Holiday Travel

Well many of us will be going out of town for the holidays....if you are staying in town then Scott Fitness has you covered. They are open 24 hours a day. So...no excuses for you...head to the gym Christmas Eve, Christmas day, etc and work hard.

As for the rest of you....where are you going? Back home? To your partners hometown? Now, before you leave, you need to research the workout options you have while you are away. Will there be an opportunity for you to do a workout DVD a couple of times?

What about the gyms they have in town?

Get online today and check out their group exercise schedules and make a commitment today to some classes or workout times.

There is no reason you can't workout over the holiday weekend. It's, actually, the most important time to work out.

Here are my options for workout while I am away. Luckily we're going to Columbia Missouri for Christmas....since I used to live there I am familiar with the gyms.

Depending on what classes they offer I will choose among The ARC, Wilson's and Key Largo Fitness....most of the places charge a small fee. About $5 to $10 but it's worth it.

Let me know how you stay active over the holidays.

What other ideas do you have?

Holiday Advice

Let me remind you of a few things while we are in the midst of the Holiday season.

First: Remember portion control! It's so easy to overindulge especially when there is a table of food and you can stand by is all night long and eat and eat and eat and eat. Try this instead: eat a sensible meal before you head out to your Holiday party and then make one pass through the food line filling up that plate ONLY ONCE.

What about if it's a sit down dinner you ask? Don't finish everything on your plate. Some people think it's a waste to waste food. Well if you are eating more calories than you need, the food is still being wasted and will be stored as fat in your body. Think before you eat.

Alcohol adds extra calories too. Try alternating every alcoholic beverage with a glass of water. And please try to stay away from creamy beverages.

Also, try and work out more. We're all eating more....that's unavoidable. One of the things we can do to offset the extra calories a little bit is to move more. This could be parking farther away on your shopping trips or asking friends and family to go on a nice long walk with you.....especially since the weather is tolerable at this point. Or just get to the gym and workout. Just keep moving!

I hope you all have a relaxing holiday.

It's Tuesday...

And you know what that means:

You are on day 2 of this week....which also means you should have scheduled your weekly workouts by now.

This is one of the best pieces of advice I give my clients and is especially important this time of year with the temperatures dropping and the thought of leaving the house becomming more and more unappealing....

SCHEDULE YOUR WORKOUTS!!!

Schedule them like you would schedule a dentist appointment or a lunch date. You wouldn't not show up to your dentist appointment, right? Treat your workouts the same way.

Here's how it works:

Think about your week on Sunday night just as you would for work, get out your calendar and see which days of the week make the most sense for a workout and which time of day.

Step 1. Pick your days (preferably 5).

Step 2. Pick your time (not something ridiculous like 5am if you are not a morning person), and

Step 3. Pick your activity (remember: 2 nonconsecutive days of weights, 3 days of cardio)...

and then WRITE IT DOWN!!!

Here is what my Monday through Sunday look like this week

Monday: Zumba at 5:30pm

Tuesday: Spin at 6:30, weights at 7:30

Wednesday: 45 minutes of cardio at 11am

Thursday: Strength training class at the YMCA. 8:30 am. Yoga at the YMCA 9:30am

Friday: 45 minutes of cardio at 6am at the YMCA

Saturday: Strength training at the YMCA. 7:30 am. 30 minutes of cardio following.

Sunday: rest.

Now you might be confused that I only have 1 day of rest this week. Let me say that the Zumba wasn't very high level for me and I only stayed for 40 minutes so I would consider that one of my rest-ish days....because I do stress the importance of 'rest' days so your body can recover. Rest days are so important!

I would, if possible, make them 2 non consecutive days in order to stick with your routine. 2 days in a row of not working out might turn into 3 days and then 4 days and then you haven't worked out for 7 days! You get my point.

So schedule your workouts and pick something you enjoy so you'll stick with it.

In health...

Gobble Gobble

How did you fare this Thanksgiving....did you stuff yourself silly or merely enjoy one plate of food?

I definitely did not deny myself today, but I didn't overdo it either.

I find getting to a point of being uncomfortable is just, uncomfortable. I would much rather enjoy a meal than regret eating it.....so I did.

I did eat everything...the mashed potatoes, the corn pudding, the roll, the turkey, the stuffiung, everything....and then I was finished.

No seconds.

The key now, is to get back on track tomorrow. I know at Scott Fitness the classes will happen at their regularly scheduled time tomorrow, so there is no excuse to fall off the wagon now.

Hit up a class tomorrow if you need that extra motivation and get back to eating right, right away.

Next up: Christmas.

Goals for the day

Do you know what my goal is today?

To drink 2 of these:

Do you know why?

Because you need 2-3 quarts of water per day....This goal will put me just above 2 quarts for the day (almost 2.5).

Are you drinking enough water every day?

Practicing

Well.

I am practicing what I preach.

I took a 60 minute Yoga class yesterday afternoon and then woke up early this morning and did a 30 minute Yoga DVD.

It made me feel great to wake up and stretch like that.

I am working hard to incorporate more flexibility training into my routine.

What are you working on?

In Health.

Optimum Physical Fitness

There are 3 components to optimum physical fitness.

1. Muscular Strength

2. Cardio endurance

3. Flexibility

This means (at least) 30 minutes of cardio on most days of the week, strength training at least twice a week and flexibility training.

I am often guilty of focusing on two out of the three categories, running long distances and getting in a couple of strength sessions a week, but constantly falling behind on my flexibility training.

Think about how much time you devote to each component in your week, and then make it your goal next week to devote more attention to the one or two lacking your attention.

Often times it is the exercises we hate that are the most necessary for us to practice.