Fitness Together in The Gazette

I thought some of you may enjoy reading the article that was in today's Gazette about Fitness Together.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/new-91591-gearing-business.html


Happy New Year!

PJ

Monday Night Football

The last post ended with a reader saying:

"You’d better hope your Steelers are a well-conditioned team November 9th. They’re gonna need all the help they can get."

I just had to post today November 10th and give an update.

The Steelers and Troy Polamalu showed up to the Mile High City ready to play. Final score 28-10--Pittsburgh.

Don't get me wrong. I love what the new coach, Josh McDaniels, is doing. I love his energy and I hope they win every game EXCEPT when the play the Steelers.

Maybe the two teams will meet up again in the playoffs?

Have a great day.

PJ

Do you want to train like a Denver Bronco?

Well, I got an interesting email yesterday from a past client.

I will let you read it for yourself.

PJ:

I thought of you listening to the Broncos yesterday.

My Sunday afternoon ritual during Bronco season is to listen to the game on KOA and do my core-strength workout. After I had finished a 20 minute warm up on the stationary bike and started doing caterpillars to stretch out, the game hit halftime with the Broncos trailing 17-7. I remembered a couple things at this moment:

1. The Broncos had dominated the second half of games this season, and had only given up 3 points in the second half at home all year. So I knew they had a chance.

2. Champ Bailey commenting in the preseason that they had very few pulls and strains in the preseason. One of the only Bronco coaches held over from Shanahan to McDaniels is their strength and conditioning coach. Over the last few years Shanahan had over-ridden his own conditioning coach’s preferred method of stretching, which was warming up first and then stretching. Instead, the Broncos were a static stretching team. Anyone remember the 9 running backs they went through last year? Not anymore. Now they are conditioned properly. Here I am doing caterpillars AFTER I’ve warmed up and before I start doing box jumps and medicine ball work.

Sure enough, what happens? The Broncos outscore the Pats 13-0 the rest of the way. SI’s Peter King says that the Patriots looked “gassed” on the Broncos game-tying 98-yard drive and the only serious injury through five weeks of the season that the Broncos have sustained is a twisted ankle to a running back. Playing at a mile high means something again. The Broncos are a smash-mouth team again that are not just good, but the kind of team other teams don’t want to play.

I think a lot of that is because they do core work. They stretch the right way. They do the same things you advocate in your sessions.

It’s not to say that you’ll become a world class football player if you do the PJ workout. But it does give me more juice for why I do what I do when I work out, and why I firmly believe you’re coaching is the best physical regiment I’ve ever experienced.

You’d better hope your Steelers are a well-conditioned team November 9th. They’re gonna need all the help they can get.

Ben Day

Ben, thanks for the compliment. I am glad to hear that you are still sticking with the exercise skill sets you learned while a client at FT. You also made an interesting point about the change in coaching styles from Shanahan to McDaniels. I highly recommended that everyone change their workouts up from time to time as your body can plateau or get stuck in a rut. So, if that is you and you need a tune up give me a call. As far as the Steelers-Broncos game...let's talk November 10th.

Your Personal Health Care Reform

Open up the paper. Look on the internet. Turn on the news and I bet you hear the words “health care reform”. Regardless of your opinion on the President’s latest plans for health care our personal health is arguably the most important asset we possess. So, I began to think, “What is health? What does healthy mean?”

Are you healthy? How does one know? I looked up the definition of healthy. It is, “possessing or enjoying good health or a sound and vigorous mentality: a healthy body; a healthy mind.”

Then, I looked up the definition of health. It is, “the general condition of the body or mind with reference to soundness and vigor: good health; poor health.” I found it quite interesting that both definitions alluded to the mind. So, I want to talk a little about a healthy mind.

The majority of the people I come in contact with have issues not only with their physical health but also “mental” health. Sometimes it comes in the form of emotional eating. Sometimes it comes in the form of low esteem. Sometimes it comes in the form of lack of confidence in themselves. Sometimes it comes in the form of unbelief.

I want you to take a mental inventory. What “thoughts” are getting in your way? What unproductive, negative thinking is keeping you from your best? Yes, you may be a little out of shape or 15 pounds overweight but it is never too late BUT don’t let that little voice tell you it will never change. No, you aren’t 20 anymore and yes there are a lot of aches and pains associated with aging BUT don’t let that little voice tell you that you are doomed for life. No, you may not be able to (fill in the blank) today BUT don’t let that little voice tell you it is not possible in 6 months.

Many of you work very hard on your physical health on a regular basis. Don’t forget to spend some time and resources on your “mental” health as well because I personally believe your physical health is directly impacted by your “mental” health.

Have a great day.

PJ

The Economy And Your Health.

If Josiah had a theme song it would be, "Don't Worry, Be Happy"!

I write to you as friends today and not mere client of Fitness Together. Many of you know that I have a holistic view of health. At FT we deal heavily with the physical health component. But there is also mental health, social health, financial health, spiritual health, relational health, and career health.

