Reward yourself now, not later!

I read this blog this morning on one of my favourite websites, www.sparkpeople.com. I agree with everything he or she says 100%!

What the writer expresses is what I tell all my clients. DON'T WAIT TO REWARD YOURSELF FOR YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS! No matter how big or small they may be.

Each person has different individual goals whether it's losing weight, being able to do 5 consectutive pushups or 5 proper pull ups. If we keep telling ourselves "when I reach my goal weight," or "when I can do 5 push ups" etc, we lose sight of the journey and stop living in the moment! But more importantly, we don't recognize our hard efforts along the way.

So stop living in the future and live in the now. Enjoy your health and fitness journey and be happy knowing that you are doing the best thing for yourself. Developing good healthy habits and being active!

Enjoy the blog and share!

Stay active and anything is possible!
Donna



I am currently participating in two challenges. Oddly enough, in both challenges one of the questions for the week was something to the effect of "What will you do once you hit your goal weight?"

In both challenges I gave my honest answer - get pictures taken with my boys and a beach vacation. As I read through the other responses I saw things like get a symbolic tattoo, clothes shopping, new jewelry and makeovers. These responses really got me to thinking about how many things I'm planning to do "when I lose weight". Things like: go hiking with my boys, teach them to swim, do a spa day, take a class for fun. The more I thought about this, the more I realized how ridiculous it is to wait. It's like saying "Don't live until you lose the weight." Why can't I take a class now? Or do more physical things with my boys? Even the beach and pictures. What am I waiting for?? Yes. I will look and feel better without this extra weight but it's not stopping me. What is stopping me is the mental stuff. I treat myself like I don't deserve these things until I'm thinner. Or that the weight is stopping me from doing them. The fact is that the only thing stopping me is myself. I should be living each day to the fullest instead of waiting for this flood of happiness, opportunity and capability to wash over me when the weight is off.

I read a fellow Sparker's blog recently about how she was struggling now that the weight was off. She somewhat expected happiness and love to enter her life once she hit her goal weight. And the fact that it didn't happen plus the fact that she didn't have food or weight to comfort/protect her has made hitting her goal weight the hardest part of all. This really hits home as I find myself saying "I can't wait to do this. Or just wait until I do that." So going forward I need to stop waiting and start doing. Happiness isn't a number on the scale, its living life and loving deeply. Whatever baggage I have now, I will have at goal weight if I don't deal with it and let it go.

I do believe in rewarding yourself for hitting your goals. But what I can't get behind is rewarding yourself with life and happiness. We should be striving for this each day and not waiting until goal weight. With this being said, I'm going to start doing all the things I can now and not wait.

A good laugh on Valentine's Day

Last week I gave a presentation at the Rosedale Running Room to a Learn to Run and 5K Run group. My topic was on Preventive Injury and the benefits of Cross Training.
A few days later, the Coach emailed me this message. I think my message was missed!



HEALTH MESSAGE:

1. If walking/cycling is good for your health, the postman would be immortal.
2. A whale swims all day, only eats fish, drinks water and is fat.
3. A rabbit runs and hops and only lives 15 years.
4. A tortoise doesn't run, does nothing ..yet lives for 450 years.

AND YOU TELL ME TO EXERCISE!

What is the single best thing you can do for your health?

This will probably be THE most important Youtube video of your entire life! Please take 10 minutes out of your busy day to learn how you can live a longer, healthy and more full-filled life and by all means, SHARE this with everyone you know!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo

Stay active and anything is possible!

Start your health and fitness program today!

It’s never too late or too early to begin your journey in health and fitness! Here are 10 steps you can take today to get started. I found these tips through one of my favorite websites, www.sparkpeople.com. It's full of helpful tips, inspiration and motivational tips. The perfect recipe to help you create a health and fitness strategy and a plan to stick with it!

JOURNEY TO HEALTH!

