GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!

In the famous words of someone... I'm 70% sure, "Nothing worth having is free...except if it is coming from the blog of Nicole Borger." Check my sources if you find it necessary, but I think it may have been Martha Washington.

With that being said... I'm happy to announce a giveaway. By clicking on the link in this post you can subscribe to my email and enter yourself for a chance to win:

First Prize: A Complimentary consultation session with me (a $125.00 value)OR a gift bag ($50.00 value)
Second prize: A gift bag totaling $30.00 of value
Third Prize: A gift bag totaling $15.00 of value.

So get excited and subscribe to the blog for a chance to win. If you follow the blog by clicking the g+ icon, its over by my face and super easy to do, that counts as another entry, giving you twice as much of a chance of winning. So tell your friends. Read the blog, follow it and subscribe to it. Submissions must be in by 11:00pm Monday September 2, 2014. Winners will be announced Tuesday September 3.

Balance, Blogs and an Act of God

You know those days, where you wake up, and everything just feels so right? You wake up before your alarm clock even goes off, the sun is streaming in the window, birds are chirping at an enjoyable volume, and as you stretch your arms above your head, you think to yourself, "Ah! Now today, is going to be a perfect day." And then, as you get out of bed on your way to make the world's best pot of coffee, because it's the world's best day ever, you step on a nail, that must have gotten there by an act of god, because you can't for the life of you think of anything a nail may have fallen out of. You hobble to the kitchen, hoping you don't have tetanus, only to discover, you're out of coffee. So you look through your cabinets, like maybe, you live at Hogwarts and food is just going to show up if you think about it hard enough. Ultimately you discover that you don't live in a magical place of witchcraft and wizardry, and also, that you hate the sound of birds chirping in the morning. Since no coffee appears, you settle for some tea, and by the time that finally brews, apparently from the depths of hell because you just lost a layer of tongue, you realize you haven't even started to get ready. You end up stepping on the nail about 608 more times, because you don't want to throw out an act of god,  you leave 20 minutes late, you forget your keys, and you look a little bit like you were recently released from prison. 

I'm not saying I've ever had one of those days, but, I've heard from people who have. It's my understanding, that when you have those kinds of mornings, everything starts to feel chaotic, and when you finally get home, take off your shoes, step on that god damned nail, and sit down, you appreciate the simple act of sitting down and having a moment to yourself. Well, the launch of this blog felt a little like that. I basically woke up with this idea, and thought, "This is fantastic, I want to write this idea down, I want to share this idea." I wrote the blog entry "Cheat Meals" and then got to work setting up the blog, the Facebook and the Instagram. When Cheat Meals was posted, I was so excited to have everything up and running I went ahead and launched the blog. It wasn't until everything died down that I had a moment and realized, "I DIDN'T INTRODUCE MYSELF OR THE BLOG!"

So, two paragraphs later, here I am: My name is Nicole, and this is my Blog, Wisdom, Weights and Chocolate Cake. For a little over a year, I have worked as a behavioral coach out of a personal training gym doing a lot of wellness oriented work focused on motivation. My clients include every end of the fitness spectrum, from fitness competitors and personal trainers to people having a hard time starting a plan, those having a hard time losing their last 5-pounds, and all of those in between. I work with my clients to help them understand their specific personality and unique habits and how those factors in turn effect their approach to wellness. I believe that by gaining a better understanding of ourselves, we can better create long term change. If someone just tells you what to do, that may work and be great. What happens if they get hit by a bus? Do you order a pizza and call it a good run? In understanding yourself you can better learn why you struggle, or why certain limits exist for you; together with my clients I help them gain access to tools that will help them overcome barriers as they arise, even if I get struck by oncoming traffic.

