Where is spring ?

The weather is a reminder of just how much we don't control our world. As much as we think we do, the reality is that much of our lives hinge on fate/god/karma whatever it is you believe in. That can be a scary thought or a beautiful one. I am reading an amazing book called "Cutting For Stone" right now. It is set in Ethiopia but the characters are Indian. The god Shiva is the god of destruction. As Americans, we have a hard time understanding how a god that causes destruction could ever be good. If you think about it, the end of anything is the beginning of something else. When our lives change, we learn. With every turn of the road , we take in different scenery and are forced to take stock of our surroundings and even our own footfall. (If you have never seen the movie "Outsourced", it is a great film and shows with great humor exactly what I mean)

Looking back at my own life, I am grateful for the hardest times. The most difficult roads led me (even if the journey was agony at the time) to exactly the place I was supposed to be. That being said, I am grateful that I did not see the hard times coming. Not knowing exactly what will happen is a gift. It allows up to hope and dream. Perhaps the important thing is that we walk on our road with conviction and do our best to leave the people that we pass better for having crossed our paths.

Striving to better ourselves, whatever that means to you, is a journey too. You will have legs on your journey that don't feel "successful" to you. I truly believe that they are exactly the experience that you were meant to have. The secret is allowing yourself to "own" your limits and failures and learn from them. I like to think about the tough times in my life like muscle soreness. When I heal from it, I am going to be that much stronger.

Story von Holzhausen

5 weeks left

Hello all, I "left you all alone" over the weekend. After the first 3 days, one of 3 things happened:

1) You pretty much stuck to the three days because it was working and not as hard as you thought it would be.

2) You decided to add in some foods in and through some trial and error, feel ok about how it is going.

3) You intended to stay on the basic 3 day plan but to add some foods in and slipped off the deep end like it was a sheet of ice.

No matter which scenario fits, only 1 week has gone by and we have 5 left.

Sometimes, time is the hardest part of making change. We have to wait until the small shifts gather enough momentum to yield results we can feel and see. I would like to give some ground rules for everyone to follow. Some are specific to goals and some are for everyone.

For everyone:

1)Everyone should be doing 2xs of cardio a week and 2xs of strength training during this challenge. This can be power walking (intervals are best) or classes for cardio and push ups, walking lunges, weights or classes for strength training. Liquid Strength counts as one of each.

2) Doing your journaling and stretching/meditation daily (especially important to do during the time you normally eat badly to replace the behavior)

3) Read the blog, check into the facebook page or reach out to your teammates. Daily communication is really important.

4) Drink water with lemon in the morning and before dinner.

If your goal is weight loss:

1) exercise (even gentle)

2)Strength training that leaves you sore (especially larger muscle groups like glutes) during those twice weekly sessions.

3)Make dates with your teammates, trainers, DVDs etc. to work out.

4)Decide and plan for your eating plan.

If your goal is inner related (even if you wouldn't mind dropping a few pounds too)

1) Focus your journaling on what you are experiencing or not experiencing in your day. Watch for the emotional triggers that bring about the desire to self sabotage. What makes you feel good/bad about yourself during your day.

2) Take a very practical look at your day. Are there ways to make your life simpler ? Could you ask for help. Even hire a college student to do tasks that would allow you to have better quality attention on what is really important?

3) Write down what changes you would like to make and slowly push the boundaries around you towards a place that is healthier for you.

4) Take some time to focus on your belief system. (this can mean religion, philosophy, friendships etc.). What do you truly believe in ? What are you passionate about? If you never had to work again, what you choose to do? These are very important questions. The more closely we can align our lives up with what we love and what we believe we are supposed to be doing, the happier we are.

Answer these questions:

1) I feel best about myself when I am doing ________

2) I admire _______ in my friends.

3) I have always wanted to __________

4) I wish I could _________

5) I think I am really good at _________

Let yourself answer these unedited and then go back and read them. What can learn about the life you would like to have. One of the hardest challenges is finding the answers to these questions. Maybe you have no idea what you are passionate about. To be interesting, even to ourselves, we have to have passion about what we do in our lives. Finding that passion and fostering it's growth is perhaps the most important thing we can do in our lives.

I would love to hear what all of you do that you are passionate about. You can email the group or post on the facebook page etc. I will go first:

1)My children, dogs and friends

2)making a difference in women's lives and how they feel about themselves

3) reading and crossword puzzles

4) learning and curiosity

With 5 weeks left, we can really do so much

Story von Holzhausen

"Global Spiritual Economy"

As we watch Japan in the aftermath of this tragedy and send our thoughts out to all the people suffering, conversations in our house have been enlightening. My son (10) asked me "Mommy, how do you survive a Tsunami?". I had no answer for him. Some things are too big and hit too fast to have a plan for. I asked Kurt (he is in finance and I am learning that there is a beauty and an art to the web and movements of the economy) how this will effect Japan's economy and how it will effect the world. I was an Art Major (health major). I loved studying art history. The art of any given period reflects the "pulse" of the time and people it was created around. It expresses the politics, sociology and social trends, giving a much fuller understanding of the culture it was created in. Money and finance has never been of any interest to me. I am learning that (and this is amazing to me) the "global economy" is a lot like art. If you watch the history and movement of "the money" in the world, you will see the history of almost every major discovery and development of man kind.

