What’s your inner voice telling you?

“We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or her own light.” – Earl Nightingale

As a movement professional and coach I allow my clients to turn on their own light bulbs.  I’m there as a guide and a facilitator.  I’ll help them until they can do it themselves, but at Mind Body Balance we encourage our clients to be independent (not dependent on us).  There is a whole world for us to inspire to movement.

There is far greater joy and power to watch someone figure it out for themselves; and they do, as long as you create that “place” in which it’s possible that you will be there for them on the other side. Sometimes you just have to close your eyes, hope for the best and push through to the other side.

Fear is only as thick as a Kleenex.
The body is fluid and open to change.  The mind is concrete.
Overcome the concrete mind and the body is ready and willing to be freed.

When it comes to movement, we all have an Angel on one shoulder and the Devil on the other. I know I’m being cute, but think about it. We have the Angel saying, “Yes.  Yes.  Buy vegetables, attend your Pilates today.  You’ll feel better for doing so.”  Meanwhile the Devil is saying, “Ice cream, French fries, be a couch potato.   Come on, I’ve been doing this “plates” thing for five minutes it isn’t working.  Let’s leave.”
Okay so this isn’t a perfect situation of what’s in our head, but you get the point I’m trying to make. We each have two voices; one that is trying to demolish our goals and self-esteem and one that promotes our goals and self-esteem.  Some of us might have a whole committee to deal with.

I was fortunate to have a mother that said I could do anything, that I am a survivor.  At Mind Body Balance “Can’t” isn’t a word that is said in our studio.  As a matter of fact, it’s grounds for a stern “Kim talking to.”

I will accept phrases like:

• “If not today, tomorrow.”
• “Every time I try I get stronger.”
• “Yes, I can.”
• “I release and let go.”… Etc.

We all have a negative voice in our head.  My negative voice tells me things like, “I’m not good enough, strong enough or worthy enough to get what I want”, etc.  You have these voices too, maybe a mob of voices.  These whispers are always with us, good and bad.

Starting a yoga practice can help quiet these voices and put them into perspective. There is something to be said for being still, quiet, peaceful and content with our body and mind in this fast paced world. Our life paths take us through light and shadows, we constantly are faced with choices between good and evil, truth and lies, kindness and coldness.  These interior voices face off on the battlefield of the mind daily.

Changing our mind’s thoughts to positive (turning down the volume of those negative voices) takes practice.  They can be changed as easily as changing a channel on the television from Jerry Springer to the Discovery channel.  We are what we “turn on” at the moment.  It requires diligent repetition of positive statements, and constant, consistent, constructive application.

Daily practice.  Daily practice.  Daily practice.  Daily practice.  Did I say “Daily practice?”

Over time you will observe your interior voice change.  Along with this, will come a change in your results. Take charge of your inner voice today.  You can tell it what to tell you.  Choose the positive voice.  You are worth it, and more.

Is your inner dialogue overly critical? You deserve to be spoken to in encouraging ways. You have the power to change your critical inner voice to a loving and supportive one.

Post your most reoccurring negative voice here and then tell us how you are going to turn it into a positive. Feel free to help each other turn that negative voice into a positive.  Remember, we are a community at Mind Body Balance.  Inspire others to movement.

The Fear of Change

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, or the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” –Charles Darwin

How much do you fear change?  Are you too afraid of failure, or is it change?

Can you follow that fear? What if “x” happens?  Then what? What if a new “what” or “x” happens?  Then what?

Continue following this pattern working through every “what if” scenario you can come up with.

A person must take a risk, or make a mental change, to overcome a fear.

There is an old saying, “The only thing that likes change is a wet baby.”
Do they really though?  How many babies cry about being changed?  Why would they cry about such a thing? They cry about it, I feel, because they have to be still and they have to change their focus from what they were doing to being in the present moment.  I don’t know about you but I find it hard to slow down, to change my focus or to be still with a big emotion.  I’d like to cry about it to anyone who will listen. I have learned through my years though that this isn’t productive.  It would be hard to keep a support system around for long because they’d get sick of it.

I find it interesting that even though we know a change is better for us, will be good for us (we might already be practicing it and feeling and seeing the results) in a heartbeat we will abandon this change and return to old patterns. We long for the new but are terrified of it.

Sometimes it takes a whisper that knocks us to our knees and if we don’t listen it takes away our legs and if we still don’t listen we start to bleed until we are humbled.  Learn from it and change our patterns, weave a new web (a finer web) of life. We think during this “time of humbling” that our life is over, this “tragedy” will do us in, but as time goes by we realize we are better for it.

We should be allowed to make mistakes, big or small.  This is how we learn. Don’t beat yourself up or judge others that make mistakes because they will do better next time. Our victories in survival create in-depth understanding, compassion and empathy toward ourselves and others.

Love, life, health, experience, learning are on the other side of change. The stinking garbage becomes a nutrient base to grow a rose, a caterpillar becomes a butterfly and a seed becomes a flower. What if a caterpillar was afraid to come out of the cocoon?  We wouldn’t have a butterfly.   What if a seed was afraid to flower?  We’d lose so much of our beautiful world. Every experience is valuable.  What doesn’t kill us makes us better than before.

You are endlessly creative.  Health flows naturally from our creative endeavors. Put yourself out there.  Push through the barrier and become your best self today. Remember the hardest thing sometimes is walking through the door and asking for help. After that, you put one foot in front of the other.  Baby steps add up to something full of change, growth, love, health, etc.

