Menopause and weight gain

I wrote several months ago about gaining weight and menopause. After going through a number of blood tests and saliva tests my doctor helped me adjust some vitamins and nutrients that I was missing. I also took out a number of foods in my diet that were giving me some odd symptoms.

We have all heard it in the past to take away the white flour and white sugar. No nutritional value. Well after being off of those for eight months now I am feeling great and I have lots of energy.  I am not saying that taking those items out of ones diet will be easy. I was a huge sweet eater but now I don’t miss it. I also stay away from white rice and a number of other items. I do miss sushi. I know they make it with brown rice but when I inquired about the ingredients some places do add in sugar or corn syrup and I stay away from those items.

I have spoken to a number of female friends and when I tell them what I no longer eat they state well I would miss those items too much. My question to them is how bad are you feeling?  I found that by staying away from  those foods and a few of the foods that I have allergies to I didn’t realize how bad I was feeling. 

 Most of the articles that I do read from the organizations that I belong to the nutrition sections do state to stay away from the whites and  other food items such as processed foods. I guess you really don’t know how you are feeling until you stay away from certain foods.

I do need to tell you that I did take off 10 pounds without trying. When you cut out the flour and sugar you do take away a lot of your junk foods such as pizza, bread, pasta, (I eat brown rice pasta) chips, and sweets such as all cakes, cookies, oh and don’t forget my (was) favorite margaritas. At this point and time I am enjoying the reduction in headaches, abdominal bloating, cramps and tiredness Oh don’t forget the mood swings and hot flashes.

You do not need to be menopausal to take away the flour, sugar and processed foods. Start now and give it a month. Anyone can do anything for thirty days. You just have to set your  mind to just do it.  Once you are feeling better ask yourself is it worth going back to eating the way you did?

It is a mind-set. You do need to set your mind to what do you really want to carry out? I guess I was too tired of being tired. I also found that doing my short isometric exercise routine in the mornings does help me mentally because then I dont have to think about it later in the day. It’s finished. Start your day with a smile on your face and state what a great day it is going to be:)

Weight loss advertisements

As I was drinking my one cup of coffee this morning I was watching the news and on came another weight loss advertisement. I was wondering if those out there watching these advertisements for weight loss actually believe what they hear. This one was for a weight loss clinic with MD’s. They gaurentee a loss of 2-5 pounds a week. In very tiny print (the kind where you need a magnifing glass) it stated with a 1200 calorie diet and exercise results will vary.

Hello!! If anyone who is looking to lose weight ate 1200 calories and exercised they too can lose the 2-5 pounds each week depending on how much of an output of energy (aerobic and strength training) they did on a daily basis. That is without drugs.

I love watching the advertisements for the programs who will deliver delicious meals to your door so you too can lose weight easily like the movie stars. Again in tiny print results will vary. Ok I get it not everyone enjoys or wants to cook but if those who want to lose weight ate portion sized foods and got in a little exercise they too can lose weight without having to spend money for delivered foods and or drugs.

I guess after spending many years trying to encourage individuals to portion size their meals and get in a little fitness I sometimes feel like I am the one draging a horse to water and they dont want to drink it.  I have tried many different stratagies over the years and I have found that the bottom line still is everyone wants that overnight weightloss. They want to take that magic pill and wake up slim and fit. Unfortunately that is not the way it works. I guess that is why these companies that promote quick fast weightloss will always make money.

I have to admit that I also use some of that in my advertising but if youdo take and individual that does not watch what they eat and place them on a food plan and give them some exercises yes in one week they too can start to lose weight. Yes the first week will most likely be a water weight, but that is taking away that extra bloat. For most individuals that is positive encouragement to stay on track. When you are able to watch your caloric intake and output with a little bit of exercise and aerobic activity you too will begin to burn calories and lose weight.

