by IcennaEmach | Jan 24, 2011 | Uncategorized
Lifestyle change is about progress not perfection. Today is the 15th day of a 6 -week journey on the path to feeling good, looking good, and performing great at any age. We begin the 3rd week of our trip by exploring today’s mind connection- progress not perfection. But pause for a moment before continuing and ask yourself these 3 questions –
+What cardiovascular exercises have I engaged in this week?
+What muscular strength training exercises have I begun?
+What stretching exercises have I incorporated into my day?
Congratulations to those of you who are actively following
by putting healthy living into action! You are doing well!
Get Focused Review your commitment to the following powerful instigators of lifestyle change. Use a 1 to 5 rating with 1 being a low level of commitment and 5 a high level.
Tally each category.
Use the following to assess your commitment to changing your lifestyle behaviors –
n
Total of 20 – 25 Signifies a high level of commitment to lifestyle change. I am confident you will improve nicely on your own. If you feel the need for technical training, have fitness questions that need addressed, or if you believe you are ready for huge gains in physical fitness and energy levels, then seek out a health coach/trainer. Motivation can wane so seeking a trainer/coach is always an option if needed.
Total of 15 – 19 Indicates you have potential for making some improvements on your own, but should consider a health professional if a minimum score of 20 is not obtained within 3 weeks.
You are motivated but too little for big changes to occur. Often people whose motivation is at this level tend to vacillate between seeking the help of a professional and not seeking help. When opting for the latter, discouragement abounds and feelings of a failure often cause further inaction. Hiring a professional is an option to be considered sooner rather than later.
Total of 14 or Under Signifies a lack of motivation. Do not despair. Often an experienced coach will help you work through finding motivation. While it is true that only you can do the work, similar to many important tasks in life, the support of a trained professional can make the difference between success and failure. So if you lack commitment, if you lack motivation, consider continuing along the road to lifestyle changes by enlisting the aid of a trusted coach/trainer
Rate Yourself In Each Area Use movement as inspiration – Rating 1 – 5
Think progress not perfection – Rating 1 – 5
Focus on what really matters in weight loss Rating 1- 5
Weigh Yourself Daily Rating 1 – 5
Live Joyfully While Getting Fit 1 – 5
Total _______________
Be reflective. Be frank with yourself. Rate yourself now before focusing on this week’s mind connection number two.
Progress not Perfection Too often we expect perfection when seeking to lose weight.
“I’m going to lose weight. It’s going to be all or nothing. I do nothing halfway and this includes weight loss!”
These people typically fail. Complicating matters, this approach is often used as an excuse to stop trying to lose weight and get healthy.
“I’m a capable person. If I’m going to do this, it will be with gusto – exercising 2 hours a day and eating nothing but clean food. That’s just the way I am!”
Heroic? Questionable.
Perfectionism need not be used as an excuse for not persevering through lifestyle changes. We all fail in fully living up to our own ideal expectations. Those that assess and adapt their behaviors without judging too harshly will do well. Weight loss is not about being perfect. A persevering mindset is what matters.
This Week’s Plan/Review Assess your commitment, and act on plan by using the rating chart above. Continue designing a plan implementing the three types of activity; cardiovascular, muscular strength/endurance, and stretching. Remember, this is simply a beginning. There’s no hurry to figure things perfectly. You will figure it out as you go along. Most importantly, assess and revise -have fun-and eat less. I’ll see you back here soon.
by IcennaEmach | Jan 17, 2011 | Uncategorized
How did the first seven days on the road to weight loss go? Did you use movement for inspiration? Did you go for a long walk or hike, or take an exhilarating bike ride? If not, it is not too late to find inspiration through movement. Remember you are seeking progress, not perfection and that it is most important that you live joyfully while losing weight and getting fit.
A little perspective
We are inundated with snippets of health information. This overload of information, designed to enhance weight loss and healthy living practices often has the reverse effect. Don’t let this happen to you!
Get focused Last week I suggested you post five mind connections that are powerful instigators for not only losing weight but for living a healthful and vigorous lifestyle. Here are those five mind connections that are so beneficial for losing weight and implementing a smartly designed lifestyle change. If you have not posted them yet, go ahead and do so.
Review
Use movement as inspiration.
Think progress not perfection.
Focus on what really matters in weight loss.
