Yup, and last week you said “next Monday”, and last month you said “at the beginning of the month”. So when are you going to stop putting yourself off until later?  Time waits for no man and your health isn’t going to wait until you have the perfect schedule to workout. When . . . → Read More: Stop putting Yourself Off!]]>

Yup, and last week you said “next Monday”, and last month you said “at the beginning of the month”. So when are you going to stop putting yourself off until later?  Time waits for no man and your health isn’t going to wait until you have the perfect schedule to workout. When you start allowing everything around you to occupy your time and keep you from getting your physical activity in, then it is time to reevaluate some things.

What is holding you back from starting now? What is holding you back from making the commitment of carving out 4% of your day which equates to 1 hour and making it your time to workout? Does everything else mean that much more to you than making sure you keep yourself in shape or better yet getting yourself in shape?

Don’t get me wrong, life happens and we have to prioritize our daily life to make sure that we can provide for our family and get the necessities of life taken care of, but when are you going to stop making excuses and start making time?

How,  you ask? Make your time non-negotiable. Find that 30 min to an hour of your day that you can have for yourself and guard it. If 5pm is the only time you can workout before you have to pick the kids up from after school care, then don’t allow friends or family to impede on that time. Period.  If 5am is your only time where you have some time to exercise while the rest of the family is asleep then guard it. Don’t let things get in the way that will keep you up late so you miss your early morning appointment with the gym.

Step outside of your comfort zone. Do you keep pushing back your start date because you are afraid of the soreness that you will feel from working out? Get over it! Its going to happen. The sooner you go through it the sooner you will get past it and start seeing the results that you want to see. Do you not want to spend the money to join the gym, get a personal trainer or join a Bootcamp? Stop looking at that as an expense and start looking at it as an investment. An investment in yourself! If you dont pay the money now to get a hold of your health, you will surely pay it later from medications and doctors visits.

That is the question. Stop putting yourself off and start putting yourself first. Cant make it to the gym? There are home workouts you can do. Take the kids to the park and let them run around while you workout on the playground. Walk the dog while the kids ride their bikes.  Eliminate all of the excuses.

The one thing I hear  people say the most is that the reason they want to get healthier is so that they can be around longer for their kids or that they want to be able to do things with their kids without being tired and out of breath. Well not making your health a priority is not going to get you to that goal. If you want to be around long enough to see them grow up and be able to be active with them, then you have to make the sacrifices and make yourself a priority.

So stop with the, ” I will start next month” spill and make your health a priority and say ” I will start making it happen today”.

Always keepin it Real

Percy Bass RD,LD,CPT

Owner of Head 2 Toe Fitness and Nutrition

Head 2 Toe Fitness Studio

www.h2tfitness.com

Are you starting to lose steam from the time you started in January toward your fitness goal? Have you hit a plateau or seen your progress start to slow down?

In physical fitness there will be TWO stages when you will need to push yourself harder and those are when you START and . . . → Read More: Push Harder!]]>

Are you starting to lose steam from the time you started in January toward your fitness goal? Have you hit a plateau or seen your progress start to slow down?

In physical fitness there will be TWO stages when you will need to push yourself harder and those are when you START and when you hit a PLATEAU.

When you start addressing your physical fitness, pushing yourself harder will not be that extreme. Simply start telling yourself in everything you do you are going to push yourself harder. This is also where your WHY will help you push harder and keep you going.

Pushing yourself harder may simply mean instead of going home after work this evening, go to the gym to sign up for fitness classes like kickboxing, BootCamp or what ever you enjoy doing. Simple enough… right?

Just doing that little bit like signing up for classes is pushing yourself harder. Then the next step would be to push yourself to attend classes. Once you are in classes push yourself to have fun with whatever you’re doing. Remember having fun with physical fitness does not have to be passive it can be a choice.

As you begin to get more physically fit you will be thrilled at the initial changes in your body. Physically your body is going to change with a better resting heart rate, better metabolism, and you will be dropping weight.

However, after a period of time your body will become adjusted to what you are doing and you will not see the gains that you did in the beginning. This is when you will have to push yourself harder again, and this time that push may have to be a little bit harder. Again, this is when your WHY will become even more prevalent.

Push to change your workout. The change doesn’t have to be extreme but it should be fairly different. For example, where you are currently in a boot camp, kickboxing class, Zumba or what ever, you may want to pump it up in that class to make a change. A good Fitness program will have progressions built into the workout to allow you to safely push yourself to the next level to get stronger, leaner and better while still enjoying the challenge. These changes will push your body and lift you off your plateau with physical gains once again.