Over the years(and university studies have been done) the best way to lose weight and keep it off is watching the amount of calories you are taking in, getting in some form of strength training and aerobic activity daily. Magic pills are not in this formular. It takes work and consistant work to remove bodyfat from oneself. It doesn’t have to be tough although most individuals do make it tough on themselves by making their daily ritual a chore. Have fun and change things up will help you keep spice in your life on your weight loss journey.

Are you just starting an exercise program?

I received another interesting comment yesterday on youtube. It states you do a nice job and regardless of your age you do have a well-built body. The point is that trainers posting here look fresh, young and excited as if they had the magic to make one look amazing in 2 weeks. Your experience comes up when you try to make it simple and easy to practise anywhere. Now if most of these kids would do it in spite of making useless comments they could feel the difference while they are young. I am young and I try, I get nice results so far.

I am grateful for the nice comments but the gender and age range of the people that I receive those negative comments from  teens to those  about 28 years old. The people that I do help range from 30 on up. Those are individuals who are not looking for the hard body look. They are people who are morbidly obese to  those just starting out and need guidance. I did ask my clients if they would have hired me if I had all those hard cut muscles and was told that they do not want a hard body trainer. They are just too intimidating.  That is why I get along so well with my clients.

Those just starting out need someone who will help them change their lifestyle, feel good and energized in the mornings, and be able to get out of bed not feeling sore. For someone just starting out where is the encouragement if they can barely get out of bed the next morning?  Why would they want to exercise again? I keep the IsoBreathing program easy for a reason. You can increase your intensity as much as you feel your body can handle. Yes later on you can go for the burn if you choose to, but just starting out you need to take it easy and allow your body to get used to things.

I do belong to gym and I do see these young enthusiastic trainers all gung-ho with their excitement of training an individual but they do forget to ask how does that feel to their clients. Remember if you are the one performing the exercises your trainer can’t feel what your body is feeling. The trainer is there to encourage you and push you but how hard do you want  to be pushed when you are working out?  Most people just starting out do not know that they can speak up and say enough. Remember it does take time for you to gain strength, muscle and lose body fat.  Lasting results can’t be accomplished in a short amount of time and last. That just makes it another diet and exercise program.

For you to change your lifestyle you must ask yourself are you ready? Are you ready to stop with the excuses? If you change one thing at a time you are then making a lifestyle change. If you try to change too much too soon you are just starting another diet/exercise program. It does take time for change to happen. I hear it all the time from friends that they just can’t give this up or that up. There is no reason to give anything up. Use extreme moderation. Use portion sizing for your meals. Use a base of 15 minutes for your exercise program. Everyone has 15 minutes.  If you have more time then add in the additional exercises. After you do this for one week then add in another change for your lifestyle change. Add in something healthier to eat. Add in another five minutes to your exercises. You will see that this process of taking things slowly will help you change your lifestyle to a healthier one.

Maybe it is because I am older and have trained many people and have been through what most of you are now going through. I do have empathy for my clients. I do receive many wonderful letters stating how I have helped them out. I am very grateful that I have touched many lives over the years. I do plan to continue to help many more even though there are many newer, younger, hard cut muscled trainers out there. Yes I will continue to place snippets on youtube, write articles and books to reach as many people that are looking for a kindergarten exercise program.

Are individuals really that insecure?

I have received many interesting comments over the years about varied exercises. Most very positive and encouraging. I try to think outside the box and take an exercise and break it down so someone who is either morbidly obese or just starting  a fitness program can exercise and feel good about themselves.

Recently I obtained a comment from youtube (where I do have a some snippets) that was not that pleasant. It was from an person who when I looked up their information was large with extreme hard cut muscle. Dont these people realize that not everyone is fit with hard cut muscle? Dont they realize that in reality it is a very small percentage that is extremely fit with hard cut muscle?  Dont they realize that most people are trying to fit fitness into their daily lives and don’t want to live at the gym?

I truly wish that those people would stop with the negativity and start with some positive encouragement. Are they that insecure about themselves that they can not use a kind word. I have tried for over 20 years to encourage people to change their lifestyle one day at a time. 

