Your Perfect Workout

I hope this article gives you some ideas in finding your perfect workout:
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What does your perfect workout mean? Is it a stroll in the
park, taking a class, a rigorous hour of tennis, or using
the stairmaster during your favorite TV show? Maybe it
means focusing on your breath in a yoga class, stretching
your muscles with pilates or running to your favorite
songs. While any of these workouts benefit your body, mind
and soul, many moms don't exercise at all. In fact, the
only exercise their getting is when they exercise their
right...not to exercise.


If this sounds like you, it's time to find your perfect
workout. But what if you haven't worked out in weeks,
months, even years? What matters is that you find something
that you can enjoy. What also matters is that you begin at
a level that's only slightly more challenging than what you
feel you can do. This way, you don't scare yourself off
from beginning and sticking with a new routine. It's also a
great way to build confidence in yourself. By setting a
goal that's reasonable, then achieving that goal, you gain
the confidence to keep trying. It's an empowering feeling
to take back the reins and know that your fitness, health
and priorities are up to you.


Now like many moms, let's say you haven't exercised in an
embarrassingly long time. You're never ending to-do list
got the best of you and the only way you could get
everything done was by cutting your own self care right off
your list. So unfortunately, your exercise was one of the
first things to go. This may have worked for a while but at
some point, you began to feel sluggish, lethargic and
unfit. Maybe you noticed that your clothes weren't fitting
as well as they used to. You may have realized that while
you used to sprint up the steps, now you're huffing and
puffing as you near the top. Whatever caused you to see
that you need exercise in your life doesn't matter, as long
as you use that information to get going. So, where do you
begin?


You can always start with walking. You know how to do it,
you don't need to be exceptionally coordinated and all you
need is a properly fitting pair of walking shoes. Just by
getting outside, looking at the changing leaves or noticing
the beauty that surrounds you may be enough to keep you
motivated to walk. If that's not enough, you can bring an
ipod or MP3 player to listen to your favorite music. There
are also some great services which enable you to download
workouts according to your workout level and needs. You can
even download podcasts of programs you enjoy or just use
the time as an opportunity to clear your head.


Now it doesn't matter if you work outside the home, have a
newborn, whatever. You can justify or make excuses for
anything you don't want to do. The idea is to find a way to
get it done so you can feel good again. For example, if you
leave early in the morning and head off to work, you can
have a gym bag packed and head to the gym before you come
home. If you feel too guilty to try it maybe realizing that
the happier mom is, the better she is for everyone else is
enough to change your mind. You can also try exercising
during your lunch break, taking a short walking break every
hour or find an exercise buddy you can walk with and be
accountable to.


If you have young children, there are some other strategies
you may want to try. Get on that treadmill in your home,
use tapes, DVD's or just tune into your local exercise
channel. Just simply put your baby in an area safely
nearby. Your baby may even get a real kick out of watching
his or her mommy working out. If not, he or she can use
the time to sleep, snack or play. If your children are a
little older, give them a special activity that they only
get to do while mommy works out. They'll look forward to
the activity while you get your workout in.


If you want to workout outside, there are great exercise
joggers that allow you to walk, jog or run with your child
safely strapped in. You can also wear your baby in a Baby
Bjorn or baby backpack. This adds weighted resistance to
your workout while taking away any excuse you may have!
Your baby will also love the special time feeling close to
you while getting some fresh air. Another option is to join
a class for moms and their kids. If that doesn't work for
you, many health clubs offer babysitting for a small fee.
Lastly, you can hire a babysitter or find a friend that is
willing to take turns babysitting each others children so
you can both make the time for much needed self care.


It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you do something.
The key is to find a way to incorporate exercise back into
your life. If you do nothing now and exercise for fifteen
minutes tomorrow, you're moving in the right direction.
What's most important is that you give your body, mind and
soul what it so rightfully deserves. And as you begin to
feel better about your body and your commitment to take
better care of yourself, your body will kindly respond by
slowly getting back to being the finely tuned machine it
had been long ago. Then at some point, you may see the
beauty in you that everyone else does.



----------------------------------------------------
Debi Silber, MS, RD, WHC is a Registered Dietitian,
Certified Personal Trainer, Whole Health Coach and
President of Lifestyle Fitness, Inc. For nearly 20 years,
Debi has been inspiring and empowering moms to become
physically fit and emotionally strong through gradual,
lifestyle change. For more information on the Lifestyle
Fitness Program, please visit
http://www.lifestylefitnessinc.com
====================
As you can see a perfect workout for one person may not be perfect for someone else. So, it depends on your level of fitness, and your exercise goals. There are many different things you can do to increase your fitness levels, and in doing so I'm sure you will find your perfect workout.

