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Entrepreneurs: The Outdoors Might Be Your Best Teacher

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By Camille Johnson of Bereaver.com

There are few things more relaxing than spending time in the open air. Being outside, whether you are hiking, biking, camping, or gardening, is great for your health and can improve your mental well-being. Surprisingly, your time in nature can also teach you a lot about yourself and the world so that you can be a better entrepreneur, whether you’ve been in business for many years or are just getting started. Today, StaceyNaito.com covers a few of these lessons and offers insight on how to get the most out of your outside excursions.

Planning Ahead

Before you set out for an adventure, get your business prepared to run without you. Tips here include:

  • Hire the right staff. If you’re just planning a night or two over the weekend, you can probably skip this step. However, to get the most out of your time, you’ll want to be immersed in a natural environment for at least a week. Find the right staff to keep your business running even when you are unavailable. This begins by determining what functions need to be filled and thoroughly reviewing applicants. While most experts will recommend choosing only the most qualified applicant, don’t count out those eager to learn your industry.
  • Streamline your invoicing processes. Don’t leave town without making sure that you can send invoices and get paid on time. If you have not already, invest in a cloud-based invoicing tool that lets you send bills from anywhere. This is helpful if you do not yet trust your employees with sensitive information, such as customer credit card numbers. If you have recurrent invoices, look for software that will let you schedule your billing ahead of time and will also ping you when payments are made. Utilizing cloud technology also allows you to stay involved as long as you have an internet connection.
  • Make sure you’re available at least some of the time. Speaking of staying involved, set aside a couple of hours each day to field questions or handle tasks that your employees cannot. For this, you want to make sure to pack your laptop (Quantum Technologies recommends traveling with a locked case), a Wi-Fi hotspot, and an additional battery backup as you may not be able to charge your phone or devices.

You’ll also need to prioritize safety, especially if you’ve never been much of an outdoorsman before. Things you can do to keep yourself and your travel party safe are:

  • Let someone else know where you are going. Even if you’re planning to travel with a group, let somebody know where you are and when you are expected back.
  • Pack appropriately. While you do need to pack some of your professional essentials, make sure that you have room for all of the equipment you’ll need to stay safe and healthy while you travel. If you’re camping, for example, REI suggests making sure that you have a tent, pillows, sleeping pads, and a camp table if no picnic facilities are available. Further, pay close attention to the weather and dress in layers if significant temperature spikes are expected.
  • Know your destination. Even if you already know where you are going, spend some time really getting to know the area before you go. While this isn’t so important if you plan to stay close to home, when you’re traveling outside of your comfort zone, you’ll want to know everything from the location of the local police station to exit routes on your hiking excursion if you need to turn back.

What The Outdoors Can Do For You

Now that you are prepared to go, it’s time to take a look at the benefits of being outdoors. Obviously, it’s great exercise and a fun way to vacation. But, spending time in nature can also equip you to be a better business owner by teaching:

  • Patience. If you’ve ever talked to a child that went to summer camp, you know that a nature-centric experience can teach patience as these kids have to learn how to wait for the bathroom or to help with younger peers. As an adult, you will learn patience by having to wait out the weather, wildlife, or slower members of your party.
  • Team-building. There are plenty of outdoor team-building activities that can help you be a better boss and team player. Activities like swimming relays, target practice, and sailing are great ways to get your team to learn how to work together more effectively. Two other significant benefits of team building outdoors are learning to identify stronger potential leaders and establishing trust between your employees.
  • Preparedness. Anytime you’re outdoors, you have to be prepared for everything from rain to wild animals. As such, your adventures can also teach you how to prepare for all situations and to adapt if you’re not prepared. Things, like knowing which medical supplies to pack or having an additional set of oars available if you’re kayaking, might seem like insignificant touches, but if you need them, they can be lifesavers. You can apply the same set of principles at the office by having a plan in place in case an employee leaves, a vendor is late, or a high-value customer pulls their business.
  • Conservation. When you first step out into the big wide world, it’s easy to believe that the resources you see are infinite. They are not, and it is up to us to preserve the world around us for future generations. Air, soil, and water pollution, all of which are the direct result of human activity, take a toll on the natural world. As you get deeper into your adventures, you may notice things that you did not before, such as plastic bottles along the lake shore or animals looking for a home as deforestation drives them out of their natural environment. This can help you be a more responsible business owner by reminding you to preserve what you have and to be less wasteful every day.
  • Your own backyard. You don’t have to travel to take in the outdoors – just look out the window of your home. Consider creating an outdoor getaway in your own backyard. Remove tired landscaping and dead trees, install a deck or patio if you don’t already have one, and make a paradise of your very own. Some projects are best left to the pros, however, so bring them on to get the job done right. For instance, removal of a tree stump is no easy task, so go online and search service directories to find local contractors. The typical cost for such work ranges from $170 to $522, a worthy investment for hiring a company with the right equipment and experience.

