Mira Tuzlak: Strength, Movement, and Wellness.

I’m not gonna call this one a ‘before and after.’ It is simply me and me. That girl on the left? While I have a hard time connecting with her now, she’s me.... She was seventeen, on an adventure, solo traveling in India. She was pretty badass tbh. I respect and admire her. She was working through her feelings in the only way she knew. She was trying to figure out this ‘life’ stuff and control the messiness that we all go through. I don’t blame her for those years-she didn’t know any better at the time. And she has taught me so many lessons. If I could talk to her now, I would remind her that she is good. She is worthy. And I would let her know that she will move past this, experience joy, and share her gifts with others. - So, why am I sharing this with you? Because stories do hold power. In that first picture, I felt like where I was then would always define me. I felt stuck. I thought that would be me forever. To you I remind you, that you are good, you are worthy, and you will move past the stuck-ness. You have so many gifts and stories that you can share with others. And you are going to teach YOU so many damned lessons. Big love. .

Why you might need to eat MORE food (and donuts) to reach your goals. One thing we’ve noticed with a lot of our clients when they start working with us is that they tend to undereat a LOT through the day or the week. They often come to us thinking that the only way to get results is to skip meals, cut out their favorite foods (like dem’ donuts ), and live in a constant state of hanger.... This leads to them feeling tired and shitty when they workout, feel like they’re making NO progress, and feel out of control at night or on the weekends. (If this is you, know that it is NOT your fault, there's a lot of shit out der) We’re often met with a bit of resistance when we tell them to bump their foods up.buuuut then they start getting more results. They have more energy, their training is better, they start seeing some ++ definition. And while they might think that we’re magicians it comes down to this: Eating more=moving more. Eating more consistently=more stable energy Eating more protein=less hungry, better recovery, more muscles. Eating more of their favorite foods=less cravings and overeating. MONEY. If you feel like you just keep flip flopping between diets, are constantly deprived, and feel like you’re getting nOwHeRe try eating a little bit more everyday. A bit more fuel might be what you need. - If you feel a bit out of control with your foods, know that it’s not YOU, it might just be your strategy. We’re taking on clients for 4 more days before closin’ up shop for the summer! If you feel like you could benefit from some support with your nutrition and fitness, shoot me a DM, we can chat about a potential gameplan.

We don’t really bullshit around here... - These are some of the truths you will eventually learn about thee fitness.... You don’t hear about em' all that much. Why? Hard truths are a hard sell. It’s so god damned UN-sexy to know that in order to make big changes, ya gotta show up for the small stuff. ( hard work.) BuUUUuuuUt here’s the schhhhtick. Would you rather A) Have an unrealistic expectation of the outcome and feel like shit when you fail AGAIN and don’t achieve the result? B) Know exactly what you’re getting into, what you can achieve in an amount of time, feel good about it, and learn as you go through the process. ? the choice is yours. - Honesty is one of our core values @beyondbodycoaching. we won’t pretend that we’re fitness wizards or magicians, or that something is possible if it’s not. Maybe you want to hear it, maybe ya don’t, but we’ve got your health, longevity AND results at the forefront of our minds. - What’s a hard truth that you learned about fitness?

These are the kinds of results you can get from playin' the long game. These photos show 10 months of hard work. Weight? The same.... While the change here is remarkable, Avery’s transformation is one from the inside out. - Before we worked together, Avery was stuck in a cycle of feeling like she had to do all of the things. She was training hard 6+ times per week, restricting her favorite foods, and limiting her social activities. This only led to her feeling ‘out of control’ eating on the weekends, feeling run down in the gym, and a negative dialogue towards herself in her body. In her words, she hated that her body seemed to be fighting back against her best efforts to control it. Her initial goals were to have a good relationship with her body, mind, and food where she could: -Eat a burger and feel like the world wouldn’t implode when she eats it -Have things to be proud of outside of her body -Not feel guilty for not doing enough cardio -Feel wicked good in the gym -Trust herself When I told her we would have to go into a reverse diet and gain some weight FIRST, it was met with a bit of resistance. But she leaned into the discomfort and built trust with herself. Well, 10 months later, we had to make new goals because we done ALL of it! That's the stuff. - Swipe through to learn more about what we done. - Want to learn more about coaching? Shoot me a DM and let’s chat

