Have you heard the story of the wise man whom people visited for help with their problems?

Every day he listened to the same problems over and over, until finally one day he decided to tell them a joke. When he got to the punch line, they all roared with laughter.

After a few minutes passed, he told them the same joke, but only a few of them smiled.

Then he told the same joke for a third time. This time, no one laughed or smiled – except the wise man.

“You can’t laugh at the same joke over and over,” he told them. “So why are you always crying about the same problem?”

“Rather than getting stuck replaying your problems over and over, instead try to let your worries and sorrows go, so you can move forward,” he said.

It’s so true, isn’t it? We can get stuck in a feedback loop, especially when we’re stressed, when we replay our problems and worries in our minds (or talk about them with our friends and family).

While it’s important to acknowledge our struggles, it’s also important to give ourselves a break so we can move onward and upward!

Getting in shape at a gym or fitness studio is a great way to spend time outside.

Wait– What?

It’s true. Getting fit or staying fit helps people over 50 enjoy tennis, golf, and gardening; playing with the grandkids; walking, jogging or bicycling the list goes on and on. Strength, endurance and flexibility are essential to enjoying all of that and more, while staying safe and preventing injury.

For active adults, the physical, mental and emotional health benefits of outdoors increases, even more, when they also are exercising, the National Institutes of Health found.

So, come on in, of course. Get fit with us, and then enjoy things like these eight fun outdoor activities.

Eight Fun Outdoor Activities

1. Visit a park. Just being outdoors, especially in green spaces, quickly improves our health and happiness, according to new research in the International Journal of Environmental Health Research.
2. George Bernard Shaw once said, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” Grab a kid (or any friendly adult) and toss a frisbee in the back yard, have a snowball fight, go sledding, or even play tag.
3. Find a trail, go to the beach or walk around the neighborhood – it doesn’t matter. Just move your body. Walking is basic, great, and the first step to so much. (And yes, the pun was intended.)
4. Do that out of town a bit, especially where there are hills and such, and it’s called hiking. It’s also great for your body, mind, and spirit.
5. Sign up for a community run/walk or bike. It will give you a goal date and add a social element. Plus, many of these “races” are also fund-raisers for good causes.
6. Play your favorite sport. Time at the gym makes you stronger and more agile for tennis, golf, softball, skiing and just about every other outdoor sport you enjoy.
7. The same goes for gardening, which is a real workout and requires flexibility, strength, and endurance just the same as those other “more athletic” pursuits.
8. Meditate. It’s good for focus and stress reduction, and you don’t have to chant or burn any incense (unless you want to). Start by sitting outside and paying attention to your breathing. When your mind wanders, that’s OK – keep bringing your awareness back to your breath.

The main idea is to get out and enjoy life. However, you like. That research we mentioned above says spending just 20 minutes in a park improves your well-being.

And exercise indoors or outside does make you happy, just like sunshine on your shoulder.

You want to be fit. You know how much you should weigh. You know your ideal size. You can even picture how more energy you will have, and better able to move.

So why aren’t you living life in your ideal body?

Many reasons that make achieving your personal best a challenge, reasons that go deeper than merely calories-in versus calories-out.

I’m talking about the life issues that get in the way of your success.

Read the following 5 obstacles and the solutions to unlock your best body ever.

1. You don’t want to be bothered.

It’s in your DNA to avoid pain and seek out pleasure. Unfortunately, this works against you when trying to get in better shape. In your mind, it’s painful (or at least uncomfortable) to deny yourself the tasty food that you crave and to exert yourself with exercise.

There’s a simple way to work around this obstacle: Find something painful about being out of shape to motivate yourself towards healthy eating and exercise. Focus on the negative impact your current weight has on your health, self-esteem, and lifestyle. Convince yourself that the pain of being out of shape is much higher than the discomfort of doing what it takes to become a healthier you.

2. You don’t want to wait for the good stuff.

Just as you wish to avoid pain, you are also an expert in seeking out pleasure—namely food. Constantly seeking food served the cavemen well, but these days it ends up as extra pounds on your body.

