We see this time and time again…year after year.

The Christmas decor is out in the stores before the Halloween candy is even passed out! Almost like there is unnecessary pressure to have things out and ready before the first Hallmark movie is on TV. Or how about the Mom who posted that she already has ALL of her Christmas shopping DONE and WRAPPED!

Like, really!?

Unfortunately, this seems to be the new normal in our world. There is a huge rush to get the next holiday started before the current one has even arrived!

As a Mom of two small children, Charlotte (5) and Carson (16 months), today, I find that there is so much pressure to have it ALL together ALL.THE. TIME! Am I alone here? It can be hard to manage expectations and the stress of what this time of year can bring. It can often feel like you are in a pressure cooker.

As this season is upon us, I wanted to share some tools that I have tried to adopt that might help us all during this stressful time.

EMBRACE

1. I believe that we first must go ahead and accept the fact that this is a stressful time of year. Period. Know the holidays are here, and they will be about 2 months long.  Embrace this time and pace yourself for the ride.

GET ORGANIZED

2. If you have not done this, get a planner. Today. Paper or electronic, it does not matter. Just get one. My husband, Stephen and I share a Google calendar where we both can put important dates of events. Trust me; this has been a game changer in our marriage and how I organized my life! When you have all of your holiday obligations on a calendar, you are less likely to be surprised by a holiday obligation.

LEARN TO SAY “NO”

3. If your family is as busy as mine, you are going to have every weekend in November and December filled. You will be invited to parties, community events, work functions and your children’s school events. You are going to be pulled in a lot of different directions. Learn to simply say “No” to some of them. You need to decide what’s important to you and your family. If it seems like it might not fit into your schedule and will cause more unnecessary stress for you, then politely decline.

SELF CARE

4. I personally cannot emphasize this one enough. You know when you are in an airplane and they go through the oxygen demonstration with the yellow mask? You are told you have to first put the mask on yourself before you can help others. Start thinking about self care this way. It will be the best medicine for you, not in just the holiday season, but for life. When you move your body, it releases all the “feel good” hormone serotonin and you are simply happier! It’s like you have a superpower and you want everyone else to feel good too! Doing just 30 minutes of exercise per day has been crucial for me in managing my stress. I have more energy, I’m more creative, and it helps me be a better wife and mother.

DON’T COMPARE

5. Comparison is the thief of joy. This can be a slippery slope that cause many of us moms to feel guilty.Keep in mind that you never know what someone else is going through. Ever.

We all can be quick to judge and sometimes long for what others might have. When we compare ourselves to others, it puts unnecessary pressures on us and that is never healthy. Try to stay in your lane, smile at strangers and lift up others when you have the opportunity.

REFLECT

6. We can all agree that the holidays are crazy. For some, it’s the most wonderful time of year, and for others it’s the worst. Whatever your position might be, the holidays are inevitable and it’s your choice on how you choose to look at this time of year. There is always an opportunity to make a new tradition, set new goals, to try something new in the coming year. This is a time of year to reflect on what you’ve accomplished and what matters most in life. Give yourself permission to slow down and reflect on why we recognize the holidays in the first place.

As I write this and think about how busy this last quarter of 2017 has already been for me and my family, my hope is that we can all take-away parts of these suggestions and build on them. As mothers, we are the foundation for our families and we are all just trying our best each and every day.

It is OK to say “No”

It is OK to take some time out for yourself.

It is OK to slow down.

Book Review: The 5 Second Rule

Before I dive right into this, I think it’s important that I mention that I have NEVER been a big reader. It’s not that I don’t like to read; maybe I am just not disciplined in that area quite yet. I seem to never have the time to sit down and read the pages quietly while life is happening around me. Maybe that is sad and lame, but reading books have never been a huge passion of mine.

With that said personal development (P.D.) or “self help” books have NEVER been on my radar. Honestly, I really do not read books at all. Well, with the small exception of the Twilight series – those books I could hardly put down.

Knowing this about myself, I decided to get an Audible account so I could listen to books while I drive in the car or listen while I’m working out. It’s pretty awesome really and just a better way for me to absorb information.

I’ve heard so much buzz around a book called “The 5 SecondRule” by Mel Robbins. I knew people that absolutely SWORE by this book and I am so glad that I decided to finally download it so I could listen to the 5 + hour story on how The 5 Second Rule came to be.

