6 years?!

I can't believe I have had my little furbaby for 6 years this week!!

I remember the day I brought her home from the rescue center. I asked my sister to come hangout with her because I had to be at my Tuesday night Trial Practice class with the best professor in the world, Judge James Rogan.

Maddie has been with me through all the ups and downs from the last year of law school and studying for the bar to fulltime legal work, from nearly yearly moves to living with my parents without me for a year or so. She has been a trooper.

When I was a student and unemployed I got to spend a lot of time with her. When I started working in the legal field, the time spent together got less and less and she actually started acting out.

I would come home to destroyed furniture, tipped over water and food bowls, and various other things in disarray. She would wake me up at 3 in the morning by jumping all over me and scratching at the corner of my bed. She got very aggressive and was often nipping at my feet and ankles.

I knew she needed more of my attention but I had no more bandwidth. I was working long hours and spending copious amounts of time at the gym trying to at least maintain my weightloss. Weekends were easier to spend time with her, but it was not enough.

In March of this year, I started coaching, working for myself from home (or anywhere else I choose). Maddie spends nearly the entire day with me, sitting on my lap or laying under my chair when I'm working, watching me when I am working out, and cuddling up with me when I take a break. She has completely calmed down. No more incessant scratching, no more 3am wake up calls, and most importantly no more ankle biting.

Maddie is the closest thing I have to a child right now and I am so thankful that making the choice to coach has allowed me to spend more time with her. smile emoticon

#throwbackthursday #tbt #furbaby #kitty #mywhy

Flexibility!!

It's #TransformationTuesday and this one is brought to you by FLEXIBILITY. smile emoticon

As many of you know, I chose to do a sort of "Recovery Workout" after my tonsillectomy in June. I started the program on 7/20 and just finished up last week. For 60 days I traded in my HIIT workouts for low impact ones, but they still kicked my butt!

While I didn't see the number on the scale move much (only about 3 lbs lost), I saw a whole bunch of other changes, including greatly increased core strength, improved balance, more defined shoulders and upper back, separation in my quad muscles seen on the sides of my thighs, and most noticeable of all, exponentially increased flexibility.

The photo shows me in a forward fold at the beginning, middle, and end of the program. I am positioned such that I am just beginning to feel the pull on my hamstrings in each photo. Can you believe the difference?!

If you are or have been lifting heavy weights, have been running a lot, or just in general are experiencing tightness or inflexibility, then you should definitely be incorporating some sort of flexibility training I to your routine. And boy, oh boy, do I have the perfect program for you! 

Own Your Tomorrow

I have had the opportunity to go to quite a few games and events at AT&T Park over the last couple of weeks. While there is always so much to see and do at the ballpark, there is one thing that catches my eye without fail.

On the right bottom corner of the scoreboard, there is an advertisement for Charles Schwab and in script font, below the logo, it reads "Own your tomorrow."

The first time I saw this, or more precisely the first time I realized that I saw this, it gave me a little jolt, a confirmation that I was headed in the right direction by quitting a job that made me feel stuck and venturing out on my own, following my passions.

No longer am I trapped in a cubicle or office for hours on end. I can work at home, in a park, at a library, in a coffee shop or on the beach, among other places. I don't have to be in the office by 8 or there long after the boss leaves. I can work 16 hours one day and 2 the next, I can sleep in until 11 or stay up until 3am. I don't have to take projects that I don't believe in or that don't inspire me. I get to do the kind of work I enjoy and use both my creative and analytical talents. I don't have to request time off in advance, check other people's schedules, or limit myself to 10 days of vacation a year. I am free to designate and design my "off" time as I please.

Because of coaching, I am owning MY tomorrow. Are you owning yours?

My Body Never Failed Me

#TBT to the first time I went to Hawaii, just over 5 years ago now!! I went for a wedding which was gorgeous!! The day after, my friends who got married took us all on a hike to a waterfall. It was beautiful, tropical, special, and I pretty much missed the entire thing.

You see me hiking in the picture so I am sure you are wondering how exactly I "missed the whole thing". I went on the hike of course, but I did not ENJOY the hike. In fact, I spent a good majority of the time looking down at the trail trying not to trip and cursing my friends for suggesting this in the first place! Instead of taking in the lush scenery, I was focused on taking in air, huffing and puffing. Instead of conversing with the group, I was constantly bringing up the rear and causing them delay. Instead of a sense of accomplishment for reaching the waterfall, I was filled with dread at having to make the return trip.

I missed the sky and the flowers and the trees. I missed connecting with people. I missed the excitement of reaching our destination. I missed enjoying such a cool, different experience. I missed all this not because my body had failed me, but because I had failed my body. I fed it garbage, used and abused it, and took it for granted. I ran my immune system into the ground until my body physically forced me to stop (about 6 weeks after this I was diagnosed with Mono and bedridden for weeks).

This hike essentially marked the end of my inactive lifestyle, the end of missed adventures, and a conscious shift in how I treated my body. Now, I feed my body right, I condition it, I compliment it, and I treat it with the respect it deserves for faithfully serving me. My body has never failed me, and now I am not failing it either.

Consistency and Change ... and Football!

It's Thursday and the official start of the 2015-2016 football season which means I MUST post this #throwbackthursday photo!! smile emoticon Can you even believe that's me?!

A few Christmases ago I took my dad to a 49ers game at #Candlestick (my first and only game there). The Niners were SO BAD at that time that it was a complete SHOCK that we beat the Bucs, but we did. And do you want to know why we did?!

