Slacker, slacker, slacker...that's what I told myself as I looked at my last posted entry. My sister recently created her own blog and that got me to think...heyy...I have a blog too! Oh yeah, remember that thing?? So anyway, I'm back.
I am two finals and about 450 blood pressure readings away from finishing my first year of grad school. For my exercise testing methods class, I had to complete quite a battery of testing protocols, but one of the most daunting tasks of the whole thing has been the 600 blood pressure and 300 heart rate readings that we have had to take over the semester. Do you know how many 600 is? A LOT. Hence why I am done every other paper, test, project, etc. and still cannot get close to finishing these damn blood pressure readings (the HR readings have been much easier to aquire).
Also, I think when I posted last, I had a love/hate relationship with yoga. As I suspected would happen, I am now in a "Love" relationship with yoga and go at least twice a week. Turns out the "roaring" doesn't happen every class, and its keeping my flexibility in tact. I am also getting much better at quieting my mind, thanks to a good book that I am reading called "Full Catastrophe Living" by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD. If you are stressed and not living in the moment, this is a step by step instruction manual on how to do just that. My initial reaction to the idea of reading about it was, "I am stressed because I have no time, and you want me to find more time to read a book about STRESS?" This book is one of those where you can read a few pages and still get something out of it. Great for the stressed folk. My guess is someone did that on purpose.
One of my biggest struggles lately has been getting into people's minds. My mom has specifically asked me to write about my thoughts on this topic, so here ya go mom! Most of the time I am perfectly happy staying out of others' minds and in my own, but for the purpose of lifestyle changes and weight-loss...I feel the need to invade. As most of you know, I am a personal trainer and deal with issues of lifestyle modification and weight loss on a pretty daily basis. However, I also deal with it within my family and most everyone that I meet when they find out that I am in the fitness industry. The most common question I get after people find out that I am a personal trainer is, "Ok, so how do I get rid of THIS????(insert fat body part here) " Unfortunately, I hate that question and subsequently get frustrated when people constantly ask it, and this is why. 9 times out of 10, the answer is DIET.
No one likes the "D" word. Everyone gets all bent out of shape when the find out there is actually no "love handle" or "saddle bag" exercise and they might have to stop eating the types of food that initially got them those love handles and saddle bags. I personally hate the word because it insinuates that there is a temporary adjustment that can be made in order to eliminate those love handles etc. and that after they are gone, you can go back to your normal eating habits. WRONG. Getting rid of love handles, saddle bags, and getting six pack abs is all about eliminating the excess fat on top of the muscles that you already have. In order to do and maintain that, you have got to eat well. And by well, I mean 7 days a week of good, quality, nutrient dense foods. Five to six small (read 300ish calories) meals per day. You won't be hungry, I promise. In fact, you will probably be very full.....of nutrients that will fuel your body. And your body will be happy that you are finally giving it something to work with. Sure, every once in a while you might eat something outside of that. But when I say "every once in a while", I mean just that. Not once a day, not 3 times a week, but possibly one meal per week. Bottom line: You just can't out-train a bad diet.
This is where the "getting into people's minds" comes into play. At this point in the conversation, I generally find some resistance:
"Well I don't really eat that badly..."
"But I don't really eat that much..."
"But I really have to at least have my ______ "
"But I've been on diets and they just don't work for me!"
"But I'm always so hungry when I diet..."
"But I have kids so I have to have some junk in the house for them"
(By FAR the worst excuse ever. Your kids do not need to be eating crap either. They will adopt the same bad eating habits as you. They may give some resistance at first, but if they are hungry enough, they will learn to eat what's in front of them...and learn to like it when they, and you, have so much more energy.)
The problem with these statements is that it really shows how most people are not looking at the reality of their eating, and how un-ready (is that a word?) they are to change their ways. To me, it seems logical to say, "Ok, eating the way I am right now got me this way, so why would it make sense that I can lose weight while continuing to eat the same stuff I've been eating?" But that, my friends, is the logical approach. Most people who think about this stuff logically have weight loss success. Calories in should be equal to, or lesser than, calories out. Don't eat crap. Food is fuel. Seems simple enough. But for many people, food is not logical. Food is emotional, and sometimes irrational.
Some people need the Jillian Michaels, trainer from NBC's "The Biggest Loser", approach (my personal favorite) where you can just knock some sense into them, put them on a treadmill, and then they get it. I love those people. Others are a little bit more difficult and don't respond to that bootcamp, "Just do it" mentality. Some people need to do a lot of soul searching to figure out what the underlying problem actually is with their relationship to food. If anyone knows how to get to these people, I'd love to know the answer. I don't think they covered these people in my psychology class. But all jokes aside, people need to be personally ready to start this lifestyle change. This may come with the classic "rock-bottom moment", health problem, bad-angled picture, etc. Whatever it is, they have to come up with this idea on their own. I have the tools they need to help them do it, but the idea and motivation has to be all their own, regardless of how much or how little outside support they may have. I just can't do it for them. Self-motivation is key because ultimately, you are responsible for your own health.
So, this is where the problem lies. We must figure out what that emotional trigger or that irrational fear is that is keeping them from a healthy lifestyle. For many people, it is the simple idea that they cannot imagine their lives differently. They can't imagine themselves running 5K's for fun on the weekends with their families and neighbors. They can't imagine skipping whole aisles at the grocery store. They can't imagine not providing dessert for guests when they come over to visit. Who would Aunt so-and-so be without her famous pie, mashed potatoes, cookies, etc? This is the life that they know; the life they have become comfortable with. But there is more to a person than the food that they eat.
Insert the whole idea of lifestyle change here. You have to learn to step out of your comfort zone and change. Change does suck, but only because it's hard. But if you want it bad enough, you will do what it takes. You will realize that excuses are just excuses, and fear of change is no more than a fear of success or a fear of failure. Ask yourself, where would you be if you didn't do any hard work? You probably would have none of your life accomplishments. This is nothing but pure hard work...but there's a plus. It gets easier. Everything is difficult before it gets easy. If you eat something bad, so what? Don't ruin the day, get back on the wagon. Or more importantly, get active and burn it off. You will learn that you cannot keep the same habits, but you will create new ones. Your lifestyle will feel better, and so will you.
So to step off my soapbox, I will end with a closing remark from my mom, since she asked me to write on this topic. "Put on your big girl panties, and get over it". When life is tough, and something is hard...embrace it. See it for what it is. Put away all the excuses standing in your way, because they are just passing thoughts, and there is no reason why you should wait to live the life you want. Don't start eating better tomorrow...start today. As the cast from RENT says, there is "No Day but Today"....krg
