Archive for 3.Tips on how to Look Better (and be healthier)
Why You Exercise and why you really should
Posted by: | CommentsExercise is something you should do but don’t or don’t do enough of it regularly. People often feel guilty or worse rebellious. They stay in the state of pre-contemplation with the attitude of either “I can’t” or “I won’t”. Only 3 out of 10 Americans get any exercise regularly. Mostly we think about it, get over whelmed and don’t do it. Some of us think about it, wish we could, and 
then there on TV is an infomercial about a product – the butt/abs/whamydiddle guaranteed to make you look like your favorite movie star in less than 10 minutes a week. Now if your favorite movie star isn’t lying, they are working out with a personal trainer 2 hours a day and have a personal chef fix them just the right things to eat in order for them to look that way (not to mention their plastic surgeon). I recently saw someone who bought just the thing and got hurt by using it much more than recommended. The old “if a little is good, a lot is better” mind set. This type of exercise is aimed at one thing – LOOKING BETTER NAKED!
I even have a course with the name Recipe to Look Better Naked. I called it that because everyone gets out of their comfort zone to do just one thing – Look Better. A few people, the minority, do it because it is good for them. How about making exercise easier and more fun.
Harvard Health letter recently sent me an email about 10 reasons to work your body. Here are a few. You can check the Harvard Healthbeat site if you want to read them all. It is good to exercise regularly because, it lowers blood pressure, It reduces your risk of heart disease, diabetes and many cancers, boosts your immune system and adds years to your life.
Those are pretty good. The more fit you are, the better you look too. When you are fit and trim you look younger. But how are you to start and keep it up? Your motto should be, Start Low and Go Slow. If you haven’t done much in a while, just get moving. Do some balance exercises, stand on one foot during a commercial. Get a swiss ball – you know the kind – one of those big blue balls and just sit on it while a commercial is on or put it near a good light and read but maintain your posture. Tighten your ab muscles and your quads (the muscles on the front of your thighs) while sitting at a stop light. Tighten your butt muscles at the next one hard for 5 seconds 10 times. Act like a kid, walk a line heel to toe for a block or two, skip for a block or walk backwards in a safe place. Just start doing something for 10 commercials a day or for 10 minutes of your lunch time or any time you can regularly work into your schedule.
On my blog I have lots of references to products, especially books. Look in the category recommended products for them. I really like Richard Bradley’s book Quick Fit. Look at your time, and remove your excuses. Go to bed earlier, get more sleep and do something during commercial breaks. This is not to get you into Olympic condition, it is to get you into the habit of thinking about your health and wellness and taking possession of and responsibility for your body.
I would love to hear from you, leave me a comment. What is the most fun thing you do that you can call exercise? How long have you been doing it? I had an ER Medical Director that had run everyday for 15 straight years. He had tried treadmills but he burned them up. What do you do? Share some of your wisdom and discoveries with us.
While you are here, sign up to receive this blog’s articles or posts via email. The sign up form is to the right. I am thinking of holding a contest for the most referrals from 1 Jun 09 to 1 Dec 09. What do you think I should give away? What would motivate you? I am thinking an iPod touch for the most over 30 and some books or subscriptions like 3 months of Shrink Yourself for anyone who refers more than 20 and a gift certificate for anyone over 10. What do you think of these ideas?
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Self-Talk and Weight Loss
Posted by: | CommentsYour attempts to lose weight should be goal oriented and written as SMARRT goals. (You can find more on smarrt goals here 
on my blog) Any goal not written is just a wish. Once written, the goal needs a plan to accomplish it. This process of setting goals, writing plans, solving problems and monitoring yourself is called a system. The system is great, and most will work if based on good principles. The main ingredient that will determine success or failure is our self talk.
What we say to ourselves has the greatest influence on our level of accomplishment. We are usually our worst critic. Think of what you are currently trying to accomplish. Stop, take out a pen and piece of paper and write down anything you have said to yourself about this pursuit that was negative in the last two days. Most of us could make a list of things like you are “too old”, too “young”, too “inexperienced”, not “smart enough”, can’t do it because you have tried and failed before and on and on. You can probably come up with a list of 10 or more.
