Stress reduction kit

Stress is a killer. 

It can create havoc in your weight loss efforts and it creates a host of health trouble.
Utilize these steps to gain back control.


To get out of feeling overwhelmed:

1. Acknowledge it.

2. Take a moment to breath.

3. Notice that of the things causing the feeling, some are more urgent or important than others.

4. Notice which elements you have control or influence over and which ones you don’t.

5. List some things that can be put off for now, or may not even be necessary.

6. Pick one thing to do right now. Doing one thing at a time is calming and is the most effective way to make progress.

If these do not work, then turn to coaching or come to one of our Fitness Classes.  We'll BEAT the stress out of you!

Get things DONE.

Put Off Procrastination - Get things Done

If constantly putting tasks off till later is causing you stress and consistently making you feel dissapointed in yourself, then here are a few tips to help you to stop procrastination in its tracks once and for all!

Causes of Procrastination

Identifying the causes of procrastination is the first step in overcoming procrastination.

You've probably resolved to make a change, but once again you find yourself in familiar territory of leaving things till the last minute.

Procrastination has the potential to rob you of your potential.

Is procrastination:

• causing you stress
• reducing the quality of your work
• souring your relationships with colleagues and family?

If so, then it is time to act.

Procrastination is not about a lack of willpower!

Psychologists have identified a number of causes of procrastination. These include:

• a lack of clear goals
• indecision
• fear of failure
• anger and resentment
• feeling overwhelmed
• fatigued or tired.

1) Do the unpleasant stuff first.

One of the reasons we put off certain tasks is because some aspect of them is unpleasant; for example we may need to make a difficult telephone call or perform our least favorite chore. Write down the worst tasks which need doing each day and make sure you do them first. Try not to think about it too much, just get stuck in- you find that the most unpleasant tasks often turn out to be a lot easier than you think once you take action. Give yourself a little reward when you have completed them, such as a coffee and an hour of T.V relaxation time.

 Once these are out the way, you will feel more motivated to tackle the easier stuff on your list.

2) Sometimes we procrastinate because we lack focus and direction
of what needs to be done. Make a list of what tasks need to be completed each day, and prioritize them in order of importance (or unpleasantness!) Commit to starting and finishing the first item on the list before moving to the next. Make a step by step plan for each task and commit yourself to completing one step at a time.

3) The task appears too big.

Any task which appears to be too big can cause us to procrastinate, as we can feel overwhelmed by it, such as clearing your whole house or starting a business. The best way of dealing with this is to break each task down into smaller, more manageable steps- for the house clearance example, you may decide to start with one room, or an area of one room. If the task is starting your own business you may set yourself smaller tasks such as spending time researching your business idea, then working on acquiring skills you may need.

Steps 4-6 in the next issue.

Until then:  GET THINGS DONE and you can feel like these guys -

How do I get to my goal?

"How do I get to my goal?"

Are you acting according to your goals?

Unfortunately, there is no one canned answer to this question.  Consider this, pick your favorite store in the world, and now figure out how many different routes you can take to arrive there.  The options can be endless. Now utilize this same thought process for your personal fitness goals.  The same analogy can apply. When you add in all of the marketing that tells you to take a specific direction or route, your friends telling you the "shortcut" that you can take to arrive at the store faster and the feeling that everyone you know has figured out how to get to the store in a timely manner but you, you may not even want to go to that store anymore!  It could get really confusing.

Fat Loss, Health and Fitness, and Sports and Performance goals all place different demands on the body. From the amount of sleep required to the number of meals and calories eaten daily to what they are made of (Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats) -  it is slightly different for everybody. If you add in your genetic predisposition for where and how much fat you hold, your given metabolism, food preferences and dislikes plus your attraction or aversion to exercise it can be exhausting and de-motivating to try and figure all of these items out for yourself.

My advice: DO NOT GIVE UP!  That is one surefire method to fall short of your fitness goals.

Now that we have decided that you will not do that let's discuss how to succeed.  Focus on food, fitness and education, the foundation of Innovation Fitness Solutions.

When your actions meet your goals you will experience progress.

Food

It's a good idea to spread your food out throughout the day.  I recommend at least 4 meals daily and sometimes up to 6.  The number of meals depends upon your goal and some of the factors discussed above, but a good starting point is 4 meals.  Do not ever eat less.  It just leads to hunger and hunger leads to poor food choices and over-eating.  Regardless of the goal, it is important to know how many calories you need to maintain your weight daily and how many calories you are actually consuming.  Do you really know how many calories is in that Whole Wheat Bagel you eat?  How about that Chai Tea with skim milk you had yesterday?  Having the facts at your fingertips is a great method to understanding how to be successful, guesswork usually can get you started but never works long term.

The good news is that there are people who have spent their entire adult lives preparing themselves to help you get the success you want. Your Weight Management Specialists and Exercise Specialists care about you and your results and we do know how to help you.  Everyone has different goals, and the strategies that you must utilize for success have to be tailored to you. Realistic, Progressive and Maintainable (R.P.M.) methods for long term success are right here in front of you. Talk to one of us and let us help!

Fat Loss
Fat matters, carbohydrates count but calories are the bottom line!  Do not buy into the myth that some foods are fattening and others are not.  It is not true.  Every food can help make you gain weight and every food can help you keep it off.  The amount of ingested has to be less than the total calories burned or you will get bigger eating sunflower seeds and grapefruits.  It just does not matter! Control your calories and eat as healthy as you can right now.

Health and Fitness

The more consistent and the healthier the choices that you make the better you will feel.  I suggest 30-45 minutes of cardiovascular work 3-4 times weekly + 2-3 strength training sessions weekly.  In addition, maintaining a diet of consistently balanced foods along with your exercise routine will help you achieve your goal with ease.  Your body will thank you for it and your mind will as well.  When we choose healthy options we give our body the fuel it needs to keep going strong throughout the day, fight off cellular damage and be mentally sharp.

Sports and Performance

Eat often, eat well and eat balanced!  The timing of your pre and post workout meals is crucial to your success.  Eating 45-60 minutes pre-workout is essential to providing the energy necessary for optimum performance.  A post workout meal consisting of a 4:1 ration of carbohydrate to protein is important for recovery.  In addition, optimal rest (6-8 hours of sleep) and the proper training intensity is essential too. Try not to workout more than 3 days consecutively if your intensity level is above a 7.5 on a scale of 1-10.

Result

In my opinion one of the strongest variables someone can change is to get out of daily result and into the process. It is a BIG PICTURE way of looking at your goals and your goal setting.  Everything matters but mistakes will be made and they will be corrected.  Nothing is impossible and a great plan makes for great successes.