success Archives

Breaking the Masculine Armour (AKA the Tough Shell)

An 8-Week Journey to Your True Self through a health challenge?

Title: Embracing Your Authentic Self: How I Shed My Masculine Armor

Unveiling the Layers

Hey there,

I wanted to take a moment to share a personal journey with you – a journey of transformation, healing, and discovering the power of discovering my true self buried underneath a shell. I’m no different from you – I’ve faced my own struggles, and it’s these experiences that led me to uncover a remarkable truth about myself.

Breaking Free from Childhood Shadows

From a young age, I learned to put on a tough exterior. It’s like I built this protective shell, my “masculine armour,” to shield myself from the pain of past experiences. The proverbial vow…. “NEVER again will I allow this” …But as I grew older, I realized that this armour, meant to protect me, was holding me back.

I carried these defense mechanisms into adulthood, affecting my relationships, self-image, and overall happiness. It wasn’t until I took a closer look at my past that I understood how childhood trauma had shaped my beliefs about strength and vulnerability.

The Turning Point: Peeling Away the Armor

One day, a thought struck me: What if true strength wasn’t about hiding behind a facade but embracing who I really am? That was the moment when I decided to peel away those layers of armour and reveal my authentic self. It wasn’t easy – it required self-awareness, courage, and a commitment to healing.

Mind and Body: A Powerful Connection

I found that focusing on both my mind and body was the key to unlocking this transformation. By nurturing my mental health and digging deep into my subconscious beliefs (think hypnosis!), I started to unravel the roots of my armour. But it wasn’t until I made a profound connection that I truly began to see change.

The Epiphany: Health as the Foundation

Our bodies are remarkable vessels, intricately and delicately linked to our emotional well-being. I realized that by working on my health, I was not only peeling away layers of armour but also revealing a brighter, more vibrant version of myself. This journey wasn’t just about shedding the past – it was about creating a healthier and powerful future by design.

Its important to remember that, more often than not, this hard ‘masculine shell’ keeps you from fully experiencing the beauty of life. It can be absolutely exhausting, and let me tell you – It doesn’t have to be that way! There is power in vulnerability, strength in softness. It’s okay to let down that masculine guard. It’s okay to be human.

Imagine navigating your life without constantly having to put on a brave face or mask of toughness. Imagine not having to work SO HARD to be that “high achiever” you perceive yourself as. Picture yourself feeling peaceful, joyful, and loved without condition. Not having to always be the tough one could feel so liberating, wouldn’t it? Here’s the amazing news: you don’t just have to imagine it, you can live it. This transformation is possible.

The Transformation: Reclaiming My Feminine Power

As I embraced my authentic self, I discovered the power of my feminine energy. This wasn’t about conforming to societal expectations, but about embodying qualities that resonate with my true essence. Through self-acceptance, I found a newfound sense of freedom and joy that came from inside me! This self-acceptance was NOT easy as I had deeply ingrained negative and limiting beliefs about the feminine – – that it was weak, pathetic, and useless – – which had to be overcome! I didn’t want to be any of those things, so changing my beliefs about what feminine energy and its essence is was critical to my transformation. By the way, the Icelandic goddess Frejya has been my alter ego to work towards living into….a very powerful divine feminine!

Empowerment through Connection

My story is a testament to the fact that transformation doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s about reaching out, seeking guidance, and allowing others to support your journey. If you’re ready to peel away your own layers of armour (that tough and independent chick shell) and discover the beauty within, I’m here to walk alongside you.

Take the First Step: Your Health Journey

Are you yearning for a life filled with health, energy, peace, and joy? Are you eager to break free from the chains of your past and step into who you truly are? I invite you to join me on a transformative journey where we prioritize health as the foundation for change.

Let’s work together to peel away those layers, find your true potential, balance your hormones, achieve your ideal body, and find happiness and peace like you’ve never experienced before.

Reach Out Today

Don’t wait any longer to peel away limiting layers to find your authentic self.

If you’re ready to start your journey, feel free to email me at support@dianegudmundson.com for a personalized conversation about your goals and dreams. Ask me how I can guide you towards holistic transformation.

Remember, you have the power within you to shed your armour, reveal your true self, and live a life filled with passion, purpose, and joy. Let’s go on this inspiring journey together.

