Leading Las Vegas Guest Courtney Bentley Discusses Why a Healthy Mindset Equals Success.

>>Click here to have new Leading Las Vegas episodes sent to your Facebook inbox<<

Courtney Bentley – Why a Healthy Mindset Equals Success [Video Transcript]

Danielle Ford: Hey there. Welcome back to another episode of Leading Las Vegas. I’m Danielle Ford of DanielleFord.com, where visibility makes a difference. My wonderful, lovely guest today is Courtney Bentley.

Courtney Bentley: Hi.

Danielle Ford: She is amazing. She is here in Vegas. She came from Thailand and came from other places before that. I’ll let her tell that story but back story, we actually met on Periscope.

Courtney Bentley: Yes. Yes, we did.

Danielle Ford: There’s the power of live streaming right there, right? We had a connection online and became friends here. She has just taken off since coming over here to Las Vegas. She’s a personal trainer. I have worked with her. She’s amazing. She will kick your butt. What I love about Courtney more than just being a personal trainer, which you rock at-

Courtney Bentley: Thank you.

Danielle Ford: … is that, especially when you’re working with me or someone else, or even just your content online, it’s always more about the mentality and the mindset. And you care about your audience and your clients and too in internal beliefs and it’s just a lot of that crazy, awesome goodness.

Courtney Bentley.: A lot of soul love.

Danielle Ford: I talked about you a little bit. Can you give us a little bit more of your back story?

Courtney Bentley.: Sure. I hate to say it like this, but I’m a recovered self-hater and I found self-love through movement.

I'm a recovered self-hater and I found self-love through movement. -@CBentleyFit Click To Tweet

Danielle Ford: I love that.

Courtney Bentley: I believe that movement is magic. Movement changed my life. Lifting weights changed my life. I’ve made it my mission to empower women through movement. I do that through podcasting, I do it through YouTube videos, I do it through Facebook, I do it through whatever I can just to get my message out.

Danielle Ford: You do it live. You’ll get people out of their chairs and just feeling good, feeling amazing. One thing I definitely have heard my audience and other women in my industry and stuff talking about is not having time to work out. I’m guilty of it, too.

Courtney Bentley.: Yeah, I get it. You’re hustling.

Danielle Ford: Yeah. It’s hard to make good food choices. You’re not being prepared. Can you give us some insights that you would maybe cater towards the busy professional who has children?

Courtney Bentley.: Got it.

Danielle Ford: What would you … How can you …

Courtney Bentley.: First off, thank goodness we live in a time period where making healthy choices is a lot of easier than it was at one time. The second thing is is setting your mind up for it, connecting emotion to what you really, really want. So if you really, really want something, you connecting the emotion of, “I want to feel empowered. I want to feel healthy. I want to feel energized,” what does it take to feel that way?

Danielle Ford: Instead of being like, “Man, I really want a cheeseburger,” you could be like, “I really want to feel energized,” or whatever.

Courtney Bentley: “Empowered, I want to feel energized.” You can connect food with that feeling. For instance, a cheeseburger might taste good, but will it make you feel good?

Danielle Ford: Right.

Courtney Bentley: Knowing that, it helps you make good choices most of the time. So, I’m not perfect. No one’s perfect. If you are, God bless you. I definitely like to live a little, but at the same time, I know that certain foods don’t make me feel good, so I avoid them. It’s easy to avoid them because I know what makes me feel good and I want to feel good.

Danielle Ford: Yeah, so keeping that always on your mind?

Courtney Bentley: Yeah. If you can connect those two, the power of emotion is so strong, it can help you make good choices in goal-setting, in fitness, in workouts, and whatever it is in your life that you want to change. It’s connecting emotion.

Danielle Ford: This happens to me. What about when you maybe fail at that? Does it start to spiral downward?

Courtney Bentley: It can, but what you can do is reconnect with that emotion. I’m a big believer in affirmations, affirming what you want every single day. Let’s say Sunday night your kids want ice cream. You guys all go out. How are you not going to get some ice cream? You’re not going to sit there, stare at your kids…

Danielle Ford: Watch them. You’re like, “Uh.”