So, I ask one more time and I encourage you to post your answer here: How big is the fear, the risk that you are afraid to take? Don’t be afraid to comment because you’ll be giving others inspiration to have courage too.

The Truth About What Motivates us—You May Be Surprised?

This blog is inspired by the book Drive written by Daniel H. Pink, I learned of him during The Global Leadership Summit 2010. I found this book very interesting as he talks about autonomy and motivation. I’m still trying to grasp his theories from a business standpoint to motivate employees.  I follow his concept but am having difficulty with application of it. However, as I read through this book I couldn’t help but put the coloration together on how it related to fitness.  I did understand the application and theory for that because I’ve been teaching and practicing this method since 2007. Frankly, it is the secret to our client’s success!

You see, we start our Fitness Coaching/ Personal Training with Thinking Work.  We talk about the fact that they will fall down at some point during their journey and that at times it stinks, it’s boring, etc. and most importantly we meet our clients “where they are,” allowing them to be in control of their journey, working at a pace that suits them.

Let’s face it; exercise can become really routine and boring.  So we talk about the larger purpose of why we make the lifestyle change and we seek what the true internal motivator really is. We offer a rationale of why the exercise is important to them. We acknowledge that exercise is boring. We allow clients to complete the program with ways that interest them in their own timeline.

Now this doesn’t mean that we allow people to sit and watch TV, wishing for the lifestyle change.  What matters most is consistency, not “race to the finish line, crash and burn.”  Is there a point to running the race if you’re going to crash and burn at the finish?  Don’t even get me started on the brow beating that comes along with the “crashing and burning.”  Brow beating might be the most detrimental part.

Most people are floored when I ask them how starting an exercise program could hurt them.  By “hurt,” I mean their budget, schedule, family time… etc.  Lifestyle change impacts every area of your life, good and bad.

I never agree with financial rewards for accomplishing a plan. For example, “company xyz” will pay each member $100 if they lose weight.  Why?  It is never going to be enough money.  After a while, it won’t work.  More money will be expected.  Money is not a motivator.

I love giving people their lives back. I offer them autonomy. We build a program together that allows clients to do what they want, when they want, how they want it and with whom. I’m lucky that they pick me for “the whom” part because I get to be on their journey as a guide, not a dictator.  When they have these four components (what, when, how, with whom) going in harmony, they emerge as their best self.

Fitness coaching is autonomous! All of our services: Yoga, Pilates, Fitness Coaching, Nutrition workshops… allow you to practice, seeking mastery. It is a practice because you keep at it, you enjoy it, and you move for a greater purpose.  You test your limits by not cheating your body.  We connect you to your intrinsic motivator.  You need to pick modes of activities that keep you striving to improve because over time this gives you energy to keep going.

At Mind Body Balance we don’t have a cookie cutter program.  We do have a system, a system that works.  After sitting and talking to you, we customize the system to your individual needs so that you are successful. We tailor our programs to meet you “where you are” (goals and fitness level).  Together we create visions and goals that have meaning to you, not the trainer. We don’t do short-term goals for extrinsic reasons.  Time and again a person reaches the goal, only to come back later just to have gained back the weight, pain, lowered self-esteem… etc.  We care about our clients and don’t promote this behavior.

Our clients pursue intrinsic goals to improve their quality of life. Yes, it is hard when they are off to a slower start than their friend who is shouting out their “rapid pounds and inches of weight loss” they are experiencing. But that person won’t continue these heroic efforts for long and will be heavier than they’ve ever been in just a short time. Our clients maintain their accomplished goal long term and have significantly better results. I guess you can say they get the last laugh!

Stop doing movement that you hate and start doing movement that you enjoy! We let our clients explore different types of movement to find what best meets their goals and interests. Celebrate the little milestones of your victory. After you’ve accomplished that goal it is okay to treat yourself to a spa service of your choice.

The stick that is used to get you into shape with that carrot dangling in front of it is very passé.  It is time to upgrade your expectations.  Give yourself some self-care and the gift of autonomy, mastery, purpose and self-efficacy.

What you should expect:

• Individualized approach to your program
• The program should match your fitness level and grow with you as you become stronger
• Your program should be efficient, safe, effective to your goal
• You should know the guidelines of your program and why you are doing the things you are doing
• You should be required to provide a health history, Par-Q and a doctors note if you are doing cardio
• You should have felt “heard” and your needs should be met in the program designed for you.  This means it should cover a self-awareness/ discovery piece, physical piece, a nutrition piece, strategy piece to overcome obstacles before they happen, it should build self-efficacy not co-dependence etc.
• You should get some feedback.  This should be a two way conversation

Mind Chatter

Beth Shaw, Founder of YogaFit, first introduced me to affirmations or mantras. I’ve been practicing them ever since. They are powerful and always help me overcome limiting beliefs. I’ve never thought about it until right now, but I guess I’ve used affirmations in my life before without giving them a name.  I’ve used them to overcome health obstacles.  I just always referred to them as my gift for positive thinking and my strong spiritual belief that I could make things happen in my life if I put my mind to it.

“We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or her own light” – Earl Nightingale

Let’s face it, we all have this mind chatter.  Some of the time it’s negative and some of the time it’s positive. Some of us have just one voice while some of us have a mob of voices. I can have conversations in my head.  If we aren’t careful we can get trapped there.

