Hire a trainer!! Hire a coach!!! Hire somebody!!!

Best money you will ever spend. Period. It will not only help you stay accountable, but it will also help you reach your goals more quickly.

A personal trainer will help you:

1. Set goals appropriatly

2. Help you keep from injuring yourself

3. Encourage you/Yell at you

Remember, check with your doctor before you start any exercise program. Especially if you are like I was… really out of shape.

A trainer will help you get started AND keep you started.

Get a Trainer!!!!! Get Up!! Get Moving!! Get a Better Life!!!

I don’t know what it is about running. I did a post not long ago about how it was good for weight loss.

Well, I think it is good for my mind as well. I read something not long ago about people that run (or really, do any sort of physical exercise) don’t need as many anti-depressants. THAT seems like a good thing to me.

But I don’t know what it is about running. I can’t tell you how many people I talk to that DON’T want anything to do with running. I asked someone the other day… they said, “not unless someone is chasing me”.

I just like the chalenge. Not just the physical chalenge. The mental chalenge… going on and on. Not stopping. Just putting one foot in front of the other— when you REALLY REALLY want to stop. But you don’t. You just keep going. I like that. Makes me feel good that I can do it. Makes me feel good when I don’t stop. Maybe that is why it improves my mental outlook.

Get Up!!!! Get Running!! Get a better Life!!

I certainly hope it does. I have been doing enough of it lately. Running helps you lose weight. In fact, it probably does a better job at reducing overall body size than any other exercise.

Not only will you lose body fat by running, but you’ll also lose a little bit of lean body mass as well. This is more of a problem for extremely long distance runners, but it does play a small factor if you’re running every day. If you’re looking for that lean look, then this is not a problem, and you should run all you can.

If you want to avoid this loss of lean muscle mass, then running every other day will provide you with all the benefits that running has to offer, while limiting any loss of muscle. This will also be easier on your joints— my hips hurt all the time, so I need to take it easy.

The average person will burn about 100 calories every mile while running. This makes it one of the absolute best exercises in terms of calorie burning.

However, running alone doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll lose weight. I have said this a thousand times, if you are not watching what you eat, you will not do yourself any good at all. I have fallen into this trap from time to time (like right now)….

When people introduce running into their lives, they often unconsciously start eating more as their body has begun to use more calories than it normally does during the course of the day. Heads up!!! If you do this, then you will NOT lose weight. Remember, we have to take in less than we burn— easy math really.

Running without a healthy diet is counterproductive when your goal is to lose fat. If you don’t consume less calories that you burn, you will not lose weight, no matter how much you run.

So, remember to Get Up!! Get Moving!!! Get a better life!!! But watch what you are eating too!!!!

Oh…. and remember, I don’t have to be faster than the bull, I just have to be faster than you!!! Words to live by.

I see them all the time. Ads on T.V. for the next new weight loss program or item.

Now, not that they are all inherently bad— that’s not the point. The point is that they tout that one of the advantages to the program or the product is that “you can do it at home”, “no need to go the the expensive gym”. “It’s so easy, you can do it in minutes a day, any time of day”.

Well, once again, some of the products and programs are good. But the bad thing here is that they make it sound so effortless. Trust me, it is not.

Also, they make it sound like it will be easy to get up out of bed every morning and do this program or use this product —- no problem.

For me, it was a problem. I know I bought many books and programs and products over the years– none of them worked as well as being in a boot-camp class and being with some friends.

Remember when you were a kid and you were always with someone from your neighborhood… riding bikes or playing baseball or doing one of those other things?? Well, you had someone to share that time with, and it is just as important today now that I am grown. I still don’t like to play alone.

So, find some friends…. or make some new ones in a class and…

Get Up!!! Get Moving!!! Get a Better Life!!!

Heard this the other day (its a good one):

If you are tired of starting over, stop quitting. Easy.

Get Up!!! Get Moving!! Get a Better Life!!!

I will be the first to tell you that this is how I once felt. Sometimes I still feel that way.

But what we SHOULD feel is what I normally do- that is, exercise is not just a means to an end— to lose weight.

All the time I see bumper stickers and running gear that says “Running is cheaper than Therapy”- How true!!! I look forward to running now. I know that one of the only things that gets me out of bed sometimes is the prospect of seeing my friends and drinking coffee and visiting after a run.

My point is- it didn’t happen overnight, but if you can stick with it and find some friends—– exercise can be something to look forward to and enjoy.

Remember, Get up!!! Get Moving!!! Get a Better Life!!

Harriette Cole- United Feature Syndicate

I have had so many e-mails asking if that was me in the Sense and Sensitivity advice column the other day. I am flattered by some of the mail. I hope that I can continue to inspire everyone to try to make positive changes in your life and in your health.

Here is the letter that I wrote to them… it was in response to a person in Jackson MS that said that they were Lethargic and were having trouble losing weight.

BUDDY SYSTEM KEY IN BATTLING OBESITY-

Harriette,

Wanted to make a quick response to Lethargic, Jackson MS.

I think that your tips for Lethargic, were right on. The things that you suggested were excellent.. especially your last sentence— suggesting that Lethargic “Tell yourself you are worth it, and then do something every day.” I think that this might be the most important part of the process. Until we are ready to realize our “self-worth”, it can be very difficult to “Get up! Get Moving!! And Get a Better Life”.

