William Shakespeare once said, “I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.” For anyone who’s ever read the world’s pre-eminent dramatist, this is some pretty straightforward prose. Or is it? Because like anything by Shakespeare, it helps to read it a few times and let the true meaning of the words really sink in. In this case, the concept of wasting time has a double meaning – time being wasted and time doing the wasting. If you really think about it, whenever you waste time it has a tendency come back and bite you in the butt. That is to say, wasting time can negatively impact you as well as prevent you from reaching your goals. Whatever it is you’re doing. Especially with fitness. So don’t waste time planning and talking about your new exercise program. Keep it simple and workout everyday. And enjoy strengthening your core and toning your abdominal muscles with today’s 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #81 – Plank Crunches. – R
Remember “the Eighties”?
Who can forget “the Eighties”, right? Ronald Reagan and the end of the Cold War, Nancy Reagan’s Just Say No to drugs campaign, Dallas, Dynasty, Seinfeld and Miami Vice, Pac-Man and Nintendo, the Walkman and the Boombox, the arrival of Halley’s Comet, the Mount St. Helens eruption, MTV, Madonna and Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the Yugo and the DeLorean, “Big hair” and Ray-Bans, the Cabbage Patch Doll, famine in Ethiopia and the Live Aid concert, the Chernobyl diaster, the Lockerbie disaster, the Bhopal diaster, the Tiananmen Square protests, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger’s disintegration, the Exon Valdez spill, the beginning of the AIDS pandemic, the Apple Mackintosh, Wayne Gretsky, Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Donald Trump and Michael Milken, Chariots of Fire, Platoon, Top Gun, The Breakfast Club, Rain Man, Terms of Endearment, Beverly Hills Cop, The Terminator, Die Hard and Rambo, the death of Bob Marley, and the assassination of The Beatles John Lennon, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, and Marvin Gaye. For those of us who experienced the go-go Eighties, it was quite a decade. Now it’s time to enter the Fat Burning Eighties, i.e., today marks our 80th consecutive 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout. So enjoy today’s Killer Kalves as we reminisce about the Eighties. – R
Offset today’s fear with a new fitness routine
Superstition holds today, Friday the 13th, to be a day of bad luck. Nonsense, right? Well, according to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, “an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed.” So does this superstition prevent you from leaving the house today and sticking with your daily routine? Then how about offsetting today’s fear with a new fitness routine, and join me for some good old fat burning! Because who says friggatriskaidekaphobia (fear of Friday the 13th) has to be a bad thing. Enjoy today’s 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #79 – Leg Hops. – R
Do it with consistency…like the self-flushing toilet
Exactly 219 years ago today, the toilet that flushes itself at regular intervals was patented. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could automatically set yourself to exercise at regular intervals? That would certainly make it easier to stick with a daily fitness program, right. Believe it or not, you can set your internal clock to go off daily, reminding you to workout. That’s right. Because like any activity that’s become routine in your life, e.g., brewing your morning coffee as soon as you wake up, taking that afternoon cigarette break at work, or going to the laundromat every Wednesday night, you can program yourself to workout on a daily basis. The easiest way to do this is to do it with consistency. Because once you’ve established the habit of working out, your mind and body will crave it. Plus, your internal clock will subliminally remind you that it’s time to exercise. It’s true. At this point in life, I couldn’t go two days without exercising and not feel my “alarm clock” reminding me to workout. So enjoy flushing that fat away with today’s 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #78 – Sculpt Those Shoulders II. – R
Friends and honesty, do they match?
I was speaking with a friend this morning about telling your best friend something that’s true, but may hurt their feelings. Or worse yet, may drive your best friend away, especially if they’re in a difficult place in their life. Like my friend’s best friend, who’s responding to adversity with an eating disorder. The thing is, with friends it’s oftentimes difficult to be brutally honest, especially if the truth is difficult to swallow. And since the truth can be as painful to give as it is to receive, it’s always best to proceed with sensitivity and compassion. For those of you who have seen my film, Boulevard Zen, you know that my character, Bobby D’Angelo, inspires others to overcome adversity while communicating the truth through example. He uses the healing powers of yoga to help students deal with their depression, infertility, hypertension and anorexia. So be sensitive with your truth telling, especially if it involves something serious and beyond your expertise. And always encourage your friends to make that mind-body connection with some form of fitness, especially yoga. So enjoy restoring your body with today’s 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #77 – Restorative Legs, Core & Abs II – R
Do it and understand
Chinese thinker and social philosopher, Confucius, once said, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” Because when you actually do something of value, whatever it is, you understand first-hand the reasons for doing it as well as the benefits derived from it. Thus, do it and understand. Like my fat burning workouts. Or anything else fitness related you can afford doing on a daily basis. Because once you understand what it is to embrace a daily fitness program by actually doing it, you’ll be hooked. Or at least you’ll empower yourself with the knowledge and experience you’ll never forget. Enjoy today’s 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #76 – Warrior Legs. – R
Invest in yourself
For the past 75 days, I’ve been posting videos and blogging about the benefits of a daily fitness program. These short and effective workouts are meant to put a fat burning spark in your day, as well as inspire and empower you to embrace a daily fitness program. Because doing something fitness-related everyday is the epitome of a personal investment. Why? Because time is money, and when you allocate time to a daily fitness program, you invest in yourself. That’s right. You invest in your physical and mental well-being, preserving the most important asset in your life – you! So enjoy investing in yourself with today’s 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #75 – Chest & Shoulders II. – R
Happy Mother’s Day!
Enjoy your Mother’s Day everyone, and especially remember to respect yourself and others when celebrating. And don’t forget your daily exercise with today’s 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #74 – Chest & Shoulders. Happy Mother’s Day! – R
Gotta love Horoscopes
What I love about daily Horoscopes is the way they all speak with an open-hearted positivity, whatever your Zodiac sign may be. And I mean all. Just read your Horoscope today, and check out your Mom’s or your best friend’s. And why shouldn’t they all be positive and open-hearted? Because no matter what your situation is today, you can make it better by just thinking, speaking and feeling more positive. And by respecting yourself with a daily fitness program. Because just like Horoscopes, energizing your mind and body while putting a fat burning spark in your day is always a good thing. So enjoy sculpting your butt & thighs with today’s 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #73. – R
Staying fit for the Cougars
This is for all you guys out there who’ve fallen out of shape, especially you Baby Boomers from the ages of 46 to 65 who could use a little help staying fit for the Cougars. Everybody knows what a Cougar is, right? For example, yesterday I spoke with my yoga teacher friend who’s 46 and divorced with a 10 year-old son. She’s attractive, sexy, independent, active, in-shape, confident and fun to be with. And she’s not just looking to hang out at some hotel bar drinking the afternoon away. That Cougar. Because my friend deserves someone her age or older who’s in-shape and can keep up with her. Which, unfortunately for most of you Boomers, is guys much younger than you. So if you haven’t started one, get with a daily fitness program and stay fit for the Cougars! Enjoy sculpting your abs, biceps and thighs again with today’s 5 Minute Fat Burning Workout #72. – R