We only get one life, make it right. Start each day with a plan. Another one of my favorite quotes is “ failure to prepare is preparing to fail.” It isn’t that hard to make a lunch everyday, grocery shop every week, pick out a piece of fruit, throw some ingredients in a blender or grab a yogurt on your way out the door.

Half of our country complains about “money” and the other half complains about not having enough time! Well, there are some simple steps you can make to stop complaining about both!!

McDonalds breakfast sandwiches cost about 2-3$ … A whole bag of Thomas’ whole wheat English muffins, a container of eggs and a pack of cheese costs about 6$, and you can make at least 6 breakfasts out of those and that’s only because 6 English Muffins come in a pack!

Time is the next issue. Well, an egg can be beaten and then microwaved in 2 1/2 minutes, plopped onto a muffin with a slice of cheese taking a mere 30 seconds. Now the next excuse – microwaved eggs ?! Think about this question- how does McDonalds make their eggs?… They’re not freshly prepared like the diner, I’ll say that!

I’m not going to lecture you on how to save money and time. I will say “if weight loss is truly a priority, steps can and should be made to help make it easier. Because health and living is a priority. We should make every day count as if its our last, and the only way is to start every day out fresh, like a new start!”

Obviously, the terrain dictates the required fitness level. Hiking on flat ground is different from hiking in the Rockies. Different postures and muscles are going to be used; different cardio and breathing are needed to keep a strong stamina.

If you know the type of terrain you’re going to explore this summer, spend a month prior to heading out to condition your legs, back and cardio performance. It’ll make your journeys more enjoyable and memorable. Happy Hiking ! -Jason DeFalco

Although the entire film was great (and there are a number of lessons to take note of), one message that struck me was  ”where you came from (or where youve recently been) does not determine who you are NOW or what you can do moving forward.

One teaching I want to pair with this is BEWARE of your THOUGHTS and SELF TALK. The power of your thought process has a HUGE impact on where you go in life and is a make-or-break when it comes to hitting goals or reaching success.

Of course these principles apply to all aspects of life, but can especially be of use when we struggle on our fitness and health journey.

If you have trouble getting (and keeping) in shape, whatever “in shape” may mean to you, I want you to pay attention to the words you say to yourself most often. If you are constantly giving yourself negative programming (“I just can’t lose weight, I could never look like THAT, Im not meant to be lean and healthy,” etc…) then that is exactly the message your brain will continue to give you “dont lose weight, dont look like that, dont be lean and healthy”).

Here are a few techniques I recommend to my clients at Healthplex Training and Weight Loss Center;

1. Watch your thoughts!  Rather than the negative self programming you typically give yourself, start telling yourself “I AM healthy. I AM fit, yes, I CAN do this!”

2.  Read 10 min of an inspirational book every day.  I highly recommend What to Say when You Talk to Yourself by Dr. Shad Helmstetter.  I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Helmstetter and listen to him speak about a year ago, and his teachings are amazing and can have a positive influence on all areas of life that you may want to improve.

3.  Hire Help! Sometimes we get discouraged, confused, etc before we even get started! Even if it is short term, it’s always a good idea to enlist the services of a certified fitness professional (I recommend FMS trained fit pros) to set up your individual programming and get you and KEEP you on track.

4. Get Moving! forget about where you’ve been. A new you starts NOW. With one foot in fron of the other, keep moving forward. With the right attitude and tenacity, you WILL succeed in your fitness journey.

Yours in Health,

Erin B.

As a young RKC instructor, meeting Dan John was like a musician meeting the Beatles in the 60′s. He is the best of the best in the strength world. His book, “Never Let Go”, is a must read for anyone with any interest in the world of fitness (I read it twice). After talking with him for a little while, I asked him after all his years of experience, is there anything that you consider good advice for EVERYONE!

One statement…

“Do what you say you’re going to do!”

In the spirit of the new year, everyone take’s a moment to analyze the past and plan for the future. One of the first thoughts that comes to most mind’s is “I want to be in better shape.” Great, you made your choice! You are getting back in shape…but how? What’s the first step? What do you do after that?

In this age, we are blessed (and cursed) with new information about fitness every day. This has caused people to develop exercise A.D.D. We want to achieve everything all at once, so we create a vague, one-size-fits-all training program and lose focus of what the goal initially was.

“Do what you say you’re going to do” is a program where you… DO WHAT YOU SAY YOU’RE GOING TO DO.” It would be great to lose fat, gain strength, increase endurance, add muscle, get better posture, and eliminate that pain in your hip, back, or neck in one program. The fact is, unless you are a fitness mutant, it doesn’t work that way.

Here is any easy way to start your new program…

1. Write down your goal.
2. Track your progress consistently.

3. State your goal to yourself everyday.

4. Tell yourself you can do it everyday.

5. Keep the goal the goal until it is accomplished.

Set next goal. Repeat 1-4.

If your goal is fat loss, focus on fat loss. If your goal is to get stronger, focus on getting stronger. If you want to learn kettlebells or TRX, do it. The key is staying consistent to one plan and giving it everything you got until you demolish it, leaving no room for questions.

Remember, the fastest way to reaching the goals you set is…DO WHAT YOU SAY YOU’RE GOING TO DO!

