Keeping FIT is NOT always EASY!

Who are the people who are most effective at getting fit and healthy, and staying that way over time?   And who are the ones who no matter how hard they seem to try, continue to struggle with getting or keeping healthy?  Researchers continue to investigate these very questions and have come up with some key points about achieving and maintaining health and well-being.  Here are some pointers on getting and keeping fit and healthy.

Keeping fit and healthy– including daily and weekly exercise and eating a nutritious diet is NOT always EASY!  We know that in our busy world of work, commuting, family responsibilities, social events and the stress that accompanies all of this, maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be a huge challenge.  Have you ever commented on an acquaintance that seems to always manage to keep fit, look great and maintain a positive attitude - that he or she “doesn’t have to work very hard" at looking and feeling great?  Think again!  Chances are, if you interviewed that person, you would find out that a considerable commitment has been made to keeping healthy.  You would also find out that such a commitment comes with a price – be it time away from social events to work out or refusing delicious but incredibly unhealthy restaurant meals when out with friends or colleagues.

Keep a diary. Include what, when and where you eat and what, when and how you exercise.  Keep track of your stress levels and stressors during those times. Researchers know that when you keep track, you become more aware of your stress points, your habits, your emotionally vulnerable times as well as your caloric intake and time in exercise.  How does this help? Once you know your stress patterns, eating patterns and exercise patterns, you can establish a BASELINE and then develop your short and long term goals, based on your history and stress patterns.

Keep it fun.  We also know that if you do not ENJOY your workout, or consider at least a portion of your exercise regimen to be FUN, you won’t maintain your routine.  If you have friends who are runners and they love running, they will tell you that running is a rewarding and fun experience. In turn, if you run and positively hate it, the thought of it,  and dread going on a run, you are not likely to maintain your exercise regimen. In fact, you are probably adding more stress to your life by doing something you don’t like!  If you’re not sure what might work for you, try out different activities and give yourself a few weeks to decide.  Join yoga or Pilate’s group. You may enjoy dancing, hiking, playing tennis, taking long walks, or swimming.  Whatever  it is that brings enjoyment, do it and forget about routines or activities that cause you stress. Don’t forget variety in your workouts – include two or more activities into your routine - such as weight lifting and swimming to optimize your health.

Keep it a priority.  Whatever it takes to keep your health regimen a priority, do it! Schedule workout times into your Outlook calendar.  Make your food diary easily accessible; download an App if that makes it more do-able. Find ways to stay consistent and realize that you will have to sacrifice at times in order to maintain.  Soon you will realize what researchers know - keeping fit to counter stress – both psychologically and physiologically will help you to cope and feel good more often. Keeping fit to maintain your health, your sense of well being and your physical appearance will be the best reward of all.

Related articles

• Techniques to Cope With Stress and RA (webmd.com)
• 10 Sites with Free Workout Routines and Videos (johnisfit.com)
• Get in the Right Mindset to Exercise Regularly (everydayhealth.com)

Take a Risk! Jumpstart your goals for 2011!

     Are you one of many people who allow failure and rejection to shape your attitude and you then give up or limit your goals accordingly?  Establishing a goal is in essence, taking a risk, therefore setting yourself up for possible failure!  You cannot get ahead with any goals you set – whether they are personal and health related or career and professional related without taking an element of risk.  What is the difference then between those who continually fail and then finally give up and those who are successful?  You must accept that failure is sometimes inevitable; you must have faith in yourself  that you can achieve your goal and you must view the failure as another stepping stone to your success. 

     Think about your own life experiences and take some time to contemplate and reflect on your vulnerability to rejection and failure.  Make a list of the times you failed in achieving a personal goal.  Make another list of the times you failed in achieving a professional goal.  And make a final list of times you faced rejection. Are there common themes?  Do you know why you failed? Did you reflect on the experience or feedback and learn from it or did you turn away from your goal out of fear of more rejection?  Use your reflections to build a foundation for your next steps to reach your goal.  Know that getting ahead, reaching a goal and experiencing success can be fraught with failure and rejection and in spite of the difficulty, you must believe in yourself, your purpose, your goals and your eventual success in reaching them. As Gail Sheehy remarked:   “To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist!” 

Making Changes for the Better: 5 Tips!

