by Carmen Ohling | May 23, 2019 | Uncategorized
Thank you so much for watching Thrive Thursday on Living Local!
I hope you enjoy these simple, healthy and delicious recipes. Ready to take your nutrition to the next level, lose weight, increase energy and feel amazing? Save 10% off of any of my nutrition services and plans, use this code at checkout: livinglocal
CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPES FROM THE SHOW!
Enjoy!
Carmen Ohling
Questions? Email me at :
carmen@carmenohling.com
Find more recipes like these at:
www.carmenohling.com/blog
by Carmen Ohling | Dec 31, 2018 | Live., Movitation
2019 Is going to be YOUR best year EVER!
If you’re like me, you’re super excited to welcome in 2019 and all the opportunities for personal, business and spiritual growth that it offers each of us. And, if you’re not excited- it’s time to start and I can help- keep reading! New Year’s is a special and sacred time where we can feel proud of what we’ve accomplished and grateful for all that we’ve experienced. Plus, we can set ourselves up to attract our desires, reach out goals, stay open to guidance and live our best lives possible!
Let’s start by dreaming big and imaging our vision in detail of everything that we wish to bring into our lives. Did you know that in numerology the number 2019 resonates with creative self-expression, relationships, optimism, inspiration, tolerance and inclusiveness? When you’re dreaming of your 2019 vision, image expressing it as a person who tends to be optimistic. A person who has a rich ability to creative self-expression, a person who is tolerant and compassionate, and a person who is innately aware of their own infinite potential.
The next part it a little more challenging- visualizing how to get those dreams into action. Don’t worry, I’ve put together my 3 top tips to help you get there!
#1: Get to know and stay in touch with your why and don’t forget to dream big!
Be unapologetic about your BIG VISION. Your vision should be totally limitless, and while you may not be able to reach your vision in just one year, it will get you into the right direction. Once you’ve created your vision, then ask yourself- WHY? This is an important step because when you have a strong motivation attached to your vision, you’re much more likely to achieve it. For example, if you set a goal to make $10k per month in 2019, you then can discover your why. Maybe it is so you can spend more quality time with your family or give more money to your favorite charity or maybe it’s traveling for a week 4 times during the year. You see once you know your why, that dream becomes much more real and tangible!
#2: Set a plan but be flexible
Once you have your BIG vision and you are connected to your why, now you can set a plan by choosing a specific goal that will help you reach your big vision. Now that you have your goal, I recommend doing what I like to call a brain dump. A brain dump is everything and anything that you need to do in order to reach your goal. The things you put on this list should take only 15-60 minutes, no longer. If they are longer than 60 minutes, break them down more! Then, take this list and prioritize what to do first, and pick on thing to do per day. I know your thinking, just one thing? Believe me it works! When you add too much to your plate you end up getting side tracked and only doing things half assed- never actually getting them done. When you are moving through each day without completing any of the tasks that lead you to reaching your goal, this creates stress, anxiety and overwhelm. No one wants that, so please do the one thing and move on…. Here’s the tricky part- life is going to happen, so be flexible! Things will need to adjust or maybe even change; allow yourself some space for this to happen.
#3: Make self-awareness, self-care and self-love a priority
Here’s a fact that most people ignore: IF YOU DO NOT MAKE YOUR PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH A PRIORITY YOU ARE GOING TO SUFFER. Hey, you might be able to eventually reach your goals but how do you feel- like shit if you ask me! The focus should always be placing a priority on feeling good every day. So, what makes you feel good? I encourage you to figure that out and create a daily routine to support that. For myself I know that when I spend time in the morning reading, setting intentions, journaling and moving my body right away- I feel good. I know I feel good when I eat nutrient dense foods. I know I feel good when I take breaks during the day to walk. I know I feel good when I am in service of others. I know I feel good when I make true connections. I know I feel good when I check in with myself throughout the day and reframe my thoughts, if needed. So again, I ask you- what makes you feel good?
Why not make 2019 the year you re-connect with yourself, the year you finally put yourself first, and the year that you become so self-aware that it is actually easy to become radically responsible for you own life and happiness? Why not live your best life in 2019!!
