Motivation To Move | Community

Stand up and Eat

2008-07-10T23:15:35-05:00

Got your attention!

Stumbled across this new site that is part of the Cooper Institute (Dr. Kenneth Cooper - Father of Aerobics). Check it out and see what ya think?

http://www.standupandeat.org

Favorite Motivational Sayings

2007-06-26T16:44:10-05:00

All of us have special sayings or quotes written down somewhere that really get us moving. It may be something that you have memorized or written on a piece of paper tacked to your wall. Or I know others have there own book of quotes that are special to them. Each time we read these sayings or quotes it gives us that special boast of energy or motivates us to go that extra mile. Or it may bring comfort to us in times of sorrow or despair. What are some of your favorite motivational quotes, sayings, or words that bring special meaning to your life?? And why are they are favorite passages too??

For me I really like the following Zig Ziglar quote, “Make it a better than good day.” I like it because it helps me to go out each day and really give it my all, live each day to its fullest potential. Not just live a “good day” but live a great day. I have others and so I will post more of my favorites later on. But, I would like to see what are some of your favorites. Have fun with this one!!

Scooby

Sometimes struggle becomes a habit

2008-04-05T22:30:07-05:00

Hi all,
Thought I’d share my latest revelation. I cycle as my main form of aerobic excercise but Brisbane is a hilly city and my inability to make it up those hills kept my adventures fairly limited. I grew up with 3 speed bikes and had never experienced “granny gear”. So, I had been attempting these hills standing up and pedalling with all the force I could muster but could never make it to the top before I hit my maximum heart rate and felt like my head might explode!!
So the other week I kept dropping gears and dropping gears and low and behold I made it to the top of the hills!!!
On reflection I can see that this is also reflected in other parts of my life - when times are tough tenacity is a great asset. But sometimes we already have the tools to make the journey easier and more achieveable but are so used to the struggle that we never utilise them. May you all embrace “granny gear” and get wherever you want to go. : )

Keeping things in proper perspective

2008-03-18T21:52:56-05:00

The attached video clip is very moving and thought provoking.

We stay grounded in the basic fundamentals of move, act, and repeat
in our pursuit of goals.

Would you live your life any differently if you ultimately didn’t have all
of those years ahead of you?

Take a look at this video clip:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8577255250907450469

If the link has expired, put the following into a web search engine:
“Randy Pausch Last Lecture Video”

A true sense of gratitude sure pushes stress to the side.
... and, puts a little extra wind in your sails too.

ahhhh yeah…

2008-03-07T17:57:17-05:00

Finished up my 3rd week of SMSM and did my 5th consecutive day of 1hr treadmill cardio. I feel awesome! To be honest, it was even starting to get a little bored, but I turned on some upbeat music and it carried me easily through the last 10 minutes of the workout… I even went over by 3 minutes! I never go over by 3 minutes. I think when I run out of cardio cross companion, daily boost, mtm minutes and after burners… I’ll just turn on a bit of workout music from now on. It definitely helps and get me energized. I pushed the treadmill up from 2.8mph to 3.0mph when it wasn’t going as fast as the beat of the song… ha!

Hope you all are having a great day! :-D

Found this on the web… Thought I’d share

2007-10-15T22:43:19-05:00

Beginning or getting back to an exercise routine involves more than just scheduling your workouts and joining a gym. In fact, it’s entirely possible to join a gym and never actually go, even as those monthly payments show up on your bank statement. I know this because I’ve done that a few times in my life. Sticking with your goals requires a few mental tricks to help keep you moving, focused and motivated.

1. Momentum. Momentum is a key part of consistent exercise. You know what I’m talking about...you have those weeks when everything goes right: you do all your workouts, eat like a health freak and start to think, ‘I can totally do this!’ Then ‘it’ happens. ‘It’ might be a holiday, a vacation, an illness...something that throws you off your game. Getting back is always tough, partly because you’ve lost that momentum. We already know (courtesy of Isaac Newton) that an object at rest tends to stay at rest, so getting moving again is the only way to get your momentum going. Think of yourself like a stalled car...once you start pushing it, it’ll pick up speed and you won’t have to work hard to keep it moving. If that analogy doesn’t do it for you, try these ideas:

• Focus on the habit. Instead of worrying about making up for lost time with crazy-intense workouts, focus on just getting some workout time in. Plan your workouts for the week and call yourself successful just for showing up.

