Motivation

Trying to lose weight and eat healthy is easier said than done! Everyone who has tried to lose weight has most likely had a problem, even personal trainers, with lack of motivation. There are going to be bad days, but sometimes bad days turn in to skipping a workout session and then skipping a week of workout sessions. When this happens bad habits start to show themselves and we fall back into our "comfortable" lives. It's not until we realize that the weight that we did lose has reappeared around our waist with a couple extra dimples in our thighs that we finally begin to exercise again.

Here are five ways to stay motivated and have fun!

• List your Goals. This means to write them down, big and bold, and post them in a place where they can be seen daily or twice daily if need be.
  
  
• Take a "Before" picture, then cut out a picture from a magazine, one that will represent what you want your "After" picture to look like and post them it next to your goals.
  
  
• Hold a "Biggest Loser" contest at work or with your friends. Set a time limit (like a month or two), you can hold weekly challenges (like taking a Ropes Course or having a trainer hold a Boot Camp just for your group), and have everyone put in 10-20 dollars (this will be the prize money, and who ever loses the most weight at the end of the given time will receive it!)
  
  
• Hold a contest with yourself! Set a goal, like "I want to lose 20-25 pounds in 3 months" and put away 40-50 dollars every time you get paid in those three months. If you reach your goal take the money you've saved and go shopping! (You'll probably need smaller cloths anyway!)
  
  
• Start a support group. Get together once a week and discuss nutrition, current diet trends, and exercise with people who are also trying to lose weight and live healthier lifestyles.
  

I hope this helps. I have personally done number 4 and having a shopping spree as a reward is so much fun and defiantly rewarding when I can buy cloths that would never have fit before!

How do you stay motivated? Leave a comment and let me know.

Personal Lows and Cardio Highs

I actually plan on writing an article with the same title, but since it is still a work in-progress....and I it's time to update the blog, I figured I would post some information on the mental benefits of exercise.
From a young age, I have suffered with clinical depression and anxiety. At first it was difficult to deal with especially as a teenager. I self medicated and ate my way through my emotional pain. It was during my teen years, the years that I suffered with depression the most, that I grew to a massive 250+ pounds. It's safe to say that I hated my body and my self-esteem was non-existent.

Years passed, I saw therapists and tried medications which worked, but I just didn't feel like that it was for me.

The event that changed my life was my father's wedding. I was hoping to find a nice dress to wear to the wedding and even asked a friend to come along and help me pick something out. I couldn't find anything, that I liked, that would fit me!! Devastated, I went down to Goodwill and found something that would hide my "rolls" to wear. The day of the wedding I vowed to myself that I would lose weight so I can wear what I want to wear and not have to worry about being embarrassed or disappointed when I go shopping.

The day after the wedding I stopped drinking soda and started eating healthier foods. I purchased a jump rope, a few exercise DVDs and began working out for at least an hour a day. Before I realized I had lost 50 pounds. This motivated even more, so I joined a gym and never looked back!

Today, even though I still suffer the effects of depression and anxiety they aren't as present in my life as they were before.

I'm not the only one who feels that proper diet and exercise has helped change and control my depression. Research shows at least 30 minutes of exercise a day for at least three to five days a week to significantly improve depression symptoms. But smaller amounts of activity - as little as 10 to 15 minutes at a time - can improve mood in the short term. "Small bouts of exercise may be a great way to get started if it's initially too hard to do more," Dr. Vickers-Douglas says.

Some evidence suggests that exercise raises the levels of certain mood-enhancing neurotransmitters in the brain. Exercise may also boost feel-good endorphins, release muscle tension, help you sleep better, and reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. It also increases body temperature, which may have calming effects. All of these changes in your mind and body can improve such symptoms as sadness, anxiety, irritability, stress, fatigue, anger, self-doubt and hopelessness. (http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/exdepression)

So the next time you're feeling depressed avoid just laying around, for a quick mood booster (that will help you lose weight at the same time!) go for a run around your block, or just take the dog out for walk and get some fresh air. Trust me it helps!