Courtney Bentley: … as their eating ice cream and feel miserable. There’s nothing wrong with getting the kid’s size scoop of ice cream and enjoying it with your kids. That’s creating a moment. That’s creating emotion, right?

Danielle Ford: Mm-hmm.

Courtney Bentley:  But at the same time, the next day your tongue receptors might be like, “That sugar was really awesome. I like that quick energy. I love that food.” But at the same time, you know, “Okay, this isn’t going to get me to my goals. This doesn’t make me feel good.” You have to disconnect that by saying to yourself, “Okay, well, I know an egg omelet filled with lots of veggies is going to keep me going through the day and energized so I’m not hungry an hour later.”

It’s that thinking. It’s a mindset shift that you have to make internally in order to make all the goals that you really want happen. That’s why I think a lot of people, they think about, “Okay, I’m going to lose 10 pounds.” They lose 10 pounds and then they gain it right back because they haven’t connected an emotion, a feel-good emotion with losing that 10 pounds. They just saw this goal that they wanted to reach and they don’t have an emotion connected to it.

Danielle Ford: Maybe it wasn’t good emotions, like you struggled and you hated how you felt during losing those 10 pounds.

Courtney Bentley:  Yeah. It was miserable.

Danielle Ford: Yeah.

Courtney Bentley: I see a lot of people, “Ah, I’m on a diet. I’m so miserable. I’m depressed. I’m cranky. Don’t talk to me.” I’m like, “That’s not what it’s about. It’s about getting healthy, so if you’re constantly making good, healthy choices, you’re going to feel good, and the weight’s just going to fall off.”

Danielle Ford: Right. I love that. Do you have any tips for quick meals? One thing I struggle with personally is preparation for the week. You’ve helped me a lot with that because I’ll message her. I’ll be like, “Okay, just tell me exactly what to buy at the grocery store.” You know. Do you have any tips just to make it super simple so if you’re kids are asking you for macaroni, true story … You know.

Courtney Bentley: Hey, it’s life. That’s what I’m about. I am a big believer in George Foreman. He will become-

Danielle Ford: I got a grill after you told me that, yeah.

Courtney Bentley: He will become your best friend. Because you know what, all you have to do is put your meat, some Mrs. Dash, some veggies. You close that sucker, it beeps, it’s done. So easy, right?

Danielle Ford: Yeah. I got a really fancy one. It’s not the [newest George Foreman, but it’s like …

Courtney Bentley: Yeah, they have different levels.

Danielle Ford: You can grill all sorts of stuff on it.

Courtney Bentley: It’s the best. It’s the best.

Danielle Ford: I don’t barbecue. I’m not going to go light up a barbecue because that’s crazy. Sometimes it takes too long to cook in the oven, and I’m loving the griller that you suggested.

Courtney Bentley: It’s the best. If you’re like, “Well, I need flavor,” you put some chicken breast in a bag, you add some Mrs. Dash, some coconut oil, shake it up, throw it on the George Foreman. There you go. So easy. I love turkey burgers. Those are really easy. Salads, I mean, they’re raw. You just have to chop a bunch of stuff. Just thinking in terms of keeping it super simple will help you be successful. Going on Pinterest and looking at hundreds of recipes with all these great pictures, and you’re like, “Oh my gosh, that looks so good-“

Danielle Ford: It’s so overwhelming.

Courtney Bentley: But, an hour to prep, 45 minutes to even find the seasonings. I mean, it’s not life.

Danielle Ford: Right.

Courtney Bentley: It’s great if you do that for a holiday. There’s nothing wrong with that, but most of us, we don’t have time, so make it easy.

Danielle Ford: That’s makes me not … I give up and like, “Um, there’s more than five steps. I’m out.”

Courtney Bentley:  Yeah. You just keep it so simple that it’s almost difficult to fail. If your kids want mac and cheese, great. Here’s a turkey burger, here’s your mac and cheese, and here’s my salad with the burger on top. Bam.

Danielle Ford: I love it. I’ve been doing that, too, and buying frozen fish.

Courtney Bentley: I love frozen food. I’m so glad you brought that up. I get so many people come to me and they’re like, “My kids don’t eat veggies.” You can’t just buy one serving of broccoli, right?

