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

Answers to Quiz 2 on Digestion

How Much Do you know about Digestion- Quiz 2 answers

1.) Your body is approximately 55%:
Water
2.) All people process food in the exact same manner and speed:
False
3.) Chewing, swallowing and the muscular activity of the walls of the digestive tract itself are part of the:
Mechanical Phase
4.) The final breakdown of food particles is part of the:
Chemical Phase
5.) The process of digestion actually begins when food enters
The Mouth
6.) Which leaves the stomach most rapidly?
Carbohydrates
7.) After leaving the stomach, the liquefied mass, called chime passes into the:
Small Intestine
8.) The finger-like projections called “villi” help to:
Increase the intestinal absorption area by about 600-fold
9.) The digestion sequence:
Small Intestine
Mouth
Large Intestine
Esophagus
Stomach
10.) The lymphatic vessels (tiny vessels in each villus) accept
Digested fat

80-20 Rule- It Rules!

In this weekly E-newsletter you'll find tip and clips, winks and links to keep you focused on your goals of fitness and weight management.

This is a reprint of my August 17, 2008 issue of my weekly e-Newsletter- Please find the sign up form on the front page of this blog if you are not already receiving this valuable resource.

You can find past issues http://community.icontact.com/search?q=palmettofitnessfocus&in=all&age=all

_________________________________________________

Pareto was 80-20% correct- of course

You may not have known it had an official name, but it's called
Pareto's Principle - The 80-20 Rule
Here’s the short version: 80% of output gets done by 20% of input.

There are lots of applications for this principle- and while unproven- they all seem pretty accurate- probably 80% of them are accurate at least.

• 80% of work gets done by 20% of the people
• 80% of the money is given by 20% of the people
• 80% of your income is as a result of 20% of your effort
• 80% of your emails come from 20% of the people
  

What would Pareto say about your health and fitness?

Could 80% of your success/ failure come from 20% of your effort?

If 80-20 is reality, it would seem important to identify what makes the critical difference and find a way to maximize your effort to maximize your success.

In my experience, 80% of the time I can-“be good", and only "lapse" 20 % of the time and sure enough, my success just tanked. For weight loss, your calorie deficit is critical. I bet you could isolate and correct ONE thing that is hindering your success.

• Skipping meals
• Sodas/ alcohol
• Late night eating
• Sweet snacking
• Fast food
• Mayonnaise
  

Then there is your exercise effort. For every hour, 20 percent means around 12 minutes is most critical to your success

• Are you coasting those last minutes of cardio?
• Are you going wimpy on your resistance training?
• Are you avoiding working up a sweat?
• Are you doing the same old routine vs. alternating programs to get new stimulus?
• Could you try interval training to ramp up the intensity?

How wonderful that you don’t need to change everything, but by tweaking only 20% of your effort you can improve your ultimate success.

Your assignment this week is to find out those critical-to-success areas. Once you’ve identified what is making the 80% impact, laser-focus your behavior and priorities to succeed!

Quiz 2 How Much Do You Know about Digestion

1.) Your body is approximately 55%:(check one):
Carbohydrate
Protein
Water

2.) All people process food in the exact same manner and speed:
True
False

3.) Chewing, swallowing and the muscular activity of the walls of the digestive tract itself are part of the:
Chemical Phase
Mechanical Phase
Lunar Phase

4.) The final breakdown of food particles is part of the:
Chemical Phase
Mechanical Phase
Lunar Phase

5.) The process of digestion actually begins when food enters:
The mouth
The large intestine
The duodenum

6.) Which leaves the stomach most rapidly?
Carbohydrates
Fat
Protein

7.) After leaving the stomach, the liquefied mass, called chime passes into the:
Large intestine
Small intestine
Pancreas

8.) The finger-like projections called “villi” help to:
Increase the intestinal absorption area by about 600-fold
Convert fat into protein
Increase red blood cells

9.) Nuber 1-5 the digestion sequence:
Small Intestine
Mouth
Large Intestine
Esophagus
Stomach

10.) The lymphatic vessels (tiny vessels in each villus) accept:
Digested protein
Digested carbohydrates
Digested fat

Losing Weight or Body Fat-isn't it the same thing?

