I have written many blog entries on food choices, quality diets, readying you for change, making decisions about change and so much more. Now that you have come to terms with making diet and exercise changes, are you tracking what you do? Journaling what and how much you eat can be eye opening when you first start. You have to be honest with yourself to keep track of everything you put in your mouth. Once you do, you will see where all of the extra calories are coming from. They are the calories that are adding up and adding inches to your waistline, hips and other parts of your body.
There are so many ways to keep track of what you eat. It could be manually, on the computer and even on your phone. If you are already tracking, you are on the right track. If not, there are so many on-line journals and I wanted to share a few that I have come across, which are all free. They allow you to register your age, height and weight and give a target weight. They all have food libraries so you can see how many calories you are consuming in a day. You can then compare that the amount of calories you should consume daily to reach your target weight. They also allow you to add your activity level because that plays a major role in determining how many calories you should consume. It takes some time to get started, however, once you find all of the foods and activities to add to your journal, it gets easier.
The ones I have come across are dailyburn.com, thedailyplate.com and my-calorie-counter.com. As stated, there are so many different on-line programs, so you should get the idea that this is important to weight loss and change in the body. These are tools that help you track your progress and allow you to maintain self-accountability. Let’s start journaling!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
It's Your Call
Two weeks have passed into the New Year and maybe you made a resolution, commitment or challenge to get on a fitness track with the goal to lose weight and get healthy. Have you started? As I speak with clients and class participants, I know that getting exercise in either with me or even independently is usually not the hard part. The hard part is changing the eating habits.
I usually suggest taking things slow when altering what you eat because you have conditioned yourself to eat certain things and have a taste for them naturally. You also may be a creature of habit and have to really think about stepping outside of that comfort zone. What I hear when I ask my clients if they have made any changes to their diet, the response for some is usually “I know what I have to do or I need to sit down and just make the commitment or I am having a hard time with the discipline.” The process of change requires discipline wholeheartedly, however, getting started takes a fire being lit under the tush. Then inertia may set in. So, I ask my clients (and you the reader), if you want to improve your health or change the body image you detest or the fact that you are growing into the next unwanted pants size . . . What is MORE important? The change you want to achieve OR the food choices that you cannot seem to modify. It’s your choice. Although it’s NOT easy, when one puts their mind to it, all things are possible.
Exercise inclusive of cardiovascular and strength training combined with healthier eating choices is the optimal method to make changes in one’s physical well-being. My clients and class participants are able to maintain consistency for their exercise with personal training or group fitness classes, however that alone will not create change in the body. When it comes to food, starting with small steps such as reducing items incrementally will not send shock waves through your habits. Some ideas may be to:
1. Reduce your soda or juice intake and slowly incorporate more water.
2. Start changing your white food products over to whole grain products. Ie. White rice to brown rice or regular pasta to
whole grain pasta
3. Reduce your sweets and white sugar intake. Replace with natural honey as a sweetener.
4. Let go of fried and processed foods. Opt for more lean meats and vegetables.
So when it comes to choices of what you want your health or body image to be, it’s your call. It is so easy to give up on the hard work of diet change and exercise and take the easy path. If that is the path you choose, then accept the state of your health and image OR do something about it and get that fire lit under your tush.
I usually suggest taking things slow when altering what you eat because you have conditioned yourself to eat certain things and have a taste for them naturally. You also may be a creature of habit and have to really think about stepping outside of that comfort zone. What I hear when I ask my clients if they have made any changes to their diet, the response for some is usually “I know what I have to do or I need to sit down and just make the commitment or I am having a hard time with the discipline.” The process of change requires discipline wholeheartedly, however, getting started takes a fire being lit under the tush. Then inertia may set in. So, I ask my clients (and you the reader), if you want to improve your health or change the body image you detest or the fact that you are growing into the next unwanted pants size . . . What is MORE important? The change you want to achieve OR the food choices that you cannot seem to modify. It’s your choice. Although it’s NOT easy, when one puts their mind to it, all things are possible.
