​The day the call was made there was this unsettling wave of calm and relief that washed over me. Then the guilt because others were suffering and I was relieved. (insert the negative self talk “WTF is wrong with me? How can I be happy about a pandemic?”) I was relieved because I had let my life gain too much momentum and I finally had permission to slow down. Then the panic rolled in. What do I do about memberships, rent, bills, loans…my amazing team? I had just finished training Robyn in her mentorship program, Jenny is supposed to open her new physio clinic, Jaimie was just about to launch her Olympic Lifting program, Shayne was coming on board, Gina was going to start her mom’s group, Rhiannon was killing it and what about Chelsea and Amber they help me do all the behind the scenes important things? There was so much unfolding and now there’s nothing! What if Jon can’t work? How do we survive? We just invested our savings and that plummeted too… There were so many things to think about, then came the gut wrenching realization that LMF is not essential. I had created a business that I thought could make a difference in this world. Then the negative self talk took over, “What a Joke?! Pfft, you’re not important” were the words I went to bed with.
The next day came and it was time to put the big girl panties on. Make some calls, some quick decisions and move on. I already knew Chelsea was amazing but she stepped up and launched the first zoom live workout to LMF, and crushed it!
The next day the cancellation emails started to roll in. I knew why. I completely understood and had opened that door. It was still hard. My chest felt like it had an elephant sitting on it, what if everyone cancels? And then the next email I opened was from a client who had just renewed her personal training package and she donated it to LMF to help us through, then others started to message that they could afford their membership and to keep it at full price (I was even threatened by one that if I didn’t comply it was “friends off”), I had a few others that offered to pay for other people’s memberships, the ones that were doing everything they could to still keep LMF in their life and who really needed a gift in that moment to keep them going. The messages attached to these generous offerings helped me change the dialog in my head back to “I do have a purpose and LMF is damn important.” My heart burst.
The mood had shifted, we were not going to be a victim of circumstance. LMF’s purpose isn’t to change the world it’s to help people change their own world’s.  So, how do we do this now?
How can we create normal in this chaos?
How can we remain essential to those who know what we have to offer?
What can we do to be better going forward?
The last question that came up was a question I haven’t asked myself in a really long time, what do I want? I knew what I didn’t want. To never go back to how I felt pre COVID, but it was going to take some deep thinking and time (more than my usual 5 minutes) to figure this one out!
The wins, the losses, the lesson and the gains are one in the same, post COVID here’s what I’ve learned…

• We can survive and grow in a pandemic, by taking care of the people close to us.
• We can make do and by doing so we created something new.
• We can slow down, everything will be OK (maybe even better) and take time to make big decisions (at least sleep on it and run the numbers first)
• We can create normalcy amongst the chaos if our minds are in the right place.
• We can still be people’s safe space without the studio.
• We can ask questions, lots n lots of questions (some of the answers and opportunities will blow you away when you listen)
• We can ask for help and offer help when it is needed. It’s OK to be vulnerable and not OK some days.
• When you are afraid and scared, remember to be kind and considerate. Everyone is in this sh*t together and fighting their own battle. Step up and offer a hand.
• We are not in competition, business owners supporting business owners can make some waves.
• We have a voice and it is heard.
• There are amazing people in this world – I call them Misfits!
• We can make it to the other side.
• We are capable of greatness.

Life does not need to be the same going forward. Just because it was one way doesn’t mean the new way will be bad. This is our new opportunity and it is loaded with possibilities. Embrace the change. Be the change you want to see.
We are forever learners, out of the box thinkers, supporters, dreamers and doers. We are Misfits!

When it comes to clean eating, a lot of people know they should eat their fruits and veggies, but they don’t know how the food they are putting in their body is affecting them. One of the most important things we’ve learnt along the way is that food is more than just simply fuel or energy. Food has the ability to harm/heal our bodies in so many ways. Everything that you put in your body essentially makes up who you are and plays a major role in your health! So, in case you haven’t noticed, it is super important to make sure that you are filling your body with not only healthy food choices, but superfoods that can help you feel your best.
 
