In two hours I would . . . → Read More: Why we race?]]> This past Monday, the 4th of July, I found myself getting up at 6:00 a.m. to get ready for, of all things a race. A day off from work and no clients scheduled that morning presented the perfect opportunity to sleep in. Yet there I was up early getting ready to race.

In two hours I would be standing at the starting line of Murray’s Fun Days 4^th of July event. So what prompted me to enter, to relinquish the opportunity for rest and relaxation and instead challenge myself to run faster than as many of the other runners as possible? Why do we race? The answer is both simple and complicated.

I remember reading an article in my Sports Motivation class many years ago. The article by George Sheehan discussed this topic and I recall something that hit home. The quote, by Albert Camus says, “We are at home in our game, because it is the only place we know just what we are supposed to do.”

The reality is, we are hard-wired to compete. It is in competition where we find out who we are all over again, each time in new and refreshing way. I encourage you join in the fun. Who knows what you might discover?

The dictionary . . . → Read More: Success?]]> What does success mean to you? There are many indications of success that society recognizes. For some this means to have a high paying job, a beautiful home or drive a nice car. To others it may mean marrying a handsome man or beautiful woman, raising children and seeing them graduate from a prestigious university.

The dictionary defines success as, 1. “The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.” 2. “The gaining of fame or prosperity.” (www.thedictionary.com)

There are certain key words in this definition which deserve a closer look. What can we learn from these messages?

• The achievement of something implies a specific objective must have been established. To be successful you must have a goal to work toward.

• Something desired means you want it deeply. Desire is important as it keeps us motivated to work hard and stay the course, striving toward our goals.

• Planning is a must when it comes to achieving your objectives and ultimately to become successful. As the adage goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

• To attempt something means to take action. You can think about, even plan all you like but unless you take action success cannot be achieved. Nothing happens until something moves.

• The gaining of fame or prosperity, not just having it! It is not the fame or prosperity in itself that makes you successful, rather the process that you go through to obtain it.

All of these factors contribute to living a “successful life.” While someone can define components of success it is up to you to decide what really matters in your life. Perhaps John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach said it best, “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable off becoming.”

1. Start your day with exercise. The later in the day you schedule your activity the more likely something else (work, social function, etc.) will get in the . . . → Read More: Knowing Into Doing]]> Making the transition from knowing you need to be more active to becoming an active person can be difficult. Here are six ways make activity part of your life:

1. Start your day with exercise. The later in the day you schedule your activity the more likely something else (work, social function, etc.) will get in the way.

2. Set aside some space in your home for exercise or join a fitness center nearby to eliminate extra travel time to and from the club.

3. Seek guidance from a fitness professional that can help you start out right. After all, if you get injured you will become even more inactive and if you do not see much progress you may become discouraged.

4. Invite a friend to join you in your quest for greater health and fitness. A workout partner will help you both stay on track.

5. Build activity into your daily routine by walking more, taking the stairs instead of the elevator and playing recreational or competitive sports in your leisure time.

6. Exercising as little as 30 minutes a day (may be broken up into 10 minutes segments) will improve your health.  Do not have an all or none attitude: remember some is better than none and more is better than some.

Improving your eating habits is not easy, . . . → Read More: You Are What You Eat]]> Someone once said, “You are what you eat.” Since our body’s cells are continually dying off and new ones are being formed every second this saying is actually true. Mistakenly, in our fast food, junk food societies the building blocks we often provide for our body’s reformation are not ideal.

Improving your eating habits is not easy, but it can be done. The first step is taking an objective look what you currently eat and drink. One of the best tools you can use to get a clear picture is a food log.

Keeping a food log consists of writing down everything you each and drink for a series of days. I recommend doing this for a week or at least three consecutive weekdays and two weekend days. It is easy to have one “good” or “bad” day nutritionally speaking, but when you look at a five to seven days of intake you get a clear picture of how you are doing.

From the time you get up until the time you go to bed write down everything you eat and drink. Be specific and honest, if you don’t write something down correctly you are doing yourself a disservice. Basically if something goes in your mouth, write it down.

Be sure to include the following details:

• Record beverages such as alcohol, water, coffee (indicate decaf or regular), tea (type), soda pop (indicate sugar-free or regular), juices, or anything else you drink in ounces or liters.

