4 Steps to Grow Your Number 1 Muscle: Mindset Muscle

By Valerie Solomon, Busy Mom Gets Fit

"... a mindset is a set of assumptions, methods, or notations held by one or more people or groups of people. A mindset can also be seen as incident of a person's world view or philosophy of life." -- Wikipedia

Mindset is the number one thing deciding your success in…

A fitness program

A business venture

Relationships

Your level of happiness

Your level of peace

It’s one of the reasons I love working with women to develop confidence and a new mindset through fitness. A mindset shift affects every area of our lives. 

I know that if I can help you grow your mindset muscle, the actual muscles (or goals that you have) will come along.

We all have stories we tell ourselves.

“I’m not strong.”

“I can’t do that.”

“I am not athletic.”

“I am too old, too far gone, too whatever.”

“My body will never….”

“My genetics….”

“I never stick to anything.”

“I quit.”

“I don’t have time.”

All of these thoughts are just stories you are telling yourself that do not serve you. Someone with a busier life than you is doing it. Someone with the same genetics as you is doing it. Someone in your situation has figured it out, and you can too if you are willing to do the mindset work.

Are you willing to grow? Are you willing to take a hard look at your internal dialogue?

To grow your mindset, you have to start self coaching yourself. Consider this:

C - circumstance

T - thoughts

F - feelings

A - actions

R - results

A circumstance you cannot change happened and led you to -> these thoughts that are -> causing you certain feelings which lead to -> you taking or not taking actions -> leading to your current results.

How do we shift?

You cannot change the circumstance, but you can change your THOUGHTS about the circumstance -> which will cause a ripple effect.

Possible Example:  

Circumstance: Someone made fun of me as a kid about my athletic ability 

Thoughts: I think I am not athletic

Feelings: I feel embarrassed to try

Actions: I don’t exercise

Results: I am feeling unhealthy, sluggish, out of shape

Now shift the THOUGHT:

Circumstance: Someone made fun of me as a kid about my athletic ability 

Thoughts: Kids are silly. God gave me a capable body that can do whatever I train it to do

Feelings: I feel like trying

Actions: I exercise

Results: I reach my health and wellness goals

4 Steps to Growing Your Mindset Muscle

1. Recognize the stories you are telling yourself that are keeping you from your goal. 

2. What circumstance did these stories originate from? Did something happen along the way to make you think this way?

3. What thoughts -> results have developed because of that circumstance?

4. Reframe your thoughts about the circumstance.

Check out my free resources for more mindset work.

Do You Need Self Improvement or Self Acceptance?

By Valerie Solomon

“Where we think we need self-improvement is often where we actually need self-acceptance.” - Lisa Olivera

I’ve been coaching women in fitness and nutrition for over a decade, but I often feel like I’m a life coach.

So much of my job as a personal trainer and helping women reach their goals has to do with mindset.

It’s not just about mindset to be motivated.

It’s not just about mindset to stick to the plan.

...But mindset to give ourselves some grace.

We are so hard on ourselves.

I find that the women that hire me are a certain type of women. 

They’ve got motivation. They are not afraid to do what it takes to reach their goals…

It’s just that sometimes those goals are not something the world sees that they need to work on at all. 

While it’s always inspiring for women to do what it takes to get healthy and strong to live an active life, could we do it without beating ourselves up along the way?

Too big thighs

(We see strong and powerful.)

Soft tummy 

(We see a gorgeous woman we love to have an occasional cocktail with.)

Leaner. 

(We see healthy.)

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I always quit.” 

(You enjoyed vacation OR went through a pandemic OR an injury…  Just get back to it.)

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I just like cookies/tacos/wine.” 

(We all do. You are human.)

Give yourself some grace. 

If you’ve taken a break from your healthy habits, you can just get back to it. We all (myself included) have to do that from time to time. It’s normal. 

If you feel like a failure at your diet, approach it with more freedom and grace next time with a focus on health (mental health too) and long term sustainability… sometimes that means to have the cookie/taco/wine without guilt.

If you are beating yourself up on the appearance of your body, ask yourself if what you are saying to yourself is what you’d want a daughter to say to herself. (Also you can listen to my Body Image webinar here).

Let’s approach our fitness journey a little kinder this week. Deal?

Strong Vibes Only

By Valerie Solomon, Busy Mom Gets Fit

Strong Vibes Only.

I chose this phrase to put on the tank tops I gifted my Val’s Gals training clients in the month of June, because my goal for them (you) ultimately, is to be strong.

Strong Backs, Legs, Arms, Abs, Glutes… of course.

But more importantly:

Strong Minds.

