WHY I work So hard to Help You!

I went LIVE on Facebook this week, sharing my heart on why I am so passionate about coaching fitness, and helping YOU all be a better version of yourself.  And part of this process in helping you all is finding a balance of "who am I?"  And "why am I doing this?"  We all have someone we love. And people are more valuable than things. So improve your health for yourself, for those you LOVE.  It is a lot more motivating on those days of struggle than doing it for "something."

1) My "why" to pursuing this fitness business and coaching you all...is to set an example for my girls.  And my son.  My girls I want to set an example of the idea that they can be whatever they want to be even if it means creating their own business for it to be possible.  And I want my son, who has Down Syndrome, to see there is a world out there that needs him and he can be an example for people like him to live a healthy and meaningful life.

2) My "why" to pursuing strength training and my program www.sheSTRENGTH.com is to help redefine the fitness industry's view of "fit."  I want women to realize they don't have to be controlled by the scale.  They can determine and define their fitness and self-approval in their own way...and that is subjective to each woman!

3) My "why" is to empower other women, real women, those who don't look or feel like the typical fitness instructor or super model that they can experience and fall in love with being strong.  Being real.  And owning who they are and who are they meant to be in this world by aspiring and living out a better version of themselves...NOT chasing the fitness industries view of what we should aspire to look like.

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➡Visit https://forms.aweber.com/form/12/1730412212.htm for my FREE 4-week template to strength training at home! ⬅️

️Real Women. Real Strength. My desire to represent real women aspiring to be strong in an industry where vanity and comparison rules.

I am a wife and special needs mom of 3. I've been a fitness trainer and business owner for 13 1/2 years. I have an extensive background in weightlifting, CrossFit, adaptive fitness, and athletics. But my heart falls my heavily on adults with special needs and how important strength training is for them..WHICH serves as a reminder how important it is for us young women. And is the idea behind my newest home fitness program that I'm hoping will redefine the name of the game. Throw out the scale and empower women to seek strength... inside and out!

Let's connect and chat on Social Media at:
 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/annawoodsfitness

 Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/TeamHomeGym

 Email at: anna@shestrength.com

Snapchat: home.gym

Home Gym Chronicles

Ever wish you could go back to your old CrossFit gym or group exercise class daily like you used too before kids? Or before your budget no longer allowed it? Or before you moved away?
I did.




I hated having to leave the community of friends I made over the course of time there. I hated missing out on the conversation.  The push in my workouts. The ability to just show up and do the work without having to come up with something to do on my own.  I hated missing the competition. The shared celebration of progress.  The coaching. The ability to ask questions and not feel dumb.  -
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Then, we moved. I couldn't go any longer. And my kid's schedules didn't allow for the extra time to drive there.

And it was awful. I lost my community. My motivation to push myself. My access to equipment and a program and a coach.

Fast forward a few years. I have since built my own home gym from the ground up in our barn. I collected equipment from local garage sales, thrift stores, and social media trading websites. And I hired a coach. I found a community in my online friends that I so desperately craved to have in my life again.

AND I was CHANGED.  I had NO idea I could recreate the friendships and fun I had experienced face to face in my old gym in an online setting with men and women all over the world!!  SO I took it upon myself to create a business that fills this same void in so many other women's lives. Coaching. Training. Community. But all from HOME.  Because I knew I couldn't be the only one in this position, feeling the way I did, lost and unmotivated.

I decided to take a risk on an opportunity with online coaching a year ago. I started my own Beachbody business as a way to tools and an opportunity to so many women who were in my shoes. But I took it a step further and made it my own. I added my own strength training and CrossFit flair. I worked out in my garage instead of in front of a TV or computer. And I shared this approach on social media hoping to provide HOPE for so many women like myself.

And in that year...
--I have coached 100's of women with the same passion for strength training through a private online community similar to a gym.
--I have turned my home gym into a successful business that has allowed us to pay off nearly all of my school loans.
--We have been able to take more trips than all the year's before, combined.
--My online fitness studio now has a world-wide outreach.
--I have met the best friends and been added to a community of women who encourage, inspire, push, and challenge me daily.
--We have a beach vacation planned next spring.
--And I can NOW work from home, work on my own fitness daily, and make more income than I ever have BY sharing how I filled the void of missing my old gym by re-creating it at home.

And I want to teach you HOW as well...I'm not promising you the success I have, but I'm not promising you won't either.
I'm HERE to partner with 10 women that want to make money AND a difference in the world. Women who want to live bold and courageous and FINALLY pursue their dreams of being a career-woman LIKE me. Women who MISS their old gym and coaches, but do NOT want to sacrifice their family and budget to do so.

Want a sneak peek to see what it's all about??
I'm running a FREE sneak peek into MY life as a home gym Coach. You can join and after it's done I will be accepting 10 new interns who want to get paid to get in shape, help others do the same and to be personally mentored by me.  AND get in killer shape at home.  I'll show you how to build your own home gym. How I built my gym on a minimum budget.  Where to find the best equipment and deals.

