You are all probably wondering if I went home a hundred dollars richer yesterday after my workout. If you recall, one of my patients signed me up with his trainer and said they would pay me one hundred dollars if it was not the best workout of my life. Let me just say it loud and clear, I did not take the money! I walked out of there wondering if I was going to heave all over my truck. This LARGE man took me through a whirlwind of leg exercises........don't ask me what order we did them in...........I cannot recall! Let's just say that about 20 min into the workout, I was trying to hold back the nausea. I was not afraid to tell the big guy either........."Hey, bud, I think I am going to puke!" And his reply, "OK, girl, go hard or go home!" Hmm, sounds like I was listening to someone read a page out of my life book! On I went at his command.......15 more, over here, get lower, all the way up, squeeze, drink.............Oh how the mind is a powerful thing.

Whether you believe in mind-body connections or not, the one thing you can’t deny is that emotions trigger chemical reactions in the body, which then produce physical consequences. Case in point: When you move quickly thru large body exercises and don't take time to breathe correctly, you can get nausea from the lactic acid build-up. This in turn, causes you to get more worked up, you get scared, and your body releases adrenaline, which triggers an increase in your heart rate. In other words, an emotion sparked a chemical (hormonal) change that had physical consequences.

Knowing this, it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for you to believe that when you think negative thoughts, you put physical limitations on your body. If I had allowed the feeling of nausea to creep deeper into my psyche, I would not have been able to finish the workout.

Conversely, when you think positive thoughts, your body releases feel-good hormones that actually boost your mood and energy levels. Put this to good use during your workouts by thinking your way through the pain and envisioning your goal. Instead of letting your thoughts drift to how hot, sweaty, NAUSEATED, and tired you are, imagine instead how your body will look when you reach your weight loss goal. Or picture how you’ll feel the very moment you’ll cross the finish line and break through the finishers tape. These positive cognitions will boost your energy and give you exactly what you need to not only finish your workout or the race, but finish it with a smile.

I cannot say that I had a smile on face for at least 2 hours, but I did it. I made it through the most grueling workout with this large Bosnian man and afterwards found out that only 3 other people have ever finished with him. Yea baby! Mind over matter! Stand clear, the machine is in motion!