Tips for Enjoying the Summer Without Packing on the Pounds

In some ways it's easy to eat "clean" in the summer—there is an abundance of fruits and vegetables available and grilling is a quick and healthy way to prepare meat and fish.

In other ways, summer poses a big challenge in terms of eating well. There are a lot of parties, happy hours, ball games, water parks, and pool & beach clubs that don't offer a lot of (if any) healthy food options. Instead, they serve a lot of junk & fried food, along with a lot of sugary and alcoholic drinks.

I know after last weekend, I was feeling a few pounds heavier & the summer has just begun. It's easy to get caught up in all-day grazing (& possibly drinking) while you're hanging out at the pool or beach. Before this gets too out of hand, be conscious of it & plan ahead.

If you're eating well all week, you are entitled to a "cheat meal". The problem is, many of us find ourselves in the predicament of being in these situations multiple times a week. I've been hearing this a lot and being asked what to do. So, here are some suggestions:

1) Eat before you go. Eat a healthy meal that fills you up & you'll be less likely to dive into the cheese fries & fried dough as soon as you get wherever you're going.

2) Bring your own food. I realize a lot of these situations are day outings, where a healthy breakfast before you go won't satisfy you for the entire day. In these situations, bring what you can. 

• If you're going to the beach, you can bring food for the day. Pack healthy wraps or pre-packed salads for lunch and fruit & veggies to snack on. 
• If you're going to a party, look for some healthy options (veggies) to fill up a little bit before you head over to the wings. Better yet- bring a healthy dish that you enjoy. If your hosts aren't serving anything healthy, at least you'll have what you brought.
• If you're going to a ball game or water park, you'll have a bigger challenge. You can bring some small snacks (nuts, Kind bar, apple) in your bag. 

3) In cases where you are stuck without your own food:

• Look for a salad. It might not be great, but usually there is some version of a salad available. Choose a vinaigrette dressing if you can.
• Salvage the good stuff. Look for something that contains grilled chicken & eat that with any lettuce or tomato that you can get with it.  Scrape off heavy sauces, cheeses & ditch the accompanying fries (telling them to serve it to you without that stuff is the best option, so it's not tempting you).  If chicken's not an option, do the same with a burger—ditch the bun & fries.
• See if you can find frozen yogurt. While this is more of a desert, it's better than most of the food options at those places.
• Pretzels are probably the best snack option at most of those places: either a big, soft, ball park one with mustard, or pre-packed hard ones.

4) Drink lots of water! Besides helping to keep you hydrated, flushing toxins & boosting your immune system, water increases your metabolism, helps build & repair muscles, and makes you feel full.

5) Stay active! While controlling what you consume is the most important part of controlling your weight, staying active will burn calories. AND, time spent playing tennis, riding your bike,  swimming, etc, will keep you away from those tempting foods & drinks for a while.

Summertime fun may be a challenge to your healthy lifestyle, but YOU CAN ENJOY IT without packing on the pounds! Start these habits now and continue them throughout the year :)

What's Your WHY?

To achieve your goals, you need to stay committed to them. Committed, even though you may feel like you're not progressing, or you've had a setback, or you just don't feel like putting in the effort some days. 

When it comes to our heath & fitness, lack of motivation is at the top of the list of challenges people face. For some, the hardest part of the workout is just making it to the gym.

Unless you have a powerful reason WHY you want to get in shape / lose weight, you're not going to: deprive yourself of your favorite foods and drinks; wake up 2 hours early in the dark and cold and drag yourself to the gym; exercise after you've had a long, tiring day of work. At least not for very long.

One big reason so many people don't achieve their fitness goals is that their goals aren't meaningful enough. Wanting to lose 15 pounds isn't enough to keep you going long-term. WHY do you want to lose 15 pounds? You need a meaningful reason to motivate you.

Is it to fit into clothes that will make you feel sexy? To look good at your reunion or your daughter's wedding? To feel confident at the beach in your bathing suit? To play with your kids without feeling winded?

These are goals you can visualize achieving. These are the things you need to focus on when you don't feel motivated to workout or when someone offers you a piece of cake. These are the things that will keep you going.

The same goes for professional or personal development goals. If you want a promotion but haven't identified why, you'll wind up getting tired of putting in long hours at the office—often at the expense of social events and family time. 

Is it that you want to make more money? Again, ask yourself "Why?" Money alone isn't a strong enough motivator. This may surprise you, but it's not. What's important is what the money means to you. 