Okay, so now you all are thinking I’m loopy but really, tell me you haven’t been grocery shopping… and you know you should be buying vegetables… but instead you buy chocolate cake and ice cream. This is what I mean by the two different types of voices. Oh! Here is another example for you.  How many times have you come up with every excuse known to man as to why you shouldn’t show up for exercise?  Believe me, I’ve heard a lot.  You can be on the treadmill already and still talk yourself into getting off and leaving.  You know you’ll feel better afterwards and it is good for your health and well-being.

These voices can either promote or demolish us, our goals and our self-esteem.  I can learn something the hard way and pick myself up and be more successful the next time around. She doesn’t understand why I do what I do but knows that because I’m doing it I will be successful at it. When your negative voice creeps in, you can always count on your mom to give you a good kick in the pants. What does your negative voice tell you?  “You aren’t good enough.  Why change now you’ll just fail.  You’ll never be beautiful.  You’re not worth the effort.”   Do you have this voice?  Maybe several voices? I meditate and practice yoga.  It helps me quiet the mind chatter and still my mind; even if for just a moment. I practice Pilates because it gives me inner strength and I love my body for it. I practice fitness coaching because it gives me the grace and patience to see that every step (no matter how small and what time I start) is better than giving in to the negativity that surrounds us. Our lives are always swaying between light and darkness; we face good and evil, truths and lies, kindness and bitterness daily. You can’t escape completely but you can control the volume of certain voices.  It requires perseverance, dedication, self-sacrifice, and hard work daily.

I’m writing this while watching the Stanley Cup playoffs.  I’m reminded of some keys to winning.
Avoid Turnovers. Why, when we are on the path to greater health, do we self-sabotage our efforts?  Every time you use the word “Don’t” you set yourself up for failure? “Don’t eat cake.”  What do you do?  You eat two pieces of cake. “Don’t miss an exercise session this week.”  What do you do?  You miss the whole month.  Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away from our goal.
Build Momentum.  It takes both physical and emotional training consistently over lifetime.  You want it overnight.  Well, you are just starting out on your journey to a new you, a new lifestyle.  It doesn’t happen overnight, because if it did we would miss out on the character it builds going from point A to point B and you wouldn’t understand how to celebrate once you got there.
Play like a champion. Workouts should be called “Playouts.” It isn’t about being perfect and your clock hasn’t struck zero yet, so start today in taking steps to becoming your best self.  Let me and the staff at Mind Body Balance help you become the champion I know you already are.

Budgeting: Fast Food vs. Wellness Services?

“It’s amazing how fast you can go through $7,000 with beer, pizza and The Gap.” –Ben Affleck

People groan at the words budget, exercise, and healthy food. Why? They relate sinking, depressed, deprived feelings to these words. Well, if you have these feelings you aren’t alone. To the vast majority of us, it denotes scarcity, deprivation and limitations; none of which seem pleasurable. Exercising usually means eliminating fun, pain, boredom, sweat, feelings of inadequacy, something we do when we are stressed out. This is not my idea.

My idea is designing a plan to achieve healthy (not magazine) bodies; reaching all those goals you would like to accomplish over time without the heroic effort. Movement should be an enjoyable process not a bitter, restrictive, fearful pill to swallow.

An action plan for fitness and healthy eating doesn’t have to be written in stone, it should be flexible, adjustable and one that reflects your values and your life. All of these decisions and commitments that you make give you the power to change so you don’t feel trapped.  You aren’t stuck.  It wouldn’t make sense to create a plan that made you feel stuck. You can change things if you are willing. 

The power of a plan is that you can decide at the beginning of every week or month how you will spend your calories burned/ your fuel you use, how much, when and how. Then when you add up your cumulative calories burnt for the week or month you see whether or not you want to change your decisions for the following month or design a plan that works for you.  Then, work your plan.

I happily move spending calories I burn in the wisest of ways!

Add up your last four week’s receipts of eating out. I would bet if you commit to eating just a portion of those meals at home, you could afford a Fitness Coach, yoga or Pilates very easily. Notice I didn’t suggest to stop eating out completely; just slow the pace a little bit so you can find some balance between eating and moving.

Consistency is Everything!

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” –Aristotle.

Wow, I think this is a very powerful statement. Do you know that it takes 21 days to change a habit and 21 months to change a lifestyle? If we are cruising along and we “fall down” on day 15, then the “21 days to a new habit” period starts over again.  The same goes for the 21 months.

Knowing how much fuel you use and how much fuel you put into your body is tangible, concrete. You can count it.  You can calculate your results with a small margin of error. Demonstrate this by keeping a journal for yourself.

Change your thoughts about your body and practice affirmations daily. If you are already doing this, do more of them and use them more often throughout your day.  Maybe even more importantly, stop that negative mind chatter.  Stop having negative thoughts about your body.  You can’t resent those that have mastered the skills of health, or have spiteful opinions of people changing their health for the better.

Give up:

 

• Being a victim,
• Resentfulness,
• Anger,
• Jealousy

 

Appreciate and love the body you have, and other’s bodies.  Once you’ve mastered your positive thoughts about your body, turn them into actions.

 

• Quality movement
• Quality nourishment

 

Start with a couple of  items, like taking a ten minute walk after every meal, then move to eating more vegetables during the week and watch how these small efforts bring joy to your life.  Watch how other health habits flow more easily into your life.  Notice how much easier work becomes.

