Want to get motivated about your fitness? Set new goals!

I’ve been doing Beachbody for 2 years now and it definitely made a tremendous impact on my life, my health and the health of my family. I’ve lost 10 pounds and tons of inches and learned a great many things about fitness, nutrition and myself. I have met a lot of wonderful people and made a lot of friends. But lately I was looking through the progress pictures of the Million Dollar Body winners and the thought occurred to me: I have not made any progress to speak of for a year now. Yes, I ate a healthy balanced diet and exercised regularly. I stayed at the impressive 136 pound mark on the scale and, on most days, fit into size 6 jeans. But these winners went further than that and they looked superb!

What was I missing? When I let myself meditate on the subject the explanation came to me – I achieved my old goal; I achieved it a year ago and since then I have not set a new goal for myself to work towards! I realized that I was not even sure I really wanted or could lose more body fat. I was not sure if I had the energy and a metabolism to achieve that, and was not even sure if I’d look good if I did. Very likely I just used these doubts as an excuse. When I said it all out loud, it was one of those “ah-ha” moments that, unfortunately, do not happen to me often enough. It became clear to me that, hesitation and all, I still wished to look as great as these folks or people in Oxygen magazine, but I was not working toward it. I had a dream, not a goal! Wow!

Admittedly, last year was a turbulent one, with worries about the economy and jobs, but I still was working out, even though it was not clear to me what I was working towards. Of course, retrospective vision is always 20-20, but there is still an important question to consider: had I had a goal, wouldn’t I have done better? I think I would have. Lesson learned.
Right now I am so glad I know where I am and I am glad I know where I want to go. I am grateful for the “ah-ha” moment and what it taught me. And yes - you guessed it - I have a new goal!

Here it is:

I want to be 130 by 8 A.M. on May 14th and I want submit my success story to the Million Dollar Body Game. This is no longer just a nice idea, wishful thinking, or a dream. This is a concrete goal and I am planning to stick to it!
Watch my progress and cheer me on. Or, if you think I am crazy, don’t cheer me on but watch my progress anyway. I am not new to the process but I am new to the goals set in stone, and that makes me exhilarated. I hope it rubs off on you too!

Bring it!

What even five figure fitness program cannot do for you

Over the weekend I picked up a free magazine Energy Times which featured Arnold Schwarzeneger look-alike Roland Kickinger. On the cover this Austrian body-builder, actor, certified personal trainer and nutritionist is proudly flexes huge guns while smiling angelically.
I could not help but to be impressed with this guy looks and his portfolio – he can, among other things, sword-fight and dance ballet! But when I read about his personal business – a three week fitness emergence for his clients –that’s when my eyes truly glazed over… His guests stay over in his guest house, work out every day under his supervision and eat 5 super-clean low-carb meals a day prepared by this gentle giant! Understand that it is hot and sticky humid in New York, and I feel a little unmotivated to slave over the stove, and am scraping the bottom of the motivation well for my daily workouts. Let’s face it: I am sweating without moving, so... Oh, how wonderful would it be to have a fitness authority figure prodding me on, telling me what to do and when, so I can just blindly follow the instructions and eat perfect meals put in front of me! It is a day dream I want to hold on to for as long as I can, but wait – how much does this experience cost? The article says vaguely: five figures. I have to strain my overheated brain to process that. “Five figure” means… anywhere from $10, 000 to $99,999! What??? The day dream evaporates. No way can I afford either the time or the money! And what is it that he does that I cannot do myself? I am capable of measuring portions, counting calories and following the recipes, of packing my lunches and snacks, and as far as exercise I have all the instructions I need from the best in fitness business: Tony and Debbie, Chalene and Shaun! I have it all now; I am empowered by knowledge, the method and the system! I don’t need to be rich (and idle) to be in the best shape of my life at any age! All I need to do is follow the program! And that even a fitness and nutrition guru like Roland Kickinger cannot do for me. He says as much himself: ”Ultimately, you have to take action; no one can do this for you. You can take all kinds of supplements, you can pay a trainer a lot of money, but you still have to take responsibility and act. They can only give you a key, but you have to go through the door yourself, on your own.” From his lips and into my ears!