This topic is very close to our heart at LMF. So many people have relatives/parents who they have watched suffer from cancer and heart disease. After my mom received her breast cancer diagnosis, I was so terrified that I was going to get cancer one day because she did. We had no history of breast cancer in our family, so there is a good chance that her diet was one of the contributing factors to her diagnosis. That experience had a huge impact on my life and inspired me to take matters into my own hands and try to do everything in my power to prevent receiving a similar diagnosis. It is now my goal to share this message with others so that we can all live disease free, happy lives.
 
You may be wondering why this is so important? It all comes back to your future health. How do you want to spend the rest of your life? Eating the right foods can help prevent the occurrence of many different kinds of cancer and heart disease. Our diet is one of the main things that we have control over. If you could stop a car that is driving out of control towards you, wouldn’t you do it? The choice is yours and your health is in our own hands.
 
 To help you out, we’ve created the following list of foods that heal, as well as foods that harm.
 
If learning more about how superfoods can help you interests you, come to our nutrition seminar with coach Kerina on February 10th from 1:00-3:00pm!  Click here to register 
​

You’ve heard it a million times - “put yourself first” or “you can’t pour from an empty cup” and while that all sounds nice, it is not your reality but, you keep telling yourself that one day it will be.  
Every time you look in the mirror, you see a tired and burnt out reflection of yourself staring back.  
You want change. You want to put yourself first but it’s overwhelming to even know where to begin?
We get it.  We’ve been there, and we can help.
We want to take the overwhelm out of overhauling your health and break it into simple steps that will get you results quicker then you can possibly imagine in an environment that will support you through each step.
We aren’t your typical gym. We know that this is going to take some trial, maybe a few bumps in the road and celebrate those small victories.  Your membership doesn’t just include a space, it includes your own LMF family (and not another family you have to take care of, but one that takes care of you):

• A personalized fitness program designed for you by our educated and experienced coaches for in studio or at home.
• Nutrition coaching that will help you transition from sluggish and tired to energized and focused. Imagine this: a fog free mind, where all your ducks are perfectly aligned, and your thoughts are crystal clear.
• Easy to make weekly meal plans and recipes.  No more “what do I even eat?"
• Unlimited access to our amazing coaches and support staff through our private FB group.
• A community of people who understand the reality of a busy life and can 100% relate with you because are on their own journey of putting themselves first. These are our people!

 
If you are ready - scratch that, you are ready to:

• Finally  experience unlimited energy and strength to accomplish anything life has to throw at you.
• Fall in love with trying on new clothes because your arms and a$$ look so good in everything, and
• Feel capable of greatness

 Then we invite you to transform you with LMF. 

To get this party started, please email liftmovefuel@gmail.com and we can chat about what will get you back on track!

Here’s to finally filling up your own damn cup and saying yes to you!

Cheers,
- LMF
​
P.S. This Friday through Monday we will be having a huge Black Friday Sale on memberships. If you are looking for a sign, this is it!

Should I be taking a protein powder? Which one should I take? How much should I be taking? Do I really NEED it? I’m sure that everyone who is involved in a training program has asked these questions at some point in time! We’re here to answer all of these questions and give you the “scoop” (yes, pun intended!) on protein powders. As nutrition coaches, we always have questions about which protein powders are good and if we really need to be taking these supplements. Well, let us tell you, it is a bit different for everybody. We all have different nutritional requirements based on our lifestyle and body! For example, I have noticed a huge positive change in my life by taking protein shakes. Since my diet is entirely plant-based, it is very important for me to be getting that extra boost of protein every day! Basically, protein shakes are a supplement. What does that mean? It means that we should be including them in our diet if we are not already meeting our daily recommended amount of protein. For people who are plant-based or do not get enough protein in their diet, this is a great option. Also, when individuals are resistance training, they may more protein than normal to aid in recovery, which can be hard to achieve through diet alone. This is part of the reason why we recommend protein powders in certain situations!
 
