Personal fitness is one of my ongoing challenges to balance in life. Last week, I wrote about how I am a "workout flunkie" and my pursuits of neighborhood fitness - with the help of personal trainer, Terry O'Hara. Most of us can't afford a personal trainer, yet the ideas, support and insights are real gems that have me rethinking the investment!
This week, I want to share her "Top Ten Tips" - and I'll bet you will be surprised they have nothing to do with money, struggle or pain:
1. Your mental image of yourself defines what you will work toward. What is your reason for getting out to exercise in the first place? Is it so your clothes fit better, or to be able to ski this winter without dying on the slopes? Developing a strong mental image that is specific and positive will help motivate and guide your decisions.
2. Nobody eats enough good food. This one is huge, as most of us are on a perpetual diet, and pride ourselves by not eating, or skimping along with a minimal meal in order to splurge later. Wrong! "By 1pm, you should have already eaten breakfast, a snack, lunch, and be getting ready for another small snack," said O'Hara. "You need to take a counter intuitive approach to your diet and until you start eating, the diet cycle can trap you."
3. Your body adapts to everything. This applies to your diet and exercise, or lack of it. If you start walking a route in your neighborhood and think you can just do that forever- wrong! Ever noticed you start on new cardio equipment at the gym and it is hard to get through 20 minutes, but after a month you are hardly out of breath? That means it is time to mix it up and do something new. Try rowing, or stairs.
4. The word "Carbs" is a misnomer for dieting. If you are taking all carbs out of your diet, you are depriving yourself of one of the four necessary nutrients for your body, as well as vital B complex vitamins and critical fiber. Complex carbs contain valuable nutrients responsible for energy production. Cut out the simple processed carbs like cookies or crackers, and replace with plenty of whole grains, oatmeal, or brown rice.
5. Memories dictate bad habits. Ever wonder why you buy the same things over and over again at the store? Do you buy chocolate Oreos because your mother did? "Time to change up the menu," says O'Hara. "Replace those frozen waffles with homemade with fresh blueberries, or forget the top ramen and make a quick soup that is simple and delicious."
6. Face up to your personal statistics. This one really woke me up. Rather than just knowing your weight on a scale or your size of clothes, do you know your body fat percentage, your basic heart rate or the number of maintenance calories you should be eating for your age? "For less than $100, you can hire a personal trainer one time, to help you assess exactly what you need to know," said O'Hara. Or, for absolutely free, O'Hara steers clients to the website: sparkpeople.com to get all your info and ideas on exercises to do. Check it out and get informed!
7. All or nothing exercise gets you nowhere, (or hurt). Lots of people are like me; the pants just get WAY to tight, so we all fired up about working out again, go out and buy new sneakers, and start running everyday like we are old pros. Then after a week, shin splints kick in, and then we quit. Others may hear about a new type of exercise, and try it without building up first, and get injured. O'Hara encourages starting with a solid, organized plan that can keep your progressing and organize a workout schedule you can use for the rest of your life.
8. We are not supposed to get weak and incapacitated as we get older. It is not true that we should stop being physically active as we age, but continue with cardio, resistance training and core building for a lifetime. Tennis, swimming, golf, yoga and power walking can be done forever.
9. It's all about PUSHUPS baby! Come on, be honest, how many "proper" pushups can you do? "If you can't do a push up properly, it means you lack core strength," explains O'Hara, "and that is the most important area to maintain for posture, back support, and ongoing health." For the ultimate challenge (and one that I am going to start myself) check out the One Hundred Pushups website for a full six week program to help you reach the seemingly impossible goal of being able to do 100 consecutive pushups. Wow!
10. There is a fountain of youth! "Strength in life is the fountain of youth," said O'Hara, "strength in keeping the muscles strong and building them, strength in what you choose to eat, strength in your character - it is the absolute secret to a long life."
Next week, to complete the three part series, O'Hara and I will talk about why "French women don't get fat" and more on the power of simple strength. What are some of your "Top Ten Tips" for the workout flunkies to get motivated, and inspired? Love to hear your comments below! Join the conversation, and click on "Become a Fan" to receive weekly updates of this post, and share on Facebook and Twitter.
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Good for you! that is so incredibly inspiring, and does speak to the power of creating a plan and just starting- and not stopping! What a great mental image of sliding into that dress! Congratulations
kari
There are essential amino acids and essential fatty acids but no essential carbohydrate. Though I don't believe in having no carbs, we can survive well without them (esquimos did). You should focus on getting high quality vegetables not grains. Grains actually rob you of B-Vitamins and more importantly produce high amounts of insulin which will in turn create cravings and push you towards insulin resistance.
Everything else was pretty good.
I do need to get my numbers, but for those on limited incomes without insurance, finding them out can be difficult. (Coping with CFS without insurance is also not that easy!) Any suggestions of free sources to get those vital numbers?
The mental image point, though, is excellent. No matter how much I want to, I will never again be a curvy young thing: I'm over sixty, I'm overweight, and I have asthma and CFS. So trying to get back down to 113 pounds, my weight when I married 35 years ago, is not realistic! But trying to picture myself as able to get things done, able to go through CostCo without wanting to collapse when I get out, et cetera, is realistic. I hope.
I chose that example because it's real-life for me; I drive into the city once or twice a month to do most of our shopping, since we live in a rural area. I refuse to allow myself to use the little motorized carts, even when my legs are screeching. But it would be nice not to be so exhausted by the time I get home that I can't cook dinner. Does this sound like a realistic goal?
BTW, the mere idea of a hundred push-ups makes my head spin!
