Swimming is a healthy activity with both physical and mental benefits. Increase your fitness with water exercise, be it lap swimming or water aerobics; besides the benefits to your heart, lungs, and muscles, you will feel better about yourself.
Take a break from your hectic daily schedule and enjoy playing at the beach on a hot summer day. Being able to swim also enhances your enjoyment of other recreational activities like , scuba diving, sailing, or rafting, even going to the beach.
Swimming is probably the most nearly perfect form of exercise. It is non-weight bearing and imposes no stress on the bones and joints; it improves cardiovascular conditioning; it is an effective weight-control exercise -- one hour of swimming burns about as many calories as running six miles in one hour; and it is a form of meditation that helps calm the nerves.
Swimming also uses most of the major muscle groups, and strengthens both the upper and lower body.
Be aware of the depth of the water and any potential hazards before going in. Know where the pool ladder and steps are. When swimming in the ocean or lakes, watch for rocks, pollution, currents, and sudden changes in water temperature.
Never swim alone, regardless of your skill level. Since pool chemicals can irritate and dry the skin, shower immediately after swimming and apply moisturizing lotion.
As you swim, think about a straight line from head to hips to legs. All parts of the stroke are integrally linked. Head position and kick determine how high you ride in the water. The timing of your breathing affects your alignment and also, to some extent, the path of your arms.
Keep your head straight down as you swim; roll your body both ways, even if you only breathe on one side; don't overkick or you will tire out your legs.
Alternate different strokes within the same workout to reduce boredom and work different muscle groups.
Warm up and stretch before swimming hard. A few minutes of stretching before and after swimming will make your stroke smoother and more efficient, and will help relieve muscle soreness.
After warming up and stretching, swim continuously for 10 minutes. Once you can do that comfortably, increase your swim time by 2 minutes every third session.
Then add in a set of 10 sprints of about 50 yards each. Rest for about 30 seconds in between sprints.
Do a total-body conditioning program. It is extremely important to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles to keep the shoulder joint tight, so make shoulder-strengthening exercises part of your regular workout routine.
Free weights allow you to isolate the rotator cuff muscles better than exercise machines.
Drink plenty of fluids before and after your workout. It's easy to become dehydrated, even during water workouts.
Swimming is good exercise (that's obvious). Swimming is a lifetime sport that benefits the body and the whole person!
But what is it that makes swimming good, specifically? That depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
Swimming is a healthy activity that can be continued for a lifetime - and the health benefits swimming offers for a lifetime are worth the effort it takes to get to the pool.
Why do you swim? For the health benefits to your heart and lungs?
For the chance to be with some of your friends at the pool? Because, in your case, running everyday hurts?
Because you like the feeling of floating and sliding through the water? Or is it something else?
If you are looking for a break from the heat of the summer, then a dip in the water is exactly what you need; swimming is a way for you to cool off.
It fills a wonderful recreational need for individuals and families, from beach and pool fun to water parks.
Maybe you are a runner, training on a regular basis, and want to find an activity that keeps your heart rate up but takes some of the impact stress off of your body. Perhaps you have been doing some other form of land exercise, and now an injury prevents you from putting weight on a knee or ankle.
Swimming can help you. Kicking workouts, water aerobics, pool running, or a regular swimming workout can all give you a great exercise session without the weight of your body pounding you with each move.
Regular swimming builds endurance, muscle strength and cardio-vascular fitness. It can serve as a cross-training element to your regular workouts. Before a land workout, you can use the pool for a warm-up session.
Swimming with increasing effort to gradually increase your heart rate and stimulate your muscle activity is easily accomplished in the water. After a land workout, swimming a few laps can help you cool-down, move blood through your muscles to help them recover, and help you relax as you glide through the water.
Swimming does burn calories at a rate of about 3 calories a mile per pound of bodyweight. If you weigh 150 lbs. and it takes you 30 minutes to swim one mile (1,760 yards or 1,600 meters), then you will be using about 900 calories in one hour.
However, many swimmers do not swim that quickly, and many cannot swim for that distance or duration.