At the end of the month, count the calories.  Add them up to the cumulative total that you’ve expended.  Have you spent more calories then you did before? If your answer is “Yes!” then congratulations on a job well done!  My movement calories are piled high with treasures for my body and I’m unloading them today!

Here is the secret. Keep doing this! Consistency is everything! A lot of us say “Alright! We made it!” and then we stop moving (after we just had amazing results) and just revert to our old, ingrained habits. Sometimes we think we’ve conquered the “mind thing” and don’t have to work at it any more.  No more affirmations.  Guess what?  We sink.  We “roller-coaster” again with our health and ask ourselves, “How did this happen?” Or we accomplish the thinking part, like the affirmations, and stop moving; like the affirmations will work like some magic dust over our body. Nope.  We need to go back to that tangible, concrete method.

• Fuel in – Fuel out.

How to get from your starting point to where you want to be!

Yes, Andy Stanley is still inspiring me so bear with me. After listening to Andy Stanley present at The Global Leadership Summit in 2010, I had to read his book The Principle of the Path. It offered some insight into my personal life and made me wonder about my health, and my client’s health as well. Why is it that smart people with admirable life goals often end up so far from where they want to be regarding their health and well being? Why is it that so many people start out with a clear picture and or living a healthy lifestyle and yet, years later, find themselves far from their desired destination of “healthy body?” Why do our expectations about our own health and fitness level often go unmet?

I’ve sat with many clients who have cried, wishing they could go back and have a do-over, living differently, but we can’t.  As the line in the country song goes, “When your hourglass runs out of sand, you can’t turn it over and start again.” Experience is our most valuable commodity. This learning from experience eats up a lot of years, it steals entire stages of life, it leaves us with scars, pain, and regret. This regret creates powerful emotions which can drive us right back to the behavior that created the regret to begin with. Whenever a client talks to me about weight, there are always big emotions, fear and pain.

I’m not giving you a 12 step program to follow or a guarantee that will fix your pain but I do hope to bring your attention to the fact that some big emotion is floating in the background of your life and the lives of those you love. If you can find the courage to look for this emotion, and bring awareness to it, without judgment, than you have done the most difficult part of the journey to regaining your health, your life, your happiness. Once you’ve located this emotion you can then leverage it for your benefit.

Clients come to me and they want me to hold all of their responsibility to becoming healthy. Ultimately, I can guide them, but I can’t do the work for them. I can lay out a yellow brick road or a prudential path to better health, but there are sure to be road blocks and detours that they’ll be faced with. 

My clients always hold the best answers.  They already know the solution; they just need help with direction. This will take time, a change of direction and patience. Remember, there is no quick fix when one day you wake up and find that you are hundreds of miles away from were you want to be. I often have no idea how I will help the new client that comes to me for help. Their latest health scare just reveals where they are and where they aren’t.  It also reveals the path that they were on.

I don’t “fix” or hand out a 12 step “to-do” list, but I do know that if we choose a path of unhealthy lifestyle habits eventually we arrive at an undesirable destination. A health scare just speeds the trip up. Every path has a specific destination.

Proverb (27:12) “Lord, help us to see trouble coming long before it gets here. And give us the wisdom to know what to do and the courage to do it.”

It takes a lot of courage to face your health and fitness issues. It takes a lot of courage to admit your starting point; but we all have one. Mine came when I realized that I had gone from a size 2 to a size 12 and was wondering why my back issue (crushed T12) was getting worse at the age of 32. Why was I having hormone issues and facing type 2 diabetes just around the corner?  I knew better.  I knew how to live a healthy lifestyle.  I wasn’t raised to live unhealthily. I just chose a path that didn’t include self nurture. I had to pay attention to my health, when I see old habits coming back I have to change direction because it is the direction of our life that will determine our destination.

I’m definitely not perfect.  I often learn from mistakes only. But, I do have some questions that I want you to consider. Why do you make choices that give you short –term happiness over long-term happiness? Why overindulge for a short term high instead of years of good health? Why do I have to have my way now rather than wait and really have my way later? Why do I have to sit in front of the TV now every night instead of playing with my children, grandchildren and being fit enough to enjoy traveling the world later in life? Why do I knowingly choose paths that take me where I’ve already decided I don’t want to go? Are you allowing your brain to sell you on things that you want to do rather than what you ought to do?

How many times have you eaten the whole bag of potatoes chips and said, “I don’t understand why I did that? What was I thinking?”  I’ve done this before and I don’t understand some of my decisions.  We can’t understand our heart. We are corrupt.  Our brains have the ability to lie to us, create actions based upon those lies and then defend our lies and actions with ridiculous excuses. Getting the Courage to tell ourselves the truth is downright terrifying, but the truth is liberating and weight is lifted from our shoulders. The reason I lie about my health is……….. The real reason I won’t exercise is…………. The real reason I eat so much is…………the real reason I can’t afford wellness services is……………The real reason I quit doing what I love is…………….. Andy sums this up very elegantly “When you are willing to come clean with yourself about the uncomfotable truth behind your choices, you’re on the verge of freedom. We can never be free as long as we’re in the habit of lying to ourselves about the reasons behind the choices we make and the paths we take. Telling yourself the truth will free you to move from where you are to where you want and need to be”

When we make a choice, we choose a path and every path has a destination, the direction we chose, not our intention, determines our destination. Information, insight is not enough.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the lord with all your heart leans not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him; and he will make your paths straight.