From my experience of taking protein powers, I have only tried vegan protein brands. I’m not saying that non-vegan brands are bad or not as effective, but it is important to watch out for some sneaky ingredients that can have less desirable effects:

• Whey protein concentrate & Casein- hard to digest, can cause bloating
• Maltodextrin- can increase glycemic load and increase fat storage
• Artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sorbitol, splenda, etc)- can cause headaches and bloating

Filler: Yes we want our protein powders to taste good, but we still need to know what the ingredients are, if you can’t pronounce it, don’t know what it comes from or what it does…. Refer to our flow chart. 

I’m not the biggest fan of straight protein powder with water or milk, so I always love to make a fun smoothie with it! This recipe is my go to and I drink it multiple times per week! It honestly tastes like a chocolate milkshake or a frosty! Totally amazing for all the chocolate cravings
 
Ingredients:

• 5 ice cubes
• 1/2 of a banana
• 1 or 2 scoops of chocolate flavoured protein
• 1 cup of vanilla unsweetened almond milk
• Sprinkle of cinnamon

 
Blend all ingredients and enjoy!

“I’m not skinny enough”, “I’m not muscular enough”, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at myself and be happy”, “I wished I looked like her”, “I look too thin”, “I look too curvy”, “I look too fat”. These are all thoughts that have most likely filled our heads at one point. In society, we are constantly judged on our appearance. This constant desire to look a certain way or accomplish a certain image is often what drives us in our weight loss journey. We workout and eat healthy because we want to change our current body image. However sometimes, we can become obsessed with trying to look like models or people we see in magazines. Sometimes we can get a little carried away and start to look at our bodies with hatred and only see the negative aspects we don’t like. I can personally admit that I let these perceptions and unrealistic images of what I have to look like take over my life. To be honest, it pushed me over the edge and I lost control. Why did I lose control? I lost control because I felt like my weight and body image were the only things I could control.
 
When I was about sixteen years old, I started to get into health and fitness. At first, it was great! I felt amazing and the pounds started coming off right before my eyes. I just assumed that everything was great because I was eating healthy and working out. Until I became obsessed. My life was taken over by working out after every single meal to burn it off. I found that I was basically starving myself and my body by cutting out almost all carbohydrates and fats. I lived on vegetables and fruit and every single day my main thoughts were focused on food. The numbers on the scale creeped lower and lower. With every pound lost, I smiled more. With every new bone that showed, it felt like an accomplishment. Every time I looked in a mirror, I checked to make sure I didn’t gain any weight since the last time I looked. This was one of the lowest points in my life, and I couldn’t even see I was suffering until I looked at a picture of myself. All I saw was a weak, fragile shell of the girl I used to be. I lost almost all of my strength and muscle tone in my arms. In that moment, it hit me that I had to make a change.
 
Since that negative time in my life, I have re-learned everything I know about health and fitness. I learned that gaining back weight is hard, but I had to in order to be healthy. I learned that there is far more to nutrition than just eating vegetables all day long. I learned to LOVE myself and my body for what it is. Whether you are underweight, overweight, or anything in between, the main reason that you should be eating healthy and workout should be to show your body that you love it. Show your body that you are willing to nourish it and make it healthy. Especially in nutrition, most of our food choices are based around our emotions. To truly achieve wellness, you have to work on your mental state, so you can help yourself reach your ideal physical state. In this industry, we often only focus on the physical body, and ignore the mental aspect. It’s time that we start to love living in the skin we’re in. It’s time to give it your all at your workouts because you want to feel stronger, have more energy, live a happy life, and feel good about yourself. Not so that you can look exactly like someone on the cover of a magazine.
 
I hope that reading my story helped you think really deep down about WHY you set your health goals. What is your motivation to gain your health back? I promise you that you will see the best results if you are in a place of self-love. Don’t focus on ways that you want to change your body. Your body is beautiful and unique in its own way. Focus on how you can enhance what you already have and live your best life.
 
XOXO,
 
K. 

