This morning I spoke with this twenty-something year old Ethiopian guy who moved here to pursue the American dream. You know the one: money, kids, cars, a big house – am I forgetting anything? Well, he explained to me how his family is considered wealthy by Ethiopian standards, with a nice house and a live-in servant for $20/month (yes, $20), and how he’s basically had to “start from scratch” since arriving two years ago. Because regardless of his perceived wealthy past, he’s had to start from square one here in the United States. Just like many people and their fitness programs. If you haven’t worked out in a really long time, well, you’ll just have to start from scratch. But that’s not a bad thing. In fact, why not make it a good thing! Like with my Ethiopian friend – who has his own apartment, works a full time job and goes to technical college – starting over doesn’t have to be feared. Keep it simple and keep it short, as in 1% of your day. Embrace the challenge and have fun with your new beginning. Because who doesn’t have 15 minutes a day to respect themselves? R
Ode to my sister
I spoke with my sister yesterday after I received her beautiful pictures of my nieces and nephews, including my brother’s children. This holiday season my family is 3,000 miles away, but for sure I’m there in spirit. And keeping with that holiday spirit, my sister told me she just started my fat burning workouts and intends to lose 12 pounds. The key word here – intends – as opposed to hopes. Because with anything you do that requires action, it’s better to set your intentions and make it happen than to hope for something good to happen. She also told me the first two days her legs were so tired she couldn’t go for her 2 mile walk – which she also just started. I told her after a week or so that muscle fatigue will get better and she’ll be jogging those miles in no time. This Ode’s for you sis…
Burn Fat Burn
Sometimes the path seems filled with pain,
but the only thing that hurts is your ego in vain.
Who says you’ll find success by pushing yourself daily,
when the results seem as far as the comet Halley.
But wait, you say, there’s a simple solution,
because reasons and excuses are just an illusion.
So keep on trucking with that positive attitude,
with fat burning workouts there’s no room for platitude.
Always set your intentions and just let’em fly,
no judgment, no worries, to your old ways goodbye!
Merry Christmas Everyone – R
What are friends for?
This morning I met this fifty-something gal in the gym with a great body who’s always there. The first thing I asked her was if she worked out everyday. She said yes. Then I said, 5 days as week, and she gave me this look like are you crazy, and emphatically says, “No, 7 days”. Then along comes her fifty-something guy friend who meekly says, “ahhhhh, I won’t be here tomorrow so Merry Christmas”. She then gives him the exact look she gave me and asks why not. The man hesitates and says he won’t be there because he has to baby-sit his grandkids. So she proclaims, “At 5 o’clock in the morning, oh come on Johnny, you better be here!” Now what are friends for, right? Just that. To care about you, to support you, to motivate you, and to make you accountable when things get hard – like working out everyday at 5am. I totally understand why some people have more success with a fitness or weight loss program when they have a partner, or network of like-minded, mutually supportive individuals to help them through the tough times. So if you’re that type of person who benefits from the extra push from your friends, then embrace it and find your workout partner today! And get started with your daily fitness program – whatever it may be. Because who doesn’t have 15 minutes a day to respect themselves? R
Sick and tired of being sick and tired
I was speaking with a friend today about how most people are sick and tired of the same old thing. That is to say, the state of our economy, the 12.5% unemployment rate in California, the depressed real estate markets throughout the country, how it’s more difficult to make the same amount of money for the same amount of work (or more), how going to a gym or yoga studio has become so expensive that it’s prohibitive for most of his twenty-something peers – $15 for a gym workout and $25 for a drop-in yoga class in his neighborhood, and finally, how bad overindulging with food and alcohol at holiday parties – or anytime for that matter – and not working out can make you feel. But really, who isn’t sick and tired of being sick and tired? There’s a new year coming, it’s time to reflect, refuel and re-focus, and it’s time to get your mind and your body in the best possible condition via the simplest and most affordable way. So forget about being sick and tired and get with a 15 minute fat burning daily fitness program today! It’ll make that same old same old seem much much better. And I’ll see you tomorrow. R