When I asked Kurt if the tragedy in Japan will change the economy here, the answer was a beautiful one. He said "Many people will imagine that was is bad for someone else must be good for us but it doesn't work like that. It is a global economy. It is like we are a big woven structure and all the countries of the world are threads that interlock. What is bad for one is bad for all. The whole structure is damaged and comes down."

This "global economy" is beautiful to me when I think about it like that. I can see that there is a "spiritual global economy". Every one of us is a string that is woven into the web of mankind. The trend towards "green" and "giving" that is happening in our country and world is elevating all of us. Unfortunately, on the other side of the balancing scale, we have tabloids, hacking, scams, gossip and celebrity news.

No single person can change the world but every single person can help keep the part of that weave above their heads elevated. By living an authentic life and giving what you can when you can, you help keep that interlocking web over our heads, up. Sometimes just saying hello and looking someone in the eye is a "gift". There a million little ways to do good built into our days. Every minute we make decisions of what our behavior, actions and thoughts will be. We teach our children by how we speak to taxi drivers and if we even notice the person bagging our groceries. I truly believe that our own happiness is directly connected to our behavior towards others. Karma isn't something that is off in the distance like some big abacus counting out the good and bad of our lives. Karma is here and now. We live in joy or misery we express in our words and deeds.

If you imagine that "global spiritual economy" as a web like a tent that keep us safe, we keep that web up by our deeds, thoughts and intentions. When tragedy strikes (and it will) and that tent comes crashing down on our heads, we either push it back up or we are entangled in it and fall.

On a very small scale, we do this every day. How we judge others and ourselves. When we feel envy towards others and misery towards ourselves, we are lost and tangled in that web. How can we feel joy, acceptance and love for ourselves unless we can feel it towards everyone. There is no "competition". We are not kicking and crawling over each other to reach some prize. We are a team. We pull each other up. We stand on each other's shoulders and give each other a boost. If we don't all get there (wherever "there" is), nobody does.

If I could wave a magic wand and give you a perfect body, would you be happy? Do you want everyone around you to be jealous of you ? If we view our lives as a competition, we cannot ever "win". There is no joy in isolation and friction with the people around us. I believe that our physical beings are in many ways a reflection of who we are.

In this challenge, the biggest "challenge" is to reject the damaging pattern, that our culture seems to ferment, pitting one woman against another. (Obviously men too but women are far worse) We need to understand that our fibers are woven together. What uplifts one, uplifts us all. If you see someone (especially someone who has not been very nice to you) who has suddenly lost weight, married a great guy, been promoted or has a killer outfit, the hardwiring reaction is to be jealous and resentful. I get that. Ask yourself though, after you see that person and have that reaction, do you feel good about yourself ? No. You feel like a black cloud is following you and you feel "yucky" about the whole thing. If we can turn that around and understand that joy and "good" for one is good for all, you can change your life. This is not easy. Especially if you are in a place in your life that you are not happy. I believe without question that this is the secret of happiness though. To train yourself to truly feel joy for others. To not have it be "not about you", will free you. The web above your head will be lifted and you will be able to breath. Just like training a muscle, this will take some work and some pain may be involved. With time, you will get to actually enjoy it and it will get easier.

To view yourself without judgement and with joy, you must view all people that way. To have joy in your life you have to take joy in others. It is so simple and so logical. We have among us in the challenge some amazing women. Last night as I sat alone (a rare and splendid anomoly) watching Law and Order (my guilty pleasure), when Deb appeared. She was there on my television looking sultry and beautiful. I jumped in my chair. She was so impressive. I had a decision right then. I could be either A)threatened and jealous or B)really proud and happy for her. I chose the later. I emailed her right away. I felt great about seeing her and thinking she was so beautiful. The very opposite thing would have happened had I chosen option A. Within the safety net of our group, it is easier to feel "on each other's sides". Try to extend this beyond to the (this is real hard part) people who don't extend it for you.

I was talking to a model in our group. She is stunning. She was saying how hard it is around people from her home town. They treat her differently. She wonders if she has changed. Almost certainly, it is not "about her". The resentment and jealousy she must bring out in others must be terrible. She can feel it like a spider web she has walked through. Subtle and invisible put covering her. She is punished for her beauty through not fault of her own. She can't change this reaction. We can all learn from it though. How isolating and sad that her true beauty is wasted. Her friendship thrown away, leaving her lonely and sad and these "friends" feeling miserable for sure and certainly no better about themselves.