Have you ever had an on-again off-again relationship?  You know the one where it’s a little risky, it has you excited in the moment or maybe it’s a forbidden love that you just can’t say no to and your parents don’t approve. We get it, they are great in the moment but something just doesn’t feel right.
It’s time to walk away.
​
But they keep popping back into your life. The texts, snapchats and voicemails about how much they still love you, how it will be different this time – “baby I’m so sorry, I’ll change this time for you, I promise!”  [insert eye roll]

Your friends and family have all heard it before too and now start to roll their eyes when you bring up this relationship again. 

It’s taking a toll on your life. You can’t focus at work. You lay awake at night wondering if they are thinking about you or how they could do this to you? You have to muster up all the energy you have just to get through the day. You walk around in a daze and pretend like everything is ok, meanwhile you stomach is churning.

You have a couple good days and then you are back to square one again.  You are constantly taking one step forward and two steps back. You wonder, when does this stop? How do I feel normal again?
Guess what?  You are not alone.  We’ve been there and we’ve made all the same mistakes.  When we started we weren’t experts either, this has taken some crazy twists and turns, a few embarrassing moments. Too many nights overthinking and feeling devastated. But there comes a time when enough is enough.

You’ve become that couple…. On-again off-again.  Desperately hoping this time would be different.  But at the same time feeling lost and helpless.

Now, is not the time to crawl under a rock and hide.

It’s time to call a friend….the kind of friend that tells you how it is.  “It’s time to let go and move on, they are only holding you back from becoming the person you deserve to be”

It’s time to realize that this relationship is holding you back.  You don’t need to depend on them.  They do not determine your self-worth. This relationship is an emotional rollercoaster.

It is no longer about them, it’s about YOU!

And, you my friend don’t need them to be happy. They do not complete you.  Without them there won’t be an empty void in your life.

This choice is yours. Are you ready to do what it takes?

You say “yes”… but then start to panic and maybe lose your composure.  Can you really be OK without them?

This time is different. You are cool, calm and collected. Ready for the task at hand. Breaking up is the best thing for both of you.

You feel incredible.  There is a state of peace inside of you.

They are expecting you to freak out and come running back, but you are perfectly fine on your own! This is going to drive them crazy.  They will try everything to change your mind. 

Watch out this is often when we cave for the break up sex. 

But how is this going to leave you? Satisfied or upset that you let it happen? Were you a sex deprived little puppy?  You were going to stand your ground, and now you feel ashamed to tell your friend who had told you not to do this time and time again.

Are you ready for some real, cold hard truth? In every relationship the person who cares the least always has the power. As soon as you embrace this you will get the power back in this relationship.
After break up we go through shock and panic. Otherwise known as fight or flight. You want to pour your heart out and do everything to get them back, you’ll change for them, you could just workout more right?

Does this sound like the strong and confident person you are?

The only acceptable answer here is NO!

You want to get out of this crazy co-dependant state so you can finally regain peace of mind and sanity. You can be happy on your own.  You no longer have to depend on them to make you happy. My friend, you are capable of greatness!!

You are not wrong in how you feel.  You are not weak. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s not your fault, we all go through this.  The problem is no one ever taught you how to get through it.
But it’s Ok because you do have people to support you, find those people and stick with them!

Think about all of these emotions we just explained and compare them to your relationship with junk food.  Does it satisfy you in the moment? Have you tried to leave it, or break up with it before?  Do you always go back thinking it might be different the next time?  All these answers are YES!  It’s crazy how similar they are, but it’s so true!   Let’s be real – to get over an ex the simplest thing to do is just move on and remove him/her from your life.  So what if we were to take that same simple analogy with junk food?  Just eliminate it all together – sounds easy enough, but these stages of a break up will pop up.

Welcome to the LMF 100 Day Clean Eating Challenge – Time to Break Up With Junk Food! 
Our 100 Day Online Clean Eating Challenge has historically always been our best challenge with seeing results with our challengers.  We’re not sure why, but September seems to be a good ‘turnaround’ point and a solid jump-start for everyone.  Summer has ended, and it’s time to get back on track.  The 100 Day Challenge is for everyone and anyone interested in making some improvements to their health lifestyle.  It changes you for the better.  The biggest impact is that it’s not 21 days, it’s not 6 weeks or 8 weeks, it’s a full 100 days that will take you all the way and achieve your goals, and you get to do it with a group of the most supportive people in the world.

