Write it down, post it up, make it your status, tweet it, shout it from the rooftop, text your friends, put it in your journal, tell your mom, meditate on it and then….do it!

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Are you going to reduce your stress level?

Are you going to improve your diet?

Are you going to take exercise more seriously?

Or will you allow the next 365 days to pass by without changing a thing?

If you haven’t put any thought into it, then do so now.

The fact is that you will age and change in 2013, and next year on 12-31-13 you will be slightly (or dramatically) different than you are today.

The cool thing about a New Year is that it gives us the opportunity to reflect over our life, to acknowledge where we are and where we want to be headed.

If you would like to be headed in the direction of improved health, lowered weight and increased strength, then here are 17 suggested changes for you to apply in 2013:

1) Exercise 2 more hours each week than you did in 2012.
2) Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day.
3) Drink less alcohol.
4) Sign up for one of my time-tested fitness programs.
5) Stop drinking and eating artificial sweeteners.
6) Use heavier dumbbells.
7) Eat less bread, or even eliminate gluten from your diet.
8) Train for a 5K, 10K or a marathon.
9) Eliminate corn syrup from your diet.
10) Exercise at least 4 times each week.
11) Eat healthy, simple dinners at home.
12) Do not eat fast food.
13) Drink less caffeine.
14) Eat more protein and fiber.
15) Drink water throughout your whole day.
16) Do not eat packaged snack foods.
17) Contact me for motivation and support.

Now come up with a few of your own. I know there are some ideas that popped into your mind while you were reading my list.

Take a minute to jot those down.

Step back and re-examine the list. Which of these changes are you going to make your own?

I certainly don’t expect you to make all of these changes – though the more you do, the greater your transformation will be.

Remember, like I mentioned above in #4 and #17, I’m here to offer you the instruction, support and motivation you need to make 2013 the year of your dramatic transformation.

Wishing you great health and happiness this year.

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You have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day… and at the end of it you turn to food.

There’s a reason that it’s called comfort food. While you’re eating it you feel better.

And when you’re done eating it you feel worse.

Keep this in mind next time you are tempted to turn to food for comfort:

Emotional eating temporarily relieves distress and then makes it impossible to attain what you really want.

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Been awhile now, hasn’t it?You know how to lose weight – eat healthy and exercise – so why are you still living in a body that you’re disappointed with?In my experience, people hold on to “unwanted” pounds for very specific reasons. These reasons are on a subconscious level, which is where things get tricky.

Self-sabotage is your subconscious mind’s way of protecting you.

Seems counterproductive, but it makes sense when you realize that it is a defense mechanism meant to keep things from changing.

Your conscious mind says it wants to lose weight to look and feel amazing, but your subconscious mind is pulling the strings behind the scenes, keeping your goals just out of reach.

As long as your subconscious mind thinks that you are safer being out-of-shape then you’ll be stuck.

Your most valiant efforts will be undermined by self-sabotage every single time.

But don’t give up.

There’s a way to turn everything around, and it all starts with finding out the reason that your subconscious mind equates being out-of-shape with being safe.

Once you turn the light on to that reason then it will no longer have any power over you.

So, lets dig around for your reason.

• Do you believe… You don’t deserve it? Has someone in your life made you believe that you aren’t worthy of success? Or that they wouldn’t accept you if you were more successful than they are?
• Do you believe… Change is bad? It’s common to fear the unknown, but this could very well be the reason that you’re not reaching your goal. Being comfortable with where you are today could be the reason that you sabotage your efforts to improve your life through change.
• Do you believe…Success will bring loss? If you met your weight loss goal, would it bring out resentment and jealousy in your friends and family? Are you supposed to be the ‘screw-up’?
• Do you believe…You’re not capable? Are you unable to imagine yourself at your goal weight? Does the possibility of achieving your goal not seem real?

Spend time diving into your own mind to discover why it is that you aren’t meeting your goals. Once your whole mind is primed for success, then nothing will be able to stop you.

What the mind believes the body achieves.

Exercise is a huge part of the equation when it comes to achieving weight loss.

I am passionate about seeing my clients achieve results – without wasting time, energy and effort on mistakes.

Call or email me today and we will get you started on the exercise program that is right for you.

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• Add Resistance. Between sets of cardio do a set with dumbbells, resistance bands or with your body weight.
• Increase Speed. Really push yourself during the sprinting intervals. Remember, it’s only a handful of seconds.
• Lengthen Intervals. Add a few seconds to your intense intervals.
• Change Exercises. If you’ve been sprinting then switch to burpees or high knees.

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There’s a little secret in the fitness world called interval training.

What is interval training? Rather than doing the same cardio exercise your entire workout, interval training alternates short, high-intensity bursts of exercise with slower, low-intensity periods of recovery.

Research has shown that such intervals of high and low-intensity activity burn more calories and build fitness quicker in a shorter amount of time.

Once designed for elite athletes, interval training is now something the average fit person can try. You don’t need fancy equipment or special training to rev up your routine with interval training.

Read on to learn more about this fast, slow, fast, slow method of training and weight loss.

Theory Behind Interval Training
By alternating high-intensity movements with low-intensity movements, you’re working both your aerobic (with oxygen) and anaerobic (without oxygen) systems. High-intensity exercise causes your muscles to produce lactic acid (waste products), which lead to muscle soreness. Too much lactic acid build up causes exercise to become exhausting and painful.

Alternating hard and easy exercise will reduce the amount of lactic acid that accumulates, thereby making exercise more comfortable, improving your endurance and increasing your speed.

Interval Length
So how long should intervals be?

The answer is, it doesn’t matter.

There are no real hard-and-fast rules about interval length. Varying lengths bring varying benefits. So how fast and how often you pick up the pace depends on you.

Beginners should aim for no longer than 30 seconds of high-intensity bursts. If you’re feeling strong and are in good shape, go ahead and push yourself a bit longer.

Know the Risks
While a no-rules approach may sound appealing, interval training isn’t for the beginner. If you’re new in the land of fitness, take your time as you increase the intensity of your workouts.

Rushing into high-intensity exercise may lead to injury. Start out slowly. Add one or two high-intensity intervals each workout. Slow down if you feel you’re overdoing it. As your stamina increases, feel free to challenge yourself.

Sample Workouts
Remember, there’s no set rule about how to do interval training. It can be tailored to your fitness level and type of exercise.

An interval-training workout involves four variables that can be changed to meet your goals: intensity of intervals, duration of intervals, duration of recovery intervals, and the number of interval repetitions.

Interval training can be casual, spur of the moment bursts of activity depending on how you’re feeling that day or if you’re working towards a more specific sports or fitness goal you can take a more sophisticated, scientific approach.

Interval training workouts have been designed for plyometrics, sprints, stair running, jump rope, speed drills, and agility drills.

A simple example of interval training for walking would be to add short bursts of jogging or alternate slower walking with brisk walking. If you walk outdoors, you could jog or walk faster between certain landmarks such as mailboxes or street signs, then slow down for a short distance.

A second example that really gets your heart pumping and improves fitness in a short amount of time includes running, rowing, or cycling. Warm up for about 15 minutes, then run, row, or cycle as hard as you can (at 90 percent of your maximum heart rate) for three minutes. Then go easy for three minutes, allowing your body to recover. Repeat these three-minute intervals of high- and low-intensity exercise three or four times. Then cool down for 10 minutes.

I’m here to help you meet your fitness and weight loss goals.

Call or email today to get started on a fitness program that will get you to your goal quicker.

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