Spending time in a group workout, whether water aerobics or a master's swim practice, is a great social outlet. Exchanging stories, challenging each other, and sharing in the hard work make swimming with others a rewarding experience.
There are other psychological benefit to swimming, if you allow it to occur.
Relax and swim with a very low effort. Let your mind wander, focusing on nothing but the rhythm of your stroke.
This form of meditation can help you gain a feeling of well-being, leaving your water session refreshed and ready to go on with the rest of your day. Many swimmers find an in-direct benefit form swimming.
They develop life skills such as sportsmanship, time-management, self-discipline, goal-setting, and an increased sense of self-worth through their participation in the sport. Swimmers seem to do better in school, in general terms, than non-swimmers as a group.
And I didn't mention the neat things chlorine and sun can do for the texture and color of your hair...
Well, What Do Say?
13 April 2007
Beginner Fitness Guide
Get fit with the beginners fitness guide, motivate yourself to your fitness goals
Get fit, the complete beginners fitness guide, motivate yourself to your fitness goals and start to build a better body totally free. Read on ..
The very thought of going from zero fitness and marshmallow softness to full stamina, firmness and energy can seem overwhelming - enough to make you want to lie down.
But even against the odds and the tide of excuses and a history of couch-potatoness, you can start. And you can continue.…into a regular routine of exercise. If you're at this point in your life, you're the right candidate for transformation. This plan just may be your best bet.
Change is an all-or-nothing proposition. You either do it, or you don't. You can't just exercise for 3 times one week, once the next week, take a couple of weeks off, go twice a week, and so on and expect to reap all the benefits.
Only a handful of people can get into a regular exercise routine by suddenly beginning to exercise. Something just clicks inside and they workout with energy, and they enjoy it. But for the other 95%, getting into a regular routine with exercise is not so easy.
For these people, beginning an exercise program comes in stages, step by step, many of which happen before you even slip on your workout shoes or enter the gym. The very fact that you're reading this article means that you're already in one of the important first stages.
And continuing to exercise regularly is also a process of change, a cycle of smooth sailing and bumpy seas. Fortunately, there are techniques that you can use to help you move to the next level.
Just be aware that the stage you are in changes all the time. Of course, once you know where you are, it's easy to see what's next. Here's how to get there….
Step 1: I don't want to exercise
If you are at this stage, you may be wondering what could possibly be done to get you to budge beyond it. Other people might be pressuring you, but IT'S UP TO YOU--you're the one who has to tie your shoes and go out for a walk.
And you don't even want to make the effort to think about it. Two things can offer a push:
Acquiring knowledge and whining.
Acquiring knowledge involves being open to facts and opinions concerning your state of fitness (or lack of it) and both the benefits of exercise and the health risks of not exercising.
The source of the information can be external--others observing that you don't exercise, loved ones confronting you about it, family members giving you newspaper or magazine articles about exercise.
Or it can be internal--watching TV or movies about sports, reading about exercise, learning about the psychology of why people don't exercise
In some cases, simply soaking up the incoming information can at least make you more likely to start thinking seriously about exercise, even if you have no intention of doing anything about it.
It could be, however, that despite the good efforts of your friends and relatives, the fact still remains that you don't want to exercise. And right now you simply may not be interested in gathering information.
So maybe you need to try venting and whining. This involves giving vent to the problem. You may complain about what happened the last time you tried to exercise ("Oh, that cramp I got! I was sore for days!") or all the things that kept you from working out ("I wanted to, but Janey had a dentist's appointment").
All this talking and complaining about the problem helps. It at least gets you thinking about exercising. It gets the wheels turning so that getting fit becomes a problem to be solved.
That is, if you CHOOSE to look at it that way.
Here's my rule for complainers: You have exactly TWO MINUTES to vent and complain. Ready? Go... (Tick, tock, tick, tock...) Okay, done. NOW GO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
It may seem that nothing is happening in the I Don't Want to Exercise stage, but the more you acquire knowledge and vent and whine, the more their effects can accumulate.
Step 2: Thinking about it
When you've reached this point, not only are you more aware that a problem exists, you're also seriously considering doing something about it. This is great progress, even if you haven't actually made a commitment to start.