If for some reason you think you can’t do it.  YOU CAN!

Let us help get you past your BIGGEST BREAK UP EVER!

Link to the 100 Day Online Clean Eating Challenge! 

When people look at foods that are high in fat, they usually go into panic mode and avoid this macronutrient altogether because they assume that eating fat will make them fat. That makes sense, right? Actually, not quite! If I told you that eating fat is actually a very important part of every diet, would you think I'm crazy? Probably! There is some truth and good reasoning behind why you should be including fats in your diet. Just make sure they're the right fats! And I'm here to give you a hand with determining the good from the bad.

​Now, when I say you should eat fat, please don’t go to the grocery store and load up with a cart full of ice cream, chips, and chocolate! Because the truth is that not all fats are created equal. There are four main groups of fats: saturated, trans, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated. Basically, we should focus on limiting/eliminating saturated and trans fats. These guys are the bad ones that like to raise cholesterol, blood pressure, and cause heart disease! Who wants that?! On the other hand, poly and mono unsaturated fats are the good guys! They can actually LOWER your risk for cholesterol and heart disease. Below is a comparison of two food labels. One is a chocolate bar and the other is an avocado. Look at the difference between the fats! Most of the total fat in the avocado is poly and monounsaturated fats. Most of the fat in the Toblerone bar comes from saturated and trans fat (46% of the daily fat intake! For half the bar, not even the whole thing)

​So, what’s the verdict? Don’t give up fats! They’re one of the key macronutrients and they make an excellent fuel source, on top of providing energy and keeping you full. Just make sure that you’re choosing the right type of fats that will heal your body, not harm it.
 
XOXO,
 
K. 

It's time for a little tough love.  It’s summer,  we get that. But, before that it, was June, and oh, June is such a busy time of year, and then it was May… and spring is a busy time… and then it was winter and you didn’t feel up to it.

When is the right time?  Is there a right time for anything? 

Your fitness and your health are just like everything else... you get what you put in. If you want to see your goals met its time to level up!! 

At the start of all our clients journeys with Lift.Move.Fuel. we ask them “What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve your goals?” We get all sorts of answers from wine, to chocolate, to chips to whatever their guilty pleasure is.

As we continue to grow and develop as  trainers, it might be time to reword this question.... “Are you willing to sacrifice time?” ‘Cuz that’s what it’s going to take! 

Time to prep your food. Time to contemplate your decisions [insert your guilty pleasure here].  And then there's making time for your workouts.  

That being said, it's not a lot of time, about 4 hours a week, of that, two to three hours of training and one hour for meal prep. (I don’t include grocery shopping in this time, because we all have to do it whether it’s clean or not).   We live in a society where, when we are asked to do something, our response has automatically become "I'm too busy", which in our opinion is the same as saying it's not a priority for you.   OK - that's fair. Everyone has different priorities, but what if we were to ask this: "Is the junk you're putting into your body and your 8-hour/day desk job that's slowly killing you a priority for you?"  -- It's extreme, but for a lot of the world, it's the truth. 
 
Let’s nerd it up a bit, we secretly love math.  There are 168 hours in a 7-day week. If we give up four hours  for our health, that's 2% of your week to be devoted to your goals. Add up how many times you check Facebook, Instagram, Snap Chat, how many minutes do you day dream about what it would be like if you accomplished [insert goal or dream life here], or the time spent complaining to your friend about not accomplishing it.  And then, there’s the favourite TV shows each week. Could any of this time be shaved off and put towards you? 

We’re not trying to guilt you. We honestly just want to help you switch your perspective. If you stop thinking about giving it 100% and start think about giving 2% how does that change your mindset? Instead of telling you that your goals are 80% nutrition and switched it, to good nutrition will take up 1% of your week. Does that make it easier? 

