Make it your LIFESTYLE

When people look at you, make them want to ask, "What have you been doing?" You say, "This is the result of my lifestyle!"

Thoughts Affect Your Health

I can not find where I read this article! Where did it come from!?  I like it & want to pass it on -- However I unfortunately had nothing to do with the study -- It would have been fun.
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There are many studies showing that much of the diminished capacity we accept as a normal part of aging may be of our own making and that our views on the elderly need to be “reconstructed.” But it is our mindsets regarding health that are perhaps the most important to reconsider.

Research has not progressed as quickly as it might have regarding the mind’s influence on our health, in part because of the pervasive dualist belief in a mind distinct from the body. The problem that dualism creates is how we get from the nonmaterial mind (thoughts) to the material body. Although philosophers and psychologists of the past weren’t able to figure this out, we’ve all experienced the direct effects of the mind-body connection—a leaf blows across our face, startling us and causing our pulse to increase; we see someone vomit, and we feel nauseated; we watch lovemaking in a movie and get excited.

What happens if we put the mind and body back together? Wherever we put the mind, the body would be. We tested this idea in a series of studies where we put the mind in a “healthy place” (back in time when the body was healthy). We took many measures before we began the study and repeated them at the end. The results were dramatic.

In one study we took elderly men to a retreat and turned the clock back 20 years. The men were to live for a week as if it were 20 years earlier. They would speak only in the present tense about the past; view movies and television shows from that time; and participate in events like quiz shows, all from the earlier perspective. A comparison group also lived at the retreat for a week, similarly engaged, but all their discussions about the past were discussed in the past tense. Their minds were clearly in the present looking back.

On many of the measures, the participants in both groups got “younger.” (Because those in the comparison group were treated with respect that implicitly conveyed our belief in their abilities, in contrast with the culture’s view of aging, they also improved over the course of the week.) Both groups came out of the experience with better hearing and memory and significantly increased grip strength.

The experimental group showed greater improvements in joint flexibility, arthritis measures and manual dexterity. On intelligence tests, 63% of the experimental group improved their scores, compared with only 44% of the control group. There were also improvements in height, weight, gait and posture. Finally, we asked people unaware of the study’s purpose to compare the photos taken of the participants at the end of the week to those submitted at the beginning of the study. All of the experimental participants looked noticeably younger at the end of the study. It seemed that we were able to turn back the clock, which led us to refer to our research as the “counterclockwise study.”

In study after study over 30 years, we’ve found that increasing mindfulness is itself good for our health. In several studies with older adults, we’ve found that increasing mindfulness even increases longevity.

Establish Healthy Eating HABITS

Look over your eating habits. Write them down. Cross off the unhealthy choices & replace them with healthy ones. Now follow that for a few days & re-evaluate. You have to have a plan.

Closet Garbage Eaters

I must agree from the mouth of Tony Horton (P90X)

You know who you are. You’ve got all the answers and your lousy at taking sound advice because it’s easier to be lazy. The tilt-a-whirl of disappointment goes round and round and you pretend everything is okay. You’re not fooling anyone and everyone else knows what you’re up to. It’s easy to lack self discipline because you’re not alone. Misery loves company.


I’m sick and tired of hearing why you can’t stop eating crap. Stop blaming your thyroid, boyfriend, childhood and ancestry because it’s not working. The problem is your inability to face reality. The real issues are your lack of accountability, willpower, determination and the lousy company you keep. It’s also your lame plan or lack there of. Your reasons why suck and you don’t tell the truth about what you stuff in your face when no one is looking.

Your horrendous eating habits is the American terrorist within. If the level of disease caused by unhealthy choices continues at this alarming rate then we will destroy ourselves without any help from the bad guys. Fad diets, pills and miracle potions used to lose weight never work in the long term and they never will. Dozens of studies show that calorie control diets that still allow you to eat forms of unhealthy food always fail. I’ve never met anyone who started a “weight lose only” diet and stayed on it. So you lost 50 pounds and kept it off for 5 years. Why did you gain it all back in 6 months during year six? Are you proud of that?

When diet deprivation becomes too much the closet eating begins. Your reasons for falling off the wagon are plenty and you’ll defend them till you’re blue in the face. Good for you for choosing the option that required you to be lazy again. Choosing gluttony is no way to build your manifesto my friend. What is your reason for being on this earth? Why do you really put that garbage in your mouth? Do you want to know why? Do you want to look at it closely? Do you care enough?

