Get a Six-Pack in 7-days. What?!

"Flat abs, firm butt, killer legs! Click to read more"

"Lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks from walking"

"Get bikini ready in 30 days"

How many times do you see articles with these claims? Maybe it's in magazines, from some email mailing list you are on, or in your Facebook newsfeed.

While some tips can be positive and insightful, and often times, the 7, 21 or 30-day plans can be motivating and inspirational, the titles can bring a false or unrealistic hope of success.

Often times the message is, "do "X" and you'll get killer legs" or "do Y and you'll lose 10 pounds in two weeks."

The truth is, hitting your health and fitness goals takes work and dedication. Plus...all of us will have a different journey.

Work. This will be different for every individual. You may have a goal to lose 100 pounds; and you may be starting from a sedentary lifestyle, ordering food out everyday. If that's you, understand that your goals are going to be different than someone who exercises 4-5 days a week, eats a healthy balanced diet, and wants to improve their time for their next marathon. In the first scenario, goal #1 may simply be to walk for 10-minutes a day, everyday for a week, and not change anything else at first. In scenario #2, the first goal may be to do a planned set of sprint intervals directed at improving speed. In both of these scenarios, the goal setter will move forward toward the big goal. Guess what? Both are good!

The secret is, don't compare yourself to someone else or their goals. Your goals are your goals. Develop a game plan that makes sense for YOU, not a plan that makes sense for your co-worker, your best friend, or even your spouse.

Dedication. This is somewhat universal. To hit your goal, if it's a stretch, you are going to have to be dedicated on some level. For some it may be simple. A seasoned college athlete, who is given a new directive and workout plan by a coach, may find it simple to get the work in, because he/she already has workout slots planned during the day AND he/she is already in the mode of improving physically AND understands the benefit of doing so.

If you are new to exercise, you may not know these benefits (or you may not believe them just yet). You may not have a specific time (or dedicated hours) to workout or cook in order to hit your goals. It may take more dedication from you.

You must determine what you are willing to put in.

What you are willing to give, no matter what your neighbor, your spouse, the woman you pass running on the street everyday.

How dedicated are you to your goal?

When it comes to what we all read and see everyday from the media, or hear from our friends... use the grocery store approach. When was the last time you went in the grocery store and bought every single product that was available to you? Some products are right for you, and some aren't. Some are appealing, some aren't. Some of us love mustard, some don't.

Use the same philosophy when you are considering your health/exercise/food plan. Keep searching til you find something right for you. And then when you find it, don't get swayed by other plans that sound better or give you a false hope of quicker, immediate results.

For the last several years, I have known that I love CrossFit. While the program and interest is growing rapidly, it's not for everyone. For example, my dad, who is very active, hikes and walks all the time, has no interest in seeing what CrossFit is all about. Does that make him or I better than one another? No. It's a difference in preference. If I told my dad that he was wasting time hiking and that CrossFit was the only way to achieve health, would that make him better or worse? We are all different in our workout preferences. Don't give up til you find yours.

Use media, magazines and other articles for inspiration, but don't let them sway you from your game plan. Hook up with a partner who can give you feedback with regard to your plan and help keep you accountable to it's completion.

Keep it real when it comes to YOUR goals, where YOU are at. Don't compare your worst to someone else's best. Compare your best to where you are now. Let someone come into your life and show you how you can do more than you think you can, in the arena that you want to play in.

In health and prosperity,
Monica

A Call for Urban Chivalry

Ladies and gentlemen, today let's discuss an important element of health that is not often related to our well-being:

Making a positive impact on others through the smallest of actions

Everyday we can make small gestures to improve the well-being of our own self and the lives of others; on the Metro, the bus, walking, shopping, getting on and off the elevator, etc etc. The small stuff, that we do mundanely, everyday in order to survive, thrive and live. So, how does it work?

It's not necessary to delve into a bunch of negative stories about the person who cut you off while driving or the person who doesn't move aside on the Metro no matter how many times, you say "excuse me" politely. We all have these stories.

Instead, let it be our duty, to raise ourselves to a higher standard, regardless of the actions of others around us. One of the definitions of chivalry is "the sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms." Click here for the definition of dexterity -- I certainly had to look it up ;) We don't have to knights (or even men) to practice the art of chivalry.

Heres' what we can everyday, in our cities and hometowns to make a simple, positive impact:

On the Metro (or your local train and bus system)
If you are healthy and stable on your feet, give up your seat for pregnant women, anyone older than you, parents with kids, or anyone who looks like they just may need to sit.