A hundred push ups is more for those gym rats who need a new inspiration! Women have enough guilt as it is so don't let that discourage you. Starting slow, being outside, gentle walks, maybe joining a local YMCA or rec center with a pool- low resistance baby steps will go a long way to showing you that you can DO IT!
Good Luck!
Kari
We all love goals however if you have weight to lose, looking at that far off goal can be pretty demotivating. I like the fact that each time I check my resting heart rate, blood pressure, and cholesterol, check inches lost with my trainer, or can reach further past my toes there are incremental improvements. And every improvement counts - my trainer tells me that every session.
To anyone out there looking to build muscle, though, I can't stress enough how important it is to train on the Olympic-style lifts. These include exercises such as squats, bench press, deadlifts, and power cleans. They work several of your major muscle groups simultaneously, they require stability and coordination, and they burn huge amounts of calories. Working these large muscle groups also stimulates muscle growth everywhere else in your body. As another poster below mentioned, more muscle = more calories burned.
I highly recommend you pick up the book Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. My own personal goals were to gain weight and get strong, and in two months I've gained 14 lbs (174 to 188), I've upped my bench press to 275 lbs, squat to 335, and deadlift to 375, and still seeing gains every time I'm at the gym. I've never felt better. Your goals may not be the same as mine, but if you learn these lifts and perform them regularly, with good form, you'll be amazed at the progress you make.
Oh, and one last thing, eat lots.. but eat CLEAN! Don't be scared to eat fat either, it's essential, but don't get it from potato chips. Eat almonds, fish, eggs (yes, the yolk too).
That's all!
Ain't that the truth! I see people who eat 800 calories a day wondering why they feel so sluggish while working out. Eating too few calories is a great way to injure yourself, or quit working out all together.
"3) Your body adapts to everything."
Which is why shouldn't get stuck on their specific workout "routine". Constantly incorporate new exercises if not completely different training routines. If you're a gym person, try some outdoor routines. If you like to lift tons of weights, try using your body weight. If you're a cyclist, try running.
"4) The word "Carbs" is a misnomer for dieting,"
On top of that, carbs = delicious.
"9) It's all about PUSHUPS baby!"
Indeed. Indeed. Indeed. Single leg squats, too.
All in all, I can't believe how much I agree with this article. Superb job, Kari Henley.
1. Instead of giving up junk food being a deprivation, I say the mantra, "My body is too good for that crap."
2. Flavor, flavor, flavor. I have always been a good cook; now I am more creative. Again, it's not about what I am giving up, it is about what I am discovering and the challenge of creating delight from the unexpected. And I not only have to eliminate bad fat and refined carbs but also greatly reduce my salt intake! It's easy if you start with fresh ingredients -- fruits and veggies.
3. Don't eat if you are not hungry or don't eat an entire meal just because it's "meal time" and the stuff is on the plate. At the same time, don't get overly hungry. A dietitian told me that experiencing a bit of hunger is good -- it's a sign you body is metabolizing the food and when you are hungry, you should eat.
While weight lifting has such great benefits, I found that I grew bored with weight training, and stopped seeing as many results. A great change up, and all around workout I have been mixing in is isometric, own body weight workouts that incorporate cardio, stretching, right left brain movements, balance and more. You build longer, denser muscles and not bulky muscles. And these movements have the same if not better effect on bone density, which is a concern for us as we get older.
Some examples of these types of workouts are The Bar Method, and T-Tapp.
I also recommend partnering up with a friend or a few friends and hiring a trainer. Group training is a fantastic way to get a trainer's input, a great workout, AND save money.
My workout consists of weight training, concentrating each day on a group of muscles (upper body, abs, or lower body) followed by 30-45 minutes of interval cardio -- jogging, incline walking, eliptical, stairmaster, rowing or cycling. For each muscle, I have 4-5 different exercises I can do. I have one "day off" each week, but even on that day, I walk, take a leisurely bike ride, or a yoga class.
Be sure to stretch after every workout. Flexibility is as important as strength and cardio fitness, and can help prevent injury.
Pick a time each day that really works for you and put your workouts on your calendar. I work out early in the morning, before work. I keep healthy breakfast foods at my office (bran flakes, soy milk, fresh fruit, cottage cheese, hard boiled eggs, whole wheat bread) and pack my own lunch to (healthier and saves money which that pays for gym membership). I keep the gym bag packed with all my personal grooming necessities and select work clothes the night before.
Also, the Jon Gabriel method has been intriguing to me lately - understanding the influence of our mindset on the body's internal logic. Of course, exercise becomes part of the effective program.
What do you think of these two routes to health?
Meanwhile, I just ate French toast. :(
The stuff in your colon is not killing you and your pH is just fine. There are a hundred people that you can pay a thousand dollars for an easy path and simple answer. . That path is the yellow brick road to nowhere.
Juicing may be a way to go - the low carb thing is certainly very hard to sustain. The method we're told to follow (above) is helpful, too, but it's not the path for serious weight loss. A jump start is needed. Sometimes a jolt to the lifestyle helps, like getting a dog and having to walk him all the time.
One of the things that is frustrating is that those who tend to be heavier do diet often yet put on the most weight over time. They also usually have incredible will power - my aunt spent a year on a liquid protein diet. A year!
We'll see. I don't think there is only one path, though. Those who are overweight are aware that good nutrition and exercise are beneficial - it's just not as effective.
Boot camp-type living is great to push yourself, but unless you join the military, it's a battle to keep it up. I don't believe punishing exercise is necessary.