Lastly, I will leave you with this important reminder. If your goals include: getting into the best shape of your life, learning better eating habits, creating wealth, or simply just taking better care of yourself- DITCH THE GUILT. I promise you nothing that you could have eaten or spent too much money on or skipped a workout for, could be as unhealthy for you as the negative self-talk and old shitty stories that you are telling yourself in your head. DON’T PUNISH YOURSELF for it, LEARN FROM it and do better next time. Let’s make 2019 your best year EVER and create so much self-love by loving your amazing body STARTING TODAY and caring for it inside and out.
Sending you light and love for an amazing 2019,
Carmen
Do you feel like you need more help? Reach out here and we’ll chat!
by Carmen Ohling | Oct 6, 2018 | Clean Eating, Eat., Recipes
Love matcha, ya me too… What I don’t love is all the sugar that traditional coffee shops put in their matcha! So today I am sharing with you an easy way to enjoy matcha, plus it has almost 20 grams of protein in each smoothie. This could be a great way to start your day, to drink after a workout, or simply a healthy treat at the end of your day.
Enjoy!
Eat Real Food. Be Healthy. Feel Amazing.
Looking for more healthy recipes? Check out my blog!
by Carmen Ohling | Feb 25, 2018 | Uncategorized
We all struggle.
We are all more alike than we are different.
What once worked for us may not work in the present.
Control is a funny thing, the more you try to control the more you seem lose control.
Often what people present in person or online is not a true reflection of their current state.
I was hesitant to make this post today. It is raw and real but I know that I am not the only one that struggles and so I am sharing my story with you in hopes that it will help. In hopes that it will help you stop controlling, that it will help you to find more joy in our everyday, and under it all, help you to love yourself no matter what. For me that means no matter what weight or body composition I am. This is my current struggle..
My husband’s 40th birthday is March 15th. I always do something fun to surprise him for his birthday and this year is not different. My body and hormones have been all over the place this year since regaining my menstrual cycle in January after it being gone for about a year, since my body fat percentage was so low from competing in bodybuilding shows. There’s these favorite pants that I have that my husband loves my booty in, and while I can put them on right now they don’t actually “fit” – if you know what I mean. So, I set out to lose a couple lbs before his birthday and get my ass looking right in his favorite pants. Nothing drastic, just starting to track my macros again and be very consistent with my nutrition and workouts to tighten up a bit. We are now on week 4. My results? I’ve gain weight. To be clear, I have gained 12 lbs- in the last 2 days alone I’ve gained 5lbs. This morning I saw a number on the scale that I have not seen in over 4 years. When I saw that number today, I could have done one of two things- tighten the control, scrutinize my diet and exercise more, do more everyday to control this weight loss OR sit and do a little inquiry. Don’t get me wrong, yesterday I picked tighten control and doing more, and that shit did not work. Today, I chose inquiry. What does inquiry mean? Inquiry is simple, it’s asking yourself those tough questions- you know those ones that you try to avoid- then answering them. Answering them honestly and completely. You may not have all the answers at first, but they will come don’t stress.
Here is a snapshot of what I asked myself this morning:
What are you avoiding when you try to control?
What are you learning from this current struggle?
Why does the scale matter so much to you right now?
Is your “ideal” body image slightly disillusioned by your super lean body when competing?
What or who’s expectation are your trying to live up to?
What matters most in your life right now?
How can I help others with what I am going through?
