Feeling self conscious. Hiding from Pictures being taken of you. Wearing extra clothes in the summer. Calling yourself an emotional eater and horrible things you say in your head about yourself. The sadness, the relenting and constant feeling of sadness that haunts your happy moments.
We think our chapter 1 is defined by someone else's chapter 20! We "try" diet after diet only to feel like we failed again. How do we begin to fight this obesity epidemic? How can we keep it simple and make it achievable at a pace that wont make you want to quit? How can we find our happiness in our bodies again?
Creator Rick Yee and VP of everything Andrea Noble- Tipton Have a vision of hope!
With information overload and constant influencing on how we are supposed to look like! Their 12 pack abs and seemingly care free diets of pizza, cheeseburgers and beer....nothings seems like it makes any sense! What is the best way to start?
We all know that starting is the toughest part! So we tested to find the best way to do something we don't mean to avoid but do.... Cardio and healthy habits!
With all these fitness models and experts out there showing how we are "Supposed to look". It can all be very intimidating and confusing.
We asked the question... What's the best program to start with so you can keep up and fit in to those advanced workout groups? What can Someone do that will not make them feel bad watching everyone else doing things they can't do? Where should people start?
some insane class? 45 min of cardio a day? An hour?
Just a mile a day was born from when we would train with people the excitement and intensity would be so much less with a time limit than a distance that was achievable and controllable! Doing an hour of cardio either fast or slow is still a whole freaking hour of cardio!!!
BUT... when it was Just a Mile and when you finish you are done, even our new people started to focus on controllable wins, like faster times and eating better to get their mile done faster. Not because of how much they love cardio, but because the wanted it done sooner! 25 min miles turned to 18. 18 turned to 12. The goals were to get your mile done under 10 min, because then... your cardio is only 10 min a day!!!
Starting this group was our answer to help people get off the JAM (just a mile term) couch and do the JAM thing!
Go at your own pace to walking, running, biking, you name it! We make things simple because the most important thing is belief and saying... "Well... I can do that"
The great thing about it is, if you don't like how long it take... Practice getting faster so it's done sooner!
Take small bites and build up your habits just a little each day!
Like Rick says "The miles are everywhere around you! Just go a half mile away, and then get home as fast as you can and you're done!
Also "Somehow I always have the kids on my shoulders" lol
So people started to do miles and feeling great, but it was not enough.... we knew it could be better! So next we wanted to add some fun to the miles we were doing, and we wanted people no matter what their starting place is feel like they belong! We were not making a tribe, a crew, a team... we wanted to make a family! A group that looks out for each other! Fights for each other! Believes in each other! So we made challenges! we now are focused on making annual challenges to make new friends and push beyond your limits!
With terms like Selfyees and JAMFAM (Just a mile Family) we were growing and helping more and more people!
Now we know what to do, but why would anyone want to do anything? Well to belong and have fun were the best ways we could think of... So Rick being the dreamer he is and the amazing organizer/action person Andrea is we started making fun culture days!
Who gives a JAM about Monday: When we show our love and support for each other and overcoming the excuses the weekend carries over to make us feel like we are not a priority, that we can't take care of us today... NO we defy that we have to fall back, we fight forward and wear our gear to show our strength as a unit!
Transformation Tuesday on the first Tuesday of each month; To show your progress on your journey to your goals, or to declare them so we can all cheer you on!!
Flex Friday; flex for your goals, dreams, or loved ones who motivate you!
But we wanted more heart and saw a massive miss in our lives for appreciation! People will go to work or take care of kids, spouses and family and still never get the recognition or acknowledgment they should. Appreciation is so important to all of us!!
So SHOUT OUT SUNDAY was born. Every Sunday we cheer on wins and big milestones people have! From streaks (how many days in a row of just a mile a day) to bucket list wins like 5ks, big hikes, even marathons!
At this time Rick was fining his book "Everything is a choice" and Andrea was deep in her personal development! Helping as many people as possible!
We wanted to help with the mindsets and habits that hold people back! So we started a 3 week personal development goal setting live video on a Wednesday! It was end of November and we had a long day, so we have some wine to unwind during the program. A joke from Andrea sparked the term "Wine Wednesday" and thus started a weekly event to help people with all stages of mindset and habit change! (It's live 8pm central time every Wednesday)
With all this love and growth happening we needed to be clear on what we were about. What standards do we hold ourselves to for you?
So we made a credo to help us to be more clear about who we are and what we are about.
We also focused on awesome gear for people to purchase and represent their commitment to each other and their goals!
With all this love and growth happening we needed to be clear on what we were about. What standards do we hold ourselves to for you?
So we made a credo to help us to be more clear about who we are and what we are about.
We also focused on awesome gear for people to purchase and represent their commitment to each other and their goals!
We started to see people getting great results and knew that it would need to evolve! We knew that just a mile a day would help get people started, but then what?
Rick was used to training people and knew the challenge was not when people would be done with the workout, but overcoming the excuses to get to the workout!
I'm so busy, I don't know what to do, I can't get a sitter, I don't have a lot of money for a trainer and membership!
We needed the next step!
So we build JAM the Excuses!
This workout from home opened a whole new aspect to the Just a Mile family! In under 10 min a day and made for beginners or people who need to rebuild their base! This program was getting crazy results!
Some people did amazing with this do it yourself program from home, but still there are patterns...why do some do well, and others quit on themselves so easy? What is happening to stop their progress towards their goals and habits? So we started doing mindset training! Because the body is run by the mind, let's build that muscle!
So Rick was building the "Everything is a Choice" program focusing on the logical progression of emotional intelligence, Andrea focused on the heart and feeling that we go through in life with the Remember to Breathe Blog!
We knew that focusing on your thoughts would help you to move your body!
These programs helped over come everything from, Divorce, Grief, Emotional eating, confidence issues, Loss, Fear, Self Doubt... and the list goes on!
Now as you can see..... we have so many amazing products... how do we keep it all organized?
So we simplified it! We Broke up our stuff into 3 categories!
1 just a mile a day FREE stuff
2 Do it yourself JAM the Excuses program
3 I want the full experience! Mindset training, the workouts, the fun challenges, the group encouragement; EVERYTHING!
There is more to be told, and more to come! We will be adding to this often and with ever evolving programs from amazing members in the group like Ben Pearson (The badass in the wheelchair) with his 100 challenge! To JAMUARY specials for new year, improved you! There is no doubt that we have something for everyone to move forward with JUST A MILE A DAY!
