Fabulously Fierce

I am a true believer that women should learn to love themselves first before they embark on any other journey. I see so many women that ooze with insecurities, jealousy, envy, and self doubt. These are all traits I struggled with on my own and I learned very quickly if I wanted to make a difference in the world or become successful, I had to rid myself of these traits.

The journey first begins with learning who you are, what you desire to do with your life, and creating a plan to make it happen. So many times goals are written down, yet there is no true plan to make them reality. We dream of one day becoming the Owner of our own company, but we roll out of bed and hit the grocery store in our pajamas. We have the goal to one day be loved by a kind heart that sees our inward beauty, but we don't even love ourselves for who we are.

Do you know where you are seeking your validation from? Is it yourself or is it from social media and other people?

If you need to, give up social media. I have seen so many people lately consumed with seeking validation through social media. I also feel that it is contributing to envy and jealousy amongst women which I find so heartbreaking. Stop scrolling social media comparing yourself to other women or becoming consumed with who likes what at what time. It is silly to when you really think about it, but it has become the way of our world lately. It drives me crazy...

"I didn't get enough likes, so I took it down!"

There seems to be so much self worth and validation placed on the likes and comments that are receive in social media. If you post from your heart... if you write from your heart... if you speak from your heart... there should never be a reason to remove it or apologize.

Are you seeking validation through a friend, a personal trainer/coach, your significant other? YOU are the one that validates that YOU are good enough. Others should be an addition, not the whole picture. When you are seeking approval or validation from others and you haven't first discovered your own SELF approval, you are caught in a never ending cycle.

Take a look in the mirror and tell yourself who you are, why you are proud of yourself, and how you are going to change the world with your talents. Do this daily...multiple times a day. I promise you are sure to develop more confidence, soon the actions and opinions of others will not longer negatively effect your thoughts. You will begin to pour happiness and love in to YOUR own life and the lives of others. Slowly you will begin changing the world.

Take the time to talk to yourself... LISTEN! You have to find who you are before you can expect anyone else to love you for who you are. Write it down!! Yes, I am saying to talk to yourself in a journal. In a journal there is no judgement, but you can begin to determine WHY you feel, think, and act the way you do. You can create a plan for your future and accomplishing your goals. In the same journal, you can have positive, reaffirming conversations with yourself and maintain your self empowerment. My journal is my quiet place and the time I get to spend each day writing out my thoughts is important to me.

Coming from a girl that struggled her whole life with self esteem issues, insecurities, doubt, and fears... simply writing in my journal daily has completely changed my life and has corrected all of those nasty traits I had grown to dislike about myself.

Discover who you are... become empowered!! You don't need anyone else in this world to validate you, just YOUrself!!

I am Empowered

I am learning that there is great power in believing in yourself and not seeking the approval of others.
For so long I had this backwards. I always stressed over what others thought...what are they saying about me...what do they think about what I am doing...what if they think I am not capable.
Fear of what others think has to be the strongest wall that we build in front of ourselves.
I decided a couple weeks ago to truly focus in on self improvement, positive self-talk, and truly getting to the bottom of what my greatest fears were.
Through various exercises, writing, and meditation I have been able to weed through what is reality and what is false or made up in my own head.
My goals of being a professional in the fitness industry are greater than wanting to change bodies on the outside. My passion is in changing and teaching other women how they can believe in themselves and how they can throw out the need to have approval from others.
While I am still perfecting this skill and improving my self-power (something I think will forever be a work in progress), I have committed to making a change!
Here are two things I really think are a good start in the right direction for anyone-
1.) Stop caring what others think, you are driving yourself mad!- I say this with sincerity, stop caring what others think. What I am trying to truly say is, stop letting the opinion of others get in the way of your success and your self-improvement practice. When you start to think WHAT IF...WILL THEY... I AM NOT SURE IF... stop yourself and count to five. Second, give yourself five reason why you should... why you are sure... and why YOU want to do whatever it is you are about to do.
I did this today with my blog post.... WILL PEOPLE THINK I AM SPEAKING OUT OF TURN! Well, I desire to share my story during the entire process and everyone has a BEGINNING. I am sure that I need to write this post to inspire other women to believe. I want to share my journey in hopes that I can teach someone else along the way.
TRY IT!
2.) Be a woman of your word!- When you are who you say you are and you follow through, you eliminate one more step in the QUESTION MYSELF game. Follow through and be a woman of your word. Try your hardest and when you tell someone you will do something, complete it with 120% passion and committment. There is nothing worse than relying on someone that ends up letting you down, so don't allow yourself to be that woman. When you are a woman of your word, you stand tall and you are proud of what you can accomplish. When I follow through on what I say I will do...be it for myself or someone else, I feel empowered, I feel great, and I feel like I have given back to someone. TRY IT!
:-)

Let Them Eat Fats

My meals throughout the day include...

