​Oh the dreaded F word! Fat loss. A place too many feel they need to live in constantly, but honestly shouldn't. Also, many who claim to be in a fat loss stage are not actually in a fat loss stage because they are not in a caloric deficit.

I want to bring forward some hard realities about fat loss. Some might be hard to hear, but they are true and need to be applied if fat loss is your real goal. 

1. Fat loss is going to be challenging AF! When you are in a true fat loss stage of life, you are eating less calories than your body needs. You are going to have to make serious changes about your daily habits and food choices from types to quantity. It will take planning and diligence. 

2. Consistency day after day is the KEY to real fat loss.  Fat loss will NOT WORK if you are on your plan a few days and then off the plan. It will not work if you track your macros here and there. Things will not change on the scale or for your clothes if you are "good" during the week and then eat like beast over the weekend. 

3. You will have moments of hunger. You will have to accept that part and find ways to work around it. Part of change is being uncomfortable. Being in a caloric deficit is not easy. It is not easy for anyone, so stop saying it is hard for just YOU. To help with the hunger aspect, make sure you eat PLENTY of protein. Stay hydrated. Eat nutrient dense foods. Get plenty of sleep. All of these things will help you in the fat loss process.

4. Be reasonable! It can take up to 3 week of being 100% consistent before seeing any change physically. You should NOT be basing your progress by the scale only. It is important to have multiple ways of seeing your fitness progress: measurements, photos, how clothes fit, your performance in the gym. 

5. BE PATIENT. Nothing in life happens quickly. You will not lose weight on the scale every day or week or sometimes in a month. Sustainable fat loss takes time!

6. Plan for success. You will need to plan ahead-meals, shopping, how to eat out, etc. Trying to wing it won't work or pay off. Tracking macros as you go will fail you. You should be tracking your food each morning and sticking to that plan for the day. Learning what makes up your daily food intake will only help you in the long run and you will build a better connection with yourself. 

7. Fat loss dieting should be short term. It is NOT a lifestyle. You don't want to be in it forever. You don't have to stay in a deficit to maintain earned fat loss. Knowing that fat loss is temporary helps you (mentally) in the long run as you build a fitness lifestyle and healthy mind and body. 

8. Know yourself! You should be monitoring your biofeedback. Pay attention to key elements such as energy levels, sleep, digestion, mood, and your sex drive along the way. You may need to stop dieting if you are physically starting to suffer. Reverse dieting is essential too.

9. Think health first. Eventually, you will have to reverse diet and work on getting to your maintenance calories which takes time. To get to a desired look or feel in your body may take several rounds of dieting in a deficit to reverse dieting to your maintenance calories.  There is no rush. There is no need to compare your NOW to someone else. 

10. Being fit and happy does not have one size. You get determine how you feel best in your skin at the end of the day. 

Supplementing your body with the best nutrients is key during a fat loss phase. Honestly, any phase of a fitness program requires the best nutrients. Here is a stack I use daily to help me get enough protein, help me manage stress, and to keep my hormones healthy. Click here or on the picture to go directly to my affiliate shopping link. 

For a number of years, I have used manifestation collages, or vision boards, as an exercise to help me get clear on my life's aspirations. I have found that when I take the time to really think about what I want in life, and then create these visual collages, what I am after HAPPENS! That is correct my friend: they really work. Not all parts happen instantly, but what I have visualized and placed onto my collages over the years has manifested. 

There is something we all must remember: if we can believe it, we can be it. If we can see it, we can live it. Our minds are so powerful! This is why it is so important to be mindful about the words used when talking to ourselves. This is why it is important to be careful about the people we let into our circle. Everything we do from the food we eat, the friends we make, the jobs we take end up impacting us on a deep level. 

If you are in a place in your life where you want to get more clear and really get specific about your life goals, then I highly recommend making a vision board. It is not complicated and you don't need to have a degree in Art to make one. You just need time and the willingness to really see into your own future. You need minimal supplies. You can make your manifestation collage on poster board paper, printer paper, cardboard, or anything you feel is appropriate. You can use images you find from magazines or from an online search. My most recent vision board was made using google slides. I found images that matched my intentions and then I printed the collage in color on an 8x10 piece of paper from my home printer. I have made collages in the past from photos I found in magazines and even from personal photos of mine. 

