Greetings!  

We have been working SO hard in class the past few weeks!  I am so proud of all of the effort, sweat, and drive!  I want you to be proud of yourself and what you do every day as well.  There are so many women who wake up, go to work, and wish that they would have gotten up and worked out.  Or who wish that they had the time or the money or the social support to accomplish their goal. 

I know how hard it is to get up every morning.  Especially now, with the cooler weather and the rainy days.  But if not now, today, tomorrow, and the next day, when will you ever do it?  This is the one and only life that you have to live.  No, working out is probably not the most fun part of your day, but it makes the fun parts so much more enjoyable.  All that extra energy that you have when you take your children bike riding on these beautiful fall days.  Feeling the strength that you have during everyday activities like carrying in the groceries or putting away your tub of summer clothes on the top shelf in your closet.  You are making yourselves, you are strong, healthy, fit women!  And you all can do anything you set your mind to.

The fact that you put yourself first every morning is a way of respecting your body.  You are giving yourself worth.  You are giving yourself health.  You are giving yourself something to be proud of.  I was talking with a friend of mine the other day after our workout, and she said to me with a smile on her face, "you kind of walk different when you workout out like this."  What she said is so true.  When you push yourself, you feel powerful and alive.  Making your body work and doing more than you thought you could is empowering.  So stand up tall, put your shoulders back, and be proud.  You are what so many other women aspire to be.  You are so lucky that you GET to workout every day, eat healthy foods and make the other choices that get you to your goals.  You GET to push yourself and become as strong as only you can imagine.  You GET to sweat your booty off and know that you have done more in the first 45 minutes of your day than most of the rest of the world does in their whole day. 

You inspire me.  You make me better.  You make me stronger.  Take a minute and think about the affect that your strength has on your world.  Yes, you have had an affect, whether you know it or not.  Your actions and your determination shows your friends, family, and co-workers just how awesome you are.  And whether you know it or not, so many of them want to be more like YOU!

We have the holidays coming up.  With that, not-so-healthy foods, drinks, celebrations, being busy, and staying out late all come into the picture.  Like I said last year, the average American gains 7-10 pounds during this time.  I know for sure, I do not want to be average this year.  I want to start 2012 leaner and stronger than I am right now.  Five pounds leaner, to be exact.  That will take some work, but it is totally doable. 

How do you want to start your new year?  Yes, I said it, 2012 is on the horizon.  Forget new year's resolutions, let's make a two month resolution to start the new year feeling better, stronger, and healthier than ever!  Don't wait, today is the day.  That being said, we will start our "NO GAIN CAMPAIGN" next week.  The scale will be out and we will get our starting weights.  Just like last year, we will weigh every two weeks.  The first official "weigh days" will be the 17th and 18th of November.  If you are not here on Thursdays or Fridays, I will have you weigh earlier that week.  We will have a drawing each weigh day for fabulous prizes, you will get one entry for not gaining, and two entries for losing.

I want to start the new year off better, and I plan on making that happen.  Let's stay positive and support each other no matter what.  Remember everyone is working toward their own goal and at their own pace. 

I have an announcement to make.  I hope that you are sitting down, it is a big one!  I am taking a (gasp) vacation!  I am going to be taking a week off November 7-11.  Class will still go on, as I have a wonderful woman filling in for me.  Lisa Osnowitz has agreed to help out so that I can recharge my batteries and be ready to take on the holidays and the new year.  I will not be there to push you like normal, so you will have to work together to push each other and yourselves.  Please respect your substitute teacher, that means no spit wads!!  :)  There will be a sign in sheet each morning and a great workout for you!

We are also having another nutrition class November 14 at 6 PM.  Gretchen is gracious enough to let us use her home again for our class.  She lives at 1403 Norma Dr., Bloomington.  It will be on navigating through the holidays and staying on track.  Yes, it is hard work to resist all the temptations, but I promise you, when you are standing on the scale the first week of January five pounds lighter than you were in November, the effort that it took to resist the Oreo Ball, party mix, and that second helping of grandma's mashed potatoes and gravy, will seem like nothing.  The smiles on your face and mine will be more than enough to make it worth your while. 

Remember, you are worth every bit of effort that it takes.  YOU and YOUR GOALS are more important than a cookie, trust me.  Make the commitment to yourself, and stick to it.  It will feel like torture at first, but I know better than anyone, how proud, determined, and even more motivated to reach your goals you will be, when you keep that commitment to yourself.  The only thing that is stopping you, is you. 

Have a wonderful day and keep up the amazing work.  I appreciate you and all of your effort more than anything!

Love, Emily

Be sure to follow the boot camp blog!  There are some new recipes, pictures, and interesting stuff up there!  Check it out.  http://myleanbodybootcamp.blogspot.com/

P.S.  The MyLeanBody Boot Camp T-shirts are now available online.  Please visit:  http://354281.spreadshirt.com/ to see them and order your favorite! 

P.S.S If you have not joined the MyLeanBody Boot Camp on Facebook yet, please do so.  Julia and Heidi were so kind to create it for me.  :)