A balance of lean protein,

complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

 

Most people understand the first two pieces of my balanced meal, but the healthy fats is where I find I get the most questions.

 

In a world where we are raised to think fats are the enemy and shelves are stocked full of fat-free food options, it seems odd that the word would fat make it in to the same sentence describing healthy, balanced meals.

 

It is as simple as saying not all fats are bad, rather the choice and types of fats we consume is what makes all of the difference. Trans fats are our unhealthy fats and generally get blamed for weight gain. Baked goods, fried chicken, and candy bars are just a few examples of foods that contain trans fats.

 

Monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and omegas play a huge role in our bodies and are consider good, healthy fats. Flax seed, nuts, avocados, fish, and olive oil are just a few examples of healthy fats. Consuming these healthy fats (in moderation) daily can help manage our energy levels, control weight, and improve our mood and mental focus.

 

Try swapping fried chicken dinners with grilled fish

Or

how about trading in your favorite bag of crunchy chips for a hand full of mixed nuts?

 

I love to consume my healthy fats in the form of oils, especially coconut oil. I not only enjoy coconut oil for the energy it gives me, I enjoy the beauty benefits that have come along with consuming it. Healthier skin, nails, and hair have been a result of consuming coconut oil on a daily basis. I enjoy adding coconut oil, Udos 3-6-9 Omega blend oil, or flax seed oil to my meals throughout the day. 

 

I shy away from nut butters because they are too difficult for me to stop eating and I feel that there are processed additives in most nut butters that I don't care to eat daily. Besides, if we are being honest it is really difficult to eat just ONE leveled tablespoon of peanut butter or almond butter. When we start eating past the recommended serving size, it quickly defeats the purpose of eating for balance. I know a lot of people love nut butters and add them to their diets as healthy fats. I would encourage you to thoroughly read the label prior to consuming. Check for added sugars, processed ingredients, or even sugar alcohols. Sure nut butters are great as health treats, but I notice a significant difference in how I feel and look when they are removed from my diet and replaced with other options.
 

I add my coconut oil to my food after it has been heated. I simply measure out a tablespoon or two of coconut oil, place it on top of my warm food, and it quickly melts in to my food. You can mix coconut oil or UDO's 3-6-9 Omega blend oils in your favorite protein shakes or oat meal. Flax seed oil makes for a create salad dressing when paired with balsamic vinegar and Mrs. Dash salt-free seasoning. They even have flavored flax seed and omega blend oils for those of you hesitant of adding these beneficial oils to your diet.

 

What healthy fats will you be adding to your meals this week?

 

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram for daily posts :-)

@anna_lavonne

  

What Character do you Play?

A couple of weeks ago on my Instagram I wrote a post asking my followers,

Would you be friends with you?!

I continued with my post describing my question in further detail. Some might answer, "yes, well of course... I would be friends with me" and others might answer "probably not."

I seriously think everyone should consider this question. Would YOU be friends with YOU?!

Would I be friends with someone that continuously second guessed herself and wasn't confident in her talent or abilities? Would I be friends with someone that feared what others thought?
The answer was no, which prompted change in my life.

Here is why I began working for change...  

I will tell you, there is nothing more uncomfortable for me than being around a woman that is insecure. I see it in women of all ages, shapes, and sizes and I refuse to become that type of woman.

I love being around confident, motivated women. Business women, hardworking moms, confident wives... It is inspiring.

I am not a fan of being around women that talk bad about other women in the room or are complete (as I call them) Eeyores. Isn't this true for all of us?! There

 

Eeyore- always down and doubtful

  OR

Pooh- jolly, content and happy with what he has

 

Own your ability to be the better CHARACTER in your story!!

It's empowering when you are around a secure women that has a plan and has something to teach you. I love learning from these women, but I do not like being around women that constantly bad mouth. Whether they are bad mouthing another women, gossiping, or bad mouthing themselves, it is not fun!