There are many benefits of being outside, whether you’re planting a garden, spending a month-long sabbatical hiking the Appalachian Trail, or enjoying a week-long camping vacation. But, don’t forget to pay attention to the lessons that you learn that can help you as a business owner. You also want to make sure that you plan ahead by hiring the right staff and making sure that you can continue to get paid so that you can enjoy and make the most of your time outdoors.

Image via Unsplash


Dr. Stacey Naito of StaceyNaito.com offers customized meal plans, exercise regimens, and natural hormone balance to people who don’t want to compete but just want to lose weight, gain weight, or get toned. Contact Stacey today for more info!

Hit Peak Fitness Fab Abs

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Please check out Heidi Jo Medina’s article on fab abs in the August 12, 2016 edition of the Pensacola News Journal which includes me as one of the featured experts in her engaging article. I absolutely love Heidi Jo’s fantastic tips for getting amazing abs!

For convenience, I have copied and pasted the article here, but please also click on the link below to read the article from the source.

Many thanks to Heidi Jo Medina and the Pensacola News Journal for this feature!

http://www.pnj.com/story/life/2016/08/11/medina-hit-peak-fitness-fab-abs/88493918/

Medina: Hit the peak of fitness with fab abs

Heidi Jo Medina, News Journal correspondent 4:51 p.m. CDT August 12, 2016

Getting that six pack is the highest mountain to climb on most people’s fitness journey. To help you make it to the peak, several bikini pros tell us how they maintain their hard bellies.

Christina Heine, a graduate student in health promotion and assistant for the exercise science and health department at the University of West Florida, loves to work her abdominal muscles with planks, hanging leg lifts and reverse crunches. Her cardio routine incorporates high intensity interval training on the stair stepper or stadiums. The 31-year-old National Physique Committee (NPC) competitor switches between two minutes of high intensity and one minute of low intensity until she has reached 30 minutes.

She recommends incorporating white fish, egg whites, plain non-fat Greek yogurt into your diet. (This is ab-friendly for some people because it has natural probiotics which supports healthy digestion, but for some dairy-sensitive people it can cause bloating.)

Jessica Vetter, 36, of South Dakota, works her abdominals with ball crunches, decline crunches and double crunches. Her resume includes International Federation of Body Building (IFBB) figure pro and American Muscle & Fitness personal trainer.

“Being consistent is very important in getting and maintaining abs. Hold yourself accountable to what is put into your mouth,” she says.

For cardio, Vetter uses the stair stepper or elliptical. She says stair steppers are her favorite, as they use every muscle in the lower body, and are perfect for building lean muscle while burning fat. It is a low-impact exercise that can burn more calories than high impact, as you have to lift your entire body weight with every step you take.

Vetter only trains abs twice a week.

“If you are eager to have abs, your best strategy is to pay closer attention to your diet,” she says. “There are multiple factors that can contribute to storing fat around your belly. Focusing on eating healthy will make it easier for your body to reveal abs.”

Vetter’s diet incorporates ab-friendly foods such as fish, chicken, almonds, extra virgin olive oil, greens, coconut oil and egg whites.

“Watching labels is key,” she cautions. “Look at the grams of sugar, saturated and trans fat, and carbohydrates. The list of ingredients is also very important, and understanding what you are reading.”

Stacey Naito, 50, of California, has eliminated processed foods and refined sugar from her diet in order to sustain a lean midsection.

