Week 3.1 - Drunk in Love Project - All Things Exercise, Play and Taking Risks

This week I'm covering all things exercise, play and taking calculated risks.  I haven't done a video for this week, so I'm covering it off in a 3 part blog series.

First cab off the rank is EXERCISE

I have to start this off by saying, I love keeping active.  Getting out and exercising is like my meditation, it gets me out of my head and into my body and makes me feel alive, focused and ready to tackle my day.

I've come up with some exercise guidelines that I work towards each week.  I never feel exhausted by the end of the week, but I know that I am giving 100% in each session that I get out and do.  What I would encourage you to do is come up with your own exercise guidelines that leave you feeling motivated and full of energy.  Fill your week with movement that you love doing, make that your number one focus.  

My Magik Exercise Guidelines:

1. Lots of moving around at a slow pace
• 2 - 5 Hrs/week of walking - walking is my go to, I like to try to hit 10,000 steps each day.  I make a habit of walking to the gym, the shops or just going out for a walk around the block.  I love going for a nice long hike on a weekend or even getting my bike out occasionally.  Do what ever you like, as long as you keep your heart rate below 75% of your max - to gauge this, you should be able to hold a conversation while walking.
2. Weight training
• I lift 3 - 4 days per week, I like to do a 4 day split.  I do a mix of supersets, heavy reps, light reps, plyo's and majority of exercises are compound movement.
3. Sprint Sessions
• Nothing makes you loose excess fat and increases your fitness faster than sprinting.  Make HIIT training your best friend and you won't go wrong.  I don't do anymore than 2 hard sprint sessions per week.  I give 120% for those two sessions and I spread them out so that I have at least 2 days recovery between each session.  My go to session is 20mins total, 1min walk : 1 min all out sprint.
4. Yoga
• I love Bikram, I love the discipline and the structure around the 26 moves.  Above all else I love the sweat that you get up.  I understand it's not for everyone, but for me there is nothing more relaxing than standing in a heated room for 90mins.  Weird I know but I love it :) 
5. Play
• I'm going to talk all things Play in my next blog post :)

I'm not rigid in my training routine above all else I listen to how my body is feeling, if I get to the gym for a weights session and I'm just not feeling it, I'll go home and take the time I need so that I can give 100% the next day.  There is nothing worse than not feeling up to it, pushing through anyway and then doing more damage or pushing yourself and then being exhausted for the rest of the week.  I call this guidelines because that's exactly what they are and it helps me create balance around my training approach.

In my next post I'll be discussion how I like to get out and Play and why it's such an important part of my weekly exercise routine.

Drop me a message, I'd love to hear what you include in your exercise guidelines.

Have You Made the Decision to Be Healthy?

For some people, it's a New Year's resolution.  For others, it's impending nuptials, a big life event.  Maybe it's a scary diagnosis of your own or a friend or relative.  Sometimes it's a long thought out process, even when it seems more of a spur of the moment pledge, the decision to be healthy usually comes after good thought out consideration.

What exactly plants the seed of possibility?

Who and what figures into the picture as we go over the thought process in our minds and think about how our health could be?

Where do we end up inspired to finally make a change?

Ultimately, the path that we each take is/was different.

For some of us, the urge could be bought on by the memory of having been very healthy at one time in our lives and the desire to get back to that level of activity and enjoyment was at the forefront of your mind.  Perhaps we've felt plagued by obesity or poor health concerns as long as we can remember but ultimately cling to the idea that life can be more after all.  Possibly you've always enjoyed good health and fitness but wanted to take it to the next level after a fresh bout of motivation spurred on by competitiveness, new information or a different perspective made us think differently about how we went about achieving things.

More than likely the common factor in all our journeys is that lingering feeling and concluding acceptance that we are not living the life we ultimately want and that we could do better for ourselves.

Whatever the reason we finally begin to value ourselves more highly and see that our physical health goes hand in hand with what we have to experience and offer in this life.  Finally it hits us; if we want to be healthy - we must make the decision to be healthy.  Coming to this realisation is a turning point when our desire becomes more than a lofty goal, the decision we make for health becomes the way we live.