Find a Fitness Coach that will help you cut through your emotional fog that clouds your decision-making environments regarding your health. Every big decision has an emotional component behind it.  Every big decision takes you down a path that will impact your future. Life is too short to allow the emotions of the moment to direct your health toward a direction you will later regret.

Success is sometimes admitting that you have no idea what action to take concerning a particular issue or situation. Successful people know that they are in uncharted territory and they should seek other’s advice; people who have experience in that area. It takes a lot of confidence to say “Even though I’m in charge of my life, successful in so many areas of my life, I have no idea what to do on the issue of my health and fitness level” I often hear, “I’m the head of my company, department etc. but I’m just not sure what plan of action I should follow for movement.  Can you help me?  I partner with them and we develop a plan of action that meets them where they are at that moment. Often they report back that they’ve been humbled, that they are a better manager to their employees because of it and that they are ready, begging to start the next step in the action plan.

Our decisions to live an unhealthy lifestyle (the one’s that we make privately and independently) are judged by others, and affect other people as well. Even when we pay attention and choose another path or direction to improve our lifestyle to one of health we are judged by others, and affect other people as well. Yes, you are an adult and you can make your own decisions, but it affects your family, your co workers, and your friends. When your health goes south, you aren’t the only one affected.  Your parents, friends, spouse / life-mate, children, coworkers…, all who have come in contact with you, suffer. Every decision that you make that hurts you, also hurts those that love you and depend on you the most. So many times, clients are afraid to have a family discussion about what they need in order to make a lifestyle change (i.e., help with cooking, cleaning, watching the children etc. so that they can exercise) and they want to go it alone or use it as an excuse not to make a change. When we make a bad choice or choose a bad path and we realize we’ve made a mistake, who do we go to for advice about how to make a course correction? Who do we go to for advice about how to dig out of the hole we’ve dug ourselves into? If the decision we make will be seen, judged, and felt by these individuals why not involve them from the beginning? Nothing remains a secret.

We go to run across the yard to play with the dog or our grand children and can’t make it because we are out of breath.  We end up in the hospital on father’s day with a heart attack.  How in the world did you end up here? How do we get ourselves to concentrate on the things that matter? Self-deception doesn’t accomplish much, but it is a path. What has your attention now? Who has your attention now? There is no one but you at this very moment while you are reading.  Don’t lie to yourself. You know from your own past experience.  Be honest.  Why is it that you just don’t find the time to exercise; to get around to your health; because of the other less important stuff?

THINK!  HONESTLY, A LOT IS AT STAKE!

Take a moment out of your hectic life and ask, “What I am devoting my attention to right now? Is this a special item that deserves my attention?”  Don’t imprison yourself in your unhealthy body. I know that this is not where you intended to be.  Disappointment creates powerful emotions.  I know poor health is the last place that you wanted to be and that a life of disappointments creates powerful emotions that take over our life.  No one in our society is immune to these emotions. Regardless of what your goals, dreams, wishes or wants were or are, set a course for improved health today.  Change your direction today.  That will set your destination. Remember, “Knowing/ Awareness” doesn’t make the difference but “Doing” does. Start exercising today.

What is the wise thing to do?

Recently Andy Stanley has inspired me to do some self evaluation. I was recently preparing for a leadership conference this year.  When you enrolled early you were gifted a book entitled The Best Question Ever by Andy Stanley. Two weeks before the conference my excitement was building and I thought I probably should give it a quick read before I attend….you know, so I’m prepared and all…..

Of course, like many items that grab us, we always say “If only I had this earlier in life.” But, the truth is, I probably wasn’t ready for it until now.  He said in his book “You can overspend, overeat, and overachieve, but you can’t over-live.”  Lets look at this for a moment.  We all know that our time is limited on earth, right? You would think this would inspire us to look at our life differently, but instead, we all spend our lives asking for more time instead of evaluating how we invest our time we already have.

I think a better idea to ponder would be how to use our current time.  For example, what do you do with all of your extra time? You might be thinking, “Well, I have no extra time.” But, for you parents, I bet you thought you had no extra time when you were single.  You found time for your first, second, and third child. Where did all that “time before children” go?  Away?  Where did your life go? 

I get clients all the time that say, “I know I should take care of myself but I just don’t have the time!” WHAT?  Think about your past experiences (family history your own health history, etc), your current responsibilities (parent, care giver, productive citizen, etc.), your future hopes and dreams (grandkids, children in college, trips in the golden years, etc.).  What is the wisest way to invest in your health?  Now, you are all smart enough to know how to manage your time, see were your time-wasters are and to understand that time is life.  But, often times, we don’t prioritize our health until it is too late.

I see clients that routinely, for years, ignored this very aspect of life.  Then finally something happens in their life and their health gets pushed up the ladder to the top rung. They, of course, are often looking for a quick fix (a magic pill) and get angry that I can not accomplish their goal (reduce pain, lower cholesterol, lose weight, etc.) in just a handful of sessions. It is almost as if they are laying there, thinking, “This won’t work, this isn’t helping me.”etc.

At this point, I tell them, “The body is fluid and has the ability to repair, heal and change over time.  The mind is concrete.”  In other words, if you are saying unkind, negative things while we work together, we should just stop working together.  You are working against your body and you “know” that it won’t change.

