6 Month Fitness Project

Reminders/Talismans

There are lots of ways to remind yourself that fitness is your objective, and/or to do some of the fitness creating activities you've chosen to be a part of your own fitness project for these six months.

You can create your own reminder silicone wrist band/bracelet at several web locations, including:

Wristbands Now

Band-Together

A search on Google for silicone wristbands will give you many more choices, not all of them with low minimum orders however.

At CafePress you can create your own reminder or search among the creations of others who offer their own designs on CafePress' many products.

Then there is Zazzle, similar to CafePress.

Ralph Strauch has created a series of wooden ornaments that can be used as reminder objects. You can see them, along with his other creations at his web site.

Amazon.com has a deck of fitness cards, with exercises on each one.

And, guest author Ann Teliczan has gift items on her own CafePress store site featuring her HybridArt images that can be chosen as a visual representation of your personal fitness aims and goals.

Any object can be used as a reminder or talisman for your project, or for parts of it. It's fun to look for things to use this way. You might go to a shopping mall or import store like World Market or Pier 1, or a Dollar Store, or card shop and look for designs or objects that could serve you as a reminder and inspiration.

Guest Post: Yoga, What a Deal

Yoga has been the most rewarding form of exercise that I've found. It makes me stronger, mentally and physically while increasing my flexibility. I feel like I'm getting the most for my efforts because of this. The most surprising thing I noticed about yoga is how important improving my flexibility has been for me. When I was younger, I was pretty proud of being able to put both my feet behind my head... that is until a bratty neighborhood kid pushed me over when I was showing off.

I always took this flexibility for granted until I went to yoga about five years ago and realized how stiff I was. I was having low back pain and my physical therapist recommended it. In two weeks Yoga cleared up what massages and physical therapy couldn't even touch after months of treatment. Once I was better I quit going, until I started having problems again.

This year I took a different approach, I started attending yoga class regularly even though I felt fine. In fact, last month I bought an unlimited monthly membership and started attending class several times a week. I noticed a huge difference in how happy I was, how much stress I felt and how well I slept at night. Next time I post, I'll give you some tips on how to get started.

Ann Teliczan

Water

How much water should you drink? We've been discussing water drinking on our email discussion list. Some of the subscribers want to drink more than they currently do, and someone asked me recently just how much water he should drink in a day.

I've read conflicting advice about water drinking, some saying that the water in the food one eats is sufficient unless the weather is hot or you are doing strenuous work or play. Others say that water is a key piece of improving fitness, particularly for people who are carrying a lot of extra fat around during their day.

Some water advice is presented as standard for everyone: eight 8 ounce cups of water per day. Other advice is specific to body size, as in, one ounce of water for every two pounds of body weight.

I like a lot of water, come from a farm family that worked outdoors. Drinking plenty lot of water was impressed upon me from childhood. I've always drunk water with my meals, plain, without ice.

But, for many people, ironically, water isn't a natural thing to drink. They drink soft drinks, or tea or coffee with their meals, always have. Drinking water as plain water is a new thing for them, and it's easy for them to forget to do it.

Water Drinking Tips

1. Link drinking water to some other repetitive activity. For example, each time you use the bathroom drink water afterward.

2. Put small magnets on one side of the front of your refrigerator door or on some other metal object in the kitchen, one for each glass of water you wish to drink in a day. Each time you drink a glass of water move one of the magnets to the other side of the refrigerator door.

3. Place coins or bottle caps, beans, raisins, etc., one for each glass of water you intend to drink, in a particular location, maybe the kitchen counter, and move one of the items to another location each time you drink a glass of water.

4. Drink a glass of water on arising in the morning, and each time you eat.

5. Place a pitcher or jar full of the day's water ration in the fridge or on your desk and sip it throughout the day.

6. If it's difficult for you to drink a whole glassful at a time do any of the above, and begin with a half glass of water for the first week, and each succeeding week add a bit more water to the glass until you are drinking a full glass each time.

For more about the benefits of drinking water, plus 20 tips for how to drink it all, click here.

More here.

No Criticizing Yourself

Along about now, if you've started with the Day 1 post, you may be saying unkind things to yourself about your tendencies to keep on doing what you were doing before you began this project. If you have been, stop. Don't criticize or shame yourself, don't be demanding or harsh with you, be kind. This is not an easy thing to do, to change one's habits, to learn new ones.

It looks like it should be easy, but if it were, you'd probably not be here.

This is a long project, six months worth, for a reason--as I've probably stated before. It's long because that's the kindest, most ecological, and sure way to get where you want to go. You want to become fit, not just for a short time, you want to become fit from now on.

I've been surprised at how difficult it has been for me to make simple changes, like doing floor exercises, exercising early in the day, going to bed earlier. Those changes should be easy, I think, but they just slide through the cracks, day after day.

