Hello Beloved Lettuce-Heads
There comes a time in everyone’s year where you’re just plain ready to get away, unwind, refresh, relax, and connect. Maybe its connecting with nature, connecting with your loved ones, connecting with yourself, detaching from electronic devices, having time to read a book cover to cover, having no plans, or having every minute planned to cover as much ground as possible. Whichever way you cut it… people crave their escapes and wanna fly away. Last year I cant tell you how powerful it was to take the trip to Jamaica with no cellular/internet service and a week free of plans. Just me, my man, my bathing suits and my book (okay and my camera and maybe a mai tai or two). It did my mind, body, and soul some good and Im pumped to have that in my near future again.
Coming up I’ll be able to have some space away, exploring Denver for a few days and then attending a fitness summit in Vegas (Beach Body Conference at the MGM). A sort of night and day trip, mountains meets the dessert, nature meets the slot machines. Denver will be a great escape to a place Ive never been and my sole goal is to take an adventure via two feet and backpack, breathing in all its glory. Vegas will be a conference packed with energy, enthusiasm, useful tools, parties, and kick A workouts by Chalene Johnson, Tony Horton, Shaun T, not to mention the perks of being surrounded by like minded people wanting to end the trend of obesity and change the world. Night and Day- Superwoman style. I have no shame in saying that Im looking forward to unplugging for a full week, breathing in west coast air, soaking in the gorgeous sights, and then absorbing as much as I can at a jam packed fitness conference. I know it will bring me back even more motivated to continue on this sweet, sweet path of sweaty, soul pumping coaching/instructing/writing and living.
I’ll be posting pictures on my www.facebook.com/Likethelettuce page so make sure to “Like” this page in order to follow my mountains meets dessert journey!
You know I’ll be sure to breakdown the experience after, but in the mean time, pictures are worth 1,000 words so they’ll be up to 20,000 words on my Likethelettuce page to help educate, motivate, and inspire you in my absence. I’ll miss you in class and online- but you know I’ll be even better upon return. Feel like a bird and wanna fly away? Me too… but only to come back more bangin’ with breath, knowledge, and purpose than ever before! Have a wonderful week and make sure to LIKE my page to follow the journey! LIKE here: “Like The Lettuce”. I’ll see YOU sweatin’ and shinin’ soon.
In love and lettuce,
Maria “Like the Lettuce” Romaine
Hey, hey my lovely lettuce-heads!
I often talk about “finishing strong” whether its in my spin/turbo classes, 30 day health challenge groups, or just plain goals we’ve set for ourselves (daily, monthly, annual, career). So often we all wake up with a plan to tackle our work day, focusing and accomplishing more than we did yesterday, getting to our workouts that will sweat off all the calories we might have overeaten the day before, and chisel away at this goal of “happiness” we envision for ourselves but aren’t quite there yet due to this, that, and there.
Im not talking about perfection here, because planning, motivation, focus, and execution are all important steps, equally as challenging. What I AM talking about here is the fact that there are simple steps accomplished people take in order to finish what they started, and not only just complete the task, but they end finale style, with gusto, with a surplus of shazam. They know how to finish hard.Whether its 5 more calls at work, sprinting at a workout’s end, or actually crossing off your day’s checklist with the MOST IMPORTANT step of kissing your loved one goodnight… the proof is that people who feel like they’ve given their all, actually live their life the most fulfilled.
In this article, Im going to address through my experiences of achieving goals myself, helping my challengers, instructing group exercise, and everything Ive ever researched … the 4 things WINNERS do and quitters don’t.
1. They KNOW their excitement will wain and they’re bound to hit the roadblock of BLAH. Acknowledging the reality that one’s enthusiasm will not stay anywhere near the peak of when it first sounded like a good idea…is a first MAJOR step. You gotta know that you WILL be stoked at the beginning and then… you WILL hit a roadblock. My 30 day health challengers often face it at night, because guess what? Studies prove motivation is highest in the morning and the chips that they vowed to not touch in the morning, now are talking to them through the cupboard, saying “oh come on…youve worked hard all day…you deserve this.” My workout classes come in with relatively fresh legs, smiles, and nervous energy awaiting the difficult sequences we encounter. However come 20-30 minutes in they start to look at the clock, wondering how long till its over…and they start to punch a little softer, stare at the instructor a little longer, and take a few more water breaks. Yup, totally normal… the nerves and adrenaline has worn off, theyve been working hard now for almost half the class, and they’re excited for their warm dinner after a long hard day, dreaming of rest and relaxation instead of another half hour of sweat and sprints.