Unless you can become positive and your best cheer leader you will usually fall short of your goals. No matter how well written or how well planned, your goal will be less if you are not positive about it. Your ears need to hear your mouth say “you can do it.”
A good person to read on this subject is Dr. Shad Helmstetter. He is the original “Talk to your self Guru” I recommend you read more on this subject. I teach more about this in my e-course Recipe to Look Better Naked. It is written and audio materials arriving in your inbox each week for 6 weeks. Click on the course name to learn more.
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4 Steps to Improved Wellness
Posted by: | CommentsStep one in the wellness process is to consult with a Doctor. Have a physical done, you need one. You need to have your blood pressure checked, your weight recorded, your BMI (Body Mass Index) calculated, your blood sugar checked and your lipids evaluated at a minimum. You could fill out a PAR-Q to find out if you really need to see a Doctor if you are resistant to the idea. I include a PAR-Q in my course package Recipe to Look Better Naked.
Before a single problem is encountered you need a diet coach. This person will encourage you, help you solve problems, and hold you accountable. A professional like myself is a good choice but not required. A close family member or friend could do it. Another dieter in your program or someone from your church will work also. You will report your weight change weekly. Your coach will not be a critic but will encourage you, so choose wisely.
Now choose a diet. It needs to be one you can eat for the long term. No severe restrictions of food groups. Enough calories, 1200-1600 per day are necessary. Check multiple resources like a dietitian, Doctor, library, online or commercial program for copies of diets. Can you learn how to prepare the meals? Does it have enough of the foods you like for you to stick with it? All diets work the same, they use a restriction method or a counting method to lower daily calories. Be careful with the amount of sugars and carbohydrates on any diet.
You will need a system to track your eating. How much or portion sizes and tracking calories is essential to long term success. It is easy to forget the nibbles we take all day. I knew the cook in a restaurant who often said,”I don’t know why I am over-weight. I never have time to eat even one meal.” This was true, but the cook nibbled all day and much of it like deep-fried potatoes, breaded shrimp, pieces of cheese were quite high fat and the total added up to more calories than 3 meals would have contained.
I have left out exercise in this article. Your diet can get you quite a ways but exercise is step 5.
Some of these concepts may be a little ALIEN to you. Get more in depth information from my course Recipe to Look Better Naked. Check it out and if you aren’t sure, sign up for a free audio seminar and listen in, ask questions to decide if my style is something you like. You can even get me to do a custom seminar for you and 4 friends. Let me know how I can help you improve your wellness.
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One Exercise to Rule Them All
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I write about exercise and the need for high intensity exercise several days a week. Got very limied time? Not motivated to join a gym? I hear you. If you are able to touch your toes without strain and can see your toes when you look down, you are in good enough shape to start doing Burpees. What the heck is a Burpee? Lets let Mike of Dirty Jobs fame show and tell.
I started a 100day Burpee challenge. Day one was April 10 and I did one. Today is April 21 but you are reading this on a delay of 3 days or so. So on 21 Apr I am scheduled to do 12. I will do two sets of 6. On my last day, July 19, I will do 100 in that 24our day and I will film and post it here and on YouTube so you can see me do one set probably of 10.
The fascination came from an article about how prisoners in solitary confinement stay in shape in a small cell. Descending sets of Burpees is the answer. Starting with 20 at one end, they cross to the other side and do 19 then 18,17… You get the picture. Watch Mike do a couple then if you pass the above test, try a couple. I assume if you do you know you assume all risk, I’m not there and can’t say if you should or should not. If you try you will know what I am talking about. OK, click on the link to see this YouTube video on how to do a Burpee.
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What can a Wellness Coach do for You?
