Road to Weight Loss ( Part 2 of 6 Weeks )

by | Jan 17, 2011 | Uncategorized


How did the first seven days on the road to weight loss go? Did you use movement for inspiration? Did you go for a long walk or hike, or take an exhilarating bike ride? If not, it is not too late to find inspiration through movement. Remember you are seeking progress, not perfection and that it is most important that you live joyfully while losing weight and getting fit.

A little perspective
We are inundated with snippets of health information. This overload of information, designed to enhance weight loss and healthy living practices often has the reverse effect. Don’t let this happen to you!

Get focused Last week I suggested you post five mind connections that are powerful instigators for not only losing weight but for living a healthful and vigorous lifestyle. Here are those five mind connections that are so beneficial for losing weight and implementing a smartly designed lifestyle change. If you have not posted them yet, go ahead and do so.

Review
Use movement as inspiration.
Think progress not perfection.
Focus on what really matters in weight loss.
Weigh Yourself Daily
Live Joyfully While Getting Fit

Movement as Inspiration On the opening day of my healthy living seminars, I encourage clients to begin their daily routines with exercise. The act of moving our bodies makes us feel better about ourselves It has the capacity to inspire a vision of how we want to live. It makes us feel better about our lives in general. Movement sparks in us a desire to do better at whatever we do!
One client of mine illustrates this ability of exercise to enhance her life when she tells the group, “I went for a walk yesterday and without even trying I ate less at dinner.” This is the power of what exercise can do.
“It makes me feel more alive”, says another member, “It makes me realize there are other things to do besides eating.” Don’t get me wrong”, she continues, “I still enjoy eating, and I know it’s ok to like to eat, but I am beginning to feel more satisfied and in control of how much I really need to eat. Eating is more enjoyable when you know you did a little work for it.”

This Week’s Plan Focus this week on finding an exercise plan that works for you. Remember, a little experimenting is in order. Do what you think might work, and tweak it as you go along. There’s nothing wrong with changing exercises or times of day you might implement them. Think of this time period as experimental. It’s impossible to know what works until you start.

What to Include in your plan Cardiovascular exercise
Aim for 30 – 60 minutes 3-4 days a week.
Includes exercises that work the heart muscle at an accelerated rate. Examples – biking, walking, rowing, skating, elliptical training, stairmaster. Aim for a minimum of 70 % of your THR by taking 220 – age and multiplying by .seventy five.

Muscular Strength and endurance exercise Aim for 2- 3 times a week hitting all the major muscle groups.
Includes exercises that enhance strength and endurance within various muscle groups. Examples include push ups, chair squats, back rows, over head shoulder presses, bicep curls, tricep extensions, and abdominal plank holds.

Stretching Exercises
Aim for daily stretching routine that hits all the major muscle groups. Examples include hamstring stretch, quadricep stretch, chest stretch, calf stretch, and torso side bends. For a more complete listing go to the bodysmart blog.

For this entire week, start designing a plan implementing the 3 types of activity mentioned: cardiovascular, muscular strength/endurance, and stretching. Remember that this is just a beginning. There’s no hurry to figure things perfectly. You’ll figure it out as you go along. Just get started. Realize you won’t be perfect. Have fun. Eat less. And I’ll see you back here in one week.

Weight Loss And Exercise Motivation Over Rated

by | Oct 2, 2010 | Uncategorized

In my 11 years of training people to become physically fit, I think I have finally figured out the main reason that some people appear to have the motivational edge.

First let me explain why I use the phrase “appear more highly motivated.”

When clients show up to train with me, it is presumed by others they are highly motivated because they are willing to pay me to work them out. As true as this may seem, as a trainer/health coach I know that these clients are really just more savvy in knowing how to get things done. In reality, they are often no more motivated than most people when it comes to vigorous exercise.

Here’s What My Savvy Clients Know About Motivation: If they schedule an appointment they are accountable. If they are accountable, they will do the work. That is it! Call it a secret if you wish. I prefer not to use such a term. There’s no magic in this. My clients are smart, busy people with active lives. They have families, social engagements, and work responsibilities just like the rest of us. What they know, unlike many people is that accountability is what propels people to succeed.

This is not to detract from a trainer’s role in helping their clients to become physically fit, lean, healthy strong people.
It is more to point out that smart savvy people often wind up training with personal trainers and health coaches because they have figured out the formula, if you can call accountability a formula, for continuing with healthy living. They view good trainers not as a one time” learn a few things and go on your way” professionals, but as a way to assist them in weight loss and exercise adherence for a lifetime.

Trainers and Health Coaches Not in Your Budget? Here’s What to Do

1. Pick a date to start exercising.

2. Write it down in your planner. If you have no planner, than get one knowing that writing is a powerful incentive for change. If you don’t think this is the case, do this little exercise: write down what you eat for one day and see how it helps you to eat less and eat healthier.

3. When the day and time comes, don’t think just act. There is a time to be cognitive and brainy about exercise and this is not the time. Many times thinking too much causes paralysis in acting. Don’t worry about what you will do to be active but just move. We can plan on working out the details as we go along and I will be happy to help when that time comes.

4. Repeat this process over and over several times a week until you feel you have become successful at doing what you say you are going to do. This is the process of making yourself accountable. You can do this.

5. Go at your own pace and take pride in knowing that you have begun what others only think about doing.

Becoming motivated to exercise and lose weight is often highly over rated. Savvy people are those that recognize the power of accountability to help them improve their health status. This is you!

Our Wealth is In Our Health,
Kim