Another example is when people create these amazing goals when they sign up to be health coaches, or start their positions at work, or decide to pursue their grad programs…but then after a few days, a few years, they get farther and farther away from their dreams, clock in day in and day out sure… going through the motions…but looking for something else to blame besides themselves so they do anything BUT stick their nose to the grindstone. I totally include myself in this normalcy, in this reality of roadbl0ck blahs. Yet, the reason I (and others) can push past these motivational blocks is our akcnowledgement that we are no different from our neighbor- we ALL encounter the roadblock of BLAH- in every day, every goal, every career choice, every thing we’ve ever been excited about and decided to pursue. The difference between winners and quitters is KNOWING this is normal.
2. They remember WHY they started.
Winners come back to their big FAT why every day. They reflect. They remember. They go back to square one. They assign the feelings behind their WHY and how substantial these goals are in their life. Otherwise, if theres no reflection of WHY the roadblocks feel far from worth it. Winners remember how bad they feel after a cupcake binge, so they enjoy their modified desert without feelings of deprivation. Winners make their last 5 phone calls in a day because they know those are the small steps that will change their month from flop to killer. Winners remember that waking up 3 hours before everyone else does is worth it because thats what will leverage them to accomplish their goals versus daydreaming about it. Winners will spin, run, and push the last 5 minutes of their workout because thats the difference between a 600 calorie burn and a 700 calorie melt fest, and the difference between being more fit for next week versus remaining the same. Couples that communicate and kiss every night know that they want to be together forever. Theres no “hoping” in forever… it means every moment, every night, through every high and low time… happily (working hard together) forever.
3. They realize WINNING is a lifestyle choice.
Its unfortunate Charlie Sheen made such a joke of the word “winning” but even with all of that madness attached, winning is indeed a choice. If you want to win with your body, youve got to win in your career. If you want to win in your love life, youve got to win in your workout. Decide to WIN…work hard, give your all, be in the present, and then when you’re done with one hat, be done and be completely present in the next. Productivity breeds productivity. Love for who you are, what you bring to the table, and what you can accomplish needs to be unveiled at EVERYTHING you put your mind to. How you do one thing…is how you do all things. If you want to stop quitting in life, stop quitting halfway through your workout, halfway through a challenge, halfway through your relationship, or even worse…stop quitting when you’re almost there. Everytime you choose to finish, you choose to win, and youve proven to yourself that if you can finish this…you can finish that. Practice finishing, and you’ll be a finisher before you know it.
4. They REVERSE ENGINEER…PREPARE…PLAN…and BACKUP PLAN
Have you had ideas that sound brilliant…up until you started researching all the steps it takes to get there? Winners dont set goals unless they’re serious. And serious means 1) Ive researched from proven experts all the steps it takes to accomplish said goal 2) Im more than prepared to take all these steps and have a game plan and 3) I know there will be a gamut of monkey wrenches I cant control… so heres my a) plan b) plan and c) plan. Im not saying that you just sit on your hands until you have it all figured out. Using your hands, getting dirty, and working hard is exactly what it takes to research, reverse engineer and either move forward with a goal or adjust and move forward with a different one. For example…in order to get great results from working out …talk to the fittest people you know and look up to, and see what they do… or even offer to take them to dinner if they walk you through their workouts with them. Hire a personal trainer. Take a group exercise class that will run you through it. Join a challenge group full of ideas.
I get asked this all the time and reply with:
1) Wear a HRM so you can calculate heart rate/calories during and after
2) Prepare a music playlist that youd HAVE to move to even if you were tied to the floor
3) Pick a machine that you know well enough to realize how to pick up and slow down the pace/resistance/intensity
4) Pick an accountability partner/group and announce what workout you’re doing for the day so that they can hold you accountable, checking in after, or better yet doing the workout WITH them
5) Create a workout for yourself alongside your playlist, mixing of high resistance climbs, sprints on and off, building efforts, sub tempo efforts, and max out time trials.
6) Have a back up machine to jump to if yours is taken. Have a workout at home thats intense in case you forget your shoes, music, or the gym is too crowded (Turbo Fire, Les Mills Combat, Insanity). Get to know your own body so you know the difference between a hard workout and an easy one if your HRM goes out of commission.
7) Make it FUN and SIMPLE so that you come back the next day and do it again, or atleast something like it.