Here are some of my thoughts from my journal:
Controlling food is easy for me. Controlling food allows me to focus on something simple and not worry about what is coming up for me. I am more than my weight and body image and YES I do hold myself to a higher, possibly impossible standard because of being lean so often over the last 5 years. I care what I look like too much. I am comparing myself to others in the fitness industry too much. I need to focus on what I love about my body and what it can do for me. I have MS and I have had if for over 10 years. I can still walk, talk, see and pretty much have zero symptoms because of my healthy lifestyle- I need to be SO SUPER grateful for this HUGE fact. The scale only matters in my head, no one else cares what I weigh. My value is not tied to the number on the scale. Joal (hubs) still loves me and thinks I am drop-dead gorgeous if I don’t wear his favorite pants. In fact, he loves my curvy body WAY more than my super lean body. What matters most now is that I find time to smile and laugh daily, that I fulfill my purpose in life to help others on their health journey, that I find time to connect and build relationships and that I love myself- NOW, TODAY, not when I reach a certain number on the scale, fit into a certain pair of pants or live up to the body composition expectation that I have built in my own head that no one else gives a shit about. This self-love is what will bring me true inner joy, freedom and confidence. If I think about it, even when I am super lean. I still have doubts in my head about myself. Love myself today and tomorrow and when I am curvy and when I am lean and all the days in between…
This shit is hard. It’s not fun but once you can get to the other side, it’s worth it. It’s so worth the feeling of freedom, the feeling of confidence, the feeling of true self-love.
So that’s my story for today. I hope that by reading this you find comfort in the fact that we all struggle. We are all one. And that together, we can all lift each other up instead of secretly tearing ourselves down.
Please feel free to reach out if you want to connect on this topic.
Email me at: carmen@carmenohling.com
By the way, I am still going to be eating nutritious food and working out consistently- I am not stopping that… just simply stopping all the controlling, numbing and stupid unachievable expectations that I could never meet.
Sending each of you lots of love and light today.
Carmen
by Carmen Ohling | Oct 30, 2017 | Uncategorized
The HIIT Experiment
(High Intensity Interval Training Fat Loss Results)
If you been into fitness for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard or even tried HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training.) I’ve been doing HIIT for years, well actually more like interval training when I first started, which is what most people do. What’s the difference? HIIT is done in very short intervals (10-30 seconds) where you go all out and when I mean going all out- I mean it. You should not have anything left to give at the end of the interval. Then, you get your heart rate down by either rest or active rest. HIIT is normally done for up to 20 minutes per session. HIIT is taxing on your body, but it also has been shown to increase your EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption) which means that you will burn fat at a faster rate, utilize energy better during workouts and continue to burn calories even after your done with your HIIT session. 2 to 3 HIIT sessions per week should do the trick.
As a nutrition, fitness and mindset coach it is very important to me that I have real world experience with protocols that I ask my clients to perform. Which means I try everything first, whether it be quitting sugar, going vegan, yoga daily for 40 days or intermittent fasting- you name it I’ve tried it. Each time I “try” something it’s more like an experiment- hence the name of this post The HIIT Experiment.
The HIIT Experiment started by keeping all of the other variables the same (nutrition, training, steady state cardio, etc.) Then, I simply added a HIIT class 3 times per week (Mon, Wed, Fri) at Crossfit Power Valley in Albany, Oregon for 6 weeks. I focused on pushing myself as hard as possible during each workout. The workouts at CFPV were tough and programmed different during each session- which I loved! Below are the results of my experiment:
START
Nutrition: 135g protein, 175g carbs, 35g fat, 35-40g fiber (daily)
Weight: 128.6 lbs
BF%: 17.8%
Training: Standard Bodybuilding Split Training 6 days a week
Steady State Cardio: 20 mins in AM fasted (this is part of my morning routine)
RESULTS
Nutrition: 135g protein, 175g carbs, 35g fat, 35-40g fiber (daily)
Weight: 122.6 lbs
BF%: 15.8%
Training: Standard Bodybuilding Split Training 6 days a week
Steady State Cardio: 20 mins in AM fasted (this is part of my morning routine)
At the end of the 6-week experiment, I would say that the results speak for themselves! I lost 6 lbs and 2% body fat! I am sure you could argue that I could have simply added in more steady state cardio to get this same result, but I disagree. The amount of time you would have to spend on steady state would be a HUGE time commitment. Plus, this HIIT class at CFPV is fun, challenging and super motivating. The coaches at CFPV walk the walk, are very knowledgeable and push you to your limits! A new 6-week HIIT session starts this week (October 30th) at CFPV, click below to learn more and join me so you can get results too!!
CFPV HIIT 6-Week Session
CLICK HERE for a PERSONALIZED Training Plan to Lose Fat!
Eat Real Food. Be Healthy. Feel Amazing!
