And this is Sandy...

I spoke recently about a new project that I've gratefully been asked to be a part of - Mt. Saint Mary's icomunidad First Year Experience Program. My job will be to help the girls realize how a healthy, sound mind and body, will enable them to move through the challenges of college with a bit more ease. Sandy is a part of the Mt. Saint Mary's staff. She mentors students in the STEM program which influences girls to, and supports them in, their choice to follow a career in math and science. How much more powerful she will be as a role model by moving through this challenge. You can view some of her video posts at www.facebook.com/NaturalRhythmFitness and these are her words...
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Motivation, where are you?! I wish Costco would sell it by the bulk, that way I could store it in a cabinet and use it as needed. I am admittedly inconsistent. There’s no other way of putting it. I’m 28 years old and have been struggling with my weight since I was 8. I’m only two years away from the big 3-0 and I hear it’s even harder to lose weight after that!

Healthy is an adjective unknown to my family, exercise is a verb that I rarely practiced, and insecurity is an adjective that became synonymous with my name. My weight prohibited me from being an active kid. While in high school I wanted to join the Choreo[graphy] team, but all the girls were skinny; no one looked like me. Plus, they would wear skimpy outfits that revealed parts I did not want to expose. So instead, I took a P.E. dance class my junior year and discovered that I LOVED dancing and was pretty good at it. This let me know that I could try-out for Choreo, but it was my own insecurities that led me to believe that even though I danced better than half of those girls, they would never select me because of my weight.

My senior year proved to be a pivotal moment for me. With prom approaching, my friend and I made a pact to lose weight. We worked hard, we were disciplined, and dedicated. I still remember the first mile I ran non-stop…Success! Within weeks I began getting compliments of how good I looked and at that point I had lost roughly 15lbs. Prom came and went, and by then there was no turning back! I knew how to eat healthier and what it took to be fit. By my first quarter in college, I had become a gym member, learned more and more about fitness and even got a trainer, but unfortunately, my school was known for its reckless party scenes. I started drinking, partying, and stopped working out completely but I tried to maintain a healthy diet, at least compared to that of my roommates, who all seemed to live on carbs!

By graduation I had gained 30lbs! I was disappointed and mad because I had taken a million steps backwards, but it was my fault. The first thing I did when I moved back home was join a gym. With time and effort, I lost he weight and was able to maintain it… for a while.

By the time I started my Master’s program, inconsistency had won again and my motivation was nowhere to be found. I felt I was too busy to take care of my body and rarely stepped foot in the gym.  Although I didn’t gain all 30lbs back, I was getting there slowly, but surely. I was back to feeling insecure and lost.

In January 2010, two of my friends signed up to compete in a triathlon happening in June and somehow I convinced myself and my mentor to compete. I was completely unfamiliar with triathlons and thought it was a relay where each of us would complete one leg of the race. I thought, ‘Yes, I can do the running portion because I love to run. Wait a minute, I have to do what?!?’

So, of course the journey was not an easy one, but with the help of my team, especially my mentor’s encouragement, I learned how to swim correctly, began biking for miles, and began to run more than my typical 2 miles. I have to say that running our first mock triathlon was the best feeling ever! A few laps in the ocean (I almost drowned wearing that stupid wetsuit), about a 10 mile bike ride up and down the Malibu highway, and my first 4 mile run; all non-stop. I seriously wanted to cry as I crossed our ‘pretend’ finish line because Sandy showed up!

June 27^th and it’s tri-time! Game face is on and my nerves are crazy but there’s no turning back now! This race was not easy but I finished it. I can’t even begin to explain the feeling I got when I was closer to the finish line and saw my family, friends, and teammates cheering for me because my motivation was slipping away. Legs, please don’t fail me now we’re almost there! Yes! I finished...and lost a few pounds in the process. Call me triathlete now, please!

I have maintained a healthy lifestyle since then. I work out pretty consistently, but sometimes my bad eating habits take over. In the last two years, I have lost 20lbs, participated in my first half-marathon, become stronger, but I still can’t seem to get down to my ideal weight. I have worn weary of the same gym routines and have reached a plateau. Reaching a healthy weight and becoming stronger are definite goals but the main focus is consistency because after all, I deserve to be healthy. I’ll be participating in another half marathon a week before my 29^th birthday in October. Naturally, I want to beat my time and be lighter for the sake of my knees, but more importantly, I want to be a step closer to being in the best shape ever by the time I’m 30.

I have found my motivation again and this time I’m not losing it because I have a great support system and I know I can push myself… hard!  My ultimate goal is to compete in the San Diego International Triathlon. I am Motivated. I am Confident. I am Found. Yes, I will do this!