Will more money mean you won't have to worry about paying for your child's college tuition? Will it mean you'll be able to replace your old car that's always breaking down? Or, buy a new house? Or, you'll be able to take your dream vacation? Those are motivating reasons to work late.

Think about your goals. Are they meaningful? Have you thought about your "Whys"?

Whatever your goals are, STAY FOCUSED on your "WHYs" and GO ACHIEVE THEM :)

Focus on What You Can Control

Stress often comes from being overwhelmed. And, often we're stressed & overwhelmed about things that are out of our control. Separate what you can control from what you can't.

It helps to write it down. 

Taking care of even small things makes us feel more in control of our situations and less stressed. And, working on things that you can control frequently winds up having unseen effects on things that you thought were out of your control 😀🤔

We Can All Inspire Someone

There are many famous people—past and present—who are inspiring. People who have: stood up to oppression, helped people in need, accomplished great physical feats, overcome huge obstacles to achieve their dreams. Pioneers. Explorers. Inventors. People who did things in spite of their fears. People who didn't give up when things got tough.

We're usually inspired by people who have achieved great things in areas that are of interest to us. As a Personal Trainer, I am inspired by people who are in awesome shape and those who possess incredible athleticism. As a Life Coach, I am inspired by people who help others change their lives. I am also inspired by entrepreneurs, people who have made a successful career change, and by strong, successful women in general.

I can turn on the tv or go online and find plenty of inspiring people. But, I can also pick up the phone and talk to them, or text them, or meet them for lunch. I've known some of them most of my life. Most probably don't even know they've inspired me (my bad for not letting them know), and some were inspiring me before I realized it (that's you, mom).

These people—who are my family & friends—have made their way through tough times, taken risks, faced their fears, conquered their demons, cared for others, put love first. They've struggled, questioned themselves, felt scared, felt alone. But, they didn't give up. They don't give up. They've achieved things without accolades. And, they continue to achieve things without accolades.

These people are good friends, spouses, parents, siblings, children, mentors, leaders. They've inspired me and, without a doubt, others.

We can ALL inspire someone. You probably already do. Keep that in mind and act accordingly :)

Day 5 of the new year. Now it's real.

Kids are back in school. It's time to take the decorations down and get back to doing work (as opposed to spending the day talking about what we did over the holidays).

It's time to get back on a schedule. Get on track to feel better and to accomplishing things so that when we're ringing in 2017, we look back and say, "2016 was a great year!"  Wouldn't that be awesome?

To be healthy and productive, we need to make plans and take action. But, that's not always so easy, is it? I don't think so. It may take time to decide what you really want, who you want to be, and how you're going to achieve these things.

If you're still figuring it out, keep the following things in mind. I point them out because they are things I struggle with. Things I have to remind myself. I’m sure you’ve heard them before and they may seem obvious, but as Brendon Burchard (one of my mentors) says, “Common sense isn’t always common practice.” So, they bear repeating and thinking about.

• Don't compare yourself to others. Not your body, your career, your relationships, your successes, your challenges, your goals. Decide what will make YOU happy.
• Don't look back to determine your path forward. Your past may have shaped who you are, but it does not define your future. And, it really is not too late to change course.
• The things that reap the greatest rewards often seem the most scary, overwhelming, time-consuming. But, don’t cross them off your list of goals too quickly. Consider the rewards, the best-case scenario. Scary and overwhelming doesn’t mean you can’t do it or that it’ll kill you. And, the time will pass anyway. What else are you planning to do with that time? Will it result in great fulfillment?
• Don’t let yourself become paralyzed with indecision. This is one I really fight. I know it stems from wanting to be perfect. And, yes, I know no one is perfect. And, I know there usually isn’t a right and a wrong decision—nothing is so black & white. And, as my mother has told me since I was a child, “To not decide is to decide.” Yes, I know. Just pick something. Make it work. Or, don’t make it work. Fix it. Or, don't fix it. Learn from it and move on.

We want this to be our best year yet, right? Then we've got to make plans, take action, and possibly get out of our own way. I know you can do it. Let's make 2016 the year we all achieve great things :)

Hello December!

December, you snuck up on us—AGAIN!

This is often a stressful time of the year. Suddenly we're struck by how fast the year went and how little time is left. We think about the things that we had planned to do but didn't this year. We think about all the things we need to do before Christmas. We feel overwhelmed.

We need to decorate, buy gifts, wrap gifts, buy new clothes for the parties we'll be attending. We need to grocery shop, cook, and bake. We need to create and send out holiday cards, finalize holiday plans, make an appearance at the kids' school, volunteer at church or local charity, and remember to move that damn elf EVERY night.

