Hey all! Hope you’re having a great week. We are now down to 6 MORE DAYS until our #BODYpeace book is revealed!

Not only am I estactic that Heather & I set out with a goal in mind and are coming days and days closer to getting there – but we are SO passionate about helping to spread the word about BODYpeace. I can’t help but think that certain situations arise when big shifts are about to happen & today I just wanted to touch lightly on something that has been on my mind.

I’ve worked with all ages of women … and honestly, no matter the age, I’ve found that we all struggle with finding peace within ourselves. I get to do something I love everyday & that is combine my background with teaching students & fitness in one Strength & Conditioning Coach position. It truly is a perfect marriage of two of my passions. Recently, I’ve heard different comments from these young girls wanting to “lose 10 pounds”, “I’m on a diet”, “I’m counting all of my calories”, “My thighs are huge.” “Do you think I burned over 1,000 calories while I trained?” and I can’t help but not only pull them aside and have a little “true to you body peace sit down” chat, but also  flash back to the Kasey who struggled in college with all of these rules I’d put on myself.

As an athlete myself, the moment I started to focus more on my body image & calorie burn was the moment that I lost the love for being an athlete. I no longer was working towards a new hurdling or triple jump goal – I was sneaking into the gym after practice to burn more calories on the elliptical and pray that my Coach didn’t catch me.

Hearing comments like this from girls who are not only athletes, work their butt off daily, & have all of the potential in the world – truly ignites the fire even more inside of me to help make a difference. This is not only with our youth – many of my adult clients & friends struggle with the same thing.

If there is one thing I can share today while this is on my mind – YOU are MORE than just a number on the scale, the amount of carbs you ate that day, or the amount of calories you burn. You were put on this earth to be you & let your gifts shine – and the more you focus on outward appearance to make you feel whole inside, the more you are getting away from who you truly are & the potential that you have as an individual. I hope that if you are struggling with something like this, you take a deep breath, a step back, & think about what it really is that you’re worried about. Usually we find that it’s not even the food or fitness – it’s something deeper that we need to address and be willing to work on.

Ok! Thank you for listening to my blurb – but whenever something is constantly on my mind – writing it out is an outlet for me which I hope will help others.

Speaking of training, while Heather was my roommate for 2 weeks – we got to have some fun with fitness & a couple of our girlfriends.

And wear some new dressy clothes! WOO!

Over the one weekend, we headed north to see our girl JEN (you’ve got to check out her inspirational story!) with our friend Lauren as well. The 4 of us were all at GLOW Retreat so it was fun to get together again, plus I’ll use any excuse to see Jen. She’s amazing.

Something I absolutely love about Jen is her determination. Everytime I train with her – I step out of my comfort zone to try new things & test my strength. I knew that while we were together – she’d totally bring up a new challenge! Introduce….Medicine Ball balancing!

We decided to be our own Superwomen after we did 4 rounds of this circuit:

• Med Ball Slams
• Bosu (or without bosu) squat & press
• Bench Hop Overs
• Hand Release Bench Push Ups
• 60 seconds each station for 4 rounds – followed by a 200m sprint at the end of each round

Then we did some ropes! Which if you can’t tell – we love to cheer each other on.

Then it was time to try some balancing!
Jen helped us out by teaching us a few tips. First, plant your hands into the forward med ball and activate your arms to almost “push” the ball away from you. Second, set your cor as you step one foot back onto the ball. Third, Still squeezing that upper body, push yourself up as your lock your second foot into the back ball.

HOLD yourself tight as you balance & try not to look like this if you fall…

Or if you do, totally tweet me cause I bet you it’ll be an awesome picture.

If it’s your first time, no worries in having a soul sister hold the back ball as you try and steady yourself.

Then “Let it gooooooo!”

After 2 med balls, we tried it out with 4.






I love this girl’s smile!!!

After the training it was time to get some selfies to document the occasion! 
The usual.

From our awesome sponsor’s for the 2014 GLOW Retreat, we all rocked our VEGA hydration that day! 
Afterwards – you should know what comes next ;] REFUEL!

Hummus plate to share – of course.

And an amazing Portobello salmon salad – YES.

To me, there’s not much that can beat a day with your girlfriends, training, eating, & talking for hours.

Have a great rest of your Wednesday & be true to you,

xo Kasey