Danielle Ford: Right.

Courtney Bentley: Buy frozen, buy bulk. You can get a big bag of green beans frozen, pull out what you want, stick it on the little pan, it melts, throw some Mrs. Dash on, done.

Danielle Ford: That’s been really, really helpful.

Courtney Bentley: You never throw away veggies. It’s so much easier to grocery shop because you buy in bulk. You can buy a month’s supply of green beans so you don’t have to go to the grocery store every week.

Danielle Ford: I hate that fish smell in your refrigerator, too, so the frozen is super helpful.

Courtney Bentley: Yeah. Fish, too. You can do that. I love the freezer. If you don’t have a big freezer, you have to get one. That’s so easy. You’ve got to make it simple. I think that that’s the message here, is make it as simple as you possibly can and then you can’t fail.

Danielle Ford: I’m all about simplicity.

Courtney Bentley: Yeah.

Danielle Ford: What about some workouts if you don’t have time to … Obviously everybody should hire you and train with you.

Courtney Bentley: Duh.

Danielle Ford: If they don’t have time or they just want to get started now, what are some quick ways to get moving at home or somewhere else?

Courtney Bentley: I’m a big fan of the kettlebell. I love a kettlebell. It doesn’t take up a lot of space. You can do kettlebell swings. You can do back rows. In 10 minutes you can swing your kettlebell and you get a crazy workout.

Danielle Ford: It gets your arms. It gets your core, your legs.

Courtney Bentley: Yeah. So easy. You can just keep it in your corner, and it’s not one of those things where it’s like, “Okay.” You know, you got to set it up. You’ve got to just a playlist, turn it on. Once it’s over, it’s done.

Danielle Ford: Right.

Courtney Bentley: You can get a full body workout with a kettlebell swing. Jump-roping is great. You can travel with your jump rope. If you guys are traveling, speaking, doing work things, throw a jump rope in your…

Danielle Ford: I love that idea. I didn’t even think about that, of using a playlist for a timer instead of a timer so you’re not staring at the clock like, “Only two minutes, only one minute.”

Courtney Bentley: Yeah. Every few weeks make a 10-minute, a 15-minute playlist, and then you can jam out. Then you know the last song, so you’re like…

Danielle Ford: You’re like, “I’m there. I’m getting there.”

Courtney Bentley: That song comes on and you’re like, “Okay, I’m there.” Keep it fun. Make it fun, and make that playlist for yourself. It’s such a treat to turn on a playlist and jam out.

Danielle Ford: I love that. Do you have any maybe insight for women who have maybe failed at this a lot? This is what I’ve seen, is a lot of people have done the diets, have hired the trainer, have joined the program, have done all of these monthly memberships and things like that, and they start to just beat themselves up. You said, have really low self-esteem and struggle with self-love. Do you have any more type of maybe mindset tips or ways to have success with your health and fitness?

Courtney Bentley: Yeah. I’m a big believer in deciding how you want to feel, like I mentioned before. Is it a weight loss goal? It shouldn’t be. I think it should be a performance goal. Can I do? If someone said, “Drop down and give me 10,” could you do that?

Danielle Ford: Could you do it, right.

Courtney Bentley: How empowering is it if someone’s like, “Drop and give me 10,” you’re like, “Okay. Let me just click off my heels real quick,” like, “Let’s pop it out.” I believe in creating performance goals for that reason. I’ve helped people do pull-ups. I think it’s so cool to see a woman doing pull-ups.

Danielle Ford: I think it’s just so much more empowering. I fluctuate with my weight back and forth and having kids and doing all this stuff. Even when you’re at your peak fitness, you feel more empowered to go help other women with their, with me, with their businesses. It’s almost hard to say, “Listen to my advice,” when you’re not there completely mentally, and struggling.

Courtney Bentley: Yeah. I see it in my life. When I’m progressing performance-wise at the gym, I’m able to speak more, I’m able to give more to people, I’m healthier, I’m happier, I’m more confident. All of that is going to reflect on your life. Making that choice for yourself. Whether it’s 10 minutes swinging a kettlebell and using your George Foreman grill and just starting there.

