Ok, that metaphor thing might just be me, but for the rest, I prophesy a six week rocket ride through February, a lower trajectory in March and a splash down by April.  This prediction is based on a dozen years of watching shooting stars blast past me in various fitness environments just to disappear in time for the NCAA tournament.

 The folks I see hanging around in September and November and the holidays have managed to pace themselves.  They do things gradually, like the tortoise, safely and sanely and keep progressing through the year.  So if you are just emerging from your sedentary cave and are shaking the trees and bushes to find the latest, perfect, celebrity endorsed, hi-intensity, miracle fat-burning fad.  Slow down and take your time instead.  It’s a long journey to the rest of your life.

 When it comes to weight training and fitness, slow and steady wins the race! When your body is ready, increase the intensity of your workout in small amounts. This will provide the challenge necessary for improvements without causing injury or numbing crashing burnout. Too much activity done too quickly can over stress the body, limit your progress, and increase your risk of injury.

 Welcome back from hibernation. 

 LiveFit!

 Marc

 HEY!  Don’t forget to like Marc Mason Wellness on FaceBook!

I get some of my best work done on Thursday mornings, at Panera, with a cup of coffee almost as dark and robust as the kind we brew at home.   You never know who or what you’ll see at 8 am here.  Between the parking lot and the line for the counter, anything can happen.

Today as I was next in line to be served a person stepped right in front of me and assumed that waiting in line posture.  Now, I had been waiting five minutes, while a mother and child tried to make a decision, and a business person selected multiple items then, needed one, no two gift cards.  I just wanted my mug so could sit and write a blog before my next appointment.

Anyway, this lady came from nowhere and stood directly in front of me.  I cocked my head, questioning, looked down about a foot, catching here eye.  She glared at me and turned her head.

“Back of the line lady!” is what I would have shouted if my first instincts ruled my actions.  Instead I smiled, shook my head and took a step back.   Apparently her mission at Panera outranked mine and there was no reason to argue about it.

This brought to mind secret number twenty from my booklet, 21 Fitness Success Secrets.  Here it is:

#20. Losing patience with exercise? The key to

weight loss and fitness gains is to consistently give

your body new challenges. Mix up your workouts

every few weeks, and don’t be afraid to try something

new! Hire a personal trainer who can help

you add new excitement to your fitness program.

Patience.  Give yourself and those around you a chance.  If you become frustrated try a different route.  The destination won’t change just your way to get there.  Enjoy your bagel my Panera friend.  Enjoy your journey my fitness friends!

LiveFit!

Marc

When I was thirty-eight I could not do a pull up, I could not touch my toes.  I was wearing size 43” slacks.  At forty-nine, my 36” jeans are pretty tight, I admit it.  That’s because I fell back on some old habits last month.

I feel more energetic and twice as alive today then I did last Friday and, no… I’m not on drugs.  What’s different?  I am eating more frequently and balancing my energy intake to keep my body revved up, the way it likes to be.

Here’s the first of twenty-one insider tips in my free booklet “21 Fitness Success Secrets”:

Eating small meals every 2-3 waking hours will increase your metabolism and reduce fat storage.  Make sure that these are healthy meals containing balanced amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fat.

It’s that simple.  Eating well is more than half the battle to weight management.  Don’t forget to track what you put into your body. For a limited time you can download my Success Journal for free.  Access it by taking this fun and quick five question quiz.  Just visit www.QuitTrying.com and follow the link!

LiveFit!

Marc

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Don’t make this mistake.  One holiday party won’t wipe out everything good you’ve done for yourself this year.  But destroying your own calories burning ability can.

Enjoy the holidays.  Keep your energy levels high.  And for more tips please download the my booklet, “21 Secrets Every Fitness Professional Should Know“.  The following is straight from the booklet and it  is a reminder to eat normally, even if you plan to indulge later.

Number 14: Eating right when you wake up is vital to breaking the fast your body goes into every night.  2- 3 hours after you eat your body shuts down your metabolism and acts as if it needs to store food. In order to communicate with your body that it is healthy, well fed, and not in need of extra fat storage you need to start your day off with a small meal and continue to eat small meals every 2-3 hours.

LiveFit!

