No Excuses

In our busy world, there is precious little time to eat healthfully and squeeze in daily fitness while meeting the demands of jobs and family. The idea of doing it all can be daunting -- unless you decide to adopt a "can-do" attitude and make healthy eating and exercise a priority.

You've heard it before: eat less, get more exercise, and you will lose weight. It's a very simple formula, yet so difficult to put into practice. Just about every day, most of us can find a reason why we "can't" follow this weight-loss mantra. But when having nutritious foods available, eating healthy meals, and getting physical activity truly become priorities in your life, you find the time to get the groceries, prepare the meals, and fit in fitness.

Do you really want to lose weight once and for all and improve your health? Then stop making excuses and just do it! Granted, that's easier said than done. But it's essential to have the right frame of mind if you're going to succeed.

Attitude Is Everything

Research published in the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise shows how well a "just do it" attitude works when it comes to getting physical. Researchers found that thinking too much about exercise conjured up all kinds of excuses. Study participants who said they simply laced up their sneakers and got going were much more successful about fitting in fitness than those who contemplated exercise. The active people made exercise a non-negotiable part of their day.

Many of the exercisers in the study had issues similar to those our members face: too much to do, too little time, job stress, family pressures, and advancing age. Regardless of the excuses, when physical activity becomes a routine part of your life, it rarely gets squeezed out.

Good Intentions, Bad Habits

Most people really want to do the right thing. Yet faced with the demands of everyday life, they find themselves slipping right back into old, unhealthy habits. Ask anyone on the street about his eating or exercise habits and chances are, he'll tell you he knows he should eat better and get more exercise, but ... and here comes the litany of excuses.

The truth of the matter is that old habits die hard. Even with the best intentions, it can be hard to break them. Over time, bad habits become automatic and increasingly more difficult to break, especially during stressful times. If you want to improve your health and lose weight, you need to slowly change those old habits so that new, healthier habits become second nature.

Join us for a meeting to learn more, or see this week's flyer.

Intuitive Eating

How GREAT would it be to stop dieting?  We've already discussed the dangers of diets and we've talked about making choices to help reach your wellness goals.  Wouldn't it be great to just eat what you want, when you want?  To most people, this probably seems like a recipe for disaster but HONESTLY...you can do it.  By simply making the right choices and being aware of your hunger signals, you too can become an intuitive eater!  

Intuitive Eating Principles

1. Reject the Diet Mentality. Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you false hope of losing weight quickly, easily, and permanently.

2. Honor Your Hunger. Keep your body biologically fed with adequate energy and carbohydrates.

3. Make Peace with Food. Call a truce, stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat.

4. Challenge the Food Police. Scream a loud "NO" to thoughts in your head that declare you're "good" for eating under 1000 calories or "bad" because you ate a piece of chocolate cake.

5. Respect Your Fullness. Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry.

6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor. When you eat what you really want, in an environment that is inviting and conducive, the pleasure you derive will be a powerful force in helping you feel satisfied and content.

7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food. Find ways to comfort , nurture, distract, and resolve your issues without using food.

8. Respect Your Body. Accept your genetic blueprint. Just as a person with a shoe size of eight would not expect to realistically squeeze into a size six, it is equally as futile (and uncomfortable) to have the same expectation with body size.

9. Exercise--Feel the Difference. Forget militant exercise. Just get active and feel the difference. Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than the calorie burning effect of exercise.

10. Honor Your Health--Gentle Nutrition. Make food choices that honor your health and tastebuds while making you feel well. Remember that you don't have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy. 

This is just a brief summary of the principals.  Join us for a meeting or read this week's flyer to learn more.

Refocus

So you've lost some weight and are doing really well but you seem to have lost some of your initial wellness momentum...below are some strategies to refocus your wellness goals and help you get back on track!

1. De-bloat: You need to cut out any excess sodium from your diet to help you get rid of it.  Avoid soup, canned items and frozen food that may increase your bloating.  Be sure to drink an adequate amount of water to help you flush it all out.

2. Avoid non-whole grain carbs:  Be sure to eat whole grain carbs.  Switch to a whole grain english muffin or pasta instead of the usual.  The fiber from the whole grains will help you feel full longer and help the process of moving things outside your body(if you know what I mean).  Also, carbs should be side items.  Fill up on veggies and lean proteins with whole grains as a side dish. In addition, I usually do not do carbs after 4pm if I'm trying to get back on my regular routine.

3. Eat lots of veggies: Grab those green leafy vegetables and eat up.  Spinach is a great veggie to eat.  Spinach is low in calories, high in antioxidants and full of vitamins and minerals such as;  iron, potassium, Vitamin  B6 and B12 and folate to name a few.  It is also a good source of fiber and contains Omega 3's.  This veggie packs a huge punch.

4. Get in an extra workout: Rev up your metabolism and get that body moving.  It will help your body burn through any excess calories you consumed over the weekend.  Go a little more challenging on the weights and kick up that cardio.  Make it fun! Grab a friend and hit up a class like spinning at Go Cycle studios, run by the lake or hire a trainer for one session.  (You can contact me and I will fit you in).  The extra boost and change in routine will help motivate you to continue working on your goal.

5. Stay positive: It's easy to fall into the cycle of "oh, I just ate bad so I already ruined it.  It doesn't matter what I eat now".  Don't do it.  Let it go, and start fresh.  Keep that mind positive and focused on the goal.  Everyone has a setback once in a while.  In the whole scheme of your goal, it will not matter if you stop and refocus.  Go out there and get the body you've always wanted.

Now all you need to do is DO IT! 

Learn more by attending a meeting this week or reading this week's flyer

Live to be 100

Want to join the estimated 1 million people in the U.S. who are expected to have lived to 100 or older by the year 2050? Happily, recent scientific advances have made it more possible than ever to take control of the aging process. By following large population groups over many years, researchers have documented specific lifestyle changes that can extend life expectancy from one to eight years; add them together and you could gain 20 years or more. They range from the mundane -- flossing every day -- to the ambitious -- lowering your body mass index below 22.

And let's face it: When we know what works, we're much more likely to do it. Wouldn't you be less likely to skip your morning run knowing that vigorous exercise three times a week adds five years to your life? Well then, here you go. By reading this week's flyer and joining us for a healthbeat meeting, you'll be set to join the ranks of future centenarians.