Good luck to everyone on their new fitness goals and have a very happy and healthy New Year!
-MK

We’ve all heard the term “use it or lose it”. Muscle mass diminishes with age, so if you don’t do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose, you’ll increase the percentage of fat in your body. Don’t let every day chores become a hassle because you’ve allowed your body to become weak.

So unless your doctor has told you that strength training isn’t for you, you should be strength training and keeping your muscles strong.
Here at Healthplex, we have a team of highly professional trainers. Perhaps it’s time for you to work with one and start your path to a healthier stronger you.

By: Amy Jones

Lately a lot of clients have been coming up to me explaining to me about these new apps in their phone which tracks food, calories and energy used and burned through daily activities and exercise.  I think this is a great tool to become more aware of your caloric intake on the day and to become more aware of what exactly you are putting into your mouth on maybe a daily basis.  (like what qualifies a vegetable or not) However there is one area of this program that I would like to “debate” so to speak and give you  a little insight on.  There  is also an area on this program where you can track and log your exercise.  Now I believe that all exercise is important and does in fact help you lose weight, but it does not serve as a purpose to eat more!!! I have had some people come up to me saying well I ran 3 miles and on my exercise tracker and food diary it now says I have 1600 more calories I can eat today!!! In my opinion this is where sometimes people who exercise- either gain weight or do not lose (no it isn’t due to muscle) .

85% of what you look like is what you eat.  That 15% is exercise, yes if you exercise A LOT and really hard you can transform what you look like definitely, but the truth is there are 24 hours in a day and only realistically 1-2 can be spent exercising- the rest is the diet.  So next time you track that food diary and exercise here’s some advice, either skip  the exercise portion and just concentrate on the food, or log the exercise but just use it as a guide is to how many “extra” calories you burned  and pat yourself on the back for that.  Keep your food within your normal range whether it be 1300 calories or 2000- whatever works for you and then just know that every time you exercise you are helping those extra calories burn off- not using it alone to allow yourself more food intake on the day!!! Because the truth is Abs are made in the kitchen not the gym!!

With aging comes the fear that we will soon lose the ability to care for ourselves. Although we cannot stop the aging process, with exercise and proper nutrition we can preserve the ability to carry out the activities of daily living. So do not let age, or limited physical ability keep you sedentary. Get moving!

It doesn’t matter how old we are, we always have the ability to increase our strength and function. The body doesn’t give up. Exercising daily can help to prevent many of the physical troubles that we will all face as we age. Following a regular exercise program can help with balance issues, fall prevention, and muscle weakness. It also helps keep your heart healthy.
We at HealthPlex have several programs including one-on-one training, group training, silver sneaker group fitness and much more, that give all of our senior clients the opportunity to stay fit! Our fitness professionals are trained to work with many different medical conditions that might have been stopping you from exercising in the past. So don’t let your current fitness level prevent you from starting a new program.

Stop by HealthPlex and schedule a strategy session with a fitness professional and GET MOVING!

In this blog, I offer you my personal tips for success with “learning myself” and avoiding the dieting yo-yo that confuses the body emotionally and physically.

Step One: Learn Your Schedule
Set up your daily schedule to include appropriate times for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack. For most people, ideal eating times should be every four hours.

Step Two: Learn Your Plan
Plan your meals ahead of time. Knowing your meal choices will help you stay on track with healthy eating especially when grocery shopping.

Step Three: Learn to Choose
Select foods that will satisfy you until your next mealtime. Include foods that will hydrate you and keep you feeling full longer such as whole grains, brown rice and black beans. Vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, asparagus, green beans, peppers, onions, and tomatoes can be used to create hearty meals that combine with proteins to help you reach the four-hour mark.

Step Four: Learn to Limit
Create two or three choices for each meal and eat only from the pre-selected choices each week. Alternate the choices every week and remove those that do not meet your needs and satisfy you.

Happy eating and stay well.

Teresa

We all want to get skinny, lose weight, be ripped, be toned… but we don’t realize that it is not going to happen unless we drink water everyday.
And no not all liquids count- diet coke especially. You can refill an 8 oz glass of water approximately 15,000 times for the same cost as a 6 pack of soda. So not only does it hydrate the body and help it run more efficiently but it can save you tons of money as well!

How are your smelling senses? Have you ever tried smelling water? An elephant can smell water up to 3 miles away, and a dog can smell the difference between a tub of water and water with a teaspoon of salt in it. Water can be that thing we crave after a hot sweaty workout, or a long hot day on the beach, just like we crave that warm comfort food on a cold day, or that pizza and wings while watching the game on tv. Learn to smell your water! We smell delicious food and immediately our senses go crazy so let’s smell water and be 100x’s as healthy .

Water does wonders for your body! It dissolves more substances than any other liquid, it can carry nutrients, chemicals and minerals to many places, so how about we use the water we drink to help dissolve all the bad toxins and fat deposits in the body. Water can help decrease the risk of certain kinds of cancers, relieve joint and back pain, and can help alleviate headaches. It aids in digestion, and helps the skin look younger and more refreshed. Water also can ward of certain types of bacteria that may cause disease.

So next time you want to reach for the cup of coffee or diet soda, remember Jason and I, this article and all the ways water can help you and I’m sure you will want to reach for a bottle of water instead!