I have found over the years, that some of my aspirations carried over onto other collages. For example, I am still working on owning my own home again. I have not given up on this dream, so it has been on several collages. It is important to know that life has its own timing and not all things we desire happen right away. I have had other collages where what I was working on manifesting happened within that year. For example, I had one collage that included images (click to watch video) of a competitor on stage with trophies. That year I won two bodybuilding competitions. The year before I met my husband, my vision board clearly included images (click to read) that represented marriage with a dark-haired, Spanish speaking man and a child. Guess what, all those things happened. I ended up marrying a Mexican-American man and we are about to have our second child. 

These are my tips for what to do before channeling your vision:

Part I: UNDERSTAND THE STEPS TO MANIFESTING

1. Ask Yourself Clear Questions: Set your intention for what you want. The more clear that you can be on what you want, the better you can “ask” for what you want out of life.
2. Believe: Trust that the process will work for you, and with a relentless heart and vision your aspirations will be yours. 
3. Be Ready to Receive: Allow the change to happen in your life. Start to act as if your goal is inevitable. Trust me: IT. WILL. HAPPEN.

Part II: BE PRESENT IN YOUR LIFE

The biggest thing keeping people from attracting their dreams is worrying about their past or their future in negative ways, or worrying about other people's opinions. Remember there is no right or wrong way to live. There is no right or wrong time for life dreams to come true. All you have to do is stay connected to your true essence daily. Notice when you are stepping closer to your vision and when you are making decisions taking you away from your vision. Only you know what's best for you. You truly have all the answers and power within you. You just have to visualize that life and work toward it with all your heart. If something does not happen within one year, it's okay. It just means you're closer to it happening if you had done all you could within a year to make it so. If you didn't work toward that vision then it would make sense nothing happened. No effort is lost if done with sincerity. 

Part III: Take Action Right Now

Vision boards are just one tool to help you manifest your truest life. Once you realize that you can manifest anything you want, it becomes easier to manifest more things. When you start to realize you are powerful beyond compare you begin to believe in yourself more and trust your intuition more too. Life has a funny way of working out for those grounded in purpose. 

​I encourage you to take steps to manifest your dreams TODAY.

• ​Start by writing down one thing you want to manifest this year. Then see if that snowballs into other areas of your life. I like to break things down into topics such as personal (relationships, hobbies, health), professional, and financial.
• Start finding images that represents these visions for you. 
• Create the vision board.
• Place the collage somewhere you can see on a daily basis.
• Watch your life change
• Receive your vision

I hope this inspires you and you get working on your vision board today. Below is an example of my current vision board. I trust in myself, and the divine timing of life, that all my heartfelt desires will happen. I hope you trust yourself and your visions as passionately. You are the narrator and composer of your own life, so create the best story you can.

Since having Emilio, my biggest growing client base has been moms. I have had the opportunity to support mothers along their fitness journey whether recent postpartum and breastfeeding or further down the road in their motherhood experience. 
I think something that has allowed so many to trust me is because I have not just preached best practices for postpartum and pregnancy fitness, but I live by my words. I have also invested lots of time, energy, and money on educating myself about fitness when pregnant or postpartum. 

Today, I want to share with you some things you can start applying to your life if you are a mom wanting to be more fit. I will also share with you tips you can practice if you are pregnant or have a friend who is pregnant. ​

Aren't these two photos strikingly different? On the left side was me just a day or two before giving birth. My body changed dramatically from my former days of bodybuilding to becoming full-term pregnant. My body again changed dramatically from gaining 50lbs in my pregnancy to going back to me wearing my pre-pregancy clothes. Going through all those changes amazed me and I loved the process. It was empowering to witness and reminded me that we all have the capacity to make huge changes in our lives from small daily actions. 

