The Healthy Lifestyle Way

With January fast approaching many of you will once again turn your attention to exercising. Many of you will have purchased home use cardiovascular equipment while others will be joining a gym. Well I really hope that you can stay committed, and that you will achieve those results you seek.  

So if it’s time to get your body in shape I would like to give you some information about the best way to do it. Having worked in the fitness industry for many years, I know that seeing improvements is essential to you staying with your fitness programme. 

Let me introduce you to High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT Training) which provides a quick explosive way to burn fat without losing muscle. It’s an aerobic training programme. Rather than waste time exercising at a slow pace, praying the fat melts off before you die of boredom or turn grey, you alternate intervals of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise with periods of near-maximum effort, achieving unbelievable results. 

Three or four HIIT sessions a week should produce significant fat-burning effects.  HIIT is performing a cardio exercise such as running at a very high intensity then at a lower intensity and repeating the cycle again and again. It can be very hard and to all beginners to training I advise you to take it slowly until you build up better stamina and your fitness levels. You can perform it on a stationary bike, StairMaster, mountain bike, treadmill etc. But the most efficient for fat burning and stamina building is running.    A HIIT session consists of a warm up period of exercise, followed by six to ten repetitions of high intensity exercise, separated by medium intensity exercise, and ending with a period of cool down exercise. The high intensity exercise should be done at near maximum intensity. The medium exercise should be about half-maximum intensity. The goal is to do at least six cycles, and to have the entire HIIT session last at least fifteen minutes and not more than twenty minutes. The major benefit of HITT or high intensity interval training is the fact that on a normal exercise routine your body gets accustomed to the pace and exertion and thus does not lose the amount of calories you wished for. So when working with alternate and intense level of exercise, your body is not able to go into a steady or stable state and thus keeps on losing or burning fat and calories without getting a chance to store them. 

In addition, HIIT training creates a demand for more oxygen in your body, known as EPOC, or Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption. What it means is for your body to return to a resting state after HIIT training, it uses excess oxygen over the next few hours. EPOC will take place in your body once you have performed intense exercise  This means you can still be burning calories hours after your workout.  The amount of intensity that you put into your intervals directly affects the volume and duration of EPOC. For instance, EPOC will be effective for a few minutes after doing aerobic exercise, but may last up to forty hours with HIIT Training done correctly. Therefore, when you are in a sprint interval, go full steam ahead.   A common interval training program is the slow jog-fast sprint interval training. Warm up and stretch thoroughly before you commence HIIT. I will repeat don’t forget, it is very important to warm up and cool down for 5 minutes, every time, before and after each HIIT session. Then start out with a 1 minute jog / 1 minute sprint as fast as you can. For beginners, you can try 2 min jog then 1 minute sprint or adjust the cycle to suit your stamina. For more challenge, try to sprint up hills or inclines and slow jog down. Or use the 30sec/30sec cycle instead of 1 min each.  Perform HIIT 4 to 5 times a week for 20-30 minutes and watch your fats melt away fast.  Remember, it has to be intense during the sprint phase for it to be very effective. Otherwise, it will just be another cardio exercise you see people doing day in and day out without any real results. You should be extremely tired, sweating profusely, huffing and puffing when you are done. If you are not, you have not been performing HIIT correctly.  

So you’re a beginner. Let’s assume you’re going to apply HIIT training. You’ll jog for a set amount of time, sprint for a set amount of time, followed by more jogging, more sprinting, and so on, until you’ve trained for a certain amount of time. Every other workout, you’ll add another minute to your HIIT session. For instance, your first two HIIT sessions during week one will each take only four minutes. On the third workout of week 1, you’ll add another 30-second sprint followed by a 30-second jog. Every other workout thereafter, you’ll add another minute’s worth of HIIT training until finally, by the end of week 8, you’ll be doing a 15-minute HIIT session.  Keep building till you get to 20 minutes.  Intensity is measured on a scale from 1 to 10. 1 is pretty much standing still, 5 is a light jog and 10’s running as if a lion was chasing you for dinner. Hiit training is about hitting 10 as many times you can.    If the point at which you’re starting finds you in a very bad physical state, then here is another alternative. Following the guidelines as above, but add another 30 second period of walking in between each  So you’ll walk for a set amount of time, then jog for a set amount of time, sprint for a set amount of time, followed by more waling, more jogging, more sprinting, and so on.  The bottom line is that HIIT training burns a greater number of total calories than low-intensity training, and more calories burned equals more fat lost. The majority of calories burned will come after your workout!  Try it! You can already visualise the fat melting away right before your very own eyes.