At LMF, every last one of our clients are capable of greatness. We know this, because we know them. We  want you to  see it, because you are capable of success. 

Change your mindset.

It’s 2%!

Thirteen inches. Thirteen freaking inches. There’s no way I lost that in nine weeks, right?
 
Wrong.
 
I started my journey with Krista and LMF in September of this year and it has been a wild ride. I didn’t know anything when I walked in the door. I couldn’t even squat properly. During my very first workout, I was sure I was going to either throw up or pass out, or both. I was scared, but I knew I would come back. I wasn’t going to give up that easily.
 
As the weeks have passed, I’ve felt myself getting stronger – not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. I’ve lived with anxiety and depression since my high school years and at 24 years old, I think I’ve managed well. What I didn’t realize when I started LMF and the BEAST program was that working out was going to not only give me sweet abs but a kick-ass mentality. I haven’t had a panic attack since September and I don’t remember feeling overwhelmed by anxiety or stress for the past nine weeks. For me, that’s incredible.
 
One of the other surprises was the correlation – or lack thereof – between inches lost and pounds lost. I’ve lost 13 inches since September, but only six pounds. I actually gained two pounds back at my second weigh-in. That shocked me, but I didn’t let it get in my head. I didn’t want to start talking negatively about my body again. In elementary school, I was bullied and called fat for two years straight. This made me a professional negative body talker for the past decade. It’s difficult to ignore the voice in your head that likes to talk smack about you, but going to the gym has helped shut the voice up. It still comes back when I look in the mirror sometimes, but I like getting to tell that voice to check out my arms and hear how quiet it is after.
 
Back to the point, which I will bold because it’s really important: inches matter more than pounds. Think of all the body fat you’re burning at the gym, then replacing with muscle. Muscle weighs a lot! Just because you gained a pound but lost a few inches doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate. In fact, that’s a great accomplishment and it deserves a high five. Your body is your body and you need to love it no matter how much it weighs.
 
This LMF journey hasn’t been easy-peasy-shampoo-squeezy, though. I’ve had my days where that bar felt like it weighed 100 pounds and those burpees made my arms light on fire. One of the hardest days I had was during Krista’s lift week. She taught us how to deadlift from the ground, clean the bar to our shoulders, and then how to jerk the bar above our heads. Needless to say, that Monday I was terrified. My biggest fear was always heavy bars. I can’t explain it, but it’s one of those fears you just know you have without ever actually picking up a bar before. But I wasn’t getting away with it this week – I had to face my fears.
 
Monday wasn’t so bad because the bar didn’t go above my head. When Wednesday rolled around, we had to clean the bar. I broke out in a sweat and that was not from the warm-up. We were put in groups of two and when it was my turn, I could feel myself starting to panic. The first try was an utter fail. The second wasn’t much better. By the third time, I had had enough and I had to take a step back. I didn’t expect to start crying. All I could think in that moment was: God how embarrassing is this get it together girl it’s just a bar PICK IT UP!
 
Everyone in my BEAST group was very supportive of me having my moment. I was still embarrassed but at least I didn’t feel judged. So I wiped my tears, blew my nose a few times, and went back to that stupid bar. I didn’t even think when I cleaned it. I was so frustrated with myself for overanalyzing and psyching myself out that I just wanted that bar up. And I did it. Three times in a row I cleaned that bar perfectly (or as close to perfect a beginner like me can get). I felt amazing afterwards. I was still shaking a bit from my cry, but at least I had proven to myself that I could do it. I could push through the struggles and get the job done.
 
Friday I was still nervous, but I wasn’t as afraid as I had been on Monday. I felt more in control and I knew I had the skills to do what Krista asked of me. And what you see in the picture above is the final product a proper clean, followed with a split jerk. 
 
My journey with LMF isn’t over yet. I’ve signed up for the next session and I look forward to being another one of Krista’s beasts. I hope what I’ve said here will help others who are just starting out with LMF or who are struggling with some of the things I am. 

- Robyn