1. Write out your goals and desires. What’s your wellness vision? Where do you envision yourself three to five years from now? Set three-month and weekly goals based on your wellness vision. Goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Action-based, Realistic and Time-oriented.

2. Ask what, when and how. Make a list of the hurdles that keep getting in your way of living a life of wellness. Then determine which ones are true obstacles – things that you need to work around or find solutions to. And the excuses – ‘nuf said!


3. Have a plan. Rarely, if ever, is any major task or project accomplished without a plan in place. Lay out a plan for accomplishing your goals, as well as solutions for overcoming the hurdles. This is your game plan – it should be flexible, but have fortitude, fun, but not “fluff.” And make it active. Include specific steps you will take to reach your goals.

4. Start a journal. Your goals, desires, barriers, obstacles, excuses, solutions and plan should all be a part of your journal. Make your journal yours. Set it up so it’s easy to use so that you will use it. Include space to just let your thoughts flow. Use it to let out your feelings, vent, rejoice, or celebrate. You’ll be amazed at how freeing it is!

5. Begin your journey where you’re standing now. Where are you right now, this moment, on your journey? Accept where you are and where you need to be and begin the steps necessary to bridge that gap. If, however, you find that old issues keep popping up, preventing you from reaching your goals, you may need to seek counseling. Sometimes the only way to move forward is to first go backward.

6. Take one step at a time. What happens when a builder forgets an important step in building a house? Or a chef leaves out an important ingredient in a recipe? Doesn’t work so well, does it? It’s the same thing with your life. You must take certain steps in order to reach a place of wellbeing—and make it fit your lifestyle.

7. Learn from your setbacks. Making mistakes and experiencing failure is all a part of being human and living. Rather than getting down on yourself, take that setback and turn it into something positive – something you can use to reach your goals. Sometimes life is indeed two steps forward, one step back!

8. Spend some time “cleaning house.” This is intended to be both literal and figurative. When our homes are a cluttered mess, it’s impossible to function well. Ditto for our schedules. Create a list of your activities and decide which ones aren’t contributing to your overall purpose in life. “De-fluff” that schedule and concentrate on those activities that bring meaning to your life, and ultimately to others!

9. Stop comparing yourself to others. We’re bombarded by images of “perfect” bodies every day. It’s easy to get caught up in all of it and feel as though we’ll never measure up – and chances are, we won’t. Let’s get real! These images are results of computer imagery, great lighting, professional make-up artists, self-starvation, plastic surgery and really good genes. Stop comparing yourself to a fantasy and just be the best you that you can be.

10. Reward yourself. It’s OK to feel good about yourself! And it’s OK, and beneficial, to reward yourself for your accomplishments, no matter how small they may seem. A meal at your favorite restaurant, a date at the movies, a new outfit, a bubble bath… whatever you wouldn’t normally take the time to do, as long as it contributes to your wellbeing, is a great reward!


Stay active and anything is possible!
Donna

Work out tips

This video is presented by my colleague Chris Kornacki, Personal Training Manager and Trainer at Totum Life Science. I wanted to share his healthy work out tips for you because not only is it informative, it is short, easy to understand and straight to the point!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsXJJ-bni9k


A few work out tips I'd like to add is the following:

1. Find an activity you love to do!

Why? You're more likely to stick with your exercise program if you love what you are doing!

2. Exercise with a buddy!

Why? Having someone to exercise with enhances your accountability. Who wants to let a friend down when you've committed to exercising with them?

3. Set realistic goals.

For example, if you haven't exercised all summer, rather than jumping right into a 3-5 day exercise routine, start with two or three 20-30 minute work outs for 4 weeks.

Why? Exercising for 60 minutes straight can be daunting to many people. Let alone exercising up to 5 times a week! But if you break it down to a more realistic time frame such as 20-3ominutes training sessions, there is less of a time commitment and therefore, you are more than likely to exercise.

I hope these tips are helpful and will encourage you to get active and stay active!


Stay active and anything is possible!