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Fitness Roadblocks - How We Sabotage Ourselves and How To Stop
Often with clients, I have heard them use words that are not flattering when they are speaking about themselves. This needs to stop. Our psyche, which is our subconscious, hears this and we feel worse and we get stuck which does not allow us to achieve our desired goals. Or, I hear my clients say “I can't”. The second those words are muttered, you have done yourself in! The words "I CAN'T" can not be a part of your vocabulary when you are talking about health and fitness. All negative words must be removed. You must address yourself with kind words, and watch what follows. You will be more likely to treat yourself and your body better and enjoy the good choices you are making, and as a side effect, avoid all of the fads and gimmicks out there. Many clients or people I meet seem to think the same things. They assume its all or nothing and that they will have to starve and train for hours. This is not the case, and this is not how I have arrived where I am physically. First, you have to resolve and make the choice which is the commitment to fix your various health issues. Eating clean for life, not a month. Exercise for life, not to fit into a dress. Make these positive changes because you know and believe it is good for you and you want to feel good. Once you have made the choice that health and fitness will be yours, then you're ready to start the next change. This change is one you will NEED to deal with quite aggressively. This step could very well be what is wreaking havoc on any program you attempt. Your negative mind!
Daily affirmations said out loud, while looking at yourself in a mirror is a very strong exercise. You will slowly feel better, happier, stronger, and that is just to name a few positive things that will come from doing this. Below, I have listed a few affirmations to get you started. You can adjust or add to the list as you become comfortable with this exercise. In the beginning you may have to repeat them several times in a day, only to saturate your brain with positive words and get you to a good place as fast as possible. During times when you feel you are having battles within or even with others in your life, excuse yourself and try anyone of these:
If you have been invited out to a party, a social gathering or any place where you are fearful that you may lose all will power and fall back into old traps, you may want to say a few of these several times before you head out the door:
If you are at one of these events and you feel weak, then simply step away, take a deep breath, reflect within and repeat some of these affirmations until you feel your strength coming back again. These affirmations will help you to be more loving, kind and patient with yourself. You must refrain from beating yourself up regarding your weight and remind yourself you are a work in progress and good things are happening. Don't ever look at yourself in the mirror and blurt out negative comments about your body. When the urge to do this comes on, you can try some of these:
These affirmations can help more than you could imagine. Give them a shot for three weeks and see what happens. Trust me, you will feel better about yourself and willing to make even more improvements
As previously stated, you must make a commitment to your exercise program. However, aside from that commitment there is another factor, just as important, which is consistency! If you remain consistent with your program, you leave your body no choice but to lose the excess fat. The excess fat on your body in a simplified term, is energy. The more consistent, on track and commitment you remain, you leave your body no choice but to burn the excess energy. I must mention, however, the type or intensity of the exercise does play a role in how quickly you will shed the pounds. A great type of training is cardio strength. With this type of training you are using dumbbells, or muscle ropes, or other equipment and executing dynamic moves that accelerate your heart rate and move many muscle groups simultaneously. My final note has to do with eating. To make it simple, eat all low glycemic foods. If you are unsure of what this means, I have written another article about complex carbs that explains these details or you can do your own research. Stay away from white flour and refined sugar. Focus on dense complex carbs that are high in fiber. A new grain that has popped up in the last couple of years is quinoa. Find it. Find recipes. I just cook it like I am cooking rice, chicken broth and olive oil. This power grain can really help your system finds it’s way back to the good place. Cut out soda, and juices sold at the store. Press your own juice. Eat more of your veggies raw. Eat 4 times a day with two snacks. Make sure you are getting at least 25 grams of fiber, and 64 ounces of water (more if you are more active). I have not given you a step by step week by week program but I have given you ideas and suggestions to get on the right path to make healthy changes. With this you can create and fine tune your own program and then make it a lifestyle. I also highly recommend that you keep researching more about diet and exercise so you can keep learning. We don’t realize how strong we are, how brave we are or how we have complete control over our bodies. We can truly make choices that will make us happier and maybe be an example for a friend who will decide they can too. I have had four children. I gained 70 pounds with my first child, then lost it all and gained 30 pounds with my second child. Then, lost it all again and gained another 50 pounds with my third child. Then, I lost the weight again and at 32 years old, I gained 25 pounds and I swear it was gone in about a month. By body has only improved. Today at 39 years old, I look better than I did when I was 19. I look better than 20 year olds that have never had babies. I know what it feels like. I know the effort and the positivity it takes. I know the drive and motivation you need, the energy and fire to push you and I am telling you, if I can do this, anyone can do this. We have different bodies due to our different environments and stressors but we are all the same. Same heart, same blood and same metabolism system. Sometimes, all we need to do is get back to the basics and treat ourselves right. Resolve to make the changes and stick with them. I am always just an email away, and I will help anyone who has made the effort to reach out and try to make sense out of all the garbage out there. It’s a new year! How about you make some new and permanent changes to live a healthier life!
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Lately
I have definitely noticed that it is becoming more and more of the
norm to find the easiest and fastest way. Fads, gimmick diets and
equipment are being marketed only to leave the naive consumer even
more discouraged, with a slower metabolism, and more excess body
fat. For some reason when it comes to weight loss, it is thought
that you need to spend countless hours in the gym and eat rabbit
food and then it will happen. This is far from what really happens.
You need to eat regular, complete and nutritionally dense meals
with snacks high in good fat and protein. But before this, before
I even dare mention exercise and diet, I think it would be a good
thing to speak about the mind, our thought process, how we address
ourselves, what we believe we can achieve and how, if done wrong,
these things can do us in.
You
must be so aware of what idle words are floating in your head, how
you address yourself, how you speak to others about yourself and
if you are afraid of pushing yourself to the appropriate line. If
decide right this moment that you will only use positive words when
speaking of or to yourself, and you will wipe any negative thought
and replace it with a positive one. If you do this, then you can
make a commitment with an exercise program and I believe you will
succeed.
Now
lets discuss exercise. The decision to start an exercise program
should have no end date. It should be a lifetime commitment. It
should not consume your life. But you need to carve out time every
day and do something healthy and active. You can start slow. If
you do too much, too fast then you risk injury or even burnout.
Neither of these is good. Your program should be complete. Aerobic,
anaerobic, agility and flexibility. To me, nothing is worse than
seeing a well defined body that can't swim five laps, run a mile,
or even do some of those dynamic movements that leave you out of
breath but feeling alive. Your program must be complete. 3 days
a week to start. But as your fitness level increases, increase the
intensity, frequency and duration. And do not forget to change it
up at least every 6 weeks. Our bodies acclimate and need to be given
new challenges.
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