With love and encouragement, your ally and advocate in health and transformation

Diane, retired NP and transformational coach, hypnotherapist

AKA, “The Athletic Grandma” 🙂

PS: MY PODCAST on this topic can be found on YOUTUBE HERE

Busy Life? Transform health doing just 4 things per day!

All it takes is to think about and put into action 3 things per day. See post for more details!

Have you ever found your life being so incredibly busy that it seems it is challenging to fit in the time even for basic self-care?

My life has been go-go-go and the time is going very fast… I cannot believe 9 months have gone by already! I am thankful that I make myself squeeze in some self care otherwise my health would be suffering…

When we’re busy, time tends to go by very fast… So if we don’t do the work to take care of ourself… Months can go by before we realize that our health is going downhill… Or worse, something bad happens and then we realize we haven’t looked after ourself for years.

A few basic things to ensure that we maintain our health during busy times are:

1-drink half your body weight in pounds in ounces of water every day and even more if you drink any coffee or alcohol !

2-Do something to be active every day… Whether it’s walking the dog or taking the stairs, walking a long distance to the shopping centre, lifting some weights, or doing a video work out..

3-Nutrition wise, it’s not so much about what you can eat, but far more about what we shouldn’t eat… We should avoid all processed food, Junk food, dyes, trans fats, and refined sugars for sure!

4-Do something to detoxify your mind every day – meditation, get present and silent with yourself, breathe, do hypnosis…clean up those limiting thoughts, beliefs in your mind and be in peace and bliss

If all we manage to do is put in the four above items every single day, then our health will be far better and improve over time!

It’s not even really about our body weight… But… More about how active we are and what type of fuel we put into our body.

Have yourself an active, hydrated, and healthy nutritious day! ?

#Nutrition #Hydration #Activity #QuitSmoking #ReduceStress #FitGrandma #NursePractitioner #Muscles #Healthy #BusyLifestyle #hypnosis

To learn more about how to optimize your health, be sure to contact me!

Belief in Yourself is Everything!

Belief in yourself trumps everything when it comes to achievement in life

In order to achieve great things or things that you perceive as challenging, what it really takes is a firm belief in yourself…

How many times do we let self-doubt get in the way of us achieving something really important? The lack of faith in ourselves can really get in the way of achieving important things in life… It holds us back from making decisions, creates uncertainty, and makes facing fears and having courage much more difficult.

Having self-belief can lead to incredible achievements in health and fitness, marriage, relationships, career, business, making a positive change in the world, and so much more!

When we don’t believe in ourselves, it completely stalls our progress and makes us more sensitive to the critical reviews and opinions around us as we try to move forward…

Belief in yourself creates an unshakeable strength that is more resilient and powerful to allow you achieve anything that you want in life. It will give you power to easily solve problems and find solutions and to live a positive and fulfilled life.

Never underestimate the power of having belief in yourself!

I had a firm belief in myself this morning that I could lift heavier weight to make the most progress with this round of lifting… I just completed day two of week five today sweaty and feeling accomplished after lifting heavy for back and biceps… It’s a great feeling!

Take some time today to work on analyzing what areas of your life you’re lacking belief in yourself and really work on this because it will make a huge difference in your life! ( and if you really have a hard time doing this then maybe it’s time to get yourself a coach for some help!)

#Muscles #Fitness #Believe #Unshakable #NeverGiveUp #puthealth1st #thefitgrandma #liftandhiit #nursepractitioner #business #relationships #life #accomplished

To contact me with questions, or if you are interested in having a coach, click here!

Work Those Muscles and get Stronger Fast! (Mentally and Physically)

Working both the physical and mental muscles this morning. I made it through!

Pushing through those reps this morning was a killer. Doing leg day is the toughest workout of all and is hard to get through. It’s a mental challenge to have to keep telling yourself you can do it! I felt like quitting many times this morning (so HARD!), but pushed through it.

I remind myself that the reason I am pushing myself so hard today is that as a result, I will be stronger tomorrow! This same concept applies to many areas of life as well! Work those mental and physical muscles and they will all get stronger over time ???. Day #61 of 91 of my current challenge complete! ✅

#athleticgrandma #health #muscles #mentalmuscles #strength #power #legday

Beginners Have to Start Somewhere (The Time is Now! Starts May 29)

You may be wondering a little about just how I ended up being here like this with you today.