Join this Project to Redefining Home Fitness.
What could YOUR dream life look like? It's time to revive some of those dreams SISTER!!
1) APPLY here: https://forms.aweber.com/form/18/948764718.htm
2) THEN--comment below "ME" so I know to look for your application.

My Update on: "Fear of Being Pretty"

I posted this original blog October 14, 2014...
And as I read this over again and this real raw emotion of recognizing a mindset I had adopted in my youth, that I allowed to carry forward with me into my adulthood, unknowingly...I am amazed at how far I have come since this day.  Perhaps it is getting older. Or perhaps it is evolving as a woman and overcoming some major obstacles the past few years...but I can say that I am confident and comfortable in my skin now...as the mom, athlete, wife, business owner, woman, coach, sister, and daughter that I am.  I realized I can be all of these things, because they make up who I am and who I want to be--for myself, my kids, my passion and my platform to empowerment of other women. 

So read this knowing, I am a different person today than I was then. And I am grateful for the journey it took to get to this place of peace NOW.

For some reason as of late, I've found myself wrestling with the idea of being pretty.
And I believe that is based on my thoughts of what "pretty" means or represents...and I know for a fact that has been shaped by my past experiences with prettiness...

From early on, you could probably say I was tomboy-ish.  I grew up in the country, around a farm, and was put to work at a young age.  My dad made sure we understood work ethic and responsibility as soon as we could.  We had chickens, horses, dogs, cats, and any other wild animal we could capture and make our pet.  We had mud fights, swam in horse tanks, climbed trees, built forts, cut down secret paths to the neighbors houses, rode 4-wheelers and go-carts for fun.  We swung from bag trees and playhouses, we accepted any wild challenge we could and rarely admitted defeat.  As we got older that turned into work.  Chopping and hauling firewood.  Cracking ice in horse tanks during the winter.  Mowing our 5 acres. Grooming and doctoring animals.  Painting barns and shops.  As well as helping with laundry, dishes, and other household duties.  We carried this mentality over to sports.  And everything we pursued, even friendships.  So as you can guess, I befriended most guys over girls.  It was just the natural tendency based on my mentality, personality, and appearance, I guess.

I have always and still do, consider myself one of the guys when I am around guys.  I feel like I think like a guy most times too.  I know what they are thinking, or at least am guessing what they are thinking. Just because I was always around them. Guys would talk around me as if I was a guy.  Things like: "that new girl is so hot..."  "damn, she is pretty..."  "did you see what so-and-so is wearing today...wow!" I always heard them talk about the "pretty girls," but never ever considered myself to be one.  Besides, I was the tough girl, who loved to work hard, accept any challenge, and hung out with guys...I was most confident in that persona.  I had no problem with it at all.  It was who I was.  I distinctly remember a few of my closer guy friends say things like, "well, maybe if you'd wear make up every now and again, you'd look like that..."  all in joking words, of course.  Or, maybe "if you owned a dress"...And as I got into high school sports and had to start dressing up for sports, I remember the struggle....mentally.  I felt so awkward and ugly in dresses and skirts.  It did not fit who I felt I was at all.  I thought I looked best in workout clothes.  And I remember my guy friends always saying things like, "who are you?"  "Man, you do clean up halfway decent when you try..."  or "did you borrow that dress?" Hahaha, it always made me laugh and I knew they were joking.  I honestly never thought anymore of it.  Just that I couldn't wait to get my uniform on to play--and out of that skirt.

As I've gotten older in my adulthood, I realize that mentality has carried with me.  I still feel most confident in workout clothes.  I think I look better in them than jeans.  Hence the reason you rarely see me in them.  My kids ask if we are going somewhere special when they see me put jeans on. :)

I still feel like one of the guys, most times.  In the gym, I can talk like one of the guys...making fun of a guy I catch red-handed checking out another chick. Or comment that he is looking "tiny" and needs to hit the weights more, etc.  All in guy commentary fun.  In fact, I truly think they see me as that too...joking with me about feeling 'girly' one day because I wear a headband with sparkles on it or paint my fingernails for once.

So in my mind. Pretty means, "the ditsy girl that dresses in scantily clad outfits to get a guys attention...who knows she's pretty and can use it to her advantage..." She is the girl who all my guy friends would drool over.  Comment on.  And try every pick up line they could to win her over.  She was the "it" girl.  And I think now, I almost see that as weak.  Pretty means weak...in my book.

Wow.
I have made a valiant effort lately to try to be okay with "pretty."  In fact I've worn my hair down, out of a ponytail, on several occasions...and kid you not, I was not recognized by people I know, and see often, SIX TIMES!

What does that tell you? 
I wore jeans to a football game the other night with my hair down and a little bit of make up (gotta start small) and received a few comments on how nice I looked.
Hmmmm...
Could it be possible I could be "pretty" too?  Without feeling like I'm being weak...or giving in to that image of "eye candy" for every guy to prowl upon. 

I am hoping maybe I can redefine pretty for myself...as Strong, actually.  Bold.  Independent.   Fit.  Fun. Carefree. Confident.  I'm still working on the rest.  But in the meantime, if you see a gal with a mess of long hair blowing in her face, waving at you like she knows you...look again, it might be me...
...trying to be okay with "pretty."