Straighten out your attitude

I hear so many times in a day that people don't have time to exercise..I have little patience with this attitude as I see the general population get larger, move less, and complain more about all that ails them physically. Let's get moving and do something about it! No time?  Really... take a look at your day....do you really need to watch another episode of The Biggest Loser? Try to learn from the poor choices that put those people in the position they are in. Turn off the TV and use that hour to move! Quit farming on Facebook and get to the gym!
It all goes back to priorities and attitudes...no matter how long my to-do list gets, it can wait...I'll be at the gym! I look forward to my time being active and healthy, not just something that I have to do.  Make being fit part of your identity and find a way to enjoy being active, don't make exercise another thing to check off your to-do list each day.
Read a great post that really hits on a lot of good points regarding attitudes towards fitness and living a healthy active lifestyle. Check it out....http://www.begin2dig.com/2010/07/why-try-to-find-less-time-to-move-we.html

One last piece of wisdom...It is a lot harder to get in shape than it is to stay in shape so get in shape once and stay that way !

Lose it!

A huge part of a successful healthy eating lifetsyle transformation (note I did not say diet!) is accountability, most importantly to yourself and to others for outside motivation. A friend commented on her difficulty with "mindless munching," this easily a challenge to everyone! I have found it helpful to combat this by logging food, often if we know that later we have to admit we ate it we might decide not to eat it! Logging food is also helpful when getting started as you never really realize how many calories go in.... I have found the Lose it! app (free) on iTunes to be useful, take the time to customize the foods im the beginning and it then becomes easy. It will also calculate you macronutrient ratios for the day which makes it easy to recognize some of the issues (I was surprised how much fat was in my low fat diet). This feature also helps me work to stay on track for the recommendations from Tom Venuto to Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. Tom has written an excellent e-book with tons of information regarding creating healthy habits (read lifestyle!) with healthy calories and nutrient balance and a good dose of background information. I certainly am more able to comply and digest the information with  the reasons behind it. Again, a lot to absorb but excellent information.  His 'system' is loads of information and motivation to reorganize your eating habits, create goals and start an exercise program. It is not like any other systems that require you to buy their food and supplements etc. He also wrote another wonderfully motivating book The Body Fat Solution, read this when you are ready for a kick in the butt with a no nonsense get started attitude, dispelling all myths and basically letting you know it is all about you deciding to admit its up to you and commit!
A big part of your success making positive changes is being honest (accountable) with yourself. It takes hard work getting started but consider the benefits! Make the decision and move forward with a plan!
Sent from my iPod

Monthly motivation

Treat yourself to a Subscription to a fitness magazine for a burst of motivation when it arrives in your mailbox each month. There are quite a few options out there. My favorite is Oxygen Magazine, I read it cover to cover when it arrives and each page is filled with exercises or clean eating information, recipes, motivation. Other fitness magazines are out there but I have been loyal to Oxygen for years because it provides so much fitness info and motivation without any fluff. If you would enjoy a mix of fitness and other areas of interest for women try Women's Health, Fitness, Shape or Self Magazines.
Sent from my iPod

Sunrise

Mornings this time of year are beautiful! Get up, get moving and enjoy them. Start with an early morning walk while the rest of the house is still snoring...Start your day on a high energy note (and I don't mean the chaotic, crazy high energy of the the children!). The early morning fresh air, sunlight (hello Vitamin D) and exercise helps get you going and provide you with more energy all day! Getting out of bed is the hard part but by the time you get back I promise you will have a bounce in your step and be glad you went!
Sometimes my walking buddy joins me...the pace may not be as brisk but the conversation is energetic and provides a great opportunity to catch up without pesky younger brothers interupting. These memorable times are the ones that remind you of all the things you are doing right!
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Kicking some butt at the gym.

Just finished working up a new gym program for me and the hubby. Kinda sent him to the gym initially with some basics and unfortunatly don't get to go to the gym together. He has made great progress over the last year losing inches! He has been doing programs just based on the info he has absorbed from living with me all these years. I am excited to finally get a program organized for him to mix it up and break the plateau....we both need a new program. I have a feeling he'll feel a few muscles he hasn't felt before as we all stick with what we know and need to venture to some new and unknown to make forward progress.
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