Wellness to Fitness in 4 Easy Steps

Just like the first few moments of how you start your day sets the tone, how you start off the New Year really dictates how your year will evolve.  If you don't do some regular house cleaning you set yourself up for a frustrating and irritating year.  The relationships that don't do anything but drag you down and suck your energy, get rid of them.  Those items around the house that you haven't used in years, but keep telling yourself you will.  By now, chances are you won't -- donate them/get rid of them.  Those clothes in your closet that you keep telling yourself you're going to wear one day.  Chances are if they have been in your closet unworn for over 5-7 months, you're not going to wear them.  Donate them, but get rid of them!  Why wait till spring cleaning?  Do it now!  The sooner you get rid of the things in your life that don't inspire, pull, and motivate you forward, the sooner you will find your find yourself achieving your goals.

And by now you all know how I feel about having some sort of plan in place (your blueprint of sorts).  A plan that will serve as your guide in moving you forward. But as I stated above, you first have to make room for the new stuff coming into your life.  Adding a plan to an already overwhelming/cluttered life often times only adds to the frustration.  The new year provides us with an opportunity to take note of what's working and what's not.  By all means I urge you to get rid of that which is not working in your life.  Make room for the good stuff.

And since it's my job to make sure that you have a plan that works, once you've cleaned out the dead weight in your life, here's a little guide to get your started on your road to a new you. 

Remember, getting in shape isn't about how long you spend working out -- it's about how well it challenges you.  Whether it's at the gym or at home, your workout/exercise routine should be something that you look forward to doing.  A chance to get rid of some of that stress from the day and a chance to get your body to sweat out some of those impurities.  Not to mention all the enjoyable endorphins and other healthy processes that come from a good workout.

So to get you started here is your from Wellness to Fitness in 4 Easy Steps:

Wellness to Fitness -- 4 Easy Steps

Clean out the old -- it's not working for you.

Make room for the new-- and make sure you have a plan in place to guide you along the way.

Please feel free to pass this on to anyone you know that needs a bit of guidance in getting their new year started of right.

Get on Track and Stay on Track!

Mid-Week Motivation: Are You Chasing Dreams or Goals?

Let's keep it simple as we are on our last week of the year.  An absolutely excellent time to kind of prime the pumps for the coming year. 

After you've taken the time to blow off some steam and have a wonderful New Year's celebration, also take some time to review you last year.  Did all go as planned?  Probably not, when does it?  But more importantly did you achieve the important items that you had on your list? If you did, could you accomplish even more this year?  If you didn't achieve the points that were important to you, take a moment and ask yourself why not.

Whether you did outstanding last year or didn't quite make the mark you had set, it's a new year now.  And it's time to set new goals to achieve. Take a moment to decide what you plan on achieving this year. 

Then check out the video below so you know which you should be following, Dreams or Goals, if you plan on being successful. 

Is it going to be a roll of the dice again this year to see how things happen to you, or are you going to create your future this year?

Here's An Easy Circuit To Get You Started

WOW!  What a first week of the new year.  Talk about having to kick start the body back into reality.  Thank goodness it's Friday.  Time for a little down time and finalizing the plan for the first six months of the year.

Let's get down to business.

I received an email a few days ago asking for help.  This person states she travels a great deal and doesn't always have time to get to the gym.  Whether it's the weather conditions or late night business dinners, she states she has so much trouble staying on track when she's out of town.  She feels as though she has her nutrition down pretty well, but her workouts suffer tremendously.  She asked for my help with a travel workout that she could do to train her major muscles in about 30 minutes.  But she cautioned me, "don't make it too easy, I want to feel like I actually worked out.  My workouts help me relieve my stress, so please challenge me." 

Well here you go.

A simple to the point circuit, using only 2 types of bands, that trains the major muscle groups. Three times through is less than 30 minutes. Let me know what you think.

Get on track and stay on track!

Mid-Week Motivation: Circumstances or Your Success?

The first week of the new year is always so exciting to me.  You've got a clean slate to start from.  Pretty much no matter how the year before turned out, you have a fresh new year to start off right and achieve the things that you didn't have a chance to get to last year. 