You aren’t ready to change your lifestyle until you are ready.  You are only ready when it has nothing to do with the externals floating about in your life.  In one, or even five sessions you aren’t going to see this big difference other than you may be sore and realize that taking back your life is going to be hard work.  Sorry to be the barer of bad news but…  It’s the truth. 

If you allow your exercise sessions and the small lifestyle changes to accumulate… now you are talking about real movement that has a measurable benefit in your life. I know we are a society that wants immediate gratification.  Because exercise doesn’t supply this it is easy for our mind to “fight to be right” and say things like, “It will not hurt if I miss one day.”  Healthy lifestyle factors have a compounding effect.  Consistent, small investments of time have a value.  In the end, that time makes a difference.

If you are like me, you live and learn.  I’ve found myself, many times, wishing I could go back in time and actually listen to my father’s advice.  But I can’t go back.  In fact, we can’t go back for many things such as living, loving, re-prioritizing….the critical aspects of life.  We cannot go back and make up for our mistakes or lost time. You know you’ve done it with your health.  In fact, at the beginning of every year I see it.  Many clients wanting me to brow beat them with outrageous workouts, trying to make up for “that lost time of exercising” in their life.  It’s as if logging 2-3 hours a day makes you feel “in control.”  You’ll feel you’ve regained your footing, then you’ll wake up the next day and have a hard time getting out of bed or you injure yourself.  And so, the brain says, “See, I told you we shouldn’t be doing this.”

Your health matters.  It is one of the top five things that matter in your life and you can’t make up for lost time.  Two of the biggest crises’ that Americans face today are obesity and metabolic diseases; both of which stem from making decisions.  We eat too much.  We spend too much on trends and magic pills.  It isn’t because we make too little income or have too little time.  So we look for others to blame for our behaviors like fast food, finances, employers, etc.

You know something about cars, right?  But most of us don’t work on them by ourselves. You don’t expect your mechanic to make wise suggestions and decisions about your car without first knowing how the car works, right? You don’t try to make wise decisions about your family’s finances without first seeking out a financial planner and knowing the laws and principles that work in these areas of your life.  So, why then, would you not seek help in mastering your health? How would you expect to make wise decisions?

Make a health care team for you today that includes:

• You,
• An integrative fitness professional,
• A doctor that respects movement and nutrition,
• A physical therapist if needed,
• A nutritionist and
• A “body-work” professional.

Marathon Blog #3: We will get you off the couch and to the finish line!

Our program will be focusing on the basics. We
will build programs that are slow because slow and steady wins
every time. Our program increases your endurance and develops your
mental and physical strength. This is a process of stressing and
resting the body. You will need time to allow yourself to recover
from stress through active rest weeks. By giving this to your body,
you decrease your chances of injury and overtraining. The average
person needs a gradual training program that will incorporate:

flexibility, strength, cardio,
nutrition, active rest, cross training

All of
which you can get at Mind / Body: Balance. Mind Body Balance does
not in any way support the mindset of
“no pain, no gain.” With that said, there will be some level
of soreness, fatigue and stiffness as the body is challenged. Mind
Body Balance has a program that is flexible and adaptable to each
individual. We strongly suggest that
you do NOT take short cuts, jump
ahead, or fall behind. You will be setting yourself up for failure,
increased risk of injury, increasing the chance of not reaching
your goal. We want you to be successful. We will have cross
training suggestions. For example, always running on a hard surface
will lead to sore legs… running downhill all the time is also
jarring to the legs. We will vary our group runs so that sometimes
we are running on dirt, softer or flat terrain and when we do
incorporate some hills we will be slow down the hill, we may
suggest rollerblading or water-running too. Accountability is huge
in preparing for this event. For those of you that use my Fitness
Coaching services, use your diaries to keep track of your progress
in your comment section. Start to keep track of aches/ pains,
distance, moods, stress levels, etc. If you don’t do Fitness
Coaching with me then get a journal and start writing down the
date, route, rate of perceived exertion, type of exercise, energy
level, injury, total distance, moods, stress levels and heart rate
information. Keeping track of this information will help you see
patterns, celebrate success, monitor progress, keep us honest and
motivate you. Let’s face it, there will be days you don’t want to
move. Looking through your journal and seeing your
accomplishments… how far you’ve come… will inspire you to get off
the couch when you arrive at the present and see a blank page.
Remember, our training schedule is flexible; you decide which days
you do what. Also remember it makes sense to space out
modalities throughout the week. I’m putting my training schedule
down and you can move the modalities around to the days that work
best for you. Try to get two short walk/jog/runs during the week
and the long run done on a half-day off or weekend. This will allow
you to gradually adapt to the physical and mental demands of the
sport. Make various running routes using your car’s odometer so you
aren’t over training. A gps foot pod hooked to your heart
rate monitor also works. I hear the grumbles pertaining to the long
run. This is why we are offering a Thank u so much for the extravagant gift unexpected & appreciated :)group run on Saturdays at
3p.m. If you are like me, you are going to need the group
support to make it happen. These long runs will help you have the
knowledge, confidence, peace of mind that you can accomplish your
event come race day. Warm ups and cool downs are
important. I will be posting something separate for
this. I will tell you, I’m not an advocate of
stretching first; a lot of injury happens here. I
like the warm up of doing the 100 (gets your breath and body
moving and brings awareness to your powerhouse)and walking until
your heart rate gets to a certain beat that is right for you (I
will go over this with each one of you). For the cool down, I’ll be
asking you to lower your heart rate to a certain beat and then I
have a stretching routine for you to follow after your run. You’d
be annoyed if you got an injury (and doubly annoyed if the injury
resulted from doing something you thought would prevent injury) so
let’s be mindful about our warm ups and cool downs. Please read
chapters 1-3 in your chi running or walking book by months end.
Your next marathon blog will cover topics about nutrition. You are
burning a lot of fuel so let’s talk about what type of fuel you
need to refuel your body with. For our long runs we will be meeting
at the studio unless otherwise stated. Please remember that I won’t
personally be at all of them, so at times the group will need to
organize itself. You will learn the ropes from me on what to do for
the long runs and I’m sure there is more than one leader in our
group that can layout the day’s run. Also, Monique, Jenny or I
should be at just about every run but as you know, we do have to
attend trainings throughout the year so that we can keep you at the
top of your game. In order to respect everyone’s time we will
always leave our running start point at 10 minutes after. At our
first run we will go over some group running etiquette. As we get
going and you are sharing your successes with family and friends
they will want to join us. We can take new members up till May
15^th or so. Any time after this point
they would need to train for a smaller event on the same day but
all are welcome. Depending on when
they join we will help them train safely and explain how their
training program may be slightly different than ours.