When you consider your health in the New Year, what changes do you want to make for the better?  Below are five broad areas for you to consider. When wanting to set goals and make changes, most people spend a great deal of psychological and emotional energy at the pre-contemplation and contemplation stage. They know they want to move ahead, but they struggle with identifying and creating a plan.  The first step in overcoming this barrier is to IDENTIFY what it is you want to change.  For many, a great place to start is with the Number One area listed below. You can then find success in achieving goals summarized in the items Two through Five. Even though it might sound simplistic, once you move ahead and begin with discovery and identification of your current status, you have accomplished a big step in becoming healthier and happier in 2011.

1. Obtain Baselines and learn about my health status.
This involves moving past denial and includes learning all you can about your physical health. It involves a visit to your primary care or other physician to establish medical measures and baselines on your health status and includes weight, BMI, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and other tests determined by your physician.  This should also include identifying your family risk factors, identifying your social support needs, identifying your psychological challenges, identifying the stressors in your life and your coping challenges and style.

2. Achieve Improved Medical Measures and Outcomes. 
Once you know your health status and baselines, including BMI, weight, cholesterol, blood pressure readings, etc., you can now move toward establishing goals for improvement where needed.  This may include lowering your cholesterol, lowering your blood pressure, reducing your risk of stroke or cardiac illness, reducing familial risk factors.

3. Improve Levels of Exercise and Fitness
If you are like most people, your intention is to make exercise and fitness a priority, but the busyness of your life gets in the way.  Identify your exercise routines and activities, including how many days, minutes and type of exercise you are currently completing.   Keep an exercise and activity diary for 2-4 weeks. One you have a numerical count of what you actually do during the week, you can then decide on areas of improvement. This might include any or one of the following:  getting more exercise, getting regular exercise, doing aerobic activities, joining a yoga class, achieving a good fitness level,  increasing strength, increasing endurance, increasing flexibility, increasing energy levels.

4. Make Better Eating and Nutrition Choices
This might include eating smaller portions, eating out less frequently, eating less fast food, learning more about nutrition, eating more freshly prepared foods and meals. This also includes beginning with establishing your current eating lifestyle. Keep a food diary and include what you eat, when you eat, where you eat. Include when you feel hungry and what you are doing.   Once you have done this discovery process, you will be able to establish clearer and more doable goals in this area.

5. Improve Your Quality of Life
This might include learning new cognitive and behavioral strategies for coping with stress, taking small and healthy risks, reaching out to others, practicing authenticity, and using meditation and prayer to release your worries and achieve a sense of well-being.

Refresher Course for the New Year!

The New Year is a time for renewal: letting go of the past, reworking goals, looking ahead, and making changes for the better.   Most of what we determine to change or improve or even put behind us are not new goals, but a resurrecting of our old, unsuccessful or less than successful ones!  If this observation resonates with you, know that you are certainly not alone! This is the typical experience for most people. What is truly amazing is that we continue to return to our failures and difficulties, revisit them and determine to conquer them once and for all. 

Hooray for the human experience, in continuing to strive toward improvement!    Assess your own experience and look back at the times you have made a concerted effort and taken a certain level of risk to conquer a fear, release a sad memory, heal from the loss in a relationship or lose the 10 pounds after much determined effort.  Were you fully successful, never again needing to revisit your goals?   If you are like most people, even after experiencing the thrill of success or the peace of resolution, the residual remains and sometimes  returns with a true vengeance.  When this happens, we are frequently surprised and conflicted about how we could have felt so fully successful – and at peace - if only a few months ago!

Begin today to acknowledge that the goals, dreams and hopes you own are more a work in progress than a one time mark of success.  Allow your failures to support you and be willing to learn.  Reflect on your aspirations and work in small ways to reach your larger goal. If fear and history of failure haunt you, acknowledge your fears.

Begin today to:

Work toward one small part of a larger goal – you will feel more encouraged to continue on
toward your larger goal.

Acknowledge your past and integrate your knowing into the present.

Confront your fears and get help and support from others if you need.

Take even small risks such as speaking up in class or volunteering for an organization – or learning a new skill - as this can energize you.

Find creative ways to laugh and have fun.  Work on your sense of humor if you are not a natural!

Happy 2011!