Exercise inclusive of cardiovascular and strength training combined with healthier eating choices is the optimal method to make changes in one’s physical well-being. My clients and class participants are able to maintain consistency for their exercise with personal training or group fitness classes, however that alone will not create change in the body. When it comes to food, starting with small steps such as reducing items incrementally will not send shock waves through your habits. Some ideas may be to:
1. Reduce your soda or juice intake and slowly incorporate more water.
2. Start changing your white food products over to whole grain products. Ie. White rice to brown rice or regular pasta to
whole grain pasta
3. Reduce your sweets and white sugar intake. Replace with natural honey as a sweetener.
4. Let go of fried and processed foods. Opt for more lean meats and vegetables.
So when it comes to choices of what you want your health or body image to be, it’s your call. It is so easy to give up on the hard work of diet change and exercise and take the easy path. If that is the path you choose, then accept the state of your health and image OR do something about it and get that fire lit under your tush.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Don't Let Others Negative Energy Rob You
This week one of my clients arrived to our session very lethargic. It was odd because I have not seen her like that in the few months that we have been working together. She stated if I was to leave her for a few minutes, she would probably fall asleep sitting not just in a chair, but on the stability ball she was on. I asked what happened and she said the day started out with negative energy that was all around her at work and lasted throughout the day. She let it affect her and consequently depleted her mental energy.
This can happen so often in our daily lives and if you let someone or something else affect you whether purposely or not, that can affect your outlook and demeanor for that day, week or even month. Once my client talked about it and realized what happened, the weight seemed to lift from her shoulders and she had a very productive workout.
What’s important is that she did realize it. Life is going to have negative energy and what I mean by negative energy in her case, was others having bad attitudes toward her or unnecessary complaining or just being uptight. You know these folks and you may have to encounter them in your day, however, the key is to not let their negativity spoil your positive energy. When you have a goal, whether it be weight loss with exercise and smarter food choices or something totally different, someone else can actually deter you and throw you off of your game. You have to be mentally strong to keep them out of your positive, goal-oriented and focused mindset. Don’t let others negative energy rob you!
This can happen so often in our daily lives and if you let someone or something else affect you whether purposely or not, that can affect your outlook and demeanor for that day, week or even month. Once my client talked about it and realized what happened, the weight seemed to lift from her shoulders and she had a very productive workout.
What’s important is that she did realize it. Life is going to have negative energy and what I mean by negative energy in her case, was others having bad attitudes toward her or unnecessary complaining or just being uptight. You know these folks and you may have to encounter them in your day, however, the key is to not let their negativity spoil your positive energy. When you have a goal, whether it be weight loss with exercise and smarter food choices or something totally different, someone else can actually deter you and throw you off of your game. You have to be mentally strong to keep them out of your positive, goal-oriented and focused mindset. Don’t let others negative energy rob you!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
One thing that is common with my clients is whether they need to lose 5 or 50 pounds, everyone wants to have a flatter tummy. Three of my clients have mentioned this week how tighter abs seems to be the area that is the hardest to achieve. I agree, especially if that is where your body stores your fat. If you notice some people tend to carry more of their weight in their hips, butt and legs (pear shape) whereas some carry more weight in their stomach (apple shape). The apple shape is definitely more prone to health issues because the weight is sitting around the vital organs, such as the heart, lungs, and liver and can lead to various disease such as hypertension, diabetes, heart conditions and even cancer.
Losing inches in the abdominal region is like any other part of the body, you have to make healthy food choices, increase your cardiovascular activity and add resistance exercise. The abdominals can be trained with basic floor exercises, balance work using stability balls and balance tools, Pilates core work and light weights.
I notice even with my own training, that if I do not work on my abs or watch what I eat, it shows immediately, so I know what I have to do. I communicate to my clients and you the reader that if you are not satisfied with what you see in the mirror you have to stay focused and understand that it takes hard work. One of my clients complains each time we do ab work, but wants to have flatter abs. Although, she is not willing to go up in a pants size, she grabs at her unwanted tummy and wishes it away. She knows it is not going to happen that way and I am sure you do to. We all want to travel the path of least resistance that will get us to our goal quickly and easily. If you are committed to change, you have to put in the work and sweat to make it happen. Get comfortable with being a little uncomfortable. It is worth it for the flatter abs and an overall healthier you!
Losing inches in the abdominal region is like any other part of the body, you have to make healthy food choices, increase your cardiovascular activity and add resistance exercise. The abdominals can be trained with basic floor exercises, balance work using stability balls and balance tools, Pilates core work and light weights.
I notice even with my own training, that if I do not work on my abs or watch what I eat, it shows immediately, so I know what I have to do. I communicate to my clients and you the reader that if you are not satisfied with what you see in the mirror you have to stay focused and understand that it takes hard work. One of my clients complains each time we do ab work, but wants to have flatter abs. Although, she is not willing to go up in a pants size, she grabs at her unwanted tummy and wishes it away. She knows it is not going to happen that way and I am sure you do to. We all want to travel the path of least resistance that will get us to our goal quickly and easily. If you are committed to change, you have to put in the work and sweat to make it happen. Get comfortable with being a little uncomfortable. It is worth it for the flatter abs and an overall healthier you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)