Three Easy Ways to Lose Weight!

If you're looking for a easy way to lose weight Holly Rigsby's article below should help you:-
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I know, as soon as you saw the words "easy" and "lose
weight" in the headline, you were ready to write this off
as another one of those gimmicks or programs sound too good
to be true and usually are. But bear with me and you'll
learn 3 strategies that I guarantee will help you in your
weight loss efforts.

You've probably been conditioned to believe that weight
loss had to be tied to countless hours at the gym, the
latest supplement breakthroughs or eating nothing but
celery stalks and tofu. Fortunately, dropping a couple
dress sizes doesn't take anything that drastic. What it
does take is making some small changes in the behaviors
that led to the addition of those unwanted pounds. Here
are 3 lifestyle changes that will immediately help you lose
that unwanted fat and get your body back.

1. Stop Eating Out. Think back to when you were growing up.
Do you remember what the dinner plates looked like? Now
compare that to what the "plates" look like at O'Charleys,
Applebees or any of the other chain restaurants. It's no
wonder we're gaining weight. There are dozens of studies
about eating out and they all lead to one conclusion: if
you eat out, you overeat! Not only is it almost impossible
to exercise effective portion control when you eat out, but
you're also compelled to get you money's worth so you eat
everything you're served rather than stopping when you
should.

The bottom line is that those who eat out consume more
calories than those that don't. Take a break from eating
out for the next six weeks and see how easily you can drop
a dress size or even two. And you can use the money you
saved eating at home to buy a couple of new outfits to
showcase your improved body.

2. Eat Smaller Portions. You don't have to avoid the foods
that you enjoy - you just can't eat big servings of them.
An easy way to do this is to use smaller plates for your
meals. This will help you fell like you're not depriving
yourself while still exercising good judgment. And don't
think that just because something is on your plate, you
have to eat it. As opposed to what your mother told you,
you don't have to clean your plate.' In fact - you
shouldn't. Eat slowly and stop when you aren't hungry any
more. You'll quickly find that you can enjoy your favorite
foods and your skinny jeans at the same time.

3. Make Better Choices. I know I just said that you can eat
the foods you enjoy and still lose weight, but that doesn't
mean overindulging on processed foods, candy, sodas and
chips. The key is moderation. So when you go to the
supermarket, do the bulk of your shopping around the
perimeter of the store and spend less time in the isles.
When you're at work, keep health snacks handy so you don't
have to rely on the company's vending machine for your
energy boost. But most importantly, make good choices with
the meals that don't really matter. Your quality of life
won't dramatically improve if you choose a cheeseburger
over a grilled chicken salad for lunch, so don't do it.
Save the times when you are going to choose foods that
might be considered unsupportive for the meals that you
really look forward to. Improving your choices will
accelerate your weight loss and help you save unnecessary
calories without really trying.

Obviously, there is nothing magic about any of these three
strategies other than the results that they produce. So
start applying these three simple ideas and prepare to get
your body back.


----------------------------------------------------
Holly Rigsby is a nationally recognized women's fitness
coach, certified personal trainer (CPT) and the author of
the internationally popular e-book The Busy Mom's Fat
Loss Bible. Go to http://www.busymomsfatloss.com to get
your FREE copy and discover everything you need to know to
losing unwanted fat and how to keep it off for good.

East Retford Half Marathon

I ran the East Retford Half marathon today. This is a small race in Retford, Nottinghamshire. (In England -- just in case you were wondering.)

Anyway, I had a good time particularly because I wasn't straining to go too fast early on, and had the attitude that this was just a training run. I would run steady for the first half and speed up later on. I did not want to push myself too hard -- that is what my coach, Mad Dog, said to do as I am running a marathon in a few weeks, and should save my energy for that.

It was a good feeling speeding up towards the end and not having anyone pass me -- I think after 9 miles nobody passed me. Some had passed me earlier on, but I caught them up, and passed them again! Finishing time was 1 hour 43 minutes exactly.

Last year I wasn't in good enough shape to run this half marathon, and had to do the fun run instead, so it just shows how far I have come in a year.