If you're finding it difficult to do what you've decided is the best way to start the project, then, please cut yourself unlimited slack.

And, if you've done what so many people do, set out to do too much, to make too many or too big changes in the beginning of the project, then please reduce your objectives, for now, down to what may seem to be ridiculously easy. Success creates more success. Reduce what you're attempting to the point where you can succeed almost every day without stress or strain. Then, and only then, build on that success, with small additions, one at a time.

Mariel Hemingway, in her book Healthy Living From The Inside Out, asks readers about to begin the 30 Day Quickstart Program in the book to send themselves an email message, filling in the blanks, that says:

I, __________________ agree to be kind to myself through the four weeks of following these suggestions. I agree to put myself first. To treat myself with the compassion and patience I would treat a close friend. To drop the harsh criticism I put on myself when I look in the mirror or eat something bad or am not perfect at everything I do. For four weeks I, ____________________ agree to act like I am my own best friend. If I catch myself thinking mean thoughts about myself, I pledge to ask myself, "Would I say that to my best friend?"

You may want to send yourself that email message, and make it for six months rather than four weeks.

And/or you could copy and paste it into a text document, print it out, and place it where you can see it often during your six months long fitness project, and beyond.

Guest Post: How do I stay on course when the luster fades and the goal is still far away?

It's a few days in, and we're finding it hard to keep up with all our wonderful intentions. This is generally what happens with most people, so it's completely normal. What usually happens after that is we become discouraged and feel like failures, then give up. But since I'm a coach, I know better. For me, I'm going to see this as a fun experiment, and play with it, not making too many intentions and holding myself accountable without making myself wrong.

It's so easy to beat ourselves up when we don't follow through with every fitness goal we make for the day.  It's almost a reflex!  We start out by creating 3 or 4 goals for the day.  For a few days we're good as gold, so we start adding more daily goals.  Inevitably, life intrudes and we accomplish perhaps 2 or 3 of seven daily goals, forgetting that we have other personal, business, and family goals every day, too, and that's balancing a lot of spinning plates.  We get out the figurative bullwhip and start flailing at ourselves, criticizing, belittling, whittling away at our confidence, sense of self-control, and long-term focus. 

I still find my mind going there, but I no longer listen to it.  I understand that its function is to help me be better, achieve more of my potential, and protect me from perceived dangers, but that function can limit me unless I repattern the direction of thought to "Okay, these are the facts of today.  What's the next best step toward my long term goal right now?"   Sometimes the next best step is to make simpler, fewer goals for the next day.  Sometimes it's to take a big drink of water, or a walk, or make a commitment to do a more vigorous workout the next morning.  And it's always to remember what I *was* successful at that day.

Kerul Kassel

www.NewLeafSystems.com and www.StopProcrastinatingNow.com .  Helping individuals and groups with productivity, performance, effectiveness, and procrastination.  kerul@newleafsystems.com

If At First You Don't Succeed: Chunk Smaller

In Talane Miedaner's excellent book Coach Yourself To Success she shares the story of a client who found herself stuck regarding getting fit. She didn't have time to work out, and she didn't have opportunities to engage in fitness creating activities--or so she thought.

Beth, the client in the story, wanted to get fit and eliminate some of the body padding she'd accumulated--about 25 pounds worth, she reckoned. Diets never seemed to work for her either.

What Beth did, was to make one little change at a time, and keep on until she reached the level of fitness and physical appearance she wanted. The first change she made was to add a simple breakfast of instant oatmeal, a banana, and green tea. She ate this at her desk at work instead of the usual donut and coffee.

Next, after that small change, she decided to walk to work each day. This was an hour long walk, but took only twenty minutes more than if she rode public transportation. So, her hour of exercise only cost her an extra twenty minutes of time each day.

The next small step was to improve her lunch by eating salads and vegetables enhanced with a high protein, low fat addition like tuna or chicken.

After that was an established practice, Beth decided to jog around Central Park's reservoir on weekends.

Then, she upgraded her dinner menu to eliminate fatty fast food in preference to low fat, vegetable rich dishes.

Finally, with much progress toward the fitness level she desired, she decided to walk home from work too.

This was all that was needed for Beth to complete her goal and reach the shape and condition she'd been hoping for back when she felt overwhelmed by the thought of having to find time to devote to getting fit.

It is tempting to believe that one needs to hire a trainer, go to a gym for regular workouts, or devote hours a day to a formal exercise program and adhere to a strict dietary regimen. And to jump in full force, start it all at once, and bravely soldier on.

But, it's not necessary at all. Start small, make the easiest and smallest change. Make it easy, innovate, and then when you've made that an easily accomplished part of your day or week, add another small piece of change. Always make the bite small enough to fit the mouth of the present.