In this stage, you're considering the pros and cons of starting, even if you haven't quite gotten yourself to plug in the treadmill. You're at the point where you might increase your physical activity or you might decide you're not quite ready for prime-time--or any other time--workouts and give it up for now.
In this stage, you know where you want to go and you may even know how to get there. But you can't quite cajole yourself into following through with any action. Acquiring knowledge and venting/whining can be helpful here, as well as two other techniques: role modeling and reinventing yourself.
Role modeling goes beyond acquiring knowledge. Here you closely observe someone you know, someone in the public eye or even some fictional character who might inspire you to fitness. You might chat with a friend who exercises regularly, or watch sporting events like the Olympics.
Who would be role models you respect and like? Pick some activity you might enjoy and watch a master of it. Once you open yourself up to the possibilities, you may be inspired to get moving yourself.
Reinventing yourself involves looking at yourself in a different way. This is the time to return to the power of fantasy. Try imagining yourself as an athlete or a dancer, or just someone who is really in shape. This is NOT silly; every champion from every walk of life had FIRST in his mind a dream of what s/he wanted to become.
Imagery could involve mentally picturing yourself as more flexible or thinner or whatever else exercise could help you with. Take three minutes, sit down, lean back, close your eyes and fantasize about anything physical that you want to try, like weight training, skiing, roller-blading, etc.
When it's over, how does it feel? If you imagined skiing, could you feel the wind? The crouch?
Did you see the hill, sun, snow, trees, other skiers? Could you feel the thrill in the pit of your stomach and your head when the run was through?
Make it happen in your mind. The brain is extraordinarily powerful. You can if you think you can, just like the Little Engine that Could.
Also, you can use imagery to conjure up a picture of yourself benefiting from exercise. Think of the thing exercise could help you with that is most important to you.
Could your joints be more flexible? Would you be happier 10 pounds lighter?
Close your eyes. Imagine yourself moving as you would like to move. Watch this in the theater of your mind for however long it interests you.
When you grow bored, stop, whether five seconds have passed or 10 minutes. Repeat this two or three times a day.
It's even possible that performing certain movements in your mind rehearses the motor pathways so that when you do try the actual movement, it'll be easier.
Step 3: Getting ready
This stage combines intending to change with making some small changes in behavior. In this stage, your intention and behavior crank up a notch.
This means more reinventing and imagery, plus some baby steps toward the real thing.
For example, exercising has been on your to-do list for years. After watching some fitness shows on TV, you fantasize about looking like the people in them.
Then you decide you could do those exercises. So you start making tapes of the shows to fit them in when your schedule permits. Plus, you're walking to work more frequently, when you used to take a cab or drive to work.
Step 4: Starting
This is when you begin exercising on a regular basis. But this is the stage where most people equate change, overlooking the other steps that are part of the process.
This is understandable, since in this fourth step you actually choose some type of exercise or group of activities and start working out. People can see that you've changed your behavior in order to overcome your comfort zone that has kept you from getting fit.
You appear to have gotten off your duff by committing time and--yes--energy.
This is the most challenging stage. Many people overdo it. Then if they hurt or exhaust themselves, they become discouraged and drop back to Step 1.
If you have begun exercising andkept at it for anywhere from a day to six months, you may think you're home free. Unfortunately, it's not so. For true change, you must also develop new habits and skills to keep from falling back and skills to deal with new problems.
One way to start is to announce to the world what you're about to undertake. Once you've publicly connected yourself with exercise, social support pushes you to keep the connection. If you stop, people may ask what happened, and you probably won't feel good about admitting failure.
Your pronouncement is your "coming out." It can involve very personal meanings and is different for each person. It often involves a dramatic statement or gesture that signals a break from the past.
You're declaring that the rest of your life will be different from your past. Your coming out could be as simple as buying your first pair of workout shoes or joining a gym.
Starting also involves making slight adjustments in your world. Move your exercise equipment to a more convenient location or join a gym that is on your way to or from work, or close enough to visit on your lunch hour, rather than one you have to make an effort to get to.