In my life, just like yours, there are people who are most certainly "not on my side". It is a struggle to be on theirs. That is what I need to be though. I can only change my behavior, thoughts and deeds. Sometimes, you fight that battle alone. To elevate and "love" someone who is doing their best to drag that net above your head down, is really hard. It takes constant training and exercise to stay strong enough to keep pushing it up.

I support you in this noble and exhausting "dance". Together we support each other. The real power of this challenge comes from that.

Story von Holzhausen

A Day 3 Note from Erika

Hello Again Challengers!

Now that everyone’s on their way and has nearly completed the first three days, I have a little assignment for you.

Please take a look at your to-do list for this week. If you don’t have one, take a few minutes to write down some things you would like to accomplish over the coming days. This can be related to your Six Week Challenge or not; the choice is yours.

After you write your items, take a few minutes to assess why you’re doing each thing on the list. For example, if you’ve written “I have to visit Aunt Pat,” and you’re not really all that crazy about Aunt Pat, ask yourself why you’re going to visit her.

Let’s tease this idea out a bit more. If your logic for what you’re about to do is something like, “Aunt Pat will be mad if I don’t visit,” or “My mom will be mad if I don’t visit Aunt Pat,” then there’s a little bit more going on in your story.

I’m asking you to look at your choices here and oh yes, you have many more choices than you’re aware of at this juncture. You make choices every day—we all do. Some choices will feel good—as in eating well and exercising. Other choices, like forcing yourself to visit Aunt Pat out of obligation or guilt, will feel, well, pretty crappy. But it’s still your choice.

So when you look at your list and think about why the item is even there, notice where you’ve internalized invisible words like “I have to” and “I should.” The reflexive use of these phrases is very common for us all and guess what? It tells us we have no choice, even when we do. It makes us feel victimized in our lives.

If this column gives you a little charge, that’s a small sign that something here resonates with you. Spend some time exploring your “have to’s” and your “should’s" on your lists. They’ve got some pretty important messages for you, about you.

Please don’t hesitate to email me directly if you have a question. I’m here to help and as always, I’m cheering you on!:)

Day 3 of our 3 day "kick off"

So many amazing emails. It is vital that any communication I have with you is private. No emails will never be shared without your permission. That being said, if I shared all of the communication here you would all be so riveted to your computer you would get no work done. The group of people doing this challenge are so impressive on so many levels that I am honored to be a part of it.

We live in a strange place. Sharon told me a story that summed it up quite nicely. She was in the elevator in Fairway (usually a zoo at all hours with very aggressive crowded customers). The store was nearly empty. Another woman got on the elevator and commented how nice it was to have the store so empty. Sharon said (such a classic line)"It's funny, we live in a crowded city full of people and we spend all of our time trying to get away from them". The exact words may have been different but the meaning was the same. A famous quote from Hopper (the artist who did the painting of the diner late at night) is "If you ever want to be completely alone, move to NYC".

Coming from a small town, I can tell you that you can live anywhere and feel this way. In a small town, everyone knows you. You walk out of your house, go to the mall or grocery store and others will hear about it. Good or bad things happen and people actually care (sometimes in a nice way but many times not in a good way). We seem to thrive on gossip and "reality tv". To watch as other's lives fall apart. Somehow this validates us that our lives are "better than that".

In NYC, nobody cares if your wearing your pajamas or if your hair is dirty. They don't know you and will never see you again. Once (very funny story) many years ago when I was teaching so much I couldn't eat enough or stay awake, I fell asleep eating a balance bar. I walked out of my apartment and glanced at myself as I left. The mirror was on the wall so I saw my left side. I sat reading in a coffee shop because at that time, it was my only company and I liked to be around other people in the morning. Everyone kept staring at me. We all know that living in NYC, this is unusual. Tourists may stare but we do not. When I walked back into my apartment, the mirror showed me my right side. I had part of said balance bar stuck in my ear and chocolate smeared over half my face. I laughed so hard. I would never see those people again and they had no idea who I was. In my home town, I would have been horrified. There is good and bad to both. In NYC, we have our privacy. We are not "big frogs in a little pond". The downside is when anyone asks us "how are you?", They really don't care.

The friendships and bonds we are forming here are breaking the "cubicals" we live in that isolate us from ourselves and each other here in NYC (and everywhere) . I can hardly wait to get everyone together !! We have decided (almost everyone) that thurs is better than wed (tonight). Next week we will be organizing a "night out" on wed.

If you have not had a perfect 3 days, please do not let it stop you from moving forward. I believe that getting three days under your belt when you are trying to change behavior really makes a difference. Sometimes it can take a few more days than three to get those days in. I am feeling my sinuses are better and my sleep is better. Later today I will blogging about next steps and some questions I would like you to consider while you decide what the next phase of the 6 week challenge will be or if you want to stay in this phase for a little longer.

