Gwyneth Paltrow, on how she stays so fit:
"It's not an accident. It's not luck, it's not fairy dust, it's not good genes. It's killing myself for an hour and a half five days a week."
Enough said :)
Showing posts with label Exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exercise. Show all posts
Saturday
Monday
Why Is Maintaining Weight Loss So Hard?
My friend is gaining back the 25 pounds she lost on the Dr. Berstein diet.
The diet was very effective in taking the weight off, but she's simply not able to follow it long term. It makes me think yet again about lifestyle and overall awareness of what keeps weight off.
There's more to keeping weight off than skipping egg yolks and getting vitamin B shots, or weigh-ins and point counts. It's more than just time on a treadmill or laps on a track. It's more than a goal, an objective, a dangling carrot.
It's about making a lot of small changes that will end in one big result. What good will eating the egg whites do if you still have the processed food in the pantry? What good will training for a yearly community run do if you still drive your kids several blocks to school every day? Sure you can eat the egg whites and stay away from the pantry for awhile, or you can turn your already tight schedule upside down even further to squeeze in time for the runs, but isn't that just so hard? Isn't that too hard?
It would be for me. I take my hat off to you for trying. I wouldn't be able to keep doing it.
Instead, healthy weight maintenance could fit your life like a comfortable pair of shoes - ones that you slide your feet into and would prefer to wear than to take off. They would add support to each step, without pinching or leaving blisters.
Like a pantry stocked with whole grain foods, instead of sugary cereal. Go ahead, have a snack! Or the mini-van that stays parked in the mornings before school, to be replaced by an umbrella on rainy days. Guess what - you won't have to look for parking. Oh sure in the beginning change is hard, but once you get used to it, you won't remember what the beginning felt like.
I think the major difference between myself and my friend is lifestyle. My exercise isn't a yearly event that's participated in and then finished (her community run). Mine is part of my day to day life which is set up in such a way as to leave me little choice. We have only one vehicle insured, so I have to walk the kids everywhere, for example. The work from home job that I've chosen is a paper route, all done on foot. She works from home as well, but at a computer doing customer service for a telecom company. She earns more money than I do (which enables her to afford to insure a second vehicle ;) Hmmm.
I could go on and on, and to be fair, there are equal pros and cons to different lifestyles. Some are just better suited to maintaining a healthy weight.
Why is maintaining weight loss so hard? Maybe because it's not at the top of the priority list.
The first step could be assessing what your priorities are. The next, figuring out what changes need to be made to fit that list. The next after that, accepting that not all the changes will be easy.
The objective, though, is to make the changes that best support the item on the top of the priority list, so that item is most likely to be achieved. Sure it's hard to brave the cold when you're walking and not in a heated car, but you know what? Maintaining a healthy weight won't be hard.
TenGone Home
('
’)
The diet was very effective in taking the weight off, but she's simply not able to follow it long term. It makes me think yet again about lifestyle and overall awareness of what keeps weight off.
There's more to keeping weight off than skipping egg yolks and getting vitamin B shots, or weigh-ins and point counts. It's more than just time on a treadmill or laps on a track. It's more than a goal, an objective, a dangling carrot.
It's about making a lot of small changes that will end in one big result. What good will eating the egg whites do if you still have the processed food in the pantry? What good will training for a yearly community run do if you still drive your kids several blocks to school every day? Sure you can eat the egg whites and stay away from the pantry for awhile, or you can turn your already tight schedule upside down even further to squeeze in time for the runs, but isn't that just so hard? Isn't that too hard?
It would be for me. I take my hat off to you for trying. I wouldn't be able to keep doing it.
Instead, healthy weight maintenance could fit your life like a comfortable pair of shoes - ones that you slide your feet into and would prefer to wear than to take off. They would add support to each step, without pinching or leaving blisters.
Like a pantry stocked with whole grain foods, instead of sugary cereal. Go ahead, have a snack! Or the mini-van that stays parked in the mornings before school, to be replaced by an umbrella on rainy days. Guess what - you won't have to look for parking. Oh sure in the beginning change is hard, but once you get used to it, you won't remember what the beginning felt like.