Our
first Field Trip: I will be going shoe
shopping at Running Fit on Liberty St. in Ann Arbor on a Sunday in
January (22^nd ). I like this business
because they are a Michigan based company, they have several
quality brands to pick from, they will fit you properly and they
sponsor many runs within our communities. If more than ten of us
get together to shop on the same day, I may be able to negotiate a
studio discount for us. Please let me know your interest level. A
good pair of running shoes is an investment and worth
it.
Our first event is March 13,
2011. We will either run or walk a 5k depending on
what you pick. This event sells out quickly so you will want to get
your registration form in a.s.a.p. http://www.runshamrocks.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
Follow this link for the Shamrocks &
Shenanigans web page. Online
registration starts January 2011 and this event does sell out so
don’t procrastinate! This event is “Save a
Heart” (organization that raises funds
to benefit patients and their families who come to the Michigan
Congenital Heart Center at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Highly
experienced cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, intensive care
specialists, nurses, social workers, anesthesiologists and
radiologists provide comprehensive care for infants, children and
young adults with congenital heart disease.) and starts by Conor
O’Neils. To enter the race is $25 5k run/walk, $12 kid’s Kilometer,
$7 Kid’s Dash. The start times on race day are 10:45 a.m. for the
kid’s dash, 11 a.m. for the kid’s kilometer, 11:30 a.m. for the 5k.
Packet pickups will be Saturday 3/12 from 2-5p at: Running Fit at
5700 Jackson Rd in Ann Arbor. Get your green race attire 🙂

Week #	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1	Short run	Yoga	Yoga/Short run	Pilates	Pilates	Breathing Class/Long Run with group	Active Rest
2	Short run	Yoga	Yoga/Short run	Pilates	Pilates	Breathing Class, Sherri’s Health Class Long Run with group	Active Rest
3	Short run	Yoga	Yoga/Short run	Pilates	Pilates	Breathing Class, long run with group	Active Rest
4	Short run	yoga	Short Run/Holistic Healing Workshop	Pilates	Pilates	Breathing ClassLong run with group	Active Rest

For week one, the
short runs are 30 minutes long: 5 minute warm up /20 minutes of 1
minute shuffle-jog and 4 minutes walking /5 minute cool down. The
Long run is a distance of 3 miles. You have a 5 minute warm
up and 5 minute cool down. Repeat 1 minute shuffle-jog
and 4 minutes walking as many times as you need to complete the 3
mile distance. For week two short
runs are 35 minutes long 5 minute warm up /25 minutes of 2 minute
shuffle-jog and 3 minutes walking /5 minute cool down. The long run
is a distance of 4 miles. You have a 5 minute warm up and 5
minute cool down. Repeat 2 minute shuffle-jog and 3 minutes
walking as many times as you need to complete the 4 mile distance.
For week
three short runs are 40 minutes long 5 minute warm up
/30 minutes of 3 minute shuffle-jog and 2 minutes walking /5 minute
cool down. The long run is a distance of 5 miles. You have a
5 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down. Repeat 3 minute
shuffle-jog and 3 minutes walking as many times as you need to
complete the 5 mile distance. For week four short
runs are 35 minutes long 5 minute warm up /25 minutes of 3 minutes
shuffle-jog and 2 minutes walking /5 minute cool down. The long run
is a distance of 3 miles. You have a 5 minute warm up and a 5
minute cool down. Repeat 3 minute shuffle-jog and 3 minute
walk as many times as you need to complete the 3 mile distance.
This month’s workouts are interval workouts so if you can’t shuffle
or jog then just walk faster during that time slot until you build
endurance enough to shuffle or jog. If you aren’t sure what a
shuffle is, then re-read the previous 2 blogs to find out. Active
Rest for this month means just go out for a nice walk for 20
minutes or so and consider building in a mid-day nap.

Marathon Blog #2

 What is a marathon? How do I choose my event? How do I decide to participate?