Taking the time at night to write in your journals, stretch and meditate (I have also added cleaning up my apartment so I feel organized and wake up to a clean apt instead of watching any tv) at night should be just as important as changing your eating habits. We are trying to do behavior modification and new habits must replace old ones.

On the facebook page, I would love for you all to add some positive things you are going to try to add to your routine instead of snacking. Maybe Erika can chime in here and lead us with some self searching to better clarify our path. She is offering a special price to all of you for personal life coaching and by reading some of your responses, I believe many of you would gain more from a life coach than a trainer. The body is a reflection of the "self" and both need to be trained and worked on.

We would all love to hear how you feel today. What differences do you notice from eating this way? Good or bad. I have heard from many of you but everyone would love to hear all that I have been lucky enough to....

Day Two

I am hoping that we are still on track. Hearing from so many of you has been huge. The Facebook page and emails between teams have made the difference between all of your good intentions and the ability to really make changes in your lives.

I would love for all of you to post your recipes (we heard of some great ones yesterday on the email chains but for people outside your team, they missed them). Many of you will have noticed that I always teach with tissue next to my water bottle. I have a life long struggle with sinus issues. I have cleared my throat all my life and I have come to understand that it may be caused by "silent reflux" (eating at night causes acid to back up into your sinus and inflames and irritates them) or allergies or likely, both. One of my goals is to cease eating 2 hours before bed. This means a bigger lunch so my calories will remain constant but will make a difference in the quality of sleep for me and Kurt (I will snore less !!). Likely many of you would also benefit from this shif

If I were to program the food I ate yesterday into a nutritional program, I would likely have surpassed my RDAs on every vitamin and mineral. (not to mention all the flavanoids and antioxidants). For the same calorie consumption (I am trying to keep the same calorie base), the nutrients in all those fruits and vegetables are impressive. The same is true for you.

During these three days, the actual volume of food that you are eating should be much more than you are used to. You should be eating a wide array of colors on your plates. (Ironically, Sharon is doing a big campaign for just this. She was in Philly yesterday on their local Today Show). Every color indicates a different vitamin. She will likely chime in on this later.

Just as important as what you are eating right now is the addition of journalling and meditation (or quiet stretching) into your lives. I have decided to try to get my "splits" back by the end of this challenge.

Erika has offered a special for the 6 week challengers and I think for some of you this is perhaps the most important part of the challenge. Hopefully, she will also be writing a little guidance on what we can specifically be doing with our journalling to get the most out of it.The work on your life and on what is missing or not working is what will make true changes in YOU. Some of you have lost the weight before and found that "nothing had changed" and you gained it back. Many times, weight gain is a symptom only and we have to reach beyond the symptom into the real problem to change our lives. The biggest reason I believe Liquid Strength works, is the mind/body connection. When we conciously focus on finding the joy in our bodies and spend time "inside our bodies", actually listening, we change our relationship with our bodies and that is what changes our bodies.

It is hard to believe that tomorrow night will be the end of this "3 day cleanse/kick off". I would love for anyone who thinks they will make the get together (7-9:00 pm) to bring some simple food that helped them get through these days. This is not obligatory by any stretch but it would be fun.

Make sure you make it to classes this week. The group support is perhaps the most important aspect of all of this. There have been many studies into life longevity and illness and their connection to "community" and strong social ties. Living in NYC, we live side by side and painfully isolated at the same time.

Today, I would like for all of you to write something on the Facebook page. A recipe, an idea, an update. Some thought for the day to share, comment or even a question. I have my string tied around my right wrist and I am proud and excited for all of you and grateful for the gifts you will share.

Ongoing support through these 3 days

Hello 6 week challengers. We have added a few more to our ranks (some of you have never met but you have heard about this because someone who cares about you is excited about this and told you about it).

I will be emailing specific things to teams and a couple of emails that I think all of us need. I wanted to share a funny quote (Deb sent it this week)

"I don't fail, I discover what doesn't work"

We all have done that very successfully. Now we find what does work. The smallest group of challengers this year is the group that is mostly concerned with weight loss. It has been an amazing experience to get to know all of you and realize that we may think it's "just me" but all of us feel and experience unbelievably similar things. I am going to forward to everyone an article that Emily sent me as we started this challenge. It is about "The Secret of loneliness".

Please follow Sharon and my twitter accounts as that is where it is easiest for us to keep the support/feedback and ideas coming. Please use the facebook page to ask questions (many of you have emailed me the same questions and most likely if you ask it, someone else wants to know too). I also want to hear your voices, humor, struggles as it unites us.

It all starts tomorrow so get out there today and shop (the MOST important thing) and plan ahead and get excited about doing this amazing thing for yourself and spending time with such an amazingly talented and special group of people.!!!!