Weigh Yourself Daily
Live Joyfully While Getting Fit
Movement as Inspiration On the opening day of my healthy living seminars, I encourage clients to begin their daily routines with exercise. The act of moving our bodies makes us feel better about ourselves It has the capacity to inspire a vision of how we want to live. It makes us feel better about our lives in general. Movement sparks in us a desire to do better at whatever we do!
One client of mine illustrates this ability of exercise to enhance her life when she tells the group, “I went for a walk yesterday and without even trying I ate less at dinner.” This is the power of what exercise can do.
“It makes me feel more alive”, says another member, “It makes me realize there are other things to do besides eating.” Don’t get me wrong”, she continues, “I still enjoy eating, and I know it’s ok to like to eat, but I am beginning to feel more satisfied and in control of how much I really need to eat. Eating is more enjoyable when you know you did a little work for it.”
This Week’s Plan Focus this week on finding an exercise plan that works for you. Remember, a little experimenting is in order. Do what you think might work, and tweak it as you go along. There’s nothing wrong with changing exercises or times of day you might implement them. Think of this time period as experimental. It’s impossible to know what works until you start.
What to Include in your plan Cardiovascular exercise
Aim for 30 – 60 minutes 3-4 days a week.
Includes exercises that work the heart muscle at an accelerated rate. Examples – biking, walking, rowing, skating, elliptical training, stairmaster. Aim for a minimum of 70 % of your THR by taking 220 – age and multiplying by .seventy five.
Muscular Strength and endurance exercise Aim for 2- 3 times a week hitting all the major muscle groups.
Includes exercises that enhance strength and endurance within various muscle groups. Examples include push ups, chair squats, back rows, over head shoulder presses, bicep curls, tricep extensions, and abdominal plank holds.
Stretching Exercises
Aim for daily stretching routine that hits all the major muscle groups. Examples include hamstring stretch, quadricep stretch, chest stretch, calf stretch, and torso side bends. For a more complete listing go to the bodysmart blog.
For this entire week, start designing a plan implementing the 3 types of activity mentioned: cardiovascular, muscular strength/endurance, and stretching. Remember that this is just a beginning. There’s no hurry to figure things perfectly. You’ll figure it out as you go along. Just get started. Realize you won’t be perfect. Have fun. Eat less. And I’ll see you back here in one week.
by IcennaEmach | Jan 10, 2011 | Uncategorized
Stop the nonsense! Today’s top health coaches believe the smart person’s way to fitness and weight loss is all about making meaningful connections. It appears the days are short lived for the “Do this – don’t do that kind of mentality.”
Healthy living, fitness, and weight loss are about bringing meaning to our lives. We are, I am happy to report, stopping the vicious cycle of nonsensical diets and exercise regimens that are so pervasive in our TV dominated culture.
Keyed to today’s consumer’s new attitude, this weekly six week series will get you feeling good, looking good, and losing weight. Created to put you in charge, this non-gimmicky approach is for those savvy readers who are weary of the tidbit dieting approach and are ready for a more authentic method called lifestyle change!. Here’s how we start.
Read the rest of today’s article to get an overview of the new attitude practices you’ll be using. Then for the entire week put no pressure on yourself other than reading the recommendations daily and allowing them to seep into your consciousness. Osmosis dieting? No! However, we have to set the stage for you to get your head on straight and thinking clearly. If you really feel compelled, make a few lifestyle changes but set no strict guidelines today.
Use movement as inspiration. The act of moving our bodies makes us feel better about ourselves. Movement has the capacity to inspire a vision of how we want to live. Movement makes us feel better in general. It sparks a desire to do better at whatever we do. This is the power of movement. Why not use it rather than some weight loss shake offered by promoters who know if they divert our attention long enough, they’ll make some sizable cash.
Think progress not perfection. Coach Kate Larsen said it best when she titled her book Progress Not Perfection: Your Journey Matters. Often seeking perfection in attaining weight loss sets us up for failure. Perfectionism should never be used as an excuse to stop trying. Do what is attainable and reachable realizing the goal is not to be perfect but to be persevering. After all, isn’t perfectionism just another word for quitter?.
Focus on what really matters in weight loss. Don’t be sidetracked about whether you should eat celery or carrots, more protein or vegetables. Don’t get hung up on dieting details. Here’s the only detail you need to know: You will lose weight if you eat three quarters to half of what you normally eat during most meals of the day. That’s it. Don’t clutter your minds with information that will not significantly cause weight reduction.