In this phase, you should give yourself plenty of positive reinforcement. Promise yourself a treat if you exercise today. Call a friend you haven't talked to in a while, or get tickets to some show or concert or ballgame you would like to see. Use your imagination to reward yourself for signs of progress.
Step 5: Keeping on
You know that you've been keeping on when you can successfully overcome new obstacles that get in the way and not lose the gains you've made in Step 4. Mastering this stage is crucial if exercising is to be an integral part of the rest of your life.
The techniques for keeping on are the sum of everything that got you this far. So whatever tricks work for you, use them. It doesn't matter if they're different from the ones that help your best friend or that work for Cindy Crawford.
Remember what we said earlier: The stage you're in changes all the time. You may work yourself all the way up to Step 5, but then you get sick or injured, or take a trip, or otherwise get distracted.
You may have fallen to Step 2. Maybe even to square one. Nothing magical about reaching the final Step 5 will keep you there. If you find yourself at some lower level, you have to use the techniques appropriate to that level to climb back up. Then you may have to use bits of them to keep on keeping on.
Good luck!
Well, What Do You Say?
Get fit, the complete beginners fitness guide, motivate yourself to your fitness goals and start to build a better body totally free. Read on ..
The very thought of going from zero fitness and marshmallow softness to full stamina, firmness and energy can seem overwhelming - enough to make you want to lie down.
But even against the odds and the tide of excuses and a history of couch-potatoness, you can start. And you can continue.…into a regular routine of exercise. If you're at this point in your life, you're the right candidate for transformation. This plan just may be your best bet.
Change is an all-or-nothing proposition. You either do it, or you don't. You can't just exercise for 3 times one week, once the next week, take a couple of weeks off, go twice a week, and so on and expect to reap all the benefits.
Only a handful of people can get into a regular exercise routine by suddenly beginning to exercise. Something just clicks inside and they workout with energy, and they enjoy it. But for the other 95%, getting into a regular routine with exercise is not so easy.
For these people, beginning an exercise program comes in stages, step by step, many of which happen before you even slip on your workout shoes or enter the gym. The very fact that you're reading this article means that you're already in one of the important first stages.
And continuing to exercise regularly is also a process of change, a cycle of smooth sailing and bumpy seas. Fortunately, there are techniques that you can use to help you move to the next level.
Just be aware that the stage you are in changes all the time. Of course, once you know where you are, it's easy to see what's next. Here's how to get there….
Step 1: I don't want to exercise
If you are at this stage, you may be wondering what could possibly be done to get you to budge beyond it. Other people might be pressuring you, but IT'S UP TO YOU--you're the one who has to tie your shoes and go out for a walk.
And you don't even want to make the effort to think about it. Two things can offer a push:
Acquiring knowledge and whining.
Acquiring knowledge involves being open to facts and opinions concerning your state of fitness (or lack of it) and both the benefits of exercise and the health risks of not exercising.
The source of the information can be external--others observing that you don't exercise, loved ones confronting you about it, family members giving you newspaper or magazine articles about exercise.
Or it can be internal--watching TV or movies about sports, reading about exercise, learning about the psychology of why people don't exercise
In some cases, simply soaking up the incoming information can at least make you more likely to start thinking seriously about exercise, even if you have no intention of doing anything about it.
It could be, however, that despite the good efforts of your friends and relatives, the fact still remains that you don't want to exercise. And right now you simply may not be interested in gathering information.
So maybe you need to try venting and whining. This involves giving vent to the problem. You may complain about what happened the last time you tried to exercise ("Oh, that cramp I got! I was sore for days!") or all the things that kept you from working out ("I wanted to, but Janey had a dentist's appointment").
All this talking and complaining about the problem helps. It at least gets you thinking about exercising. It gets the wheels turning so that getting fit becomes a problem to be solved.
That is, if you CHOOSE to look at it that way.
Here's my rule for complainers: You have exactly TWO MINUTES to vent and complain. Ready? Go... (Tick, tock, tick, tock...) Okay, done. NOW GO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
It may seem that nothing is happening in the I Don't Want to Exercise stage, but the more you acquire knowledge and vent and whine, the more their effects can accumulate.
