Finishing The Race

Someone was asking me the other day about this blog and what I was hoping to do. It got me to thinking about what exactly I wanted to do and how I could convey that to others.

First and foremost, I started this as my way to help others. I wanted to give someone a place they could go for words of encouragement or general guidance on making healthier choices in their lives. Not only to look better, but to feel better as well.

Well, I came up with this analogy. When you think in terms of someone running a marathon, my hope is to be the one along the way handing you water and words of encouragement, but ultimately you still have to do all the work and run the race. Whether you decide to keep going or give up, I will still be there to do what I can to help you out. Just make sure you keep your eye on the prize and finish the race.

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Healthy For Life

After writing this for a while now, I ran into someone who carries the same ideals that I have on weight loss and management. I was at lunch the other day and a friend of mine mentioned that she was back on her weight watchers program after she had put on a few extra pounds. I was interested in what she had to say because I noticed she was picking up just some veggies and fruit.

I asked her what her reason was behind it, as I normally ask of people who come to me and tell me that they are planning to lose x amount of pounds or get down to a certain size dress or pants.

What she said shook me, as it was what I long for people to say and the reason why I write this blog. She said she wanted to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight for life. She said "I don't want to make a temporary choice, I want to make a life choice."

I almost applauded, lol, but I just told her how right she was. Often times we lose sight of the big picture. We are too involved in how we look or what people will think of us, when really a healthy lifestyle is not only a choice to look better, but so we can live longer. So we can live longer and happier, so we can help prevent heart disease, so we can have more time with our children and grandchildren.

Her thoughts echoed the reason I do what I do. I work in the field of health education so that people will make a better choice, the choice to be healthy- for life.

The Path to Weight Lifting Success

There are a lot of different people that will tell you a lot of different things about weight training and working out. The problem with most is that they will tell you to do what they have done. In the early years of weight training and personal training, a person who looked muscular was approached and offered money in exchange for their advice. That person would then, for a fee, reveal their workout and voila the personal training industry started.

There are glitches in this thinking. How many times have you seen someone doing a certain exercise and decided to try it and found that it did not work as well as you thought it would have for you or did not see the results that you wanted?

Weightlifting is an art, the art of sculpting your body. What works for some people will not work for everyone. It is trial and error and we need to experiment with different exercises, different routines, different amounts of sets, different amounts of reps, different days and different rest days. The list goes on and on because there are so many variables involved.

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Making Exercise Fun: Fun, Sun and the Super Bowl

The one thing I have a hard time hearing is how many people do not exercise because they just don't enjoy it. Exercise does not have to be something that you dread doing, it should be something that you look forward to and it should be something that you can incorporate into your life.

How do you do it? The key is to make it fun and enjoyable. Find what you enjoy doing and incorporate it into your daily activities. My Mother for example likes to watch TV, absolutely loves it, so I went out and got her a "Walking to Fitness" type of DVD. What she does now is in between commercials or when she feels like it, she will play the DVD and follow the walking exercises. It is also age appropriate, so the exercises are not too strenuous, but does give her a good workout.

The reason I am writing this post is because I found myself thinking about it on Super Bowl Sunday. I wanted to exercise, I wanted to watch the Super Bowl and I wanted to go to the beach. Well I was able to do all of it and was happy with the end result.

I watched the kickoff, went to the beach and surfed for an hour or so, then got out of the water and grabbed my body board and fins and jumped back in for another hour. Not only was it fun, not to mention getting a tan and my cardiovascular workout (from the paddling), but I also got home for the end of the 3rd quarter and was able to see the rest of the game.

This is the sort of thing that I am talking about. Find what you like to do and mix it into your day. You will find exercise can be a lot more enjoyable than you once thought. If you are having any problems coming up with anything, drop me a line and I will see if I can help. rvidad@gmail.com