Survive a vacation without packing on the pounds

I've found that the excuse, "I'm on vacation," has been uttered about 151 times this last week. This excuse has been used to eat loads of fat-laden and high-calorie foods at nearly every meal, hit the snooze button instead of going for a morning run and used as an excuse to go to bed at an unearthly hour each night. Why is it that when our schedule or routine is shattered, even with something as fun as a vacation, our healthy habits get conveniently discarded? I'm going to nail it down to poor-planning. You don't have to gain 5-10 pounds every time you go on vacation if you spend a little time beforehand exploring your options. Think of it as part of the research and packing process.

Before you go: 

1) Find out if you'll have workout facilities available to you. Does the hotel you are staying at have a gym or pool? Are there walking/jogging paths nearby? Is there a park where you could do some outdoor exercises? (If you are planning to exercise outdoors, make sure you do some research and find some helpful exercise routines so you don't just wander around wasting your vacation time.)

2) Try to plan some heart-pumping activities during your vacation. Is there a nice mountain hike you could take? A scuba or snorkeling class? Could you rent some bikes and sight-see that way? Get creative, you'll be surprised how much your vacation could be enhanced by adding these activities in. The calorie-burning effects will just be an added bonus.

3) Don't forget to pack your exercise clothes! Make sure you bring all the necessary equipment that you'll need to work up a good sweat. Don't let this become your new excuse!

While on your vacation:

1) You don't need to get drinks, appetizers, a huge fatty entree and dessert at every meal. Of course there will be local cuisine that will be worth the calorie-splurge, but try to eat sensibly during the rest of your meals. 

2) Try to find some local produce or a farmer's market and stock up on some healthy snacks. Not only will the local food be healthier, but it will taste so much better than groceries that have been shipped from across the country.

3) Plan out your workouts. Usually early mornings work out best for me during a vacation (while the rest of my family sleeps in), but look over your schedule and make a plan. Write it down and keep these appointments as you would any other.

4) Have fun, but remember to keep your health in mind. Not only will you feel better and have more energy to enjoy your time away, but you won't get back with an extra five pounds as a souvenir.

Get your rest

This month has been extremely stressful for various reasons. I started to feel my body getting run-down and the stress of everything beginning to build up exponentially, despite my efforts to try and relax. It is easy for someone on the outside to say the words "manage your stress," but wow, when you are actually in the situation, it's not quite that easy. I have been trying to get very regular exercise and to eat well, but unfortunately it wasn't helping as much as usual. I was still tired and unfortunately for my husband, irritable. I knew what I was missing: my sleep. With the latest "adventures" being thrown at us, I was going to bed significantly later than normal, sleeping fitfully and waking up still exhausted.
Sleep is very nearly always the first thing to suffer when times get stressful and schedules get hectic, but in all actuality, it can be the very thing that will help the most. Sleep allows your body to recover, recuperate, and recharge. When that rest isn't happening, our bodies really take a toll and we wind up even more stressed, on-edge and yes, irritable. Not fun for anybody. Sleep helps with moodiness, energy, concentration, and your immune system. In order for the body to fight off disease and bacteria, it has to have rest. This explains why often when you are stressed and not sleeping well, you manage to get sick on top of it all.
Sleep deprivation can also affect weight and metabolism. Sleep releases a natural appetite suppressant called Leptin in our bodies, which can help keep your eating habits normal. When you aren't getting your rest, body processes and hormones can be altered, which can attribute to weight gain. Also, when your energy levels are lowered, it can be much, much harder to talk yourself into getting some decent exercise.
So, when you find yourself fending off stressful situations, make sure you are taking care of yourself. Eat healthy, unprocessed foods, get some exercise and most of all, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get some healthy hours of rest. Sleep tight!

Start today

I'm a procrastinator. I openly admit it. I'm not quite sure why I put my huge deadlines off until the last minute -- I mean, I hate having that stress and apprehension hanging over my head -- but it seems like time after time, I put it off until I can't start any later. In college, I'd wait until the night before to even brainstorm an IDEA for my project, but somehow, I seemed to pull it off. Which of course, enabled the cycle to continue because I knew from experience that somehow I would be able to do whatever it took to get everything done.

Weight loss and fitness goals however, are different. They can't be accomplished overnight and it takes a lot of hard work and planning to make strides in that department. Trust me, I know. I've had times where I've really wanted to look fabulous for a special event or reunion and of course, I didn't start kicking my exercise routine into high gear until the week before. Those are times that I keenly remember my procrastination habit biting me in the butt. 

I've started to work on this bad habit of mine and I've really been making a constant effort to not rely on "tomorrow" to bail me out. Especially with my fitness goals, "tomorrow" never seems to come. 

Start your healthy fitness and eating habits TODAY! Why not? Why do you have to wait until Monday? Why do you have to start "tomorrow." Start at dinner tonight by adding some vegetables to that plate. Take a walk around the block after dinner.