• Record solid food in cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, etc.

• Provide brand names, recipe information and method of cooking (baked, fried, broiled, boiled, steamed, etc.)

• Indicate sizes for fresh fruits (small, medium or large).

• Time of day food is eaten.

• If you are doing some other activity while eating or drinking besides just sitting at the table record the activity (watching television, driving, etc.)

Once you have your records sit down with a nutritionist or qualified professional to review your results. There are numerous websites such as fitday.com where you can track calorie count, percentage of calories that come from protein, fat, and carbohydrate, vitamin/mineral content and more.

Small changes in your nutritional habits can make a big difference in how you look, feel, and perform. Do not try to change too much too soon. Pick one aspect of your eating habits that needs improvement and focus on that. Once you have that under control go to the next area. Don’t aim for perfection rather improvement and steady progress toward a more balanced nutritional plan.

There . . . → Read More: Laughter and Your Health]]> As the  Reader’s Digest’s featured section suggests, “Laughter is the Best Medicine.” Recent studies by the Journal of the American Medical Association have confirmed that, “A drastic difference exists between the general health and well being of people who enjoy a good hearty laugh regularly to those who do not share a similar sense of humor.”

There are times when the stresses of life can wreck havoc on our body. Essentials such as proper nutrition, mental and physical conditioning, a good night’s sleep and some light activity go a long way toward combating these stresses. However, if you are not experiencing a good hearty laugh on a regular basis you are not utilizing one of the most effective ways to protect your health.

Humorous material is available through a variety of medians: the internet, books, audio (compact disc/mp3), and DVDs to name a few. If you don’t have humorous material readily available I encourage you to get some. In the mean time here is a excerpt from one of my favorites, Dave Barry.

Beware: Carbohydrates will ruin your health

Dave Barry, The Miami Herald

Friday, March 26, 2004

I probably shouldn’t admit this to you younger readers, but when my generation was your age, we did some pretty stupid things. I’m talking about taking crazy risks. We drank water right from the tap. We used aspirin bottles that you could actually open with your bare hands. We bought appliances that were not festooned with helpful safety warnings such as: “Do not bathe with this toaster.” But for sheer insanity, the wildest thing we did was – prepare to be shocked – we deliberately ingested carbohydrates.

I know, I know. It was wrong. But we were young and foolish, and there was a lot of peer pressure. You’d be at a party, and there would be a lava lamp blooping away, and a Jimi Hendrix record playing (a “record” was a primitive compact disc that operated by static electricity). And then, when the mood was right, somebody would say: “You wanna do some ‘drates?” And the next thing you know, there’d be a bowl of pretzels going around, or crackers, or even potato chips.  And we’d put these things into our mouths and just…eat them.

I’m not proud of this. My only excuse was that we were ignorant. It’s not like now, when everybody knows how bad carbohydrates are, virtually every product is advertised as being “low-carb”, including beer, denture adhesives, floor wax, tires, life insurance, and Viagra. Back then, we had no idea. Nobody did! Our own mothers gave us bread!  Today, of course, nobody eats bread. People are terrified of all carbohydrates, as evidenced by the recent mass robbery at a midtown Manhattan restaurant, where 87 patrons turned their wallets over to a man armed only with a strand of No 8 spaghetti. (“Do what he says! He has pasta!’) The city of Beverly Hills has been evacuated twice this month because of reports – false; thank heavens – that terrorists had put a bagel in the water supply.

But as I say, in the old days we didn’t recognize the danger of carbohydrates. We believed that the reason you got fat was from eating “calories”, which are tiny units of measurement that cause food to taste good. When we wanted to lose weight, we went on low-calorie diets in which we ate only inedible foods such as celery, which is actually a building material, and grapefruit, which is nutritious but offers the same level of culinary satisfaction as chewing on an Odour Eater.

The problem with the low-calorie diet was that a normal human could stick to it for, at most, four hours, at which point he or she would have no biological choice but to sneak out to the garage and snork down an entire bag of Snickers, sometimes without removing the wrappers. So, nobody lost weight, and everybody felt guilty all the time. Many people, in desperation, turned to disco.