Step 2: Thinking about it
When you've reached this point, not only are you more aware that a problem exists, you're also seriously considering doing something about it. This is great progress, even if you haven't actually made a commitment to start.
In this stage, you're considering the pros and cons of starting, even if you haven't quite gotten yourself to plug in the treadmill. You're at the point where you might increase your physical activity or you might decide you're not quite ready for prime-time--or any other time--workouts and give it up for now.
In this stage, you know where you want to go and you may even know how to get there. But you can't quite cajole yourself into following through with any action. Acquiring knowledge and venting/whining can be helpful here, as well as two other techniques: role modeling and reinventing yourself.
Role modeling goes beyond acquiring knowledge. Here you closely observe someone you know, someone in the public eye or even some fictional character who might inspire you to fitness. You might chat with a friend who exercises regularly, or watch sporting events like the Olympics.
Who would be role models you respect and like? Pick some activity you might enjoy and watch a master of it. Once you open yourself up to the possibilities, you may be inspired to get moving yourself.
Reinventing yourself involves looking at yourself in a different way. This is the time to return to the power of fantasy. Try imagining yourself as an athlete or a dancer, or just someone who is really in shape. This is NOT silly; every champion from every walk of life had FIRST in his mind a dream of what s/he wanted to become.
Imagery could involve mentally picturing yourself as more flexible or thinner or whatever else exercise could help you with. Take three minutes, sit down, lean back, close your eyes and fantasize about anything physical that you want to try, like weight training, skiing, roller-blading, etc.
Just do it.
When it's over, how does it feel? If you imagined skiing, could you feel the wind? The crouch?
Did you see the hill, sun, snow, trees, other skiers? Could you feel the thrill in the pit of your stomach and your head when the run was through?
Make it happen in your mind. The brain is extraordinarily powerful. You can if you think you can, just like the Little Engine that Could.
Also, you can use imagery to conjure up a picture of yourself benefiting from exercise. Think of the thing exercise could help you with that is most important to you.
Could your joints be more flexible? Would you be happier 10 pounds lighter?
Close your eyes. Imagine yourself moving as you would like to move. Watch this in the theater of your mind for however long it interests you.
When you grow bored, stop, whether five seconds have passed or 10 minutes. Repeat this two or three times a day.
It's even possible that performing certain movements in your mind rehearses the motor pathways so that when you do try the actual movement, it'll be easier.
Step 3: Getting ready
This stage combines intending to change with making some small changes in behavior. In this stage, your intention and behavior crank up a notch.
This means more reinventing and imagery, plus some baby steps toward the real thing.
For example, exercising has been on your to-do list for years. After watching some fitness shows on TV, you fantasize about looking like the people in them.
Then you decide you could do those exercises. So you start making tapes of the shows to fit them in when your schedule permits. Plus, you're walking to work more frequently, when you used to take a cab or drive to work.
Step 4: Starting
This is when you begin exercising on a regular basis. But this is the stage where most people equate change, overlooking the other steps that are part of the process.
This is understandable, since in this fourth step you actually choose some type of exercise or group of activities and start working out. People can see that you've changed your behavior in order to overcome your comfort zone that has kept you from getting fit.
You appear to have gotten off your duff by committing time and--yes--energy.
This is the most challenging stage. Many people overdo it. Then if they hurt or exhaust themselves, they become discouraged and drop back to Step 1.
If you have begun exercising andkept at it for anywhere from a day to six months, you may think you're home free. Unfortunately, it's not so. For true change, you must also develop new habits and skills to keep from falling back and skills to deal with new problems.
One way to start is to announce to the world what you're about to undertake. Once you've publicly connected yourself with exercise, social support pushes you to keep the connection. If you stop, people may ask what happened, and you probably won't feel good about admitting failure.
Your pronouncement is your "coming out." It can involve very personal meanings and is different for each person. It often involves a dramatic statement or gesture that signals a break from the past.
You're declaring that the rest of your life will be different from your past. Your coming out could be as simple as buying your first pair of workout shoes or joining a gym.