Sharon Richter dietician and superstar gives us our 3 day kick off

The below is from Sharon. She and I really wanted this to be about "What you can eat and what you are DOING for your body" and not a "don't eat" list. If you think about it, carbs from fruits and vegetables are full of flavanoids, vitamins and trace elements that grains and oats and breads just don't have. The variety of colors and nutrients offered are amazing for us. It is really easy to eat a lot of calories from other carb sources and be lacking in a lot of nutrients. Our 3 day kick off program is going to up our nutritional intake quality and we are going to have to eat a LOT of food !!! You may well be eating more than you usually do and that is great. I have some added rules for you on this 3 day plan as well:

1) Eat a food you have never had before once a day (think purple kale, starfruit, or yellow kiwi)

2) Get a full 8 hours sleep. This will be possible because I want everyone to watch no more than a half an hour of tv a day.

3) 10 minutes (minimum) of stretching, meditation or focused breathing in absolute quiet. Mary (one of our challengers) who is a professional classic musician and busy Mom, has some guided meditations of varying lengths that she will gladly share so perhaps she can give us some links via email or facebook.

4) Daily exercise of some sort.

5) Daily "real" conversations with our team mates or close friends. You need to connect.

6) Taking the time to brush and floss and take good care of your skin, nails etc. I find as a Mom, I do not do any of this. I am not "well groomed" and don't dress well or look "together". It is not really my "thing" but for these 3 days, I am changing my tune. You know that "put your oxygen mask on first before assisting other people" thing, well it all starts here.

7) Journal (can be 2 sentences) about this experience. Your thoughts, struggles, what you learn, etc. Sometimes you can learn very funny or insightful things only as your hand is writing them.

From email to blog, the structure of Sharon's writing will be wrong so it is a good idea to print out the email but I wanted to post it anyway so that anyone who is not "officially registered" can still follow along.

 Three days to relearn what food TASTES like. The goal is not to stuff  oneself but start tuning in to what food taste like, what if feels like  to be hungry and thirsty, feeling satisfied and not stuffed. Think of  your stomach as the size of your fist. You should only eat to fill it,  not stretch it, breakdown that food and refill about 3 hours later.  Start your day with a large glass of water with tons of lemon in it.  Each of your 3 main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner should consist  of about 5 oz protein 2 cups of vegetables and 2 fat (1 TBSP oil, 1/4  avocado, 2 TBSP seeds). Your snacks can be fruit, nuts, nut butters,  seeds, 3 oz protein... Keep a journal for the 3 days of what you ate,  when, how you felt, etc. Don't obsess over it, rather explore flavors,  taste, what non food social exchangement can you replace with that time  obsessing over food. Here is an example of a day:   Breakfast smoothie: 1 scoop hemp protein, 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/2 cup  blackberries, 1/2 cup raspberries, 1 TBSP ground or milled flax seeds   Snack Greens juice   Lunch- 5 oz grilled chicken chopped over 1 cup arugula, artichoke  hearts, 1/4 avocado, 1 TBSP pumpkin seeds, 1 TBSP olive oil   Snack- Papaya with lime squeeze on top   Dinner- 6 oz salmon, 1cup roasted brussel sprouts, 1 c spinach sauteed in 1  TBSP oil and garlic   Dessert- pear with almond butter   Fruits Permitted Apples  Apricots  Blackberries  Blueberries  Cantaloupe  Cherries  Coconut  Figs  Huckleberries  Kiwi  Kumquat     Loganberries  Mangoes  Melons  Mulberries  Nectarines  Papayas  Peaches  Pears  Plums  Raspberries   Vegetables Artichoke  Arugula  Asparagus  Avocado  Bamboo shoots  Beet & beet greens  Bok Choy  Broccoflower  Broccoli  Brussel sprouts  Cabbage  Carrots  Cauliflower  Celery  Celery root (celeriac)  Chives  Cucumber  Dandelion greens  Endive  Jicama  Kale  Kohlrabi  Leeks  Mushrooms: all  Onions  Pak choi  Okra  Red leaf chicory  Sea vegetables/seaweed:  kelp, dulse, hijiki, arame,  wakame  Radishes  Rutabaga  Snow peas  Spinach  Sprouts: all  Squash: winter & summer  Swiss chard  Turnip  Watercress  Zucchini    Protein  free-range chicken turkey  Lamb  Buffalo  Wild game: venison, quail,  pheasant, rabbit  Cold water ocean fish: wild  pacific salmon, ocean char,  cod, halibut, haddock, sole,  pollack, tuna, stripped bass  Water-packed canned tuna  (without added soy protein)  Sardines  Anchovies    Protein powder: hemp, brown rice or pea   Nuts  Almonds  Cashews  Flax seeds  Hazelnuts (filberts)  Pecans  Poppy seeds  Pumpkin seeds  Sesame seeds  Sunflower seeds  Walnuts  Hemp seeds  Note: All of the above can be consumed as butters and spreads (tahini,  almond butter, etc).  Nuts and  seeds are best consumed raw (not roasted) and unsalted.     Oil  Almond  Flax seed  Coconut (best for cooking at  high temperatures)  Olive  Pumpkin  Safflower  Sesame  Sunflower  Walnut  Hazelnut  Truffle  Note: Please make sure oils are unrefined, extra virgin, non-gmo,  organic, cold-pressed, etc.    Vinegar  Apple cider  Balsamic  Red wine  Rice  Tarragon  Ume plum      Dairy substitutes  Almond milk (unsweetened)  Hemp milk (unsweetened)  Hazelnut milk (unsweetened)  Coconut milk or water  Rice (whole grain, brown rice)  *rice milk is the most processed  of the dairy substitutes and  often sweetened.  Other dairy  substitutes preferred.    Other Beverages  Teas: herbal, white, green water vegetable juices- cold pressed preferred   Spices  Allspice  Anise  Basil  Bay leaf  Caraway seeds  Cardamom  Celery seeds  Cinnamon  Clove  Coriander  Cumin  Dandelion  Dill  Dry mustard  Fennel  Garlic  Ginger  Mint  Nutmeg  Oregano  Parsley  Saffron  Sage  Salt-free herbal blends  Savory  Sea salt  Tarragon  Thyme  Turmeric  Vanilla extract (pure)  Raw cacao   Mustard (made with apple cider  vinegar) Wheat free tamari              Sharon Richter www.sharonrichter.com You only have one body. Treat it with respect. ™   