A few weeks ago, I took my nephew to the zoo in a stroller and we rode the Metro. A nice gentleman offered me his seat. It's been several weeks and I still remember his face and the action.

Stop at crosswalks
Have you ever been at a crosswalk and let the thought come to mind, "gosh, no one EVER stops at crosswalks." Well you can squash that thought and make someone happy by stopping! Everytime I see this happen, cars in the other lane stop too. Be the trendsetter.

Hold the door
For anyone and everyone! This small gesture can brighten up someone's day in a really cool way. This past Christmas, I was sitting at a delivery dock waiting for an order to come through. I observed a man open the door to the store, wait a few seconds for a stranger to walk through the door and then went on his way. She thanked him with a surprised tone. After that the woman proceeded to talk to me about it for the next 5-minutes, about the rarity of the gesture. It made a positive impact on her.

Just now; seriously! I took a break from blogging to change locations. An older woman who was hobbling with a cane, held the door open for me. "Thank you so much," I said with a big smile. She beamed. She wanted to do something good and was excited that it was well received!

Smile and say hello
If you need to boost your own mood and/or shock people walking by; just smile and say "hi." In my experience, some people don't know how to react. You'll get all kinds of looks and expressions. Plus the smiling will lift you up! You never know when a smile can make someone else's day!

Be courteous when walking, biking or driving
Wave "thank you" if someone lets you cross the street, go first at a stop sign, or pass them on the left...even if you have the right away. Why not? Today I was riding my bike on the wrong side of the sidewalk when I came face-on with a runner. It was a narrow sidewalk and there was a fire hydrant in the middle of the sidewalk between us. I was stopping and going to pull over, since I was definitely wrong, but he checked traffic and stepped into the street to let me pass! How often does that happen? My thanks was an appreciative one.

Can we all do these simple, easy, mood boosting things? I recently heard a successful business person say, "So many people are walking around like Clark Kent, because they don't know they're Superman." Lifting someone else up with a smile or a positive gesture puts you in the above average category, even though it's with little things. Let's help others see the brighter side with our little actions!

30-Day Sugar Free Mentality

Yesterday I started on a 30-day sugar free challenge, which is not as extreme as it sounds (I initially thought that it was going to be!). As I am studying it and putting it into practice; I am learning that my current diet is not far off from this, and it's just a matter of eliminating a few non-useful items, getting rid of processed foods, and temporarily taking away a couple of my regular foods (to be added back in after 30-days). This journey for me is for a health reason (nothing's wrong; I just want to be at my best!). Also I want to gain a better understanding about eating sugar free in order to share with others.


After watching the 60-minutes special from April 1, 2012, "Is Sugar Toxic?" it became clear to me that this was something I wanted to understand better. Sugar in the diet (whether apparent or hidden) may be a contributing factor to heart disease and type 2 diabetes. My personal question for myself is, how much will going sugar free affect me? If it's a strong effect, to me that means that there is too much hidden sugar in the diet. Not a dietitian, but this just seems logical to me!


Originally the plan was to start this journey after my trip to Puerto Rico this week, but procrastination is a failure disease, so yesterday was the day! The reason I am blogging this, is because it will keep me accountable while away. My plan is not to obsessive about being sugar-free while, but to be conscious.

Knowing that my good friend, Stefanie, is also doing the sugar-free challenge (and is 2 weeks in and feeling great!), it's incentive to keep on track. Always good to have a support system!

Day one went great. Already a lesson was learned! It was a busy day; I had about 45-minutes in the middle of the day to grab lunch. Popping into The Fresh Market, where my go-to grab-and-go is a panini or sushi, I knew today that wouldn't be an option. There is a delicious salad there that is spinach, berries, feta and walnuts with an all natural balsamic vinegar. Perfect. Usually when I go in there, I have rationalized that the panini is a better choice because, it's a dollar less and it has more calories which can be split into a meal and a snack. I have always viewed the salad as expensive, but yesterday when I got to the register, I thought, "wait..this is only $7." Ha! What a rationalization prior!


Now it's not like I never order salad, or that I eat a panini everyday, but this made me think about little choices and little rationalizations that maybe I make everyday. One to ponder. The salad was delicious, and I felt good eating it. Part of it was that I had picked it with a purpose, rather than a random choice on a random day, based on what looked good.

View 3 recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, sugar free on my food blog!

In health & prosperity,
Monica