Isn't losing weight and losing fat the same thing?
Actually no. Your total WEIGHT is composed of the weight of your bones and muscles (which vary only slightly) but also your water, food, intestinal cargo (each varies drastically throughout the day) As you cut calories and "diet", you will lose water and disposables first. If you are only doing aerobic exercise you will lose fat but you are also losing muscle. Make your goal losing body fat rather than losing weight. Here's your assignment-step on the scale first thing in the morning, a couple times during the day and right before you go to bed. Your weight will vary up to 2 pounds during the course of any day.

How do I lose body fat and not muscle?
This is important because muscle is the engine of your metabolism. Every year over the age of 30 we lose 1/2 pound of muscle, which is a large part of the weight creep that happens as we age. Both men and women will preserve muscle by being sure that weight training is a part of your weight management system. This doesn't mean lifting super heavy, and no- women will not get bulky by using moderate resistance. You do need to work the muscle so it will remain strong. If you increase the amount of muscle even slightly, you will burn more calories even when you are sleeping.

Should I be watching the scale or the caliper?
Neither! The best gauge to watch is actually your clothes! The scale will lie to you, your clothes will not! If you are putting on muscle (heavier and denser but more compact) at the same time you are burning off fat, your scale may say you are not making progress, while your clothes are looser- (isn't that the actual goal anyway). I have personally dropped 3 clothing sizes while losing less than 10 pounds by the scale. You should see the scales go down as well, but the caliper will tell you if your body fat % is reducing.

But I don't want to look bulky!
Ladies, very few women have enough testosterone to get bulky. The few hard-body women you see on tv or in magazines work extraordiarily hard to build that degree of muscle, and you see it only because their body fat percentage is extremely low. Go ahead and challenge yourself- when you see the amount of muscle you want, lighten up.

So what is realistic?
On the 6-week strictly maintained plan of aerobic exercise,weight training and moderate calorie reduction, Women should expect to lose 10-12 pounds, and could put on 2-3 pounds of muscle, Men might expect to lose up to 20 pounds of body fat and gain 4 to 6 pounds of muscle. Sorry ladies! Seems unfair to us women, but that is the testosterone helping out men's muscle development which revs up the metabolism and burns fat more effectively.

Where can I find the perfect 6 week plan?
The specifics of your life and health will have to be considered in developing a plan that is right for you. Email me if you would like a plan developed for home or gym.
Kathleen.

Renovations Are Hard Work

We started some renovations in our home this week.
Sounds crazy but I'm thrilled to see the bathroom in total destruction mode! The more I scrapped off the wallpaper the more energized I got. I even got a thrill from scraping the popcorn off the ceiling and getting those crumbles from head to toe. I stood looking at my naked room, no tile, no wallpaper, no ceramics and I LOVED it- temporarily.

You see, once we started tearing out the old it was clear, there was no turning back. We were on a clear path to a new reality, one I've desired for a long.

It's not much different when you talk about losing weight.
It's amazing how long you can put up with something you've wanted to change for so long.
And then...one day... you start the demolition.

You peel away the ragtag, dated, stained excuses and habits. Every layer that comes off becomes more energizing than the last. Every step moves you closer to the new reality of a healthier, happier brand new- YOU!

• You set the alarm 15 minutes early and start to walk. Ahh. Man, the air feels refreshing!
• You pack an extra bottle of water. Amazing how good water tastes, you know?
• At the last minute, you change that order to grilled chicken. Umm. tastes great!
• I even savor the way my muscles feel when they talk back to me after a strong workout.

You and I are on a grand adventure, one of becoming who we have longed to be. Every decision is either removing the old or building the new.

Make every decision count this week!

