Women With Ambition - Issue 2

A TRIBUTE TO FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS

VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2

featuring

It is never too late to embrace a healthier lifestyle, and become a better version of yourself from the inside-out.

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“ YOU JUST NEED THAT OPENING, THAT MOMENT, WHEN YOU FINALLY DECIDE TO GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO CHANGE ” - TOSCA RENO

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editor’s

LETTER Welcome to the second issue of Women with Ambition.

This edition is dedicated to the concept of health and wellness. What does it truly mean to be well? Very often when we are looking to make a change with our exterior, we are so focused on diets and workout plans that we neglect the most important area of focus – our interior.

Our mindset, our emotions and our sense of wellbeing. In order to achieve optimum health and wellness, we need to commit to change in all areas of our lives. It’s about making lifestyle enhancements to help you look and feel your best from the inside-out at any age and stage.

The truth is, as soon as we enter the world of motherhood, we automatically become secondary. But, the reality is, we need to put ourselves first because we can’t take care of others if we don’t take care of ourselves. It’s not selfish - it’s necessary, and we all deserve to put our best foot forward and lead a life of genuine fulfillment and happiness. Whether we do this by implementing healthier habits, making small but consistent changes, or by changing our focus from fear to faith, we owe it to ourselves to create a life that looks and feels good from the inside-out.

In the pages to follow, you will learn from one of the top experts in her field, how to live more beautifully and confidently with a new-found energy and zest for life. It’s never too late to become a better you, and I’m grateful to be a part of this journey with you.

With love,

LISA AQUILINA Founder of Stilettos and a Stroller

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the

INTRODUCTION Introducing the fit and fabulous Tosca Reno! Tosca is a New York Times best-selling author and creator of the Eat-Clean DietŽ series. As a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, motivational speaker, fitness model, coach and columnist, Tosca has helped millions of people worldwide transform their bodies and health, and lead a sustainable lifestyle. Through her own incredible life and body transformation at the age of 40, and personal journey with weight-loss, family, life obstacles, and success, Tosca continues to persevere and is completely committed to becoming the best version of herself by achieving optimum wellness at any age. She is entirely dedicated to the Eat Clean movement, leading by example every day, inspiring her fans and followers daily. She is a woman of strength, integrity, and grace and I’m excited to share more about her within the pages to follow. Read on and discover why Tosca Reno is one of my ultimate Women with Ambition.

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author, a media veteran, but those are just things.

Who I am inside is someone who is continuously working to become the best version of myself.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO CREATE YOUR BRAND AND BEGIN WRITING? WHAT IS YOUR “WHY?” WHO IS TOSCA RENO AND WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS? First and foremost, I am a mother and a grandmother. I consider myself a late-bloomer as I discovered my brand and purpose at a later stage in life. I took up the challenge to improve my wellness through bodybuilding. I’m a nurturer, a lover, a phoenix, and a wellness whisperer. I want to teach and share my story so that others know that it is possible to make change, no matter what. People don’t have to linger in illness, and overweight and unhappiness. I won’t accept that at a certain age you cannot be fit, flexible and strong. I am working on moving my physical mind and body every day, mostly because I love it, but also because I value it as a privilege. I learned this through my step-son who was injured in a car accident and couldn’t do for himself what comes naturally for most of us. I felt that it was almost criminal to complain about running, working out and essentially overlooking our privileges when there are so many people out there who can’t and wish they could. I consider where I am even now, evolving at this moment thanks to the life lessons of the past few years.

You can say that I’m a New York Times bestseller,

The first book I wrote was the Eat-Clean® Diet.

I had discovered that women, in particular, were interested in how I transformed my body from being obese to lean and healthy. I felt so fabulous as a result of eating clean and working out, that I knew I had tapped into a secret much better than any diet pill. I seriously thought that people should know all that I had discovered and I couldn’t wait to share my story because I had so many people come up to me on a regular basis and ask, “How did you do it?” I knew it was time to put it all in a book. I didn’t know how to write a book, but Bob (Kennedy, publisher and bodybuilding icon) believed in me and said, “Just tell your story”. So during a 6 hour flight from Toronto to Victoria, in 2006, I wrote the entire book. That’s how excited I was to share my knowledge and journey. I wanted to make it feel more like a conversation with my best friend, and let my readers know that I am right there with them, every step of the way.

