TAKING ACTION: ✅We’ve talked a lot about rest days this month, but how’s your sleep been throughout this challenge? Let’s talk about it! We’re almost in the home stretch of our STEPtember Challenge! 👟 With today being a rest day, it’s a good time to talk about the difference between rest and sleep. They can overlap, but they’re not the same thing — and both are critical when it comes to building lean muscle and supporting your overall health. 💯 Rest days are the days we intentionally take off from training so our muscles can recover. You’re not tearing down muscle fibers on these days. Your brain is still active and stimulated, but your body gets a break from the stress of lifting. Sleep is a different (and equally important) piece of the puzzle. When we sleep, our bodies release muscle-building hormones that help repair and rebuild the damage from training. 👉 Bottom line: Both rest days and good sleep hygiene are both non-negotiable on your muscle-building journey. They serve different purposes. You need both. 👌 ‼️ TOMORROW STARTS OUR NO BACKGROUND NOISE CHALLENGE. Monday-Friday of this week try to sit in silence as much as possible to regulate your nervous system and form actual thoughts: no music in your car, no mindless noise, no TV watching or doom scrolling, etc. YOU CAN DO IT and you’ll be surprised at how much better you feel! Who’s doing it with me?! ⬇️

- 8 oz glass bottle/jar - 6–8 whole vanilla beans (about 1 oz by weight) - 8 oz (1 cup) 80-proof vodka or bourbon — enough to fully submerge the beans Split each vanilla bean lengthwise to expose the seeds, place them in the bottle, and cover completely with vodka. Seal tightly and store in a cool, dark place, giving it a shake every week or two. You can begin using it after about 8 weeks, but 6–12 months gives you a much richer vanilla extract. You can leave the beans in indefinitely and top it off with vodka as you use it. 🤩 Fun Fact: Beaver Anal secretions are used to make artificial vanilla flavoring and it can legally be called “natural flavoring.” 🦫 🤯 The more you know…

TAKING ACTION: ✅Choose one of the questions below and share your answer in the comments. We’re officially at the halfway mark of our STEPtember Challenge, and today, I want to hear from you! (Yes, that means even YOU.) 😉 While the past is in the past, it’s also true that it’s often beneficial to reflect on and assess the past couple of weeks. These questions will help you reflect, and if you’re honest with yourself, they will help you grow. ⬇️ 👉What version of yourself has shown up most consistently on the days you walked—and what version has quietly negotiated its way out of walking? 👉When you look back at the past two weeks, where did walking feel like something you did, and where did it start to feel like something you are? 👉What uncomfortable emotion or thought have you been walking with rather than walking away from—and how has that changed your relationship with the activity? 👉If the second half of this challenge required you to protect one specific (positive) mental habit you’ve begun forming, what would it be? Is there anything you need to stop doing to protect this positive habit? I always like to do a little mindset work on Mondays, and I highly encourage you to reflect on these questions today and write down your answers. Mindset work is the number one priority in this journey, and prioritizing it is the best thing you can do for your long-term success! 💯

TAKING ACTION: ✅Comment LET’S GO if you’re committed to locking in for the next six weeks before the holiday season arrives! The time is now, friends! We’re coming up on the official Fall season (next Tuesday!), and with it comes cooler temps followed by the holiday season! 😲 I don’t know how else to say this other than just to say it… The time is NOW. Next month brings Halloween. November brings Thanksgiving. December brings Christmas. SUGAR POISONING SEASON IS UPON US 😱 We have about six weeks before the madness begins, and the truth is, you can accomplish a lot in six weeks. If you lock in for the next six weeks, you can spend most of your holiday season maintaining your results. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a good plan to me. As I’ve mentioned before, when you utilize your time and opportunity well throughout the year, you have more freedom to enjoy the holiday season. The time and opportunity are happening RIGHT NOW. Lock in and let’s go! 🔥

TAKING ACTION: ✅Tell me how you’re doing with our STEPtember Challenge! Have you been getting your steps in so far this week? How do you feel overall? I want to hear from you today. 🫶 In case you haven’t guessed, walking is good for you. Obviously, it burns calories and is a great form of exercise, but have you ever considered the health benefits? Yesterday’s article briefly touched on a handful of the benefits, but if you truly knew just how much walking could improve your overall health, you’d make it a point to get your steps in consistently. 💯 Research suggests that walking 8,000-10,000 steps per day improves everything, including heart and brain health, which means it’s also great for your mental health. Walking regularly can help ease symptoms related to chronic mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. The best news, as the article below suggests, is that there’s no “right” way to do it! You can find your own style and still reap the benefits. The article below is a bit lengthy, but I encourage you to take time today to check it out—and most importantly, find your style and get steppin’! 👟 The Science Behind Why Walking Is So Good for You