Staying on Track: Restaurant Minefield

We love to do it, but eating out can be one of the biggest challenges for someone seeking to impact their weight. Truly, a restaurant's mission has everything to do with making a profit by pleasing your taste buds without regard for YOUR goals, health or weight issues. Determining what to order can feel like walking through a mine field trying to dodge calories, sodium, and fat when eating out.

Here are 10 ways you can make better choices as you find yourself in front of a menu.

1. KISS. Keep it Simple Silly. Uncombined foods will give you a better chance of knowing what you are eating and it's impact.
2. Check the restaurant nutritional statement before you leave home. It will surprise you. Most people underestimate their calories by 60%.
3. Plan what you will eat before you see and smell the orders around you. One successful technique is to have an index card with your pre-planned choices to help you not yield to impulse.
4. Don't be shy about asking for modification like "dressing on the side" or "may I switch out that side dish", "no Mayonnaise, please"
5. Try not to drink your calories. Eating oranges provide fiber along with the calories of the juice. Sweetened tea, alcoholic beverages and sodas provide no nutrients, make water your main beverage.
6. Focus on the vegetables, make the meats and grains secondary. This may require splitting an entree and adding a salad.
7. Fried= Fat. Order grilled or baked. French Fries are inconsistent with your goal of weight management
8. Is pre-meal bread mandatory? It adds hundreds of calories even without the butter or oil. You can remove 70-100 calories by avoiding one bun on your burgers and sandwiches
9. Even if you are careful, eating out often will hamper your efforts. Try to eat out only one or two times a week.
10. Portion control is critical! No matter what, you do not want to supersize the order-Your best move is to get a to- go box when they bring your order and remove it before you get started.
    

Your best strategy is to make eating out an infrequent adventure until you have a firm grasp on these guidelines.

Bon appetite!

This is part 5 of a 10 part series regarding Staying on Track: Long Term Weight Management Success Strategies!

Staying on Track: Water and Fiber

Everyone desiring to lose weight wants it off yesterday. Well, unfortunately the magic wand is broken looks like we will have to do it the mortal way.

Instead of talking about what needs to be removed, let's go over two things to ADD to your life that will propel your weight loss.

Surprise! The first is simply water! You should drink 64-96 ounces each day. It's one of your body's most essential, yet forgotten, elements. The human body is composed of about 60% water and it's critical to weight management for two important reasons.

• The first is satiety: you don't want to feel hungry. Many times people confuse the body's request for water for it's need for food. When you feel hungry, try drinking a glass of water first. Drinking water will fill your stomach and calm the feeling of hunger so you will make better choices. If you regularly drink water throughout the day you will find fewer times that you FEEL hungry.



• The second reason is to help your body do what it does best. One of the main functions of your liver is fat metabolism. If you are dehydrated, your kidneys need help purging toxins and asks the liver to help out, so fat metabolism takes a lower priority.

1. Tips to get more water in your life:
   First thing in the morning- brush your teeth and drink a full 8 ounces before breakfast.


2. Drink water with ever meal before you have the tea, coffee or diet soda.


3. Drink at least one full bottle of water as you workout

Your second secret weapon is fiber, another simple but highly effective startegy. The American Heart Association reports that the average American should have 25-30 grams of fiber each day, by adding fiber-rich food, you get four advantages:

• B-complex vitamins add energy to your life


• Fiber helps lower cholestrol and your risk of heart disease


• You encourage your digestive system to move food through more quickly. You'll be constipated less which means less toxic build up


• You will feel fuller on fewer calories.

Tips to increase your fiber:

1. Start your day with fiber rich Breakfast cereals or oatmeal
2. Look for whole grain breads and carbohydrates instead of white processed carbs.


3. Increase intake of fruits and vegetables especially with skins


4. Infuse your meals with Dry beans like navy, pinto, red, pink, black, garbanzo

These are two simple ways to jumpstart your wieght management. See your Health Coach professional to find other ways to change up your food choices and propel your weight management and start living healthy lives.

Drink up! Stay Motivated and move toward healthy living.

This is part 3 of this 10 part series Staying On Track: Weight Management Success Strategies

Heart Disease? ME?