This is Sandy's video after her 1st day...

She listened to her heart above all the other voices...

Celebrate her wisdom.

What do you want to be?

Fit.. Radiant.. Daring.. Strong.. Powerful.. Courageous.. Healthy.. Energetic.. Passionate.. Wise.. Resilient.. Authentic.. Bold.. Patient.. Great.. Fast.. Independent.. Open.. Boundless.. Magical.. Present.. Friendly.. Outrageous.. Loving.. Warm.. Free.. Brave.. True.. Lively.. Funny.. Sensational.. Better..

Here's the thing, you are entirely up to you and you can make yourself whatever you want. Repeat after me, 'I am in charge of this. No one else. Just me'. Now, get busy being yourself girls and whomever that is, respect her, make her happy, like her, and use all of her gifts and resources because you.. her.. she, is something quite extraordinary!

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The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience. Eleanor Roosevelt

I'm discovering the power in being still...

It takes action to change anything... and sometimes that action is being still.   

Go Out On A Limb...

The situation that we are all living in today should spark in us the understanding that possessions, stature and wealth are fleeting. After all of that has been peeled or stripped away, what’s left are the roots, the base, YOU!

Who are you? I’m sure you’ve asked yourself that question many times, we all have. But who actually listens for the answer? It’s a question that gets tossed around like the latest trend, having no real significance unless you truly pay attention. Some of us think that if we go down on bended knee, ask the question, then God will miraculously reveal to us the meaning of our lives. Hey, if it happens for you that way, more power to ya! But I have found that it takes immersing me into different experiences to discover who I am. Yes, I ask the questions, ‘Who is Candace?’, ‘What does she like/dislike?’, ‘What is she good at?’ The proverbial, ‘Why am I here?’ But I don’t sit on my doorstep waiting on FedEx to deliver my box of answers. I’ve learned that answers take discovery and discovery is born from experience. Now, I won’t lie to you, this can be the scary part but everything is not going to be a piece of cake ladies. Remember, it’s that same cake that’s adding the inches to your hips, clogging the arteries, and literally stopping you in your tracks. It’s gonna be a little scary sometimes, you may have to break a sweat, and there might be dark, creepy crawlies around. This is when we have to put on our big girl panties and deal with what comes because that’s when the magic happens.

I’ll share a little story with you (you’re gonna get a lot of these if you’re reading my blog and I want you to share yours so please leave comments).

I’ve been in the health & fitness field for a long time now. When I was living in Atlanta, a friend of mine was starting a magazine and asked if I would write a fitness article for her first publication. At the time, all I’d ever written were the dreaded English Lit papers but in support of my friend, and thinking ‘How hard can 500 words be’, I said yes. Ok, so harder than I thought but a total eye opener. I had no desires to be a writer, I wrote the papers in high school and college because I had to, not because I had a love for it. But that one article for my friend turned into three for her publication. A publisher, John Bunch, saw those articles and said to me, ‘These are good and if you can write for someone else like this, then you can write for yourself’. This led to the production of a monthly health & fitness newsletter. I’ll be honest, I still did not embrace the fact that I was discovering a wonderful gift; I didn’t know that I was. I simply wrote what I knew which is a very surface way of seeing things. Then one day, I received an email from a woman who told me my words and stories brought tears to her eyes. Not sad tears, but life changing tears and she wanted me to meet her daughter to give her some encouragement in order to make it through her approaching scoliosis surgery. (By now, you all know my back story). Her email cracked open the portal that I needed to travel through in order to understand my place in this world. She showed me that I had the power to make a positive difference in people’s lives. I received numerous emails and had countless conversations with women telling me how my words sparked something in them to make a change for the better. Being a catalyst is an amazing feeling. I keep a folder of these emails and go through when I need some juice. Eventually, I began writing press releases and various letters for others, which turned into me moving to California because I wrote a treatment for a television show.


Packing up and moving 3000 miles away from family, friends, everything I’ve ever known, brought out the creepy crawlies. But just before I left I received a wonderful gift, a book entitled ‘She’ by Kobi Yamada. It’s a beautiful publication filled with inspiration, fun, color and my absolute favorite page has this statement…

She went out on a limb, had it break off behind her, and discovered she could fly. Celebrate her FAITH.

If you’ve been told you’re good at something, if you think you’re good at something, explore it! Ask questions about it. Go buy a book about it. Don’t have the funds, libraries are still free. Or, just go to Borders or Barnes & Noble, read the book there and put it back on the shelf. If someone is in the same section as you that probably means you have some of the same interests. Go out on a limb, say hello, ask a few questions. Remember, answers come from discovery, discovery comes from experiences. It’s time to adopt the motto, ‘What could it hurt?’