Something I found really helpful on my own journey was to hear stories from people like me. For such a long time, I felt like I was the only one who struggled with my eating, didn’t feel great in my body, and would never be able to find balance in my own life. It took some time and effort, I eventually met people who had similar experiences, struggles and overcame different challenges.... Their support and shared experiences helped me overcome my personal struggles so that I could appreciate myself and my body, as well as live a life I love. - When @jenrudyfitness and I went to create our 1:1 coaching offer, we knew that community would play a big role in our clients' successes! Here are a couple (of many!) ways that we build community. Weekly Group Calls Each week, we have group calls where we learn, share victories, share struggles, and work together to build ourselves up. While your coach will share tools for success, you can often learn valuable lessons from other women going through their own stuff. What we talk about? ....pretty much everything. we run through training tips & tricks, navigating social situations, improving body image, working through self-sabotage, values, meal-prep, life, and more! We also will be bringing on other experts in fitness, nutrition, mental health, and wellness, so you can learn more through your coaching. BBC Group Chat. We’ve got one HELL of a group chat. In this chat we share wins, recipes, struggles, and support each other every single day. Heck, you can even share pictures of your wedding dress, dogs, or share a funny story from that day. We have fun! Our community+1:1 support=GROWTH. - Not to into the group thangs? No worries! You’ll get all the support you need from your coach. - Want to learn more? Shoot me a DM or plug a below.

We're tying the knot. ...Just kidding, Jen has a good looking boyfriend who brings her heart lattes in bed at 7am (lucky lady) and a dog child. BUT...We’re getting business married. .... Now why would us getting business-married even matter to you? Well it means that we can bring way way way more value to YOU than we would on our own. - Here's why I picked @jenrudyfitness as my perfect partner: 1. she’s one hell of a badass. With thirteen years of experience in person coaching, she’s worked with hundreds of humans to help them feel confident in their bodies and at the gym. 2. she knows a heck of a lot about training. she’s got the skills to design programs to work through injuries, build a booty, OR get your first chin-ups and back squats. 3. she knows how to inspire her humans into action and empowers them to work through their own limiting beliefs. 4. she also is a fan of travel, coffee, and backpacking. so we’ve got a shared interest there that we can bring to our clients (can we say retreats!? ) Combine that with my skills of bodyweight training, nutrition, lifting, big picture wellness, outdoors, and guiding clients to build trust. Well, we’ve got a pretty good thing going on. We’re so excited to join forces as @beyondbodycoaching to have more to bring to YOU. You too can have the tools and confidence to have a body and life that you love. - Want to learn more? Apply for coaching through the link on my bio. (we'll be sharing more about what we offer this week-weeeeo!)

Ok, I just feel fucking good. I’m not one to post many body shots or ab pics or whatever, but here’s the deal. After years of feeling like I’ve been at war with my body, I feel STRONG and I feel GOOD. I WANT YOU TO FEEL STRONG AND GOOD TOO. ... Ok? Ok. So here are a few things that I’ve done that may help you. +Taking time out of a deficit. I spent a lot of time trying to eat less with the hopes that it would make me look better. Yeah, no. Eating enough food (paired with strength training) is one of the best ways to improve your body composition. Also eating more food can improve your life in ALL the ways-energy, mood, systemic health, stress, you name it. Food is magic. +Focusing on performance. My training is not aesthetic driven. Yes, sure, I do want to look good naked (hello, I’m a human being) But, my main goal is to get stronger, do more cool shit, and feel capable so I can take on what life throws at me. And here’s the fun part of it-the more I focus on my performance, the better I look and feel. Win win win. +Training less. As someone who used to be afraid of rest days, training less is still very counter-intuitive. Know that if you train hard though, you gotta recover harder. For myself and most of my clients, we strength train between 2-5x per week. We train less, but we train SMART. I’m actually bringing this down to 1x per week right now. +Focusing on other things than my body. Changing a body is fucking cool, but it can take over your entire life. For me, this fixation led to me being reactive and emotionally attached to what was and what was not in my control. Finding worth in other aspects of my life than what I look AND how I perform has made a big difference. So yeah, I love my training and I love my physique today. But I’m at a point where I know if my body or training were taken away, I’d do pretty alright. I know I can figure my shit out and I can lead a fulfilling life. - If you’re looking to work through your limitations so you can FEEL strong and good too, apply for coaching in the link in my bio. Let’s GOOOOOO.

