How To Change Your Relationship With The Scale

by Dr. Sara Solomon P.T., DMD

 Over the course of 20 years and a dozen or so trainers, I came to hate enforced weekly weigh-ins. I was always filled with dread before I begrudgingly set foot on the scale, knowing that my self-worth and mood for the entire week hung in the balance.

On the rare days I lost weight, I felt elated. Most of the time, though, I either gained weight or hit a plateau; and on those days, in my mind, I became a “fat failure,” even if I thought I looked amazing in the mirror. I would let the scale distort my self-perception, leading me down a dangerous path of self-loathing and depression.

In an attempt to lower my stubborn scale readings, my trainer adjusted my program on a weekly basis. Usually this meant more cardio and fewer calories. Unfortunately, these weekly changes seldom achieved their desired effect. What did result was chronic irritability, depression, disordered eating, and exercise obsession.

Fitness, something I used to adore, became something I abhorred. I believed that if only I could lose the weight, I would be happy. And I was anything but.

A Big Weight off My Shoulders 

After enduring this for a year, I finally hit rock bottom. I just couldn’t do it anymore. So I did some research and implemented the following changes: I put an end to the mandatory weigh-ins, the two-hour daily cardio sessions, and the severely restricted diet that failed me for 52 solid weeks. I replaced them with my mirror; 20-minute, high-intensity home workouts; and intermittent fasting.

Guess what happened next? I lost all the weight, regained my sanity, started finding pleasure in fitness again, reestablished a healthy relationship with food, and once again became the happy Sara my family used to know and love.

Through this experience, I learned that a cookie-cutter approach does not exist. What works for one person may not work for another. But no one should become a slave to numbers on a scale. Curious as to whether I was alone in this battle, I asked some fellow fitness personalities about their relationship with the scale. 

 

Here is a list of our links.

• website – http://www.celestialhealing.net
• Facebook Fanpage – http://www.facebook.com/celestial.healing
  
• Healing Power Hour Youtube – http://www.youtube.com/HealingPowerHour

10 Tricks That’ll Motivate You to Work Out

by FitSugar

It’s true what they say: 80 percent of success is just showing up. Once you’re there – you’re there. This advice can be hard to take when, after a late night of fun, your alarm goes off before the sun is up. Propelling yourself to the gym, pool, mat, or trail can feel like a hurdle in its own right, but it’s always one worth jumping. If you’ve resolved to work out more this year and get fit for 2013, motivate yourself to keep on sweating with these tricks. 

• Channel that glorious post-workout feeling. Whenever you feel the instinct to skip a sweat session, imagine how accomplished and energized you feel after just 30 minutes or an hour of exercise. Just get there already.
• Make a date with a friend or fitness trainer. If you set a time to meet someone, you’ll feel obligated to go, even when your mind and body are telling you otherwise. If you’re looking to get your sweat on outside of the gym, here are some of our favorite ideas for fitness dates, from rock climbing to ice skating.
• Create a healthy post-workout routine and make time for it, too. Reward yourself after a workout by scheduling extra moments to relax in the steam room, blow out your hair to perfection, or get a hot coffee or a protein-rich smoothie.
• This is the simplest, and possibly hardest, piece of advice to follow: schedule your workout early in the morning before the day’s distractions detour you from lofty intentions.
• Carry a motivational token or photo with you. Beyoncé keeps a painting of an Oscar at the gym, so she’s literally running toward her next goal. Instead of commissioning a masterpiece, snap a shot of the dress you want to wear on your next date, a beautiful beach you hope to visit this year, or even yourself at your best, and make it the wallpaper on your phone. When you feel like caving, look at it.
• Instead of going home to watch your favorite show on the couch, suit up and watch it on the treadmill. If your gym doesn’t have TVs on each machine, load up your iPod or iPhone.
• Try something new. Sign up for an exercise class you’ve never taken before, take a hike to a vista point, ride your bike to a new trail, or work out at a different time of day.
• Throw on your favorite workout wear and some lip gloss. Kelly Osbourne admits to dolling up so she feels positive and pretty when she sees her reflection working out.
• Avoid taking a physical dip by fueling your body with a healthy pre-workout snack. You’ll have something to burn and a boost of protein to keep your eye on the prize.
• Give yourself a gold star. Plot out a reward system and treat yourself when you hit your goal of workouts per week, weight loss, or the finish line. Wouldn’t a massage or a pedicure feel great after all your hard work?

 

Here is a list of our links.