teams...

I am sitting here at 5:53 with papers strewn all around me. Each of you have a page in my 3 ring binder with notes and key words/goals on it. I have matched you up in pairs and in teams for a few reasons:

1) Your time flexibility

2) goals

3) some common interest

4) something you can learn or will like about each other.

5) something I feel this person/group will add to you or your life.

I have held back on pairing myself up because there are a few "groups" that I fit into and will be checking in on.

The teams are as follows:

"Designing Mommies":

Grace

Gina

Sarah

Caroline

Rumena

"Meet me at the gym"

Noura

Dana

Iris

Martine

Christine

"The balancing act"

Tina

Deb

Mary

Nicole

Jazz

"Fresh air crew"

Ann

Suzanne

Yvonne

Katina

"lights, camera, raw"

Mimi

Rachel

Alison

"Manhattan Superstars "

Marie

Allison

Sharon

Florina

Kathleen

Joanne

"If I had a cape, I'd be a superhero"

Susan

Teri

Emily *(I would like this team to "captained" by Scott (instructor) and would love

Noreen for you guys to meet up and decide about partnerships/calling tree etc)

Elizabeth

Barbara

Scott

Please let me know if I have somehow missed someone.

We start Monday March 14th. As we "Spring ahead" we spring ahead. These season is historically a powerful one, reaching way back from pagan times through to now. I believe that there is an energy that we can all harness to guide us on this journey.

You have agreed to be a part of this and I want you to do this for yourselves and for all of the people in your life. Some rules are flexible and some are not. More than any other year, I plan on being involved and will be calling, emailing and holding you accountable to yourselves and each other. The more you reach out to your team, the more you can change your life. All of us want better friendships and to be connected to each other. We are all guilty of "being too busy" and avoiding the communication that would make that possible. Instead, we watch television, eat, read magazines, do crossword puzzles etc. This is only SIX weeks out of your lives. All of your personal details are private and I will never share them so I will use "me" (and a little bit of all of you too) as an example of what this "challenge" is about.

The First 3 days:

This is the only part of the challenge that is strict regarding food. We are doing these 3 days to cleanse our bodies of: toxins ,artificial sweeteners, pesticides, preservatives, habits, emotional connection to food, patterns and all of our "norms". This is a time that we get our own attention and say to ourselves "I am doing something big and important here". "I am taking really good care of me and loving myself as much as I love everyone else in my life". It is vital that we get excited about these 3 days. You will feel fed, energized and healthy.

*If you blow off this phase, please let me know and I will start a new team for "alternate route 6 week challenge"

This is what we are doing:

1) We are eating (all organic when possible):

a) fruits and vegetables and lean fish, chicken, tofu, turkey or eggs.

b) raw nuts (handfuls as snacks or dessert), plain yogurt/skim milk (optional) ONLY.

c) lemon/lime and herbs as seasonings.

You can eat all you want to (I encourage you to eat a ton in fact. Especially of leafy multi colored greens and veggies). You can use Olive oil after cooking (raw) and cook with safflower oil (handles heat better) or another similar type of oil.

