Aren’t you sick and tired of reading health and fitness columns repeating the same old information on how to lose weight, improve strength and feel your best? Well I’m a little tired of those too, so I thought I’d shake it up a bit by giving you all the tips you need to successfully fail with your health and fitness program. Now you’ve probably figured out by now that a true health and fitness professional would never intend for their clients to fail so please think of this as “reverse psychology.” Follow along closely and you’ll soon learn effective strategies to ensure the failure of any health and fitness program!
o Don’t Set Goals – Goal setting? Why should we set goals? Most people suggest that to succeed at something you should set SMART goals, or goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reward-Based and within a certain Time Frame. If you don’t want to succeed, then don’t bother setting goals.
o Don’t Ask for Help – The best way to fail at any health and fitness regimen is to try it on your own. Working with a fitness and health professional will only help you achieve your goals more quickly, improve your self-confidence, teach you tools necessary for long-term success and help hold you accountable. Who wants that?
o Don’t Plan a Schedule – Time management is only for individuals who want to accomplish a lot throughout the day. If you prefer inconsistent workouts and subpar results consider avoiding consistent workouts altogether!
o Eat However You’d Like! - Diets aren’t important if you don’t care about losing weight! Really! Maybe you’ve heard that if you exercise, you can eat whatever you want. Not so. Unless you watch your daily caloric intake, you won’t lose weight, and could even gain pounds, even while exercising. But if a stable, healthy weight and feeling great is not important, don’t pay any attention to your diet.
o Think Short Term & Give Up Easily! - Who said immediate gratification is a bad thing? Failure with your exercise and diet goals is guaranteed if you exercise intermittently, and pay attention to your diet just once in awhile. If you aren’t getting the results you want right away? Hey, why not just give up. Who wants to be healthy, anyway?
o Follow Trends Closely! – Five-Minute Abs, The Thigh Master, Lose 10 pounds in 10 Days, and many other televised products generate lots of excitement because they promise mega-quick results with little effort. And they will surely let you down. For certain failure, these quick gimmicks are the way to go!
I hope you had fun with the deliberate and well-intentioned sarcasm of this week’s column. As a health and fitness professional, my job is to help everyone succeed.
Setting appropriate goals, working with a professional, managing your time, mustering determination, and working at it diligently and consistently will make you a happier, healthier, more successful person. The road to failure in this week’s column serves to alert us of the potholes that can de-rail us all. Watch out for them!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Zen & the Art of Health - The Final Chapter
In our last two articles on Zen & the Art of Health we discussed the concept of health and its many components. We came to the conclusion that health is much more than a stunning physique and the mere absence of disease. Fundamentals of health also include the creation of a healthy mindset, and a meditative practice focusing on such things as equanimity, love, joy and acceptance. Finding balance among body, mind and spirit can help us quiet our mind and ease tension and stress. Many of our talking points have been somewhat abstract, so let’s bring those theories into the real world – your world. Here are a few tools to help you find a more healthful balance in your life.
When I was in my early twenties, the death of my mother added insomnia and depression to an already unhealthy lifestyle. One day, while sitting through a required health class at Ventura College, I had one of those life-altering epiphanies. True wellness, said the lecturer, consists of many different parts, and the sum of these parts creates the level of wellness we experience. Once I recognized that real wellness was more than just physical, and that all these components worked together, I was then able to recognize where the unhappiness in my life came from, and make the proper adjustments. This was one of the most significant moments in my life, and it prompted me to immediately change my educational major from business to the field of health and wellness. So how did I “make the proper adjustments,” you ask?
The elements that make up true health can be divided into the following ten categories, with each category representing a different area of wellness and happiness. They are: Career & School, Finance, Health & Self-Care, Diet & Nutrition, Physical Activity & Exercise, Friend & Family, Significant Other & Romance, Spiritual & Personal Growth, Play & Recreation and Physical Environment. To give you a clearer picture, I’ve included a “Wellness Wheel” from the pages of one of my dear friends book, Jean Steel. If you haven’t heard Jean present on this topic, you’re really missing out. And if she’s not “appearing soon at a venue near you,” you can pick up a copy of her book at www.jeansteel.com. Jean’s book delves more deeply into the well of wellness (pun intended) while making us laugh: one of the healthiest things we humans can do. Ok, now back to class. Let’s start by looking at each of these elements a little more closely.
Career & School – Is the mission of your work or studies in line with your personal values? Do you feel like you are making a difference? Do you look forward to your work or studies?