Christmas is approaching FAST. It’s a time when you deserve to let your hair down’, A time to look forward to enjoying all those extra special, mouth watering seasonal treats with family, friends and work colleagues. A time to go to every party and finger lickin’ buffet that’s going – without that nagging conscience!  

So go for it, life has to be fun. At times we have to spoil ourselves, even with something’s that may not be what’s best for us. In my case, December is my month for letting go. Where everything I follow the rest of the year is put on the back burner. I eat foods that I wouldn’t normally, like chocolate, cake, crisps … and I love every mouthful. I overdo the alcohol consumption about four times in the month, and increase my portion sizes dramatically. Hey, I’m only human. 

When the clocks strikes twelve and New Years day commences, I wave goodbye to not only the year just gone, but also to my excesses of the previous month. I am straight back into focus. My goals are back, and so am I.  

Your passion, drive and determination can be dramatically increased when directed towards a focused goal. They provide you the direction needed to channel your energy to achieve your “personal best” in any aspect of your life. 

95% of the people who set New Year’s resolutions never follow through. The reason is that most people don’t understand the process of how to produce lasting results—and they never take the first steps. There is a process they need to follow  to get started and create the momentum that will drive you to follow through. By following through this procedure, you will gain clarity about where you’ve been, where you are now, and where you want to go. It will also help you create a simple plan to set up your new year so that it truly compels, excites, and drives you. 

Here I provide you a great process, that if you follow it through you will come out with the goals that will drive you through the year ahead. This was a process I was fortunate to learn many years ago at an Anthony Robbins Seminar. 

STEP1: GET CLEAR. 

To begin, you must first gain clarity about where you really are now… 

1. What did you love in 2009?A. What were some of your Magic Moments?B. What did you accomplish in 2009?C. What are some of the things from 2009 that you want to duplicate in 2010? 

2. What did you hate in 2009?A. What was challenging this past year?B. What do you not want to have happen again?C. What did you learn by going through these experiences? 

3. What decisions did you make in 2009 that were empowering for you?A. What were some of the most important decisions of this year for you?B. What decisions might you make next year as a result? 

STEP2: GET CERTAIN. 

Once you know where you are, you need to create certainty about your capacity to take anything you can dream about and make it real. 

1. Write down anything in your life that was once merely just a goal, dream, or desire. What are some of the big and little things that at one time seemed extremely difficult or impossible to achieve or acquire?2. Circle the two or three items on your list that seemed the most difficult or impossible to achieve.3. For the two or three items you circled, write down the steps you went through to turn each one of them into reality. You may not have done it consciously, but it’s likely something stimulated you to want them — so much so that it may have become a magnificent obsession for you. Then, did you focus on it continuously? Put a lot of emotional charge into it? Then what? Did you actually create a plan? What were the steps you went through? 

STEP3: GET EXCITED. 

Now that you are clear about where you’ve been, and you have certainty about your ability to make your goals and dreams real, it’s time to decide where you want to go… 

1. In a peak state, write down every goal you think you’d like to accomplish in the next 20 years. Be sure to include ANYTHING you want to do, be, share, create, have, give. Include financial goals, personal development goals, physical goals, relationship goals, contribution goals—anything you’d like to learn, enjoy, or do. No matter how silly or outrageous it may seem, this is your chance to dream without limits. Be sure to keep your pen moving as fast as possible! 

2. When you are finished, go through your list and next to each item, write down the number of years you want it to take (or believe it will take) to achieve your goal (write 1 year, 2-3 years, 5 years, 10 years, or 20 years). 

STEP4: GET FOCUSED. 

1. Out of your list of goals (from step 3), circle your top four one year goals. Out of your entire list, what do you want most? What are the top four goals that, if you could achieve them this year, would get you up early and keep you up late with excitement? 

STEP5: GET COMMITTED. 

1. For each of your top four one-year goals, write a paragraph about why they are ‘musts’ for you to achieve them. What are the reasons you absolutely will achieve this no matter what?Remember, reasons come first, answers come second! Why do you want to do this? 

2. What are some of the things that you may need to do that you don’t want to do in order to achieve these goals? If you have enough passion, you can get yourself to do anything, but first you must be certain about what “anything” might entail. Let’s look the tiger in the eye! 

STEP6: GET MOMENTUM. 

Never leave the site of setting a goal without taking some action toward its attainment. You must take immediate action. 

1. Decide now: What is one small thing that you will do immediately toward achieving one of your top goals (e.g., making a phone call, booking a meeting, researching on the internet, signing up for a seminar, getting a coach, etc.)? 

2. What is one big thing that you resolve to do immediately to achieve this goal (e.g., making a decision, throwing out all the unhealthy food in your house right now, giving something away, etc.)? 

STEP7: GET SMART. 