A few weeks ago I hosted a body image webinar with a group of strong, badass women. We reached a point in the conversation where we shared ‘body comments’ we received from family, friends, and peers and how they affected us. here are a few. ... I had a partner who decided to to ‘get healthy’ and made me join them because they said I ‘needed’ to. I had to have a conversation with some of my family members because we comment on each other’s bodies a lot. I've noticed that if they tell me I’m looking thin or go ‘oh, you're losing weight’, I will subconsciously start gaining weight. It’s like I feel that maybe I'm not worthy of looking that way. So then I just kind of do the self-sabotage part and go backwards. When I haven’t seen my parents for a while, I don’t like that they go ‘oh, you gained weight.’ I’m so used to their positive affirmations when they tell me that I’ve lost weight. ‘When I was restricting a lot, I got a lot of positive feedback. People were asking me, ‘what is your secret?’ They would say something negative about themselves and then comment on my appearance. It’s confusing. It feeds into a fear of not looking the way that I do right now. If they like how I look right now, I want to stay that way.’ - These comments affect every one of us. These comments shape your perceptions of who you are and your mindset around food, your capabilities, and your body. And I just want to let you know that If you’ve been struggling, there might be more at play than you ‘just not being able to hit a calorie deficit.’ This doesn’t mean that you should give up, hell no. Just know that you have an opportunity to build an understanding from which you can grow. - If you're serious about making a change and want to build trust to break the beliefs that have been holding you back, shoot me a DM and let's see if we're a good fit. . -

On today’s episode of you’re not going to the gym to look cute Stop watchin’ yourself in the mirror when you lift. Ok. I know you’re probably not looking at yourself in the mirror to check yourself out. BUT, if you’re doing a compound lift and trying to see if you’re doing the movement right, crankin’ your neck sideways or lifting your chin to the ceiling ain’t gonna help you do it better.... When you’re lifting, you should be focused 100% on your lift and aim to move as efficiently as possible. If you want to make sure you're doing a movement properly, here are a few tips to coach yourself and improve your technique. +Use tempo. Sloooooooow things down. I know that this shit is hard and you want it to be over as fast as possible. I know. BUT, one of the best way to improve your lifts is to add tempo. Take the time to learn how to generate tension through the movement through the entire movement. With most lifts, lowering slowly with a pause at the bottom can help you build awareness. +Scale it back. You are not going to improve your lifts by loading the bar as heavy as you humanly can. Take some weight off, focus on being efficient, improve your movement. This will serve you when you pick up the big weights later. +Film yourself. This is my number one tip. Set your camera up and take a video of the lift. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, there are plenty of youtube videos that go over form and mechanics. During your rest periods, watch the video, see what you can work on, choose ONE focus and apply it to your next lift. Rinse and repeat. +Get external feedback. Whether it’s from a coach or a friend who knows how to lift, get someone to watch you and tell you what they see. Sometimes one cue can make ALL the difference. Remember, you’ve got plenty of time between sets to check yourself out. Be present, be curious, and enjoy the process.

Many of us struggle with feelings of comparison, envy, and unworthiness. I was having a chat with one of my clients the other day. We had made significant progress over the past months, yet she mentioned that she felt inadequate about her own success. Negative feelings can come up when we compare ourselves to others who appear to be further along in some domain of life. With this nutrition client who's goal was weight loss, she was comparing herself to others who had made... more progress in a similar amount of time. I reminded her that comparison is NORMAL. But, when we’re stuck in a comparison loop, we often lose sight of three things: context, genetics, and potential. +Context: My client has a lot of stressors in her life, she’s a mom, she works, she has taken different medications that have influenced her weight, she’s got a LOT going on. It wasn't fair for her to compare herself to someone who leads a very different life. +Genetics: We’ve all got different genetics. We are all different human beings who will get different results. I won’t look like you and you won’t look like me. That’s simply how it be. +Potential: When we compare and focus on the negatives, we often lose sight of potential. The individual you’re comparing yourself has sought out a similar result and has achieved it. Yes, there may be differences in your situations, but this person KNOWS some shit. They might have a tip or a suggestion that could make this way easier for you. Be curious. After I shared this with my client, she reflected that I find myself giving grace to EVERYONE around me and leaving none for myself. Maybe I’m not jealous of their results but rather the permission they gave themselves to feel good. Aha-that's a valuable lesson. - While comparison will not go away (we're human), we can shift our relationship with it. Next time you find yourself comparing your results to someone else, move through the negative thought and look at their context, genetics, and potential. Ask yourself: "What do they know that I don’t know? What can I learn?" What does your envy have to teach you? .

