More excuses....

Ok, so there is more... I hear more reasons NOT to start or continue an exercise/wellness program than people actually doing it. Basically, you have to get out of your own way. YOU are in control of your life. I know that many of us (us because I do this too), let other people influence our thoughts and behaviors. But ultimately, we are in charge of ourselves. I recently read a book that was talking about controlling your thoughts--pushing the negative out and replacing with positive ones. We are so bad with our thoughts! I'm sure that you have heard that we are our own worst critics. How many times have you said to yourself "I'm so stupid.", "I'm so fat." or something to that effect? Negative, negative, negative!! Why do we need anyone else to criticize us when we do such a good job of it ourselves?! We have to start practicing self love. That goes for our thoughts, our choices, our behaviors--everything. You are the only one that can control your thoughts and your thoughts control your actions. So, if you have good thoughts then you can have good actions. Simple huh? Yeah, right. I know. I struggle with it too but if I keep hearing about it, reading it, maybe one day I can get it just right. I'm sure you can too...

I read a great analogy the other day. Basically it was talking about letting other people have the remote control to your life. Wake up call for me. How simple is that? Men barely let the women USE the remote control in the living room. Why would you give anyone the remote control to your life? Think about it....

Take back the remote and get back to the business of your life! Make better choices, put yourself first. Take control of your thoughts and take control of your actions. Change your body, change your life. Just do it!

NO MORE EXCUSES!!!!

Excuses...

After 26 years in the gym, I have heard a lot of excuses. "I don't have time." "I can't afford to go to the gym." "It's too hot." "I'm too tired." Blah, blah, blah. You make time for what is important, right? What can be more important than your health? Trust me, if you don't take care of you--how can you take care of anyone else?


The hunters are out in the woods, in the cold, before the sun comes up, waiting on something to walk by so they can shoot it--or--AT it. ha! Same with the fishermen--how many hours do they sit in the boat waiting for something to jump on the line? What time do you get up to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving? How much time do you shop in general? What shows on TV can you not miss this week? You HAVE time, you just need to MAKE time. If you don't make time for you, who will???


I always say that you get one shot with this body and you better make it count. You want it to last in good working order too--not broken down and falling apart! The better you take care of your body, the better it will take care of you. And all you mommies out there--how do you think you can tend to your children (husbands, boyfriends, etc.) if you don't have what you need for your body to work--food, sleep, exercise? I don't have children but I observe people. I think back to my childhood... My brother and I were both in Scouts, I was a competitive baton twirler, we played sports and were in the band, etc. My mother was always "Suzanne's Mom" or "Stephen's Mother" or "Paul's wife". She was always about everyone else. She passed away of inflammatory breast cancer in 2004. I feel really sad for her in that she never really did anything for Helen... I never saw her have a passion.


Grown ups need to take a step back and look at their lives. It all starts with health. First of all, if you don't have your health--nothing else matters. But, in order to have your health--you have to take care of you. That means eating right, getting enough rest, exercise. You have to give your body what it needs to do it's job. If you don't have you in order, how can you be effective in ANY other areas of your life? Your health (or lack of) transfers to EVERYthing. Another part of health is your spirit. You have to take care of that too. You need to feed your soul. You need time for you to unwind your mind from all the craziness in the world. Read a book, take a nap in the hammock (I prefer to read and then nap in the hammock), listen to some music, take a painting class, go to a wine tasting, go for a walk, chill out, do NOTHING. People really don't understand the necessity of that. You don't have to be doing something all the time, every minute of the day. People's lives are over scheduled now. You need a break to think about you. Spend some time with yourself. Sit on the porch and rock or swing... Take up a hobby, find your passion. Spend some time ON YOURSELF...


I don't know if you have noticed but we are heading down a very bad path here in America. The long term health problems caused by obesity alone are tremendous. We are all going to die one day, I just prefer to take a slower trip and enjoy life a little more. People are too stressed out, over scheduled, over weight, feeling bad, losing it... I invite you to take this opportunity to step back and reassess. Take a look at what is REALLY important. Make the choice to improve your mind/body/spirit. Find your passion. Choose YOU. How can you not???

NO EXCUSES! Just do it!

Results...

"I'm going to the beach next weekend and I need to lose 25#" "I've been walking on the treadmill everyday this week--when am I going to see results?" "How long does it take for me to see changes?"


