Mel Get Inspired About Your Health

Are you respecting your time and making your healthy lifestyle habits really count?

Are you making staying on track easier on yourself?

You have two options. You can make your health journey harder on yourself or you can make it easier on yourself. Which one are you currently doing?

If you want to make things as easy, inspiring and motivating as possible to help keep on track and moving forward towards your goals then you need to be proactive in getting it "in your face" as much and as often as possible.

What good are your goals, vision, reasons for wanting to improve your health and quality of life, if you are not fully utilising them? For them to have any sort of real impact on your journey they need to be front and centre in your mind as much as possible, which means you need to be seeing them, reading them and being reminder by them as many times a day as possible.

Here are some top tips for getting these gold nuggets of inspiration more present in your day to keep you motivated and engaged in your healthy lifestyle habits and moving towards achieving great success.

* POST IT NOTES - a simple and easy way to get your goals, affirmations, health benefits, sources of motivation or inspirational quotes that you can really relate to in your face and therefore in your mind. Place them around your home, on the backs of toilet doors, on the fridge, around your computer screen, on book covers and where ever you can stick them. The next big step is reading them every time you see them and not just letting them fade into the background. EVERYTIME you see one, you read it, ponder it and let it inspire and motivate you.

* PHONES - everyone now has one on them pretty much all the time, so let's utilise it to keep you motivated. Create screen savers of your top goals, power words that instil you with confidence. Create an alarm that goes off reminding you of your vision, what you are working towards and all the ways your life will benefit in achieving your goals and improving your health. Set it to go off numerous times a day and when it does, take 2 minutes to really visualise everything these reminders symbolise for you to keep you on track. The same can be done with computer and tablet background images.

* THEME SONG - everyone should have one of these. Pick a song that you love, which the words inspire you, the beat makes you want to get up and move your body, that you want to sing along with passion to and that you attack your own meaning to. Every time you play this song, let it renew you with the strength and confidence in your ability to be successful in reaching your goals. Remind you of why you are on this journey and why it means so much to you. Have it on your phone, portable device or in the car and use it for that daily pep up when needed.

Remember it is your choice just how difficult this journey is. So do yourself a favour, by making it easier. Ensure that inspiration fills your days, is at hand when need the most and always there to help keep you motivated and on track.

If you need a hand with some more inspiration in your days make sure you subscribe to my new youtube channel for regular support, motivation and coaching on training, nutrition and mindset.

Is this stopping you from training in your results zone?

Only through change comes transformation.

When ever you start making changes to your habits and routines, it can lead to initial pain and discomfort, which casues most people to quite even before they really get started. 

However this pain and discomfort is just your bodies way of achieving greater levels of health. This actually you getting results, this change working and heading you in the right direction. This is a great sign of transofrmation so keep it going and don't quite. You are on the right track. 

With only 5 weeks till my wedding, my top health goal right now is NOT looking fab on the big day. OMG right! Yes you are hearing me right ....... Here is why.

Having worked in the health industry for over 15 years I have trained many brides in the months leading into their big day, all with huge goals and a one track mindset on how they will look on the day. This is certainly a big motivator for a lot of brides and I have seen some pretty awesome transformations. So why not me??

Because I have seen just as many brides after putting it all on the line, digging deeper than they ever have before, achieving goal weight and looking simply stunning on the day only to find a few months later all those hard fought for kilos are right back where they were and often a few extras.

That is the trouble with making your top goal a short term goal, in which people take drastic measure to achieve great things in a very short period of time. Doable yes, sustainable not so much. Actions get results so as soon as you stop taking action, you stop getting results. That is exactly what can happen to brides that put too much emphasis on achieving great health for one day, who get there by extreme routines that are just not sustainable long term. With the emphasis being on the fixed deadline of the wedding day, it begs the question what then? If the only source of motivation is the wedding day what is going to motivated them to continue with any sort of healthy lifestyle habits following it? 

Now don't get me wrong, do I want to look absolutely stunning, totally fabulous and the best version of me that I can be on the day, of course I do. I'm not insane!!

I'm not trying to say that using your wedding day as motivation to get healthy is wrong. What I am trying to stress is that it should NOT be your only source of motivation or reason to get fit, healthy and be looking your best. Your primary sources of motivation and TOP priorities should always be based around long term achievements and quality of lifestyle factors. Your short term goals are just there for a little added motivation from time to time. That way once they have passed you still have plenty of motivation to keep you healthy and maintain everything you have already achieved.  

