Time to Focus on Fitness

by Ginger I. Nicholson

September through December is a season of festivity. From Labor Day cookouts to Thanksgiving feasts, Christmas, and New Years, we celebrate life with family and friends, and "pig out" on a variety of delectable dishes. With food and libation being the backdrop of all these occasions, over-indulgence is inevitable. Most of us throw caution to the wind and succumb to pleasing the palate.

A few months later, you feel lethargic because you have gained at least 10-15 extra pounds. That favorite outfit that you wore several months ago fits tightly (or not at all). You ponder what to do to lose the extra weight.

The shorter day of winter, along with inclement weather, lowers your energy and activity levels. You begin to adapt to a sedentary lifestyle of lounging around watching television, eating more, and subsequently piling on more pounds.

This food consumption coupled with inactivity takes its toll on your body and can be detrimental to overall health and well-being. You can relieve yourself of the unwanted extra weight, but you must be willing to commit to an exercise program. The solution--take the succeeding 4-5 months to shape-up for spring and summer.

Now is the ideal time to focus on fitness. Time to concentrate on the restoration and rejuvenation of the mind, body, and spirit. Mental preparation is key, as the right mind-set is essential for ultimate success in reaching your goals.

Here's what you should do. Draw up a contract with yourself. Outline your goals on paper and sign it. Effective goals are specific, attainable, realistic, affordable, convenient and enjoyable.

Concentrate on areas that need improvement and practice diligence to your program. Focus on a convenient workout time frame, a frequency, and a weekly schedule of activities to perform. Task orient your program by breaking down your tasks into smaller parts to facilitate ease of management. Measure your progress by keeping a record of your workouts, i.e., number of repetitions completed, part of the body worked on, etc.

Monitor your weight as well, but don't be discouraged if your change is not happening fast enough. If you do not seek instant gratification, change will happen with perseverance. Be mindful that dramatic changes dramatically disappear, but gradual changes can last a lifetime. Set long-term goals and practice them one-at-a-time until you reach a level of comfort that enables you to take on another.

Careful now, don't hurt yourself. Perform warm-up stretches before beginning your workout. If you have predetermined health conditions consult a physician before beginning a program. Ease into your program being careful not to overexert causing injury, sprain, strain, and hence, pain. Pain, not to be confused with soreness, is very unpleasant and is likely an indication of muscular stress. This can unequivocally stop your program, therefore, pay close attention to your body and heed its warning signals.

Expect a little soreness as you begin your workout program since you will be working muscle groups that have not been worked in awhile. However, exercise need not be painful to be gainful.

Your workout should be a pleasant and fulfilling experience. The more fun you have participating in an activity, the more likely that you will do it often and stay with it. As you are already aware, commitment comes from deep within. The stronger your desire for change, the better your chances for success. Therefore, self reliance and self-motivation must be your top priority.

Other support mechanisms such as partnerships can be fun and are beneficial from an emotional perspective. Encouragement always help to boosts morale which, in turn, builds the confidence needed to keep you motivated. So, if it helps, go ahead and team up with an exercise partner. Enlist the support of your spouse, family and friends. Tell them your goals and ask them to help keep you on course by periodically inquiring about your progress.

Support is a good thing as long as your exercise program is not contingent upon the availability of another. The flip side is the likely probability that your partner's plans may unexpectedly change. Partnerships are two-fold, and at any given time other priorities may take precedence leaving the other to go it alone. To stay focused when this occurs, draw from your own internal motivation. So again, it's better to be independently committed.

As you age, your metabolic rate lowers, which means your body converts food to energy at a much slower pace. Occurring in combination with an inactive lifestyle, the food-to-energy conversion becomes food-to-fatty tissue, and hence, weight gain. Individuals with desk jobs have even an higher susceptibility to weight gain. By losing or maintaining a healthy weight, you improve your health and decrease your risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high cholesterol, arthritis, insomnia and depression. Losing weight energizes you and makes you look good and feel good.

Now, with the correct mind-set and the right goals set, go for it! Increase your physical activities. Decrease your caloric intake.Walk, run, cycle, swim, skate, take aerobics classes, dance classes, yoga classes, cardiobox classes, and/or total body conditioning classes. Join your local "Y", or a fitness club near the office. For your convenience, most fitness clubs now offer month-to-month memberships opposed to annual memberships. As an added bonus, some health insurances have healthy lifestyle programs that partially reimburse members who join a fitness club and make 120 visits within a year. Use all available resources that work for you. Any combination will suffice.

If perhaps, none of these methods are viable, others ways to burn calories and feel better are equally convenient. Some of these activities can burn more calories than exercising at the gym. Rather than thinking in terms of a specific exercise program, work on permanently changing your lifestyle to include more activity.

Increase your daily activity by parking your car farther away and walking more or by using the stairs instead of the elevator. Simple home remodeling activities, washing your car, and yard work or gardening can help burn those extra calories. At the same time, decrease your calorie intake by stopping before you are completely full. Don't eat food just because it is available and try not to eat right before going to bed. Be careful about keeping high calorie snacks in your home. Instead, snack on fresh fruits and vegetables. Stay away from fast food. Choose smaller portions and smaller more frequent meals, and eat slowly. Also drink plenty of water.

Know your Body Mass Index. Be aware of your target heart rate and perform a routine that keeps at that level for at least 20 minutes. You can determine your heart rate by checking your pulse at your wrist or neck. Count the number of beats in15 seconds and multiply that number by four to get the number of beats per minute. Other ideas include desk exercises.

Reward good behavior. Treat yourself to an invigorating aromatherapy candle, a facial or a new pair of bedroom slippers. Maintain a forgiving spirit. Don't condemn yourself for personal shortcomings. At some point, we all fall short of our mark, and it's okay, as long as it does not become a habit. If we keep our momentum with some consistency, we can still meet our goals.

Whatever your pleasure, don't increase your dress size--EXERCISE. The combination of reduced diet and exercise will work wonders and have you feeling better mentally and physically. When you feel good and look your best, your spirit will soar. So what are you waiting for? Don't let the springtime catch you covering up and camouflaging. Lose that extra weight and be in tip-top shape. Feel better, look better, and be energized.

Eat, Drink and Be Healthy!