So when you feel like you are stuck in a rut and you cant seem to get any better, dont give up. Push yourself harder and elicit you body to make that change. For real changes in your life focus on how to push yourself harder every day, all the time.

Always Keepin it Real

Percy Bass RD,LD,CPT

Owner of Head 2 Toe Fitness and Nutrition

Head 2 Toe Fitness Studio

www.h2tfitness.com

Some people never get to start into the habit of doing regular exercise for a variety of reasons. Although sometimes working out is on their New Year’s Resolutions list or on their priority list, somehow they just never get to doing it. Others do start, but fail to follow through. Through listening to the hundreds . . . → Read More: Whats your Excuse Now?]]>

Some people never get to start into the habit of doing regular exercise for a variety of reasons. Although sometimes working out is on their New Year’s Resolutions list or on their priority list, somehow they just never get to doing it. Others do start, but fail to follow through. Through listening to the hundreds of clients that I have coached, here are a few of the main  excuses people use not to work out.

Number 1 Excuse: “I don’t have time to work out”

Whether one is a housewife or a businessman, the most common excuse for not doing regular exercise is not having enough time to do it. But saying you don’t have time to exercise is just an excuse to get out of doing something you really don’t feel like doing. Now if you really care about your health, just like you care about your job or your family, you have to give some time for this important activity. Remember, it is not just for fun or vanity, it is a necessary part of keeping yourself healthy. Just as important as having a health insurance, taking an active role in keeping yourself healthy is a priority that has to be allotted some time.

Second Excuse: “I’m out of shape”         

Of course, you’re out of shape, because you don’t exercise! But it becomes a vicious cycle, when one makes excuses like, “I don’t have enough energy to do work outs” or “I don’t feel well enough to exercise”.  So whether you feel like you don’t have enough strength to work out or don’t feel good enough about your self-image to show up in the gym, you are not going to be in better shape if you never try it. Just do it, and take the first step. You might even surprise yourself after losing a pound or just feeling a little more energetic once you burn a few calories.

Third Excuse: “I don’t know how to start”

Some people just don’t know how or when to start. But actually, it’s just another form of procrastination, when one does not have a definite plan to do something important. They can make excuses like, they need to buy a suitable outfit to wear for work outs, they need to squeeze work outs in their tight schedule, they need to find a suitable membership in a gym, etc. If you really want to do something, you will find ways to do it, right? So think about the benefits of exercise and resolve to make it a part of your daily life.

Fourth Excuse: “I might not be able to keep up”

Another excuse some people use is their worry that they may not be able to keep up with a gym class or a group of friends who work out together. Or maybe you are afraid to start because you might not be able to follow through. But again, this just reflects their lack of commitment to give some time and effort into regular work outs. It does not really matter if you’re the best in gym class or the one who shows up every time, you just have to make an effort to make a habit of getting more active.

Fifth Excuse: “I don’t know how to exercise”

Some people think there should always be a routine or a science of how to work out effectively. Although there are types of exercise that may be suited to some people more than others, the most important thing to remember is that no matter what kind of activity you do, it is better than just lying on the couch or sitting in front of the computer all day. Maybe you can start by walking around the block as briskly as you can manage. Or maybe take the stairs instead of using the elevator. If you keep these up, your attitude towards beginning a more active lifestyle will improve and perhaps, you can get rid of the excuses that have been keeping you from being healthier.

Always Keepin it Real

Percy Bass RD,LD,CPT

Owner of Head 2 Toe Fitness and Nutrition

H2T Fitness Studio

www.h2tfitness.com

It has been said that it takes 21 days to create a new habit. Three weeks huh? Less than a month huh? So you are telling me that I can change a bad habit or introduce a new more positive habit into my daily life in only a few weeks? Well . . . → Read More: Whats your Habit?]]>

It has been said that it takes 21 days to create a new habit. Three weeks huh? Less than a month huh? So you are telling me that I can change a bad habit or introduce a new more positive habit into my daily life in only a few weeks? Well how about you test that theory and let me know how you do. I mean its worth a try isnt it? If you have been struggling with your weight, eating habits, making time for the gym, or even getting enough sleep, how about you make it a priority for the next 21 days to change that negative action into a positive one.  Here are your action steps to get you going on creating that postive change in your life.

1. You need to set a goal. Why are you doing this? Decide what your goal is, write it down, and read it first thing in the morning and last thing at night for the next 3 weeks. This will be the key to your success. Make your goal specific. Dont just say,  ” My goal is to lose weight” or “My goal is to exercise”. Make specific goals like drinking more water, eliminating fried foods, eating more vegetables,working out 4-5 times a week or getting to bed by 10pm every night. These are process goals that will allow you to stay focused and have a residual affect. Weight loss, better health, more energy are all by products of these process goals.