Results... I often say "I'm a personal trainer--not a miracle worker!". We Americans are such an instant gratification society. People--you didn't get this way yesterday and you aren't gonna change it overnight! Sorry but it's true. And also remember from prior posts--it doesn't come in a pill or bottle. You actually have to work at it--you have DO something. And the older we get, the more we have to work at it. The more you apply yourself, the faster you will see results. Plain and simple. You know like they always say--the more you put in it, the more you get out of it. Yep. Simple as that.


You have to do it and be consistent at it. You have to change your diet, do some cardio and exercise. The more vigilant you are in all three areas, the faster you are going to see results. The diet part is the hardest and most important. Start with gradual changes and work into it but eventually you will see that you have made lifestyle changes. It will be a way of life and you won't want to go back to the old way--clearly that didn't work for you.


And another thing... The place you hate the most will be the last place to change. Ugh! For me, it is my pooch. I have had one always--even when I was skinny fat in H.S. So, when I'm getting ready for a show..my abs come in last--every time. So, if you have too much junk in your trunk, it's probably gonna be there for a minute...


So... what did I say? You will see some results when you apply yourself to your mission. Stay the course, daily. In a bit, you will start to see some changes--the number on the scale, the belt hole, dress size, you look good naked. And, that IS the point, right??


Change your body, change your life!

Goals...

Sorry, it's been a while. Internet issues--good grief, we depend on this thing...

Goals. What is your goal? What is it that you are trying to do? You need a goal and it has to be specific. It is not enough to get started on an exercise program and say "I want to lose weight." You need to say "I want to lose 10# by May 1st". Set a specific goal and work toward it. When you reach that goal, set another one. I personally do better if I have a goal. I seem to never have problems when I have a certain date that I'm getting ready for. But just to say "I need to lose weight", doesn't seem to have the same effect on me...

Decide what it is you want to do and start making choices and changes to help get you there. However...you didn't get this way over night and it isn't going to change over night. And, you have to work at it--whatever "it" is. If you want to change your body, you have to change your life. You have to change you mind, change your food, change your lifestyle. The trade off is that you will live a longer, healthier life. How awesome is that?

So, think about it. What is it that you want to do? Decide and make a plan to reach your goal. If you have a stumble, pick yourself up and go again. This is not all or nothing. We are all human. We have to learn to grow. If you make a bad choice, do better next time. I think there is no better investment than in ourselves. If we take better care of ourselves, we would be better in all areas--better wives, brothers, Moms, bosses, etc. It is a win win situation!

Start today. Set a goal, change your life.

Food...

The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. If you eat crap food, you are going to get crap results. You can workout all you want but if you don't change what you put IN your body, you will not get the results you want. Food has changed over the years. The Coke we drank as we were growing up is not the same as the Coke today. The serving sizes have changed--super sized, additives are more potent, insecticides are stronger--more chemicals...food has changed! It has been shown that even fresh foods don't have as many nutrients in them now as in years past. That is why it is even more important that we pay attention to what we put in our bodies.

The easiest way to think about it is--REAL. The quote a famous tv trainer--"If you can't pick it off a vine or tree or it doesn't have a mama...it isn't real food." That pretty much sums it up. The last time I checked--Chester Cheese or Tony the Tiger didn't have babies... You want to eat food as natural as possible--no salted, honey roasted, glazed, etc. Fresh food is best but frozen is acceptable too. You just need to eat it. Vegetables and fruits that haven't been processed. Not processed is the key for everything. The less processed it is, the better it is for you. Period.

Color is good. The more colorful your plate is the better. Brown rice over white rice, wheat anything over white, sweet potato over white potato. Are you seeing a pattern here?? The more variety you eat, the better it is for you. I'm not so hot in that department. I tend to eat the same stuff but it is good stuff. My bad is better than most people's good but it wasn't always that way... Back when I had an office job--I had a food "drawer". It was full of potato chips, cookies, chocolate, etc. Now I hardly ever buy the stuff. When I eat it, it makes me feel bad--that helps with cutting it out.

It is all about making better choices. Pay attention to what you are putting in your body. Start looking at labels, the more words you understand--the better it is for you. Read labels, make choices, change your body, change your life!

Sleep....

SLEEP.... Ah, sleep. How many of you need some sleep? I bet more of you than not. It is one of the biggest problems today and I don't think people really understand how important it is. You notice that animals don't seem to have that problem--they ALWAYS get their beauty sleep, sometimes at the expense of their owners... Notice in the picture that I am nowhere to be found--I have been completely rooted out of the bed! But seriously, we need sleep. Somehow we need to make it a priority--that falls into the category of taking better care of ourselves. And we already know that you don't do that...