Time and time again, these are the differences I see between the winners and the quitters at work, in my personal life, the 30 day health challenges, my fellow group exercise lovers, athletes, and most obviously… myself. If this helped YOU, share this article with someone who could afford to win a game or two or twenty… and EVERYTHING they set their mind to.
In love and lettuce,
Maria “Like the Lettuce” Romaine
Hey, hey Lettuce-heads!
Today I wanted to touch on the oh-so-lovely topic of REJECTION. Its not pretty, its not necessarily fun, and tears are normally shed, but ask around to anyone who’s come a long way from where they started, and its down right crucial to their success. This success doesn’t mean you just plain thicken your skin and protect yourself further from the world around you, it means by after putting yourself out there, in a very scary “this is my first time and I’ve never done it before now… because I was scared to look stupid” manner, you have faced realities, critique, a lesson, and an opportunity to grow, now stronger and more equipped then before. Every time I’ve faced rejection, after my broken heart begins to heal (normally after a night of crying and a week or two of pretending everything’s fine), Ive absolutely gained clarity AND conviction.
Rejection helps me remember how important certain things are and gives me a chance to confirm that I absolutely, without a doubt am going to continue to go after them. Even better- it helps me realize what NOT to focus my energy on and what to absolutely throw myself into. When Im rejected, I clearly have a situation close their door to me to either realize 1) I need to knock back on it after learning what didn’t go right the first time or 2) realize that the next door over makes SO much more sense, I just didnt see it before. The times that hurt the worst, and feel the most abandoning to our dreams, are the ones that will mold us the most. I know this first hand, as many of you too can relate. Thats why I wanted to further connect with you all and hopefully help (as small as it may be) with any difficult times you may have encountered, are going through right now, or will be sure to face. This is the first time Im openly rehashing some sensitive stories of rejection… for hopefully your and my growing pleasure.
My 5 reasons why I, personally, LOVE rejection:
1) LOVE: If I never had the courage to ask out a guy to a Christmas dance with a big fat no at the other end of the phone, I would have never accrued the experience to meet the man Im in love with today. I completely bee lined for my now boyfriend when we first met. I couldnt resist, and if I hadnt had years of being comfortable asking people out (even if it meant dances in grade school and less than formal dates in college) then I wouldnt have had the cahoneys to chat up the blue eyed dimpled love of my life Im with now. All the no’s and shut doors growing up as an awkward kid AND adult helped me with the “whats there to lose?” attitude that landed me my best friend.
2) INJURY- Rejection from my own body. Now this one plays a huge role in who I am today. Growing up I tried tons of sports out that I just didnt click with. My poor Dad just wanted me to move, have fun, meet friends, and learn how to work with a team- but I learned so much more in my later years encountering 3 major knee injuries. I have torn both ACLs and had multiple meniscus trouble, as well as subluxing patellars (dislocating knee caps). As a young kid, this really shattered my confidence as a player, as I felt my body was rejecting my desires to be Mia Hamm. Despite tons of rehab, getting back in shape and gaining confidence towards the ends of seasons, Id get injured again. I finally hung up my soccer cleats in college…after going to a University with all intentions to play, I called the coach …crying surprise surprise…alone …having no one but my Mom in my dorm room to break down to, confirming that I would not be coming back to tryouts due to my injury that happened AGAIN on the first day. I vividly remember all the soccer gear laying on my bed we had bought before my tryout that said “DePauw University Soccer” all over it, with the reality of giving up soccer forever. I never really played again…but what happened? I found group exercise, became an instructor, coached a Little 5 team with no experience, and kicked some major tail as a cyclist and fitness leader. After my body rejected me for so many years in soccer, it led me to appreciate my health and the ability to find alternatives where I feel MORE than a rockstar than I did when always rehabbing for soccer. It was meant to be and I had no idea thats what all that was for. I do now.
3) POPULARITY- Rejection from pretty, rich, and popular girls…ouch. In college, not only did I go to DPU thinking Id play soccer, but I also felt excited about the sorority program. A bunch of new friends, social events, formals and charitable causes? Sign me up! I rushed a sorority not one time, but twice, and got rejected not only one time but twice. I could go the long route of the story, again more tears and sulking, but after going out a lot and compensating for not being in a house, I began to really come into my own at DPU as a leader. Being the president of my Diversity Organization, Being a Fitness Instructor, Cycling Coach, Winning different “Independent” contests so we could live in the coolest residential area on campus, and forming close friendships with some amazing gals that the Greek system didnt work out for- but, like me, DIDNT give up, didnt transfer, and had a ball at a college where we were the minority. I still lived up my experience at DPU and had amazing memories, but because of the rejection from the pretty, rich, and popular girls, which I now dont take personal at all- in fact still close friends with all sorts of previous Greek girls and guys, I was more prepared for life. Youre not going to get asked back everywhere, or many places, maybe just one or two, but the communities you can build yourself are often the best ones. Especially if theyre inclusive versus exclusive. I wouldnt be the community builder I am today if I hadnt been rejected by some major ones in college.