With that being said; when I post in this blog, there is no way every idea is going to be helpful to everyone. For some people, a diet plan that is completely restricted works best for where they are at. If they get a taste of a cookie, that's it. So the suggestions in Cheat Meals may not work, but a future entry may help. This is a blog about finding balance, about understanding that no matter how much you work out, and eat celery, chocolate cake will always be there. It is my goal to help people understand what to do when they are faced with that chocolate cake. I want to help you understand how you can be in the same room with a food, and not feel like you're stuck at the DMV and you're crazy EX, who you were never real sure if you got over,  just walked in and is sitting a seat away from you. Teach you how to say, "Hi!" but you know, still keep your pants on.  I welcome people to submit questions and comments on personal struggles. I will try to address these comments with future entries. I also suggest you check out my Instagram (@wisdom_and_weights) and my Facebook (facebook.com/WisdomAndWeights) , the links are on the top of this page. Any tips you put into action post to my Instagram, and in the near future I hope to start some giveaways.  For anyone in the NYC area, I am available to meet with in person and create individualized plans, and if you're not in the NYC area, don't worry, I can still work with you through nearly every form of communication the modern world has to offer!

So read my blog, feel free to comment, find me on social media, and let me help you meet your fitness goals!

- Nicole 

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Cheat Meals

I know this won’t be popular at first, but, hear me out; I am not a fan of the cheat meal. Think of it this way. You have committed to a healthy lifestyle. Imagine if the person you were dating said to you, “Look honey, I’ve been faithful all week, so this Friday I’m going to go out with my friends and find someone to sleep with.” If you said, “Yeah sure that’s fine,” this behavior is now acceptable, and the relationship probably won’t last very long. In the same way, if you restrict your food, and then reward yourself by over eating unhealthy options, you are doing the same thing. You are only kind of committing to a healthy lifestyle. 

So how can we best create a lifestyle we can commit to for the long-term? Start by deciding what kind of relationship you will have with your food. Are you casually dating clean eating and seeing some processed foods on the side? Are you in an open relationship with food? Are things kind of serious, but you’re open to seeing other nutritional options? From this decision you will build your meal plan and decide what foods you will allow into your diet and which food you will either exclude, or keep to a minimum.

Sometimes, when we decide to start to change our eating, the changes we make are too drastic to stay with long-term. We overwhelm ourselves because the upkeep is unmanageable and unrealistic. Sometimes, it takes some easing in to. Let’s say you currently eat 1,800 calories a day of processed food and you don’t work out beyond walking to your car. If you say, well I’m going to go Paleo and workout twice a day, then, you may be setting yourself up for failure. This may be a better long term goal. What steps can you take to meet it? Maybe you want to add 3 workouts per week for a month and cut out white flour for a month. Then, maybe the next month you want to add another workout and make another change to your meal plan.  Really ask yourself, “How realistic is it that I will stay with this until I reach my desired fitness goal?”

Keep in mind your long term goal, and set a realistic time line. Maybe it will take a year. So set 11 short term goals to hit that will allow you to reach that goal by month 12.

In the past, what usually gets in the way of you meeting your goal? Is it pizza, ice cream? Don’t stop yourself from having it. Let yourself flirt with it so you don’t have a full on affair later.  Maybe every night you eat a pint of ice cream, instead of buying a pint, buy individual serving sizes and allow yourself to have one of those per night. Pair it with a healthy option like a banana, or some peanut butter, that will satisfy your craving in a more fulfilling and nutritional way. If you count calories, include that in your daily calorie count; if you incorporate it in, knowing you are going to eat it, you won’t be cheating and you won’t feel guilty.  As you continue on, maybe you’ll only do this three times a week, then once, then only occasionally when the mood strikes. By not forbidding yourself from having it, when you do, it’s not a bad thing.

Just like dating, if we pull out our Pinterest dream wedding board over drinks on the first date, chances are you’re not going to see date 2. Take it slow. Get to know yourself and your food. You’re looking to make a change that will last a lifetime, if you rush it, chances are, you will scare yourself from committing to it.  Make your goals manageable and set a realistic time line to get to them, and remember, it’s not cheating if it’s an agreed upon part of your meal plan.

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