To make sure you follow through, you have to get smart and measure yourself consistently. Remember, most people set some New Year’s goals, have no plan or direction, take no action, and then measure again next New Year’s! The more you measure something the better it gets. You must resolve now to measure your specific progress daily, or at least weekly. 

Goal setting is an essential skill that everyone needs to have. Very few people however take the time to think about their goals for the future. Those that live their life by design experience greater success, fulfilment, happiness and joy. There is a magic in goal setting that is unleashed when you start to live your life with a sense of purpose guided by a well-planned future. 

Something happens the minute you set goals. You become a creator and something clicks. Immediately you change because immediately your expectations of yourself and your life changes. You acknowledge to both your conscious and subconscious minds that you are not satisfied with where you are. One of the major motivating factors in human action is that sense of dissatisfaction. In order to direct our lives we need to use both the positive and the negative consequences of goals. Ask yourself what will I gain by attaining my goals? Also ask yourself what will it cost me eventually if I do not achieve my goal? 

It is critically important to have goals to direct our thoughts and minds and help us focus on what we desire most for ourselves and our lives. Thoughts are things. As you think so you are and so you will become. 

Make this coming year, 2010, your best ever yet! 

I am an auditory learner. I learn best through hearing things. My learning is enhanced by verbal explanations, dialogue, talking things through and listening attentively. I think in words, not in pictures. I am very aware of audible signals, tone, pitch and speed of voice. They very much influence the way I interpret what I hear. So words have always been important to me, even before I understood why. 

Whether spoken or written, words have the power to influence your thoughts, and they have the power to transform your life. Words can inspire you to find the best within you. Words create a psychological connection within your mind, and can inspire you or demotivate you. The right words can produce inspiring thought, and get you to take massive action. The wrong words can totally deflate you.  So, words can be uplifting or damaging. ‘Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill’. Buddha.  When words are used against us in a negative way, whether by somebody else or our own self talk, they can cause great damage. Negative words can kill enthusiasm, reduce self-esteem, lower expectations, they can even make you cry. When someone says something negative to us, a sarcastic remark, a discouraging word, or something that puts us down, it hurts so bad, and forms a hidden wound that is hard to heal. You are hurt by what a loved one says in a fit of fury. When we hear somebody say something about us that is discouraging or sarcastic we take it to heart. Hurtful words can make us lose our common sense, twist our thinking and change our behaviour.

Positive and encouraging words lift you up, raise your spirits, motivate you, awaken your expectations, create dynamic visions, feed your mind, inspire thinking and make you feel great. Words have a massive influence over your thoughts and actions. They impact and affect everything you do. 

One of my personal methods of coping with daily stress is reading and then thinking about an inspirational quote. Of course just reading a quote won’t make stressful situations just disappear, but by letting their insight absorb your mind, you will feel more relaxed, more positive, and you will find your ability to handle pressure vastly improved. 

When you are down in the dumps, struggling with situations in your life, what do you do to lift your emotional state? At these times, what is it that you use to bring you inspiration, understanding, or solutions? By just reading an inspirational quote and then pondering it, you will create positive thoughts, encouraging you to find solutions.

Inspirational quotes have massive power through their capacity to inspire and motivate you to take action. When we are troubled, facing difficult circumstances, instead of focusing on solutions, we let our mind wander through the debris of life, seeing the worst case scenarios, expecting doom and gloom. Your mind spinning out of control building things up to an exaggerated state. You imagine all kinds of terrible outcomes.More often than not, we find the worst case scenario that we think about for so long don’t actually turn out as bad as we have been imagining. Most of the terrible outcomes you think about don’t come to fruition. In reality, the worst that happens is usually not that hard to handle. In fact the worst part of it is the time you have wasted fretting, troubling yourself with the fears of what may come to pass.It is a fact that our ability to handle pressure is determined by our attitude toward it.

Getting our thinking right will help us to deal far better with things at difficult times. Find yourself an inspirational quote which you can use to get your thinking into perspective, that will also bring you inner calm. A great quote can instantly transform your thoughts, putting you into a better frame of mind. Use quotes as the off switch to your inner chatter. Turn off your fears and stress, and focus on the words and their meaning instead. Let them inspire you. Let them bring your mind to a peak state, full of positivity, and excitement about what you can to, be or have. 

Weekly, I plan to put forward, my quote of the day. I will share the words that I will ponder each morning, the words that will inspire me to positive thinking. I ask you, to use the comments section in my blog, to leave your favourite and most inspiring quotes. Let motivational quotes inspire you, motivate you, get you to take action creating results. Expose your mind with positive energy, offsetting the negative and weakening barrage of stress. Fuel yourself with positive, upbeat words and start taking massive, immediate, and consistent action.