Hey Chicks,

Happy Wednesday! As you know, our FIT CHICKS Bootcamps are on holiday break until January 9th (don’t forget about our New Year Promo to save $50 off!) so you may be wondering what the heck I have been up to over the last week. Well, I wish I could say I was enjoying lots of rest and relaxation but I have been one busy chick! Instead of writing all about it, I thought I would show you 🙂

We finished off last week of sweat sessions with our Holiday Food Drive under our Chicks 4 Change initiative that encourages women to give back and get involved in making a difference in their local communities. Final tally of all non perishable food items collected and the winner of the 4 week bootcamp will be announced in a seperate post so we can give proper shout outs so stay tuned but let’s just say it was A LOT!

Amanda got her workout in emptying her trunk - it took 6 trips!

Then we headed to Ottawa for our CTV Morning Live TV spots to spread some FC healthy holiday luv.

One of fave cameramen, Chris!

And I apparently decided it was a great time to test out some new careers…maybe a camera woman?

Thank goodness for all those shoulder exercises..this camera was heavy!

Or what about a fashion commentator?

I still think I like getting sweaty the best (even though Amanda was working me with the Xmas Xcess Eliminator workout..you have to try it!)

We then drove back from Ottawa and selected the winners by random draw of our “What/who motivates you to be fit and fab this year?” contest on our blog. Huge Congrats to Sam B from Toronto and Maggie from Ottawa who will now be rocking our “Fierce, Sassy, Sexy” FC Signature T – so pumped for you chicks!

After that I prepped for my interview with the fabulous Shelley from The Huffington Post to share my “expert chick” opinion on New Year’s Resolutions (aka effective goal setting and how to actually keep a healthy lifestyle!) We had a great chat including great Xmas present ideas for my 4 year old twin nieces as she also has twin 4 year old girls! Article will be out first week of Jan so I will be sure to share 🙂

My monkeys aka nieces- Jayme and Delaney

We then did a little photo shoot at The Coop aka our office to spread some holiday love. We traded in our signature yellow for some holiday red and white and even found a costume for our mascot, FIT (it actually was a Santa costume for Amanda’s cat, Lynx, but it fit Fit like a glove!)

The Head Chicks, Our Chief Chick and FIT!

Somewhere in all of this I managed to spend some time with some amazing peeps to actually celebrate the holidays without my sweats on and relax ( yes chicks, I do actually dress up girlie and wear make up sometimes! Don’t you love the cheesy holiday lights..I am addicted to picnik.com right now:)

Happy to go out and celebrate!

Now to finish off this crazy whirlwind so far, we are on Daytime Toronto today to sweat up a storm and showing our Top 5 Holiday Diet Busters. Pics to follow.

Phew – I am exhausted just looking at all of that! So now that I have updated you on the latest of what is going on in the world of FC and this is my last post before Xmas, I wanted to get a little serious..well as serious as I can get lol

Wellness Wednesday is my weekly feature and I always try to include something that can help you live the vida FIT CHICK which includes being healthy in all aspects – physical and emotional. Today I don’t want you to worry about clean eating or high intense intervals (even though you know I still need you getting your workouts in!). Today I want you to take a second to take a look a your life and what you are emotionally carrying with you as we head into 2012. Are you angry? Sad?  Holding grudges? Can’t let go of things? Hanging out with energy suckers?  Well, chicks – 2011 is coming to an end and it is time to start 2012 right from the inside out.

Here are my top 3 wellness wishes for you this holiday:

1. Be softer to yourself.

Does any of this sound familiar…I’m fat, I’m not good enough, I can’t do anything? Are these part of the script you tell yourself. I have been there too chick. But it is time to flip that script and start to be kinder to yourself. Would you say the things that you say to yourself to the ones you love? I would go with no. Everytime you feel that self judgement coming on, change it to something positive to celebrate yourself (ie. My hair looks nice, I did 20 push ups-yay!) A little self love goes a long way and it will change not only your attitude on life but the way people treat you. When you start believing you are the fierce, fabulous chick we know you are, the sky is the limit!

2. Learn the art of forgiveness.

I have never met a person who holds a grudge that is happy. And what does a heavy hard heart do to you? It shows up as extra pounds on your hips, emotional overeating, eating disorders, cancer, anxiety, stress, heart problems…you name a health condition and I bet it contributes to it. So what is forgiveness? It is looking at the past and not wishing it was different...no matter how crappy or terrible it was. Whether it forgiving yourself for things you have done or others for what they have done to you, you have to find peace and let it go because where there is bitterness and anger, there is no room for love and happiness. This is the one thing in my life that since I have embraced it has truly changed my life, my perspective, my health, my weight..it has changed everything. When you drop the heaviness in your heart, I can almost guarantee your body will follow!

3. Give (and receive!) Second Chances.

We don’t always get it right the first time around..and sometimes we aren’t supposed too. Whether to yourself or to others, it is ok to try again. There is a quote I love by the fabulous Thomas Edison

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”- Thomas Edison

My interpretation of this is that the successful people do realize they were close and try again! This applies to everything in your life ie: starting and committing to getting healthy, relationships with family and friends, quitting smoking, going after your dreams,..if we all quit the first time around, a lot of amazing things would never be created. Don’t let pride get in the way or fear of failure and go for it again.

And most of all chicks, my biggest wellness wish to you is just don’t take it all too serious! Life, love, health, exercise, clean eating…it should be fun!  We have one time around this world (or maybe more depending on your beliefs) so just enjoy the ride, laugh at yourself, surround yourself with people that make you happy and celebrate YOU this holiday season because you are SUPER FABULOUS in my books 🙂

Now here is my final pic of me in Argentina celebrating Xmas 2 years ago. I love this pic because did I not only feel so alive and happy when it was taken but my arms are wide open to give you HUGE cyber holidays hugs to you and yours (plus there is a really pretty tree in the background!).

Big Cyber hugs to end 2011 - luv u, chicks!

Make today fabulous and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Your head chick, Laura xo