I think the major difference between myself and my friend is lifestyle. My exercise isn't a yearly event that's participated in and then finished (her community run). Mine is part of my day to day life which is set up in such a way as to leave me little choice. We have only one vehicle insured, so I have to walk the kids everywhere, for example. The work from home job that I've chosen is a paper route, all done on foot. She works from home as well, but at a computer doing customer service for a telecom company. She earns more money than I do (which enables her to afford to insure a second vehicle ;) Hmmm.
I could go on and on, and to be fair, there are equal pros and cons to different lifestyles. Some are just better suited to maintaining a healthy weight.
Why is maintaining weight loss so hard? Maybe because it's not at the top of the priority list.
The first step could be assessing what your priorities are. The next, figuring out what changes need to be made to fit that list. The next after that, accepting that not all the changes will be easy.
The objective, though, is to make the changes that best support the item on the top of the priority list, so that item is most likely to be achieved. Sure it's hard to brave the cold when you're walking and not in a heated car, but you know what? Maintaining a healthy weight won't be hard.
TenGone Home
('
’)Thursday
My Push Ups Are Getting Easier :)
...they're still wall push ups (translation: the easy kind ;), but I'm noticing that my upper body has more strength than it did almost a month ago when I started them. Talk about gratifying!
This makes me think that for my fourth exercise, I'm going to choose something else that will get easier as I get more fit, as opposed to the plies and the fidgeting, which were never really hard to begin with. They're still the same. I do them without really feeling any progress, all the while trusting that they're resulting in small benefits over time.
The push ups, meanwhile, actually make me feel stronger.
Awesome!!
TenGone Home
('’)
This makes me think that for my fourth exercise, I'm going to choose something else that will get easier as I get more fit, as opposed to the plies and the fidgeting, which were never really hard to begin with. They're still the same. I do them without really feeling any progress, all the while trusting that they're resulting in small benefits over time.
The push ups, meanwhile, actually make me feel stronger.
Awesome!!
TenGone Home
('
’)Monday
Fidget!!!!!!
(Does that count as an exercise? ;) It does now!!
My kids can't seem to sit still. I know this is pretty common for kids, but is it any wonder they're leaner than adults? Hmmm.
I've decided to add fidgeting to my list of exercises. Now originally this list was started for muscle toning activities, because I already do a lot of calorie burning stuff (like walking and running), but fidgeting is something I'd forget to do unless it was on a list.
(I'm also going to ignore the fact that as parents we often tell our kids to not fidget ;)
How do you fidget? Just move when you're still! For instance as I type this I'm moving my legs under the table. It's easy, requires very little effort, and is not disruptive to what I'm doing.
(I did a quick search on my Amazon widget of "fidget exercise" and lo and behold found an entire book about fidgeting to burn calories - awesome!!)
TenGone Home
('’)
My kids can't seem to sit still. I know this is pretty common for kids, but is it any wonder they're leaner than adults? Hmmm.
I've decided to add fidgeting to my list of exercises. Now originally this list was started for muscle toning activities, because I already do a lot of calorie burning stuff (like walking and running), but fidgeting is something I'd forget to do unless it was on a list.
(I'm also going to ignore the fact that as parents we often tell our kids to not fidget ;)
How do you fidget? Just move when you're still! For instance as I type this I'm moving my legs under the table. It's easy, requires very little effort, and is not disruptive to what I'm doing.
(I did a quick search on my Amazon widget of "fidget exercise" and lo and behold found an entire book about fidgeting to burn calories - awesome!!)
TenGone Home
('
’)Tuesday
My Second Exercise: The Demi-Plie
Do I dare? Add another exercise? I`ve been pretty consistent with my wall push-ups - even if I forget while I`m making my morning coffee, I remember at some point during the day and then I do them. I think I`m comfortable enough with the regularity of them to add something else.