Heart Disease?

Not Me!



We all believe we are invincible but the truth is that a half million people die every year from heart disease. Why do you think it could NOT happen to you?


Well, ok, in theory, that COULD happen to me, but heart disease is for old people, not me. ah, yes, This is a denial that self adjusts every year we age. Let's look at the facts, not the wishful thinking of heart disease.

• As early as 45 a man's risk of heart attack increases, a woman at age 55.


• 50% of men and 64% of women have no symptoms other than sudden death.


• Two thirds of teens have one or more risk factor.

Some risk factors you can control, some you cannot, but those you can you should be proactive in reducing. Research shows that each risk factor added to your list increases your chance of developing heart disease, but the more pronounced that factor, it also increases your probability. The longer your list, the more they "gang up" and increase your risk exponentially- like being overweight and having high blood pressure.

So what are the risk factors?

• Age


• Family History


• High Blood Pressure+


• High Cholesterol+


• Obesity+


• Cigarette Smoking+


• Physical Inactivity+


• Diabetes+

+ Lifestyle related factor you have control over.

Yikes! What can I do to reduce my risks?

1. Monitor your risk factors: blood pressure, blood sugar, & cholesterol


2. Become physically active


3. Eat a healthy diet


4. Get your body mass index under 25 BMI is ratio of weight to height


5. Stop smoking

Great news! Our passion at Daily Weighloss Motivation is to create a lifestyle that gives your body a fighting chance for disease prevention.

Do you need help? As your Email Health Coach I can

1. Help you sort out the BS from straight talk about weight loss


2. Help you sort out issues keeping you from losing weight


3. Based on your life, goals and situation, create a relevant weight management strategy.


4. Based on your motivation, likes and medical constraints, create an eating plan


5. Based on your exercise/medical history and your goals, create a progressive exercise program


6. Walk along side of you by email to make sure you stay on task

Since my website is being worked on, Please email me and we can begin to dialogue about your needs and situation. dailyweightlossmotivation at Yahoo.com

Staying on Track: Know Where You Are Now.

Do You Know Where You Are Now?


Everyone moans when they come into a fitness assessment and some won't look or even refuse to be measured. "I already know its bad" they avow.

The initial measurements and periodic check ups are critical to your success for several reasons:

• You cannot know how far you've traveled if you never mark the first step. There is tremendous joy in being able to say I lost 2 inches or 5 pounds, my blood pressure is down 10 points, whichever indicator of success you are most proud of.



• You MUST face the music to be successful. Some people are not ready to change. They want the result without changing their life habits. You grasp the realization you HAVE to change when the pain gets to a certain point. I heard a tv interview where a man who easily qualified as morbidly obese say, "I'm not THAT overweight!" He was not ready to change anything and so minimized his health risk. Keep in mind, they call it "morbid" for a reason.



• Knowing where you are through the initial assessment process is critical for your health coach to address the issues correctly and build a program to get you on track to your goal. But whether the plan needs adjustment is determined in the feedback checkups: are you getting results? Is it that you are not following the plan or is the plan needing adjustment, is it not working with your real-life?

Think beyond the scale. Periodically take stock of how many fruits/ vegetables you eat, how much water you drink, how much sleep you you get. Are you as focused on cardio or have you been slacking lately.

Wake up call! time to get re-focused.

For ways to know you are making progress, check out my post: "How do you spell SUCCESS?"
This is part 2 of this 10 part series Staying on Track: Weight Management Success Strategies

Staying On Track: Know What You Are Training

A frequent question in a fitness facility is "What body part do I need to train to lose weight?" If you answer any particular muscle group you are not completely correct.

In weight management, the part of your body that you must train is..... YOUR BRAIN!

After all it is your brain that tells you that you are hungry when you are really just bored. It's your brain that tells you to GET UP! rather than roll over so you can get your workout in. And your brain tells you that you LOVE those vegetables, right?

For you to stay on track in this weight management adventure, above all else you must keep your brain engaged in the goal!

