The Perennial List

The Perennial List
A proud New Year stands before us, begging for a chance to take us by the hand and together turn the corner to a new and better life.
Problem is, we’ve been here before. We’ve got the same list of resolutions in our hand from last year, and the year before that.
Perhaps we’re more ready to turn the corner than last year, but lingering in our mind is the fact that year after year not only did our behavior not change, even this list hasn’t changed!
What you need is not another list of wishful thinking resolutions, what you need is a SOLUTION! You’re looking for a permanent solution not temporary fix to short term feel good.
Are you ready to LIVE in the solution mind-frame as opposed to simply wishing life were different?

How is a SOLUTION different than our annual resolution? In order to be a solution…
There must be clarity of where you are starting from and where you want to go. Only when you are brutally honest with yourself will you change.
a) Where you are- Just how overweight are you? what does your Doctor say? What size clothes are you in now?
b) What you want to live like the rest of your life? Burgers and fries are not a part of a thin person’s regular food plan, are you prepared to live like a thin person?
c) Why you are addressing this issue- what is your motivation? Why Now?
d) What are the obstacles that you must overcome to finally, once and for all conquer the issues. Is it time? Is it support?, Is it fear?, Is it money? Be Honest- if you haven’t had time for exercise, what has changed which will free up time to begin now?
e) When: Are you ready to change now, or just "fixing to get ready" again- The truth is if you’ve circled this goal several times, you might be ready to actually walk on it now. Think of it as "practice makes perfect"
f) Who: Can you do this alone or do you need assistance and accountability?
It must be focused on changing behavior, not just crafting a lofty, politically correct goal. Don't concentrate on movements in the scale. You should concentrate on the consistency of that which will move the numbers on the scale: your exercise regime. THe problem with the scale is that when it says what you want it to say, you will revert back to the behaviors that put you in trouble in the first place.
You must live intentionally- You cannot be on auto pilot. Don't let things happen to you, you make things happen. That means planning and organizing so it is easier to eat healthy and easier to exercise.
There must be accountability. You must give permission to someone to be brutally honest with you, to reel you back in when you stray. Find someone who gives you encouragement and recruit them as your partner.
Your program should be positive not punitive. Give yourself a positive future to move toward, picture yourself in a way that draws you to the future you desire rather than fleeing from a bad outcome.
What you do should build self esteem not tear it down, so quit talking to yourself in hateful negative terms. If you repeat "I live a healthy life" before every meal and throughout the day, very soon your subconscious will be repeating it back to you when you reach for that twinkie, and then put it back.
Your plan is three fold: it must involve activity, nutrition and life balance. You can't just change your food or just change your movement, but if you get all obsessive- compulsive what is the point? A healthy dIet and exercise should EMPOWER your life not suck the life out of you.
Are you ready to embrace your Solution once and for all? Change is accomplished in small decisions, made each and every day without looking back.
It is possible to permanently change, but you and I both know it is not easy. This article is written from a health and weight managment perspective but the principles transfer to any perennial goal you are stuck on.

The mission of Palmetto fitness is to empower you as you make positive and healthful changes in your life.OK! Here's my special offer to You:
Email Palmetto FItness Focus for a contract with yourself for living healthily in 2009 entitled "2009 IS MINE!" I will send you the contract free of charge. If you hit forward, and add your name, initials throughout, then send it back to me, I will hold you to it! You and I will be partners! I will follow up to remind you throughout the year of your committment to the changes in your lifestyle that will guarentee a healthy life.
Let's get those solutions started today! Request your 2009 is MINE!accountability contract

Which Weight Loss Plan to Choose?

I don't care what plan you choose!
Well, yeah, you know I do. There are obviously excellent plans, and pitiful to dangerous plans.
Follow an excellent, healthy, wholistic plan, and you will lose weight, be healthier,and see whole life results. Obviously that is what I want for you.
But even if in desperation you follow a pitiful, silly, fad plan or half heartedly do something, AND YOU CONTINUE for a month or a year, guess what- you will end the year lighter.

Now let me say again, I am passionate about the desire to move you to health, not just lose weight. If you take in too few calories (like those 1000 calorie plans) you lose muscle as well as fat so the fat will come back- trust me it will!

The secret to long term, empowering, health-sustaining weight loss is the ability to still be doing it this time next year. Movitation to STAY THE COURSE is your key.
You can't do low calorie, self-deprivation plans for more than a few days to a week.
You won't work out 7 days a week so don't set yourself up for failure.

So let's talk about what is DO-able and more important Sustainable so this time next year you will still be following it and you will see results that will last a lifetime. This will be the topic of several blog post coming this month.

First Key- Small, consistent pattern:
Doing 15 minutes every day or every other day is better than planning every Saturday to bust a gut for 2 hours.
why? Because stuff gets in the way regularly: you get sick, you help the brother-in-law move, you go on vacation, etc. Suddenly your plan for 52 killer workouts is like 40 but more likely you have 3 weekends in a row get canceled and you just stop.
Conversely, It will become easier every day if you calendar the daily appointment to get up 15-30 minutes early, put your sneakers on, stretch, do some crunches, and/or walk the block/treadmill. Even if you gets sick, go on vacation, have an early appt, you won't lose the habit and you'll be doing this next year. More importantly your body will respond to it and crave it. You'll see results quickly and sustain them longer.

Slow and steady wins the race. (remember the tortoise and the hare?)

Next post: a nutrition key to success

Thanks-LIVING

Thanksgiving is my hands-down favorite holiday.