It's a prime opportunity to get clear on what it is you want out of this year and create a plan to achieve it.  A chance to review the things that are adding to the quality of your life (friends, positive habits, personal and professional groups that keep you on track, etc) and those that are distracting (the judgmental friends, associates that when in their presence always seem to drag you down, and bad habits that sabotage your progress).  It truly is an excellent time to really get dialed in on how to make this year better than the last.  As well as an opportunity to clear out that which is distracting or not serving you.

Yet even with all of the opportunity provided by a new year and a fresh clean slate, there are still those that complain about how they can't accomplish their goals because of such and such: they're too busy, don't have time, work long hours, have to take the kids to their events, they don't like the gym, etc.  And for every excuse I can, in most cases, show you a person that has as much or more on their plate and still is able to get it all done. 

You see it's not a matter of your circumstances.  It's a matter of your commitment to success.  You achieving your best is going to take time.  That's not the issue. Question is, are you committed to getting it done?

Check out today's video blog post to see what I mean.

10 Best Tips for Transformation

Happy New Year!

Hope you had a great new year's celebration.  I trust you had a chance to say goodbye to some old habits, those annoying unproductive relationships, and other unnecessary distractions. Now it's time to start off on the right track.  Time to get clear on your goals for the year, develop a plan, with short and long term goals, and consistently stick with it each day. 

Quite simply, let's get to it.

I don't know if you've been the type of person that hates to write things down or create plans.  I know I was.  I just figured I would keep a tally in my head and that would be sufficient. 

Boy was I wrong. 

First off, no matter how smart you think you are, or how well you plan, there are always things that occur that you didn't plan for.  And if you try to keep all the lists, goals, and daily routines in your head, you'll go bonkers. Or worse yet, start to lose track of the goal, the important deadlines, and daily tasks that need to be completed to get you to your goal.

Remember, if it's important, it's worth writing down and keeping track of it.

Nothing is worse then to come out of one those periods where you've been putting out a crisis fire, you sit back to catch your breath for a moment, and suddenly realize that you are completely off track and behind.  It's not only irritating, but frustrating.  Let's be honest, nothing ever runs as smoothly as we plan on paper, with or without goals, lists and deadlines.  But I assure you, nothing is more frustrating than not having a plan.  It's your guiding compass to keep you on track and to assist you in getting back on track after dealing with distracting or critical issues.

So if you're going to start off right this year, let's start by creating a list each day of the things that need to be completed.  Of course these daily lists serve the purpose of keeping you accountable to a goal you've chosen as important. A goal, that when you achieve it, will remind you you're still alive and kicking.  A goal that will make your life more fulfilling to you.

So to help you create your plan for a new you, here's a list below of the 10 of the Easiest Tricks to help you Lose 20lbs or more in 6 month or less.  Courtesy of Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink -- outstanding book!


Easy Tricks

1.)  Include a Fruit and Vegetable with you lunch and dinner.

2.)  Don't eat white foods at dinner

3.)  Use the half-plate rule (fill half your plate with salad or veggies).

4.)  Have a sweet or salty afternoon snack only if you first eat a piece of fresh fruit.

5.)  Drink one glass of water before every meal or snack.

6).  Use the Restaurant Rule of Two:  Limit yourself to two items other than your entree.

7.)  Never eat in front of the TV.

8.)  Eat a piece of fruit on the way to work every day (as part of complete breakfast).

9.)  Save desserts for the weekends.

10).  Freeze half of what you make, and serve the other half.

These 10 Easy Tricks should provide you with an excellent base to get you started on a new you.  It provides you with guidelines that, when followed, put you in control, and keep you on target to achieve your goal (which is why you set the goal in the first place).

This year is going to be different.  This is the year you make your goals happen, whether they are physical, financial or otherwise; get it done.  No more winging it.

Ski Season Exercises

First off, let me apologize for not getting this post to you last week. I had some serious server issues that wouldn't allow me to post any video.  Problem solved.  So let's get down to business.

As previously promised here are two more exercises to get you better prepared to enjoy your winter season of snowboarding, skiing, and ice skating.

Much like any sport or activity, a strong core, stable but flexible hips and strong legs are all just a part of being prepared.  But when it comes to winter sports activities you are also faced with the significant slick and unstable surface of the ice and snow.  So you want to be extra sure that your core, hips and legs are ready for a full day of cutting loose and feeling the rush of the air in your face.