2.  You need a reward. Something you really want or want to do. Willpower alone will not get you to your goal. You need a reason to push through the challenges. What’s your reward going to be? Write it down with your goals, and read it every morning and night as well.

3.  Pick 5 affirmations that you feel really good about when you read them. Again, write them down and read them morning and night. Nothing is better than starting and ending your day on the right foot. BE UNSTOPPABLE!

4.  Be open-minded. Don’t view the next 3 weeks as a time you will be depriving yourself ; look at it as a challenge that you CAN and WILL achieve no matter what it takes! Don’t you deserve that? If you come into this challenge with a negative attitude you will get more negative out of it. You Get what you Give. You are doing this for a reason, think positive and kick the negative attitude to the curb.

5. Last thing to think about…

“The only limits we have are the ones we put on ourselves.”

Leave me a comment and let me know what habit you will be forming in the next 21 Days.

Always Keepin it Real

Percy Bass RD,LD,CPT

Owner of Head 2 Toe Fitness and Nutrition, H2T Fitness Studio

www.h2tfitness.com

Somebody told me once  that excuses are like A$$holes! Everybody has one. Well I have heard more excuses about why people cannot workout or eat healthy than I care to count and  I’m fed up!  Check out my video below and see why!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmUXp08NgLI

Leave me a comment and . . . → Read More: EXCUSES]]>  

Somebody told me once  that excuses are like A$$holes! Everybody has one. Well I have heard more excuses about why people cannot workout or eat healthy than I care to count and  I’m fed up!  Check out my video below and see why!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmUXp08NgLI

Leave me a comment and let me know what is the best excuse you have heard about not being able to workout or eat right.

Do you remember a such thing called a Garden? You know the place where you plant seeds and vegetables grow. See back in the day there were no such things as “Organic” Foods. It was just Food. They didn’t need to put a fancy name in front of it to make it seem . . . → Read More: Still Your GrandPappy’s Food?!?!]]>

Do you remember a such thing called a Garden? You know the place where you plant seeds and vegetables grow. See back in the day there were no such things as “Organic” Foods. It was just Food. They didn’t need to put a fancy name in front of it to make it seem healthy because everyone knew that eating fruits and vegetables was healthy. I can remember every Tuesday being picked up from school by my uncle and going over to their house for dinner. They had a garden in their back yard and every day at dinner there was some sort of fresh vegetable that was picked from that garden sitting on the table. They grew tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, squash, and other vegetables.

It amazes me how many people I come in contact with that tell me that they don’t like or eat vegetables. Now as a kid I can understand not liking vegetables because you really don’t know any better, and anything other than candy doesn’t appeal to you. What I cant understand is a Big 30 year old, grown A$$ person saying that the only vegetables they will eat is Corn. WHAT THE HELL! Now don’t get me wrong, some vegetables no matter how you spice them up will not taste great, but most vegetables just by cooking them a certain way or seasoning them a certain way can create an enjoyable eating experience.

Just knowing that there are so many vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables that can ward of the risk of diseases, people should be scarfing down vegetables like its water. Oh, but maybe that is not a good example because people don’t even drink water like they are suppose to. Many experts suggest that people can reduce their risk of cancer significantly by eating more fruits, vegetables, and other foods from plants that contain phytochemicals.

Look, Nature gave us the blueprint that we need to be healthy. We just need to follow it. Although its been shown that our country’s soil may not be as rich with minerals as it was 50 years ago, trust and believe that you can still get plenty of fiber and nutrients from the fruits and vegetables grown today.

So go on out to your neighborhood market and fill your cart up with a rainbow of fruits and vegetables. Don’t let the word Organic and the price tag associated with it detour you from eating healthy. Eating 3-5 servings of Vegetables and 2-4 servings of Fruit a day will get you well on your way to getting the nutrients you need for a healthy body.

If you want to ensure that you are getting the adequate vitamins and mineral that you need a day even after eating the suggested amount of fruits and vegetables, check out these products from Prograde Nutrition that I promote and use on a daily basis to take my nutrition to the next level.
Prograde Genisis, VGF 25+ for Women and VGF 25+ for Men

Always Keepin it Real!

Percy Bass RD, LD,CPT

Owner of Head 2 Toe Fitness and Nutrition

www.h2tfitness.com

www.realtalkwithpercy.com

www.h2tbootcamp.com