Two things contributed to that win, (1) consistency and (2) change. They seem mutually exclusive right? But there aren't. The players and coaches continued to work day in and day out to improve their skills, plays, knowledge of opponents etc. BUT they also made changes where needed, changing QBs three times that season to find one that worked in their offense. Change and consistency.

These are the 2 things that have helped me in my weightloss journey. I am consistent in what I do (workout, eat for my body, feed my mind with positive thoughts, meditate and journal for my soul, drink tons of water and do my best to get plenty of sleep). I also change things up when necessary (new workout routines, different types of workouts, new meal plans, recalculate caloric intake, increase water consumption, vary my schedule, etc.)

It has taken me a long time to see how consistency and change work TOGETHER. If you need help with consistency and change, I host, online, accountability groups that knock your socks off, as long as you (1) are consistent and (2) change things up.

Email me at kasey.phillips@gmail.com, subject line "Consistency and Change" so I can give you more details. smile emoticon

#footballseason #49ers #TNF #ThursdayNightFootball #footballfanatic #deflategate#TampaBayBuccaneers #QuarterbackControversies #faithful #goldblooded #tbt

Convex or Concave?

This #TransformationTuesday is brought to you by convex and concave curves! wink emoticon

About 4 years ago, 7ish months after I started my weightloss journey, my sister and I embarked on a hike around Pinecrest lake. I was so proud of myself for just wanting to go; completing the trek was icing on the cake.

I was so excited to take pictures because I was more comfortable in my body and proud of the work I had put in to losing the 50lbs I had already shed. I think I made my sister stop at nearly every vista for a mini photoshoot.

This weekend I had the opportunity to complete the same hike with about a 3 mile addition to Cleo's Baths tacked on in the middle. When I batted away a bug, my sister said "5 years ago you would have freaked out at that." I responded "5 years ago I never would have been out here."

There is a 50lb difference in my highest known weight and the left photo, and another 50lb difference between the left and the right photo. (100 lbs TOTAL LOST!!) You will notice my slimmer face, smaller calves, and how my middle section is now concave instead of convex (goes in instead of out!). But what the pictures don't show is that I went from hating hiking to loving it, from homebody to adventurer.

It is amazing to think of the LIFE I have GAINED because of the POUNDS I have LOST.

Are you looking to GAIN part of your life back? Do you want to play on the floor with your kids, fall in love with the outdoors again, or just climb a flight of stairs without being out of breath?! Do you want to transform your waist from convex to concave? I can help with that, but you have to take the first step and contact me.

When All Else Fails, Unplug

This weekend I had the opportunity to spend a little time at my grandparents' cabin near Pinecrest Lake. One of the things that I both love and hate about being up there is that there is absolutely no Internet or cell service.

I complained about this on the way up, and used every last second to check my social media, respond to emails, download things I might need etc. But honestly, it was kind of nice to "unplug" for 48 hours or so.

At first I continued to check my phone even knowing all it was good for was the time, but that subsided and I found myself enjoying the company of my family, and the sights and sounds around me instead. 

It was kind of nice to have a "no screens" weekend (except using my phone as a camera). Now I feel refreshed and ready to jump back into reality. When was the last time you unplugged?

Challenge: Meet New People

I used to be super shy, like would not even order my own food at a restaurant shy. Most people think I just grew out of it or got over it. The truth is though that I have to WORK AT IT, every single day. 

I like doing things with people and having friends, but the process of meeting new people is like torture for me. I have learned that despite that sinking feeling I get in the pit of my stomach when I sign up for an event or class or even accept a date, I need to push myself to step outside my comfort zone so that I don't miss out on the activities I want to do!

I am challenging myself to do new things every single day this year, but I'm about to up the ante and challenge myself to meet new people every single week by attending or hosting some sort of activity/event.

Yesterday was the first step. I joined a Women's Midweek Midday Hiking Group on MeetUp and went for a hike in Half Moon Bay. I had a GREAT time!!

What is something YOU need to work at every single day whether people realize it or not??

DECIDE. COMMIT. SUCCEED.

I've been seeing a bunch of last first day of school posts and recruitment/rush shirts in my newsfeed, and it made me a little nostalgic so I went through some old photos and pulled out my one remaining AKPsi t-shirt (the rest I had made into a quilt).

It is hard for me to believe that the person on the left is technically the same person as the one on the right. The physical transformation is quite obvious - I've lost 110lbs since that picture in my Blue Angels Rush shirt. In my opinion, I look younger now than I did then, I feel better, and I am certainly healthier. But this #TransformationTuesday goes well beyond the physical.

I was a second semester freshman in college in that left picture, studying for a degree in Business Administration, unsure of what I wanted to do beyond the general "make as much money as possible" thing. Now, just over a decade later, I've finished that degree, gone to law school, tried out the whole lawyer thing, and found out that I don't just want to "make as much money as possible." I wanted that and MORE.

I want to make a positive impact on the world, to be able to go to bed at night saying that I did something GOOD that day for someone else, and to actually enjoy my life instead of working it away. I found that in coaching. heart emoticon

Just like losing 110lbs, I DECIDED I wanted something different for my life. I COMMITTED to that decision despite trials and tribulations. I will SUCCEED in creating the life I want to live.

PS: For those of you still in college, RUSH AKPsi. I am extremely thankful for everything I learned (and still learn) as an AKPsi brother. Participation in this wonderful organization no doubt laid the foundation for my entrepreneurial endeavors and has resulted in some of my most profound relationships.