Today's exercises will help you do just that, strengthen your legs and hips as well and improve your overall hip flexibility and functioning.  As with all of the exercises I demonstrate, I would encourage you to warm up properly (rolling and stretching) and then perform them.  As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Next week I will share two more movements to improve your overall hip and leg strength as well as a special little bonus.

Have a Happy and safe New Year's Celebration.

Mid-Week Motivation: YOU ARE ENOUGH!

It's really scary. 

If you stand in line at the check out counter of a grocery store or any store with magazine racks at the check out counter, long enough, you could become seriously neurotic.  A gander over the titles of the rack would make anyone neurotic.  Whose cheating on who, who lost what amount of weight, who gained what amount of weight, how to lose 20lbs and keep it off, how to get rid of those wrinkles, and all sorts of intimacy tips on how to please your lover better.  I mean really.  It's enough to make you just want to scream.

But you know what?  It's just noise.  As a matter of fact, after leafing through the different health and fitness magazines for men and women, I didn't find anything that we haven't discussed already this year; though the titles would lead you to believe otherwise.  I suspect it's just a way to actually keep you distracted.  Don't be -- Check out today's video blog post for an important personal reminder.

It's Monday! Time for 2 New Recipes to File

The year is almost over.  I promised to make sure that you were well prepared with a wide variety of recipes to make sure you start the new year off right.  Recipes to help start you on track, keep you on track, and not make you feel like you were going to have to give up taste.  I believed I've delivered as promised.

Only one more Monday left in the year.  So here are two more recipes to add to your ever growing file.  Next year is going to be so easy for you start off on the right track.  By spring you'll be unveiling a new you and not had to suffer, by living on tasteless boring food.  No one likes to feel deprived.  So I've made sure that your journey to a new you is as painless as possible when it comes to your nutrition.

Here you are:

Recipe #1:  Pizza Eggs (Pizza_Eggs.doc)

Recipe #2:  Romaine Tuna Wraps (Romaine_Tuna_Wraps.doc)

This weeks recipes are from A Recipe for Life by Susan Dopart, M.S., R.D. with Jeffrey M. Batchelor and Eat 2 Liv by Elizabeth Brown M.S., R.D., C.D.E

Be sure to come back next week for more recipes to add to your file.  Remember, the more options you have the easier it will be to stay on track.  No one likes boring food.  And cooking and preparing food that actually tastes good should not be a chore.  If you've been cutting and pasting you will ready to rock come January.

Ski Season Ready -- Core Exercise Review

Well here we are again on a Friday.  Two weeks left in the year and it will be time to start with a clean slate. Time to apply all the things we learned about ourselves in 2010.  It will be time to step up to the next level. 

But right now it's time for the next installment on getting you ready for ski season.  An opportunity for me to share with you the process that will keep you healthy for the entire season so you can enjoy what you love doing -- skiing, snowboarding or ice skating.

First we started with the all important self-massage.  You have to get the muscles properly warmed-up, prepared, to work before you can do anything.  Then last week I shared with you some important stretches to make sure you're flexible and your range of motion is improved. Ice, snow and generally unstable surfaces are nothing to play with. So now you should be ready for the next stage in your preparation for a heck of an active winter season.

This week I will share with you the next stage in training properly for a successful winter-fun season.  The all important core/abs. That will be followed by some new movements such as single leg exercises, and a host of lunges to make sure your hips are flexible and stable in various positions.

So let's do a little review first shall we?  Let's make sure the proper core work is being done so that that area is prepared to handle the challenging leg exercises that are to follow.  I know, too many people like to just skip over this part of their preparation, believing that it is really not all that important.  But let me assure you, a strong core is by far one of the most important pieces to being physically fit for any activity. 

Next week let's blast those hips and legs.

Do You Have YOUR Owner's Manual?

I thought about it for quite some time before I decided on this title.  I look at it this way, you have an owner's manual for everything from your toaster, to your blender, cell phone, automobile, computer, and stove, etc.  And let's be honest, how well you follow the owner's manual great decides how long that item will last.  Either you follow the manual and have significant success or you don't and . . . . 

Pretty much anything that has any value to you, you have an owner's manual for, right?  But for some reason when it comes to getting out of pain or improving the quality of your fitness, people just tend to "wing-it".  Then they wonder why they get the results they get.  It's not by accident.

But there is so much information out there, how do you know what is good information guiding you in the right direction and how much is just hype and trends? 

Check out today's video blog and know which is the right information that will help you quickly build your own manual.