The IFBB pro, board-certified physician and nutrition coach suggests you stick to whole foods like lean meats, eggs (including the yolk), vegetables, almonds, and grains like quinoa and brown rice.

Naito only trains abs once a week for five to 10 minutes. She likes to incorporate planks, flutter kicks on a bench, and decline bench crunches.

When asked what kind of cardio she integrates into her workout regimen, her reply was, “Cardio? What’s that?”

Naito says she hasn’t done cardio in months and her body is actually leaner as a result.

“The body can become very efficient with cardio, meaning that it becomes resistant to the supposed fat-burning effects of cardiovascular activity,” Naito says. “The solution? Dial it down! Too much cardio can destroy a body.”

She suggests that you don’t over do it and just keep it simple. In fact, Naito says the best way to get chiseled abs is to drink plenty of water, take nutritional supplements like magnesium if you think you may be deficient, and eat clean at least 90 percent of the time.

Genetics will always play a role in your body shape and fitness achievements, but if you are only eating healthy 60 percent of the time, just like in math, that is a failing grade. Abs are made in the kitchen. The best ab exercise out there is to stop eating so much junk.

Amazing ab tips

1.Utilize a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. Along with eating four to six small meals a day, try to consume your carbs first thing in the morning to give you sufficient energy through the day.

2.A consistent combination of cardio and weight training will enable you to burn fat and stay lean. Weight training burns calories after the workout and throughout the day while cardio burns calories during the workout.

3.Staying properly hydrated will help you burn the most amount of fat and will speed up your metabolism. Try to drink six to eight glasses a day.

4.Adjust your ab routine often. This will help to maximize results as diversity and confusion to the muscle show more development than a stagnant routine.

5.Breakfast kicks off your metabolism so don’t skip it. Include lean protein, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates in your first meal. Steer clear of unhealthy fats and foods high in unhealthy carbohydrates.

6.Don’t skip cardio. Losing fat will make your abs more prominent. Cardiovascular exercise is much more effective in the morning as well since the body is refreshed.

7.Getting eight to nine hours of sleep will help boost metabolism. Lack of sleep will cause the body to release the stress hormone cortisol which promotes fat storage and will derail your ab efforts.

8.Cardio in the morning is much more effective since the body is refreshed.

9.Engage your abdominals during compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, and rows which demand a lot of core stability. These big moves will rev your metabolism and burn calories.

10.Don’t forget to breathe. Muscles need oxygenated blood to work properly and holding your breathe will hinder you from generating strength. Inhale deeply before performing a movement and exhale as you perform the crunch or lifting movement. Exhaling will force your abs to contract and engage your inner oblique muscles.

11.Cheat! Once or twice a week throw in a cheat meal to keep you sane and to throw your body a curve ball. This will keep your body from adjusting to healthy eating and slowing down your metabolism.

The Bottleneck Level: National Bodybuilding Events (Repost)

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Every single year I watch nationally qualified competitors duke it out onstage in hopes of finally making it through the bottleneck and achieving Pro status. Some competitors get smacked down repeatedly, yet keep hitting the national circuit for so long that they must compete against new blood, further limiting their chances. There are times when I shake my head in wonder over the outcome of a national or Pro event when individuals who clearly should have been in first callouts were neglected. I know that feeling all too well because it has happened to me a number of times. Every year the national level events get bigger, which results in even more pressure and more competition to get through that level and into the big wide world of Pro status. When a competitor finally gets pushed out of the bottle and glides into Pro waters, he or she will bask in it, enjoying the victory, but the majority of Pro competitors soon discover that becoming a Pro doesn’t mean that life will become any easier. If anything, it becomes more difficult, because the bar is set much higher.

Those of us who compete live in a bubble. In fact, I will go as far as to say that when we escape the bottle, we end up in a fishbowl instead of open water. Please don’t interpret this to mean that I lack appreciation for being a Pro, because it is indeed a great honor. But the world at large is a vast ocean which bodybuilding leagues really don’t connect to, similar to the artificial environment which a bowl provides for a pet fish. Bodybuilding is its own world, and though I may love it, I also know that it won’t make me a superstar. Even the biggest bodybuilding legends (except for Arnold) don’t have the full global recognition which they deserve, because bodybuilding is such a niche industry. The only bodybuilders who are household names are the ones who became thespians.