Am I motivated to be that extra little bit good and say no to those little temptations that pop up from time to time, yes I am. I'm also very aware of being that little bit more committed to my training sessions. But most importantly I still value my long term health, fitness and well being above all else. Nothing that I am doing is vastly different from normal, i'm not going to extremes and I am totally committed to doing what is best for my health full stop. Not just leading up to my wedding day, EVERYDAY.

As a bride eagerly anticipating all that is to come, I know that my health is such an important part of our future, the dreams we have, the quality of lifestyle we deserve and making sure that we spend as many years together loving each other as possible. Yes I plan to be at my very best on my special day, but I also plan on being at my best for all the special days to follow.

For more health tips, coaching and training head to 

 http://www.inspire12wkhtc.com.au/

Training with purpose v Just getting the job done

Just because you have just done an hour’s workout does not necessarily mean a whole heap unless you have trained with great purpose. Over the years I have seen plenty of people training just so they can feel great about putting a tick in that box that say’s yes I did some exercise today. Unfortunately that is just not going to cut it if you want to achieve higher levels of performance and health.

Effective training that gets the best results means being purposeful, focused and clearly directed when you are training. This can simply not happen when you are talking about the weekend, thinking about the shopping to do afterwards or going over work issues while you are doing your training. You see your body is just a little bit too clever for its own good, because you might think you are squatting and you very well might be, but are you squatting as you should be squatting. If you need to squat the body will make that happen, regardless of technique, muscles recruited or movement pattern used just so long as it gets the job done. This is because of your basic survival mode which says if I need this to happen I need to get it done no matter how I go about it, be it well or poorly done. Your body will go down which ever automatic path it is most familiar with that provides the most amount of certainty in outcome.

Ever been doing an exercise and asked where you should be feeling it? Have you ever got an answer that meant you were feeling it in the wrong spot and not where you were supposed to be feeling it? Ever finished a workout with a sore lower back? Where you meaning to give your lower back a workout?

Cases like these are common examples of where the body is simply getting the job done the best way it currently knows how regardless of how it has to go about it. This is what happens when your mind is on other things while you go about your training and the body is just left to go through the motions of the session. The only way to prevent this kind of thing from happening is to keep your focus while you are training, be purposeful with the way you go about all of your exercises and have a clear understanding of what each exercise is trying to achieve and how this should be done.  

Here are a few pointers for achieving each of these key elements to a highly effective and success training session.

Be focused – before any training sessions clear your mind. Set aside any thoughts of things that have happened during the day, leave your work behind (it will still be all there after the session), if you are training with friends save the gossip till after and really bring your focus and awareness back to your body. Any workout should start with some sort of short warm up, dynamic stretch or range of motion exercises use this time to focus on your breathing and notice how your body is feeling. Are they are tight spots, restrictions to your movements or signs of strain? These are all things which you should take into consideration before you start a workout so you can make adjustments, rectify and go a long way to preventing injury.

Be purposeful – results will be impacted by effort, if your mind is not on the job then neither will your effort and level of intensity. If you are going to train then train, your time is precious so make it count and don’t waste it on half hearted efforts that will slow your progress towards your results.

Be clear – you must really understand each exercise you perform, just going through the motions of a squat, deadlift or push up is not going to guarantee you anything. You must bring your awareness to your muscles, joints and body positioning each exercise you do. You must be able to feel what your posture is like as you perform your movements, what your range of motion is and what muscles are activated and being used to perform the movements. This all goes into your overall quality of technique and performance delivered of each exercise. The only way to get real benefits from your training and each exercise that you do is to do them well, with high accuracy and great intensity.

Don’t be someone who does token training sessions just to put that tick in the box. Be someone who means business when they train. Who goes about it with purpose, giving it the respect it deserves and the intensity it requires to deliver results. To really impact your health in positive ways, that will move you towards your goals and achieving success. Have real clarity on how your body moves and pay greater attention to how it performs. Take pride in your performance and the way you execute your exercises, because through mastery comes proficiency and advancement. The quality of your movements determines the quality of your results.

How will you attack your next training session?

Be clear, be focused and be purposeful every session.

Are you deeply excited about your Health?

Your health will always be a continual struggle if it is not something you can get excited about. When you close your eyes and think about your health it should bring a smile to your face, a warm feeling of satisfaction and joy through your whole body. Thinking about it should instil feelings of confidence and strength, a faith and belief in your abilities achieve success and fuel your sense of personal power in attacking life's challenges head on.