• Buy yourself a little something. Maybe I’m weird, but I always get a little excited when I have a shiny new pair of running shoes or a great pair of shorts to wear to the gym. If you’re having trouble getting back to it, get a new outfit or download some new songs to your MP3 player so you have something to look forward to.

• Make a date. Make an appointment to workout with a friend or call your gym and set up a free consultation with a personal trainer. Even if you don’t sign up, getting back into the exercise environment can be just the nudge you need.

• Do something crazy. If the thought of going back to boring gym workouts makes you want to curl up and die, do something totally different. Sign up for a local belly dancing class or check out that new yoga studio you drive by every day. A change of scenery and a brand new activity can refresh and rejuvenate you.

2. Stay in the Moment. Picture this: you’re at a party. You’ve promised yourself you won’t attack the buffet like a starving lunatic. Then you see a giant platter of the prettiest, most perfect cubes of cheese you’ve ever encountered. Several hours later, feeling your cheese hangover begin, you vow to make up for it tomorrow with a two-hour workout.
There are a couple of problems with this approach--first, you can’t un-eat what you ate the night before and, second, killing yourself with a workout is not a great solution since it makes you hate exercise even more.
If you’re busy living in yesterday’s mistakes, many of your decisions will be based on guilt and shame rather than what you genuinely want (and need) to do to reach your goals. True change comes from daily choices and basing your choices on what you need now (instead of what you did or didn’t do yesterday) will make your exercise life much more tolerable.

• Stop the blame game. If you mess up, give yourself a time limit for how long you’ll feel bad about it. For example, if you missed your workout yesterday, give yourself permission to kick yourself for the next 20 minutes. When time’s up, let it go and focus on today’s workout.

• Set daily goals. You might find it’s easier to stay in the moment if you have specific daily goals (instead of just relying on a long-term goal to lose weight). Make a list of what you want to accomplish today (e.g., eat fruit with every meal, a 30-minute workout, getting at least 8,000 steps on my pedometer, etc.) and check off each thing you accomplish. Makes you feel good, doesn’t it?

• Reward yourself. After setting and meeting your daily goals, plan a little something nice for yourself. Having something to look forward to always makes it easier to do the hard things (like exercise). Take a few minutes to listen to your favorite song, sip a hot cup of tea, take a bath or putter in the garage...whatever floats your boat.

Forming a Master Mind Group

2008-01-07T19:37:56-05:00

I’m looking for 4 to 5 dedicated professional types to form a Master Mind group to support each other’s goals and create accountability toward those goals.

What is a Master Mind group? It’s sort of like having your own personal Board of Directors - a group that you meet with once a week or once a fortnight via a conference call and you track your goals, your activities and you hold each other accountable for your progress. So everyone gets the collective motivation and accountabilty to each other.

I’m an early 40’s male professional in investment banking - but it doesn’t really matter what the fields are of the group. I need help keeping to short and medium term professional, personal and workout goals.

I’m willing to give 45-6o minutes once a week for a conference call with the group.

Interested?

These are a couple of links that describe the concept.

http://www.passionforbusiness.com/articles/mastermind-group.htm

http://www.speakernetnews.com/post/mastermind.html

Inspiration for The New Year 2008

2008-01-03T11:28:16-05:00

I read this this morning and had to share:

Inspiration for The New Year 2008

Inspiration is of the most powerful friends you can have on your weight loss journey. It infuses us with an energy that is not found in any other aspect of life.
Inspiration seems to affect the very cells of our bodies and empowers us to overcome just about every obstacle that the dark spots of life bring us.
In preparation for the New Year here are some special thoughts that will sustain and empower you for months to come.