Weigh yourself again and again. It’s OK. A daily “weigh in” compels us to be aware. You will hear different opinions on this, but those who weigh themselves daily, lose weight. And the reason they do is that it forces them to be aware and make the necessary lifestyle changes. Weigh daily. Don’t be an afraidy cat.
Live joyfully while losing weight and getting fit. Sounds a little hokey but it’s true. Do not discount the impact positive living and attitude has on one’s ability to change. Make your life beautiful. Have a good time with family and friends! Cultivate a positive attitude. Your happiness will be your reward. Your positive attitude will ensure success
Next week I’ll expand on movement as inspiration. For this entire week make, lifestyle changes only if you feel compelled. Don’t worry about specifics. Just get going! And don’t get all-anxious. Fake it until you make it. We’ll take it one week at a time. I am confident you will be feeling good, looking good and performing great in much less time than it may have taken you in the past to lose weight – gain it back – then lose it again. You’ll look better too!
Until next week…
Our Wealth is in Our Health,
Kim
www.bodysmartinc.com
by IcennaEmach | Dec 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
The other day I was a guest at another club in town, and in the locker room there was a sign posted that read, ” Exercise helps us enjoy the things we love to do even more!”
The entire day that saying kept repeating in my head…. exercise helps us enjoy the things we love to do even more. . . .exercise helps us enjoy the things we love to do even more.
Those of you that know me well, know that I can’t seem to let something as simple as this saying just rest peacefully. It needs to be analyzed, scrutinized, and dissected to death!
I know what the author of this statement was suggesting. He was suggesting that having a healthy body makes everthing we love to do more fun, more enjoyable, less tiring, more meanigful. I know that. You know that. We all know that! I mean honestly, it’s too simple not to know. Who wouldn’t know that exercise and healthy living makes everything that much bettter!
Do We Really Know?
Hmmmm…..but do we really know the meaning of this simple statement? Here’s my question to you. Here’s my question to myself. “Does knowing and agreeing with the meaning of a viewpoint equate with doing the action? More clearly, let us ask ourselves if we ever tried to diet and or exercise, following all the literature quidelines for healthy living, and then just failed miserably after a few weeks?
How could this happen?
We read all the literature. It says eat an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. Eat fish, Eat whole grains. Eat legumes. Eat good heart healthy fats! Exercise daily. Strength train for bone and muscle health. Increase your flexibility. Do yoga. Reduce stress. Develop strong relationships. And the list goes on and on. You know all this! I know all this!
The Real Question
However, the real question we need to ask ourselves is this: “If we know all this, then why can’t we change?”
Here’s the answer. I hope you are ready. I’ll only say it once. Ok maybe twice. Ok, I’ll probably repeat it 10,000 more times, but that is it!
It’s not that we can’t change
We can change. Think about this. You are off to a good start knowing so much about healthy living. It’s a start though. That’s all. A beginning point for healthier living. Necessary? Absolutely.
The secret, if there is a secret, is in understanding fully that healthy living requires effort. In the beginning the effort will be quite demanding, but as behaviors change, life gets easier. It gets more fun. More invigorating. More interesting. And more satisfying by far.
If I may offer one suggestion it would be to cease looking for the magic bullet. There’s work to be done by all of us. Know that you are not alone in your efforts, so roll up your sleeves and get going. And, if by chance you need assistance in putting healthy living into action, you are in luck, as that is what I do. I’d be happy to help.
by IcennaEmach | Nov 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
Clients often ask me what is the best way to burn calories when exercising. There are several variables that can enhance fat burning and calorie expenditure increases such as intensity and duration of the cardiovascular activity. Such concrete factors as intensity and duration aimed at energy expenditure and weight loss are easy to figure once I have a cardiovascular baseline for a client. However, I am often reluctant to encourage a several times a week prolonged and intense workout for clients because what typically happens with those who desire the most intense and prolonged cardio programs aimed at weight loss is one of three things:
1. They typically eat an increased amount to reward themselves for the increased effort,thereby gaining weight instead of losing weight.
2. They cannot sustain the increased intensity and duration daily, and quickly become disenchanted with exercise all together.
3. They become injured predisposing themselves to a sedentary lifestyle and weight gain while the injury is healing.
In all three examples, even though the intent is to lose weight, the outcome is either weight gain or discontinuation of an activity that is not only helpful in controlling weight, but is also heart healthy.