Finance – Do you live within your means? Do you have emergency savings? Do you have a financial plan?
Health & Self-Care – Do you get your annual medical check-ups? Do you even have a doctor? Do you smoke? Are you able to manage your stress?
Diet & Nutrition – Do you try to avoid processed foods? Do you drink enough water? Do you know how to eat a balanced diet?
Physical Activity & Exercise – Do you exercise vigorously at least three times per week? Are you active every day? Do you perform resistance training, aerobic and flexibility exercises regularly?
Friends & Family – Are you open and honest with your family and friends? Do you let go of relationships that drag you down? Do you play well with others?
Significant Other & Romance – Do you consider your significant other your best friend or soul-mate? Do you spend time together and apart? Are you in a jealous relationship? Do you communicate in a healthy manner?
Spiritual & Personal Growth – Do you participate in life-long learning? Do you live in the now rather than the past and/or future? Do you engage in self-reflection?
Play & Recreation – Do you have outlets for play? Are you able to enjoy relaxation? Do you watch too much TV? Do you do activities you love consistently?
Physical Environment – Do you consider your home your oasis? Is your home/work environment organized? Do you love your home, town and community?
Spend some quiet time reflecting on your wellness wheel. If each “slice” of your wheel is full, you’ll have a much better chance at a smooth and healthy ride through life. If however, some slices are a bit thin, that ride could be rough and rocky. Remember that recognition is the first step, and there’s no better time than right now to be proactive and take charge of your health.
When I was in my early twenties, the death of my mother added insomnia and depression to an already unhealthy lifestyle. One day, while sitting through a required health class at Ventura College, I had one of those life-altering epiphanies. True wellness, said the lecturer, consists of many different parts, and the sum of these parts creates the level of wellness we experience. Once I recognized that real wellness was more than just physical, and that all these components worked together, I was then able to recognize where the unhappiness in my life came from, and make the proper adjustments. This was one of the most significant moments in my life, and it prompted me to immediately change my educational major from business to the field of health and wellness. So how did I “make the proper adjustments,” you ask?
The elements that make up true health can be divided into the following ten categories, with each category representing a different area of wellness and happiness. They are: Career & School, Finance, Health & Self-Care, Diet & Nutrition, Physical Activity & Exercise, Friend & Family, Significant Other & Romance, Spiritual & Personal Growth, Play & Recreation and Physical Environment. To give you a clearer picture, I’ve included a “Wellness Wheel” from the pages of one of my dear friends book, Jean Steel. If you haven’t heard Jean present on this topic, you’re really missing out. And if she’s not “appearing soon at a venue near you,” you can pick up a copy of her book at www.jeansteel.com. Jean’s book delves more deeply into the well of wellness (pun intended) while making us laugh: one of the healthiest things we humans can do. Ok, now back to class. Let’s start by looking at each of these elements a little more closely.
Career & School – Is the mission of your work or studies in line with your personal values? Do you feel like you are making a difference? Do you look forward to your work or studies?
Finance – Do you live within your means? Do you have emergency savings? Do you have a financial plan?
Health & Self-Care – Do you get your annual medical check-ups? Do you even have a doctor? Do you smoke? Are you able to manage your stress?
Diet & Nutrition – Do you try to avoid processed foods? Do you drink enough water? Do you know how to eat a balanced diet?
Physical Activity & Exercise – Do you exercise vigorously at least three times per week? Are you active every day? Do you perform resistance training, aerobic and flexibility exercises regularly?
Friends & Family – Are you open and honest with your family and friends? Do you let go of relationships that drag you down? Do you play well with others?
Significant Other & Romance – Do you consider your significant other your best friend or soul-mate? Do you spend time together and apart? Are you in a jealous relationship? Do you communicate in a healthy manner?
Spiritual & Personal Growth – Do you participate in life-long learning? Do you live in the now rather than the past and/or future? Do you engage in self-reflection?
Play & Recreation – Do you have outlets for play? Are you able to enjoy relaxation? Do you watch too much TV? Do you do activities you love consistently?
Physical Environment – Do you consider your home your oasis? Is your home/work environment organized? Do you love your home, town and community?
Spend some quiet time reflecting on your wellness wheel. If each “slice” of your wheel is full, you’ll have a much better chance at a smooth and healthy ride through life. If however, some slices are a bit thin, that ride could be rough and rocky. Remember that recognition is the first step, and there’s no better time than right now to be proactive and take charge of your health.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)