Pre-empt holiday cravings

I am going to keep this entry short and sweet because so may people are in stress overdrive during the holidays. So I just thought I would share a quick but timely tip for the holidays.
We all probably eat too many sweets and treats during the holiday season.

I know I've preached damage control in other words trying not to go too far off the deep end.
One way to do this is to "pre-empt" your holiday eating. How does this work? Here is something you can do do prevent over indulging to the point of a virtual sugar coma.

When you know you are most likely going to be eating some treats simply eat a fiber food beforehand this will help slow cravings and also prevent a huge blood sugar spike and crash.
You will typically not eat as much and won't feel as hungry.

Some good examples would be an apple, pear, fiber bars, natural granola, or a high fiber cereal. Do this an hour or two before eating and your blood sugar will thank you.

Happy Holidays!!

Our vision for 2009!!

This month has been largely dedicated on planning for 2009. I always ask myself how I can do a better job as a husband, father, trainer, business owner, friend etc. I reflect back some of the things I have done well over the past year and some things that I did not do so well. One common thing I always tell myself is that there is always room for improvement and growth.

I do not like to get complacent. That's what kills people. Whether it be a relationship or a business I have seen people take the relationships be it a spouse or a customer for granted. I constantly tell myself that I'm blessed to be in the business I am and have such great clients and trainers to work with. I always remind myself of that and it's important going forward to keep working on all the relationships in my life. Personal training is really a relationship business!

So looking ahead into 2009 I'm not going to buy into this circle the wagons mentality some businesses are doing. Which to me is like playing not to lose much like our beloved Vikings who used to build a lead and then play the "prevent " defense where they would let other teams move down the field hoping they could outlast them by trying to let them score slow enough while hoping the other team will run out of time before they can catch up. In the end they always seem to blow the game. I think this also goes for business. As soon as you pull back and behave with fear you start to lose.

This year we are going to increase our offerings to clients with monthly fitness activities such as moonlight cross county skiing, rock climbing walls and other monthly fitness outings to build camaraderie and relationships within our own base. We will also hold more client appreciation events to say "thank you, we appreciate you." We will have more seminars and clinics available for clients to come and get educated. We are aiming to be on I-tunes with podcasts and you tube with videos. Our website will also become a source of multimedia content. We will also be doing more giving back to the community with habitat for humanity projects and fundraisers like the two wellness events we did last year.

The bottom line is we are going to step up our level of service and commitment to our clients and our community. We want to be shining light in a world of negativity. I'm sick of hearing how bad everything and everyone is. I was planning our marketing calendar last night and getting energized by all the things we can offer and do this upcoming year. It really made it hard to go to bed afterwards.

Screw the recession! We are planning to not just try to survive(the Vikings prevent defense) but instead thrive this year! i plan on dedicating myself to higher level of service to all my client and clients of our studio. From thank you notes to recognizing birthdays and accomplishments more readily(thanks to a database manager finally) this can be done. We need feedback from you who read this blog and come to our facility. Because what we think will make it better doesn't matter if it doesn't jive with what all of you think. So please fill out our survey and help us plan for an awesome 2009!

Get your chins up!!

The other day I was having a pity party feeling down because I had started buying into all the negative crap being fed to us through the media and news. I'm usually very positive and upbeat but for some reason I was feeling down and worried about the economy, my business, my ability to provide for my family etc.

I finally decided to put a stop to it all. I got back to doing the things that have helped me succeed. I got an attitude adjustment real quick. I started reading, listening to and watching things that bring me up versus put me in a funk.

I truly believe the radio, TV, magazines etc. are all like the nutrition of the food we eat. If you are constantly eating junk food you will feel like crap and function poorly. The same goes with what you watch and listen to.

If you start hanging around positive people, listening to music that motivates you, watching good TV instead of sensationalized spin about how the sky is falling, then you will start to feel better.

I made a decision today. I decided that I want to step up the positivity with my business and personal life. We always have fun here at the studio with crazy workouts, fun clients, razzing each other etc. I want to more of that in this upcoming year and offer activities and get togethers that people can connect, have fun and bee around other positive people. Laughter is truly good medicine.

I'm sick of negativity it is like a cancer! I want to be an energy giver not an energy sucker. Starting today I'm going to make an extra effort to make people laugh and smile. Screw the media and their doom and gloom.

We are going to start having more fun this year regardless of what is going on. Ultimately we can't control much what goes on. So why waste energy worrying and bitching.?