What impresses me the most in reflection, is knowing that I was able to get back to a place I was happy with with my fitness goals during a global pandemic. This means that I trained almost exclusively at home with very minimal equipment. I learned that less is best and actually goes a long way when executed daily. 

If you want to tap into some key things I did while pregnant and postpartum KEEP READING. I hope they help you in your journey too. ​

If you want to do an exercise on how to unlock a passion project follow this guide:
HOW TO EXPLORE YOUR WHY


1. EXPLORE A PASSION (ANYTHING THAT BRINGS FORWARD EXCITEMENT, CURIOSITY, OR JOY)

2. AIM FOR A GOAL (GIVE YOURSELF A "SOFT" TIMELINE FOR THIS GOAL)

3. DELVE INTO YOUR CURIOSITIES (RESEARCH HOW TO GET STARTED, WHO TO WORK WITH, WHAT MATERIALS TO PURPOSE TO MAKE YOUR PASSION PART OF YOUR LIFE)

4. TAKE ON YOUR NEW CHALLENGE 

 As the days marched forward, I kept telling myself "give yourself a year." I still had not stepped on the scale, but I knew that day was coming and was necessary. In the beginning of my postpartum journey, I did not need that type of mental downer as I was dealing with healing from a cesarean, and unfortunately two round of mastitis. Breastfeeding ended up not working out for me as I kept getting a bacteria infection in my breasts. It was awful and messed with me mentally. It was beyond painful and there were nights I just sobbed in my spouse's arms. I literally wanted someone to cut off my breasts, as they were rock hard, red, hot, and gave me flu-like symptoms.

Here I had been this super fit woman my entire adult life, and had read a plethora of books about natural child birth during my gestation with my son, to now having so many things about becoming a mom not turn out as I had envisioned. I learned from my birthing experience that we control hardly anything in this life. My birth plan did not go as planned and that's okay because I took responsibility for it all by responding proactively and positively. My little mantra, "give yourself a year," helped me to just keep going. I knew that in a years times so much could evolve and change. I also knew what I was capable of based on my own life experiences, so I didn't doubt myself even though I was a bit scared on how to get started. 

When Emilio would nap, I would often research postpartum programs. Even though I am a fitness coach, I didn't want to do this journey alone. I already was doing too much alone. I wanted a support system. I wanted workouts structured for me, so I wouldn't have to think. I wanted the tools to live a macro based lifestyle so I could enjoy life with my spouse and kids (I have a bonus daughter). I knew I couldn't go back to the rigid diets I use to follow as a competitor and I knew I couldn't go back to spending hours in the gym when my son needed me at home. I knew my former self wouldn't work out in my new life as a mom, wife, full-time educator, and part-time yoga instructor. My requirements of "need" is how I found Nathalia Melo, the owner of The Mother's Strong League and the Four Weeks to Fit Challenge.

Nathalia's 4 Weeks to Fit was how I got myself back on the fitness road. I saw all these postpartum women make amazing progress and I thought to myself "I can do that!" You see, I always believed in myself. I may have had moments of fear as to how I could get back into a physical condition I desired, but I also know that fear is a big liar. I was aware that my journey was going to be long, but I knew I could do it. After four weeks, I was back macro counting and I made amazing progress eating the foods I love, like tacos and eating chocolate. The results from the 4 Weeks to Fit Challenge was the confidence I needed and what catapulted me to becoming a "fit mom."

When the four weeks were over, I knew I wanted more. I decided to sign-up for the year long membership of the Mother's Strong League (MSL). I have used this membership to structure my workouts and to have a group of women I can talk with online about being a mom and an athlete. I have also used the group to track my weight loss data, as I am huge into data when looking at growth and change. However, I do my own nutrition and I respond to my own bi-weekly check-ins. MSL is not a program for women who need their hand held. It is for women ready to take their life to the next level with both being a mom and athlete.