• website – http://www.celestialhealing.net
• Facebook Fanpage – http://www.facebook.com/celestial.healing
  
• Healing Power Hour Youtube – http://www.youtube.com/HealingPowerHour

Why A.M. Exercise is Awesome

Alice Oglethorpe, SELF magazine

According to researchers at the University College London, it only takes 18 days to make a habit stick. Get up and out for an A.M. sweat session with these five tips.

1. It’s the Fit Girl’s #1 Secret: The enviably in-shape women we polled–athletes, trainers, everyday superwomen with flat abs–break a sweat first thing. No wonder: In the morning, you have max willpower, but as the day wears on, making healthy decisions becomes tougher, says Roy Baumeister, Ph.D., social psychology professor at Florida State University and coauthor of Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. Resisting online shopping splurges, ignoring an ex’s text–these feats sap resolve, and you may not have much left to drag yourself to the gym at night.

2.Treats Won’t Be As Tempting: A workout can make you less I-need-that at the sight of food (like those office cupcakes that show up at your weakest moments), say Brigham Young University researchers. And that crap about exercise making you famished? Nothing to it; you won’t eat more after you sweat, their research indicates.

3. You Could be Little Miss Sunshine All Day: The mood high from exercise lasts up to 12 hours, a study from The University of Vermont found. That’s a lot of smiling.

4. BTW, You Might Nab a Promotion: After a sweatfeast, people are better at managing their time at work (aka you’re more likely to switch your Gchat notification to Busy), a study from the University of Bristol in England reports.

5. No More Tossing and Turning: Morning exercisers have less trouble falling asleep than do evening gymgoers, a study published in Sleep shows, and the more A.M. minutes you log, the easier it is to nod off. Better still: Your night’s wide open!

Use Visualization to Achieve Weight Loss Success – It Works!

by Remez Sasson

Creative visualization is a great tool for losing weight. By visualizing your body as you want it to be, you induce your subconscious mind to shape your body to look as close to your mental image as possible.

This does not mean that creative visualization will completely change the shape of your body. It means that if you visualize in accordance with the laws of visualization, you will improve the way it looks and reduce its weight.

It is a known fact that thoughts and emotions affect the body for better or worse, depending on your predominant thoughts and emotions. Negative thinking, stress, fear, excitement, worry and anger hurt the body. Under these conditions the body releases toxins into the blood, which affect it adversely.

Positive thinking, happiness, love and confidence heal, strengthen and energize the body.

You can use the connection between the mind and the body to your advantage. The subconscious mind accepts and treats both real conditions and mentally imagined conditions as real. This means that if you visualize yourself as being slim, your subconscious mind will accept what you visualize as true, and will act to make your body conform to your mental image.

Losing weight with the help of creative visualization can be termed as a “mental diet”. Of course, the chances of success will be greater, if in addition to visualization you reduce the amount of food you eat, follow a diet and exercise your body.

Tips for losing weight through visualization:

- Two or three times a day, sit down for several minutes in a quiet place, and visualize your body as you wish it to be. Leave your worries, doubts and other thoughts behind, and concentrate on what you are doing. Use Dr Akilah’s FREE success scale by clicking here. You can print it out or download it to your computer. 

- See yourself slim and beautiful, with your ideal weight. Forget how you look now. You are creating a new reality. See yourself at the beach or pool wearing a swimming suit. See how gorgeous you look. Imagine yourself wearing all those tight clothing that you have always wanted to wear.

- Visualize your family and friends complimenting you about how gorgeous your body looks and how slim you look now. Look at the whole scene as real, and as happening right now at the present moment, not in the future.

- You can construct in your mind any other scene you wish. You can see yourself exercising, dancing, with friends, with your husband or wife, at work, etc. See yourself moving and in action. Hear people complimenting you about your slim body, and see their admiring glances. In short, make the mental image as real as possible.

- Construct in your mind images that ignite your emotions. Make them alive and colorful. Make the scenes in your mind interesting and real, and see yourself in each scene as slim, the way you will look after you lose weight.

- Never visualize that you are disgusted with food or with eating, and do not develop a loathing for any kind of food. By visualizing your body as you wish it to look, your subconscious mind will direct you to eat the appropriate food in the right quantities.

- While visualizing, and after finishing your visualization session, don’t tell yourself: “well, it is all nonsense, I cannot lose weight”. If you say these words you destroy all the work you have done. When thoughts of disbelief crawl into your mind do not listen to them. Let only thoughts of your ideal body shape enter and pass through your mind.