If this is you, think about this, “How can you improve your health, while losing and or maintaining weight?” If you think about this question and answer honestly, you should conclude that weight loss is more than just working out as hard as you can day after day. Weight loss is about sensibility. It’s about meeting yourself where you are at now and progressing forward in a sensible manner that builds your level of confidence in losing weight.
There’s nothing new in this thinking but somewhere along the way of trying to transform ourselves into fit healthy, lean beings, we have given in to one sided approaches. Don’t let this be you.
Healthy living and weight loss is about living joyfully in the context of healthy progressions. You can start from wherever you may be and smartly implement common sense approaches that never fail. We all know what these are. They include portion control, moderate exercise, an emphasis on vegetables, fruits, whole grains and moderate amounts of lean meats, healthy fats, beans and fish.
You can do this. I will help. I’ll be happy to answer questions. E-mail me at [email protected]. I’ll look forward to it!
by IcennaEmach | Nov 22, 2010 | Uncategorized
Living Lean: Putting Healthy Living Into Action
Even though my field is health coaching and personal training, I get weary and uninspired by the tidbits of information that are available for free on even highly regarded, well researched, and prominent professional oriented websites.
This is not to undermine these sites, as I use them quite often as a resource. It is to suggest however, that we need to focus more thoughtfully on what matters most for us as health oriented individuals. Let me explain.
Reading But Not Doing the Work
Here’s what I believe is happening with the wealth of information we have access to on the internet. As consumers, we consistently look for the big breakthrough in losing weight and keeping it off. There’s nothing new about this. With our desire to lose weight, we put our energy into reading material about healthy living and weight loss, but without actually doing the work of cleaning up our eating habits and increasing our energy expenditure with exercise. The vast amount of information available to us has the effect of numbing us. This sea of information intended to increase consumer awareness and motivation often times causes the opposite effect.
Though we have the greatest access to information in history, unhealthy living and obesity are at epidemic proportions.
We Need to Make Sense of Information
As people we are cognitively driven to make sense of the world and so we succeed best when information is integrated systematically into our own lifestyle needs. We have an innate desire to live a healthy life. If you doubt this, ask yourself how many times you have stopped and started exercise and healthy eating programs? We want purpose, meaning, and a sense of systematic planning when it comes to most things that are important to us. Unfortunately, for most people who are aiming to lose weight or become healthier, these small bits of information only serve to distract them from carrying out a more thoughtful strategic plan that is necessary for long lasting behavior change.
What To Do?
What to do is the question. Many of us are good at what we do. We are driven, motivated, and have a system for succeeding at whatever it is we choose. So the question that you may have as a “dieter” is, “Why can’t I succeed at losing weight when I am competent in most other areas of my life?” This is a question worth taking a few minutes to analyze. Think about this – What makes you successful? It does not need to relate to money or fame, but only in what is important to you. If money and fame are important, that is o.k of course, but what I am striving to have you analyze is the idea that there is a strong correlation between strategic effort and success. Rarely does anyone succeed if a thoughtful plan is not put into action.
So Why Can’t I Lose Weight?
These tidbits of information that we have been flooded with for years now is just that- tidbits of information with no plan – no overall strategy – no meaning – and no real life changing purpose! Designed to help us? Of course! But prioritized and individualized for our unique motivations, strengths, weaknesses, and lifestyles – hardly.
We all have areas that we excel in and that comes easy and more naturally to us. We still of course have to work strategically, but it is work that gives us purpose, energy, and meaning in our lives. In these strength areas of our lives we’ve found value in goal setting, planning, strategizing, implementing, assessing and reassessing. These same skills need to be used to implement thoughtful planning and to design our own healthy lives.
We need to use our brains, exercise our willpower and take action.
We Stopped Believing
Somewhere in our society’s timeline we stopped believing that smart effort was required for being healthy. Regardless of why or how we came to believe this is really not important. As a health coach I prefer to look forward to what can be, and only reflect on the past to bring a sensibility to our future aspirations. And it is my hope to bring the energy I have in my work, to help you transform the vision you have of a leaner healthier body, and happier life, into the reality you deserve.
This is why I designed a healthy eating program that is all about sticking to a schedule, not having to figure a bunch of complicated stuff out and getting support from a professional without the hassle of scheduled in person meeting (but with all the accountability!)