Marc

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Think Before You Drink

As I sit here drinking a non-fat latte and contemplating the lighter schedule I have, thanks to the holiday season, it occurs to me to fill the next few weeks with some deep contemplation and to share the results of this soul searching with others.  Since, I have already compiled a booklet of wellness tips called 21 Top Fitness Success Secrets, for the rest of this holiday season I’ll expand on these tips.   Today, in honor of this non-fat latte growing cold in its cheap plastic teal green mug (more on that mug later), I’ll share the mega coffee store tragedy story.  First the tip:

Secret Success Tip Number 4:

The average Venti-sized Frappuccino weighs in at 530 calories.
This staggering number equals 2.5 bagels or one third of the recommended daily calories for an average woman. Beverages such as this contain high amounts of sugar should be consumed rarely since the extra calories they contain are readily stored as fat.

A few years ago I worked almost daily with one of the hardest working people I’ve ever had the pleasure to know.  Cathryn we’ll call her, owns her own business, is raising kids and is involved in her community.  She was overweight and nothing was working for her.

Even though we had her firing on all eight cylinders with a kick-butt fitness program and even though a service prepared all her meals, she never lost a pound of body fat.  I was pulling what little hair I had left in my head out by their graying roots.

Let me digress:  I love coffee.  I like it strong.  I love espresso too. My favorite cup of coffee is poured into my plastic teal green mug.  I got the mug in Colorado on a camping trip in 1999.  Since then it has been to a couple different countries with me and all over these United States and still on most days I start the day with a cup of strong coffee in this same mug.  On special occasions, like this morning, I’ll order a latte.  We go non-fat and don’t add any flavorings.  I like to taste my coffee and that big froth of non-fat milk sweetens it a bit and cuts the acid adding less than 100 calories in the process.

Anyway, back to the real story.  Cathryn liked her lattes too.  In fact as a reward for the hard work she put in at my studio she liked to stop by the local mega coffee outlet and get a yummy frappuccino.  As a reward.  After every workout.  Thus  Cathryn was replacing every calorie and more she had saved for the last two days with each of those cups of flavored coffee.

Think before you drink.

LiveFit!

Marc

www.m2workout.com

http://www.facebook.com/KCwellness

The biggest fear I have for this summer, is taking my shirt off in public.  I’d rather show off a six pack than the thirty-pack I’m sporting right now.   But there is still hope.  Memorial Day is two weeks away.  I can be back in condition in six weeks, and looking fantastic on the Fourth of July, as long as I put my mind to it and stop making excuses.  So can you.

What does it take to drop two to four inches off your waist and five or ten pounds off the scale?  What would it take to get you comfortable in that new bathing suit?  It takes the three P’s: patience, persistence and certain immunity to pain.

OK, so none of that sounds like you.  if you just knew how easy it is to strip away enough unwanted flab and replace it with beautifully toned muscle, you would have never waited this long.  Losing as little as ten percent of your body fat and gaining as little as a pound or two of lean, sculpted, muscle will make you feel twice as good about yourself this summer.  It’s within your grasp.  All you need is six weeks.  Six weeks to see amazing results doesn’t require a lot of patience.  In fact you will see results in the first two or three weeks and that will motivate you to finish the next three or four.

You will not see anything instantly.  You will have to earn this beautiful, newly conditioned body and the results will take place a little bit every day.  Even after one week you may not be able to measure a difference but over six weeks — look out!  To meet your goal, you must do things every day to get a little bit closer.  Your scale won’t really measure a quarter pound of fat lost in one day.  But it may well show you the pound you lost over four days; or the two pounds you lost in eight to ten.

Weigh yourself no more than once a week.  The results will be more to your liking.  Weekly weigh-ins will show you the downward trend. Daily weights will be up and down and can discourage you.  Your focus over six weeks should be your own actions, not the number on the scale.  In six weeks time I’ve seen hundreds of people weighing a pound or two less than they did at the beginning or even being the same weight as when they started but having to pull their belt in a couple holes or having to get new jeans that fit their tighter, sleeker, beach-ready curves.

Changing your body from flabby to firm is not going to be easy.  Persistence is the ability to continue with a course of action even though the results you are looking for won’t be achieved in the immediate future.  .Keep doing the right things for long enough and you will get that summer body!