WHAT MADE YOU FINALLY PURSUE YOUR DREAM AND REALLY GO FOR IT? There was this awful moment when I was a young mother, where I couldn’t even climb the stairs without being out of breath and dropping from 5

You have to trust your authenticity and the truth in your work, and that’s how you will truly connect and make a difference in someone’s life

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exhaustion. That’s when I realized I needed to make some serious changes. I was ready and had begun my journey but I didn’t really know how to take it to the next level. As the saying goes, “When the student is ready the teacher will appear.” And so my teacher appeared and it was Robert. I was teaching at the time we met. I had no idea who Robert Kennedy was. He asked me, “So how are you keeping in shape?” And I said, “Well, I’m working out, I’m running.” And he immediately began to laugh. I remember this moment so vividly, as he looked at me with his piercing eyes and said, “Ha, ha. If I had a dollar for every time a person said that to me I’d be a rich man.” He went on to say: “99% of people make the claim and never make it through. Are you going to be the 1% that’s different?” What he didn’t know about me was that all you had to do was wave the flag and I was going charge for it, like a bull. I took on the challenge right there and because he could see that I was serious and determined, he introduced to me the world of bodybuilding and helped me to prepare for my first contest. And that’s how it all unfolded and I was hooked. At 41 years of age, I said to myself: “If he is going to do this for me, and all I have to do is follow his rules, then this is my opportunity and here we go.”

YOU HAVE AN AMAZING COLLECTION OF BOOKS; EACH ONE WITH A DIFFERENT PURPOSE AND THEME. IS THERE ONE BOOK IN PARTICULAR, THAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE, OR THAT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF? I love them all, but the Eat-Clean® Diet Recharged was my idea to encapsulate the “best-of” in that book. It’s also a top-selling book, available in German, Italian and other languages, so it’s easy to love it! This is the book I would recommend.

It’s the perfect place to start and has everything between its’ covers, including recipes, motivation, and love.

WHAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST SURPRISING THINGS YOU LEARNED IN CREATING

YOUR BOOKS? That I could do it! And that I would become a New York Times bestselling author in the process. That still makes me very emotional as it was a big moment for me and I am now anxious to repeat that.

WHAT IS YOUR WRITING PROCESS LIKE? I discipline myself to write every day and I permit no editing. The first thing I do is clear my mind. I do that with a meditation practice each morning for about 10-15 minutes, followed by a similar amount of time spent on journaling, which is my personal outlet. Once I’ve completed meditation and journaling, I’m ready to transfer over to writing. And then I allow what comes to me – almost like a download. I believe you need to let what you’re writing ferment, and that makes for a more complex end result. The writing process is completely creative, and the polishing process is something else. I let my editors - the professionals, do what they do best, and I just focus on creating content and making the connection beyond the page. I recognize that I’m writing words that will reach beyond paper and into someone’s life, and my goal is to touch them. You have to trust your authenticity and the truth in your work, and that’s how you will truly connect and make a difference in someone’s life.

WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION? WHO AND WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD? I have massive joy and love for my family and so I feel an intense obligation to do my best for them because I want to be in their lives for as long as I possibly can. I also know that I’ve been put on this earth, in this body and with this mind and gift to do a particular job. I owe it to humanity and myself to do the best job possible. I hold myself a particular job. I owe it to humanity and myself to do the best job possible. I hold myself to a very high standard, I can’t just be loafing about. I need to be productive and in the process of creation all the time.

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HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH NEGATIVITY, OBSTACLES, AND LACK OF MOTIVATION? I do things to change my vibrational energy. I know that no matter the source, negativity never lingers around long if you don’t give it room. There can also be negativity from yourself, so first, you have to ask yourself why you’re in that negativity. Sometimes you just have to own that “Today I’m just not feeling great and I’m going to own that and feel negative and be ok with it.” And then I’m going to try and shift my vibrational energy by doing something more positive. A workout will do that for me immediately because I lose myself in my workout. I go somewhere else. I’m in a meditative state when I workout, accessing power, strength, calm and confidence as I sweat. Another positive outlet for me is performing an act of sharing for someone that doesn’t even know me. It’s so rewarding! When I’m stuck, I lean on a circle of friends that are truthful and honest and aren’t afraid to tell me what I need to hear. This includes my mom and my kids who are a continuous source of inspiration and motivation to me. It also includes my meditation group, M3. These women and men are my new tribe. I’m grateful to be among them.

IF YOU COULD CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS JOURNEY THUS FAR, WHAT WOULD IT BE? WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY? Probably very little because I understand completely that everything that has happened to me, has happened for a reason, and that I needed to know something more about my journey. I’ve embraced the challenging parts, like having to claim bankruptcy on Robert Kennedy Publishing, after Robert, who had become my husband, died suddenly from cancer in 2012. In the process I almost lost my own business, as well as losing the life I knew. In 2011 we endured the loss of our son Braden also. These past few years have been excruciatingly hard, but I’ve been able to embrace those heavy challenges, over time. I understand that from the greatest challenges, grow the greatest 8

opportunities. I have to trust that whatever is happening is happening for a reason.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO ARE JUST STARTING THEIR HEALTH AND FITNESS JOURNEY? Break the task down. Choosing fitness and health is interesting, but what I think you’re really looking to go for is wellness. Wellness is not the absence of disease, it’s the presence of your eating habits, the presence of exercise in your daily life, and it’s also addressing your emotional wellness. I love that those three components are part of my work, and I say this because when I started my journey 17 years ago, I knew that eating and exercise were important, but did not know about the emotional aspect.

