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Showing posts from February, 2017

More is Not Always Better to Achieve Your Fitness Goals

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When it comes to fitness more isn't always better. Sometimes more exercise, supplementing more, and eating more protein can adversely affect our body. More is not better, better is better. Getting fit and maintaining a healthy body is a simple process. It really doesn't require more fitness foods or grueling workouts to reach our goals. All it takes is a consistent effort of eating right and exercise . Quality over quantity. Focused workouts utilizing differing energy systems of the body throughout the week is sufficient. What this means is mixing up cardio, weight training, core work and flexibility for a well-balanced program. Exercising at least 4-times per week is shown to maintain a healthy body according to research. Active rest days are a great way to have fun when not performing a structured workout. Enjoy being active and healthy is the point. Thinking about nutrition in a healthy way is also important. Eating more than is required of any macronutrient can backfire our...

Getting Fit Requires Breaking the Cycle of Bad Habits

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If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got .  Henry Ford  Getting fit requires breaking the cycle of bad habits that created an unhealthy body. That means taking responsibility for our fitness and doing what it takes to get healthy. Changing our habits can be tough because fitness doesn't magically happen. Ready for some hard work? Bad habits keep us trapped in a life of emotional stress , unhealthiness, and inability to move forward with self-improvement. Repeating unhealthy behaviors is not loving or respecting our body. In order to create good habits , ending the cycle of what you have always done will be the start of great things. Bad habit cycles can include poor eating habits, sedentary lifestyle, living unhealthy in general and being in denial about it. Many turn to alcohol , drugs, smoking , binge eating or not eating to cope with life. Our choices have created unhealthy people. Being in denial about bad habit cycles is a form of nonac...

When Pushing Through the Pain is Necessary

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Sometimes pushing through the pain is necessary. I am not talking about pain that doesn't feel right during exercise but referring to the emotional and mental pain all of us will experience in this life. Exercise definitely helps you through these times and is one of the most underutilized stress relievers. Suffering from a crisis like family illness, a death, divorce, or financial strain can sometimes hinder your mental and physical game. Stressful situations can cause many of you to place health and fitness on the back burner. We get so wrapped up in the pain of the event, emotional banks drained, that having the energy to put one foot in front of the other feels like an impossible task. It will be in these moments where taking care of your health is the most important. Eating right and exercise is shown to help reduce stress and boost energy levels. Often times pushing through the pain even when you don't want to is what helps keep you healthy emotionally and physically. It...

Keep Going When Fitness Feels Hard

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We all have hard stuff in life and days we just want to keep our heads tucked under the pillow. Of course, this isn't an option in most cases. What remains important is being able to navigate through everything with healthy responses, attitudes, and choices. I'm not immune to feeling the tough in life and this also includes my workouts. There are days I struggle with lack of motivation and would appreciate a hard push from a trainer to get me through. Not every day goes as planned and nutrition can get off track. Sometimes, it's ok to take a step back and away from the gym when you're tired and burned out. These are the days sitting in an Epsom salt bath may take priority. Your feelings are absolutely normal and not a reason to quit but to grow in a positive way. You get back up the next day and carry on. Life will have challenges and success comes from how you handle the discomfort. Building muscle is an uncomfortable process but you persevere to achieve a positive r...

Getting Fit is an Incredible Opportunity

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I read this motivation today and was instantly humbled and even more thankful for my health and fitness. This really puts fitness into perspective. Do we really have a right to complain about getting fit ? There are so many who are unable to lift their body from a wheelchair. Sometimes we can lose sight of what an incredible opportunity we have to get fit. Instead of looking at it as a burden, we should be spilling over with thankfulness for the opportunity. Do you have a working body?  I do, and although I may have some medical limitations, I appreciate what I can do with what I have. We live in a stressed up world and place much upon ourselves. We make life so busy that we're missing out on what is truly important . Health is a valuable gift we're supposed to take care of by what we do with our fitness. Getting fit and healthy is a privilege just the same as growing older. If our mindset is not focused on the important stuff, we will live a life of chaos not to mention crea...

A Healthy Lifestyle is the Only Way to True Fitness

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Trying to achieve the so-called perfect body causes many of us to take drastic measures. Whether from detox cleanses, extreme caloric restriction, surgical change of normal organ function, to outward cosmetic procedures. All those methods don't mean a thing if a healthy lifestyle is left out of the equation. No matter what you do, it's still about the lifestyle. Extreme measures without learning how to buy, cook and eat healthy foods  won't do it. Without regular exercise or nutrition knowledge, it's all wasted time and money. What happens when you reach the end of one of those popular restricted calorie shake diets? What did you learn? Are you prepared to eat right and educated with a lifelong nutrition program? What happens after a few fat cells have been sucked out (liposuction) and you are still hitting the pizza and donuts? The same goes for surgically altering your stomach with a band and still continuing to eat fries and drink soda. What has been learned? This is...

Follow Your Own Fitness Path for Life Long Results

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My daughter's 1st-grade teacher informed me she would always be a leader and not a follower. This still holds true 25-years later and such great advice. I think about her statement often and how it applies to health and fitness. We all need to be leaders and not followers when it comes to our fitness and health. Following the path of someone else with differing goals just doesn't make sense. We are all unique in body, mind, and spirit. My goal isn't to be you and I hope this is true on your end. I am a   skeptic when it comes to fitness miracles regardless of who is sharing the information. I refuse to follow the beliefs of others just because they heard it was the next best thing to sliced bread. Do you really think it's healthy to lose 20lbs in 5 days? That's craziness. I feel the same way about exercise programs. I review fitness trends before agreeing with advertised claims of it being the newest and best workout ever. What does impress me is solid research a...