We know that something's got to give this month and it's probably going to be our well-being. We accept that. This time of the year is crazy. We don't have time to workout and there are too many tempting foods and drinks to consume. We're stressed and not getting enough sleep. We tell ourselves that we'll just "get through the holidays" and get back on track after the new year.

That's one route to take. It's the route most of us take every December. What if we took a new route this year? Not a COMPLETELY different route, but one that doesn't let us get so far off track.

Each night, make a list of what you need to do the next day. Pick out the top 3 that MUST get done. You have more than three each day? I know; me too. But, do YOU have to all of them? Can you divide tasks with your spouse, sibling, friend? 

What about your kids—are they old enough to do some chores that will alleviate what you need to do? This is the perfect time to get them to help out, as they are anticipating getting rewarded for being "good" in just a few weeks. 

Yes, they will most likely not load the dishwasher, clean up their room, fold the laundry, etc. as you would have. But, guess what? Those are NOT things that need to be done perfectly. Those are not things you need to worry about now (if ever). Do NOT redo what they have done sub-parly. Next time, give them more specific directions or give them another task to do. 

Focus on your priorities, get them done & you'll feel so much better getting into bed. You'll feel much more productive and less stressed than if you had spent the day doing those little tasks and still had the big things hanging over your head.

Do NOT put yourself at the bottom of the priority list each day! Make sure you take care of your health. You'll be even MORE stressed if you get sick and can't do anything on your list! You can do small things: drink lots of water, get enough sleep, stretch or do a short workout.

The next 30 days are going to go by quickly, but they don't need to be a chaotic blur. Stay focused, enlist support and ring in the new year with a smile rather than a sigh of relief :)

Don't Wait to Ask Important Questions

There's nothing like a health problem (or even just a scare) to make you seriously think about (and regret) all the things you might have done (or didn't do that you should have) to have caused you to be in the situation you now face.

You think about the bad foods and drinks you've consumed. You curse yourself for having ever tried a cigarette. You remember all the times you decided to not workout when you could have.

You think about you're odds of being ok. When I was in college, there was a PSA running that said one out of eight women would get breast cancer. At the time, I lived with seven other girls. That meant one of us would get it.

Last month I had a mammography. A few days later I received a call that I needed to come back for additional scans. I was told this wasn't necessarily bad news and I shouldn't panic. I took the woman at her word because I know this isn't uncommon.

Today I went in for the additional scans. When I got into the room with the technician, she had images up from my last two mammograms. She pointed at dots and shaded areas that she said were different on my two previous scans. I started to feel nervous.

I had the additional scans and then went into a waiting room with six other woman. I thought about that PSA and wondered if my odds had gotten better or worse. Odds were that one of us was going to get bad news. I thought about my mother, and other women I knew who had breast cancer.

I got called in for a third round of scans. When I returned to the waiting room after that, there were only two other women left. My odds were getting worse.

It had actually been two years since my last mammogram. I didn't get one last year. Why? Why didn't I make the time? Was I working? Shopping? Looking at Facebook? Walking my dog? What was so important that I couldn't make the time to make sure I am healthy? Was it that I workout and eat well and think I'm invincible? Was it inconvenient? Did I not think it was important?

As panic sets in, you start to make deals with God / the universe / yourself. You promise if you're ok you'll give up soda / booze / cigarettes / partying / staying up late; you'll exercise; you'll change your diet; you'll do the things we know we're supposed to do but don't.

Next, I got called in for an ultrasound. A nice technician took me into the room and complimented me on my shoes. She took quite a while to do the procedure. When she was done, she started talking about my shoes again and I knew I was in trouble. She said the doctor would be in soon.

The doctor and technician returned together and said the doctor was going to redo the ultrasound. Me and my shoes needed to stay a while longer. No surprise.

Afterwards I sat waiting to meet with the doctor to discuss what they saw. I started to think about how my life would change if I had breast cancer. Would I act differently? Would I change my habits?The things I'm pursuing? The things I'm not pursuing? Who I'm spending time with?

These are such important questions—questions that we should ask ourselves NOW. If you knew you had limited time left, what would you do? What would you stop doing? What would you wish you had done? How would you change? Who would you spend time with? The answer to those questions should help bring clarity about what's important to you and what you should focus on.

As for me, I'll be going through an ultrasound again in six months to look at some "suspicious lumps". But, I'll be thinking about those questions this weekend and working on making any changes necessary to lead me to a life that will end with minimal regrets—I hope you'll do the same.