Strong Voice.

Strong Character.

Strong Opinions.

Strong Points.

Strong Words.

Strong Hearts.

Strong Wills.

Strong Kids.

Strong Relationships.

Strong Friendships.

Strong Bonds.

When you find your own ‘Strong’, sometimes through challenges and sometimes through exercise, you change.

You realize what you are capable of.

You realize what you deserve.

You realize that you can do, think, lift, and be more than you once thought.

Good vibes are great.

Skinny Dreams are something.

But Strong Vibes create ripple effects in the world.

When you are strong, you show up for yourself and others. You take up the space the world needs you take up. You carry the things the world needs you to carry. You are more bold and willing to show up as your true self. 

I’ll take good vibes. But I’ll be happy with Strong Vibes Only. 

Moving Forward: Not Back to the Pre-Baby Body

ADRIENNE
AGE 34, MAJOR IN ACTIVE DUTY ARMY, MOTHER

After the birth of her first child, Adrienne’s body bounced right back. When she had her daughter 5 years later, she discovered that she wouldn’t have the same experience the second time around.

“I was always into weight lifting, so I was familiar with exercising. However, my body wasn’t where I wanted it to be. I spent a few years on a roller coaster ride of 'on the wagon, off the wagon.' For a few months, I would do well and even lose a few pounds. Eventually, I would plateau and regain whatever I had lost." Adrienne experimented with various programs, hoping one would ultimately be her answer to achieving the “pre-baby body” she desperately sought to regain.

When Adrienne moved to Maryland, she met Valerie Solomon who lived across the street. “I watched her compete, would see her stage photos and think ‘I’d love to do that someday, but I could never look like that’.”

Toward the end of 2016, Adrienne and her husband turned their garage into a home gym, their first step what would end up being a life-transforming year. “I lost 15lbs. I joined Valerie’s Fit Mom Challenge in February 2017. I changed my nutritional plan by incorporating Isagenix products into my lifestyle. It was the jumpstart my body had needed and at this point… I began to seriously explore competing. I had talked about it long enough. Now, I was ready.”

In June, Adrienne started working with Val and online training and began her journey to the stage. In October, Adrienne stepped on stage as a Figure competitor. “I was nervous and it was scary… but it was so fun. Stepping onto stage after this 4-year journey… it didn’t matter the outcome. I was already a winner.”

Along with Coach Val, Adrienne’s biggest fans were right in the audience on competition day: her husband and kids.

“Having a good support system at home is so important. My husband wasn’t competing, yet he still ate how I ate. He was very cognizant and supportive of the process. There’s a video from the competition where you can literally hear the genuine happiness in his voice as he’s cheering me on.”

And it wasn’t just Adrienne’s husband who was so proud of her. “One of my favorite parts of the whole day had to be my 4-year old daughter telling me that she wanted to be strong like me when she gets bigger.”

Originally, Adrienne intended to work with Val only for the duration of competition prep. “After my competition, I decided to continue on as a lifestyle because of the community of women. We have the same goals. It’s also great to have a relationship with your
trainer and have their continuous support, without needing to see them every day.“

Adrienne’s Journey With Online Training Extends Beyond Just Her Physical Transformation.

“I didn’t realize until recently that it wasn’t so much my body that needed to be transformed, but rather my mind. I spent four years so worried about regaining my ‘pre-baby body’; I finally realized that body doesn’t exist anymore. I mean… You carried a human!

I was so tied up in that image of a “pre-baby body” that I didn’t noticed the inner transformation that was happening. Sometimes we are so fixated on changing the outside, we don’t realize how it’s more the internal struggles we’re having that cause us to be unhappy or unsatisfied with ourselves. 

After having my 2nd child, I lacked self-love. I had gained more weight with my second pregnancy, and I became so horrible toward myself. We tell people to be kind to one another... but, we aren’t kind to ourselves.

My body is 10 times better now than before I had kids. And I’m well aware I’ll regain some weight post show… but I am at peace with that. I feel so good on the inside, I’m more equipped to handle what changes on the outside.”

So, what is Adrienne’s advice for women who struggle with trying to regain their pre-baby bodies?

“Never make your goal to get your ‘pre-baby body’ back. Don’t make your goal to be the person you were before you had a baby. You’ll never be that person again. In one of my exercise classes, the instructor tells us, “You’re so much bigger than a smaller pair of pants.” That one sentence equates to my four-year journey. Set new goals. Never say you can’t do something …
because you ABSOLUTELY can.”

Contact Coach Valerie Solomon here to inquire about online training

or

visit this page to learn about Val’s Gals Online Training group.