I have spoken to many of you and know the economy has been very taxing on your mental health, financial health, relational health, career health, and physical health.

Then, there was the Swine Flu scare. Once again fear and panic started to spread through the media and across the country and people’s mental health, social health, and physical health began to suffer.

As real as the economy is and its impact on many of you and, yes, the Swine Flue does exist (oink-oink) I encourage you to do a few things today.

First, think of at least three things that you do have going for you. It could be simply your good health. You may have a great family. For others at least you still have a job? What are the things in your life that you do have going for you?

Secondly, I want you to focus on only the things you can control. And pretty much that is limited to yourself. You can’t control what the stock market will do today or tomorrow. But you can develop a financial plan and budget that will help you survive these challenging times. Maybe you pick up a Dave Ramsey book at the library on budgeting?

You may not be able to totally eliminate all the stress in your life but you can choose to manage it with regular exercise, good nutrition, and talking with friends about it.

You may not be able to control the fact that your company has to give you a pay cut or even worse let you go but you can choose to see it as an opportunity to really explore your life and ask some soul searching questions.

One man I heard of had this response:

“I was laid off on March 9th 2009 with no warning after working for a major manufacturer for 11 ½ years. When I told my wife, her response was, "Good. Now you can go and do something you want to do."

So, do bring to mind some of the things that you do have going for you and focus on only the things that you truly can control- mainly yourself.

I wish you all the “health” in the world. Not only physical health but mental health, career health, relational health….

Peace and blessings!

PJ

Are You An Emotional Eater?

I hope Spring finds you well. I have pasted an article that we recently featured in our April Client Newsletter. I thought you might enjoy it as well.

-PJ

Eating to feed a feeling, and not a growling stomach,

is emotional eating.

When you're happy, your food of choice could be steak or pizza, when you're sad it could be ice cream or cookies, and when you're bored it could be potato chips. Food does more than fill our stomachs -- it also satisfies feelings, and when you quench those feelings with comfort food when your stomach isn't growling, that's emotional eating. "Emotional eating is eating for reasons other than hunger," says Jane Jakubczak, a registered dietitian at the University of Maryland. "Instead of the physical symptom of hunger initiating the eating, an emotion triggers the eating."

What are the telltale signs of emotional eating, what foods are the most likely culprits when it comes to emotional eating, and how it can be overcome? Experts help you find the answers.

How to Tell the Difference

There are several differences between emotional hunger and physical hunger, according to the University of Texas Counseling and Mental Health Center web site:
1. Emotional hunger comes on suddenly; physical hunger occurs gradually.

2. When you are eating to fill a void that isn't related to an empty stomach, you crave a specific food, such as pizza or ice cream, and only that food will meet your need. When you eat because you are actually hungry, you're open to options.

3. Emotional hunger feels like it needs to be satisfied instantly with the food you crave; physical hunger can wait.

4. Even when you are full, if you're eating to satisfy an emotional need, you're more likely to keep eating. When you're eating because you're hungry, you're more likely to stop when you're full.

5. Emotional eating can leave behind feelings of guilt; eating when you are physically hungry does not.

Comfort Foods

When emotional hunger rumbles, one of its distinguishing characteristics is that you're focused on a particular food, which is likely a comfort food. "Comfort foods are foods a person eats to obtain or maintain a feeling," says Brian Wansink, PhD, director of the Food and Brand Lab at the University of Illinois. "Comfort foods are often wrongly associated with negative moods, and indeed, people often consume them when they're down or depressed, but interestingly enough, comfort foods are also consumed to maintain good moods."

Ice cream is first on the comfort food list. After ice cream, comfort foods break down by sex: For women it's chocolate and cookies; for men it's pizza, steak, and casserole, explains Wansink.And what you reach for when eating to satisfy an emotion depends on the emotion. According to an article by Wansink, published in the July 2000 American Demographics, "The types of comfort foods a person is drawn toward varies depending on their mood. People in happy moods tended to prefer ... foods such as pizza or steak (32%). Sad people reached for ice cream and cookies 39% of the time, and 36% of bored people opened up a bag of potato chips."

Overfeeding Emotions

"We all eat for emotional reasons sometimes," says Jakubczak, who has talked to college students at the University of Maryland about emotional eating. When eating becomes the only or main strategy a person uses to manage emotions, explains Jakubczak, then problems arise -- especially if the foods a person is choosing to eat to satisfy emotions aren't exactly healthy. "If you eat when you are not hungry, chances are your body does not need the calories," says Jakubczak. "If this happens too often, the extra calories get stored as fat, and too much fat storage can cause one to be overweight, which may present some health risks."

According to an interview with Jakubczak on the University of Maryland web site, 75% of overeating is caused by emotions, so dealing with emotions appropriately is important.

