Changing bad habits...

I just started reading this book "Banish Bad Habits Forever" by Vera Peiffer and I love it. Mike always makes fun of me for getting random self help books like this, but I always figure you can learn something new about yourself and who doesn't have at least one bad habit I ask you? I'm also a firm believer in positive thinking and self hypnosis and this book talks more about that too so it's a great blend of Mind/Body/Health which I find fascinating.

I've only read about 30 pages and I highly recommend it, but I'd like to share with you one bit of advice that I've taken away from it so far. It gives a great recommendation when trying to change habits to set daily goals and an immediate reward system. Instead of planning for months at a time or weeks ahead just plan day to day what you have to do and then reward yourself daily instead of just when you hit your ultimate/long term goal.

I'd like to apply this to working out. Often it's easy to say, "I'll work out today," and then when we don't we say, "Well I'll do it everyday for the rest of the week to make up for not doing it today." Most often than not this doesn't happen either. Then we go on to tell ourselves, "Well I'll start up again next week and be perfect from then on." Does this sound familiar to anyone?

This book suggests if you want to make a goal to work out do it just for that day and then set a reward to either watch your favorite TV show, read a book, take a hot bath, etc. Then tomorrow do it again. Eventually you'll be able to set bigger goals, but to initially start a new habit or break a bad habit this is what Peiffer recommends. I really like this way of thinking and I'm going to apply it to a few things that I want to work on and I hope you will too.

Funny workout machine...

Are these girls for real??? This is totally crazy. Even better it's $650. I think I'll stick with the gym. Hope you enjoy the laugh though.

"I be up in the gym just working on my fitness"

Fergy, Britney, JT, Christina, 50 Cent, Black Eyed Peas, Timberland...These are just a few of my favorites that I listen too when I'm working out. Now I love me some great mellow music, but not when I'm working out. To be honest I've never been able to figure out why people go to the gym and read a book. Next time you're at the gym take a look at those people and you'll notice they usually aren't going at a very fast pace.

After doing a little research there are studies that prove my theory to be true. What you are doing while working out can actually enhace your performance. A recent study showed that music can enhance endurance by 15% and help you enjoy your workout more. Another study I found suggests that listening to music while exercising helped to increase scores on a verbal fluency test among cardiac rehabilitation patients. There are also several websites dedicated just to this topic of working out and music. A few of my favorites were the top ten health benefits of working out to music you can find here and another website that maps out the best songs and playlists that will increase your pace and thus your overall beats per minute. Have a favorite song? Go to this website and see if it's at a fast enough pace for you to be working out to.

Take home message: Working out has to be fun and adding music to your routine is one more way to motivate and encourage you to keep going. My rule of thumb is to mix up my play list and get new tunes when I start to feel sluggish in my workouts. It's amazing what a few new songs can do!!! Give this tip a try and I guarantee you'll be looking like Fergalicious in no time.

Mini Meals

Just thought I'd give a quick reminder/challenge to eat mini meals through out the day. It seems like most people maybe get 3 meals if they're lucky. Best rule of thumb is to eat smaller meals that are more like snacks every 4 hours. By doing this you will actually speed your metabolism which will help you burn more calories just by eating. (Your body has to burn calories just to eat food and when you constantly fuel your body you will have an increase in your total calorie burn for the day.)

For those of you that still don't believe me I'd like to use my survivor example. If you were stranded on a island and were only eating once or twice a day your body would hold onto your body fat and not let you lose weight. Even if you're only eating 1000 calories or so. It doesn't make sense but it's true. Trade this with eating about 300 calories 5-6 times a day and you will likely lose weight and/or you won't be hungry anymore knowing that you can eat again in a few hours.

Challenge for the week: add mini meals to your day and notice the increase in energy and decrease in cravings and hunger pangs.

I'm Back...

I apologize to my viewers for my absence the last month and a half. Due to a recent move, vacation, lack of home/internet, and a busy schedule I haven't had much time to blog. I'm back though and I hope everyone missed me!

I have lots of great ideas for posts to come so keep checking back for those, but tonight I just want to share my feelings on new years resolutions specifically when they relate to one's health. I don't particularly like resolutions b/c it's something that people stop doing within a few weeks. When I worked at the gym I always hated how crowded it would get and how suddenly people were going from never working out to working out 6 times a week. Motivation soon dies and people fade away and another year goes by where everyone is overweight or unhappy with the way they look and feel.

My suggestion...Set a resolution everyday of your life to be healthy. Eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, take care of your body. It's the only one you'll get so treat it like the temple it is. Of course you'll have days or weeks where you might get off track, but tomorrow is another day and you can start over. I challenge you to look at your motivation and goals that you might have set earlier this year and break them down to a day to day thing so each day you succeed. Use these positive changes to keep you wanting to move forward and get better. Improve each day and make it a lifestyle. In time being healthy will be like brushing your teeth. Good luck and keep up the great work!!!

Tone Up!

Sorry I haven't had any posts recently. It's been a crazy time of year plus I'm moving. Anyhoo found this video and these are some great exercise you should try. They train multiple body parts at once which is great for a higher calorie burn. I would recommend doing each exercise 2-4 times with 15-20 reps.

Do it yourself...

Okay so I love these things. Snacks, treats, crackers, etc. made into these cute little 100 calorie packs so you won't overeat or overindulge. Whoever thought of these things was on the right track because our portions are out of control these days and we all know it's hard to eat only two cookies when the whole bag is sitting there staring at you. (Please tell me I'm not the only one this happens to!)

The only downside...you pay extra for the packaging and in these economic times who wants to pay 2-3 extra dollars when you don't have to. I say do it yourself. This is just a reminder that with a little bit of planning you can make the same thing at home and save lots of money in the process. So next time your at the store pick up some of the snack size Ziploc bags and start portioning out your favorite snacks ahead of time.


ADD MOMENT: Along these lines, if you want to read an interesting study on fast food portions click on this link. It's shocking to see how much extra food we consume now compared to just 20 years ago.