And slowly implementing this stuff into your life to getting a gym membership and just kicking butt with that. But starting somewhere and just bringing that confidence level up and boosting all of that is going to make a huge difference in everything.

Danielle Ford: I’ve had to do that. Especially when you’re a mom it’s hard to put that as a priority.

Courtney B.: Definitely. I can see that, yeah.

Danielle Ford: But then when you think about it, it’s like I’m not going to be as good of a mom. I’m not going to be there for my clients. I’m not going to have the energy to stay up late if I need to to crunch out a new launch or something for a client if I’m not-

Courtney Bentley: Healthy, well, yeah.

Danielle Ford: … eating right, working out. Yeah, so it really is. It’s almost the fill your cup so you can pour more out for others first.

Courtney Bentley: Yeah, 100%. I mean, you see people that have how many coffees a day. That’s not good for your adrenal health, and then you bottom out.

Danielle Ford: I’m going to tell you guys. Courtney was making me write down all my food and send it to her every single day. I stopped getting my vanilla venti Starbucks every day and I bought a coffee maker-

Courtney Bentley: See?

Danielle Ford: Now it’s just coffee and almond milk.

Courtney Bentley: Good.

Danielle Ford: I feel good about that.

Courtney Bentley: That’s great.

Danielle Ford: Yeah. I feel great about that. You did that, for sure, amongst many other things.

Courtney Bentley: See? It’s just one … It’s the small things.

Danielle Ford: Yeah.

Courtney Bentley: But look how excited you are about that one small change you made.

Danielle Ford: It feels really good.

Courtney Bentley: See?

Danielle Ford: Even if I want something vanilla, I’m like, “You know what? No.” I really love the fact that I have coffee, clean coffee and almond milk only.

Courtney Bentley: Exactly. It’s those small changes. Then okay, now that becomes easy. What’s next?

Danielle Ford: Right.

Courtney Bentley: You know, “What else can I change?” Start with one meal. Everyone tries to transform their entire meal plan, like what they’re eating in a day. I’m like, “Start with breakfast. If you start with one meal, you conquer it. What’s next?”

Danielle Ford: That’s absolutely true.

Courtney Bentley: Then it becomes a lifestyle. Okay, every morning I wake up and I have my omelet with my veggies cooked in coconut oil. That’s easy now. I love that.

Danielle Ford: What’s next?

Courtney Bentley: What’s lunch? What are my snacks looking like? It becomes easier. Make it easy. That’s the thing I think a lot of people struggle with, is they are, “I got to lose 10 pounds because my daughter’s getting married and I got to look bomb-tastic.”

Danielle Ford: Mm-hmm, and they want to do it fast.

Courtney Bentley: They want to do it fast. They don’t do it properly. They lose the weight. They look great in the photos, and then a year later…

Danielle Ford: Nothing coming up.

Courtney Bentley: … at the anniversary party it’s like two times, and it’s like, why? You should want to feel good always. You should want to feel energized always, so how do you get there?

Danielle Ford: Absolutely. I love it. Obviously it’s contacting you. How can people reach out to you and find you online, get more information or work with you?

Courtney Bentley: Sure. I’m locally here in Las Vegas. I do personal training. You can reach out to me by my name, CourtneyVioletBentley.com. I’m also at CBentleyFit on Instagram and Twitter. I have a podcast called Fit, Fierce, and Fabulous, so feel free to check that on iTunes.

Danielle Ford: Awesome. You have your monthly membership going too, right?

Courtney Bentley: Yes, oh yes. This is why I love Danielle, by the way. She’s so good.

Danielle Ford: I’m like, “Tell us more. Tell us more.”

Courtney Bentley: I have a smart-phone app, and I deliver workout plans every single month. If you’re looking for accountability, a coach and someone to cheer you on during your journey, then check out JoinFitandFabulous.com.

Danielle Ford: She goes above and beyond. I know from personal experience. Thank you so, so much for coming on the show and giving so much valuable information to our viewers. This has been another episode of Leading Las Vegas. Again, I’m Danielle Ford of DanielleFord.com. My guest here is Courtney Bentley.

Courtney Bentley: Thank you.

Danielle Ford: We will see you in the next episode. Bye, guys.

Courtney Bentley: Bye.