Without giving too much of the book away, my goal is to give you a glimpse into how this book has helped me in just a few weeks of listening to the book. Mel Robbins is a witty, smart mid-westerner with a background in law. She is a wife and mother of two girls and she finds herself in a place in her life where she feels “stuck.” We have all been there right? 

We are in a job we hate. 

We have an awesome idea, but we are too scared to act on it? 

We see need to have a conversation with someone, but the timing is never “right.” 

Or what about simply getting up earlier and tackling that “to-do” list that keeps getting pushed aside.

I know I have been there.

What I appreciate about this book is how open Mel is about her own personal situation and how she applies The 5 Second Rule or as Mel calls it “The Rule” to her situation. There is a ton of science and research that goes into The Rule (over 6 years) and they way she spells it out makes so much sense.

For example, we are NEVER going to FEEL like doing most things. Getting up early, going to the gym, emptying the dishwasher…you get the idea. See if we waited around until we “felt” like doing most things, we would never ever do them.

The way The 5 Second Rule comes in is that it’s somewhat of a trick on your brain. Without getting too sciencey (not sure that is even a word…I’m pretty sure it isn’t) something “wakes up” the frontal cortex of your brain when you simply count backwards instead of forwards.

As humans, we are constantly going in a forward motion when we move…turn pages right to left when we read…threaten our children by “counting to three”. When you count “5, 4, 3, 2, 1” then Go!, your brain almost does not have time to consider if you “feel” like doing a certain task or not. You just do it.

If you wait more than five seconds to act that is when fear and doubt creep in and your brain will kill the idea.

So far, The 5 Second Rule has been the most helpful for me in 3 ways:

1. I am not always up before my kids and I am not exactly proud of this. When Stephen gets up in the mornings around 5:20am to take Winston out, I usually hear him. While I am there thinking about if I “feel” like getting up, somehow my mind shifts to The Rule and I start counting…5,4,3,2,1. I’m kind of miffed for a couple of seconds after I rise up out of bed, but then there I am up and moving. I get my coffee, head downstairs to begin my day. So far this has been amazing at how it sets the tone for my day.

2. Chores around the house are just one of those things you have to do, right? The laundry and the dishwasher are always full in my house and seem like a never-ending task. Since I have adopted The Rule, I just count 5,4,3,2,1 and get them done and out of the way. I just do it.

3. Never letting things go unsaid. How many unread text messages or emails do you have on your phone right now? I’m guilty of having quite a few at times. How many of you have something you want to say to someone, but are afraid? The promotion you want at work, but you are too afraid to ask? The idea you have at a board meeting, but what if it sounds stupid? When was the last time you simply said “thank you” or texted a loved one “I love you”?

What I have learned from The 5 Second Rule is that you will NEVER know if you don’t act. There is so much AWESOMENESS on the other side of fear and doubt. If you don’t lean in, raise your hand, press send, you will NEVER know if you don’t take action.

You count, act and you are done. The point is that it doesn’t have to be perfect, but you at least STARTED. When we ACT, is when things really awesome happen. Not when we are “thinking” about doing something or we are “too afraid” or “don’t feel like it.”

Y'all, it’s truly AMAZING at how much time I have gained since I have started doing this. Mel goes into greater detail about how this has helped people land the job of their dreams, fight addiction and bring loved ones back together. It’s really amazing at how powerful it is.

I have suggested the book to many others as well. Stephen has started listening to the book and I’ve been impressed with his own take-aways.

Friends, our time is limited here on Earth and you NEVER how long you have. Make today and each moment count.

5

4

3

2

1

Go!

xoxo, 
Saralyn 

A Review on Insanity

in·san·i·ty

inˈsanədē/

noun

1.      the state of being seriously mentally ill; madness.

"he suffered from bouts of insanity"

synonyms:

mental illness, madness, dementia;

I found it fitting to have the definition of the word out in the open before I started sharing what I thought about this program with such an intimidating name.

What is Insanity?

Shaun T. in all his glory! 

Insanity is a 60 day High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) program designed by Shaun T. and developed by Beachbody.

The basis of the program is inspired by what is called “max interval training” with 30 second rest periods in-between each set. You are using your own body weight so no hand weights are required. I got through each workout with my pre-workout formula, water, towel, a yoga mat and a little prayer.

Now, this program is a little older and not like many of the 30 minute workout programs out there today. So going into this program, I knew it would require more of my time. Each workout is about 45 minutes to 90 minutes long.

The back story on my decision to try Insanity…

I went into this program KNOWING it was going to be tough. I had just finished another program called Insanity Max 30 (another Shaun T. program), so I thought I was in shape enough to go for the “old school” program.