A little above the weather
Everyone knows the feeling when the weather’s got you down and you’re ‘a little under the weather’ right? Well how about turning the tables on today’s bad weather and telling yourself exactly the opposite – that you’re a little above the weather! Because that weather malaise is just a temporary mindset you can enthusiastically change. I know for most of you Mother Nature has been rather frigid and snowy and all around nasty, but for those of us in LA it feels like we should be boarding Noah’s Arc right about now. And since we’re relatively spoiled with our clear blue sunny skies – well, who says you can’t move to LA – it’s especially easy to feel under the weather and fall off your daily routine. Don’t do it. Or if you do, just make it one day only, not two or three in a row. Because while everyone else around you feels a bit more weather-like with each passing day, you’ll be the bright a cheerful one who got your workout in. For sure you’ll feel better and for sure your positive energy will radiantly affect everyone around you. And maybe you’ll even motivate your loved ones to do the same, so they can bask in the sunshine of their own positive energy. So get your 15 Minute Fat Burning Workout in today. And I’ll see you tomorrow. R
Sore in a good way
After my workout this morning I ran into a friend who just started doing my 15 Minute Fat Burning Workouts. I would describe this twenty-something gal as rather solid, with about 25 pounds excess weight. She told me she started with Tuesday’s Workout – which happens to be one of the more challenging ones – and that she was “sore in a good way”. For someone who doesn’t workout much – or at all – being sore was certainly a good thing. It means the workouts are affecting her muscles in a fatiguingly positive way, opening them up to receive new energy and nutrients, thus making them stronger and firmer. It’s the sore in a good way feeling that burns fat and conditions the muscles for future workouts, allowing that soreness to diminish over time. Because that soreness does go away folks. Although it may return from time to time based on where your body is on any given day – a topic for a future blog – your muscles become accustomed to the workouts and respond more amicably, i.e., no soreness. So don’t get worried or discouraged, and certainly don’t stop working out just because of a little discomfort. Always remember: pain is bad, soreness is good. Enjoy the good with the bad and get your workout in today. And I’ll see you tomorrow. R
Get “Zen in ’10”
I recently read the average American gains 10-15 pounds during the holiday months. As crazy as that sounds, people who gain weight around the holidays seem to rationalize it with a New Year’s resolution to lose the weight well before those bikini months. But why not get “Zen in 10” and start now, two weeks ahead of time, by consciously choosing to eat and drink healthier and beginning a new daily fitness program today – one you can do from the comforts of your own home? Especially anyone living in the Midwest and on the East Coast – I certainly feel for you! So stop futurizing, as I often say, and keep your thoughts and intentions in the present. It’s much simpler that way, plus you won’t feel the pressure to perform in the future because of what you did to yourself today. And when I say get Zen it’s about finding your own personal enlightenment through your thoughts and actions – today. Not tomorrow because who knows what that will bring. I should know. I spent my 20s and 30s futurizing about a life that’s completely different than the one I enjoy today. So forget about getting back to your workouts and losing that weight in January. Respect yourself. And I’ll see you today (and tomorrow) – R
It’s never easy
You’ll never hear me say that developing and maintaining a daily fitness program is easy. It just gets easier to keep it going. And more rewarding each time you workout, whatever you do. Like today vs. yesterday. Yesterday I felt like someone ran me over with a steamroller – you know the feeling. I barely made my 20 minute stretching and abs, but I made it. Today I felt like a million bucks! I hit the gym for an hour, then went for a 2-mile run at the Silver Lake Reservoir, then taught an 11a yoga class. And I’m 47 and lived a party lifestyle until I gave up alcohol three years ago. So change does happen if you really want it to. It’s never easy, but in the case of a daily fitness routine, it’s well worth it. So if you haven’t started one already, well let’s get going. Because with each passing day your body is not getting any younger, or firmer, or leaner, or stronger, or more flexible without doing something. So make that something the most important 1% of your life. See you tomorrow – R