Being in control of my own nutrition through the principles of macro counting and flexible dieting has allowed me to be the foodie and cook that I am while still making progress. I have loved helping others over the years master their own diets in sustainable ways, but as a former competitor, I use to go from competition to competition and it was this constant battle of yo-yo dieting I no loner wanted to do anymore in my new life. I didn't really realize all of this until I had my son. My new life brought me to a place of greater awareness about food and the life I really wanted to be living. I have decided, I never want to be the type of mom who won't make cookies with her kids and enjoy the taste of one or two out of fear of "ruining myself." I have learned that is completely unnecessary and no food is bad. It's not to say that I ever thought certain foods were evil, but I will say I use to be too strict and it kept me from just enjoying the foodie I have always been. I have learned that if there is something I want to eat, I eat it, but I plan and prepare for it. This is one way I have lost 50 pounds in eleven months. I have kept myself accountable and consistent with my daily food intake, and I have found that macro counting is a sustainable way of living my best, healthy life.

Not long after the 4 Weeks to Fit Challenge, I did a photoshoot to show myself that I still loved being behind the camera, and to share with other women how postpartum does not have one way to look. I just wanted to show up and say "Let's do this ladies. Let's be our greatest selves." It was very rewarding for me to share my photoshoot with my kids and my spouse and to just love my new body, loose belly skin and all.

It is crazy to think how far I have come in my postpartum journey. The mantra "give yourself a year" really helped me to keep everything in perspective and to never give up. Everything I did was with moderation and patience. I had moments of not wanting to trust the process, but that's what I did. I trusted the process. This took patience. It took my years of training and education as a coach to just trust myself. Yes, I have been using the workouts from the Mother's Strong League, but it is me who put in the effort with those workouts. It is me who made sure to get 10,000k steps in a day. It is me who modified movements when needed or switched out a certain exercise for another if I had to. It was me who made all of this possible. I designed all my own meal plans and calculated my own macros. I have been the one to determine refeeds and diet breaks. This entire journey has made me a better coach, too. This whole journey has made me feel more complete and confident as a person. Things I use to worry about I no longer do. For example, I can care less about the excess skin around my belly. I'm more interested in the happiness I feel post-workout. I am so much more aware of who I am and what I want as a woman and that is liberating. It is mind-blowing to believe what the human body, the female body, is capable of achieving. The transformation I have gone through has been more than physical; it has been spiritual. My journey has reminded me of the foundation of my coaching principles that everything: mind, soul, and body (MS.B Fitness) must be integrated for real change to occur. Thank you for letting me share my journey with you. I look forward to sharing more with you as I feel this is only the beginning of a whole new volume in my life. 

If you are interested in a macro counting lifestyle (flexible dieting) to reach your goals, please contact me. If you go into my testimonials you will see I have helped many people over the years reach their goals. 

Below, is a GIFT I want to share with you. Sign-up to be on my mailing list to get loads of free fitness content and in turn I will send you a FREE crash course on macros. 

I know right now many of us are adapting to our new normal. Parents are juggling home schooling and work from home. Teachers are doing their best to keep up with the learning needs of students using a completely new platform for instruction. Some people have lost their job and are filing for unemployment. Our beloved local businesses are closed. Others families have a spouse titled as an essential worker, and they are putting in overtime. Thousands of men and women are first responders or medical staff who are risking their lives everyday. I don't think anyone has it easy. I think, for the most part, there are still feelings of worry, anxiousness, and stress for millions of Americans as we face all our unknowns with the continuous spread of COVID 19. There just doesn't seem to be any sense of normality or light at the end of the tunnel. The big question at hand is: when will this all end?

I worry about the virus almost daily. I have some days that are better than others, but it's like a thorn in my side: a nagging pain. Now, even though it is a worry, I have gotten to a place of feeling more in control of how I handle all the unknowns. I have really stepped into the mantra: FAITH OVER FEAR. I think that's so important right now. We cannot live in fear or worry too much about things we cannot control. We must remain in a state of FAITH. Living with fear and too much worry are negative stressors, which will only negatively impact the immune system and wreck havoc on fitness goals. It is so important that we stay positive as much as possible. Also, do what you can to control what you can. For example, practice caution around others and use incredible hygiene. We also need to maintain eating extremely healthy and exercising. Proper nutrition, exercise, and adequate sleep are vital to keeping any person healthy. These three things will also keep you HAPPY.