But then along came the bold food pioneer who invented the Atkins diet: Dr. Something Atkins. After decades of research on nutrition and weight gain – including the now-famous Hostess Ding Dong Diet Experiment, which resulted in a laboratory rat the size of a Plymouth Voyager – Atkins discovered an amazing thing: calories don’t matter! What matter are carbohydrates, which result when a carbo molecule and a hydrate molecule collide at high speeds and form tiny invisible doughnuts.

Atkins’ discovery meant that – incredible though it seemed – as long as you avoided carbohydrates, you could, without guilt, eat high-fat, high-calorie foods such as cheese, bacon, lard, pork rinds and whale. You could eat an entire pig, as long as the pig had not recently been exposed to bread.

At first, like other groundbreaking pioneers such as Galileo and Eminem, Atkins met with skepticism, even hostility.  The low-calorie foods industry went after him, big time. The Celery Growers’ Association hired a detective to – yes – stalk him. His car tires were repeatedly slashed by what police determined to be shards of Melba toast.

But Atkins persisted, because he had a dream – a dream that, someday, he would help the human race by selling it 427 million diet books. And he did, achieving vindication for his diet before his tragic demise.

But the Atkins diet lives on, helping millions of Americans to lose weight. The irony is, you can’t tell this by looking at actual Americans, who have, as a group, become so heavy that North America will soon be underwater as far inland as Denver. Which can only mean one thing:  you people are still sneaking Snickers. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Got any more?

Ida Scott Taylor

1820 – 1915, Author

So . . . → Read More: Worth Remembering?]]> “One day at a time – this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone: and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.”

Ida Scott Taylor

1820 – 1915, Author

So many of us waste precious time regretting the past and worrying about the future. I know that I have gone through periods of my life where this was true. I have also found this to be a tremendous waste of time and energy.

Gradually over the years I learned these important facts: the past is just that, over and done and statistically less than ten percent of what people worry about ever comes about.

The only thing we have control over is the here and now. Every moment is a gift. That is why it’s called the present. Don’t waste your time and energy regretting the past or fearing the future. Be intentional and take charge of your life today. Decide what it is you want to achieve and begin to condition your mind accordingly. Start making each day a day to remember.

For tips on how to condition your mind and body click here

Although every form of exercise has value, no matter how beneficial the activity may be without regular practice your results will be limited. Remember, the number one reason people give for . . . → Read More: The Best Type of Exericse?]]> Concerning exercise choice there is much debate as to the best: Strength vs. Cardio, Machines vs. Free weights, Yoga vs. Pilates, and the list goes on.

Although every form of exercise has value, no matter how beneficial the activity may be without regular practice your results will be limited. Remember, the number one reason people give for not being active is, “I don’t have time.” The time factor therefore must be considered.

From my perspective the “best” activities include the following criteria:

• Appropriate for all ages and fitness levels.
• You can do it anywhere: in your home, your hotel room, at the park, on the beach or at the local fitness or recreation center.
• Requires little or no equipment.
• Involves real-life movements: squatting, lifting, pushing, pulling, and rotating through a variety of ranges of motion.
• Easy to learn proper technique.
• Time efficient, total body workout in as little as 10 minutes.
• Enough variation to keep you from getting bored.
• Challenging enough to keep you motivated for a lifetime.
• Targets the main components of total body fitness: body composition, muscular strength, muscular endurance, balance, flexibility and cardiorespiratory fitness.
• Can do it alone, with a buddy or even in a group.
• Weather proof.
• Complements all other forms of activity.

The only activity that I have found to meet all of these requirements is: Bodyweight Exercise. Does that mean that all other forms of activity are useless? Of course not, in fact you will find a variety of other activities recommended in my program. So if you like to run, cycle, hike, swim, play racket sports or any other form of physical activity, by all means continue doing it. Just do it in conjunction with the movements taught in this program.

To learn more about my SMART FITTness program click here

Ashtanga utilizes . . . → Read More: Sun Salutation]]> Yoga has grown in popularity in recent years for a variety of reasons. Practicing yoga regularly, like other forms of bodyweight exercise helps you simultaneously built strength, endurance and flexibility. To improve the endurance aspects practice a form of yoga known as Ashtanga – a flowing style that keeps you moving at a more vigorous pace.

Ashtanga utilizes a series of 75 poses. The first part of this sequence is a group of 12 postures in a series known as Sun Salutations. Here is a website that includes step-by-step instructions so you may begin practicing these movements.

To get started click here