This is the beauty of making a decision over a set in stone goal.  A goal is something that you wish to attain, a point of future success, it implies an end point.  Of course you will have to work hard and be dedicated to achieve this goal, but the focus is often on a future fixed point.  A decision is present resolve that permeates every moment, starting with the here and now.  It's not an image of success that we project our desires onto, it's what we make of each day we're living on this earth.

A decision ultimately shapes a lifestyle.

Ahh... I love the power that making a decision has over our lives.  When you make a decision to lead a healthy life, you don't put a goal at the centre, you put yourself at the centre.  You situate your beautiful self at the core of your life and there is no straying from that.  No excuse will change it or overturn it, because you have put yourself and your concept of health at the absolute centre, the heart of your life.  That's when it dawns on you -

Your health and wellness (the balance, the energy, the vitality it brings) is a vital centre that supports every aspect of your life and self.

I believe this is the critical step that makes a difference for so many of us.  Most of the time it's not so much learning new or more information, but seeing it with fresh eyes, seeing health from a new vantage point, it's seeing health from the heart centre rather than some distant pining observer.  You can now begin to build support around that decision, add things and people to your life that reinforce the decision.  You can begin to weave the way you live day-to-day into that remarkable choice, the decision to be, to live, healthy.

I would love to hear from you, what led you to make the decision to be healthy?  What where your defining moments, your motivations?  What are your thoughts on choosing health?

Drunk In Love Transformation Project - Week 2

I firmly believe that we are what we eat and that when given the opportunity, your body will heal all ailments.  Food and nourishing your soul truly is medicine.  Learning to harness that power is difficult.

What I’m going over this week in the video:

+ Bio-Individuality;

+ Intuitive Eating; and

+ Getting to know your flow

Here is a little recap:

Bio Individuality

Long story short, no to people are the same, what heals me may be poison to you.  What works for you at the moment may not work for you in 10 years time.  Our bodies are progressive and ever changing, accept and honour that.

Intuitive Eating

Learning how to listen to what your body needs is number one.  Learn to read your body’s messages, are you truly hungry or is it really thirst.  Ditch the food labelling, stop defining the food you eat as “good” or “bad” trust in your instincts and be ok with change, have an absolute trust that your body knows what it needs. Ask yourself these questions before you eat:

+ How will I feel after I eat this food?
+ Which foods am I instinctively drawn to?
+ What foods am I craving?

Get to know your flow

I’ve made the decision to get off the contraceptive pill after 16 years of use.  I am a woman and very honestly I don’t know how everything down there works for me.  I don’t want to get pregnant, so I’m learning when I’m most fertile, when I’m ovulating and repairing any hormonal damage that may have be done from extended use of The Pill.  Knowledge is power sista and as a woman, I want to know my body and own the power of fertility.  Because one day I do want to make a baby and I want it to be a beautiful experience.

xx

PS. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below...  What are your main food complaints?  Is there anything ailing you that you need a hand to heal?

Sacred Dance Party - Are You Game?

I recently watched The Secret again to brush up on my knowledge of the Law of Attraction.  Since then I’ve been way more aware of my thoughts and what I’m manifesting into my world.  But I was still plagued with the thought, can we really make our thoughts become our reality??

Well last yesterday, I became a total believer and I danced the night away with 40 other women, I was hot, sweaty, wild, uninhibited – I was FREE!

So lets start at the beginning on how I came to be at a crazy dance party at 6pm on a Friday night.

I was lying in bed a few weeks ago when the thought just hit me, I feel like going out and dancing all night, I want to feel the music and move without a care in the world I want to just feel in my body and not in my head.  My next thought – I need to get my hands on some MDMA stat!

But hold up… I don’t do that stuff anymore, where are these thoughts coming from - but I desperately wanted to move and feel free and I don’t know any other way…

The weeks passed since that thought, I still wanted to go out and move but the opportunity hadn’t presented itself, it was just left as a burning desire in the back of my mind.

Fast forward to the beginning of this week and I’m starting on my 6 Week – Drunk In Love – Transformation Project.  I’m learning and absorbing all information I can that will assist me in achieving my goals and help me to transform my life.  I was listening to Connie Chapman’s - Awaken Radio – and she was interviewing Susana Frioni.  I’d never even heard of this woman, but that interview gave me so many AHA moments that I had to find out more of what this woman had to teach.