Also, give yourself time to reach your goals and be realistic! The kind of weight loss you see on reality TV shows is most likely not going to happen (Did you see Biggest Loser last night??? 30 lbs. in one week! It's incredible!). Like I said, not realistic. Be kind to yourself and don't set yourself up for failure. Start today and be content with slow and steady progress. That's the best way to make sure the healthy changes you are making are going to stick.

So, let's conquer our procrastination monsters together and get started on the things we need to do TODAY.

"Procrastination is opportunity's assassin." ~Victor Kiam

Make Wishes Become Goals

Ahhh, New Years and all that comes with it. Resolution time, new beginning time -- whatever you want to call it. I've had discussions with people who despise New Year's resolutions and those who faithfully make them every year. Those that feel like it's too much pressure to make a list of "improvements" and those that feel like the beginning of the year is the perfect time to sit down and write out some goals.
Me? I fit in the second category. I actually enjoy sitting down and evaluating how I'm doing and what I'd like to work on in the coming year. In some ways it is like the last year has been wiped clean and I can forget about the past and my shortcomings and start over fresh. I tend to beat myself up about my faults and bad habits, so at the beginning of the new year, I feel like I can put it all behind me and start over.
I used to sit down and write a huge list of everything I wanted to do, change, be, etc. But, as I've gotten older and hopefully, wiser, I've realized that those kind of lists did nothing but make me feel overwhelmed and discouraged. I didn't have a focus or a plan. Goals don't accomplish themselves, so if you write down a few things arbitrarily, with no idea as to how you are going to work on them, they are only "wishes." Trust me, I've had a lot of "wishes" and they've stayed that way unless I've laid out a plan. So if you're the list-making kind, here are a few steps that have helped me make my wishes become goals:
1) Break it down by category

I like to fit my goals into a few categories which usually include: Physical, Emotional, Spiritual, Financial, etc.  You can also break it up into roles: Home, Work, Community, etc. I've found that breaking it up into a few categories -- remember, not too many -- helps me to flesh out the different areas in my life that need attention and I can go from there.

2) Start writing down things in each category -- as many as you would like

 I usually write everything down that I can thing of in each category that I would like to change, improve, quit, etc. Don't worry about the number right now because the next step is:

3) Go through the list and whittle down the most important/ most realistic

Again, you don't want to overwhelm yourself, so find the couple of things that you are really committed to working on this year. The number is up to you -- I've had a couple years that I only had one or two things on my final list -- but be realistic about how much time you'll have this coming year and if you can devote some of that precious time to these goals.

4) Make a plan

This is probably the most important step of all. You need to figure out how you are going to accomplish these goals. Writing down "start a resistance training program" is not going to be effective unless you can be specific and write a game-plan. If you've never lifted a weight before, you can decide to hire a personal trainer for a while. You could buy an exercise video that incorporates resistance training. You could enlist the help of a friend or family member that is savvy in that area. It doesn't matter what the specific steps are, just find what will work for you.

5) Make your goal measurable

If one of your goals is to start a resistance training program, quantify it. Be specific about how you're going to accomplish it, but also how many times a week would you like to lift weights? Once, twice? If you put a number to it, you can look back and know whether you are on the right track or not. Measurable goals are far more likely to be accomplished than those that are just words on a page with no way to really see if you've made any progress. Instead of "start running" you could say "Run a 5K on May 14th" -- then SIGN UP for the race! Then you have a deadline and a measurable goal.

6) Evaluate more than once a year

If you wait until December 31st to review your New Year's resolutions, you'll probably be disappointed with the results. As you make your goals also write down a time a few months down the line to reevaluate how they're coming along. If you need to make changes, make them and move on.

As you make these goals, you don't have to do it exactly this way. I'm just putting this out there because this has worked for me. I need to see which goals are important to me, I need to have a way to measure them and usually I need a deadline. I guess I work better under the pressure. Do whatever works best for you and focus on those things that are the most important and worth the commitment. 

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

Pumping Iron

When beginning a resistance training program, it is easy to become overwhelmed with all the information floating out there about the "right way" to lift weights. Well, I'm happy to tell you that as long as you are doing it, lifting weights is going to benefit you -- provided that you have good form. It is smart to get help from someone who is highly knowledgeable in resistance training, like a personal trainer, if you have never lifted before. Even one or two sessions will really help.

However, if you have some experience with resistance training, I have some tips to help you depending on your specific goals. I've divided it up into three categories: 1) Building Muscle 2) Building Muscle and Endurance and 3) Muscle Endurance

Depending on what you are looking to accomplish, your repetitions and the amount of rest between sets makes a difference. Some like to do 12 reps of everything. That's fine, but that's not optimum if, for example, you're looking to mainly just put on a lot of muscle. Keep in mind your goals when you decide the weight and how many reps you want to do.