1. Feed your head with healthy reading, especially this blog! :-)



2. Put your goals on index cards or post-its and keep them where you will see them and repeat them often



3. Use your logical side and schedule your workouts like doctor appointments



4. Think through and plan your eating for the week, make that grocery list



5. Process the feeling side by journalling your feelings beside your eating entries



6. Close your eyes and imagine yourself at your goal. Think through how you will feel when you are free of what hinders you now and confidently,effortlessly following the plan
   

It's the same technique as you train anything else. By repeatedly doing and re-doing these exercises you reinforce and refocus your thoughts until it is easier to do it than to not do the behavior.

So train your brain!

Stay motivated and live a healthy life.

This is part 2 of this 10 part series Staying on Track: Weight Management Success Strategies

Staying on Track: I'm Hungry!

Letting your self get hungry can set back your weight reduction plan. It's not weakness, it's a hormone thing called Grehlin. Once grehlin is secreted in the stomach, inner strength alone will not prevent you from stuffing food in to your mouth. Grehlin is stronger than your powers of reasoning and high levels of motivation and commitment.

So the trick is to NEVER GET HUNGRY. say what? how do you lose weight then?
1. Know when hunger normally kicks in and beat it to the punch. If you find 4 pm hard to stay on track, then eat something healthy and in correct portion at 3:30PM.
2. Are you seriously hungry or just on autopilot? My mother smoked. When the phone rang, she instinctively grabbed her cigarettes, as she went to the phone. Make sure your reaching for food is not a similar reflex. If you are used to late night snacking- go to bed early until you break that cycle.
3. Drink some water or zero calorie fluid- sometimes your body mistakes being hungry for being thirsty. Drink a glass and give it 10 mintues, 80% of the time you were thirsty (assuming you have been eating on your 5/ day schedule)
4. Even if you don't feel hungry, stay on your plan of eating 5 small to moderate meals throughout the day rather than 3 big ones. This keeps your blood sugar at an even level. You'll be less hungry and more active all day.
5. Have healthy power-up meals (instead of snacks) that have components that fuel you: Protein, fiber and small amounts of healthy fat will stick with you longer than sugar filled things- and that includes some fruits. Eat fruits with some protein to slow the uptake of sugar in your system.

Choices We Make

Choices!
Not only do we all make choices, we demand the right to make them. What if we make poor choices? I believe we live so much in the moment that we don’t really understand the impact of many of our choices.


Some choices, like “red shirt or blue shirt” are not earth shattering and regardless of which you chose your life remains virtually the same.
“Do you want fries with that?” on the surface would seem equally mundane and yet your answer might significantly’ impact your future.


Heart disease is considered a “lifestyle” disease. How we live, what we eat, the stress we are under, comprise 90% of the determination of whether we become part of that statistic in America.


Heart disease is the number one killer of women in America.Will a single order of fries kill you? No. What will is that Fast food as a way of life has permeated our daily pattern of living. It’s quick, it’s cheap, it’s convenient,… at least until the ambulance arrives a few years down the road. Believe me, rehab is not cheap, not convenient, and life-altering.


Chose foods that fuel a powerful life: Whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean, high quality proteins.


“Just Say No” works on more than teenage sex.
“No fries, thank you”
“What other sides are available with that lunch?”
“Please substitute a carrot raison salad or side salad”
“I’ll take it plain, thank you.”


Say these phrases and we'll give you a gold star, you got a fighting chance to avoid a future hospital stay, or worse.



Stay Motivated, move toward healthy living!

Your First HUG

Everyone needs a HUG in this world. A physical one is always welcomed.
Today I'm introducing you to another indespensible HUG-

H- Healthy Eating!
U- Undergirding (Reinforcement)
G- Get Moving!

This is one HUG with huge benefits for any of us wanting to have a healthy, active life.
Stick with me as you and I build www.daily-weightloss-motivation.com website.

In my Daily H.U.G. I will be posting tips and clips, winks and links. Strategy, and support for healthy weight management. Your feedback along the way is critical.

Beside you all the way!