Fast forward to Thursday and I stumbled across her podcast station, I promptly downloaded all episodes and started listening.  On Friday I was driving home from the coast, listening to her podcasts, totally in awe to the new, out there, game changing information that I was soaking up.  I needed to meet this woman. 

Now this is where the universe comes into play…

I got home from the coast and thoughtlessly started checking my emails on my phone.  There was a hell of a lot of Facebook notification emails that I normally delete straight away without second thought, but just this once I decided to open up this message.

A beautiful acquaintance was gifting a ticket to a Susan Frioni Dance Party, happening that night – WHOLEY MOTHA!!! I NEED THAT TICKET!

So I promptly messaged the beautiful Kelle (check her site out over here) and she passed her ticket onto me – I was going to this dance party, I was going to meet this woman who was literally changing the way I was thinking about myself, my desires and literally about SEX full stop.

Sacred Dance Party!!

When I got there, I got hit with this sudden realization… WHAT in the HECK have I got myself into?!  I don’t do sober dance parties, what is everyone going to think of me, I’m literally going to be standing in the corner all by myself, I don’t know a single sole here, everyone is going to be so free and I’m going to be rigid as all heck, maybe I should leave…

Feel the FEAR and do it ANYWAY.

So in I went, trying to let go of all attachments, all expectations and just be there in the moment… Easier said than done.

Susana started us off with a shake to loosen up, a little meditation (which admittedly got me feeling super anxious again instead of relaxed) and then we wrote what we wanted to get out of the evening in our journals:

“I want to feel wild and free, to be open, feel the music, to let go and get in touch with my inner goddess.”

Then the music began and we stood still, we felt the music penetrate our souls.  Not being able to move and just feel the music build up inside you is an awesome feeling.  Then we danced.

Susana guided us through the first hour of dance, we danced on our own, with partners, in straight lines, stomping, free movement.

Then out came the blind folds.

That’s when I really felt free and was able to let go and come into my own.  That’s when I felt wild and in touch, for me this is when the magik happened.

Now we’ve come full circle, O universe you crazy kid!

It all started with a burning desire to go out, get wasted and dance my little heart out – it ended up being something way more beautiful and gratifying.

Wild, Courageous, Sensual, Erotic, Calm, Liberated - FREE

+ For more on Susana Frioni and her dance party’s, click here.

++ To check out fellow health coach, and the awesome chick who gifted me her ticket, click here.

Drunk in Love 6 Week Transformation Project

Today I made my first video blog.  I've been thinking about a little transformational project for myself on the lead up to my wedding.  Check out the video for a little more information.

As an overview of the video this week I'm covering:

+ Getting clear on my intentions
+ I'm sharing my goals and action steps with you to keep me accountable.
+ If your keen to do your own transformation project and join me over the next 6 weeks I'm happy to share my work and activity sheets just email at nicole.kropp@me.com

xx

PS. Excuse the um's and the funny expressions and I'm very new to editing and all that... Onwards and upwards from here x

Why it's so Incredibly Important to have a Goal or a set of Clear Intentions

Having a set of clear intentions and clear goals for yourself is one of the most important things you can do to ensure that you are getting the most out of life.  Essentially by having a goal to work towards you have harnessed the power of making a decision, you have made the decision to set out and achieve your goal.  Making a decision is the ultimate power, it is the single factor that shapes and controls your destiny.  It gives you something to focus on that excites you, it gives you something to achieve with meaning.  When you have a clear goal, it's your decision then to follow through and achieve the goal you've set out.  That decision you make at that moment can change the course of your life forever.


So I have been assessing my goals and thinking about some of the times that I've felt my absolute best and most comfortable in my own skin.  One of those times was when I had made a decision to only eat un-processed foods for a whole year.  The intention of that goal was to essentially change my eating habits so that the way I was eating became a lifestyle for me.  I've been thinking about what is truly important to me and what I should be doing to bring my intentions into balance.  One thing that is important to me is to stay true to what I stand for and what I believe in.  I guess I haven't done that because I've been worried about rocking the boat at home.