*Remember that you have only a small idea of who you really are. You are far more special and wonderful and talented than you have ever imagined. If you are like most of us (and you probably are) then you have a rather limited view of yourself and your capabilities. Decide that you will give your best effort in this New Year, to let go of your limited self-concept and break out into an explosion of creativity and positive risk taking. You have nothing to lose except ideas that hold you back. You have yourself to gain.
*Imagine that you are standing on a large hill in front of a gate that opens into the future. Look back at 2007 and reflect on it for a while. Decide to learn the lessons there and let go of the pain. Then turn around and walk free into the New Year with hope and great expectations.
*Expect surprises and wait to evaluate them. This year will certainly contain experiences that you cannot predict. Some may seem wonderful and some painful at first so take your time and allow the lessons to emerge before you decide their real value.
*Frequently repeat this “prayer” by Rumi: “Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah. It makes absolutely no difference what people think of you.”
*Take time to honor your bliss. Look into your heart and find your passion and bliss and give it your best attention. It will lead you to everything you need and want in life.
*See your weight as a sacred messenger that wants to show you the way to a whole and healthy self. Listen to it.
*Remember that you make a difference that is a lot more significant than you imagine. Who you are and how you live counts.
*Learn to see through the eyes of compassion. We cannot see the truth about ourselves or others until compassion clears our vision.
*Spend time with individuals that see the best in you. You will discover that they are right often.
*Decide this year to learn to love your body whatever size it is. It has been there for you since the beginning and will remain until the end. Give it the respect it deserves.
*Pay it forward. Make it a monthly habit to do something really caring and helpful for someone you hardly know. You will transform your ability to love life and trust the goodness in people.
*Decide right now to take a hard and clear look at your past and finally forgive yourself for everything. This way you can get on with the business of living large.
*Decide right now to let go of all the painful and nasty resentments you are still carrying, so again you can get on with the business of living large.

http://www.weightloss-index.com/article-main.html

My husbands success story - couch to triathelete in less than a year

2007-12-16T11:56:07-05:00

My husband told me he was inspired by my own weight loss progress AND that our children have only known him as the fat guy.

Well, he gave himself one year to lose 100 pounds and joined a popular fitness website and started using the tools of logging in calories, activity, etc. Started at 52 years old and 280 lbs and about 5’10” this spring. In October at 53 he was down 60 lbs and entered his first ever 5k race with our then 13yo daughter. She was upset that her dad had a better time than her and he finished in about 35-36 minutes and was quite pumped and said he wanted to do more as he couldn’t beleive the times of other racers.

Well in November he told me he was entering a triatholon the next month. I balked at the swim part and told him swimming in the bay was a lot different than a heated pool alone doing laps. Well he practiced his laps, ran and we just biked recreationally. Last weekend he finished his first triatholon in Safety Harbour, FL at 53 doing a 1/4 mile ocean (bay here) swim, 10 miles on the bike and then a 5k run. There were 5 guys in his age catergory and he came in 4 out of 5 and 162 overall out of 163. I made sure I was there at each transition cheering him on and taking pics. He lost a lot of time in the transition from swim to bike and definitely needs to work on that. Some bystanders who saw his transition routine and giggled with me afterwards told me to make sure I let him know that just being there was an accomplishment because what were most other 50 plus guys doing on a Sunday morning. The support of other participants and people waiting near me was amazing. He was given a lot of tips afterwards as how to adjust his bike, etc and what events he may want to pursue.

I’m very proud of his accomplishment, he was 40 lbs to make his ultimate goal and I am publicly admitting he has passed me by. So I’ll have to step up my game I suppose.

He has completely transformed himself at an age where people think you can’t. I also think the law of attraction is at work because if one person changes the other will ineventually change to. I used to have a partner who’d be buying and eating ice cream as I’m sticking to my food plan, watching tv while I went to the gym, etc. - now we can enjoy biking outdoors, the gym, etc. together. So believe me, if he can do it or I so can you. I don’t feel personally driven to complete a triathalon but if you want to all you have to do is move as Scott says. Its amazing the progress you can make if you stay consistent.

100 Smartest Diet Tips Ever

2007-11-13T06:48:48-05:00

This was originally from prevention.com:

Renew your commitment to weight loss with help from top nutrition pros.

by Top Dietitians of the American Dietetic Association

Got a diet dilemma? Ask a true diet pro: an RD, or registered dietitian. Her job is turning complex nutrition research into doable plans for real people.

Courtesy of the American Dietetic Association (ADA), we took our readers’ eleven toughest diet problems and ran them by some of the top dietitians in the US: RDs who, in addition to their private careers, serve as media spokespersons or heads of specialty practice groups for the ADA.

Here’s what they told us, in their own words. These tips are solid gold, learned from successful experience with thousands of clients. Some tips are new. Some you’ve heard before, but they’re repeated because they work. This treasure trove of RD wisdom could change your life-starting today.

I Can Only Handle One Diet Change Right Now. What Should I Do?
1. Add just one fruit or veggie serving daily. Get comfortable with that, then add an extra serving until you reach 8 to 10 a day.

2. Eat at least two servings of a fruit or veggie at every meal.

3. Resolve never to supersize your food portions--unless you want to supersize your clothes.

4. Make eating purposeful, not mindless. Whenever you put food in your mouth, peel it, unwrap it, plate it, and sit. Engage all of the senses in the pleasure of nourishing your body.