As in everything else in life, persistence is required.

Tips and Warnings

• Think positive Create positive habits to replace the negative ones Tell friends and family about what you are doing Keep a journal of how you feel and results you see According to the author of the book “Creative Visualization,” “create an ideal scene in your mind and keep it in a notebook where you can read it often.” Your brain listens to what you are saying and thinking, therefore negative thoughts produce negative outcomes. Take charge of your mind and think yourself to a new slimmer you. Count your blessings each day and think of everything that you have to be grateful for. Think of good memories and the feelings surrounding these thoughts. This will keep you on track to main a positive outlook each day while working on your visualization techniques.

Click Here to use this free visual aid tool to program your subconscious mind to help your body lose lots of weight fast. This simple mind trick can help melt pounds of excess fat off your body.

How to Be Your Own Fitness Trainer

By Corrie Pikul

Your Goal: Find an “Emergency” Routine You Can Do Anywhere

You need a portable routine to squeeze in between scheduled workouts–something you can easily do in your living room, a hotel room or the spare room at your parents’ house (where you’ll be staying during your next visit). This routine by New York City celebrity trainer Joel Harper builds muscle, creates flexibility and keeps your fitness level up without requiring any equipment. Best of all: You need only 20 minutes. 

Your Goal: Work Out at Least Four Times a Week

You feel the most pumped to work out at night, but deadlines, family, friends and Mad Men have made it hard to stick to a schedule. Try picking an evening class (maybe even a pricey yoga or spin session) and treating it like a meeting or a social obligation. When you have a regular fitness appointment, you schedule the rest of your life around your workout instead of trying to fit your workout into your life, says Michelle Kennedy, MS, Best Life fitness expert. If that doesn’t work, you may have to override your natural rhythms. The first week or two might be tough, but Kennedy swears a.m. workouts get easier over time. And she should know: because of her schedule and two young children, she needs to leave for the gym by 4:30 a.m.

Your Goal: Transition from the Treadmill to the Race Course

You’ve been racing yourself (or the little red dot that serves as your digital doppelganger) for months, and now you’re ready to challenge another runner-or even a crowd of them. Personal trainer Andrea Metcalf has a six-week guide that will help you run your first 5K in under 30 minutes. It involves alternating a circuit of 2 minutes of walking followed by 2 minutes of jogging and then 1 minute of running.

Your Goal: Do Something About Your Tummy

It’s one of life’s unfair truths: Your chances of washboard abs are mostly determined by your body type-like how much extra weight you’re carrying and where you’re carrying it. But regardless of your abdominal DNA, you can build a stronger, more toned-looking core that can support your back, help you stand straighter (and therefore look slimmer) and lower your risk of injury. Skip sit-ups and crunches, and instead focus on planks: Here’s how to do them correctly. Once you’ve mastered them, incorporate your legs and arms by doing mountain climbers like these with a stability ball. 

Your Goal: Get Red-Carpet-Ready Thighs

Squats are a big-name trainer’s go-to move; you’ve seen them mentioned in articles about how this celebrity or that one got their pre-baby body back, or got fit for the beach scenes in their last movie, or prepared for that awards show. You know you can’t easily spot-shrink the thighs nature (or your parents) gave you, but squats can help you reshape them.

Your Goal: Develop Comebacks to Your Best Excuses

You’re pretty good about sticking to a fitness plan, but there are those days when you’d really love a kick in the sweatpants. Need a good reason to work out today? Here are Bob Greene’s Top 10 excuse-busters, including the obvious (you want to look better) as well as the ones you often forget about (you love your kids, you don’t sleep well). Print these out and tape them to the inside of your closet-it’s the next best thing to having Bob on speed dial.

Your Goal: Save Money on Gym (and Trainer) Fees

A new survey from the American Cancer Society found that women are more likely to consider working out to be “work” than men: 40 percent of women said they would be more physically active in their free time if exercise felt more like play. You can relate. You’re sick of cardio machines that don’t take you anywhere, and you secretly hope to get kicked out of boot camp. Good news: You can burn just as many calories with some of these nontraditional exercises that make working out feel fun again. Instead of running, try Ultimate Frisbee, or drop the dumbbells in favor of a hiking pack you can take with you into the hills.

 

Here is a list of our links.

• website – http://www.celestialhealing.net
• Facebook Fanpage – http://www.facebook.com/celestial.healing
  
• Healing Power Hour Youtube – http://www.youtube.com/HealingPowerHour