Fab Fit Shannon

 Even with the best of intentions, and the best-laid plans, sometimes life doesn't go as planned. I started my 160km challenge back in November. I hoped to accomplish most of it before Christmas. I am currently just over halfway through at 85km. Am I disappointed that I didn't do more and accomplish more at the end of 2021? Certainly I am. Am I going to give up on the goal and challenge just because it's taking longer than planned? Certainly NOT! Adjust the plan, and set new intentions. If it was something worth planning for once, and is important to you still, then see it through, even if it takes longer than planned. I feel like that is the theme of 2021 for me. Setting goals that are important, but not accomplishing. So, it's a new day, and that which is still important, is just that. Still important, and therefore still worth working on and towards.  I am committing to myself to not give up, no matter how long it takes to accomplish my goals. Whether it be tracking

I recently hosted a vision board planning group to look at what we want our 2022 year to bring us.  One day was set aside to look at our past year.  The assignment: "Write about this past year. What were you able to accomplish? What DID work? Also, what were you hoping for that didn't happen?" Here was the results of my brain dump.  I created a beautiful vision for my year. I wanted to conquer my children's picky eating, physically be able to do pull ups, grow my side hustle into a thriving business, build our family dream home, and travel for work and pleasure.  None of this was accomplished.  Not one of these visions were able to be checked off the to-do list of life.  But what I've realized is that it has been one of my best years. I worked towards goals. I focused on myself and the things that were important to me. I put time and effort into things that I made my priorities.  My kids are thriving. They are wonderful, loving, healthy children. Yes, they are sti

“The scale is merely a measure of my relationship with gravity.”– Lauren Harris-Pincus “Don’t work out because you hate your body — work out because you love it.”– Author Unknown “My weight does not determine my worth.”– Kristin Oja "Weight loss is not the key to your dreams. The truth is there is no lock and the door is flimsy." - Golda Poretsky So much of gym and diet culture is about telling us how we should be. What we should look like. How we should feel about ourselves when we look one way or another. What workout we should do for certain results.  At what point in life do we stop thinking for ourselves and decide to listen to these voices that tell us we're not good enough just the way we are? For the last 15 years I have worked within the health and wellness industry. Working on myself, physically and mentally. Not wanting to be skinny, but certainly healthier, trimmer, leaner, and a smaller size and weight than I started.  Lately, the scale has been going up.  I&

What do you think of when you hear someone say to "make a goal"? Does it stress you out? Does it get you excited? Does it make you wonder what it is you're supposed to do in life? For me, there are some areas in my life that I know what my goals are. I know what I want to strive for. But there are other times where I just… draw a blank. Goals are so important for having a focus, a purpose, a reason to continue, and to push through the hard. They are what keep us going and they are what keep us mindful of what we are working towards; all while working towards where we want to go and they give us inspiration and accountability and just passion to do what we want and need do to get to where it is we dream to be. The key there, I feel is in our dream. What is that "big picture" that we want to accomplish or get to? What path leads us to the vision of we want our life to be? So what happens when you don't have a defined goal? What happens when you can't figur

 As defined by the Cambridge English dictionary: Challenge (noun) something that needs great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully and therefore tests a person's ability. We face challenges every day, by choice and circumstance. For the remainder of the year, I am setting myself the challenge of moving 160km (100 miles) of intentional and trackable distance. Not just the amount my FitBit records from everyday life. For me, this is a challenge of  - physical effort - time - accountability and consistency I too often let myself do less than I am able. I make excuses and allow myself to forget my goals (anyone else?) I'll start the month strong, but then "things happen", "life creeps in" and suddenly it's the end of the month and I am no closer to what I wanted to achieve. I am ready for a change, though, in my approach and my results. I am ready to dig deep and do what I know I CAN do, and accomplish what I WANT to, because coming out

"Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to  repeat it " Reflect.  Reevaluate.  Learn from experience.  So often we are advised to look back at what we've done, what worked for us? What didn't? Use those moments as educational tools to know what to do "next time". I wonder, though, how much we actually look forward and plan for new moments, when we spend so much time looking back into the past.  I'd love to find the balance of learning from experience and celebrating the moment while living for the future.  There is more positivity and joy to be found in the small things by living in the moment and planning for the best in the future. All to often, reflection leads to over thinking, guilt, and feelings of being frozen and unable to move on for fear of not changing, not learning and doing it different.  This is where I take a breath, roll mbfa m back my shoulders and leave the past in the past and need to trust myself to make the best choice movi

Mental overwhelm.  Heavy chest and head.  Crushing expectations.  I don't have a lot of days where these words are how I would describe them. But they happen. They are hard to live through.  Even knowing that time, sleep, moving, talking, or reading will help. Sometimes I'm just immobilized. Unable to move forward the way I want to, and the way I know I "should" be able to.  Want to know what? That's okay.  It's okay to not be okay.  Especially with a pandemic and so many restrictions and changes and limitations. It's okay to not find a solution or way out every day.  It's okay to just breath. Just exist, as hard as that can be. Just move from moment to moment.  Things will change again, the weight will be more bearable until moments where you may not even notice it. Breathing becomes automatic instead of intentional. Moving and talking become enjoyable again.  These are the moments people expect. They are good moments, but sometimes you need the hard