You might think it because I am distantly related to William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony, that I love turkey, or because I look especially good in ORANGE (especially Clemson orange).

I love Thanksgiving because it calls us to develop an attitude of GRATITUDE and it calls us to gather family together.

Thanksgiving was about gratitude when the Pilgrims in Plymouth Colony stopped and looked up, thanking God for LIFE,what precious few actually survived the year.
It was about HOPE, and a belief that together we are better than we are individually.

Despite all efforts by Secular-humanists to water it down in our schools and history books by suggesting that the pilgrims were instead thanking the Indians, it has stayed true to it's theme, no mass marketing for profit. It is the one holiday that families seems to make the effort to get together and connect.

If there is a threat to the spirit of Thanksgiving, it would be how we have turned the gratitude into an excuse for self-indulgence. If we truly are thankful for Life, for faith and for family we should make Thanksgiving not as a single day but a lifestyle of THANKS-LIVING.

You can celebrate the LIFE you've been given by doing things that prolong and empower life: Things like filling it with foods that fuel the body rather than destroy it and doing exercise.

Thanksgiving officially launches the "Holiday Season" -Start now thanking God for your life by LIVING as if your body was important to you and is a gift from God.

Happy Thanks-LIVING!

If you need a Health Coach to get through the holiday season and establish a healthy new year, I'd consider it a privilege to work with you toward your goal. If you live In and around Columbia, SC, I work through Health Coach studio in the Forest Acres area. If that is inconvenient, I also do E-Coaching. Email me at palmettofitness@Yahoo.com

Just DO IT ALREADY! A hands on learning activity
Your assignment:
Say Thank You to at least 5 people each day for a week
Make a list of people to thank: Parents, kids, extended family, pastor, teachers, friends, coaches/mentors, trainer, clients, coworkers, postman, hair stylist, service men and women...

Healing Principles

We've been doing renovations at our house. It is exciting to see the transformations take place. My husband and I have done some of the demolition to save some money. In carrying out the bathroom concrete and tile, I got all kind of cuts and bruises. Frankly, I looked like I got in a cat fight, and lost. The interesting thing to me was looking down a few days later and seeing the scrapes and bruises virtually gone. I realized anew the body is designed and created with the ability to heal itself. I know there are some bigger situations that the body may not be able to heal by itself, but you know what?- it sure tries.

Our job is to work with our bodies and give our system the components to do it's best to heal itself.

• Isolate and insulate: Obviously keeping a wound clean means more bacteria is not introduced which the body must deal with. Inflamation is not all bad, it is the body's natural defense mechanism to bring blood and nutrients into the area to promote recovery. But too much inflamation can hinder your life and produce pain. Icing the areas that are inflamed will minimize inflamation and pain.
• Rest: The body can only fight on so many fronts at the same time. Getting adequate rest allows the body to maximize it's efforts on the most important battle ground.
• Eating Antioxidant rich foods, especially fruits and vegetables which have phto-chemicals that help the body in recovery. Protein is an important nutrient but generally we eat many times the protein we need, and many times less vegetable sources.
• Exercise: Getting blood moving means nutrients and oxygen are getting to the areas needing them. Exercise keeps joint limber and burns excess fat that contributes to stress on the major organs and is correlated with many diseases. Dr. Henry Lodge in "Younger Next Year" says our bodies are either in a state of decay or they are in a state of growth, no plateau. Exercising reminds the body that we have need of staying young and vital so it must "get to work!"
  

Since you don't know what battles are going on within your skin at any one time,
Give you body a fighting chance to heal itself:

1. Eat healthy foods, more veggies, less processed, lots of water.
2. Get moving: fi you need help determining an appropriate exercise regime, contact me
3. Please get a good night's sleep, your body depends on it!

To Bend or Not To Bend

I went to see the play, Fiddler on the Roof this week. So many amazing life lessons and points to ponder. Several times the lead character, Tevya, was presented a new reality. In his amusing and down to earth way, He would mull it over with "one one hand..." On the other hand..." Twice he did find a way to bridge his values and the new reality. Finally there was the point where this father had a decision to make about whether he could bend his core values (tradition) to accomodate this new reality presented to him. He concluded if he bent that far, he would break, and he painfully had to take a stand.

We all live a life that is filled with- call them traditions, or ruts- but ways we've ALWAYS done things. We are designed to try to be efficient. Traditions make life easier, because we don't have to work through painful decisions over and over.

If you are reading this blog, you are probably trying to make healthy life decisions. so let me ask you something personal:
Are your ruts unhealthy? Do you mindlessly reach for the snack as you turn on the tv, or do you hit the snooze three times every single morning? Does tailgaiting REQUIRE alcohol and fried chicken? Do you eat fast food EVERY workday for lunch?

As you try to establish a healthier lifestyle, you will find yourself confronting some of these "traditions"
Sometimes you can easily do a cost/ benefit analysis- "On one hand... , On the other hand.... "
Eventually you will come up against one or more that you are not READY to let go of, or perhaps not ready to embrace a new reality.

It's really all about emotion.
We are either drawn to feeling a new positive reality or fleeing from a painful old reality.
Review the reasons you want that healthy life.
Keep loading that value in your mind.
You will be successful if you see the desired end lightens the pain, or produces a clear better.
The greater the pain, or the clearer the positive, the quicker you will trade the new path for the old rut.

If you need a partner, a coach to help you- contact me at palmettofitness at Yahoo.com