Redefine your ‘good.’ We all get stuck in patterns. Patterns of old behaviors, habitual actions, and limiting self-beliefs. While these actions and responses are comfortable and familiar (netflix, anyone?) they generally aren't aligned with your current goals and personal values. To make it even more difficult, there are certain seasons in life where the actions that you deemed as unnecessary or ‘bad’ may become your new good.... Without a proactive approach, it is easy to revert to your old behaviors and get stuck in a loop. The loop where you KNOW what you need to do. You just can't freakin' do it. You feel STUCK. You just don't trust yourself. It's EXHAUSTING. Taking a moment to look your current definition of 'good' can help you plan your actions to lead to your desired outcome. - Here’s an example from my life! woohoo. In the past, I'd set labels of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ around certain foods. The thought of eating a ‘bad’ food, like a piece of cake, was fucking terrifying. I had determined that this food was bad, and therefore if I did NOT eat it, I would not gain weight/die/burn in the flames of hell. Saying ‘no’ was comfortable as I ‘knew’ the outcome. But as I wanted to improve my relationship with food, eating that piece of cake was actually my GOOD. At the time, I was working with a coach and had objective data (macros). We set a plan in place to eat a hunk of delicious chocolate cake. I executed the plan. I survived. This action proved to me that: I can enjoy a piece of cake, I do not need to eat the entire cake, and I will officially not die. In the moment, this was absol-fucking-lutely terrifying. BUT, taking the time to determine my definition of good, set a plan in place, and have an objective view of the situation helped me follow through. Now? cake-good. I eat it when I want it. We're chill now. - If you’re in a similar situation, take a moment to ask yourself: what am I working towards? what is my GOOD right now? are my actions in alignment with that? how can I put a plan in place and follow through? - Give things time. Build trust.

Many of us approach health with the singular focus of what we LOOK like, yet we often lose sight of two important factors. Feel and function. Yes, there may be seasons in life for changin' what we look like, but we often forget about the following seasons where we rest and let the body recover.... We are whole, complete, human beings, and are more than the meatsacks we live in. Make sure you’re checking in with YOU. +FEEL. ‘Feel’ is a fairly vague term, but a question I ask clients is: how do you feel physically, emotionally, and mentally? When we're not feeling our best, we’re running on empty. Our relationships with ourselves are tarnished. Communication with others is strained. We lose sight of what we truly want. Emotionally, we’re reactive to situations around us. We feel like others are making the decisions in our lives. We’re prone to anxiety. We're tired. Ideally, we're aiming to be in a place of growth. We're building our relationships with others and ourselves. We give ourselves the opportunity to reflect and practice self-awareness. We communicate our needs with others and set boundaries. Emotionally, we’re stable and secure. We make the decisions in our lives. We have coping strategies that support us rather than bring us down. We're feeling good. +FUNCTION. ‘Function’ is how your body is doing. What is your body telling ya? When our function is compromised, we’re spending most of our time in a fight or flight state. We’re stressed out of our eyeballs. Our hunger signals are constant or non-existent and confusing. Training is generally sub-par and recovery is in the toilet. Our digestion is no bueno. Sleep is broken. We ain’t feelin’ too hot. Ideally, we're spending our time in a rest and digest state. When we’re at our best, our stress is low. Our hunger is balanced. Training feels good, and we’re recovering from our sessions. We’re poopin’ like champs. We’re sleeping through the night. We on a roll. - If you're compromising your FEEL or FUNCTION to maintain or strive for a LOOK, is that worth it at the cost of your long-term health? (p.s. takin' a season to recover will likely have ya lookin better later. )