I’ve been a fitness professional in the Eastside since 2004 (with 10 years in the industry), and many of my clients and people who know me well understand that I don’t agree with most people’s New Year’s Resolutions in regards to their fitness goals.

There are many reasons why I don’t agree, but I’m going to share my top three with you today. First, allow me to ask you a really big question: What is honestly going to be so different in your life next year that you cannot take action today? Maybe I’m being a little harsh during the holidays, but seriously, I think most resolutions are an excuse and a means to justify and delay action steps that we all know deep down should be acted on today.

Here are my reasons:

1. Psychological justification.
Most people will do whatever they want for the rest of the year in order to justify that next year they’ll be focused and finally achieve the fitness goals they dream of. The unfortunate reality is that the average weight gain from Thanksgiving till Christmas is 12lbs. That’s enough weight gain to ruin your whole year’s efforts. Is it really worth it?

2. Not revisiting your health and fitness goals every 2-3 months.
It’s a good idea to make the necessary adjustments to your health and fitness routine with the changing of the seasons. We tend to decorate our homes with the change of the seasons and it’s great for the psyche to do the same with your health and fitness goals. Restructure and reorganize your routine to meet the daily needs of the upcoming season.

For example, just about everyone is out and about during the summer months reaping the rewards of our efforts in the earlier part of the year. When fall comes we tend to slow down because the year is winding down and then when winter hits we pretty much proceed into a mental hibernation. However, this mental hibernation is usually not supportive of their fitness goals. This is why it should be a priority to revisit your goals with each season to make sure you restructure it accordingly for you to manage and engage appropriately so that you always stay on track.

3. Because you ALWAYS have an opportunity this very moment.
It really doesn’t take much effort to make a dramatic difference in your health right now. If you haven’t exercised in a while, start with a 15-minute walk three times per week for 2 weeks, and then crank it up to 30-minute workouts including strength training starting the third week. Don’t be fooled by the “Exercise at least 5 hours/week of cardio and 2+ days of weight training”. Anyone can easily become more fit in just 15-30 minutes three times per week. That’s 1.5 hours per week at the most! Who wouldn’t want that kind of fitness schedule?

Anyway, there really is no reason to wait until the New Year . You’re good enough RIGHT NOW, and you’re worth it!

PS…Click here to learn some damage control strategies for the rest of the holidays.

Being snowed in these past few days has been quite fun, and productive. Playing in the snow was fun, and the productive part was Julie and I did some needed housekeeping which also allowed us to catch up on a few things from the chaos of our professional lives. We’ve been reading “It’s All Too Much” by TLC’s professional organizer Peter Walsh. Peter Walsh is considered an organizational guru and has appeared numerous times on Oprah.

I’ve only read one other organizational book, but this one is unique in that Peter’s approach focuses on helping people let go of the emotional and psychological clutter that drains the life out of your home. His book shows you how to face a BIG question: What is the vision for the life you want to live?
I don’t know about you, but that’s the first time I’ve ever heard that from a professional organizer and it was refreshing. If you are struggling with organization in your home or office and you feel consistently drained by just looking at the unnecessary clutter, I encourage you to go get this book. The techniques are easy to implement in a step by step plan.

So with the advice from the book we shredded tons of old mail and other junk, filled up close to 10 large garbage bags of stuff to give to Goodwill, and rearranged our office and the kitchen. The result was feeling a new sense of energy from all the freed up space and new organization to meet the function of the spaces we worked on.

Asides from the massive housekeeping, Julie and I trekked about 10-15 minutes from our home to the nearest shopping area everyday since last Wednesday. That’s roughly 30 minutes of walking up and down hills in the snow for each trip, and we did that twice today because we forgot something at QFC! It was great because we were definitely burning calories, especially being bundled up in thick jackets.
These past “snowed in” days prompted me to do a follow-up post to our “Post-Thanksgiving Workouts” segment. I recorded two quick workouts that can be performed at home with some bands, stability ball, and a weighted bag (in the video 2 I have a 50lb sandbag) just in case you can’t make it to the gym due to our fabulous weather.

Focus on performing all exercises in a fast manner with GOOD FORM. Intensity is key with home workouts or you’re just wasting your time. Choose a challenging resistance, do these workouts right, and you’ll easily burn 300 calories!

