Body By Lindy - Personal Training & Body Sculpting

31/12/2012

Well it’s that time of the year again... The time of year where everyone is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice and buckle down with a few New Year’s resolutions focused on fitness and health. This year, rather than set a vague general resolution like “this year I’m going to lose weight,” I recommend setting a few SMART goals. The acronym SMART stands for:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

Setting SMART goals will create the road map to guide you to your ultimate outcome. So what are SMART goals and how do you set them leading into the new year?

1. Make your goal specific. This is actually why I prefer the term “goals” to resolution. A resolution implies you are deciding something; a goal implies a specific action you want to take.
Obviously as it stands right now, “get healthy” is not very specific. There are many ways to get healthy from stopping smoking, to eating more produce, to getting more exercise. But even saying something like “eating more fruits and veggies” or “exercising more” isn’t specific enough. To really be SMART about it, you need to define exactly what you want to do.

Specific Goal: Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, at least 3 days a week, specifically Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 5 pm.



2. Make the goal measurable. How are you going to track your progress? Making it concrete will not only help you stay on track, but it can also give you motivation along the way as you reach mini milestones.
The specific goal above is clearly measurable. Success can be measured based on how often you exercise each week. But you don’t even have to be that prescriptive. The examples below are both specific and measurable:

Lose 10lbs by Spring Break

Build up to being able to run for an hour

Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day



3. Make sure the goal is attainable. Now I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t set the bar high or shoot for the stars. But sometimes when we set grand goals that we really aren’t in a place to achieve, we’re actually setting ourselves up for failure and discouragement. I think this is why so many people give up on their resolutions after a few months. On January 1st they may be fired up to change and proudly declare: “I’m going to the gym every day!” only to find that life gets in the way and doing that is pretty near impossible. Instead, it’s much better to start small. Or to create intermediate goals and celebrate small victories along the way.

Attainable Goal: I will not add cream to my coffee for the month of January (this is something I can handle but may certainly challenge me)



4. Make the goal realistic. If you aren’t a runner (or just hate running), running a marathon probably is not a realistic goal for you at the moment. That doesn’t mean you can never do one, but if you want to make sure that your goal is something you can achieve in the next year, you have to look at where you are now, and start from there. Similarly, it has to be a goal you’re willing to put in the work for. For example, committing to doing yoga 5+ days a week is not a realistic goal for me, but committing to taking my multi-vitamin every morning, is something I can handle but will still challenge me.

Realistic Goal: “I will try my best to limit desserts, aiming to eat no more than 3 desserts per week.” (vs. vowing to never eat dessert again — which isn’t realistic for me, anyway).



5. Set a time-frame. This is probably one of the most important pieces. Without any sort of deadline, we don’t have any real motivation to make a change. Telling yourself you’re going to start exercising or you’re going to build up to run for an hour isn’t enough. When do you want to achieve this by? Next year? In two months? Having a goal will keep you motivated, and will also help you keep track of your progress.

Timely Goal: Starting next week, I am going to do some form of cardio for at least 30 minutes, at least 3 days each week. I will to commit to this schedule for the next 3 months.



Setting SMART goals doesn’t mean you’ll never experience failure or setbacks. But it does give you something concrete to work toward and can increase your chances of being successful in the upcoming year.

30/09/2012

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish your goal stand in the way of your going for it. The time will pass anyway so you might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.

18/09/2012

http://exercise.about.com/od/weightloss/a/weightlossgoals.htm

If you're trying to lose weight, it's important to set reachable goals. But how do you know how much weight to lose? Learn how to set weight loss goals you can reach from your About Exercise Guide

28/05/2012

Exercise isn't just for adults...

The Many Benefits of Exercise
Everyone can benefit from regular exercise. Kids who are active will:

•have stronger muscles and bones
•have a leaner body because exercise helps control body fat
•be less likely to become overweight
•decrease the risk of developing type 2 diabetes
•possibly lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels
•have a better outlook on life
Besides enjoying the health benefits of regular exercise, kids who are physically fit sleep better and are better able to handle physical and emotional challenges — from running to catch a bus to studying for a test.

28/05/2012

26/05/2012

Inspirational Quotes

23/05/2012

Question: The middle aisles of the grocery store are generally filled with the delicious things that we probably shouldn’t eat. Now, what is the best way to find non-empty calorie foods?

Answer: The unfortunate reality is that very, very little of a grocery store is filled with natural, wholesome, unprocessed foods. As Jack Lalanne used to say, “If man made it, don’t eat it”.

As a quick summary, they are (1) fruits, (2) vegetables & tubers, (3) Organic Meats/Fish, (4) organic low fat milk, eggs, and yogurt (milk depends on if you can digest it), and (5) nuts & seeds. That’s really all human beings lived on for tens of thousands of years. Grains are a controversial topic, but I believe they are fine to eat, depending on your reaction to them. The less processed, the better.

I also want to mention that I’m a realist and I realize most people probably consume 70% or more of their calories from empty calories. So I would recommend over time substituting unprocessed foods with more wholesome, natural foods. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it certainly didn’t happen right away for me!

21/05/2012

"The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called 'truth.'"
- Dan Rather

21/05/2012

If I want to be thin but muscular, what should I do? Light weights with 50 reps OR heavy weights with 15 reps? –

Answer: The number of reps you lift does not necessarily have any impact on how much muscle or fat you will gain/lose. For example, you can lift very heavy weights all the time and never gain a pound of muscle if you don’t eat sufficient calories and protein. My favorite rep range is around 8-12 for training with weights, and around 10-20 reps with body weight exercises, which can adequately stimulate muscle fibers and promote strength benefits without a high risk of injury.

19/05/2012

Question: A question about calorie intake: why do all dieticians advocate healthy foods like fruit and egg whites? If a person eats one slice of pizza three times a day, that would still be hardly 1000 calories…shouldn’t the person still lose weight?

Answer: The short answer is that you are exactly correct – you can lose weight eating 1 slice of pizza 3 times per day because weight loss requires that you eat less calories than you burn. What you must take into account is the difference between weight loss and fat loss. It’s very possible you are losing both fat and muscle if you eat fast food and garbage calories as I call them. This is very undesirable because you won’t look leaner even if you lose weight and your metabolism will decrease. In addition, your energy levels may suffer if you don’t get the right number and balance of nutrients in your diet, which is a big reason why nutritionists (at least the smart one’s) emphasize nutrient dense foods. Whole foods that are unprocessed are your best bet (i.e. fruits, veggies, lean meats, nuts and seeds, etc.). There’s a lot more to say, but I hope that’s compelling enough!