When you are excited about your health and what being healthy brings into your life it becomes a joy to be and to act healthy. When the rewards and benefits are front and centre and they truly bring meaning and purpose into your life, the actions themselves become a natural apart of the journey. It becomes easier to stay on track because you will want to align your choices and actions to ways that promote achieving the outcomes that will bring more happiness into your life.

Love your health and the person you can be when you are healthy. Get excited about what that means for your life and all those in your life. What will this mean for you and your partner, kids, for your work, social activities. How will being healthy impact the things you are most passionate about? 

Get excited because your health enables you to sat YES. Yes to living life to the fullest, to taking on new adventures, climbing that mountain, participating in that backyard game, taking that ride and going for that swim in the ocean. It means saying yes to playing on the floor with the kids or grandkids, maintaining your independence later on in life and absolutely putting more activity and life into your years. What will you be able to say yes to when you are at your best health?

If you can't get excited about your health, it will always be an uphill battle to stick to the routines which will get you great health. Why bother with something you can't get into, why stick to something if there is no meaning, no joy and nothing worthwhile that you are working towards. Finding meaning, happiness and excitement in your health goes a long way to generating the level of commitment needed for you to achieve great health.

One question that I have heard asked time and time again of people who are healthy, within their weight range and physically active is; " why do you go, do those training session, you don't need to lose any weight?"

Have you ever been asked this question and how did it make you feel?

If you have ever been asked this question here is what I say to you. You never ever have to justify your actions or reasons for acting, thinking and behaving in healthy ways. The only people who are going to ask you this question and similar questions are unhealthy most likely overweight people because they just don't get it. And they are just not going to get it no matter how much you try and explain it. It will be a complete waste of your time, plus you do not want to let their judgements, ill informed beliefs or limited perceptions of health make you doubt yourself, feel bad or deter you from what you know in your own heart is right for you. 

Every individual must make the decision of just how important their health is, how much they will value and respect it and this will be different for everyone. Anyone who is healthy will know just how many aspect and different elements contribute to you having amazing health. You know that it is not just your weight alone that determines if you are healthy or not. It's about having a great quality of lifestyle, loads of energy everyday, strength and ease in your movements, the mental clarity you get from being well hydrated and fuelled properly and so much more.   

Never let someone who is so narrow minded and caught up in their own insecurities and limited beliefs make you question your own choices and opinions. Don't even go there, be it about your weight, what you eat, choose to drink, your habits, routines and anything else you do, choose and think about your health. If it's working for you, makes you feel great and your health is where you want it to be (or you know that your working on it to get it there), then keep doing it. Have faith.

You know why your health is important to you, you know why you make it a priority to attend your training sessions, drink lots of water each day, to eat clean and fresh foods that fuel you in the best possible way. That treating your body with love, value and respect is what keeps you feeling at your best and living the quality of life that you absolutely deserve.

Never doubt, never question why, deep down you know exactly why. This is your truth, your life and yes you are worth it. The courage to be healthy is sometimes in the ability to ignore those who do not know better and who are not at the same level of awareness about health as you are.

You never have to justify to anyone else why you do what you do for your health. It's you choice, embrace it, love it and you will feel the benefits from it. 

Full Throttle Attack on Your Health e-book from Mel Inspire on Vimeo.

A complete integrated approach to improving your health to ensure you get lasting results, utilising all three key areas of success; mindset, training and nutrition.

Go to inspire12wkhtc.com.au

Your health does not have to suffer over Christmas. This year say No to those extra 5-10 Kg and the feeling of being on the back foot come the New Year. 

This year it's time to take control and put an action plan in place so your health is better than ever come the New Year.

As additional bonuses you will also receive your;

- Ultimate Cheat Sheet which will give you a simple and easy tool to help you manage your healthy lifestyle habits even during the craziest times of the year, as well as

- Bonus Audio where I talk you though the whole integration process of all 5 strategies and how to implement them into your life using the cheat sheet.

Give Yourself Permission To Want More

Are you saying No to many times because there is some aspect of your health or fitness that is stopping you? Enough is enough! STOP saying No to life. Instead say yes to taking action and giving yourself permission to want more for your health. It is worth it and you do deserve it.

Free Training & Coaching available at

Give yourself permission to want more when it comes to your health!