 

Goal #1: Build muscle

- Pick a weight that will only allow you to do 2-6 repetitions. Rest 2 to 5 minutes between doing another set.

Goal #2: Build muscle and endurance

-Choose a weight that will only allow you do 8-12 repetitions. Rest 90 seconds to 2 minutes between sets.

Goal #3: Muscle endurance

- Choose a weight that is a little lighter, that will allow you to do 15-20 repetitions. Be ready to do the next set within 30 seconds of the last one! There's not much rest allowed for this one.

When I talk about "choosing a weight", this might take a little experimentation to get it right. You may do your first set with the goal of 12 repetitions and finish them pretty easily. So for the next set, choose a bit heavier and try it again. The goal is to be really struggling with that last repetition, whether it is 6, 12 or 20. 

I always take a little notebook with me to the weight room and write down how much I lifted for each exercise. This saves time during the next workout because I have a pretty good idea of how much weight will get me to failure at the right repetition. Also, this allows me to see progress. 

The rest periods are important, but that doesn't mean you have to sit there for 2 to 6 minutes doing nothing. Move on to another exercise (that works another muscle group) and come back to the first exercise. The only one that doesn't really allow that is the straight muscle endurance group. You need to pretty much do your sets back to back. You don't have to do the exact same exercise back to back, but you need to work the same muscle group.

One last note: "Building Muscle" doesn't necessarily mean "bulking up". It can, if you are a guy and that is your goal, but 99.9% of girls will not get bulky from lifting heavy weights. Women just do not have the hormones (testosterone) to build that kind of muscle. So if you've been shying away from heavy lifting because you don't want to "get big". I urge you to add a little bit of heavy lifting into your regimen. Your body responds well to variety, so if all you do is light weight for 15-20 repetitions, your muscles will get used to it and the benefits will diminish. Add a few heavy lifting days in there once in a while to mix it up.

Good luck and if you have more questions, you can always e-mail me: fabulouslyfit@live.com

Don't Do It Alone

Losing weight or trying to become healthier can seem like a daunting task when it seems like every social event and every celebration is centered around the food. Holidays are just one big gorge-fest that last weeks sometimes and it can be really difficult to continually turn down your favorite treats time and again. So how do you keep those healthy aspirations intact?
FIND SUPPORT! You've probably heard this a million times, but it can be the most effective tool you have when you are trying to change your habits into healthier ones.

For most of my life, I was embarrassed to have anyone talking about my healthy eating habits. I didn't like people saying, "Oh, Emily won't eat that, she's a healthy eater," or "she's on a diet." It wasn't that I wouldn't eat it, I was choosing not to at that time. I've since gotten over my insecurities of having people notice my eating habits and have decided to look at it as a type of support system. My friends and family know that I like to eat healthy, non-processed food and because I've decided to be open about this, most of the time healthy food is available when it wouldn't have been otherwise. My friends think twice about adding extra butter or making ten varieties of dessert -- so really, I'm doing them a favor, right? ;) My point is, being upfront with your desire to eat a well-rounded diet with those closest to you will not only allow you to continue making better choices, but it can also help to influence those you love to make the better decisions as well.

For those who aren't surrounded with that type of support, there are other options. The internet is a fabulous tool for support. There are literally thousands of people on message boards across the world that are struggling with the same issues you are, or they have the same goals and you can tap into those support lines. I've read hundreds and hundreds of posts and some people's ideas for dealing with issues are GENIUS! You can join groups and track your progress, share ideas, bolster each other up during rough times and be a part of the journey of health. This can be done completely anonymously if you prefer, but in any case, you'll be able to have people there to cheer you on in even the smallest of accomplishment. The camaraderie that I've seen on some message boards has been astounding. 

There is support out there, you just have look for it. Don't be afraid to share something of yourself and put your struggles out there. We all have them, and I guarantee it'll be much easier to bust through those if you have a few cheerleaders in your corner.

Where do you go for support? Have you found it easier to let people know about your health goals?

Calorie Calculator

If you are trying to lose weight, working out is only half of the equation. If you really want to see the numbers go down on the bathroom scale, you MUST count calories! A lot of people say "Well, I'm just watching my portions..." What does that mean? Watching portions could still mean they are taking in thousands of calories more than they think they are. Watching portions will be fine if you are trying to maintain weight, but not for consistent weight loss.

How many calories are you supposed to eat? I recommend taking your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and try to stay in that range. I found a good website that will do the calculation for you:

http://www.hussman.org/fitness/bmrcalc.htm

Easy, eh? Write down what you are eating as you go through the day and I guarantee that you'll see results! But remember, consistency is key. A few days of being "good" won't negate a whole bad weekend.

One more note: For women, never take your caloric level below 1200 calories and for men, never below 1600. You will just slow down your metabolism, which will make it even harder to get the weight off! Not what your looking for.