Starting also involves making slight adjustments in your world. Move your exercise equipment to a more convenient location or join a gym that is on your way to or from work, or close enough to visit on your lunch hour, rather than one you have to make an effort to get to.
In this phase, you should give yourself plenty of positive reinforcement. Promise yourself a treat if you exercise today. Call a friend you haven't talked to in a while, or get tickets to some show or concert or ballgame you would like to see. Use your imagination to reward yourself for signs of progress.
Step 5: Keeping on
You know that you've been keeping on when you can successfully overcome new obstacles that get in the way and not lose the gains you've made in Step 4. Mastering this stage is crucial if exercising is to be an integral part of the rest of your life.
The techniques for keeping on are the sum of everything that got you this far. So whatever tricks work for you, use them. It doesn't matter if they're different from the ones that help your best friend or that work for Cindy Crawford.
Remember what we said earlier: The stage you're in changes all the time. You may work yourself all the way up to Step 5, but then you get sick or injured, or take a trip, or otherwise get distracted.
You may have fallen to Step 2. Maybe even to square one. Nothing magical about reaching the final Step 5 will keep you there. If you find yourself at some lower level, you have to use the techniques appropriate to that level to climb back up. Then you may have to use bits of them to keep on keeping on.
Good luck!
Well, What Do You Say?
10 Basic Fitness Tips
With top 10 basic fitness tips, these fitness tips will keep you strong,fit,add years to your life and boost your confidence.
First of all, do you ever feel like you can never get ahead of the health and fitness game?
You and I both know there is so much information out there - heck, even the news reports can't make up their minds.
These tips, if followed consistently, will add years to your life, keep you fit, strong, and energized, plus offer a boost in confidence.
1. Move it or lose it (the no-brainer).
30 minutes of exercise daily. I mean at least 30 minutes (up to 60) of pushing your body beyond what it's used to doing. I can just imagine some of you frowning, thinking that you must put yourself through some torturous workouts. Not at all.
Slash your odds for a number of killer diseases and rev up your metabolism with aerobic conditioning and strength training and slow down (or reverse, to an extent) the aging process.
2. Stop putting up with stuff that's holding you back from being healthy, fit, and energized.
Why waste your happiness, health, time, and energy when you don't need to in the first place?
Putting up with things is good for no one. Make a list of ten things you're tolerating at home. TAKE ACTION NOW to eliminate these items.
Be sure to eliminate the SOURCE of the toleration. Do this same exercise for your workplace. Understand that you're "juiced" by tolerating things. Be willing and committed to being toleration-free. STOP COMPLAINING and get to work on this.
3. Fruits and Vegetables
Get five to seven servings of fruits and veggies a day.
Not only do they reduce your risk of getting some forms of cancer, they are heart healthy, and give you more nutrition-bang for your buck. Plus with the added fiber, you feel fuller even when you're eating less. So fruits and veggies are waistline-friendly.
4. Simplify your life, immediately.
Our lives are too jam-packed with projects, goals, ideas, coulds, shoulds, have-to's, commitments, concerns, obligations. hew!
Ask yourself:
Why is my life so busy?
Why have I chosen to do so much?
What am I building with my current lifestyle?
Is there a future to it?
Is that future costing me my present?
What am I missing out on about myself because of my current lifestyle?
Start by cutting out 3 projects, tasks, responsibilities, shoulds, coulds, wants, goals, etc. that are not necessary. Eliminate, delegate, or make a system for 12 tasks that are sucking your energy stores dry.
When you think of something you "have to do," stop and ask yourself why you have to do it. You probably don't.
5. Take a multi-vitamin.
Your insurance policy to get the nutrition your body craves. Anti-oxidants. Calcium. Folic acid. The whole gamut of vitamins and minerals to build stronger bones, maximize your metabolism, boost energy, feed muscles, etc.
6. Create and use 10 Daily Habits.
There is a daily routine which will keep you focused, clear, motivated, and moving forward - your 10 Daily Habits. These are the things you do each day which make your life better.