A few years back (ok, more than a few... shhh!! ;) I took a beginner`s ballet class and was impressed with the muscle involvement required for even the simplest of moves. Even the basic demi plie involves so many of the regions I want to tone (abs, butt, thighs), all rolled into one exercise. You`d be amazed how many muscles you need working together to balance like that!!
So... the demi-plie is now my "exercise number two". I think I`ll start with ten of those per day, in addition to my 20 wall push-ups...
TenGone Home
('’)
A few years back (ok, more than a few... shhh!! ;) I took a beginner`s ballet class and was impressed with the muscle involvement required for even the simplest of moves. Even the basic demi plie involves so many of the regions I want to tone (abs, butt, thighs), all rolled into one exercise. You`d be amazed how many muscles you need working together to balance like that!!
So... the demi-plie is now my "exercise number two". I think I`ll start with ten of those per day, in addition to my 20 wall push-ups...
TenGone Home
('
’)Wednesday
Can't Wait....
...to add another toning exercise!!! At the moment I do 20 wall push ups every morning. THAT'S IT, because I've done more in the past and then given it all up. I'm too "all or nothing", which is part of the reason I over eat compulsively unless I count calories.
The wall push ups have been going well in that I feel my body being worked, but it takes very little time, so if I do forget to do them while my coffee is brewing, I can easily squeeze them in another time (as soon as I realize I've forgotten, I just head to the nearest wall, and voila - 2 minutes or so later I've completed my New Year's resolution :)
The problem is now that I want to add another exercise (I'm just itching to! lol), and the push ups habit is not fully secure yet. I know from past experience that if I over schedule myself all at once, the first day I'm too tired or busy will be my last day doing the exercises.
I need to wait a bit longer before I add on another exercise... must form new habits one at a time ;) Meanwhile, I'll just have to be patient!!
TenGone Home
('’)
The wall push ups have been going well in that I feel my body being worked, but it takes very little time, so if I do forget to do them while my coffee is brewing, I can easily squeeze them in another time (as soon as I realize I've forgotten, I just head to the nearest wall, and voila - 2 minutes or so later I've completed my New Year's resolution :)
The problem is now that I want to add another exercise (I'm just itching to! lol), and the push ups habit is not fully secure yet. I know from past experience that if I over schedule myself all at once, the first day I'm too tired or busy will be my last day doing the exercises.
I need to wait a bit longer before I add on another exercise... must form new habits one at a time ;) Meanwhile, I'll just have to be patient!!
TenGone Home
('
’)Friday
Here's To A Wonderful 2010!!
Happy New Year!!
So far so good - I actually remembered to do my wall push-ups this morning while my coffee was brewing, lol. for me the issue is not completing tasks, it's remembering them!! I need to put a note on my coffee maker, at least until the habit is established.
I'm optimistic about this resolution, because it's simple, and achievable. If I woke up this morning thinking "I resolve to have a toned upper body", that would be something that I couldn't achieve today. Instead I woke up thinking "I resolve to do 20 wall push ups".
Voila! Success :)
TenGone Home
('’)
So far so good - I actually remembered to do my wall push-ups this morning while my coffee was brewing, lol. for me the issue is not completing tasks, it's remembering them!! I need to put a note on my coffee maker, at least until the habit is established.
I'm optimistic about this resolution, because it's simple, and achievable. If I woke up this morning thinking "I resolve to have a toned upper body", that would be something that I couldn't achieve today. Instead I woke up thinking "I resolve to do 20 wall push ups".
Voila! Success :)
TenGone Home
('
’)Wednesday
And The Winner Is....
...push ups!!!
I've decided to incorporate some daily push ups into my routine, as my fitness New Year's resolution.
In order for me to be able to stick with it, there has to be only ONE exercise. I cannot fall prey (as I have in previous years) to the trap of "oh, that was easy, what else can I do?" and then adding more exercises, and then having a tired or busy day were I don't do them all, and then giving up completely. (Welcome to my world ;)
I decided on push ups because they can really work your core, in addition to your arms and chest. If I'm only picking one thing, it has to accomplish as much as it can. I've also discovered that there's more abdominal involvement if you place your hands further above your head.