Let me tell you a quick story about a couple years ago, I was so tired, sore, miserable and unhappy….had sore back, knees and whole body pain issues. Was overweight and living cheque to cheque and was truly in a bad place in life. .

At the time I was trying to find a way to pay bills as a single mom, eat clean and get into better shape..

I was struggling with juggling kids, grandson, work, looking after an acreage, horses, dogs and trying to get the bills paid. It felt like I had no time and certainly no energy to exercise and no money to buy the proper healthy food..

And I was getting more and more disgusted with the extra weight i was carrying around and realized just how out of shape I had become. I was frustrated with never having any money left over after payday. .

Then something really bad happened: I went outside to play with my kids on the lawn and suffered severely with body and back pain after that for weeks, and realized something had to change. I saw my doctor and every medical test was normal, which told me clearly that there was something seriously wrong with my lifestyle and habits..

Being in crappy shape like this meant I couldn’t be the kind of mom, grandma and friend I wanted to be and to be able to afford to do fun things in life like we deserved to do..

As you can imagine, I was in bad shape and desperate, but I wasn’t ready to give up on my dream of having my own business to build financial freedom and getting healthy again with the ultimate goal to be in the best shape of my life..

Then I discovered something called Team Beachbody, which has superfood and professionally designed fitness programs…and an opportunity to build financial freedom at the same time!

At that point, everything changed!

I discovered / finally figured out how to:

– Regain my energy, zest for life and be able to feel good again

– Working out at home with professional programs really gave amazing results (check out the muscles!)

– Eating clean and superfood is NOT expensive at all if you learn to manage your grocery budget and do not eat out

Because I discovered Team Beachbody, superfood and professionally designed fitness programs and the business opportunity, I was able to:

– Run and play with my grandson with energy and without getting tired or sore,

– Lose 40 pounds and maintain weight easier and have the effective tools and expertise to help others to get healthier as well

– Look younger, feel younger, and pay off debt which had been plaguing me for years and finally feel HAPPY!

Now I’m living my dream of having my own business and getting healthier to be in the best shape of my life and I never have to worry about suffering ever again.

And that’s why I’m so passionate about our upcoming 21 day beginner superfood and fitness challenge where we provide the free coaching so you can successfully experience getting back into shape to be in the best shape of your life too! ..and even grow your own fitness business if you want!

To join the upcoming beginner 21 day challenge starting May 29, contact me HERE asap to get started.

Work Posterior Chain to Kill Back Pain

Posterior chain work has so much benefit for our posture and our back muscles. If you are doing any kind of exercise program, be sure to add in posterior chain work . This could be deadlifts or it could also be some floor work like I am doing today.

What is the posterior chain?

The posterior chain is the back half of your body. We tend to sit a lot and do work that requires use of the front half of our body so it tends to be stronger than the back half. This can lead to issues over time with back and joints. The posterior chain includes our back, hamstrings, triceps and more.

Why is this a problem?

Our posterior chain typically doesn’t get enough exercise during regular life and tends to make us hunch and have poor posture and poor posture leads to back pain. With a weak posterior chain, when we actually go to do exercise, our joints are actually more prone to damage because of the strength imbalance!

Speaking of exercise… Had an excellent back and biceps workout today. Took a rest day yesterday so I was ready to kick butt today!! Day 32 of 91 day challenge is complete!! ✅

#posteriorchain #posture #reducebackpain #life #athleticgrandma

Having some troubles with your self-discipline? Be sure to sign up here with your name and email address to get a free download containing 7 tips to improve self-discipline

Take Action Today (To Achieve Quickly!)

It is what you do today that really matters. NOT what you say or think you will start doing tomorrow, next week, or after an event …it’s the actions that happen now that actually matter.

Just think how different your life would be if your decisions occurred quickly and the action started today? How would you then feel 3 months from now?

Its not just about health though….success in every area of our life depends on action in the right direction. It could be decisions about business, relationships, finances, career, and so much more!!