There’s good news: extra calories are not your only option to stimulate the pleasure center of your brain. Find an activity or two that make you smile and indulge in those regularly.

➢ A walk outside
➢ A good book
➢ A night out to the movies or theater
➢ A spa day (-the wine) 😉

You can also retrain your brain to crave the pleasure of exercise-induced endorphins. Talk about weight gain kryptonite!

3. You are crazy busy.

Let’s face it, you work too much, commit yourself to too much and don’t even get enough sleep most of the time. The fast-paced way you live leaves you exhausted, stressed and hungry for comfort food. You also begin to feel too busy to take care of your health.

It’s time to reprioritize. Let go of your perfectionist standards and remove a few commitments from your schedule so that you can cook healthy meals, exercise and get a good night’s sleep. Remind yourself that taking care of your health is not a luxury—it’s a necessity.

4. You don’t deserve it.

I don’t agree with it, but you sure act like you don’t deserve to live the good life in your personal best body ever. Take a moment to think back on all the times you have self-sabotaged your weight loss efforts. If you don’t believe deep down that you are worthy, then you’ll never give yourself a chance at a more healthy YOU.

I believe that you deserve to have a healthy body—and I urge you to dig deep down to uncover why you don’t. Once you conquer your feelings of unworthiness, getting on an exercise and healthy eating plan will be easy.

Take the time to take care of yourself. You DO deserve it.

5. You are afraid.

You’re afraid to start because you might fail, and wouldn’t that be embarrassing? You’re also fearful to start because you might succeed, and change makes you uncomfortable – even if it’s changing in the right direction.

When you decide to get healthier you will need to go through a bushel of changes:

➢ New diet
➢ New exercise routine
➢ New friends at the gym
➢ New clothes
➢ New self-image

Focus on all of the ways that losing weight will make your life better. Envision that better life every day so that it goes from being new and scary to familiar and comfortable.

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Do you think that you have more potential than you’re living up to?

How will you harness your potential to create the very best you? I recommend using the teachings of Dr. Maxwell Maltz in his legendary book ‘The New Psycho-Cybernetics’.

Dr. Maltz created the original science of self-improvement and success, so who better to turn to when you’re ready to take your life to another level. His teachings have stood the test of time.

Take the following and make a change for the better:

1) Use Your Imagination

If you thought that imaginations were only valued in preschool, think again. One of the key points in ‘The New Psycho-Cybernetics’ is the technique of using your imagination to reprogram and manage your self-image.

You may have been exposed to self-improvement strategies that tell you to ‘act as if’ or to ‘fake it till you make it.’ Those typically don’t work because your self-image is still the same.

According to Dr. Maltz, your self-image is the key to changing your actions and habits. If you want to lose 50 pounds, you first have to think of yourself as someone 50 pounds lighter.

Spend time in your imagination. See yourself 50 pounds lighter. Experience a day in your life at this slimmed down size. Imagine everything down to the smallest detail.

According to Dr. Maltz, this imagination time will begin to change your self-image to that of a person 50 pounds lighter, and your actions and habits will fall into place.

2) Reject Negative Thoughts

Negative thoughts will undoubtedly arise as you use your imagination to see your ideal self. “I’m not really going to lose 50 pounds.” “I’ve tried losing weight before and it never works. I’m always going to be overweight.” “This imagination stuff is bogus. It won’t work for me.”

Dr. Maltz says that the instant you receive a negative thought simply dismiss it. Don’t spend any time on it at all.

The quicker that you dismiss negative thoughts, the less impact they will have on your self-image. Also you’ll find that fewer and fewer negative thoughts arise once you get into the habit of dismissal.

3) Be Nostalgic For The Future

It’s so easy to be nostalgic for the past, especially when you only remember the good stuff. But what good does it do for you to wish for things that are long gone?

Dr. Maltz recommends developing nostalgia for the future.

In your imagination you’ve already lost the 50 pounds, so start pining for the future! Your self-image will lock onto that picture and your nostalgic feelings will fuel the fire.

4) I’m The Kind Of Person That…

What kind of person are you?

