Tag Archives: Motivation

Cupcake fantasies = diet disaster

Posted on August 3, 2011 | Comments Off

Dreaming of a cupcake to reward yourself for all that dieting work? Well, you may have to reframe your fantasies.

From Eileen:  A friend of mine started a big-time diet and exercise program last week. She jumped in with her typical gregarious enthusiasm, setting up sessions with a personal trainer, reading food labels, packing her lunch, counting her calories … and telling everyone “This is it, guys! This is it!”

 After the first week, she stayed on course, losing a pound. Not a smashing success, but a great start nonetheless. She was pretty pleased with her progress. Slow is OK because this was it, the real deal.

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Posted in Staying Fit

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Wanting Fitness Benefits, Hating Fitness Effort

Posted on June 24, 2011 | Comments Off

If you want to change your life, you have to change yourself. Or, at least part of yourself.

From Joe:  We’ve talked about it before: Converting lifestyle changes into permanent improvements is a major potential stumbling block for everyone who wants to develop better health and fitness practices. That’s why I’m always harping on the importance of framing the issue as one where you change your life by changing your self. Or at least a part of yourself. In the final analysis, that’s the only thing over which you might truly have control.

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Exercise for six years straight? No big deal

Posted on June 1, 2011 | Comments Off

From Eileen: Well, today is my anniversary. Six years of continuous exercise. No flowers. No special dinner out. No real celebration. Actually, it’s almost anti-climactic. That’s because fitness has become part of my everyday life, almost as mundane as making my bed. I certainly don’t celebrate … “Yippee! I’ve taken a shower every day for a decade!” Or “Woo hoo! I ate a meal every single day for the last 12 years.”

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Posted in Staying Fit, Uncategorized

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No more excuses. Start exercising right now!

Posted on May 20, 2011 | 3 Comments

What's the secret to exercising every single day for six years? Just do it!

From Eileen: In a little more than a week, I will be coming up on my six-year anniversary of exercising every single day. I know! I can’t believe it myself.

 And while I sometimes joke that given the work I have put into this, I should look a lot better than I do, I have to say I have never felt better.  I wish I had started this whole crazy thing 30 years ago!

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2011 Contest coming to an end. Now what?

Posted on May 9, 2011 | Comments Off

From Eileen:  Well, the Fittest Loser contest is officially over for the year … although the winner won’t be announced until Wednesday. (The party is at 6:30 p.m. at John Barleycorn in Schaumburg).

 The big question, however, is will they be able to keep up the momentum when the spotlight ends? All of their trainers believe they will continue on their fitness journey, as you can read in the Daily Herald’s Health and Fitness section today.

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Get going with your fitness pre-mortem!

Posted on May 6, 2011 | 1 Comment

From Joe:  In a prior post about candy jars in the office, I urged you to think seriously about the states of mind that characterized people who voiced opinions about whether or not candy jars were acceptable artifacts in an office setting. If you have already done that, you probably noticed that most commentators – no matter whether they approved or disapproved of such jars – framed the issue in moralistic terms: Candy jars are not a problem in themselves, they said.  Instead, the problem was in the people who lacked self-discipline, suffered from feelings of inferiority, had issues hanging on from their childhood or, as one commenter put it, need therapy. As far as I can see, this kind of moralistic discourse does nothing to address the practical concerns of people who are trying to devise lasting changes in life habits.

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Get those juices flowing

Posted on April 20, 2011 | 1 Comment

From Eileen:  And yet another good reason to exercise regularly … it gets your creative juices flowing.  A scientific study of 60 college students showed that 30 minutes of moderate exercise can increase one’s creativity for hours afterwards. Hours afterwards!

 If you don’t want to read the whole study, here’s a key finding:

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She’s stuck. Any advice?

Posted on April 18, 2011 | Comments Off

From Eileen:  Gerry’s column this week is about being stuck. Anyone who has ever been on a weight loss program  knows that feeling when the scale won’t budge. Gerry’s trainer, Tony,  told her to drink more water, do an extra hour of cardio and stretch.  Sounds reasonable, I suppose.

But who wants reason when you’re stuck? Anyone else have advice on what to do when you reach a dieting plateau? We’re talking sensible advice here  … Actually, the question should be how do you keep your motivation up when you have hit a bump in the road?

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Posted in Our Fittest Loser

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Tweak Yourself To Reach Your Goals

Posted on April 12, 2011 | Comments Off

From Joe:  How do you know if your journaling is an activity for self-indulgence or self-development? Perhaps the presence or absence of metrics in your writing provides a clue:

One of the reasons we might fail to achieve some of our goals is that we’re not always as objective about our progress as we could be, or sometimes we’re just stuck in a rut using the same approach that hasn’t really led us anywhere. That’s where the metrics come in. Having factual proofs of our progress (or lack of progress) can show us what adjustments need to be made.

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