It was a few weeks ago that there was an article on-line about one of the Biggest Loser contestants putting back on almost all the weight he lost on the show. (He was the winner of season 3) There was some extreme hate emails that were written and very few positive encouraging words to get back on track.  I guess for those who never had to battle with weight don’t have a clue. It does take lots of hard work and positive reinforcement to help those stay on track.

As for me I just cut those negative comments so others don’t have to read them. Sometimes I feel like I am back in grade school with the bully’s. As adults all I want to say is grow up. Life is too short for all of your negativity. Not everyone wants to live at the gym staring at themselves in the mirror or every reflective surface flexing their muscles.  Being healthy and fit is one thing. Not everyone wants hard cut muscles. Look I have been there and done that with both losing weight and hard cut muscles. At this point in my life I don’t want that hard cut look for myself.  I don’t want to spend all those hours at the gym.  So when you see me in those snippets trying to encouraging others you will not see hard cut muscle. Yes you may even see some body fat, but I am healthy, energized, strong and HAPPY!!!! So get over yourselves and allow me  to continue to encourage others to help themselves to a better quality of life:)

Are You Gullable?

Are you an individual who is up in the wee hours of the night and watches infomercials? Dont believe everything you hear or see.  Whether it is that magic pill to reduce fat or a gadget to help you spot reduce or you too can remove belly fat in just minutes a day.

Unfortunately there is no magic pill or gadget that will remove body fat from you. It does take work and if it seems too good to be true than avoid it like the plague. Don’t line their pockets with your money when what they are trying to sell you wont work.

You can not spot reduce. You can build muscle fibers in specific areas of your body by lifting weights but you can not take away body fat in a specific area. When you engage in healthy eating, strength training and aerobic activity you will lose body fat all over. Not just in one area.

Diets do not last. When you diet you take away a food that you like. You then think about it, crave it and then over endulge in that item. Portion sizing and making healthier smarter choices are the way to go. Having that junk food on the occasion and only a portion size of it will be ok. You need to change your lifestyle and eat healthier. Take it one day at a time. If that means adding in one fruit or vegetable in a day do it. If that means you packing a lunch and taking it with you to the office then do it. You can do anything that you set your mind to do.

With anything you try please understand that it does take 30 days for a habit to form and only one day to break it. You then have to start from day one again. Yes it is  frustrating but dont beat yourself up over it. Just start again. Take it one day at a time and be mindful of what you are doing.

If you change your lifestyle versus another diet and exercise program or gimic your results will last. Do not sucomb to the informercials. By changing a few little items daily you can start to lose weight and inches, feel more energized and become healthier and stronger. Yes it will take time to accomplish. In our fast paced lives we want results yesterday. Sorry but that just does not happen in real life. It takes time and energy to reduce your weight and keep it off permenently.

I was also in your shoes 30 years ago. After the birth of my first child and 65 pounds later I was not sure how to take the weight off. I tried the pills, many diets and gadgets to take the weight off fast. It didnt happen. It was a slow process and once I figured out what needed to be done I just did it one day at a time. Now 30 years later I have never felt better. I am strong, healthy and have lots of energy. Oh and since the 30 years ago weight I am only eight pounds over what I was back then. So if I can do it so can you:)

You Accomplished Your goals Now What

There are some of you who have accomplished your goals, so how do you hold on to those accomplishments.  How do you continue to stay motivated?

Start your day with a smile on your face and take a minute or two to pat yourself on your back and say what a great job you have done to get to this point.  Take a good look at yourself and now state what is it going to take to get through today and stay on track. What did it take to get to here? Think about how great you are now feeling and looking. It would help if you kept a journal of your daily struggles and accomplishments. Read and reread them. I have found that reading or thinking of where you were to where you are now helps you to keep on track.

