Five Ways to Exercise at the Office

If you find it difficult to exercise because you are stuck in the office all day, don't fret. I have five simple ways to increase your physical fitness.

1. Always take the stairs. The higher up your office, the better! Take the stairs down and definitely take them up anytime you need to run an errand or take a much needed break outside.
2. Stretch! Did you know the more flexible you are, the least likely you will be to injure yourself? Not to mention it just makes you feel better. Stress can cause tight muscles, release the muscle tension and release the stress.
3. Do Push ups. That's right, when you find yourself day dreaming at your desk or having brain fart moment, stand up. Position yourself on the edge of your desk in push up position. Do a set of 10-20 push ups and then get right back to work. This might just inspire you with a new idea.
4. Do Squats. After sitting for a long period of time, you may be wondering if the commercials are true and diagnose yourself with restless leg syndrome. Hold your horses before you pick up the phone to call the pharmacy. Get up and strengthen those muscles by squating. Take off the stilletoes if necessary and do 25 squats. Not only will your blood begin to flow but you are getting a head start on sexy legs sure to turn heads.
5. Do Tricep Dips. Use a chair that is not on wheels, perhaps there is one in the break room, or the edge of your desk if it is stable enough. Be sure to combat turkey arms that keep waving once you've stopped by building the muscle tone in your triceps.

Remember some physical activity is better than no physical activity. Follow these tips with confidence and know you are on your journey of being fit and fabulous for life.

Until next time... Dream it. Be it. Do it! And know that it's yours.

Belief Busters!

Now that you know what you are thinking, let's examine where these thoughts come from. Our brains are like computers. We are programmed with beliefs that lead to our actions. We are programmed by our culture, parents, society, friends, media, music, advertisements, religion and more. We live accepting our beliefs. The excitng fact is that our beliefs can be changed.

Look over your list from last week's assignment of jotting down negative or non-supportive beliefs about our body image. Did you write down what you were doing around the time that non-supportive thought popped in your head? Chances are, something unconsciously triggered this thought. For instance, you may have noticed while watching one of your favorite television shows, you had an urge for pizza, fast food, chocolate, or even ice cream. You may have noticed you felt inadequate while flipping through magazines, driving down the street past billboards, or even listening to the radio. Or perhaps you noticed after talking to a parent, friend, or loved one you were more self-conscoious about your weight. You may have even found yourself in the presence of a could be companion and just didn't feel like you measure up.

So now you're probably thinking, what can I do about this? What can I do to get rid of these thoughts? Do i have to stop watching television, reading magazines, talking to my family and friends, and not try to attract a possible companion? Of course not. But you can face these issues head on. Live with knowing you may never get rid of a thought. You can, however, manage the way you process thoughts.

For example, you are watching television; you get an urge for ice cream. You now feel bad as you are trying to lose weight and you know ice cream will not help you reach this goal. You begin to think, I'm never going to lose this weight, it is so hard to eat right. STOP. Acknowledge this thought. Replace it with, 'I will lose this weight, I can eat right and it will be easy.' Even if you don't believe this right away, you are sowing seeds that will change that non-supportive belief you have about yourself.

If you spend a large amount of time watching television or browsing magazines and you know it tempts you to eat unhealthy food or makes you feel inadequate, you can limit your time doing those things or even eliminate it altogether. Replace the tv for exercise, podcasts, or a good book and instead of the magazines, read articles in the newspaper or online. As far as the people in our lives, we can't choose our family but we can make a stand and show others how to treat us. Be open about how a parent or significant other makes you feel. The stronger our sense of who we are and what we are capable of, the stronger our self-control and desire to follow-through by our actions.

The next time a non-supportive thought pops in your mind, acknowledge it - never entertain the thought. Replace it with an opposing supportive thought. And move on.

Be consistent and VERY patient, these things take time.

Until next time, Dream it. Be it. Do it! And know that it's yours.

Emotional, Mental, Spiritual, and Physical Fitness

Welcome to Fit and Fabulous For Life. This blog is dedicated to giving fabulously simple physical, emotional, mental and spiritual fitness tips to busy people who want to live healthy and have fun doing it.

The first step in being fit and fabulous for life is realizing fitness is not just about the physical body. We are also emotional, mental and spiritual beings. In order to achieve fitness wholly, we must work on all areas of our being. It is important to accept ourselves wholly.

Being a personal trainer for over 8 years, I can think of so many instances where people want to know how to get flat abs, sculpted arms, and a butt tight enough to bounce a quarter. When I begin talking about cleaning up their diet or the cardiovascular work required to make it happen, some people get excited about the challenge, while others loose all enthusiasm. A major reason this happens is due to our beliefs about ourselves and what we are capable of. There is a proverb that states... For a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Simply put, our thoughts lead to our feelings. Our feelings lead to our actions. And our actions lead to our results.

Ever wonder why you've been dieting for years and still can't take off the weight? Or better yet, why you seem to gain more weight with each new diet? Or why you exercise and seem to not see results? Or why reaching fitness related goals seem to be so much easier for everyone but you? You are not alone. Compartmentalizing physical fitness is an ineffective approach to achieve fitness goals and maintain them for life. Think I'm kidding? Just take a look at how many people you know, including yourselft that have started diets and failed. How many have started working out with personal trainers and fitness groups, but didn't maintain the results? How many have started a new fitness craze that worked for a while but after the thrill of doing something new is gone, so are the results. And my personal favorite, how many have an entire home gym of fitness equipment, but fail to use it? You know what I am talking about especially if your treadmill has seen more hangers than miles.

We must look at ourselves wholly and workout our mind and spirit along with our bodies. Then we will see lasting results and become fit and fabulous for life and pass that lifestyle on to generations to come.

Here's a homework assignment for those who have non-supportive associations around their body image. This can be the person who believes they are fat to the person who believes their butt is too big or their butt isn't big enough, to the person who believes they would be perfect if they lost just 5 more pounds. Whatever the case, if you don't believe you are perfect as you are, at this moment, I want you to be aware of what you are thinking. For one week, carry a small notepad with you EVERYWHERE. Jot down any thought you may have that is not supporting you. Do it for an entire week. As an added bonus, write what you are doing when or just before that non-supportive thought invades your mind. Don't cheat yourself. This is an important exercise that may just surprise you. We will revisit your results in a week!

Until then, Dream it. Be it. Do it! And know that it's yours.