True Beauty

When I look in the mirror first thing in the morning, I see someone who has gained confidence over the years. I see someone who has continued to train hard in the gym and have been able to have the opportunity to change myself physically as well as mentally into a stronger person. I have recently taken a mental break from personal matters and focused just on staying physically active and the changes I’ve made have made me pleasantly surprised.

When we look at someone, the first thing we notice is someone’s physical appearance. There is something within that person that we’re attracted to physically such as someone’s eyes or smile, but true beauty goes beyond the physical aspect.

True beauty really starts with personality. How a person treats others and how we respect others and ourselves. Taking the time to take care of yourself, just by eating healthier or doing some sort of physical activity is a beautiful thing. Striving for goals and pushing to make your dreams happen is admiral. Treating others with respect, kindness and generosity and acknowledging others for their accomplishments are truly beautiful traits.

My advice to others and myself is this: Don’t forget to congratulate others for their accomplishments and keep climbing to reach your goals as well. When you reach your goals or an accomplishment, those very people that you took the time to encourage and acknowledge will return the favor. It’s ok to give yourself a pat on the back from time to time when you reach a personal goal too.

I’m giving a shout out to all of my Fitness Model International family and congratulating everyone on their accomplishments so far. I’m also congratulating everyone that has taken the time to strive for a goal. Goals are what keep us all going and striving for success and that is a BEAUTIFUL thing.

www.slaursen.blogspot.com

Success Tips: Cardio

Summer is just around the corner and everyone wants to hit the gym to look good for the summer. I’ve heard complaints from friends and various people getting frustrated because despite the fact that they do ridiculous amounts of crunches, they still can’t get that flat toned stomach. In the past few months I’ve had people at the gym and from friends ask me for advice. My answer? CARDIO!

Everyone thinks that crunches all it takes to get a flat stomach and that is completely false. It’s still important to do crunches, but cardio is the key. No matter what kind of cardio you take on, be consistent and keep up with it 2-3 times a week.

Cardio raise your heart rate and CAN increase you metabolism for up to 24 hours if you have a great workout. Cardio exercises burn fat and the exercises allows your body to burn calories throughout your body, which is what you need to burn that stubborn belly fat.

Aside from cardio, crunches, and staying consistent with a good workout routine, don’t for get to eat healthy. By healthy I mean having foods low on salt and sugar and replacing those choices with protein, veggies, and fruits. The process of getting in shape may be a pain some days, but once you see the results you were looking for its well worth it!

Stay happy and healthy

Least Favorite Exercise

I love working out, but I always have those days where I’d rather forget about hitting the gym and would like to sit down on the couch with a huge piece of chocolate cake and watch TV. However, I’ve taken pride in looking and feeling my best over the last year and I always seem to find motivation to keep heading to the gym. BUT, I still have exercises that I absolutely would love to forget about and NEVER do.

I strongly dislike running. I LOVE cardio, but I’d rather hit the elliptical for a good 30 minutes or go hiking rather than run 5 miles. Although, once I get into the habit, running isn’t so bad. The other exercise I hate doing the most is stretching my hamstrings. This exercise to me is a little extra painful.

Having cerebral palsy, I’ve always had extremely tight hamstrings, more than the average person. When I was younger and going through physical therapy 2 to 3 times a week, my therapist would put a mini marshmallow in the “cup” of my ankle. (I had to turn my ankle in and make the tiny indent in my ankle). When I was able to make the indent my therapist would put the marshmallow in the indent of my ankle and I had to lean forward to get the marshmallow, which gave me no choice, but to stretch my hamstrings. As much as the exercise hurt, there was no way I was going to turn down that marshmallow! Ah, I kind of miss those days. I wish I had that kind of reward now when I hit the gym. J

What’s your least favorite exercise?

Sarah Laursen

www.slaursen.blogspot.com

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Where does your motivation come from?

I have days where I want to quit and give up on things just like everyone else. I get frustrated, down, and I can't seem to see the positive sometimes. When I have days like these, I look to my close friends to help me out. Other times I like to sit by myself and zone out to music that I can connect with for an hour.

What keeps me going and uplifts me goes beyond getting sound advice from my family and friends. I look to my friends and at their ambitions and goals. I look to my Fitness International Model family and to people who have left me inspired in some way or another.

What blows me away about my friends, the ones that have their goals laid out in front of them and are working towards them, is they always seem to find a way to be joyful about what it is they're doing. They take up side hobbies, painting, quilting, anything that makes life a little more uplifting for them. They find the humor in their jobs.