Top 5 Reasons Why I Love to Exercise at Home

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The big breakthrough in my personal fitness came through when I stopped trying to go to the gym classes, and started using workouts on DVDs at home. I love it and here are the top five reasons why:
1) Time savings:
I did not have to drive or take public transportation to the gym’s location.
This saves me take and money, not to mention it reduces my carbon footprint!
2) Simplified logistics:
I don’t need to remember to pack a gym back with closes and shoes a night before, and have my workout affected or even missed when you realize you forgot you socks, sports bra or hanging lock (I went through a tons of those in years!), or any other little details that prevents you from exercising.
3) Eliminates wait in shower lines!
The gym classes can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half. On top of it, you need to account for shower time, plus a wait time for the shower after a popular class. I remember agonizing over that wait many a time! Also many times the gym ran out of towels or towels were too small to wrap myself around, and they smell from a cheap detergent or mold. I am not fidgety but after a while the whole experience of going to the gym was for me associated with the smell of that detergent and …mold! I take my own shower and towel any day over that!
4) Flexible schedule
When I depended on the gym classes’ schedule, making it to the class was sometimes harder than doing the hardest class! As soon as I established a routine, life would interfere and I’d miss my favorite class. With DVDs if I don’t do my workout in the morning, I will complete it after work. This way I don’t miss workouts and I am able to make progress.
5) Consistency
When you work out at home, not only can you make your own flexible schedule, but you don’t depend on your instructor being there for you. There is no lateness, no-shows due to illness or vacation, or because your favorite instructor leaves the gym just as you were starting to get into it! The instructor on the DVD is always there for you, regardless of season, weather or anything else.

In my view working out at home eliminates a lot logistical obstacles and annoyances insuring that you work out regularly, consistently and get the results you want.

Why I exercise - because I LOVE it!

To people who know me, but do not subscribe to my level of commitment to fitness, I probably seem crazy to exercise as much as I do.
They are probably silently professing all kinds of ills that will come out of it. I know my parents periodically do, because they tell me so, being the old school they are. I always try to win people over to my "side", never sparing any time when it comes to explaining why I eat or exercise the way I do. But my dedication to exercising is simple to explain: I love it!
I love it on so many levels, that if I list all the reason, it will be the classic TMI (too much info), so I will limit myself to only a few:

1) I love to exercise because it gives me a sense of accomplishment.

No matter what life throws at me that day, I feel that I've done something good, that I've put the effort and was successful at it. I don't need to do anything special to feel this way. Just do the best I can, and I feel well-prepared for whatever challenges may comes my way that day because I started it right.

2) I love to exercise because I feel energized.

I am not on fire every day. On days when I don't feel especially energetic, I nevertheless feel great after completing the routine. Surprisingly the energy picks up after that!

3) I love to exercise because it gives me confidence.

Amazingly, as the level of physical fitness increases, the level of confidence does as well. It gets funny sometimes - I can be watching an adventure movie where a hero/heroine are running away from bad guys, or holding on to the rope for their life, I catch myself thinking - I guess I could do it to, now that I am strong!

4) I love to exercise because I like the way my food taste after workout.

I don't know the science behind it, but after a workout everything taste better. I am hungry, but in a different way. It is not a boredom-induced or stress-induced hunger. It is as if my muscle tell me: we expanded a lot of energy, you better feed us something good!

5) I love to exercise because I sleep better when I do!

This is very obvious but is still worth listing. I have trouble falling and staying asleep. But if I put the mileage and the reps in, no matter how stressful my day was the physical exhaustion wins over all the distractions of the day and I fall into a blissful slumber. There is nothing better!

I could definitely go on listing other reasons why I like exercising, but I feel I already made my case to prove that there is merit in it. Theoretically we all know that exercise is good for us, but I am here to state that it also feels good. Try it, you are going to love it!

Bring it!

You got to be in it to win it!