4) SALES I applied for a handful of sales jobs that never called me back before I was hired at Angie’s List. I finally nailed an interview (couldnt have been a better place) where my future manager asked me if I had a “lack of fear of rejection” in which I responded, “Absolutely.” Good thing I prepared myself by confirming that that was completely fine in my book, because the job led to no’s ALL THE TIME- hello sales. I wouldnt have had that lack of fear if I hadnt had my fair share growing up. I was hungry to make my name in the world post graduation, so no’s meant nothing as long as I could move on and accomplish my goal with the few “yes’s” that mattered. I apply this to almost anything in life now, and it helps me with my lack of fear. Which is just another way of saying, “yeah rejection is scary and it sucks, but you gotta blast past it in order find your ideal customer who’s more than ready to go and will make all the no’s worthwhile”. Im still in sales 5 years later, and I still dont mind the “no’s”, because I love what I do.
5) CAREER/PASSION rejection. Im sure many of you read how excited I was to be named an Oakley ambassador. I was able to rep the brand for a year, meet the most fantastic ladies ever with such ambition and proof that you can have a life and career in fitness, and travel to some wild places (Napa Valley, Ca and Snowbird, Utah). However a year later they mentioned that they were going to be doing revisions to the team based on location and fit of the brand, and unfortunately myself and a handful of ladies didnt quite get continued. I definitely, guess what, cried and felt hurt and wondered what was wrong with me… but after the normal cycle of “what, why, and how come” questions in my head, I realized that as great as an opportunity as this was, I can now really focus on my business. Theres a time in my life where I wanted to talk about anything and everything that was cool, be a part of anything that was shiny and moved in fitness, not commit to one thing, and not decide on anything either. However, with the closed door with Oakley, I realized I could really promote “Like the Lettuce” and focus on my own events, my own challenges, and what I specifically can offer to further my goal in this whole process: helping others with health and fitness. As amazing as the gear is and the overall message behind Oakley, it didnt make me, and it wasnt necessary to be a better leader, helper, fitness instructor or health coach. That was all inside…and its something I needed to be challenged on, realize and move forward with in confidence that Im absolutely doing the right thing, whether or not Im the right fit or in the right location to be sponsored by a brand. I can walk away SO thankful for the opportunity to grow and connect versus bitter from a door shut. I have Oakley to thank for a year of encouragement, belief in myself, amazing trips to fascinating places, and connecting with inspiring ladies who are just as after their dream as anyone else. I have them to thank for the opportunity to put myself out there and an opportunity to help me better focus my dreams as a health coach.
Id be tickled to hear your stories of rejection and how its helped you. Comment below on how YOU love rejection so you can help your fellow lettuce-head put themselves out there in the game! We are always learning, growing, and fine tune-ing. Thanks to rejection, there will always be a chance for further clarity and conviction…so I dare you to start falling in love with it too.
In love and lettuce, Maria “Like the Lettuce” Romaine xoxo
Attention Lettuce-heads!
Taking the FIRST FIVE individuals READY to shed those STUBBORN 5 POUNDS. Whether its the first 5 to break the seal, the plateau you’ve GOT to bust through, or the last 5 you’ve been dying to shed… this 30 day challenge is for YOU! Email me at maria.romaine@gmail.com to receive details, reserve spot, and to finally stop procrastinating. BEST NUTRITION AROUND+WORKOUTS+SUPPORT/
***DEADLINE TO SIGN UP IS 5-27***
“Like the Lettuce” Health and Fitness
Who this is NOT for:
1) Those wanting an easy fix
2) Those who dont finish what they start
3) Those who think their situation is harder than anyone else’s
Who this is DEFINITELY for:
1) Those who are READY to do the work
2) Those who have no choice but to create a difference
3) Those who know they’re in charge and are finally ready to be
With Love and Lettuce,
Maria “Like the Lettuce” Romaine, xoxo