Does this mean you can't be a friend when someone needs a pick me up or swift motivational kick in the bum? Absolutely not, but don't be the friend that is consistently a downer or talking about other women.

I am far from perfecting this skill, but in the weeks since posting this question I have learned a lot. I have created a plan for myself to become empowered, secure, confident, and successful. I plan to share these ways and ideas as I learn them, but for now I will say stop the poor self talk. Stop talking poorly about other women, including yourself.

For the longest time (I'll be honest), I thought positive self talk was cheesy. You know the line they say to tell yourself in the mirror, "I am beautiful, I am strong, I am worthy!". I used to think, "Oh yeah right, let me talk to myself, about myself in the mirror for 15 min each day!"

I was wrong. It is so empowering and it truly does work. You stop the negative thoughts that most all of the time are unrealistic and you begin seeing yourself for who you are and can be.

After a while the positivity runs through your body and you too become lighter on your feet. You are who you are, either you improve yourself in a positive way or you begin to accept what you have. Embrace YOU and be empowered by the sole fact that you can become anything you dream of.

The women we love and look up to most in the public eye are typically women that are confident and secure with themselves. You too can be those things, you just have to tell the negative thoughts to take a hike and talk to yourself like you are your own coach. If you coached a team of 12 young girls, you wouldn't tell them they couldn't, wouldn't, or shouldn't! You would tell them YOU CAN, WORK HARD, BE YOU... Speak to yourself this way... you are your coach... you have more power than you know!

Control your thoughts and control your character!!

Utilizing the Tools I Gather

Hello!
The purpose of my blog today is to track my progress and share the various ways I plan to accomplish my goals this upcoming year. This past weekend was a very motivating weekend in Long Beach at Super Camp. I was surrounded and being taught by top Pro Athletes in the WBFF, experts in all industries from marketing, skin care, and self improvement. In addition, I shared the weekend with over 30 driven and motivated weekend.

WBFF Super Camp with Nathan Harewood and WBFF Pros Sharon Polsky,
Nadia Lopez, Lindsay Messina, and Teri Crenshaw
at Pole Position Fitness, Long Beach, CA

This was not my first camp. Over the last year I have attended 10 or more of these health and fitness camps here in California. Each and every time I come out of camp feeling motivated and encouraged to put the tools I gathered to use. Slowly I would lose that motivation and find myself back to my old habits. Going in to the camp I decided this time would be different.

Yesterday was the first day and the first Monday following camp. So far, so good! My first step was to admit to myself that I was going to have to face a few fears head on if I was going to create new habits. We all know this, right? Doing something new is always scary, but after you have done it a few times we overcome the fear. I sent texts to my closest friends and coaches making the commitment to change and improve myself. This first step seems to be what I may have been missing prior. It is an accountability factor. NOW, I cannot give up so easy and I cannot make excuses as to why I have not accomplished what I said I would.

I would challenge you to start there first. Make a commitment to someone other than yourself. Someone you trust, someone that knows and will appreciate the struggle you are about to have. I think this is something important to consider, SOMEONE THAT KNOWS AND APPRECIATES. Too often we tell someone our goals or dreams and they are someone that has no clue what it takes to get to where we want to go. Not only that, it is possible they are paralyzed by fears themselves and potentially could hold you back.

Another step I took yesterday is purchasing a journal and writing ALL of my year's goals on the inside cover. My plan is to each day write in my journal everything I am feeling, the things I have done or accomplished that day, and refer back constantly to the POWER GOALS on the inside cover. This way I can constantly check to see if my actions are in line with my goals. Also, I am able to track the smaller steps that I am taking toward accomplishing my goals. I think it will be a positive and motivating seeing that though it is small, I am making great progress!

Finally, each morning I am making a list of 3-4 things to accomplish for the day. Nothing extreme, just small actions listed that I can check off as I have completed them. Yesterday I felt accomplished when I went to bed. I had completed the 4 things that I had added to my list yesterday morning. They were smaller goal that I had accomplished, but I feel like it was a step in the right direction to create a new habit of committing and achieving.

Off to start a new day and tackle new goals!!!

Today-- Commit to someone that will hold you accountable in a positive way. Also, start by making a list of your POWER GOALS... the goals you will accomplish this year. Start with the big goals and then work your way backwards tackling smaller goals that are in line with your POWER GOALS.