I'll do twenty every morning while my coffee is brewing, and I'm starting with wall push ups, because on the floor I can do maybe three, tops. I'll let you know when I move up to twenty on the floor ;)
TenGone Home
I've decided to incorporate some daily push ups into my routine, as my fitness New Year's resolution.
In order for me to be able to stick with it, there has to be only ONE exercise. I cannot fall prey (as I have in previous years) to the trap of "oh, that was easy, what else can I do?" and then adding more exercises, and then having a tired or busy day were I don't do them all, and then giving up completely. (Welcome to my world ;)
I decided on push ups because they can really work your core, in addition to your arms and chest. If I'm only picking one thing, it has to accomplish as much as it can. I've also discovered that there's more abdominal involvement if you place your hands further above your head.
I'll do twenty every morning while my coffee is brewing, and I'm starting with wall push ups, because on the floor I can do maybe three, tops. I'll let you know when I move up to twenty on the floor ;)
TenGone Home
Tuesday
What Are Your New Year's Resolutions?
Traditionally, New Year's resolutions have been a set up for failure for me. I make them, and never stick to them. I don't know if a simple date on a calendar is motivation enough to make life changes that require will power and discipline.
Still, they're fun! Why not start each year with renewed ambition and optimism? So every year I make resolutions, regardless of my success or failure with them in the past.
This time around, I am in the enviable position of approaching the magic date on the calendar with one of my goals (weight maintenance) already achieved. I have new and improved dietary habits, as well as kept up with regular cardio exercise. What next?
Muscle toning is an area that I don't make time for at the moment. I think this is something I can resolve to start in the new year.
My plan is to choose ONE, and only one, exercise (to start with). In the past I've planned out a whole routine, and given up after a week because of the new time constraints involved. This year, however, I'm going to choose ONE activity that takes about five minutes, and insert it somewhere into my routine. Push-ups before brushing my teeth? Sit-ups while dinner is cooking? Not sure yet, but I will let you know what I come up with.
Time to put my thinking cap on!
TenGone Home
Still, they're fun! Why not start each year with renewed ambition and optimism? So every year I make resolutions, regardless of my success or failure with them in the past.
This time around, I am in the enviable position of approaching the magic date on the calendar with one of my goals (weight maintenance) already achieved. I have new and improved dietary habits, as well as kept up with regular cardio exercise. What next?
Muscle toning is an area that I don't make time for at the moment. I think this is something I can resolve to start in the new year.
My plan is to choose ONE, and only one, exercise (to start with). In the past I've planned out a whole routine, and given up after a week because of the new time constraints involved. This year, however, I'm going to choose ONE activity that takes about five minutes, and insert it somewhere into my routine. Push-ups before brushing my teeth? Sit-ups while dinner is cooking? Not sure yet, but I will let you know what I come up with.
Time to put my thinking cap on!
TenGone Home
Wednesday
How Exercise Can Sabotage Weight Loss
It's simple, really - exercise increases hunger, which makes cutting back on calories more difficult.
In the past, when I've tried exercising to lose weight without counting calories, it's been a dismal failure. Everyone is different, of course, but for me, exercise brings out a feeling of entitlement in regards to food. I burned a lot of calories today, I can have that extra slice of banana bread. In the end I gain weight, and it's not all from muscle building, if you get my drift.
I will never give up exercise. It strengthens your body and makes you healthier. However when I exercise solely for the purpose of losing weight, it makes losing weight difficult. So instead, I incorporate exercise into everything I do (such as walking when I can instead of driving), and focus on calorie reduction as my weight loss method.
The trick for me is being conscious about what I eat. Yes I spent an hour and a half walking today, but that does not mean I can eat my way through the fridge. Weight loss requires burning more calories than you consume, whether you're exercising or not!
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