Posted by: | CommentsDefine Wellness. Stumped? I define it as the effect of your habits on your ability to live and enjoy life. If your habits facilitate lots of energy, resistance to illness, prevention of illness, inner peace, quick healing and rapid recovery from physical stress, and long term high level functioning of your mind then you have wellness.
Whoa! you say. No, don’t balk. Stay with me here. These habits can be learned, they can be practiced until like breathing, we suffer when we don’t do them. We do them without thinking about them because we discovered them, incorporated them, and made them our own.
A Coach can help you identify changes to habits, new habits and ways to adopt changes that will help you grow in the way you want and at the pace you set on your priorities. Tiger Woods hires a golf coach or more likely coaches. He then learns what he needs to know from each of them and puts it into his game with lots of practice. He is reamarkable but he does not win every time. He wins so much of the time, we expect him to do it every time.
You can be like Tiger Woods. You can get the coaches you need and icorporate the best into your life a little piece at a time. First you have to find the coach.
I am a wellness coach and a Physician Assistant. I am giving some free coaching to groups of friends. I call them Personal Empowerment Sessions. Through some down loadable guides and a live audio event which you can access by phone or on your computer, we will identify your wellness vision, your wellness position, what you want to do first, develop a plan and then via Email we will review the plan and tweak it , prepare to implement it and take action over 4 weeks.
I will do this for 4 groups of 5 people in the next 6 months. After that it will cost each person in a Group $60 for the 4 hours as part of a group. Individually there is a separate set of charges. Inquire if you are intersted in an individual plan.
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Wellness Tip of the Day #5
Posted by: | CommentsExercise is something most of us struggle with. We are inconsistent or we only do one low intensity exercise like jog day after day. It is important to do something but try mixing it up some. Exercise has very little to do with weight loss and a lot to do with maintaining a healthy body fat percentage.
Let me suggest several ways for you to maintain an exercise routine as a beginner and as a seasoned exercise veteran (someone who has maintained a regular level of exercise for longer than 6 months).
1. Begin by increasing your lifestyle exercise. Walk up a flight of steps or down two flights. Park across the lot from the store entrance and walk in. Take a walk on your lunch hour for 5-10 minutes. Track your progress with a pedometer. Ideally you should be walking 10000+ steps per day.
2. Start a simple program like Quick Fit. You can even warm up by doing some dance moves for 5 minutes.
3. Learn to dance. Line dancing, Contra Dancing, Swing Dancing, any kind of dancing on a regular basis. 15 minutes a day is a great start.
4. Think resistance – lifting and pulling – instead of running, walking. More muscle and stronger muscles are great to maintain a slim trim physique. Some ideas on how to do this follow.
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How do I lose one pound per week?
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This is a question I have been asked before and again by email recently. To answer it I need to talk about three different areas, technique, exercise and diet. So, let me start with technique.
Technique means things you implement to help you with the issue of will power, craving, desires, emotional eating, etc… These are things like note cards that contain your reasons for losing weight, answers to problems you encounter and retorts for negative thoughts you have. This is a way to be persistent through the difficulties. It helps you to be persistent in doing the things that help you lose weight – excess fat really- and then keep it off.
Exercise is a way to increase your basal metabolic rate. This is the greatest number of calories a person uses per day. If you have more muscle, you use more calories and it is easier to keep the weight off. Exercise is not very effective at helping you lose weight. It is effective at helping you keep it off.
Lastly lets talk about diet. The idea of diet is more than just not eating as much. It means controlling essential hormones like insulin and cortisol. This is done by controlling composition of the macro-nutrients like carbohydrates, fat, and protein. Some recent research flies in the face of traditional science and emphasizes reduction of carbohydrates instead of fat. Carbs stimulate insulin which stimulates fat storage and cholesterol production. You have to keep your insulin levels low and this means low carbohydrates. By low, it means 100 grams of carbohydrate per day or less.
Now, to lose a pound of fat, you have to use 3500 more calories than you consume. This is best done through a total reduction in calories but if you go low carb it won’t have to be so drastic a reduction in total calories. You might want to use some expert advice like Dr. Mike Eades who wrote Protein Power, which I strongly recommend. Dr. Eades book is linked below.
