Posts Tagged ‘treadmill’

03
Jan

Keeping Your New Year’s Resolution…for good…

treadmill

treadmill

Book Club Members: I can’t seem to put down Killing Jesus. How about you?

I, like many of my friends and family, have made New Year’s resolutions in the past. Some I am successful at keeping and others I am not. When I closely examine the ones I’ve kept, I have noticed a pretty strong pattern. I do certain things that allow me to gain ground on a bad habit of mine. Hopefully someday, I will manage to apply this pattern to all areas of my life. In the hopes of being helpful to others who may struggle to eradicate bad habits and to establish good habits in their stead, I will share the pattern that seems to work.

Thing # 1:

Break that resolution down into tiny, manageable steps. 

Many of us make lofty goals (resolutions) and fail to break them down into steps that we can easily handle over time. Why would I assume that I could drastically change several areas of my life at once? It took time to develop those nasty habits and it would now require time to replace them with good habits. There is no more place more evident of this part of the pattern than when I decided I had to undo the damage of bad eating and exercise habits. I, like many people, failed miserably at taking off excess weight until the day when I finally made a list of small changes I could take on, one at a time:

A. Eat on smaller plates and from smaller bowls.

B. Drink more water.

C. Brush my teeth more often (Consumption of food never tastes great after doing this!).

D. Re-organize my pantry so that the healthy snacks and foods are right in front of me when I open the door.

E. Re-organize my refrigerator so that the healthy snacks and foods are in front of me.

F. Figure out what eating plan works with my particular personality and other habits and living style.

G. Get a treadmill.

H. Walk 10 minutes on a treadmill.

I. Make a list of healthy foods that I usually enjoy eating.

J. Gradually replace unhealthy foods and snacks with better ones.

After making the above list, I looked at which one would be the easiest for me to make a part of my life. Obviously, some must come after others. For instance, if I’m going to walk on a treadmill, I probably need to buy one first! I started with figuring out what kind of eating plan works best with my personality. It took me a full month to figure that out! But by the end of the month, I figured out that I needed to “automate” my eating by using pre-portioned low calorie foods. I don’t enjoy cooking, except during the holidays and I am often alone when eating, so making huge meals for 6 people seemed a bad fit for me. I also hate counting points and calories, so that pretty much excluded Weight Watchers or any other plan based on such a premise.

I’m also a cheapskate and often fail to remember to re-order things on a timely basis, so using Nutri-system, Jenny Craig or another similar service seemed frivolous and not easily worked into my life. I finally decided to do my own version of such a system by purchasing Lean Cuisines to eat twice a day. I also allow myself to consume my favorite in-season fruits for snacks and have some popcorn once in a while. I also like Atkins Endulge bars when a chocolate attack hits.

By the end of Month 1, I had already transitioned to this way of eating. May you find success in breaking down your first resolution into something manageable and easy.

Point to Ponder: How could you break down a resolution for 2014 into several manageable steps? Do that now. 🙂 After you’ve had 24 hours to think about those steps, pick one that seems the easiest or the first thing that has to be done to move towards completion of the resolution. Start working on that easiest/first thing before next Wednesday. Share your success with MIP readers so you can help others, too.

Monday’s Post: What does styptic mean?

You might also like: Adages That Have Proven True Now That I’m Decrepit, A Real Scare, and  8 Women Who Changed My Life

22
May

You 3.0: MIP Exercise Plan

Heart 9

The other harsh reality about being healthy and fit is that you most likely will not keep off the weight you’ve lost unless you exercise regularly. Regularly does not mean every 6 months, whether you need to or not. Sorry to burst your bubble on that one.

So, what is the story on exercise accoring to research findings and the experts? Regularly means you have to exercise most days of the week. That’s a bare minimum of 4 days a week for at least 30 minutes a day. However, that’s the MINIMUM for MAINTAINING your current weight. If you want to actually lose weight, you have to eat fewer calories than you currently are eating and you exercise a MINIMUM of 45 minutes per day at least FIVE days a week. If you are middle-aged or even age-proficient (my personally favorite way of saying that someone is no longer a spring chicken), guess what? It gets worse (just like everything about aging). Because our metabolisms tend to slow down with the aging process, we actually have to exercise a MINIMUM of 60 to 75 minutes per day at least FIVE days a week  to see some actual weight loss. Yes, this just stinks…big time. But, we really don’t get a choice on this one, so we just have to put on our big guy or girl panties and deal with it!

So, here’s how I do it with a really busy schedule:

1. Buy a good treadmill. Did you know that, if you get a doctor’s note stating that you need to exercise for your health, you can write off the treadmill sales tax on your income tax? Yep, it’s true.

2. Resist the urge to use your treadmill as an extra place to hang your laundry.

3. Put treadmill where you will have to trip over it….regularly. That doesn’t mean your junk room, your closet, your basement or your garage. I think the most effective place for it is right in front of your refrigerator door.

4. Get addicted to some series on TV or to a really good book.

5. Mount a cool TV near that really irritating treadmill.

6. Put on some really cool (You interpret cool the way you want to–I prefer both meanings.), really comfy exercise clothing.

7. Get a G2 (That’s gatorade for Hefty bag-sized people like me).

8. Get an old towel.

9. Take the G2, the old towel and possibly that great book to the treadmill.

10. Get on the treadmill. Yes, you actually have to get on it to begin losing weight. (Yes, I think it’s unfair, too.) Stop whining.

11. Start the treadmill. If it’s been a while since your last workout, you may need to actually read the instructions for this part. (I personally believe this is why many men still have their beer bellies.)

12. Increase the speed of the treadmill one “notch” at each commercial break or scene change. If reading, increase it at the end of each page, section or chapter. Try not to fall off the treadmill each time you do this.

13. Stay on that treadmill until you’re reaching for that towel or G2 like your life depended on it. For me this happens at the 50 minute mark. Why? Because I exercise for 99 minutes per day 5 to 7 days per week. Yes, you read that right. And yes, I worked up to this, starting with 30 minutes in the beginning. And I’m in my mid-fifties. Stop whining.

14. Slow that treadmill down about 90% of the way through your workout, gradually.

15. Get off the treadmill when snails can crawl faster than your walking speed.

16. Collapse on the floor and let the dog or cat lick the sweat off of you. Easier than getting in the shower–trust me. But, when you recover next week, you might want to wash off the dog slime in the shower. Then, clean the dog slime off the shower walls. That’s part of the workout.

17.  Repeat each day and vary the walking routine. (Most treadmills come with a variety of walking workouts.)

You better be reading this while on your treadmill. 😉 Yes, the treadmill has to be moving…and so do you. Stop whining.

Don’t miss on Friday: You 3.0: Tips and Tricks

Tomorrow’s Post: The last person to ever encounter Morrie…

You might also like: You 3.0: Mindset, Part I; You 3.0: Mindset, Part II; You 3.0: Mindset, Part III; You 3.0: MIP Eating Plan