Start looking at who you are listening to and watch your watching. Surround yourself with positive people and things. You will feel better and it will become contagious.

Being personal trainer to me is not about always kicking people's butts in the gym. It really is about making people feel good about themselves, improving their health, reducing their stress and being an overall positive influence on their lives.

Fighting Holiday Cravings

Every year people tend to get into a mindset of screw it around the holidays.
"I'm just going to gain weight and deal with it afterwards" they rationalize.
Then usually after the holidays they feel guilty. Media sources report that the
average weight gain around the holidays is 7 to 10 pounds. Now all of that probably is not
fat but water retention from eating foods high in salt and processed ingredients.

Well, what do we do? Do we say screw it and just accept this or do we do some damage control? Well, if you are already overweight studies show that you will gain twice as much weight as someone who is at a healthy weight. Thus putting yourself further in the hole.


"How can you then enjoy the holidays without going further in the hole?" Here are a few things I would recommend that I find can keep the weight gain minimized or even at zero.

1.)The weekend rule. Only eat treats on the weekend and stay solid Monday through Friday
2.)Pre-empt treats with a high fiber meal. If you know that you will probably be eating some treats eat something high in fiber before you indulge. This will keep your blood sugar from spiking (i.e.)eliminating cravings.

3.)Drink more water. Extra water can actually help flush out excess water retention. Also
distilled water really helps flush you out so you do not feel as bloated.

4.)Up you calorie burning. It takes 3500 excess calories to gain 1 pound of ugly fat. So if you
eat 500 in excess per day it would take you a week to gain 1 pound of fat. So if you can
add 10-15 minutes to your cardio sessions and increase your workout intensity you can cancel
this out. Kick your workouts up to match your increased caloric intake. Remember Michael
Phleps ate 12,000 calories per day and burned it all off. You can kind of do the same.
It will also give you an outlet for the stress that comes with the holidays as well!

5.)Try to eat a good breakfast consisting of whole foods and protein this will help manage blood
sugar for the rest of the day thus keeping your cravings down throughout the day making
it less tempting to grab for that cookie. An example would be an omelet with fresh fruit and
slow cooking oatmeal.
6.) The 5 day RESET- We have a kit that you can spend five days detoxing your system and re-stabilizing your blood sugar. It's a short detox but we have seen people lose an average of 5-10 pounds after doing this for 5 days. You could fit one of these in between thanksgiving and Christmas. Contact us at our website www.puravidafitness.com for more info on how this works.

To sum it up don't just wave the white flag and bloat up this holiday season and backslide. Get in the mindset of maintaining and not losing ground. Hopefully these tips can give you some ammo to fight the good fight of "the battle of the bulge".

'

"Bailout" Mentality With Fitness

Isn't it funny that right now in our country we are constantly talking about bailouts??
It seems every company that has made a bad business decision wants the government to bail them out. Just look at yesterday our top auto makers' CEOs flew in on their private jets to talk about how they are hurting and need money. Then why don't they fly coach if money is so tight??

I see this mentality as a snapshot of much of our country. We make decisions and then want someone to fix them when we get in a bind. It is no different with fitness and weight loss. People spend years and years eating poorly and sitting on their butts always making excuses why they can't exercise or eat right. They finally come to a point and decide to lose weight and get in shape but when they realize it takes work and time they get frustrated and look for something that will "bail" them out. Whether it's diet pills or the latest shitty diet or surgery they want to fix years of abuse and neglect on the body in a few weeks or months. They also many time think hiring a trainer guarantees them results.

Wrong!!

Hiring a trainer only guarantees someone is going to draw you a road map to regaining your health and they are not going to do it for you. You will be with your trainer a few hours per week but what you do the rest of the time is completely up to you!! The trainer's job is to draw a good map it you job to follow it! You can't skip exercise sessions with your trainer or on your own and expect it is just going to magically happen. You also cannot eat healthy 50% of the time and expect your body to change. Last time I checked 50% on a report card was an "F" that means failing! You need to shout for 90% of the time making good nutrition choices that's how it is done!! That means the vast majority of what you eat is what you should be eating and it still allows for an occasional indulgence or slip up.

You have to realize you got yourself there and it is not the fault of your spouse, friends or George Bush. Take responsibility for getting yourself out of it. Recognize that trainers and other wellness professionals can help you but you need to do the work that they give you.

