108: Be More, Not Less With Nia Shanks

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Tired of the never-ending obsession with losing weight? What would happen if instead of focusing on what you want to LOSE, you focused instead on what you want to GAIN? In this episode, guest Nia Shanks shares how to gain muscle and fitness through strength-training, and how to shift your fitness mindset from “not good enough” to a positive, confidence-boosting focus on all the amazing things your body can do.

What You'll Learn in this Episode:

• How to start a weight-lifting program that isn’t intimidating.
• Why strength-training increases confidence in every area of life.
• The importance of viewing exercise as a self care journey, rather than just finding satisfaction from a result on the scale.

Nuggets of Wisdom from Nia:

“A blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it.” – Marcus Aurelius.

“We all have experiences that we would rather not have experienced. But we can choose to make something beautiful and magnificent out of everything we're going through and become more resilient and stronger and wiser if we just choose to take that route.”

“All women are built differently. For my body type, I've discovered I’m naturally good at dead lifting. My body structure makes me naturally stronger in dead lifting than some other ones. Since this is what I’m naturally good at, I've decided I’m going to become great at it. It is all through these experiences that have helped me develop my philosophy with strength training and teaching this to other women. It’s about focusing on getting stronger because so many women don’t realize the physical strength that they have. It’s about taking the time to unleash that and even discover what you are naturally good at. This really allows them to appreciate their body in a way they never have before. That’s what I love about strength training, it allows you to discover the incredible things that your body can do and appreciate it in an entirely new way. So that’s essentially what my philosophy has been about.”

“Why shouldn’t women do strength training? There are too many benefits beyond building muscle and getting that toned look and burning fat. That’s the reason most people work out. But to me, those are great benefits but there are so many more that I would say are even better, one of them being an increase in self-confidence. It carries over into every part of their lives. That is the beautiful thing about strength training: every time I train women, they do things they never thought possible. By putting ourselves in these situations voluntarily, and pushing ourselves to get stronger, we realize that we can handle a lot more than we may realize. I choose to put myself in this situation and I can handle it. I’ve got it.”

What does it mean to be a Vibrant Happy Woman?

“Focusing on the things that are in my control. Mindset + Thoughts + Actions.”

A Challenge from Nia:

“Start strength training if you haven’t already. Look at it as a challenge you’re choosing to take and to use this time to discover the incredible things that your body can do instead of just looking at how you want to look.”

Links From This Episode:

• Enter to win a $200 Amazon gift card by completing our Vibrant Happy Women Listener Survey here: jenriday.com/survey
• www.niashanks.com
• Follow Jen Riday on Instagram
• Follow Nia on Instagram
• Jen on Facebook
• Nia on Facebook
• Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Vibrant Happy 5 (get five self-love tips every Thursday!)

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