Commitment, Patience, Good Training Program, Will/ Desire to go the distance, Willingness to take advice/ tips, Consistency, Love, Perseverance, Determination and Hard Work are some characteristics that you will have to own in order to accomplish the goal of completing your first Marathon in the fall of 2011.

A qualifying run for a marathon is 3.30 hours and under. Our first goal is to finish and then to finish in about 5-6 hours for a full marathon. A full marathon is 26.2 miles and half marathon is 13.1 miles.

If we walk a full marathon, it will take about 7 hours.  We need to finish in about 6 hours so we will need to do some shuffling in there. If you walk a half marathon, it will be about 4 hours.

Why are we doing this as a studio and why are you even considering participating in this event?
Once you accomplished this experience you won’t regret it.  It is a simplistic, inexpensive event.  Training for the event and the event itself will teach you a lot about yourself.  You’ll learn your limitations and at the same time be given opportunities to conquer them.  You’ll improve your self-worth.

Are you up for it mentally and physically? I know I’m up for a new mental task and physically… well, it’s time I get back into my cardio routine.  There is nothing like an event to make that happen.

Can you make the commitment? I know that I’m worried about this one myself.  Being a small business owner, working 100 hours a week plus having a marriage and a personal life is going to be tough. For example, you are going to have about 38-41 weeks of training you will have 3 cardio sessions on top of your Pilates and yoga to add to your schedule.  One of these cardio sessions (as the training schedule progresses) will take several hours to complete.

Will you have Support? You will have support from me and our Mind Body Balance Community but this is another step in making a lifestyle change.  As you know I always ask you, “How will this help you and hurt you?” Your loved ones will be affected by part of the process whether they are participating in the event or not.

Do I have limiting health Concerns?  Well, as you all know I have injury in my spine in the cervical and thoracic vertebra.  I believe that Pilates and Yoga has made me strong enough to endure this event but until I put it to the test… we will see.  Be honest.  Don’t set yourself up for failure.  Maybe you need to pick the half marathon or train longer than 26 weeks. We are taking a slow, gradual training approach and there will be flexibility in the schedule for you to decide as you progress whether to complete a half or a full.

Are you prepared to take care of yourself? You are going to have to pay particular attention to your nutrition (using your online nutrition program), hydration, and sleep.  All of these are parts of a good training program. Are you willing to be mindful in these areas? We’ve given you the tools to make you successful.  Will you use them to help yourself?

Am I mentally strong enough to physically make this happen? We are often our own worst enemy. Our psychological barriers are often our biggest obstacle to overcome. We are about to embark on a 30+ cardio week of walking/ shuffling/ jogging training program.

Yes, you can go from a coach potato to a full marathon. But we are training a little longer and a little bit different than some programs are written. We need to allow our body (muscles, bones, ligaments) time to adapt to the stress of 26.2 miles that will be put on the body. Yes, some people get injured while preparing for these events. These injuries come from under-training, because they didn’t allow enough time or they were inconsistent in following their program. Some injuries come from over-training; they trained too hard and too frequently. Success for this event will not come easily. This schedule is slow so you can build strength, stamina and confidence. Our ultimate goal is to improve your overall health/ fitness level and to remain injury free. Our secondary goal is to cross that finish line with grace that allowed you to honor your body. The journal I asked you to get will allow you to monitor your aches and pains, seek expert advice and then listen and follow the recommendations.

Preparing for this event is the cheapest prescription available.  The benefits are: 

 

improved heart rate;
cardiovascular system;
muscle tone;
weight control,
circulation,
sleep patterns,
improved health,
increased energy,
improved self-esteem,
time with friends,
quality time outdoors,
stress relief,
weight control,
character building,
strength,
wisdom,
know yourself a little bit better,
bragging rights at the water cooler,
decreased risk of stroke,
decreased risk of hypertension,
decreased risk of diabetes,
decreased risk of cancer (breast and colon),
decreased risk of mental illness,
improves respiratory function,
improves bone strength,
improves muscle balance,
psychological well-being,
improves overall quality of life,
confidence building,
overall attitude boost,
improve focus,
determination,
euphoria
and the list goes on.

 

Some cons for preparing for this event are:

 

a great deal of patience, discipline and willpower
blisters,
chafing,
fatigue after event,
time involved,
experience highs/lows,
cold weather,
injury,

 

Should you participate in a half or a full marathon? Well, how much time do you have to commit to your exercise program? Does the time you have available for your next exercise endeavor match the demands that characterize a full or a half? Have you been injury free the past few months? Are you mentally and physical prepared to train for significantly longer periods of time? Do you have the commitment of family support? Do you realize there will be a “tired” factor and you may need to turn in early for the night? Are you board and want to try another activity?

You all filled out a Par-Q before exercising at the studio. If you marked yes to any of the seven questions then ask your doctor to do an exam before beginning. If you didn’t have any “yeses” than you are probably fine to start training. When you talk to your doctor make sure that they understand what a marathon is and aren’t just against events because they wouldn’t do one. Sorry doc’s, I love ya but maybe you should join us J

Your teen may decide that while you are training they’d like to participate.  This would be a wonderful parent child activity.  Please check first with their doctor to make sure you understand their skeletal maturity. Don’t force your teen to choose your goals.  Let them set their own goals to reach for. You focus on safety and being a good role model.

Our next blog will talk about what is involved with participating in a marathon?