I too was an obese person living much the same situation. No matter how hard I tried, I was unable to get going. A HUGE part of my success was finding a group of people that were trying to realize similar goals. Once I had that support group, the task and hand became so much more attainable.

Yes, walk around your neighborhood. But find some friends… some work-out friends, to do it with you. Go to the gym—- but it is SO much easier to get there if you have something to look forward to (i.e.- seeing your friends). And always remember the old axiom, that “Misery loves company”— It’s true!

If Lethargic would like to contact me. I am also in the Jackson Miss. area. I have a blog, www.weighdownsouth.com and have been successful in not only losing some weight, but in keeping it off for over two years. I would offer to let Lethargic come and do some workouts with me… if they are up for it.

I changed my life. And believe me, if I can, anyone can.

Remember- Get up!! Get Moving!!! Get a Better Life!!!!

I just read on my handy day by day trivia calendar that there is a day in the U.S. that surpasses Super Bowl Sunday for food consumption. Thanksgiving. Well, that does figure. The whole thing was built on the assumption that the way to celebrate and give thanks is to eat yourself into a diabetic coma. Fair enough… I like to do that on Thanksgiving and then watch some football as I fall asleep. It makes for a good time.

Well, if we can, we need to watch it. I am not saying that we shouldn’t have a good time and eat as much as we want on Thanksgiving. But the fact of the matter is that we seem to just keep on going right through the new year.

See- it’s the leftovers… all the Turkey sandwiches and turkey and dressing and all the other ‘’stuff” that we eat for the rest of the next two weeks.

Then you know what happens, you start in on the holiday parties. Yep, it can get pretty out of hand. Then Christmas comes along and we do it all again…. just 3-4 weeks later. Oh, and don’t forget new year. Have another cocktail.

Well, what we need is a little help getting through these situations. Here are some strategies.

1. Don’t go hungry! Eat a little bit BEFORE you go to the holiday party. That way you won’t over do it when you get there because you are so hungry.

2. Shop smart- When you go to the store to get some of the stuff for turkey day, get WHOLE WHEAT CRACKERS, LOW FAT COTTAGE CHEESE, SKIM MILK. Shaving a few calories here and there can really make a difference.

3. Enjoy the meal. I always try to pick the things that I like the best… and skip the things that don’t really do it for me. For example, I can live without green bean casarole in the sea of mushroom soup- but live without the pecan pie??? Forget it. I will skip the beans and have a small piece of pie- because that is the second part of this- watch your portion sizes. If you don’t have the pie (or whatever it is that really does it for YOU) then you’ll just end up pissed off—- then you might go on a pie bender. (That is what I would do).

4. I say this time and again during the year- and it goes double for the holidays. Don’t beat yourself up. It is normal to want to eat some of those special things durring the holidays. If you do slip up and do something you shouldn’t, give yourself a break and start over immediately. Don’t wait till after the new year.

Finally- remember to work-out during this time of year. It is so easy to say “To heck with it, I will start again in January.” Don’t do it!!! Keep going. Start again immediately.

Get up!! Get moving!!! Get a better life!!! Even during the holidays!

Fake It Till You Make It

This is something that I have said many many times. And it really is something that I live by. It doesn’t matter if it is weight loss or speaking in public or some other situation…. I try to “Fake it till I make it”.

The phrase is often associated with Alcoholics Anonymous even though it does not appear in either of the books that form the foundation of the AA program, Alcoholics Anonymous or The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. AA to Z; An Addictionary of the 12-Step Culture describes it as a “suggestion often made to newcomers who feel they can’t get the program and will go back to old behavior. The suggestion implies that if the newcomer acts according to the steps and teachings of the program, then the program will begin to work and the anxiety will fall away”.

And it is true. There is no genetic code of how to act. In other words… it is not pre-disposed. You can do anything you want to do. If you are an introvert, become an extrovert. It is as easy as acting as if.

Get up!! Get Moving!! Get a better life!!

I used this because it is my wife's favorite show

This is a funny story… and I swear it is true.

Not long after I was in the People Magazine Weigh Loss Challenge, I helped to coach/mentor another weight loss group that had formed in the area. There was a girl that was in the group that joined up and decided that she wanted to lose some weight.

Now, as it turned out, she did not last long. I think that the idea of change was too much for her. It was too hard and she was looking for an excuse to get out. But, before she did, Clark had an occasion to call her. Wanted to find out where she was since she had not been showing up for class. When he did, her answering machine said that she was not in. It also stated that she was going to be making some changes in her life and that if she did NOT call you back, it was because you were not a part of the changes. Pretty funny!!!

But, also, pretty good stuff. The bottom line is that if you decide to make some changes in your life… there will be people that inspire you and those that don’t. It is going to be up to you to decide which are which.

In his book Spontaneous Healing, Andrew Weil says: “Make a list of friends and acquaintances in whose company you feel more alive, happier and more optimistic. Pick one whom you will spend some time with this week. And President Calvin Coolidge observed that “Cynics do not create.”

In keeping with the theme of the last few days, we all know that we believe what we tell ourselves over and over. The same goes for what others tell us too. If we have people that “believe in the possibilities” then we will believe it too.

Remember- Get up!! Get moving!! Get a better life!!