Being on the fence and procrastination…both lead to the death of success. I have been there before and learned this lesson the hard way. Don’t lose out on opportunities by waiting too long….you may lose out on something or someone forever by waiting or planning for “tomorrow”

Decide quickly, take action now and achieve quicker than you ever imagined! Action is the key! Start now and just do it!

As Tony Robbins says…we are either growing or we are dying…so lets keep moving forward and grow!

To download a document and worksheet about 7 ways to improve your self-discipline, enter your email here!

With Vision you Can Accomplish Anything (Yes, Even abs as a Granny!)

Yes it is possible for even a granny like me to get abs!!

Working at strengthening and toning the belly muscles like a beast as well as staying away from processed and junk food makes all the difference!! My goal is to have flat toned abs and be rid of this puffy muffin top by the time my 91 day challenge is over…I know I can do it! I am a dang determined granny with a vision anyways…LOL

Determination and a vision for yourself is what will get you the furthest in life in every area! I have learned this one by practising it …and it totally works! ?

What is your vision for yourself? Do you have a health and fitness vision, a financial vision, a business vision, a time freedom or family related vision? Having a strong vision you truly believe in makes anything possible!! Do you believe this?

To get a free download about 7 ways to improve your self-discipline, click here

Guard Your Mind from Shit (I am Not Kidding!)

Don’t let shit get into your mind! We don’t realize how much hype, violence and drama we let into our minds when we watch world news and TV/Movies. We may not believe that it affects us, but the truth is that it does! Our brain is interesting in the way it reacts to all of that and subconsciously affects our thoughts and behaviours.

Past memories that create negative feelings in our mind also clog up our thoughts and beliefs, affect our ability to be happy today and actually affect our feeling about ourself! This is a good reason to work hard at resolving those memories and finding ways to appreciate how they have made you who you are today. I am a prime example of this. I had a rough childhood and was in past abusive relationships. I used to feel anger and self-pity and feel totally crappy about myself but with help I learned how to reframe those experiences and use what I learned to my positive advantage. Those old habitual feelings tend to creep in once in a while, but once you have recognized them, you can quickly turn those thoughts in a positive way (practise!). No matter how bad the past was or how messed up you feel because of it, there is always a way to work at feeling better about it.

What helps me to keep my mind positive and moving forward is to AVOID letting crap into my mind, regularly feed it personal development. I learn new things and apply them to my life and have learned to feel excited and passionate every day about what I do. Seriously, nothing beats feeling excited and passionate every day! When you feel like that, where is the time to even feel bad or negative about anything!?

One of my mentors (Tony Robbins) said….”If you are not growing, you are dying”. I will never forget this and it is so true…learning and personal development is so important! The same can be said for many things such as our relationships, our businesses and more…if they are not growing, then they are dying! Scary thought!..

Ultimately, the most important thing to protect our mind and mental health and sense of well-being, is to stand guard at the door of our mind. Don’t let the crap in, and work every day at getting the crap out from the past and reframing your thinking. This process is important to maintain positivity, motivation, interest in and a zest for life like no other. If you are having a hard time doing this yourself, it is understandable. I recruited help from a coach to help me to reframe myself and my thinking, and I recommend this for you if you are having difficulty as well.

My other mentor (the late Jim Rohn) suggested that our mind is like a garden full of weeds. Work at getting the weeds out (may take a lot of work at first), but then (after all that work) maintain it well by plucking the weeds out as soon as they come up.

Have a great day! Fill your mind with personal growth, development and learn new things. Get the shit out of there, keep it out and enjoy life NOW!

TO learn 7 tips to improve your self-discipline, get your free download HERE.

Rest and Stretch for Best Results!

After a long and hard week of lifting and MMA fighting and lots of work hours and action, I really needed this 20 min recovery and stretch workout this morning! Ahhh!! Felt so good!!

It’s very important to take these rest days and stretching to give your muscles time to recover and to build flexibility for the upcoming week of hard workouts again!! Never underestimate just how much a good rest and stretch day can boost your muscle growth and results as well! (And reduce chance of injury!)

Effective and feels great! Have a HAPPY EASTER!!

#rest #recover #enjoylifenow #effective #muscles #results #nevergiveup #happyeaster?

CLICK HERE to download 7 ways to improve your self-discipline!