I will admit that when I finally got my Pro Card (after 14 Pro qualifiers), I was relieved and ecstatic because I had finally reached a goal I had set for myself. However, I also fully realize that it wasn’t entirely up to me when or if I would ever get that card, so I always tried my best not to berate myself when I fell short of that Pro card goal. A number of competitors who have been on the national circuit for a very long time have built up a tremendous following on social media channels and have so much power and influence, yet they sell themselves short because they focus on the Pro Card chase as a singular goal. These are precious gems whose shine is only dulled by the disappointment they experience when the sport of bodybuilding edges them out of the winners’ circle.

If you have been competing for a very long time and are getting weary from slipping in national placings or just missing that Pro card too many times, it’s time to take a good look at where your passion truly lies. If your true passion lies directly in the experience of stepping onstage, then by all means continue. However, if you are broke, exhausted, sore and dejected, and you have a true passion beyond the stage for inspiring others to reach fitness goals, then why not BREAK the bottle and swim into the wide ocean? If you build a name, a brand, and a following, you can establish a presence in the real world which will enable you to impact others in the truest sense. In addition, you might stand to make some decent money from nurturing your passion for fitness. Honestly, how much money have you made from competing? Just saying.

Paying Attention

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If you’re like most people these days, you barely have a moment to catch your breath as you power through your day. You may be powering through meetings, working feverishly on projects, taking your kids to their activities, making dinner, etcetera, without pausing to wonder WHY you are doing all of those things. You just DO them, because you’re supposed to, right? You probably also tend to expect everything to run smoothly, which of course may topple over at any given time.

The thing is, if you never stop to wonder why those little glitches occur, you may be missing an important message. Sometimes things just line up in the oddest ways, and what you might think is a disaster is actually a wonderful opportunity to start fresh. Wonderful, magical, serendipitous things are always occurring, and if we pay attention a bit and slow our roll just a bit, we can begin to appreciate how amazing and frequent those moments are. Like a chain reaction, one small event can cause a cascade which opens many doors, changes your focus and direction so that you explore something you might never have thought to explore before, and enables you to grow as a person.

Pause for a moment, pay attention, and observe.

What Kind Of Body Do You Want This Summer?

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Summer is almost upon us, which means that more skin-baring outfits will appear, and the pressure to look as good as possible will be greater than ever. So what do you do if you’ve been cozily hiding under a layer of winter storage fat for the last few months or years? There isn’t much time to strip that away, but it definitely IS possible to reveal a trimmer, more toned you for the warmer weather that is right around the corner.

The first and most important thing to do in order to build a body transformation strategy for the summer is to define your goals. Make sure that they fit the SMART criteria: SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ACHIEVABLE, RELEVANT and TIMELY. Let’s look at each aspect more closely.

SPECIFIC: The more specific you are in defining your summer transformation goals, the more likely you are to be successful in reaching them. A good specific goal could be losing body fat.

MEASURABLE: Let’s look more closely at the body fat reduction goal that I mentioned above. What if you set a goal of losing 5% of your body fat? By doing this, you have now made that goal measurable.

ACHIEVABLE: Make sure that you can actually reach the goals you put in front of you. For example, if you have an excessive amount of storage body fat, it would be unreasonable for you to try to lose 15% of body fat by the beginning of July. However, an achievable goal of 5% is much more reasonable and completely attainable.

RELEVANT: The goals you set should match up to your abilities and interests. For example, if you have been a complete couch potato for years, it would not be relevant to your lifestyle or skill set to aim to prep for an Ironman competition by July. A relevant goal that would still enable you to successfully reach a higher level of fitness would be to prep for a 5k walk/run in July.

TIMELY: In the above examples, I mentioned early July as a timeline marker. By setting a target date, you will establish a framework upon which you will build an action plan.