• I’m the kind of person that loves sweets.
• The kind of person that hates exercise.
• I’m the kind of person that can’t lose weight.

OR

• I’m the kind of person that eats fresh and healthy food.
• The kind of person that keeps fit.
• I’m the kind of person that maintains an ideal body weight.

Your self-image will fulfill any label that you put on yourself. The power is all in your hands.

The time that you spend on exercise can be used even more effectively for faster results.

When you decide which exercises to include in your routine, it is important to consider the type of movement involved. The simpler the movement, the fewer calories you’ll burn and the fewer muscles you will strengthen. On the other hand, the more complex the movement, the more calories you will burn and the more muscles you will strengthen.

To put it simply, exercises that use complex movements will deliver better results than exercises that use only simple movements. Complex movements recruit multiple muscles, some to stabilize and others to perform the movement. This process keeps your heart rate higher than a simple exercise would, giving you a more intense workout.

What is a complex movement?

A complex movement is a multi-joint movement that recruits large portions of the body to complete the exercise. Let’s compare a simple movement leg exercise with a complex movement leg exercise:

The leg extension machine uses a simple, isolated movement to work the quadriceps. You’re in a seated position moving only your knee joint. There isn’t much involvement, if any, from other muscles and it doesn’t burn very many calories.

Now let’s look at a free weight walking lunge. You start by standing with your feet together and a dumbbell in each hand at your sides (or a medicine ball held at your chest, or even with no weight at all). You take a large step forward and lower your back knee, keeping your front knee at a 90-degree angle. Now you push off your front foot and pull your back leg forward, repeating the movement.

How many muscles did you utilize while performing the lunge? Probably too many to count.

You certainly worked your quadriceps, gluteus, hamstrings, calves, abdominals, supporting muscles in your shoulders, arms and back—just to name a few. You also raised your heart rate and really kicked your metabolism into high gear. That’s what I call a great exercise.

Other ways to increase the intensity

Using complex movements are just one of many ways to take your workout intensity up a notch. Try incorporating a Super Set into your routine. To do so simply perform two or more exercises in a row and then take a short rest.

Or how about a Compound Set? Perform one exercise, rest, then perform an exercise with opposing body parts. To find exercises that compliment one another, choose ones that have similar but opposite motions such as a chest press and a row.

The key to finding the best exercise is to find the ones that bring your workout intensity to a whole new level.

These methods will help you to burn more calories, increase your metabolic rate, and will stimulate the production of more fat burning and muscle toning hormones. Of course, there is more involved in achieving your fitness goals.

You need to incorporate fat burning into your routine.

You need to consistently challenge yourself during workouts.

You need to take control of your eating habits and to get your diet dialed in.

So what’s the best exercise for you? Find out, call or email me today to schedule your no obligation fitness consultation for the over 50-year-old crowd.

You may think the 30 minutes you spend every other day in the gym is enough to keep you trim and healthy, but it’s not. If you want overall good health, you need to eat well and find windows of exercising opportunity every day—not just during your scheduled workouts.
How can you squeeze in a little exercise when most of your hours are spent sitting at a desk, meeting in the conference room, and preparing for big presentations? Read on to find out when you can squeeze in exercise at work and how to do it.

1. On the Way to Work. 

To start your day with a smidgen of calorie-burning exercise, you may need to wake up a few minutes earlier than usual. Not to get in a workout before tossing on your power suit, but rather so you’ll have time to torch a few calories on the way to work. To shed some calories before clocking in, you have a number of options depending on your situation. You can bike or walk to work, perform seated calf raises on the bus or train, or park your car at the far end of the parking lot so you get to walk farther to reach your office. And of course, once you get to your building, take the stairs.

2. When Doing Mindless Tasks. 

Admit it: everything you do at work doesn’t require an amazing amount of brainpower. Take advantage of the easy tasks by multitasking with some exercise. The easiest option is to flex and squeeze your body. From your glutes and your abs to your pecs and thighs, you can get rid of a few calories by simply flexing them as you work. As you grow accustomed to the flexing, you may find it to be a great way to work your way through a long, difficult meeting.