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Weight Loss – the Third Decision
Posted by: | CommentsThe first decision was what diet will you follow? The second decision was what exercise program will you follow? Now, the third decision to make is Who will you get to help you?
Your Coach, Friend or Mentor must be someone who will encourage you, give you a clear picture of how you are doing and not criticize you but who can be frank with you with out being critical. This person can be a friend, a partner who is doing the same thing at the same time (many people who participate in my programs on Thursday nights are coaching each other). This person is someone to whom you are accountable by choice. You check in at a pre-determined interval and report your successes and any failures. You don’t have to tell them how much you weigh, but how well you are doing and what your goal is. They might know lots about exercise, diet and fitness or not much. Preferably they either have done what you are trying to do, have helped others or have lots of common sense and have doen other things that took a long time and discipline to accomplish.
This is a critical choice and I believe along with others, that it is vital to do. So, who will it be, a friend, someone you know and respect that you can ask or will you hire someone like me? Wellness coaches can be expensive but I offer group rates, email rates, telephone rates and face to face rates. Coaches should have professional training and understand their limitations and be able to articulate those to you. They should hae experience in helping people in situations that often cause them to fail at doing tasks and completing goals crucial to their health.
It is up to you, but think carefully, and than find a person to help you with your Recipe to Look Better Naked.
Here is my YouTube video on the 3 Decisons
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Weight Loss – the second decision
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Once you have decided you need to lose weight you need to decide what you are going to do to tone and strengthen muscles and burn extra fat. It is all about burning calories and you have a big calorie burner on your side already. At the end of the article is an embedded video I made about beginning the process of losing excess fat.
BMR
BMR is your basal metabolic rate. It is the amount of calories you must consume to remain at your current weight and stay healthy. BMR is your largest caloric expenditure unless you are a super fit athlete. You can influence this by the amount of muscle you possess. So, exercise becomes your ally in increasing your BMR. As you lose weight your BMR decreases so you must reduce your calories accordingly or increase your activity significantly.
Estimating your BMR.
A good way to estimate your BMR is to multiply your weight in pounds by 10. I weigh 163 pounds. 10 x 163 = 1630 calories per day as my BMR.
If I weighed 153 it would be 1530 calories.
For activity and digestion add another .3 x BMR to .6 x BMR to estimate the rest of your caloric needs.
If you walk 30 minutes three times a week, multiply your BMR by .4. .1 is for digestion and .3 for activity.
Use the Google search box as a calculator by entering the numbers like this BMR or for me 1630*.4=.
* is the symbol for multiply.
The answer is 652 calories more.
You can see that if I just lie still all day I need 1630 calories to sustain me, if I am up and active and walk 30 minutes 3 times per week I burn another 652 calories per day for a total of 2282 calories per day to SUSTAIN my current weight.
How do I lose excess fat?
You must do two things to lose weight. First cut your calories. If 2282 will maintain my weight while exercising, I must cut the calories. If I reduce my calories per day to 2032 (250 calories per day less) I will lose 8 ounces per week or 2 pounds per month or about 26 pounds per year. Not much you say. Well, it is a habit that can be sustained over the long haul. If I need to lose 15 pounds to get my BMI (body mass index) below 25 which is the normal range (19-24.9) then I could do it by keeping my calories to around 2000 per day and walking 30 minutes 3 times per week. Second, if I want to speed this up, I can walk 5-7 times per week for 30 minutes.
How much is too much too fast?
Remember it isn’t weight loss that is hard. It is not letting the weight you lost find its way home to your body. Keeping the weight off is the part that challenges most of us. This requires us to change habits and that takes time and some good reasons. Most experts agree that 10% of your body weight over 6 months is a good goal and is very sustainable. It means you have established as a habit the behaviors for eating and exercise that will sustain you in your effort. Below is a video I made about the start of a weight loss program.
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