When I perform nutrition and fitness assessments, I always advise my clients and patients to follow the SMART acronym. Another thing I love to suggest is the development of a vision board. A vision board can be as simple as having a photo of a celebrity or other person who has the kind of physique that a client covets. In some cases, the photo may be of the client from earlier, leaner days. In either case, the photo serves as a perfect carrot to chase after. I always suggest placing the photo on a bathroom mirror or a refrigerator door. Another clever and very effective place for an inspiring photo is to use it as a computer or phone wallpaper design.

If you really want to get creative and inspired, you can create a larger vision board, either digitally or via old-school printed photos and inspiring quotes and messages. Just make sure that whatever you create, you believe 100% in what is on the board, and that you can attain it all.

Ashley Kaltwasser Wins Nordic Pro: Record 14 IFBB Bikini Pro Wins!

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Original post can be found at:

http://npcnewsonline.com/ashley-kaltwasser-wins-nordic-pro-record-14-ifbb-bikini-pro-wins/227266/

Ashley with her three Olympia medals

This girl is unstoppable! She has 14 IFBB Bikini Pro wins now, getting the most recent one at the Nordic Pro yesterday. I am so thrilled for her, because she is definitely most deserving of all her titles. Go, Ashley, go!

Here are her Pro wins:

Ashley’s 14 IFBB Bikini Contest Wins.

1. 2015 IFBB Nordic Pro
2. 2015 IFBB Olympia
3. 2015 Arnold Sports Festival
4. 2014 IFBB Russia Pro
5. 2014 IFBB Korea
6. 2014 IFBB Olympia
7. 2014 Toronto Pro Supershow
8. 2014 New Zealand Pro
9. 2014 IFBB Australia Pro Grand Prix XLV
10. 2014 IFBB Arnold Classic
11. 2013 IFBB Sheru Classic
12. 2013 IFBB Olympia
13. 2013 IFBB Toronto Pro Supershow
14. 2013 IFBB Powerhouse Pro

Uncompromised

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Breaking stereotypes!

Breaking stereotypes!

I am always being challenged to pick one career that defines me, and it drives me nuts. When people find out that I am a medical doctor, they struggle with the stereotype of what they expect doctors to be like, in other words, very conservative in dress and demeanor, and without any flavor or personality. Well, I’ve got news for you. I will NEVER be a typical doctor. And please don’t doubt my credentials or schooling. I am NOT a nurse (not that there is anything wrong with this highly respected profession), I am a fully licensed and board certified physician.

A huge project came my way recently, and I was selected for it, only to have the decision-maker flip out over my fitness and modeling images and reverse the decision. I was stunned and dejected, but after reflecting on the whole incident, I began to get angry. Part of the problem was that the decision-maker was a complete hypocrite, pretending to be squeaky clean, but who openly praised one of the dirtiest human beings to ever alight on the entertainment scene. To coin an analogy, at the root of this was a case of the bride being upstaged by another lady wearing white. Mind you, I never intentionally wore white, but hey, my doctor’s coat is white.

I am every bit as much about fitness as I am about medicine, and I shouldn’t have to choose one over the other. I am damned proud of what I have accomplished in fitness, especially because I took things to the next level in my forties, not when I was a young whipper-snapper. If people are confused by the sampler plate philosophy by which I live, too bad. Yes, I am a board certified physician AND a degreed fitness professional, IFBB Pro, certified nutrition coach, writer, sponsored athlete and contest prep coach. I know it’s unusual, but why is that so hard for people to grasp? I mean, here I am, doing all of that, sending a message to the world that no one should have to be one-dimensional and boring.
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I don’t hide from myself. I am honest. I have sass, and I speak my mind. I am proud of what I have achieved in my life, and I will NOT hide parts of myself which some overly judgmental people may have a problem with. I am NOT going to apologize for having a sense of humor, for using cuss words here and there (though I don’t use them while seeing patients). I am not going to paint a false picture of who I am. If you don’t like what I am doing, no worries. Move on.

If you find that you are compromising your own vision, dreams, or goals, perhaps you need to re-examine why you are allowing that to occur. If you subscribe to the no limits philosophy, then you would never even consider pulling the reins back. I will always encourage driven people to go for whatever they want, and if it doesn’t fit in with the conventions of one of their chosen careers or hobbies, even better. Break stereotypes and show people what you are made of! Don’t hide all the facets which make you who you are!