3. Every Time You Finish a Task.

When you first get to work, make a to-do list. This will help keep you on track and will also set you up for exercise rewards. Each time you cross a task off your list, give yourself an exercise reward. This could be walking a couple laps around the office, standing up and doing a couple quick stretches, or closing your office door and knocking out a dozen push-ups. Know what your reward of the day will be and go for it.

4. When You Need to Communicate.

Helpful as email may be, there is a way to communicate with your colleagues that actually keeps your body moving. That way? Getting out of your seat and walking to your coworker’s office to talk things through. Have to make a few phone calls? Stand up as you talk or better yet, pace back and forth during the conversation.

5. At the Top of the Hour.

A great way to sneak a little calorie burning into your routine is to get up every hour. And your exercising doesn’t need to be super intense. All you need to do is stand up. Do this for five minutes, eight times a day, and you will drop 100 calories a day.

That’s right—all you have to do to stand up for your health is stand up!

You wake up each morning with every intention of eating “good food” today.

You’ll skip the drive thru line on your way to work, refuse to get fast food with co-workers at lunch, and you’ll boycott the vending machine in the mid-afternoon. And you won’t even think about having dessert after dinner.

But then your cravings kick in…

Your friend drops by with a big fluffy muffin and a latte for breakfast. A group of co-workers invite you to that greasy spoon down the street for lunch. Cake is passed around at the mid-afternoon staff meeting. And after dinner your honey surprises you with a bowl of your favorite ice cream.

You tell yourself that tomorrow will be different.

Tomorrow you won’t give in to food cravings.

But then tomorrow comes with its own special circumstances, and cravings get the best of you once again.

Why Do Food Cravings Always Win?

Let’s face it, we live in a world where food temptations are everywhere…which leads to cravings, which leads to eating things that you shouldn’t, which leads to pounds gained. Again. And again. And again. Until you’re so fed up with your body that you don’t even know where to begin to get yourself back on track.

Stores display the most tantalizing junk food items right where you could easily reach them. TV commercials for greasy, fattening foods portray them so scrumptiously that you literally salivate. Sugary snack items have full-page, glossy pictures in your favorite magazines. And as if all of these weren’t enough, the people in your daily life are another (constant) source of food temptation.

To make matters worse, you’ve been conditioned since childhood to have a positive association with the act of indulging in your cravings. You use food as a reward, as a source of emotional comfort, and as a way to relieve stress. And quickly these associations and uses of food become habit. A habit that’s not easily broken.

New Technique to End Food Cravings

Food cravings don’t need to have the upper hand on you anymore. Here’s how you can fight back using your most powerful asset: your brain.

Remember that your mind is an amazing thing. Once your mind is made up about something it’s nearly impossible to change it.

Try This Powerful Mind Exercise: Imagine that you are peacefully floating down a river on a raft. The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and you are having a fun, relaxing time. You feel wonderful about the river because it’s making you feel happy.

Now change perspectives for a moment. You’re now in a plane flying over the river and the raft. Instantly our eye is drawn to an enormous rocky waterfall. Then you look back to the person floating on the raft, having a wonderful time, headed straight for the treacherous falls.

With this new perspective of the river, do you think that you’d agree to get on a raft and take your chances floating toward the falls? Laughable, right? You’ve seen the hidden danger of the river. You know it leads to pain and suffering.

Now your negative association (watery death) with the river has replaced your initial positive association (relaxing fun).

This is the key to overcoming food temptations and putting an end to food cravings: building negative associations in place of existing positive ones. I’ll break this process down for you in two steps:

Step One: Create a STRONG Negative Association with Unhealthy Food

You may not have realized it, but up until this point you’ve placed unhealthy, fattening foods on a pedestal in your mind. As long as the wrong foods are on that pedestal you’ll continue to give into your cravings and will continue to gain fat.

Take the wrong food off that pedestal by listing off everything negative about them…

✓ These foods make you unhealthy.
✓ Cause weight gain.
✓ Drain your energy.
✓ Kill your confidence.
✓ Lessen your quality of life.
✓ Damage your love life.