Choose habits that you WANT to do. There is no place for shoulds or coulds in your 10 daily habits. Instead select or design daily habits which you look forward to and give you pleasure.
Choose habits that GIVE YOU ENERGY. Most of the 10 daily habits that actually work for people are the ones that add to the person's well-being or energy flow. It might mean that you do something like have 6 veggies a day, no TV after dinner, 20 minutes of vigorous exercise, make 5 sales.
Modify your 10 daily habits as needed. It takes some fine-tuning to have the 10 habits that work best for you. If you find yourself not doing one or two of your habits, change or replace them with ones which come naturally.
7. Get Your Sleep Time arranged.
Depriving yourself of sleep (okay, I'm guilty of this, too) not only makes you grumpy and less productive but may also age you prematurely and promote serious illnesses like diabetes and hypertension. Shoot for a steady 7-8 hours each night.
8. Come from a better place - improve your attitude.
Stop trying to change your behavior. Instead, start shifting on the inside.
Saying things like, "I will stop eating sugar," "No eating after 7 PM," "I will only eat foods that nourish me," or "I am going to work out daily, starting Monday," the focus is on what you want/need to change.
Contrast that with, "I am someone who takes care of my body," "I am someone who associates with healthy people," "My day orients around my well-being and exercise," "I have better things to do than eat junk food," "I need my energy to accomplish my goals."
See the difference? The second set of statements focuses on WHO YOU ARE and what you want in your life, not just the change you want to make. This shift is more than just paying lip service to the first set of statements. It calls for action to show your commitment. When you shift who you are, things naturally look different, and the results are obvious.
9. Feed your body well, and feed it often.
If you want plenty of energy in addition to boosting your metabolism, 2 or 3 meals a day just won't do it. Spread your meals throughout the day (4-6), balance them with protein, fruits and veggies, and a little bit of good fats such as walnuts or almonds, or oils like olive or safflower, and your body will be a well-oiled, leaner, energized, peak-performing machine.
10. Drink A Lot Of your water!
Drink at least eight glasses of water a day - even a slight dehydration can make you feel lethargic. Maximize your liver's fat-metabolizing ability by drinking more water so that it's not working overtime to detoxify your body. Control your weight and appetite.
Ladies: You may even lower your risk of colon cancer!
11. Raise your standards.
How many of you would like to feel very, very good about yourself, and others, too? Be irresistibly attractive to high quality people? Have "high-as-a-kite" self-esteem and self-worth?
Find a role model whose qualities and behavior you admire. Don't try to reinvent the wheel; what standards could you raise so you can be more like them, and still fit you?
Stop gossiping, good or bad, about anyone. Remember, no coulds or shoulds. These standards must be YOU; you must be ready for them.
Remember, too, that these standards are a choice. Put people and relationships ahead of results. And always have a reserve of time, money, love, and well-being.
First of all, do you ever feel like you can never get ahead of the health and fitness game?
You and I both know there is so much information out there - heck, even the news reports can't make up their minds.
These tips, if followed consistently, will add years to your life, keep you fit, strong, and energized, plus offer a boost in confidence.
1. Move it or lose it (the no-brainer).
30 minutes of exercise daily. I mean at least 30 minutes (up to 60) of pushing your body beyond what it's used to doing. I can just imagine some of you frowning, thinking that you must put yourself through some torturous workouts. Not at all.
Slash your odds for a number of killer diseases and rev up your metabolism with aerobic conditioning and strength training and slow down (or reverse, to an extent) the aging process.
2. Stop putting up with stuff that's holding you back from being healthy, fit, and energized.
Why waste your happiness, health, time, and energy when you don't need to in the first place?
Putting up with things is good for no one. Make a list of ten things you're tolerating at home. TAKE ACTION NOW to eliminate these items.
Be sure to eliminate the SOURCE of the toleration. Do this same exercise for your workplace. Understand that you're "juiced" by tolerating things. Be willing and committed to being toleration-free. STOP COMPLAINING and get to work on this.
3. Fruits and Vegetables
Get five to seven servings of fruits and veggies a day.