Right now, I am offering MINIMAL EQUIPMENT workouts for just $25 a month. Each purchase will provide you with enough circuits for four full weeks. These plans come with a list of materials, links for purchasing products, and links for videos to demonstrate any movement you may be unfamiliar with doing.

I am also offering live, virtual training sessions. One-on-one sessions are scheduled for 30 minutes or 45 minutes. They are high-intensity boot-camp style.You don't need much equipment, if any. Dumbbells are really all that is required and a device with internet connection. I will literally be working out with YOU!! These sessions are $25 for 30 minutes and $35 for 45 minutes. Group sessions of 2 or more people are $8 per person for 30 minutes and $12 per person for 45 minutes. Talk about fun and making a connection. I will inspire you to love working out from home and seeing the results you're after. Plus, your time with me will get your mind off anything worrying you.
​

Here I am feeling good post workout. I literally train in my little, Bay Area apartment in our entry way. I use bands and dumbbells and I get a great training session each time. I love the big mirrors in my entry way, too. They remind me of the gym. I put my headphones on and I just get lost in the ZONE! 

Many people loved going to the gym because they loved the group exercise classes and the energy of training around other people. However, we are all faced with a real serious situation requiring us to STAY HOME. If you need support with at-home workouts, or want to feed off the energy of working out with another person then TRAIN WITH ME! I'll show you how intense and challenging an at-home, minimal equipment training session can be if done right. My circuits can be done literally anywhere: outside, your living room, or your garage. 

Sign-up for my newsletter and get a FREE FAT LOSS TRAINING GUIDE to help you get motivated during COVID 19. Training for results doesn't have to just happen in the gym. Let me prove it to you!

Here is a great, motivating video for you to watch from the legendary Jack LaLanne, who was a fitness guru original. In the video he talks about the importance of health and why it is the key to just being happy. Enjoy!

To support your mental health I am also offering live meditation sessions through Zoom for FREE. If you would like some support with managing any stress or anxiety that you may be experiencing please reach out. Each session is 20 minutes from start to finish (this includes an ice breaker conversation, guided meditation, and a closure to our time together).

As a reminder, I offer not just training programs, but I also offer nutritional coaching. You do not need to invest in a training program to get nutritional support from me. I offer 4 weeks, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks nutritional coaching programs. Please click here to inquire about enrolling. 

For moms or dads having to stay home with your kid(s) because of school closure or work closure, I am sure it's tough. Below is a schedule to help you keep normality flowing in your household. As an educator, one thing I know helps kids (and adults too) is consistency and routine. Sending your child to school is a big part of daily routine. If you are struggling with ideas on how to keep up with learning and how to schedule out the day please use the resources below. 

The link below is full of educational websites offering FREE learning activities for your son or daughter to do at home during this pandemic. 

Educational Resources

Second, is an image of a daily schedule you may want to enforce in your home while school closures are happening.

It is my hope that we all stay healthy. Here are some last little tips for you to keep yourself protected during these troubling times:

• STAY HOME AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
• Wash your hands often, like more than usual.
• Clean often: counter tops, toys, bathroom surfaces, floors, doorknobs, high chairs
• Take shoes off upon entering your home. Consider leaving your shoes outside
• Change clothes after you arrive home from work
• Avoid large gatherings of 10 plus people
• Refrain from visiting people you don't live with until shelter in place is over
• Only buy groceries and supplies that you actually need for a week
• Get information from reliable sources
• Don't watch too much media coverage
• Get daily exercise
• Practice mediation or yoga to relieve stress
• Take vitamin C or eat fruit high in vitamin C. Select fruit over juice so you get your daily fiber
• Eat 3-5 serving of green veggies a day
• Drink lots of water
• Eat whole foods rather than processed foods
• Take Vitamin D to help your immune system
• Keep conversations positive
• Continue to look forward to the future
• Use this as an opportunity to try new hobbies, be self-reflective, or talk on the phone with friends and family

Remember my friends, I am right here with you. We will survive these trying times. May you stay healthy, happy, and safe. 

All my love,

Brenna