Every time that you feel tempted to eat unhealthy food, focus on your list of negatives. Kick the junk off the pedestal and put something healthy in its place.

Step Two: Create a STRONG Positive Association with Wholesome Foods

Now that your mental food pedestal has been cleared, put truly wholesome food items on it. Juicy fresh fruit, crispy vegetables and savory lean meats are the place to start.

List off the things that you love about healthy food…

✓ These foods make you healthy.
✓ Promote fat loss.
✓ Boost your energy.
✓ Build your confidence.
✓ Improve your quality of life.
✓ Enhance your love life.

I encourage you to immerse yourself into the world of healthy, wholesome foods. Browse the aisles of your local natural foods store. Stroll through a farmer’s market. Pack healthy snacks to bring to work. Clear your kitchen of junk.

Use the technique above consistently and you will soon find that healthy, wholesome foods are your favorite. And craving the wrong foods will be a thing of your past.

Today I’m writing to motivate you to take action.

I understand the frustrations that you have when it comes to your body. I know all about your insecurities over the condition of your health and how hopeless that can feel.

The answer to your fitness frustrations is to get you up off the couch and into the gym, day after day. So here’s my pep talk in bullet form—21 rewards that you will gain from regular exercise.

Do yourself a favor and print this list and post it where you’ll see it every day. When you need motivation or encouragement, merely read over this list and take action.

Remember that action alleviates anxiety. So whenever you’re feeling anxious over the current shape of your health, take that as a reminder to jump into action. And then begin to reap these 21 rewards of exercise.

1. You’ll reset your body:

Exercise is a giant reset button. A good workout will block appetite swings, improve your mood and even help you sleep.

2. Your clothes will fit better:

Consistent exercise will tone and tighten your body, causing your clothes to look nicer on you. Also, physical activity ensures that soon you’ll be trading your clothes in for smaller sizes.

3. You’ll be less stressed: 

You have enough stress in your life—it’s time for a break. A good workout invigorates your muscles, leaving you relaxed and less stressed.

4. You’ll have more energy: 

WebMD tallied research studies and concluded that 90% prove exercise increases energy levels in sedentary patients. Next time you feel fatigued, fight it with the most potent tool available: physical activity.

5. You’ll be stronger: 

Exercise improves muscle strength and endurance, two things that you use throughout each day. When you exercise consistently, you’ll be pleasantly surprised when difficult tasks begin to seem effortless.

6. You’ll be less likely to binge:

Exercise has a powerful anti-binge effect on the body. This effect is due in part by an increase in sensitivity to leptin, a protein hormone, which has an appetite-taming impact on you.

7. You’ll burn calories:

You know that excess body fat is made up of stored and unused calories. Fight back by using up loads of calories with fat-blasting functional fitness workouts.

8. You’ll be more confident:

Who doesn’t wish they walked and talked with more confidence? A consistent exercise program will give you more confidence. Fit and healthy exudes confidence at any age!

9. You’ll have fun:

Believe it or not, exercise can be delightful. Remember how fun it was to run around as a child? Tap into your inner child as you find a mode of physical activity that gets you excited.

10. You’ll reduce your blood pressure:

Exercise has been proven more effective than medication in lowering blood pressure to normal levels. A single workout has been shown to reduce blood pressure for the day, and regular exercise reduces overall blood pressure in the long run.

11. You’ll lose the jiggles:

Regular exercise tightens flabby arms, legs, and waistlines. So wave goodbye to the jiggles with a safe and effective functional exercise program.

12. You’ll increase insulin sensitivity:

Researchers at Laval University in Quebec discovered that exercise improved insulin sensitivity dramatically. Peak after-meal insulin levels dropped by more than 20 percent after as little as three weeks of consistent physical activity.

13. You’ll sleep better:

Do you toss and turn for hours before falling asleep? Exercise is a powerful sleep aid. Your tired muscles encourage your body to quickly fall asleep so they can get their overnight repair work done.

14. You’ll lower your risk of heart disease:

Regular exercise strengthens your heart and makes it more resilient against disease. A sedentary lifestyle is a significant risk factor for heart disease, so rest assured that consistent functional fitness is your ally against disease.

