I always had an issue with the quote “you are a product of your environment.” (W. Clement Stone).  While I knew there was much truth in it, I had to wonder how a person from nothing could turn that “nothing”  into something and become a leader, become sober, become whatever it is they decided to be when the odds where against them due to their environment.  How did they, in that environment, turn it around?  While I try to look at both sides of everything and weigh and measure all options, and though there is relevance to my questioning, the odds are against those who are predisposed to an unhealthy environment.   In the new show I am doing, “A Year To Save My Life” I am getting a chance to see how to make the best out of the environment that you have been given.  How to leave the friends that may not be the best, how to turn right to the healthy place instead of left to the place that makes you feel guilty and undeserving of anything good.  I am getting reminded of how letting go, one of the hardest things to do, may be the best thing that ever happened to you.  We fall in love with our environment no matter how unhealthy or chaotic it is.  It’s, for some of us, the only thing we know, but if you want to make changes, the right changes, you have got to change your environment or make the most out of the one you are given.   I think it is wise for us to all take inventory and look at what we are surrounding ourselves with.   Let us know how you have made changes in your life and how changing your environment  played a huge part in that.

Be well,Jessie

“Take Your Medicine”

Exercise is medicine.  When we were children and we would get sick our mothers would open the medicine cabinet and pull out the most horrible thing known to children around the world, the cough medicine.  I can’t speak for all of you, but for me it was the worst.  It was honestly an hour-long process just to get me to take it, and even today the taste still haunts me.  Well I hate to say it, but different types of exercise are that medicine that we never wanted.  From strength training, to cardio, all the way to the meditation of yoga, we all could use what we aren’t doing, the medicine we aren’t taking.  The only difference between now and when we were children is it’s up to us to take the medicine, our mothers and fathers aren’t here to make us do it, it is up to us.  Yes, you will be outside of your comfort zone, and yes, you will have to endure some kind of pain, much like you had to endure the taste of the medicine, but it’s worth it.  Just as the medicine cured your cough, , so will the forms of exercises you aren’t doing, make you feel better.  Just as you would enjoy the energy you had, the freedom from that sore throat, so will you enjoy the feeling of wellbeing, strength, relaxation, and energy you will get from adding variety to your exercise.  It’s up to you now.    Here are some examples:

If you are doing resistance everyday of your training week and have been for years, try some cardio, try to go for a run or a brisk walk.

If you’ve been doing yoga everyday for the past two years, go and pick up some weights, don’t worry you won’t turn into a bodybuilder.

I realize we all want to do what we are good at, but is it truly making us better to only do the things we are good at?   Step outside of your comfort zone and take the medicine that taste bad but works to make you better.

Be well,

Jessie

Check out my new article on Bodybuilding.com and add some variety to your training

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/cable-ready-8-moves-for-more-muscle.html