Ideally, you should be able to wake up without an alarm clock AND not feel like you have been run over every day. (I know by experience that it can be done!) If you get enough sleep, you will be awake before the clock. A real easy test to my theory--take a look at your children (or nieces and nephews). Notice how they are up at the crack of dawn ready to go? What happens to them when they don't get enough sleep? And to those of us around when it happens? Yikes! We don't want to be around. When we are older, we can control the crankiness--sometimes. But there is more to it than just being cranky. Sleep is when all the good stuff happens, your body is resting, it gets restored and ready for the next day. Your mind gets a break from all the "stuff I need to do". Recovery time from the war of life. Not having enough sleep causes you to not function on all cylinders, it impacts your thinking, and--not getting enough sleep seems to also have an effect on your weight. Studies show that people who don't get enough sleep tend to be heavier. Why is it that we tell our children they need their sleep but we don't practice what we preach???


Get the TV out of the bedroom! Don't watch it right before you go to bed, and certainly not in the bed. Your brain is over-stimulated with all the images and that the TV bombards it with. Same is true of the computer. The images and light cause you not to be able to shut down for sleep--just because you turn the TV/computer off doesn't mean your brain turns off. Don't eat for two hours before bed and no exercise either. You need to get "wound down" before bed so you can continue into a restful sleep. Experts say that you should only use the bedroom for sleeping and you know...


Spend some money on "good" sheets--sheets with a high thread count. Once you go up, you will never go back. After being converted myself, I never buy anything less than a thread count of 800. The horror of growing up sleeping on 250-300! I don't know how we made it through. You can find these on sale and they are definitely worth the higher price tag. TRUST ME! Your mattress is important too. No matter how thrifty you are--they are not made to last forever. (I swear my grandmother still had the mattress that my mother slept on when she was a teen in the guest bedroom!) About 10 years is all they are good for. Same is true for pillows. You need to buy some new ones. They make all kinds now--back sleepers, side sleepers, stomach sleepers. Find the right kind for you and put it to use. You need to have your bedroom as dark as possible. Even the light on the clock is enough to mess with your sleep. If you have a clock with a lighted dial/face, put it as far away from you as possible. And--keep the children and animals out of the bed. Ok, so the NEXT ones aren't going to be in the bed... The temperature of the room is also important. It needs to be cooler in your bedroom. If your feet are naturally cold, put some socks on. I couldn't believe the difference it made!


Sometimes a sleep aid is necessary but it isn't meant to be used every day. A good natural one-- that works--is a combination of 3mg of melatonin and 500 mg of l-tryptophan. That is the stuff in turkey that makes you wanna take a nap after Thanksgiving dinner. Take it about an hour before bedtime and...ahhh.


I hope this is helpful... Here's to a good night's sleep!

Supplements

Supplements are just what the name implies--a supplement to your diet. You can not have a handful of M&Ms, Diet Coke and pop some pills and think you are good. WRONG! You need to eat as much "real" food as possible and supplement. I think everyone needs to take a multi-vitamin, glucosamine with chondroitin, fish oil (animal based oil) or flax seed oil (plant based oil) at a minimun and, add calcium if you are a female. Based on your individual needs, there are other things you might add to the mix. I also use a protein powder (for when I eat my oatmeal--and any other time when I don't get enough protein with the meal). You can see that I take quite a few things more than what I mentioned and that is less than what I use to take--way less! I have been using Opti-Women vitamins by Optimum Nutrition for years. They make versions for men and seniors too. Any time you can find a multi-vitamin that is whole food based--the better it is. Because it is whole food based and not synthetic, you will have to take it two or maybe three times a day. The glucosamine/chondroitin is for your joints. It is a supplement that you don't notice right away but, if you stop, you will notice that you aren't taking it any more... Fish/flax oil is essential fat. We need fat but there is a difference between good fat and bad fat. Unfortunately, the American diet seems to have tons of bad fat and not enough good fat. I have been taking fish or flax oil for 15 years or so. I really believe that the water I drink and this supplement is part of the reason my skin looks so good. I had terrible skin when I was younger and now I get so many complements on my skin. How funny is that?! I also use melatonin and L-tryptophan together as a sleep aid when I need it--it is natural and non-habit forming.

I am not real big on medicine but a big proponent of supplements. If you are giving your body what it needs to do it's job, you won't need to take meds--in many cases. This country is over-medicated! You go to the doc and the first thing they do is write a script. What they need to do is discuss your diet and exercise. I firmly believe that many things can be changed by diet and exercise.

Change your body--change your life!