I look at my Fitness International Family and I have the opportunity and pleasure to watch everyone succeed in their fitness goals and working hard within the creative entertainment industry. I find joy in seeing their successes, because I know when I have success I receive the same kind of encouragement from them as well. I love that I can feel challenged in a healthy way by my FMI family. When I see everyone making huge strides, I want to do the same. I love that we can all support each other and network with one another. I'm blessed to have so many amazing people in my life near and far away.

Where does your motivation come from?

Who can you trust?

I wanted to share an experience I had today. For those of you looking for a career in the entertainment industry, I'm advising all of you to be careful with who you trust.

Normally, I don't like to refer to craigslist a lot for casting calls, but there are some great potential jobs out there, you just really have to pay attention. I found a casting call on craigslist the other day wanting models for a sports ad. The information wasn't specified so I asked for the person who posted the ad to please provide me with more information. When I received an email back, the casting was through Emerald City Talent in Washington. I had heard good and bad things in the past about this agency. I thought the worst thing I could do was check it out.

I went into the "casting" filled out a piece of paper with my name, contact info, stats, height etc. When I went into the "interview" they said they wanted to take some shots, but disregarded my mention about the ad when they asked how I had found out about them. Half way through the photo session of typical head shots, I knew this was a scam. The photographer took ten shots than told me to change into the next wardrobe change.

I let the photographer know I had a family emergency and had to leave. The photographer told me I needed to put down a deposit on the photos he just took. I couldn't believe it. I told him that money was tight and I couldn't make the payment. He told me I needed to make the deposit. I was getting nervous and paid the deposit to get out of the so called casting.

So the lesson is this, not only for those reading, but for myself once again: DO NOT EVER pay an agency to work with you. If you have to pay money to work with an agency than it not only is a waste of time, but a scam! Don't worry, I'll have a small update about the deposit issue on Monday.

Especially for women out there, please be care. When I first started modeling I took my mom with me to EVERY shoot I did. Not that the photographers I worked with weren't professional, but I wanted my body guard and makeup artist near by just in case. Now that I've gotten older, I'm more aware of my surroundings and have learned how to take care of myself.

Stay strong and happy :)

Success Tips: Nutrition

I always love when I find out facts about nutrition. Many of my friends and family have seen the physical transformation I've made since becoming a huge fitness enthusiast a little over a year ago. Choosing to become physically fit and has become one of the BEST decisions I've made for myself. I feel better about myself and I have more energy than I know what to do with some days.

However, getting a great body didn't happen overnight. I had to study a lot about the human body, learn new exercises, and retrain myself with my eating habits. I've never been the type of person to go for the sugar. When I was younger, if my mom offered me ice cream for dessert, I would often turn her down and ask for a piece of fruit. As I've gotten older, I'll admit I've developed more of sweet tooth, but after working as hard as I have to gain a healthy physique, reaching for the sweets doesn't happen often.

Exercise is important for staying healthy, but 90% of reaching for your fitness goals and staying in great shape comes from eating clean. It's a little fact I picked up from reading Oxygen Magazine.

Have a healthy day! :)

Inner Strength

I originally posted this blog on Clark Bartram's website 2 days ago. After all of the wonderful feedback and comments I was given, I wanted to share this blog on here as well. I'm truly blessed to have Clark in my life as a mentor.

For the last several months, I've dealt with a lot of heartache and frustration. I've kept myself busy with working out and eating healthy and trying to surround myself with the people that keep me positive and optimistic about life.

I moved to Seattle 4 months ago and love it here, but the frustration of trying to find a full time job to pay the bills is starting to get the best of me. I've had a lot of negativity that has come into my life over the last four months and it's recently become a daily challenge and struggle to continue to be optimistic about everything.

From the day I was born, I was told I wasn't going to live, walk, and possibly have mental challenges to deal with in life. My disability with cerebral palsy has been a blessing in disguise. Having cerebral palsy has made me continually grateful. I'm able to do things that physicians and physical therapists questioned and thought I wasn't going to be able to do. Walking is something I NEVER take for granted. I will admit there are times when I forget I have a disability, but the ongoing every day challenges aren't as noticeable now as they were when I was younger. I try and remind myself just how lucky I am and that life is valuable. When I look back on my childhood and remember all of the challenges I had to face at a young age, it puts things in perspective for me. The tough times I'm dealing with now are just that. They are challenges I have to face, but they will eventually fade.

It's the tough times where I really appreciate my family and close friends the most. My inner strength comes from within the little girl in me that constantly fought my way into this world. The child that chose to prove everyone wrong. I knew what I was capable of and continued to have strength and determination to keep going and not give up. I didn't listen when someone told me no.

My inner strength is what makes me who I am today. It was today, where I took the time to evaluate myself and see how truly blessed I am. Inner strength is beautiful and always makes you strong. Being strong = confidence. Have you found your inner strength today?

"May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism." - Unknown

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