings. Students who didn’t care enough to talk to him assumed he was egotistical and just slapped a label on him. One day, while prepping for “The Wizard of Oz” (he had noticed my potential for work when I produced the fall play at Mechanicsburg my junior year), someone told him that he was arrogant.

He shook his head and said, “I’m not cocky. I’m convinced.” Later, while going to retrieve lunch for the crew, we talked about it. “You have to believe you can do anything. You have to know that you are the best. There isn’t anything wrong with believing in your abilities. You can’t rely on other people to believe for you. If you believe in yourself, other people will automatically believe in you.”

Every now and again, I have to say to myself: “I am not cocky – I AM CONVINCED.”

And I challenge you to be convinced as well. Especially when it comes to your talents, your skills and your passion.

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Creating community & evoking change this March

And now it’s March. And now it’s time to get serious.

Two more months of school. Roller derby bouts are starting. Last month of qualifications before the Herbalife Leadership Conference. One month before our first home bout.

I have a lot of things on my plate this spring and I am stating my intention that I will not only BALANCE everything, but I will excel at it. I am taking my business to the next level. I am doing more work in the community locally to support what I do in the roller derby community.

I have blocked out times for study, for workout, for follow up, for talking to people.

In the month of March I need to help 75 people find better health and nutrition. I want to coach 75 new people on how to live better and feel better. I want to inspire them and work with them. In March, when I change the lives of 75 people – I will change my own life.

Using my life as an example - I have carbs and junk around ALL the time. I avoid it by eating high protein and healthy! — Using my life as an example – I have carbs and junk around ALL the time. I avoid it by eating high protein and healthy!

I will do this on top of a reoccurring injury. Yesterday during softball practice I stepped in a gopher hole while [beautifully] sprinting to and fro across left field shagging fly balls. My right knee crunched three times before I went down like Frasier.

So after weeks and weeks of recovery – I feel like I’m back at square one. I can put weight on it and I am further along from the start, but the challenge with this knee continues. I will train despite it. My nutrition was structured well to begin with, so I will continue the trend and work my recovery tabs back in. I will show everyone that a knee injury is nothing to hold you back. You are limited only by your mindset.

Taken at as close to the same angle and perspective as possible. Sad face.

Health and wellness for my community is the goal. Strength and prowess for the derby community is my commitment. I am excited to build friendships and relationships this month. I am excited to meet the people who will become the leaders of healthy living on my campus and in my community. I cannot wait to conquer fear and start building my vision.

My Fit Clubs and Nutrition classes start next week. Though there is only two months of school left, I will not let that deter me from making any impact I can. I learned last week, while talking to the manager of the food and catering there on campus, that the student body actually petitioned for MORE fried food. He had actually wanted to do one fried-foodless day a week and was told no by our student government.

This Fit Club in Cali is a great example of the kind of friendship and motivation I will bring to Central PA

All the complaints I’ve had about food at school has been because of the student body. So I have a huge task on my hands if I am looking to begin transforming us into a healthy, fit school. I am looking forward to challenging myself to be a strong leader, and challenging my peers and those in my community to be best version of themselves that they can be.

If you are just as excited as I am to affect change in the health of your community or sports league, please e-mail me so I can tell you all about health coaching and my goals for March! KGreyActiveNutrition@gmail.com

And for good measure … here’s a photo of the sea monster that my parents call an “algae eater”:

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Sweat-A-Fit = My Brain is MUSH

What is a Sweat-A-Fit? It is a fundraiser by LETSMOVE and the only thing they do is organize this event and it’s nine hours of working out. This year, at Millersville University there was a Zumba room, a Yoga room and a Spin room.

There was a moment today where I thought to myself, “I am so weak. I skipped four classes.”

Then I realized that it meant that I did five classes. According to iChange, the four 45 minute classes of Zumba and the 40 minute Spin class I did burned 1900+ calories. 1900 calories. NINETEEN HUNDRED CALORIES.

My body, on a typical day, only burns about 1400! At a really awesome derby practice I’ll burn 900 calories. I am just absolutely floored at this achievement! Those classes were hard. Even the one Zumba class that was a little less bouncy had a lot of super precise movements, so I was still working really small muscles. My team mates from Dutchland Rollers were there too, and that was pretty awesome. (Kudos to Acute Toxicity and White Wing Shove who did five hours of Zumba today. Lots of gyrating)

I also started with the Spin class. Which was probably not the best choice. Especially since I’ve never done one before. Our instructor was awesome (10 am class – Frankfurter? Hm. Can’t remember his name but he definitely called out the roller girls in the crowd). What was awesome about the class was that it wasn’t just: “Now pedal! Listen to the techno!”

We had techno, but it was Florence and the Machine. We pedaled, but there was ab work and other interesting workouts. Also, he was into the personal development side of things so he kept talking about the spiritual connection to working out. It helped me push through the burning of my quads (still not recovered from rock climbing – WHICH WAS AMAZING) and the general underdevelopment of my biking muscles.

PS I’m sorry if this blog hops around a little bit. I don’t know who I even am right now I’m so spent!! 1900 CALORIES. ON 5 HOURS OF SLEEP.

Ok, so thank goodness I also had an Herbalife table set up at the event, because wow did I need the supplements today. The ‘empty’ Prepare canister ended up having a scoop and a half of powder in it, so post-Spin, pre-Zumba THAT happened. It was a 2 Hydrate day (I probably should have taken a 3^rd honestly). I had some beverage mix with H3O after lunch (which involved micro-greens from The Seed Café in Lancaster and a CARROT SLAW mmmm).I also had some Peach Tea Concentrate and my tabs. PLUS I’ve drank 150 ounces of water today. I had a Formula 1 to start my day, a Formula 1 to end my day, and then Rebuild Strength when I got home! (PS I’m still in negative calories here at 10pm. Intense. Dinner is being made though. I am excited.)

So … The point of this blog is that … you can push through it. I don’t know how I did. The mental part of working out can be so much harder than the physical. The physical was tough, don’t get me wrong! It burned. My knee kept buckling. My arms were tight from climbing. I found that my synapses weren’t firing and I’d have to refocus to get the most out of each class. Zumba was crazy fun! Very intimidating at first, but AMAZING when you shut off your inhibitions and just DO IT.

So turn off your fear. Turn off the pain. Pain is something that you brain creates to fool you into stopping. Don’t be fooled. Prove your mind wrong. Show that you are stronger than your situation.

You can rest later. Later you can sit in your comfy chair with your chamomile tea with a happy tummy full of kale and broccoli and fish knowing that you left it all on the floor. You can rest later; happy that when the last beat dropped, you had nothing left to give – and if you had anything left to give, you went to another class.

I would not recommend doing three hours and forty-five minutes of working out all the time. Once a week? Sure! I think that would be a great thing for me to start doing. I imagine this is what people feel like post-marathon. And since I’m running a half in April – I may want to start training for it!

PS I didn’t get a chance to write about my climbing adventure, but know that it was amazing. I cannot wait to go back. And I will be. Often.

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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