Work hard, stay strong!
- Rommel

View workouts

With the holidays around the corner, it’s hard to keep your head on straight when you’re constantly surrounded by sugary sweets, fattening dishes, and calorie-busting entrees. Some might say, “It’s not my fault I gained 20 pounds over the holidays. My kids, my co-workers, and even the ads on TV were always shoving food in my face!”

This reminds me of an article we wrote earlier this year entitled Seattle Eastside’s Top Personal Trainers Say “You’re Not to Blame for Your Weight Problem!”

“What if you’re not to blame for your weight problem?” The February 3, 2008 edition of Seattle Times posed this question in an article entitled It’s Not My Fault I’m Fat? Not surprisingly, this immediately caught our attention. What if it’s not your fault if you’re overweight? You may as well cancel that gym membership, re-stock your cupboards with potato chips and cookies, and call it quits. Because according to this article, until the government starts regulating our environments by getting rid of vending machines, outlawing “Super Size Me” meals, and black-listing certain deep-frying, calorie-busting restaurants, you won’t be able to change your habits and get healthy. It’s just too hard. Here’s a quick outline of the main points in the article and our thoughts on each:

“Eating is an automatic behavior that has little to do with choice, willpower, or even hunger…Automatic behavior can be controlled, but only for a short time.”

True. Many of us have hard-wired programming that makes us reach for that doughnut for breakfast. Old habits die hard. However, they can die and be replaced by new habits. With enough persistence and with the right mindset, choosing the right foods in the right quantities can become automatic as well.

“Changing routine behavior is painstaking and slow. It sometimes takes years to change one little thing.”

True. No one said that adopting a healthy lifestyle would be easy. But if you keep selling yourself short and convincing yourself that change is too hard, you’re absolutely right! And it will take years to stop reaching for that doughnut. It comes down to how bad you want it and why. It comes down to your mindset.

“If people rely on willpower alone, they are expecting too much of themselves..It’s easier to change the environment than it is to change people.”

False. This statement frankly depresses us. Are we really giving in to our own weakness and taking the coward’s way out? Pointing fingers and putting the responsibility for our own lives in other people’s hands? We believe that willpower – or “energetic determination,” as defined by Merriam-Webster.com – can accomplish anything. Granted, we do give some credit to the above statement by admitting that willpower should be accompanied by knowing what the right foods are, by a deeply compelling purpose driving the willpower, and by a belief in oneself and one’s worthiness. However, blaming anything or anyone else for our shortcomings is still just a “good story.”

We, personally, have more hope in the human race than this, and we hope you do too. This article drastically sells us short as human beings. If we told a 3-year-old not to take his sister’s toy, but he did anyway, is it entirely not his fault because she was sitting there playing with it right in front of him? We’re afraid this is the message this article would give to our kids: It’s not your fault. You’re a victim to your environment.

We’re not saying that government restrictions on the use of trans-fats or requirements to label restaurant foods with nutritional information wouldn’t help. But we can’t sit on our rears and wait until the environment around us changes before we change ourselves. A wise man once said, “As within, so without.” Real change won’t come until we decide to change ourselves. Then the food manufacturers and marketers, restaurant operators, and food vendors would have no choice but to conform. It all comes down to personal accountability. In the words of Dr. Wayne Dyer, “If your problems were the result of others in your environment, you would go broke sending everyone else to the psychiatrist.”

If you truly want to enjoy the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner and holiday festivities without dealing with added weight on your belly, it is all in your hands. The key is having a strong mindset. ??Most people approach the holidays with the mindset of “I deserve to indulge and I shouldn’t have to workout – it’s the holidays and I deserve it”. This is fine if you don’t mind entering 2009 with an added spare tire, a little less healthy, and with lower energy than ever before. Believe you deserve better, because YOU are more than that! Believe that you don’t have to wait until 2009 to get into better shape than you are today. Believe that you deserve to have a healthier lifestyle and have more energy NOW than you ever thought possible!

I’m always available to help – call or email me to set up a fitness consultation and let’s get started on making lasting changes over the next few weeks to come.

Contact info:

Phone: 425.296.9305

Email: rommel@element5fitness.com

Website(s):

http://www.element5fitness.com

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