You cannot have:

Anything processed

added salt/sugar or artificial sweeteners

During these 3 days all of us are:

1) journaling daily

2) meditating (or sitting quietly breathing deeply)/stretching for a minimum of 5 minutes a day.

3) reaching out to our team/partner. Email, text or call.

I want all of us to take these 3 days very seriously. The rest of the 6 weeks will take care of themselves but these first 3 days will be what allows us to change ourselves and our lives.

There will be "meet ups" with some fun stuff. Games, laughter, advice from specialists etc. I will be blogging/twittering (sign up to follow liquidstrength) daily.

I will be emailing your "teams" so you can all have each other's email addresses. I will not share phone numbers. It is your choice what means of contact you share but I hope that you are open to really getting involved.

I would like to have a "kick off" gathering (for anyone who would like to come) at my apartment. Drop me an email and let me know if that would interest you. Also let me know if anything has changed with your ability to do the "6 week challenge". I am excited about this.

Life Coaching and the Six-Week Challenge

Hello to all you Six Week Challengers!

My name is Erika Isler and it's so nice to meet you all! You’re embarking on a wonderful journey in this Liquid Strength Six Week Challenge and I'm thrilled to be a supportive part of your team. As we begin this process, I believe it’s critical at this juncture to take some time to look deeply at your thinking as you begin.

I’m going to urge you to take a few minutes to reflect on and write more about the goals you’ve highlighted for yourself. I believe that when things swirl around in your brain all the time, it only adds to the confusion of figuring out what you want. So be really clear with these and commit them to paper.

Here’s a first step for you and you can put this right in your binder: List four things you really want. I want you to focus on the things you think about most often—the ones that you believe would “complete” you. If you’ve already buddied up with someone, it may be interesting (to the level that you’re each comfortable) to share these desires. I think that sharing will help underscore my next point.

Okay, now that you’ve made your list, take a minute and imagine you already have each item on that list, whether it’s a 35-pound weight loss, a killer body, three million dollars in the bank or a partner that has all of the preceding and more. So the two lists will look something like this:

Thing:

After I have it, the sensation I’ll feel is:

Now here’s what’s interesting about this. Regardless of the specific items on everyone’s lists, feeling states are usually universal and predictable. People want security, love, acceptance, joy and inner peace. Since most of us are primed to seek outside approval, we confuse these feeling states as things we get from others or from circumstances in our lives. Here’s how those kinds of inner monologues often look:

“If I lose 20 pounds, I’d have lots more confidence.”

“If my mom wasn’t so critical, I’d be happy.”

It’s important to get really clear on what you’re telling yourself what you need for happiness. What thoughts are looping about your successes? What are you already foretelling about any potential setbacks?

Can you start this challenge as though every goal you’ve highlighted has already been met and then notice how you’re real self can step up to the plate?

I’ll be stopping back regularly to see what’s happening with you all and to see what questions might have arisen through this process. I’m excited for your successes and I’ll be cheering you on through every step!

If you’d like to read more about my work and are interested in more information about a special offering for Liquid Strength Six Week Challenge participants, please stop by the programs page at erikaisler.com.

Finding your "true" goal

Ok, We have more than 30 amazing people doing our 6 week challenge. We have designers, PR people, bankers, models, moms, life coaches, photographers etc. Every single one of you bring something special to this dynamic. It would be great to have everyone able to comment on the blog so we have lot of dialogue to read to support each other. All you have to do is make up a gmail account and sign up. You never even have to check your gmail mail.

Sharon is "moving in" for a few days. We are going to lay out all of your answers and my notes and make "teams". There will be partnerships or in some cases groups of 3 or 4. I know that some of you will be more "available" than others to check in with your partners/team mates. I am matching you up with people who have similar goals/interests and who I think you will gain something by in friending. The connection may be very obvious or very subtle. This matching up, along with finding your "true goal" is the most vital part of the challenge.

In looking for your "true goal" , I invite you to go back and read past entries in the blog to help you and inspire you. This is the most challenging blog entry as I attempt to "guide you" and help you peel back the layers of yourselves and your lives to find what is underlining your goals and the hurdles standing in your way. This is so highly person and varies with each person that it is hard to find the words that will fit for a group of individuals.

Reading your answers to my 10 questions, I learned a lot. Some of you are interested in getting fitter but the majority of you are more interested in gaining confidence, forging stronger friendships and connections, and taking better care of your "selves". These are the most important parts of this challenge. If we can all work on those things, by the end of these 6 weeks, our bodies will be in a great place. The heart/mind/soul and body are so connected that I truly have come to believe that our physical selves are reflections of what is going on inside of our deeper selves.

Now, onto the hardest part of the challenge.....we all must begin to peel back the layers of our lives to find what needs our attention and focus. To begin that process, I want you to look back at how you answered the 10 questions I asked. Read them as if you are someone else and catch of glimpse of the summation of your lives.

