Sometimes I don’t even know what I like to do anymore.  I get caught up in the busyness of the day and my “to do” list that I don’t even once think about myself.   I am a doer.  I like to be busy and have projects going.  Somewhere along the line my worth got caught up in being measured by how much I can get done.  This gets out of hand often and I forget to give myself permission to rest and just be me.  

For a long time (and still sometimes) I was very uncomfortable with not being busy.  When I was just plain exhausted and wanted to stop “doing” the only thing I would give myself permission to do was eat.  Somehow this didn’t make me feel guilty about not producing something or doing something because eating was a necessity.  But I wasn’t eating healthful things, I was eating foods to numb my unsettled feelings.

Turns out I am not alone in this.  We asked our clients...

I’m 21 now.

Ok, not really.  I’m 43. 

It dawned on me the other day that I have maintained around a 60ish-pound weight loss for over 21 years. 

“Looking at the statistics -from a Harvard  meta-analysis of 29 long-term weight loss studies, more than half of the lost weight was regained within two years, and by five years more than 80% of lost weight was regained. This means that based on our best estimates, only one in five individuals who is overweight is successful in long-term weight loss”.

Super quick backstory, at 14 I was diagnosed with anorexia which then merged into bulimia and about every other eating disorder in the book.  I went from 89 pounds to 189 pounds in a short period of time in my initial “recovery”. 

189-pound Sarah had a lot of crap to sort out to not turn to extremely harming behaviors to lose weight. 

This process was NOT smooth. ...

Every year we run a food drive around this time of the year.  It's a lower resource time for food pantries so we try to help out.  We make it a little fun by weighing the food in and keeping score.  I am blown away by the generosity if our groups and impressed with their competitiveness.  

We beat last years total of 3,622 pounds with a new Tall Trainer World Record 4,667!!!! over 1,000 pounds over last year!  That's a huge amount of food for the number of people it's nearly 40 pounds donated per person!  Here's about 1/2 of my heros!  (the others didn't make it for the photo)

5:10 class lead the way for awhile with team captain Kay who out did herself this year!  She had SOOO much fun!  5:10 broke the single class donation record with 1,220.6 pounds!  Then the 9 am class pulled ahead on the last day with the new record of 1,356.2 pounds donated by a single class.  We even had Susan stop by all dressed up even though she...

Watch this funny 1 minute video and get a great reminder!

I’m known for being positive and smiley every day.  So, what wipes the smile off my face?

Notes like this:

“Unfortunately, due to his body fighting him in several locations and his love of food, it was a downward spiral of losing the mobility to do the exercises he really loved, skiing and mountain biking, plus the comfort his love of food brought him that sadly ended in losing him to a heart attack in September.” 

I asked her if I could share this message with others and she said please, if her husband’s story could reach one person and help them it would "be awesome." 

Because stories like these become more real when you see the people here is Heather and Bobby…just a couple kids. 

It’s not right.  Bobby was about 55 years old and should have had 20 - 30 more “good” years.  I am not blaming him.  He was a good man.  Actually, probably a great man from...

I had seen a Chuck Norris movie or show before so when the Chuck Norris Jokes started coming out they were hilarious.  In his shows he fights dozen of people at the time and always wins.  So, the jokes giving him super human power just seems only natural.  

Chuck Norris was born March 10th, 1940.  Every March 10th is an opportunity to share cheesy jokes.  One of my favorite things about Chuck Norris Jokes is that you can substitute other people's names in there too!  Below are the Jokes.  And Here is the Workout inspired by Chuck Norris.  

I hope you enjoyed this and got a laugh or two!  Happy Chuck Norris's Birthday to you!

God Bless,

Jeremy "tall trainer"

Thank you, Anorexia.

Well, does that sound weird to read?  This was a challenge given by my counselor years ago, to thank myself for my anorexia.  I am sure my face scrunched up quite interestingly. Anorexia almost killed me and was a total living hell! Thank myself- that makes NO SENSE. 

At that point of truly getting help I had stopped most of my destructive behaviors. But, my mind was in constant stress. I had been living with such shame, guilt and embarrassment for all of my unhealthy coping methods (anorexia wasn't the only one -I had to thank myself for a lot of harmful behaviors).  It led me to a small life of fear, anxiety, hiding from the world and hiding from my true self. 

I had developed trust with my counselor so I played along with this weird challenge.  Guess what I found in it.  FREEDOM.  There was SO much power in flipping the script that I had told myself for all my “sins”.

Here’s...

It's not my favorite...

Far from it in fact.  There are possibly 100 things I would enjoy eating better.  

BUT...

I eat it fairly regularly at least 3x per week.  

It's nothing to brag about. 

2 Cans Tuna

1 Can Green Beans

1 Can Corn

So, Why do I do it?

Strangely enough I have several reasons (which is why I do it so often). 

Reason #1 - High Protein and some veggies - 50+ grams

Reason #2 - Portable - Easy to bring to the studio

Reason #3 - Doesn't Spoil - if I don't eat it, it'll be good tomorrow or in 2 months

Reason #4 - Low Prep Time - open, drain, eat

Reason #5 - Cheapness - Compared to grabbing lunch out big savings!

Reason #6 - I don't get bloated after...I feel good

Reason #7 - Actually there are only 6 reasons I can think of.  

So this meal helps me to get protein and nutrients for my body is not a chore to make and saves me $30 a week I figure.  

That's $1,440 per year (48 wks a year).

I've...

This is from Christine! We just adore her!

Here is a glimpse of her journey, maybe you can relate?

From Christine:

I have been on both sides of the alley at Tall Trainer. 

When I started as a client in 2013, I  came to class every day, and used the on-line nutrition program. I reached the goals I had set for myself and had never been quite so healthy and fit! The short story is, I became  a trainer and worked at Tall Trainer for a few years.  It was a wonderful experience,  and I learned a LOT! 

Life changes and I decided to step back as a Trainer and focus my energy on family matters. I continued to exercise at home, when I could fit it in, but everything and everyone seemed to take priority over that hour I thought I'd give myself.

So, two years of that and the weight came back, 30 pounds of it to be exact! I was tired, unhappy with how I felt and looked, and angry with myself for allowing the weight to come...

The less dramatic title would be:

Become happier by spreading gratitude – The Gratitude Visit

I am going to share with you a story that I almost don’t believe really happened even though it happened to me.  But first I’m going to recommend you try this… 

 (listen to podcast instead of read)

Martin Seligman the father of positive psychology (www.positivepsychology.org) has developed a list of things you can do to be happier.  One of the most powerful is the gratitude visit. 

The way a Gratitude Visit works is:

1. Write a letter of gratitude thanking someone for the impact they have had on your life and how important they are to you.
2. DON’T MAIL IT!
3. Go visit them (or video call) the more intimate the setting the better.
4. Read the letter to them
5. (bring tissues and a REAL hug)
6. Make someone else feel awesome, while you feel awesome for being the kind of person who would do that!
7. The feelings and memory persist long after...