Fix Your Negative Self Talk

Is your inner voice a trash-talker? If you’ve tried and failed to reach your fitness goals in the past, negative thoughts might have held you back. Want to succeed this time? It’s time to get some of those thoughts out of your head and onto paper. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do you have a negative self-image?
Do you constantly say things like “I’m fat” or “I’m ugly”? Do you pick yourself apart and beat yourself up when you look in the mirror?

2. Do you lack self-confidence?
Do you doubt your ability to achieve your goals, weight related or otherwise? Do you dwell on your perceived limits or fears? Do you doubt your ability to accomplish the things you want to accomplish?

3. Do you feel powerless?
Do you feel as if you have no control over your life, or do you rely on excuses like “I’m genetically predisposed to being overweigh

4. Do you label yourself in self-deprecating ways?
Do you think and talk about your failure to lose weight as a foregone conclusion? Do you refer to yourself as a stereotype — the happy/funny fat person in the room?

Now think about your responses to these questions. How would you describe their tone? Are they affirming and constructive, or downbeat and destructive? If you want to turn your thinking around, ask yourself one more question:

How is this negativity serving you? Answering this question will help you understand why you have been perpetuating these destructive thoughts and behaviors so that you can cut them out at the root. Is what you say about yourself really the truth? Or is it a defense mechanism? Are you just making complicated excuses? How does this kind of negativity help you achieve your goals?

Here’s the last step: Go back and answer the above questions again, and force yourself to use only positive terms. It can be hard to let go of negative thought patterns. Often, they’re the result of years of self-loathing and internalizing negative opinions and judgments of others, but you can do it. Remember, knowledge is power. The next time one of these negative thoughts crops up, you’ll have the awareness to cut it down. Your mind is a powerful thing!

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How to Break a Plateau

Plateau. That dreaded word that you do not want to hear, let alone experience. We have all experienced a plateau at some time all of a sudden you stop losing weight or you just cant seem to run any faster. When you hit a plateau, don’t panic. It doesn’t necessarily mean you need to work harder or spend more days at the gym.

How to Break Through A PLATEAU:

Take an Active Rest- Active rest rejuvenates the mind and the body and allows for overworked muscles to rest and rebuild.

Eat Properly-As you increase your fitness level, your body’s metabolism may increase and so will your calorie needs.

Mix It Up-If you do not vary your workout routine your body will eventually run on cruise control, and you will experience a plateau. Changes in your routine will surprise the body and force it to adapt, bringing you to new levels of fitness.

Different Day, Different Intensity-Varying your activities, specify different days of the week as low, moderate or high-intensity days. Try interval training work at a low intensity for a couple of minutes and increase to a high intensity for a couple of minutes, and repeat.

Get Enough Sleep-Be sure you are getting enough sleep. Getting the right amount of sleep for your body will allow time for your muscles to recover from exercise

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ABCs of Fitness to Get on Track

Give these tips a go and you could find yourself back in possession of willpower, confidence and energy in no time!

Fitness AAA
A = Action

Fitness and exercise can feel like too big a challenge, so just push to become more active. That can mean adding in a simple stretch or a walk around the block, take a few extra stairs, stand up and pace while talking on the phone, etc. Any movement is better than no movement.

A = Analyze

Look at your schedule and see where there is time for action. You don’t think you have time to get to a workout in? Fine. Let’s start small. Can you find 10 minutes before breakfast or after work?Over time, build up and add more minutes.

A= Accountability

You know you need to exercise. I know you need to exercise. Add it to your daily to-do list and do something active every day. You’re more likely to exercise if you hold yourself accountable. Consider going even further and joining one of my online support groups for added accountability and motivation.

Fitness BBB
B = Breathe

Mindful breathing can help us focus so find something you do every day and use it as a reminder to enjoy some relaxing deep-breathing. You might decide to deep-breathe while waiting for the coffee to brew or as you take a shower. It will help you to focus on your next task at hand.

B= Break

Take a break. We’re all busy and it feels like we just don’t have any time but are you sure you can’t squeeze in a five minute break from what you’re doing? Hard as it might be to believe, your productivity may go up if you step away for a moment.

B = Balance

You’re more likely to stick with your daily actions if you can find a way to balance your new activities with your daily needs. You still need to do your chores, keep up your social circle and all the other things that make up your day-to-day life, but learn to fit your activity into it as a habit.

Fitness CCC
C= Change

Change won’t happen unless you make it. We can all wish and hope and dream but we won’t get fit unless we take a first action step. You have to be honest with yourself every day.

C= Community

Use your community to help you rebuild your fitness. Your family, friends and co-workers can help you and be your cheerleader. You probably aren’t the only person you know who wants to be more fit. Tell everybody what you’re trying to do and you’re friends will motivate you. They’re likely to be proud of you for actively taking back control.

C = Commit

Commit to taking action. Pretty soon you’ll look back and see how far you’ve climbed.

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Strategies to Tame Temptations

Is junk food creeping back into your home? If your family has a taste for ice cream, chips, cookies, and other unhealthy (but tempting!) foods, it’s almost impossible to prevent them from reappearing in your cupboards. So how can you ensure that your house is temptation-proof? To help you maintain your healthy lifestyle, try these suggestions:

Plan a monthly cupboard cleaning.
As the saying goes, if you keep things out of sight, they will be out of your mind, or in this case, out of your mouth. Make it a priority to clean out your kitchen cupboards and pantry at least once a month to remove any unhealthy foods that may have sneaked back in. If foods are still unopened, consider donating them to a food bank.

Create an out-of-eyesight snack spot for your family.
Have your kids been bringing home chips or sugary goodies from friends’ houses? Did your spouse commandeer some leftover cupcakes from an office party? Make it clear to your family that certain unhealthy foods should not be brought into the house (these processed foods aren’t benefiting their health either), but if they just have to have these, keep an out-of-eyesight snack drawer or cabinet where they can stash their snacks, and hopefully forget about them.

Avoid impulse snack buys.
Never go food shopping when you’re hungry. You’ll be more likely to end up in the aisles that contain chips, cookies, and other baked goods or junk food. Have a healthy snack list in hand and stick with your list. When you get home, separate your snacks into single servings and store them in plastic sandwich bags to keep portions manageable.

Healthy sweet treats.
If you are craving sweets, have on hand better options such as sugar free jello, 40 cal fudgesicles, portioned out dark chocolate almonds, etc. By satisfying the sweet crave, you won’t feel so deprived later.

Fool your brain.
One way to help get your mind out of temptation mode is to give it something else to think about. When a craving for unhealthy foods occurs, immediately drink a big glass of water or brush your teeth. Go occupy your hands with a good book. Walk the dog. Seemingly random actions can stop unhealthy cravings in their tracks.

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