Happy mothers’ day, dear people!
This morning my husband and I treated ourselves to a brunch in a restaurant. We were sitting in a warm sunny spot in the outdoor space, basking in the glory of the day and taking stock of the good things in our lives. The most important thing for both of us was that we’re both healthy and we’re committed to staying that way. We are making an effort to eat healthy food and maintain a good exercise routine. I exercise 4 to 6 times a week, mixing cardio, strength and flexibility training. I am constantly refining my diet and exercise, tweaking little things, shaking things up to keep myself excited about it. I am always trying to learn new things from the health experts and coaches who I admire and follow. Joe is not quite there yet, but he runs at least 2 -3 times a week and does stretching routine daily and really enjoys all of it. I am hoping that one day soon we will be able to exercise together - it will be so much fun to challenge each other. Overall, we are in the good place health-wise and I hope it will only improve from here onwards.
It wasn’t always that way. When Joe and I married more than 10 years ago, we put two different routines together and the sum was not equal to its part, not in a good way, anyway, so I started gaining weight, was not feeling good and was not happy about it. But I was not about to give up. For years I’ve tried different things; when one thing failed, I tried another. Finally I’ve found Beachbody and understood what my body needs to stay fit and healthy. The sense of newly acquired control was incredible, and there was no turning back. I cannot imagine where I would be now, had I not tried to improve my lifestyle. I am truly proud of the progress I’ve made and am looking forward to taking my fitness to the next level.
What is the point of my story? Real simple: if I can do it, you can do it too. But you have to try. You and only you can do it! As the old adage goes: you got to be in it to win it!
Bring it!

Weight Loss: Stages of change - Action

OK, we are finally coming to the point when we are ready to bit the bullet and spring into action.
You are starting this phase with renewed commitment to weight loss.
You made all the necessary preparations
You know that cheap change won't do - only the hard work!
You know there is no "magic bullet" - you will try to employ all the techniques and processes you've learned about and reach for all the support you can get from friends and family!
You will let go of old coping mechanisms, all the situations the led you to overeating and develop new habit

Even though the success is never guaranteed, utilizing tool at your disposal will help you avoid the usual pitfalls and traps.
When you are dieting, and you are experiencing a "snack attack", try to employ a countering and counterthinking and environment control and reward techniques.
The countering techniques are:

1) Active diversion:

Piano playing, crossword puzzle, knitting, walking, reading, calling a friend on a phone all constitute a good active diversion from eating.
You can come up with a few of your own!

2) Exercise

you know it is good for you and should be a part of your weight loss program in a first place!

3) Relaxation

We are all emotional eaters! Relaxing, putting your mind at ease can eliminate the desire of snacking as it eliminate the reason my we reach out for food when we are not hungry!!!
Relaxation can have other, very desirable, side effects such as increased energy, decreased blood pressure and muscle tension, decreased anxiety, improved sleep, improved concentration and overall health!

4) The counterthinking :

Eliminating self-deprecation thoughts that lead to anxiety by more positive and constructive thoughts. Instead of thinking "Everybody must love me" think "what is the worst can happen if some of my husband's new friends won't take note of me?" Instead of "I hate eating food that don't taste good" think "I like how the thin feels!" You get the drift! The anxiety induced craving should subside when you think that way!

The environment control techniques are:
1) Avoidance
We already talked about avoiding known situations in which your need to overeat is hard to control. You can't be a member of the Baker of the Month contest and be on a hard carb-limiting diet!
2) Cues
You can't avoid the situations in which you overeat forever. Eventually you'll be forced by life in one of those, so you better be prepared. A good prep for trigger inducing situations is to play the scenarios in your mind! Use your imagination to create a event and work out your reactions in advance! This sounds like a child play, but it works!


The reward techniques are:

Whenever you successfully resisted the temptation, give yourself a reward! Give yourself a pep talk for a job well done, take yourself on a shopping trip once you achieved you weight loss milestone! if As easy as it sounds some people have a problem rewarding themselves - you can even save up the money by not eating Three Musketeers every afternoon and give these money to charities, if that feels less selfish to you! Reward yourself by giving to others!The positive reinforcement of good behavior puts you on the road to weight loss for good!