5. Start eating a big breakfast. It helps you eat fewer total calories throughout the day.

6. Make sure your plate is half veggies and/or fruit at both lunch and dinner.

Are there Any Easy Tricks to Help Me Cut Calories?
7. Eating out? Halve it, and bag the rest. A typical restaurant entree has 1,000 to 2,000 calories, not even counting the bread, appetizer, beverage, and dessert.

8. When dining out, make it automatic: Order one dessert to share.

9. Use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate.

10. See what you eat. Plate your food instead of eating out of the jar or bag.

11. Eat the low-cal items on your plate first, then graduate. Start with salads, veggies, and broth soups, and eat meats and starches last. By the time you get to them, you’ll be full enough to be content with smaller portions of the high-calorie choices.

12. Instead of whole milk, switch to 1 percent. If you drink one 8-oz glass a day, you’ll lose 5 lb in a year.

13. Juice has as many calories, ounce for ounce, as soda. Set a limit of one 8-oz glass of fruit juice a day.

14. Get calories from foods you chew, not beverages. Have fresh fruit instead of fruit juice.

15. Keep a food journal. It really works wonders.

16. Follow the Chinese saying: “Eat until you are eight-tenths full.”

17. Use mustard instead of mayo.

18. Eat more soup. The noncreamy ones are filling but low-cal.

19. Cut back on or cut out caloric drinks such as soda, sweet tea, lemonade, etc. People have lost weight by making just this one change. If you have a 20-oz bottle of Coca-Cola every day, switch to Diet Coke. You should lose 25 lb in a year.

20. Take your lunch to work.

21. Sit when you eat.

22. Dilute juice with water.

23. Have mostly veggies for lunch.

24. Eat at home.

25. Limit alcohol to weekends.

How Can I Eat More Veggies?
26. Have a V8 or tomato juice instead of a Diet Coke at 3 pm.

27. Doctor your veggies to make them delicious: Dribble maple syrup over carrots, and sprinkle chopped nuts on green beans.

28. Mix three different cans of beans and some diet Italian dressing. Eat this three-bean salad all week.

29. Don’t forget that vegetable soup counts as a vegetable.

30. Rediscover the sweet potato.

31. Use prebagged baby spinach everywhere: as “lettuce” in sandwiches, heated in soups, wilted in hot pasta, and added to salads.

32. Spend the extra few dollars to buy vegetables that are already washed and cut up.

33. Really hate veggies? Relax. If you love fruits, eat plenty of them; they are just as healthy (especially colorful ones such as oranges, mangoes, and melons).

34. Keep seven bags of your favorite frozen vegetables on hand. Mix any combination, microwave, and top with your favorite low-fat dressing. Enjoy 3 to 4 cups a day. Makes a great quick dinner.

Can You Give Me a Mantra that will Help Me Stick to My Diet?
35. “The best portion of high-calorie foods is the smallest one. The best portion of vegetables is the largest one. Period.”

36. “I’ll ride the wave. My cravings will disappear after 10 minutes if I turn my attention elsewhere.”

37. “I want to be around to see my grandchildren, so I can forgo a cookie now.”

38. “I am a work in progress.”

39. “It’s more stressful to continue being fat than to stop overeating.”

I Eat Healthy, but I’m Overweight. What Mistakes Could I Be Making without Realizing It?
40. Skipping meals. Many healthy eaters “diet by day and binge by night.”

41. Don’t “graze” yourself fat. You can easily munch 600 calories of pretzels or cereal without realizing it.

42. Eating pasta like crazy. A serving of pasta is 1 cup, but some people routinely eat 4 cups.

43. Eating supersize bagels of 400 to 500 calories for snacks.

44. Ignoring “Serving Size” on the Nutrition Facts panel.

45. Snacking on bowls of nuts. Nuts are healthy but dense with calories. Put those bowls away, and use nuts as a garnish instead of a snack.

46. Thinking all energy bars and fruit smoothies are low-cal.

What Can I Eat for a Healthy Low-Cal Dinner if I Don’t Want to Cook?
47. A smoothie made with fat-free milk, frozen fruit, and wheat germ.

48. The smallest fast-food burger (with mustard and ketchup, not mayo) and a no-cal beverage. Then at home, have an apple or baby carrots.

49. A peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread with a glass of 1 percent milk and an apple.