I've been taking a break from all social media this week and while I miss seeing my online community daily, I'm amazed at how much time I have to CREATE content and brainstorm about ideas that have long been percolating in the back of my brain. 
I've also been chilling with my boys quite a bit which is both amazing and a tad bit exhausting. 
Those boys can GO!

This blog post will be automatically uploaded to my Facebook page, since I'm still off social media, but if you wish to contact me about it, please email me directly at sarah@sarahsmith.me

Ok, so let's talk about physique changes. 

When it comes to burning fat and building lean muscle we know that one needs the following:

1. Appropriate calorie deficit **fat loss

2. Sufficient nutrition and nutrient absorption **lean muscle synthesis

3. Diverse gut microbiome **fat loss, energy, lean muscle synthesis

4. Effective stress management strategies (this includes sleep!) **fat loss

5. Physical activity (daily natural movement + training) **fat loss and lean muscle synthesis


In a nutshell, if you want to lose fat and build lean muscle to improve the strength of your body and overall efficiency of your metabolism, you need to eat well, live well and move well!

Sort of simple, right?

Some folks find that investing lots of energy in one or 2 of these areas can initially be most impactful for them. 

While others might find that they prefer to gradually change their habits in all 5 of these areas over time. 

If a person wants fast results, then one would devote a lot of time and energy of cultivating lifestyle practices that meet these requirements for fat loss right away. 

OR, if an individual was content to slowly get results from a gradual integration of new habits over time, then the work would be somewhat diluted and the individual would have time to slowly change their lifestyle. 


As a coach in the online fitness  business, I talk with women all of the time about their physique goals and current lifestyle. 
And you know what, for the most part they have an inkling of what it is that they need to do to change their bodies. 
They might not necessarily know the most time-efficient or impactful ways to go about it, but I find that most the folks I talk to say things like,

"I know I don't get enough sleep..."
"I could eat better..."
"I sit at a desk all day and don't get much movement in...."
"I have a very high-stress job..."

And with unlimited time, energy and motivation, they could probably make the necessary changes in the above 5 ares of their lives to get the results that they want. 

But in this day of information accessibility via the internet, people are not lacking for rules, programs, diets, information, tips, or advice on how to be healthier. 

They are lacking support. 

They need someone to help them make change feasible for them. 

They need someone to show them how to break the pursuit of their goals down into simple, manageable actions.

They need someone to be there, to care when they show up for their goals!

They need someone to help them troubleshoot challenge, slumps, major obstacles, lack of motivation. 

They need to feel like they are not alone in the pursuit of their goals. 


I know this personally in not just from my fitness experience, but from my graduate school experience, from my experience with building a business, from my time as a mom. 

When it comes to honoring commitments and or even responsibilities:

We get tired. 
We lose motivation 
We often get bogged down in the details of the moment and can't see the forest through the trees.
We let feelings of failure and inadequacy stop us in our tracks. 
We struggle to find the way to keep going when we've been stopped in our tracks. 


Sometimes we have the answers, solutions or even willpower deep down inside, but we need someone to pull them out, someone to encourage us, someone to say, "I see you and you're doing great." 


In October of 2016 I ran my first online fitness challenge. 
It was called the "Persistence Over Perfection" or "POP Challenge".

I came up with the idea out of the blue one day after thinking about my own experience in pursuing goals. 

I realized that what was the ultimate game changer in life for me was learning to break my goals down into small manageable steps that I chipped away at gradually, EVEN when my process was UBER imperfect. 

You see you don't need the perfect program and you don't need to be perfect in your nutrition and movement practices. 
What you need is to consistently do your best at making improvements, no matter how small or gradual. 
And the key to consistency is SUPPORT, ACCOUNTABILITY, and ENCOURAGEMENT. 

You can absolutely go it alone. 
There have been plenty of times in my fitness journey when I have worked alone to pursue my goals, but inevitably I have hit a wall and turned to someone more experienced and knowledagele in my area of pursuit to help me. 

They gave me direction. 
They gave me pointers. 
They helped me focus on what was going to be MOST impactful for me at that moment in time. 
and most importability they recognized all the work I was doing gave me the encouragement that I needed to keep going!


So if this feels like an advertisement for working with me, it is sort of, except that I am in NO WAY wanting you to exclusively hire me as your coach. 

I love that you are here in my Sarah Smith Strength community and that tells me that there's something about my messaging that resonates with you. 
So thank you for your support and thank you for allowing me to share my experience advice and resources with you. 

If you're look at 2018 with goals of changing your lifestyle, I can NOT STRESS enough the benefit of working with someone. 

That might mean me, or another coach. 
It might mean going a class, seeing a dietitian, functional medicine practitioner, counselor or therapist. 
It could mean joining yoga studio, a CrossFit gym or a running club. 

Only you can determine what form of encouragement and support is best designed to meet you where you are today. 

I would just encourage you to work with someone on some level so that you're not solely relying upon yourself to be consistent. 

If you are interested in learning more about working with me you can head over to: sarahsmith.me/workwithme

Right now my online coaching club, Cultivate For Life Coaching Club is open for enrollment. 
Enrollment closes on January 1st at midnight EST. 

I keep the numbers of this group small so that everyone experiences the benefit of a close-knit community of women that encourage and support one another in addition to my coaching. 

Learn about it here today! 

Check out C4L here now!