Take a minute and write down the life you "always wanted" and the person you "always wanted to be". Write out what a typical day looks like in your life. Go back and read all that you have written and try to discern the differences in what you want and where you are.

For myself, I have a lot of energy. I have a duality happening in my life between being very centered, calm and self aware and also being frantic and scattered. For me, this challenge is really about finding a way to make my average day a little easier, more organized and calm.

I am going to be working on some very practical things to make this happen (like training my dogs better, getting a dog walker, having a system for my twins to follow in the morning so they do more for themselves and actually making changes in my apartment so we have places for everything so we can all keep the the apartment neater and more organized). At night, I am going to try to change my routine (as all of you will be too). There is going to be no tv (I don't typically watch tv but can mindlessly tune in and it becomes a habit that doesn't yield anything positive in anyone's lives) and I am going to take 5 minutes to meditate and stretch at night.

Your goals will be yours. I believe it is far better to set up "will do" and look forward to the changes in your lives rather than set up a "I will not eat.....". I want this to be about being good to yourselves not punishing yourselves. Set up things you are looking forward to and make changes that substitute damaging behaviors for ones that bring you to a better place.

Erika will be chiming in to try to help with all of you with this process. If I can help at all, please feel free to reach out to me too. Historically, we have had group meetings that have helped us all focus and find out more about what we are after. During this challenge, we are going to have (fully optional) meet ups. These will be fun and festive and have always been my favorite part of the whole process.

This week we are going to start our "cleaning out" process. Try to cut down on processed food and junk in your diets and start taking the best care possible of YOU. We will all be doing 3 days of trying to eat only organic fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and dairy with no artificial sweeteners or salt added. This will be the strictest part of our challenge and serve to "clean" our taste buds, bodies and get us ready to move onto whatever we decide our "plan" is going to be. You can eat as much as you like, but it has to be good for you and in it's natural form. More specifics to come to use these next few days to make subtle changes so the three day won't be so hard.

6 week challenge prep

There will still be some people joining this week so I can't "officially" start just yet. I wanted to take some time to explain what will be happening and give all of you some homework to get you started so you can get the most out of this very cool time together.

This 6 week challenge is not a physical "meeting" or time consuming thing. It will be whatever you make of it and whatever you need/want it to be. I can tell you (as I have a lot of time in with this stuff) that the more connected you are to your "partner/team", the more connected to yourself you will be and the more you will get out of this. In our busy lives (I use my own life as an example because I believe we all run around pretty similarly and using my own experiences is not violating anyone's privacy) we all get into the pattern (I am very guilty of this) of "I just don't have time" for ...... we lose touch with our friends, family and people who are really good for us. We wrap myself up in our frantic "to do list" and then feel like it's too hard to "catch them up" so we avoid calling. We don't want to "commit" to any additional things we have to do. (sound familiar?). The result is that after we run around like a whirling dirvishes getting all of those things done ( for me: kids homework, lunches made, dogs walked, feed everyone, shop for food daily, laundry, dishes, blogging, baths, making 2 dinners (Kurt is on a very special diet for migraine syndrome), getting to my classes on time, clients, returning emails lining up subs and subbing, cleaning up after cooking etc etc.,) not really connecting to anyone as just "us". I believe that humans need to connect and process their day when the day is done.

In this challenge, we will be connecting to our challenge partners/team mates. This is a really important part of the whole process. The other part of the process is taking the time to to keep a journal (you can write as little or as much as you like but you must write something EVERY day).

If your goal is weight/diet/health related. Sharon and I want food journals to help you in your process. Keep a journal of typical "normal" days. Write down every single thing you eat without altering your norm at all. If you can get these food journals to us ASAP, we can give you some amazingly helpful and creative feedback that will help you on your way. They will also help us make better partnerships for you in the challenge.

Buy yourself a 3 ring binder with pockets and get writing TODAY. Get those food journals to us and start writing down what you are days are like.

I will be blogging daily and giving you more homework and information on what the next steps are. I hope you are all getting really excited about making some great changes.....

6 week challenge roster so far....

So happy to be back from vacation and teaching again. This week has already (with one class) brought a few new very solid LS'ers to our fold ! There will be a lot of action on this blog as we enter our 6 week challenge. Some of you have been telling me that you have had problems emailing me. I think the problem is solved but let me know. This is the final week for registering for the challenge. Get those 10 answers to me and get on the roster. Next week we work towards "finding our true goal". That is a really cool process where you strip away the superficial "go to" things we tend to obsess over and find what you really need to change your life/body and happiness.

The roster so far:

Marie

Emily

Iris

Caroline

Alison

Gina

Barbara

Elizabeth

Kathleen

Rachel

Grace

Dana

Mimi

Deb

Suzanne

Nicole

Katina

Ann

Alison

Teri

Yvonne

Noura

Susan

Martine

Florina

Noreen