Take a photo of yourself now and place it in our journal. Write down all of the positives that you see and feel. Say to yourself just for today I will get in my exercise, just for today I will eat healthy,  just for today I will keep a smile on my face. Just for today…

When it comes to exercising it may be time to shake up your program and try something new. Variety is the spice of life and you performing the same routine day after day become boring. You may want to try an isometric exercise program,  yoga, pilates, step, boxing, cycling, swimming, jumping rope or something as simple and fun as a hoola hoop or belly dancing. There are so many varieties of exercise that you can purchase it in DVD format or at your local gym try a class that you have never taken.

You will also need variety in your caloric intake. Try to add in a fruit or vegetable that you are not used to eating. Try to prepare your meal using different spices. In order to stay motivated and stay on track change it up.

Ellen is a certified Fitness Practitioner and Personal Trainer and has been teaching obtainable lifestyle changes for over 20 years.

Ellen writes and produces fitness DVD’s , CD’s, and Booklets of the IsoBreathing program.  All  are now being sold through the IsoBreathing website world wide.

Ellen writes for her monthly newsletter, North shore wellness and counseling and New Orleans Wedding Magazine. She has been awarded Innovator of the Year 2006 by City Business.

She has been married since 1978 to Alan and has three grown children.

Her hobbies include  Oil Painting, Knitting, Pottery, Gardening, Welding , glass works, and Reading.

Staying Motivated

The New Year is here and we have set up our new year resolutions. For most individuals the months of January and February and part of March are not that difficult to make a lifestyle change. Then something clicks and you say to yourself “ I have been good for so long I can go off just a little.”  All it takes is one taste of something that you have taken off our eating list and you go back to craving more. If you have been exercising on a regular basis you then start thinking up of excuses to miss one of your regular work out sessions. It’s too cold outside, I’m too tired, I’ll do it tomorrow. All you need to is miss one session and the rest snowballs and you are way off track.

So what will it take to stay on track? How can you continue to stay motivated?

1. Take everything one day at a time.
2. Write it down. When you write items down as part of your daily schedule it will help you as a mental reminder to do it.
3. Leave the excuses behind. Just do it.
4. Find a family member, friend, or co worker to do this with you. An accountability partner will help you stay on track.  Do not use someone who will find additional excuses to change your mind and get you off track If you cannot find an accountability partner use yourself.
5. Write down your daily accomplishments. If you happen to miss out on something (exercise or you ate something you should not have) write it down and why you got off track. Were you stressed, upset, and frustrated? Get down to the nitty gritty as to why. Then the next day move forward. Do not beat yourself up over it. Think back to your very first day of starting this lifestyle change. The excitement you felt. The way you treated that very first day. Wake up each morning and take a moment or two and imagine how easy this day will be. Feel that same excitement you felt with day one. Place a smile on your face and move forward. You can do anything you set your mind to accomplish.

 

Ellen is a certified Fitness Practitioner and Personal Trainer and has been teaching obtainable lifestyle changes for over 20 years.

Ellen writes and produces fitness DVD’s , CD’s, and Booklets of the IsoBreathing program.  All  are now being sold through the IsoBreathing website world wide.

Ellen writes for her monthly newsletter, North shore wellness and counseling and New Orleans Wedding Magazine. She has been awarded Innovator of the Year 2006 by City Business.

She has been married since 1978 to Alan and has three grown children.

Her hobbies include  Oil Painting, Knitting, Pottery, Gardening, Welding , glass works, and Reading.

Keeping your New Year Resolution

Now that you made your resolutions for the new year, will you be able to keep them?  Realize that it takes 30 days for a habit to form and only one day to break it. Then you must restart the 30 day process over from day one.

Staying on track:

Write down your resolutions. If it is written, it is real. This will help you stay on track during the day. Before you go to bed reread them. This will be the last thing you read and it will stay with you subconsciously while you sleep. In the morning reread your resolutions one more time. Place a smile on your face and state to yourself, “Just for today. I can do anything for 24 hours.”