Do you think counting calories is important for weight loss? Do you keep track of calories? Do you write what you eat down throughout the day?

Motivation

I hear this comment all the time: "I want to get in shape, but I just can't seem to get motivated." Sound familiar? Ya, I thought so.

So, I ask, what's the million dollar answer to this all-too-common complaint? Only you can answer that. I know, not the mind-blowing, insightful answer you were looking for. But, it is true. Only you know the reasons that you are looking to improve your physical fitness. There must be some reason that you have in the back of your mind the desire to start an exercise regimen. The desire is there, otherwise you wouldn't be complaining about a lack of motivation. The key is to delve deep down and figure out what hidden motivations you have that could spark such a change.

Take a piece of paper and write down all the reasons you want to be fit. Perhaps you are "tired of being tired," or you want to look great for your husband's Christmas party, or you want to check running a 5K off your "life list." Write every reason you can think of -- even if it sounds shallow or silly -- and as you do, you will begin to see your motivation beginning to take shape. 

Those reasons written down in black and white are your personal motivators. Try it. It will be eye-opening to realize just how many reasons you have to set that alarm just an hour earlier.

One on One

Tonight my husband is gone for the evening playing basketball with some friends as he is every Wednesday night, and while I was planning my menu for the day, I knew to take this detail into account. See, I've come to realize that late evenings alone without a plan are my downfall. Suddenly everything in the kitchen sounds heavenly and I have the ability to undo my entire day in one fell swoop. One moment of weakness. A second of "not caring anymore." Followed by the resulting guilt.

I think one of the most important things I've learned in the past few years about improving my health is to take the time to get to know myself. Find out when my resolve and willpower is strongest and of course, when it is less than stellar. 

This is my advice to you: Take some time, if you haven't already, to discover your strengths and weaknesses. If you have a tendency to talk yourself out of a good workout if you don't get it in first thing in the morning, do everything you can to make a plan to get it done in the morning. If you know you head for the vending machine every afternoon about 3 pm, pack some healthy snacks that can hold you over until dinner. If you know you don't get to the gym if you go home after work, pack your workout clothes the night before so you can head straight to the gym.

Take the time to notice your triggers and really listen to your body. We all have times our willpower falters -- no matter who you are. The trick is to not let those times keep you from success. Instead of the excuses, plan for your weakness and exploit your strengths. 

  

BEGINNING AN EXERCISE PROGRAM

Have you looked in the mirror lately and noticed that there is a bit more of you to love than there was last year? Have you complained to your best friend that "my dumb dryer has shrunk my pants again."  Or, maybe you've just finally decided it is time to get fit this year -- whatever the reason, you want to begin an exercise program. The trouble is, where do you start? With literally thousands of articles on health and fitness it can definitely feel a bit overwhelming if you've never consistently exercised before. Keep these simple tips in mind and before long, you'll be on your way to a healthier you!

Start slow: This is probably the number one mistake beginners make. If you collapse on your front porch after your workout that first day, chances are you are going to wake up with every muscle in your body screaming out in protest and your exercise program will be postponed...again. For the first couple of weeks, go easy on your body. I know, you want to feel like you've really done something after your workout, but if you push too hard in the beginning, your chances of sticking with the program will decrease significantly. So, start slowly, and gradually build up.

Be consistent: Consistency is absolutely key. You will only get the results you are striving for if you really commit to your decision and make it a real priority. This means for months and years, not weeks.

Measure the littlest successes: To keep you motivated, keep track of the progress you make and celebrate the little improvements. If walking a mile was initially challenging, and now you are regularly walking a few miles a day -- celebrate! Noticing your progress will help you see how far you've come and keep you motivated to keep going.

Make it fun: If running on the treadmill makes you sick with boredom, don't do it! Exercise can be fun! (Really!) Experiment a little and find some activities that will actually excite you. Sign up for a new class at your local gym, try a new sport or take advantage of some outdoor activities in your area.

Switch it up: This goes along with finding activities that you enjoy. If you are doing the same workout day after day, not only is your body going to adapt and burn less calories, but you are going to get mighty sick of the same boring routine. Try to find a few cardio workouts that you can rotate between to stave off monotony. Try something new every once in a while and keep your body guessing what is coming next!

Recruit some support: It will be easier to stick to a regular exercise program if you have someone or several people that are supportive and encouraging. Call your friends and tell them about your new activities. You may even convince a few to join you! Ask your spouse to help you stay motivated and give you a gentle nudge if you are slacking. If you know someone is interested in your success, you'll be a lot less likely to quit.

Once you start exercising and feeling the benefits, you'll be wondering why you didn't start sooner. If you are a true beginner, make sure you check with your doctor before beginning your exercise program. 

So, now is the time to get your health back. Have fun and get out there!