Recognizing Emotional Eating

"The first thing one needs to do to overcome emotional eating is to recognize it," says Jakubczak. "Keeping a food record and ranking your hunger from 1-10 each time you put something in your mouth will bring to light 'if' and 'when' you are eating for reasons other than hunger." Next, you need to learn techniques that help manage emotions besides eating, explains Jakubczak. "Oftentimes when a child is sad, we cheer them up with a sweet treat," says Jakubczak. "This behavior gets reinforced year after year until we are practicing the same behavior as adults. We never learned how to deal with the sad feeling because we always pushed it away with a sweet treat. Learning how to deal with feelings without food is a new skill many of us need to learn."

Managing Emotional Eating

Here are a few tips to help you deal with emotional eating:

Recognize emotional eating and learn what triggers this behavior in you.

Make a list of things to do other than eat and keep it with you.

When you feel overwhelmed, you can put off that desire by doing another enjoyable activity.

Try taking a walk, calling a friend, playing cards, cleaning your room, doing laundry, or something productive to take your mind off the craving -- even taking a nap.

When you do get the urge to eat when you're not hungry, find a comfort food that's healthy instead of junk food. "Comfort foods don't need to be unhealthy," says Wansink.

For some, leaving comfort foods behind when they're dieting can be emotionally difficult. Wansink explains, "The key is moderation, not elimination." He suggests dividing comfort foods into smaller portions. For instance, if you have a large bag of chips, divide it into smaller containers or baggies and the temptation to eat more than one serving can be avoided. When it comes to comfort foods that aren't always healthy, like fattening desserts, Wansink also offers this piece of information: "Your memory of a food peaks after about four bites, so if you only have those bites, a week later you'll recall it as just a good experience than if you polished off the whole thing." So have a few bites of cheesecake, then call it quits, and you'll get equal the pleasure with lower cost.

Lastly, remember that emotional eating is something that most people do when they're bored, happy, or sad. It might be a bag of chips or a steak, but whatever the food choice, learning how to control it and using moderation are key.

By Heather Hatfield

WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD

Are you wired to relapse?

You may have recently heard that Oprah self-admittedly fell off the fitness wagon.

Oprah is not the only person to ever relapse. Unfortunately, many people start to fade away right about now after setting some very achievable New Year Resolutions.

I ran across this article about Oprah and her "fall" and thought you might find it encouraging and motivating.

Have you given up on your fitness goals yet?

"If you are looking for an excuse to fall off the wagon, the universe will provide one."

That was the lesson that Oprah shared in her recent confession about her ongoing struggle with weight. Oprah knows how it feels to fall off the fitness wagon; in the January issue of The Oprah Magazine she described her recent 40 pound weight gain.

Her testimony was filled with valuable insights for anyone else prone to relapse. There was a hidden cycle that I found in her story - one that... exposes the process of falling off the wagon.

1) You Fall: Your fall off the wagon could take place in a single moment, or it could be the result of a drawn out process. Oprah described her fall as one that happened slowly as a result of health problems. These health problems became her reason for not exercising. Illness, vacation, holidays, changes at work or any other change in your schedule are all things that'll get you off the wagon. Once you're off the real damage begins.

2) You Surrender: There comes a point after you fall off the wagon that you simply throw your hands up in the air and give in. For Oprah this was a dramatic moment. "I started eating whatever I wanted - and that's never good. My drug of choice is food. I use food for the same reasons an addict uses drugs: to comfort, to soothe, to ease stress." This is the most destructive part of the cycle. You remove all expectations from yourself and as a result you plummet into an unhealthy realm. The progress that you've made toward your goals is lost and even more weight is gained.

3) You Hit Bottom: Inevitably there comes the moment when you hit bottom. Your body shows the new weight gain and you feel awful about it. For Oprah it was a sobering moment. "I felt completely defeated. I thought- I give up. I give up. Fat wins." She went so far as to say, "I felt like a fat cow. I wanted to disappear." While hitting bottom is never a fun experience, it is a necessary one. The pain must become great enough for you to turn it around and take the control back.

4) You Take Control: Now comes the good part. When you hit bottom you were out of control, now you're ready to once again grab the reigns. Oprah says that "These days I've put myself back on my own priority list." She plans to get an hour of exercise five or six days a week, as well as eating healthfully and reordering her life to include time to replenish her energy. Her new goal is to be strong and healthy and fit.

Have you fallen off your priority list, like Oprah fell off hers?

The time has come to put yourself back on that priority list. The time has come to decide that you are worth it.

Whether you are a client or not, we're here to help you do just that. If your weekly workout frequency has dropped off it's time to recommit. The most fundamental principle to a fitness and weight loss programs success is frequency.

Even the most skilled personal trainer can not design a masterful program that trumps frequency. It would like expecting to drive a golf ball like Tiger Woods just because you bought the same golf clubs, but you only use them twice a year.

If you're not a client, we're here to help you get started on an exercise program that will change your body and your life...just like Oprah. Or maybe you have fallen off the wagon too and need help getting back on. We would love to assist you.

Visit our website.


This article was written by Russ Yeager, fellow Fitness Together owner, in Atlanta, GA.