Prepare In Advance:

Most individuals’ resolutions involve getting in shape, losing weight, or spending more time with family. If you are trying to get in shape start moving and add in some exercise every day. If you are starting a fitness program, isometric exercise is a great way to start. No equipment is needed so you can perform isometric exercise anywhere and anytime. (Check out multitasking -  a fitness for life program)

If you are looking to lose weight then exercise is a must but you will also need to watch your caloric intake. Calories do count. Prepare your snacks and your lunch before going to work or school. This way there will be less temptation to eat calories that will keep your weight on. I never recommend dieting; I recommend portion control and the occasional junk food.

Spending more time with family:

After speaking with many individuals their biggest complaint was missing out on one or more years of their children’s lives because of work. Everything in their lives was geared first to their job, then their family, and their won needs were last on the list. This year try to reverse the order. Place yourself first. This means take care of yourself mentally, physically, spiritually, and health. Once you have that down then you can take care of family. Leave your job for last. That means do not take work home with you if possible or limit your time and make sure that you spend more of it with your family. You may find that you will have to schedule it. Over time this will become easier and easier.

Ellen is a certified Fitness Practitioner and Personal Trainer and has been teaching obtainable lifestyle changes for over 20 years. She writes and produces fitness DVD’s , CD’s, and Booklets of the IsoBreathing program.  All are now being sold through the IsoBreathing website worldwide. Ellen writes for her monthly newsletter, North shore wellness and counseling and New Orleans Wedding Magazine. She has been awarded Innovator of the Year 2006 by City Business. She has been married since 1978 to Alan and has three grown children. Her hobbies include  Oil Painting, Knitting, Pottery, Gardening, Welding , glass works, and Reading.

Launching my new business as of 1/1/10. Check out www.lipstickartist.com

Encouraging individuals to exercise

Encouraging individuals to exercise
As I volunteered at a soup kitchen today I was watching individuals waiting on line in the cold and drizzle. Thank goodness almost all had coats but not all had hats. As I sit and watch TV inside my warm home I decided to start knitting hats to donate to those homeless individuals out in the cold.
It is Tuesday evening and what else is on TV but The Biggest Loser. I watched the contestants on last weeks show go home and encourage others to exercise. I do commend them for wanting to encourage others to become healthier but I guess my biggest complaint is them instructing people who have no idea how to exercise and no one watching their form. I get so frustrated because I hate to see anyone become injured for no reason. Just a small body adjustment will help prevent needless injury and sore muscles.
The challenge this week was for the last four to run a marathon. Oh my gosh! It took six months to train for the one I ran. Here the brilliant trainers Jillian and Bob tell these individuals who have not run more than 13 miles at any one time to go and run a marathon which is 26.2 miles. One of the contestants was in as they stated in pain with their hips and knees. Another was in pain with her knees but encouraged to keep running by a previous contestant. Where are these people’s brains? Don’t they realize the damage that they can be doing to their bodies. It took me 2 days of very tender muscles to recover from the 26.2 miles and I was well trained and stretched plenty.
I guess that this show will not show us these four one and two days after this marathon. They will be all teary eyed stating how proud they are of themselves for finishing. I do believe in pushing oneself but be realistic. If there is pain involved your body is telling you something. For those of you who want to run a marathon do your proper training and listen to your body. Don’t allow someone else tell you that you don’t have to listen to your body and to keep going through your pain. That is just pure stupidity!!
Ellen Miller is the owner and CEO of IsoBreathing Inc. She founded the business originally called Body Shaping Inc. in 1994 when she moved to Louisiana. The company was renamed IsoBreathing Inc. in 2002.
Ellen is a certified Fitness Practitioner and Personal Trainer and has been teaching obtainable lifestyle changes for over 20 years.
Ellen writes and produces fitness DVD’s , CD’s, and Booklets of the IsoBreathing program. All are now being sold through the IsoBreathing website www.isobreathing.com world wide.