Immunity to pain means being able to deal with the discomforts of change.  Focusing on the six weeks immediately in front of you will help you to endure some rather uncomfortable times.   I firmly believe that exercise can be fun.  Choose activities that don’t feel like exercise for the long run.  But for the short run, get out of what ever routine you may have fallen into and do something different.  Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  It’s crazy to not make changes, but make them positive changes!  Shocking the body for six weeks will give you amazing results and you just might find an activity that will be a lifetime pleasure for you

Putting off that immediate gratification of a late night Taco Bell run or that third or fourth beer of the evening for six weeks requires a certain amount of mental toughness.  You certainly don’t need to be hungry for six weeks to accomplish your goals.  In fact hunger pains are not part of the plan.  The pain I refer to may include exercise soreness, being seen sweating in a gym, putting off a TV show or not being able to join your friends at  happy hour because you will be exercising.  These pains are very real and very likely and also, very temporary.

One of the biggest reasons people put off making a commitment to regain their youthful shape is they are afraid they’ll miss out on social gatherings.  Don’t let this stop you from taking these very important steps.  Take your friends with you.  Get them to buy into your goals or even help them set goals for themselves so they can join you.  Or you can become part of a group exercise program where others will welcome and support you.  Don’t be afraid to hire a consultant or personal trainer if it’s within your resources.  The investment you make in yourself will more than pay for professional guidance, knowledge, and motivational support.

Remember we are talking about the next six weeks here.  Losing weight and firming up the body does not mean committing to a life time of drudgery and self-denial. I would never subject myself to that nor ask you to do it either. Once you get that healthy body back, you just need to exercise regularly and use some common sense when it comes to indulging your appetites to maintain your new shape.

Nine weeks from now, I’ll be at the lake in a new swim suit, showing off a much flatter stomach.  It’s going to be a challenge but with a little support from the people around me and patience, persistence and immunity to pain, I know I will get there!  You can to.

LiveFit!

Marc

www.m2workout.com

For more information read this great article by ACE.

LiveFit!

Marc

Eat 5-6 times per day. Smaller meals, more often, control your energy levels and ward off the hunger cravings and energy spikes and drops that make weight management such a chore.    By eating more often and eating the right types of foods ( low end of the glycemic index) you become a fat burner, not a fat storer.

Burn it or carry it.  Your choice.

Eat often.

Live Fit!

Marc

Get A New You This New Year

The first New Year’s resolutions were made back in Roman times.  Shortly thereafter the first resolution was broken.  This is a tradition with truly ancient roots.

Modern resolutions are a way of closing out the old year and beginning the New Year on sound footing or with good luck.  Today the most common resolutions are:

1. Lose weight
2. Stop smoking
3. Stick to a budget
4. Save or earn more money
5. Find a better job
6. Become more organized
7. Exercise more
8. Be more patient with others
9. Eat better
10. Become a better person

These are all positive changes and anyone would benefit from making such choices and sticking to them.  Realistically, we don’t.

If these popular resolutions are positive changes that would benefit us why won’t we stick to them?  The reason is that resolutions are tests of willpower.  We say we will resist temptations and even though all our impulses tell us to do one thing, we will resolutely do another.  With out learning the important techniques that lead to permanent and lasting change willpower will ultimately fail.  We all get tired of fighting eventually and old habits return in force with no change but added guilt for giving up the uphill battle and failing once again.

The best resolution you can make is to not make a resolution.  Setting yourself up for failure won’t help you reach your goals.  Learn how to make change permanently and realistically so that you can achieve your goals and be successful.

Are you ready to change?  Let’s find out how ready you are and create a program you can live with.  Forever.

LiveFit!

Marc

m2workout.com

Knowing GI Can Make Slim You Down

We can rank the foods you eat by the effect they have on your blood sugar.  This system of scoring is called the glycemic index (GI).  Scores are lower for foods that have a slower rate of digestion and make a smaller change in blood sugar levels and scores are higher for foods that digest quickly and have more dramatic effects on sugar levels.

People with diabetes and high cholesterol have been able to manage their conditions by avoiding high GI foods.  Why would this matter to those of us who do not have these chronic conditions?

It’s the absorption rate.

Put it more simply, it’s how soon do you feel hungry and want to eat again after a meal?  Lower GI foods (scores below 70) leave you feeling fed and satisfied longer than  high GI (scores above 70) foods which don’t seem to “stick with you” as long.

The lower the GI, the less hungry you feel and the less mindless munching you’ll do.  The less munching, the easier it is to control your body composition.  Get it?

See the GI list and a full report on the effects of GI.