I also decided to go at it from a “hybrid” approach by adding Chaleane Johnson’s Piyo program to the mix too! My original plan was to incorporate Piyo workouts with Insanity so my muscles didn’t completely burn out.

For the first month, I did it just that way and it was fine. I enjoyed the strength and stretch of the Piyo workouts and the cardio workouts with Insanity. Then after completing the first month of Insanity and the first month of Piyo, I decided to go ahead and push through the last month of Insanity without Piyo. I wanted to get Insanity DONE!

Me in May or early June trying to find me life after one of my first Insanity workouts!

Month 2 of Insanity was very different than Month 1.

Oh my goodness y'all….

I am going to sit here and say that I now KNOW why so many MILLIONS of people across the world have had such amazing transformations due to this program. Growing up as an athlete, I’ve had countless pre-season basketball practices (both high school and the collegiate level) that don't even compare to one of these workouts. In fact one of the cool things about these workouts in that the entire program is filmed inside a basketball gym. During some of the workouts, you actually do these jump shots in the air! It’s kinda cool and got me thinking that this program would be GREAT for conditioning athletes! Just sayin’!

What to expect in the workouts:

The workouts are longer and average about 50 minutes - sometimes longer. There is a GOOD amount of stretching at the beginning and the end of each workout which was really nice! In the beginning, I would have to stop my workout and come back to it when I had other things going on. Some days I just needed to stop because it was just getting to be too much (one of the many great things about having Beachbody on Demand…you can press pause). I was just not used to working out for that long. Little by little, my endurance got better.

The moves are more intense in Month 2. Sometimes you have a 50 minute workout plus a 20 minute Ab workout or a Fit Test on top of that! WHAT THA ****?!  The Fit Test is what you do every two weeks throughout the program to check your progress. When you have a Fit Test, it is timed to see how many reps you can do of a certain move in one minute. You have to go all out for this test and it can be SO hard to do a freaking workout on top of that! Not kidding!

Warm up under the deck!

Who should do the program?

I believe that Insanity is for someone who loves to SWEAT and for someone who LOVES a cardio workout! Your heart will be beating like it never has before in your life! If you are looking to lose some pounds and to get lean, this is a great program to consider.

Keep in mind that you will need some space and time to recover after each workout. Be prepared to feel completely exhausted. I would normally workout out on my deck or driveway, but the basement or a hotel room is ok too!

In my opinion I believe that this program is not for beginners, and I would personally not recommend it to someone who is looking to hit a reset button. There are many other programs that are better for beginners. However, I have heard many stories of people who have done this program at different levels of fitness.

What did I gain from doing this program?

That is a great question! I think I have made it very clear that it has been the hardest program I have ever done. It very much lives up to its name because the workouts are freaking INSANE!

On some days it was downright brutal. I complained, I acted like a brat, and I felt like I would NEVER FINISH the program! Most days during my workouts I would cuss and my neighbors probably thought I was a CRAZY person! “Why the hell is she in her driveway doing those weird moves with her husband....is that girl ill?” You can imagine.

We do like to workout together! 

But there were also awesome moments when I felt like a complete bad ass when I finally was able to finish an hour long workout without pressing pause.

Then I later would finish an hour long workout WITH good form.

Then I finally mastered a move like switch kicks or not having to take a break when I normally would have to.

Y’all, those feelings were SO AMAZING! Along with my support group, my husband and community, I know that is what kept me going each day. I was never alone and I always had my tribe cheering me on!

My results?

Most of you know that I do not personally own a scale. I cannot tell you how many pounds I lost because it is not something I worry about. However, I will say that I noticed the biggest differences in my side oblique area since that is a place that is highly focused on throughout the program. I am still working on my tummy after having a baby over a year ago so I need all the help I can get here! The other part of my body that I’ve noticed a difference is my legs and booty. We do all the squats and jumps the entire time! My lower body is so much stronger and jeans just fit differently! I can work out or do tasks for a long time without feeling tired or winded. 

I’ve now picked Piyo back up and starting with Month 2, and I can already tell how much stronger I am from the work from Insanity! It’s just really an awesome feeling!

  

All in all I am SO glad that I did this program, and I am SO glad that I am finished! To be one of the other millions of people who have benefited from this program, I am just so humbled!

To learn more about these programs shoot me an email at saralyn.hamilton@gmail.com and I'd be happy to share more!

xoxo, 

Saralyn