If you are consistent but not perfect you will see results!

I'm afraid we are getting into a mentality of passing the buck in this country and blaming others or circumstances for all our problems. It's not your age, not your kids fault, not your genetically slow metabolism quit kidding yourself and don't buy into this poisonous mindset. It will get you zero results. If you keep making excuses on why you can't do it or blaming others for your lack of success , you will continue to go where you've always gone and in the end no one is to blame but you.

Barack Obama The Most Fit President??

There was recently an article on Barack Obama in Men's Health where they interviewed about his notion that health and fitness can drive your success. Some of his opponents called him elitist claiming that the average guy doesn't have 90 minutes to spend in the gym and his response was
"I wish I had 90 minutes to spend in the gym" but stated he rotates 45 minutes of weight training one day with 45 minutes of cardio on the other six times per week. He does this in the morning before his hectic days begin.

I liked his response that opponents will always turn your strengths into weaknesses during a
campaign. Like him or not I think everyone would agree that Obama's days are very full dealing with the issues of running for president and now that he's elected , what he is going to do to deal with all of the issues our nation faces. His average day is probably best described as stressful to say the least.

So my question is why is it that so many people say "I have no time for exercise" use this excuse when someone who is running for office can find time daily to take care of their health? It really shoots down that excuse because really in my mind they are saying "it isn't a priority to take care of myself." I would venture to say that Barack's schedule is crazier than most of ours by a long shot.

He has no doubtingly had some great success in life and attributes being fit as a contributing factor. I wholeheartedly agree with that because I find that exercising in the morning is a good way to get your body going to face the challenging day ahead and also gives you an energy boost for the rest of the day. It also seems to clear your mind and give you more focus throughout the day. And let's not forget it's an outlet to the stress we all have in life. Without out some sort of outlet we can really become a basket cases!!


Personally, I had a hard choice voting for President and actually went with McCain at the end but one thing I do respect is what Obama has accomplished and the fact that he does seem like an intelligent and well-balanced human being. I know the power of being fit and attribute it to being able to function at a high level in my own life.

The final say I have to say is about leadership. I want whoever leads our country to be disciplined and focused and being fit encompasses both of these things in my mind. That is why I
feel good about our new president regardless of what others might say.

Winning your own gold medal

We all probably watched the Olympics this past summer, marvelling at the athletes, admiring their dedication, wishing we were as dedicated. Well, we can't all go to the Olympics our jobs and families demand too much of our time making it difficult to train like these athletes do.

Well, why can't we find an event and train for it?? Sure, we won't be swinging from the gymnastic rings anytime soon but we could run a 5k, do a mountain bike race, compete in a local bodybuilding show, or like one of our client did, climb a mountain!!

(Susan Peters crossing the finsih line of her first 5k after being

in a wheel chair for 12 years )

Life can get to be the same old thing day after day after day after day after day...

Why not shake it up??

Do something that stretches your boundaries and gets you out of your comfort zone. I know when I did bodybuilding getting up on stage in skimpy little suit was not in my comfort zone. I don't even like to wear tank tops. When I committed to doing those competitions, I knew that if I didn't stick to my training and nutrition plan that I would embarrass myself up there. It forced me to focus in and really give 100% effort.

The cool thing was that as challenging and difficult as the training and nutrition regimen was, it was so rewarding to challenge myself in a new way and actually see it through. I know many clients who have done the same.

One of my clients, could not walk and was in a wheel chair but had a goal to do 5k. Three years ago she did her first one in 3 hours and 20 minutes and last week she did her fourth one in 1 hour and 38 minutes. I'd say that initial goal was really outside the comfort zone of someone who had not walked for 12 years but she did it and has not looked back ever since. Each year she gets better and better. She truly has won her gold medal!!

What could be your gold medal? What it actually is, is not important but will it challenging you in new ways and will it be rewarding if you do it. If you have never done this, now is a better time than ever!! The doldrums of life are always going to be there so quit making excuses.

You'll find that setting a goal and actually accomplishing it is addicting. Identify your gold medal and write out your plan to achieve it. If you need help contact us at info@puravidafitness.com
we can help you set up a plan that is doable and workable.

Life should contain experiences that shape and build character , even though work, laundry, and house cleaning are important they don't do much in this category.

Look for some video on our 5k client coming up in the next few days. It is truly inspirational and the highlight of my career as a trainer.