Unfortunately one thing that a lot of people have gotten very good at, which they really shouldn’t have and that is settling when it comes to their health. You should never settle when it comes to your health.  Way too often people are forced to say No, because there is some aspect of their health holding them back from fully participating and enjoying in life. If this sounds like you, than you need to STOP and think seriously about giving yourself permission to want more and go after more for your health.

Ask yourself this, are you currently saying No to being able to sit down and play on the floor with your child or grandchild, because you know that if you got down on the floor you would not be able to get back up again? Are you saying No to taking that trip, climbing that mountain and getting up to that lookout to enjoy the amazing views all because you know that you’re not fit enough to get up that hill or climb that many steps? Are you saying No to the backyard cricket or games on the beach feeling great and confident in your swimmers? Are you settling for not enjoying special events because you don’t feel confident in what you are wearing or dread going shopping to buy new cloths because you don’t enjoy all these aspects of your life? It is NOT acceptable to be saying No to all of these events, experiences and enjoy life simply because there is some aspect of your health holding you back. 

If there is some aspect of your health currently holding you back from doing, feeling and being something that you really want or preventing you from really enjoy life to the fullest, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Now is the time to stamp that out and give yourself permission to go for more. To reach for higher standards for your health, do not be satisfied with settling for the norm. In this day and age the norm is not great and that is not what you should want for yourself and it is certainly not what you deserve. Over half the population are overweight and unhealthy and with that comes a whole long, long list of health related issues. If you are settling with your health and happy to just be one of the majority then that is what you are headed for, if you are not already there. The norm is just being ok, meandering through life and happy enough to just be getting through the day. That is not the life or the health you want, you were not put here on this planet to experience a half hearted, semi enjoyable life.

In the vast majority of cases all of us were born with potential for amazing and perfect health. To be strong, confident and happy with your body and everything that it allows you to do. Too many people everyday are waking up and settling with having no energy, being immobile, struggling to get around, being overweight, having poor posture and suffering a lack of self confidence in their body. This is not how you want to be living your life. This is not what you want to be settling for or the norm which you accept for yourself. It is time for you to reach for the gold standard. If you have been waiting for someone to give you permission to go after it, then here it is.

I GIVE YOU PERMISSION, to want more for your health, because you truly deserve it!

Now you just need to give that permission to yourself to go out there take action and create the health, body and lifestyle you want and deserve. You already know the actions that you need to take to improve your health, so go out there and do it. Yes it is scary stepping outside your comfort zone, heading into the unknown, stepping away from what is familiar, comfortable and what you are used to. Yes all this is scary. But guess what? Saying No to taking action and making a difference in your health means you have to continue to say No to fully participating in your life. Don’t be settling for saying No anymore.

You want to be saying Yes. Yes to participating in your life, Yes to enjoying the special events, Yes to enjoying even the simple day to day activities. You want to be enjoying your health, your body and all that they allow you to do. Having the ability to fully participate and attack new challenges and exciting experiences that you want to be able to do. That is what the gold standard is that is what you need to be working towards and that is why it is worth it. It’s worth going and doing what’s scary, to take that action, to step out into the unknown but your health is worth it. It’s worth it because then you will be able to start saying Yes in your life because your health allows you too. Yes to enjoying life more and feeling more confident.

If you go out and take action you have the potential to create massive changes to your health. Whether you need to make massive changes or smaller changes to your health, you can make significant improvements to your health in a relatively short period of time. Even if you need to totally transform your body and health it can be done in as little as 1-2 years. It probably won’t even take you that long, but even if it did, it really is only a small sacrifice considering the benefits to the rest of your life (exactly how many more years are you planning on being around for?). It’s actually only a very small period of time in which you can create massive change and achieve truly amazing health. And just think how many years you can go on enjoying it for, if you take action now. How many years of saying Yes is it going to give you. But if you continue to settle, don’t take any action and happy to be just getting by how many more years are you going to have to keep saying No for?

It is worth it. You already know some of the things you need to start doing to improve your health, you’re just not doing them. Even if you do need some additional help and support, go out and get it because you deserve it. The changes that you make and the action you take to create positive changes for your health will be worth it. Give yourself permission to want more, go after the gold standard and accept nothing less. You will feel so much better, so much more alive, confident, have a sense of achievement and proud of everything that you have created and joy in the mastery that you have developed and in all that you can now say Yes to.

Believe me it is worth it. Go out and give yourself permission to want more and take action to achieve it.

Love, value and respect your body, time and health every day.