Step4ward....Strength & Power are waiting for you!

Step4ward Fitness SUMMER Training Schedule

Click on the words above to see the 2011 SummerTraining Schedule
Groups are subject to change (deleted or added)
If you have a group of friends and would like to develop a time other than listed by all means let me know!

My Daily Food Intake

People ask me allot, "What do you eat to look the way you look?" Well, sorry to admit there is no secret formula and no tricks up my sleeve. Why would I as a personal trainer hide a special formula to stay lean & healthy! My desire is to have all my clients lean and mean. That is a secret that would make me RICH! ha ha
However, the formula was discovered a long time ago. The problem is very few people are willing to walk that road. Just as the gate to heaven is narrow and the road to common is wide. Ok, I shouldn't compare fit & lean to going to heaven...It is just that the road to a healthy & productive body is less travelled.
WHY? It takes self discipline, determination, and sacrifices that people are unwilling to commit. If only they would realize how awesome it can be if they would be convicted about the physical gift we have been given..

Once a person realizes the discipline & sacrifices are worth it...somehow it is no longer a sacrifice.  It becomes a way of life. And when your discipline becomes a way of life YOU become powerful in your choices thus leading to an amazing outcome.

Here is a normal day in the life of Shelley Gray:


6:30 am glass of high quality h2o (tap)

Coffee with powdered creamer and real sugar.

Breakfast:

3 eggs and 2 whole wheat toast

Or

Kashi cereal with skim milk

Or

Greek yogurt with FiberOne bar

Snack:

Almonds and banana

Or

Pineapple and yogurt

Or

High Fiber tortilla (80 calories) with cheddar cheese


12:00 Lunch:

Spinach leaves (a HUGE bunch)
2 Boiled eggs
4 baby carrots
Can of chicken or grilled
Banana Peppers
Jalapeño peppers
Sunflower seeds
Tomatoes (if worthy)
Maple grove balsamic vinegar

Or

Subway chicken or egg white on Italian bread
loaded veggies
mustard

Or

Rice
Beans
Tomatoes
Corn
Green chiles

Snack

Popcorn
Or

Cliff bar

Or

Fruit and pretzels

7:00 Dinner

Steak, chicken or fish
Salad, Grilled veggies

Or

High fiber tortilla
Black beans
Tomato
Feta cheese
Spinach leaves

Snack

Greek Yogurt
With kasha cereal in it

Or

Skim milk
Total Cereal
 
AND YES!  I do eat junky food every now & then.  I am a human  I love pizza, cookies & chocolate. I do not let food rule my day. If I did I would eat crappy & feel worse for it. Choosing to eat healthy increases my attitude, productivity and my mood. 
 
Monitor your mood and tell me junk doesn't make you feel bad.
 
JUNK makes you:
Fat
Moody
Depressed
Light headed
Gastric problems
Headache
Guilty
Hungry
and Unsatisfied

Think Yourself Stronger

Competitive athletes often use a technique called visualization to help give them an edge over their opponents.
By imagining every aspect of a race or performance, from start to finish, they bring themselves one step closer to making it a reality. New research suggests technique may apply to strengthening muscles as well.

''Just thinking about exercise can help maintain muscle strength,'' says Dr. Vinoth Ranganathan, who, with a team of researchers from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, investigated the strength benefits of imagining exercising a muscle.

Thirty healthy young adults were divided into three groups. For 15 minutes a day, five days per week for 12 weeks, the first group imagined exercising their little finger muscle, the second group imagined exercising their biceps muscle and the third group served as a control by not doing any imaginary exercise.

''We asked the subjects to think as strongly as they could about moving the muscle being tested, to make the imaginary movement as real as they could,'' explains Ranganathan.

Muscle strength was measured before, during and after the training sessions.

The finger exercisers increased their strength 35 percent, while the biceps group increased 13.4 percent. Measurements of the participants' brain activity during their mental exercises suggest that these strength gains were due to improvements in the brain's ability to signal muscle.

Researchers hope these results will assist in the therapy of stroke and spinal cord injury patients, and follow-up studies are planned for healthy older adults as well.

''We believe that anyone who has difficulty doing physical exercises can use our mental training method to improve the muscle strength they have lost or maintain the muscle strength they have,'' researchers wrote.

Of course, actual strength-training exercises — as opposed to imaginary ones – are still the most effective means of building strong, healthy muscles.