Last year when I was competing, my relationship with food and achieving my fitness model body was my number one and everything else took a back seat, including my own self love, my fiancé, friends and family.  But I had determination, an unbreakable drive to achieve something and I was not going to let anything get in my way.  Once I had it bought to my attention by my fiancé that he was well and truly sick of what I was doing.  I reassessed my goals and decided that fostering a loving relationship with my man was way more important to me than eating chicken every 3 hours on the dot.  So I stopped what I was doing, essentially, I didn't have a goal to work towards anymore.  That brings me to today.  I've made some huge life decisions and I have some big things going on in my life, but I don't have any clear cut goals that I am so incredibly passionate about, that fill me up with light and that add energy to my life, more importantly I haven't flexed my decision making muscle in months.


I really had to get clear about what is important to me and how I can be living my life with integrity.  Some things I don't want is to go back on a cookie cutter diet program that doesn't take into account how my body is actually feeling and what it is telling me, but I do want to feel better about myself and I do want to loose some weight, but I want to do it in a way that makes me feel incredible not deprived.  I also want to get my business off the ground, I have all the time in the world right now to be making my dreams become a reality but I'm not using my 24hrs wisely.


With those parameters in mind I need to create some SMART goals for myself and make the decision to achieve these goals that I am setting for myself today.  There are three main goals that I will be setting today:

• A health goal;
• A fitness goal; and
• A business goal.

Because my blog is health and wellness related I'm going to share my health and fitness goals with you, my tribe as a bit of a declaration.  Because I believe in the law of attraction and what you put out into the universe you will get back.  Also I love having someone to be accountable to and sharing goals and tracking those things with my tribe is a sure fire way of being held accountable because I don't want to let a sista down!

Deep breath, ok here we go!

Health 

For the next 60 days, I will only eat un-processed foods, using my knowledge of nutrition and healing, so that I will look and feel my absolute best on my wedding day.  I will keep an online journal (here) of my daily food intake so that I am accountable for my actions and so that I can measure my progress.

Fitness

By the 21st September 2014, I will complete Kayla Itsnie's BBG program, I will not miss a single day, so that I will look and feel my absolute best on my wedding day.  I will keep track of my progress in an online journal (here) so that I am accountable for my actions and so that I can measure my progress.

 These are my goals and I have made the decision today to achieve these goals in a loving way that serves me.  I believe that I can achieve what ever it is I put my mind too.  I know that I can achieve these goals and I now have you my beautiful tribe to keep me accountable.

xx

4 Elements Diet and My Very First Attempt at Blogging

So I've gone to bed, tired and ready to fall asleep, but something is keeping me awake.  It's a drive and a push to do something more that is keeping me from falling asleep but I can't quiet work out what that is.  Maybe I'm just thirsty....

Well anyway, I got myself some water and was lying here scrolling through Instagram, yep 'cause that's going to help a sista fall asleep, not!  I then started thinking about my first ever blog that I started way back in 2011.  I called it 4 Elements Diet.  I had been sitting in bed one fateful Tuesday evening, around the same time as now and I remember I had been trolling through the internet in search of anything and everything and I came across a girl who had challenged herself to eat only foods that where provided from the Earth for 365 days (it was called the Earth Diet, you may or may not of heard of it?!)  So I was sitting up late on my laptop and was thinking, hey I should do my own version of this and blog about it!

And so 4 Elements Diet was born.  Here is my very first blog post, (killin' it in 2011).  Ok, so I had this thing that I didn't want to use capital letters ever... yeah I got over that, don't know where that came from, guess I thought I was being a game changer and leading the pack.  Second is the hideous theme, lol I was learning!

Anyway the point of this whole post was that re-reading my old blog got me really inspired.  I was someone who inspired me to make a change for the better for myself.  I've been inspired by my own determination from 3 years ago, my absolute authentic and pure passion for living a healthier and clean life.  My last journal entry ends at 61 days, I think that's when I threw the towel in.  I don't know why I did though, I do remember that I felt incredible, I was never stressed about food or my weight, I was loosing weight, it was falling off me effortlessly, I just knew that my body was finding it's balancing point I had this absolute belief that my excess weight would come off until my body was happy, I remember getting to a point that I never felt hungry because I always listened to my body's cues, I had boundless energy and my sex drive was through the roof!

I kinda want that back, that raw authentic energy, that passion and drive for inspiring others through my daily choices, I wonder if I can go 61 days of eating only un-processed foods?  

Could you?