15. You’ll feel great:

Vigorous exercise releases natural endorphins (happy hormones) into your bloodstream that dissolve pain and anxiety. You’ve probably heard of ‘runner’s high,’ this can be achieved at any age by a great functional fitness workout.

16. You’ll lower your risk of diabetes:

Studies show that exercising as little as half an hour each day can dramatically reduce your risk of diabetes. If you are at risk of diabetes, or already have diabetes, regular exercise is the most effective treatment for reversing the disease.

17. You’ll meet like-minded people:

You could benefit from a group of new, energetic friends, right? Gyms, small group personal training, workout studios, and even the jogging trail are all great places to connect with fun new friends.

18. You’ll improve your BMI:

You know that maintaining a healthy BMI is key in disease prevention. Exercise is the best way to keep your BMI under control.

19. You’ll increase your endurance:

Do you ever get out of breath when walking up stairs or through the mall? Regular exercise builds your endurance for everyday activities.

20. Your doctor will be impressed:

How many times has your doctor given you the lecture about losing weight and exercising more? Exercise regularly and get your MD off your back!

21. You’ll look amazing:

Are you happy with the shape and size of your body? Regular exercise works wonders on your physique. Within a few weeks, you’ll see shape and tone in all the right places.

This post is only for those who are entirely fed up with trying to lose fat and inches through diet and exercise.

You’re probably thinking: What’s the deal? Why won’t the weight come off? You are doing everything you can think of to make it happen.

There is a straightforward thing standing between you and a toned and slimmed down, more fit body. One. Simple. Thing.

And here it is. You eat too many calories.

That’s it.

Solve this problem and your best body ever, will quickly and easily become a reality.

Wait, don’t give me the excuse that, “I only eat healthy calories.” That’s great, but even healthy calories add up to extra pounds when we let them go unchecked.

Back to Basics: Why Calorie Counting Works

You may have heard about the professor from Kansas State University, Mark Haub, who performed a junk food diet that became famous. Professor Haub proved a powerful lesson for anyone who still has weight to lose, so let’s listen up.

In a demonstrative experiment for his nutrition class, Professor Haub ate a diet of pure junk food for two months. I’m talking candy bars and packaged snacks – the kinds of things you find in a snack machine.

You’d expect him to gain weight, right? Well, there was one catch. He was only allowed to eat 1800 calories each day. Yes, those calories were pure junk, but with the limit firmly 1800 calories.

Before the experiment, Professor Haub’s usual calorie intake was closer to 2600 calories. So his junk food diet put him at an 800 calorie per day deficit.

Boy did that calorie deficit pay off. Within two months he had dropped 30 pounds, bringing his BMI from overweight down to normal.

No, I’m NOT recommending a junk food diet as your answer for fat loss. What I am pointing out is how important a reduction in calories is when it comes to lowering your body weight.

Do you know how many calories you eat each day?

If you’re not sure, don’t worry. You’re about to learn the one fat loss tool that will change everything for you. First, we need to get to the bottom of how many calories you’re eating each day.

Yes, even those healthy calories.

Before you start complaining, let me explain. Food journaling doesn’t involve lugging around a journal, writing down each food item throughout the day then looking everything up at the end of the day to manually tally calories like it used to.

These days food journaling has gone digital, and tracking your calories only takes seconds of your time.

Here’s what I would encourage you to do:

#1: Download a food journal application to your smartphone.

At the touch of your fingers, you’ll be able to look up food items and instantly see your running calorie tally.

#2: Meet with your doctor…

…to find a daily calorie count that will allow for safe weight loss and then become diligent in maintaining that number. Eat healthy, fresh foods and when you decide to indulge, make sure to do so within your target calorie range.

#3: Meet with me…

…for a consistent and challenging functional fitness exercise routine. My exercise programs are individually crafted to get you moving better, feeling better and into your new personal best self as quickly as possible.

These three, simple steps will give you structure and clarity that you need when it comes to making food choices and will quickly result in pounds lost and goals achieved.

Once you meet your goal weight, the calorie range for maintenance is adjusted. Sounds good, right?