It’s important to find someone to help you address all three of these components and I would unabashedly say that I have this available through my programs and mentorship.

Or you can find a mentor or a community of people pursuing those three elements of your wellness journey. You need to find your reason – your why – because that person or thing, is going to get you up every morning, even when it’s 4:00 a.m. and snowing or freezing rain on you.

It’s the thing that pushes you to pursue your goal.

The next action I would engage in is to start journaling immediately. Nothing is anything until you’ve written it on paper.

you and I what to take, as far as supplements go and I’m quite concerned about that because these so-called experts know nothing. If you want an expert, you need to go to a naturopath, a credited and schooled professional, who has spent 5 or 6 years studying the field of nutrition and whole body wellness. We are all biologically unique and no one plan is going to work for everyone. You have to pay attention to your own body and what it needs.

For example, if grains affect you in a negative way, don’t eat them. The supplement business doesn’t account for this. Supplementation does play a role, but I would be very cautious as to where I get my supplements from, and further cautious about the advice that I receive about this “free for all’ buffet of supplements that are being promoted. The human body is so finely set up and finely tuned that taking too much of one supplement pushes something else out of balance. And that’s why in addition to my knowledge from what I have studied, I also insist on getting care and advice from a naturopath.

WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE BUSINESS PLANS? NEW BOOKS, LIVE EVENTS, COACHING, ETC… I have wellness retreats called The Clean Living Experience, coming up that are a beautiful wellness journey for mind and body. I spend 4-5 days, one-on-one learning with you, sweating with you, training with you, journaling with you, and breaking through barriers with you. I am initiating my popular Strike Sugar Challenge throughout September and October. People make powerful changes in their wellness by learning to omit sugar. I invite everyone to join here, toscareno.store/products/ strike-sugar-ebook.

WITH SO MANY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE HEALTH AND FITNESS INDUSTRY, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE ABUNDANCE OF DIET SUPPLEMENTS AND FADS THAT ARE OUT THERE? I’ve been worried about the supplement aspect of the industry for a long time because it’s not regulated. There are many so-called experts telling

I also have a new book and a new cookbook that are underway. My book will be telling the story of the last few years, not from a place of complaint, but rather from a perspective of lessons learned, and how to be of service to others. I will be sharing a lot of information that I haven’t shared yet so it should be interesting. There are many other exciting things in the works for the remainder of the year that will soon be revealed.

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I’m going to be me. I’m going to be raw and truthful, showing up as I truly am.

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I’M A BIG BELIEVER IN INCORPORATING “LITTLE LUXURIES” INTO OUR EVERY DAY LIVES. WHEN YOU’RE NOT WORKING, WHAT DO YOU LOVE TO DO MOST? WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR LITTLE LUXURIES? My little luxuries consist of an assortment of healing and therapeutic massage, traveling, spending time with my daughters, granddaughter and mom, getting a latte at different cafes, taking in healing energy from nature, developing recipes, writing, reading, doing distance swims and gardening.

FROM EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED THUS FAR IN BOTH YOUR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL JOURNEY, WHAT ARE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT TAKEAWAYS AND LIFE LESSONS? Overwhelmingly what has filled my soul the most is to be an authentic person, and to peel away any illusions of what people have of me, revealing who I truly am. I am a defiant writer and I want to challenge the fitness industry. If I’m going to be a sixty-something year old women wearing a croptop and showing my abs, then that’s what I’m going to be. I’m going to be me. I’m going to be raw and truthful, showing up as I truly am. For many years, I dimmed my own light, diminishing who I was to protect those who were threatened by this. I refuse to do that anymore.

WITH SUCH AN AMAZING AND THRIVING CAREER DEDICATED TO EMPOWERING WOMEN IN ALL AREAS OF THEIR LIVES, WHAT DO YOU HOPE PEOPLE TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR WORDS? WHAT WOULD YOU WANT YOUR AUDIENCE TO SAY ABOUT YOU? I want them to say: “Wow, she really is the person that she is on social media, in her books, on TV, and in her writing. That’s exactly who she is and that’s amazing. She taught me one little thing and it completely changed my life and I feel grateful.”

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE MOTTO OR FAVOURITE QUOTE? “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe WHERE CAN WE GET MORE OF TOSCA? WHICH PLATFORM ARE YOU MOST ACTIVE ON? I follow all of the social media platforms, but I’d have to say I’m most active on Instagram and Facebook, and also on my website www.toscareno.com

Closing

NOTES It was truly a pleasure to interview Tosca Reno, and so inspiring to see that at any age and stage in life, it is never to late to become the best version of yourself. We are all a beautiful work in progress. To learn more about Tosca’s books, please visit my blog and select Lisa’s Library to view her collection. For more information about Tosca’s seminars, media appearances and wellness programs, please visit www.toscareno.com

STAY SOCIAL WITH TOSCA www.toscareno.com

@toscareno

@toscareno

@toscareno

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