Not only do they reduce your risk of getting some forms of cancer, they are heart healthy, and give you more nutrition-bang for your buck. Plus with the added fiber, you feel fuller even when you're eating less. So fruits and veggies are waistline-friendly.
4. Simplify your life, immediately.
Our lives are too jam-packed with projects, goals, ideas, coulds, shoulds, have-to's, commitments, concerns, obligations. hew!
Ask yourself:
Why is my life so busy?
Why have I chosen to do so much?
What am I building with my current lifestyle?
Is there a future to it?
Is that future costing me my present?
What am I missing out on about myself because of my current lifestyle?
Start by cutting out 3 projects, tasks, responsibilities, shoulds, coulds, wants, goals, etc. that are not necessary. Eliminate, delegate, or make a system for 12 tasks that are sucking your energy stores dry.
When you think of something you "have to do," stop and ask yourself why you have to do it. You probably don't.
5. Take a multi-vitamin.
Your insurance policy to get the nutrition your body craves. Anti-oxidants. Calcium. Folic acid. The whole gamut of vitamins and minerals to build stronger bones, maximize your metabolism, boost energy, feed muscles, etc.
6. Create and use 10 Daily Habits.
There is a daily routine which will keep you focused, clear, motivated, and moving forward - your 10 Daily Habits. These are the things you do each day which make your life better.
Choose habits that you WANT to do. There is no place for shoulds or coulds in your 10 daily habits. Instead select or design daily habits which you look forward to and give you pleasure.
Choose habits that GIVE YOU ENERGY. Most of the 10 daily habits that actually work for people are the ones that add to the person's well-being or energy flow. It might mean that you do something like have 6 veggies a day, no TV after dinner, 20 minutes of vigorous exercise, make 5 sales.
Modify your 10 daily habits as needed. It takes some fine-tuning to have the 10 habits that work best for you. If you find yourself not doing one or two of your habits, change or replace them with ones which come naturally.
7. Get Your Sleep Time arranged.
Depriving yourself of sleep (okay, I'm guilty of this, too) not only makes you grumpy and less productive but may also age you prematurely and promote serious illnesses like diabetes and hypertension. Shoot for a steady 7-8 hours each night.
8. Come from a better place - improve your attitude.
Stop trying to change your behavior. Instead, start shifting on the inside.
Saying things like, "I will stop eating sugar," "No eating after 7 PM," "I will only eat foods that nourish me," or "I am going to work out daily, starting Monday," the focus is on what you want/need to change.
Contrast that with, "I am someone who takes care of my body," "I am someone who associates with healthy people," "My day orients around my well-being and exercise," "I have better things to do than eat junk food," "I need my energy to accomplish my goals."
See the difference? The second set of statements focuses on WHO YOU ARE and what you want in your life, not just the change you want to make. This shift is more than just paying lip service to the first set of statements. It calls for action to show your commitment. When you shift who you are, things naturally look different, and the results are obvious.
9. Feed your body well, and feed it often.
If you want plenty of energy in addition to boosting your metabolism, 2 or 3 meals a day just won't do it. Spread your meals throughout the day (4-6), balance them with protein, fruits and veggies, and a little bit of good fats such as walnuts or almonds, or oils like olive or safflower, and your body will be a well-oiled, leaner, energized, peak-performing machine.
10. Drink A Lot Of your water!
Drink at least eight glasses of water a day - even a slight dehydration can make you feel lethargic. Maximize your liver's fat-metabolizing ability by drinking more water so that it's not working overtime to detoxify your body. Control your weight and appetite.
Ladies: You may even lower your risk of colon cancer!
11. Raise your standards.
How many of you would like to feel very, very good about yourself, and others, too? Be irresistibly attractive to high quality people? Have "high-as-a-kite" self-esteem and self-worth?
Find a role model whose qualities and behavior you admire. Don't try to reinvent the wheel; what standards could you raise so you can be more like them, and still fit you?
Stop gossiping, good or bad, about anyone. Remember, no coulds or shoulds. These standards must be YOU; you must be ready for them.
Remember, too, that these standards are a choice. Put people and relationships ahead of results. And always have a reserve of time, money, love, and well-being.
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