Posts Tagged ‘goals’

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My top five tips from the 2011 Fitness & Health Bloggers Conference

Friday, July 8th, 2011

Recently, I attended the the first Fitness & Health Bloggers Conference in nearby Boulder, Colorado. It featured terrific speakers such as Shellie Pfohl, the Executive Director of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, & Nutrition and Jim Ellis is the Director of Operations of the Anschutz Center for Health and Wellness at the School of Medicine of the University of Colorado, where the conference will be held next year.

It also featured several bloggers I truly admire like Stephanie Quilao @SkinnyJeans, Kia Ruiz @bodhi_bear, Leah Segedie @Bookieboo, and fellow Attune Foods Ambassador Ryan Sullivan @NoMoreBacon is the author of the blog No More Bacon.

The Fitness & Health Bloggers Conference was a terrific blend of advice on health as well as how to be a better blogger. I learned much and wanted to share a few tips with you.

 

Tip #1 – find ways to incorporated fitness breaks into your daily routine

Wendy McClure from Body Dynamics in Boulder showed us a variety of ways to take 20 minute fitness breaks and ways to travel while you’re on the road and can’t bring a lot of equipment with you. We did chair squats (remember to lead with your butt!) and gliding discs (you can also use paper plates) while doing reverse and side squats. Taking a short exercise break will give you more of an energy lift than a cup of coffee – try it!

 

Tip #2 – embrace change

Wendy believes that adding a dynamic surface to your workouts helps create more of a challenge. With her clients who are elite athletes, she forces them to use different muscles than they normally use in their sport. She says that getting out in your unfamiliar place makes you stronger and a better athlete.

That philosophy of embracing change and trying the unknown can be applied to so many things in life from your career to your hobbies. Think about how changing it up can improve your skill set and make you a better person.

 

Tip #3 – don’t dismiss your accomplishments

I believe it was Stephanie who said that we should be proud of our accomplishments. So often we tell ourselves that it’s “just” a 5K or I “just” lost two pounds. Lose the word “just” and believe that any goal you meet is worthy of the effort.

 

Tip #4 – ask for help

Stephanie also told us about the time she had a relapse with her eating disorder. She was reluctant to share it with her blog readers at first. When she did, she received incredible support. It was a very inspirational moment for her.

While you don’t have to be TMI about your life with everyone you know, share your struggles to eat healthy or stay motivated to exercise with friends or family that you trust. Their support will help you get back on track and stay focused.

 

Tip #5 – healthy food is yummy

From the amazing vegetarian dinner we had at Whole Foods to the gorgeous Driscoll’s berries we noshed on during the breaks, I wondered why people aren’t inspired to eat more healthfully, more often. Food doesn’t need to be laden with fat and sugar to be delicious.

Thanks to Attune Foods for sending me to the 2011 Fitness & Health Bloggers Conference. Hope you can join me next year!

 

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Posted in The Company You Keep | 6 Comments »

Goal, interrupted

Monday, January 31st, 2011

I didn’t expect this.

Like most people, I find the end of the year a good time to assess what went well and what can be tweaked for the following year into a series of goals: write more letters. Cook more meals for friends and family. Practice more yoga.

My 2010 was fraught with more surviving than thriving and I cantered into 2011 with that grand sense of this being the year to turn-it-all around. Goals one and two are continuations of goals set over the past few years. By keeping them as goals, they stay on the front burner. A few years ago I learned the healing properties of yoga personally after I’d been in an accident of sorts. In December, I contacted my yoga teacher and resumed conversation putting out the intention of taking classes from her again.

And then I started hurting.

It began innocuously enough, a simple pain in my ankle one day when I put weight on it. And it continued up my leg until a week later when I visited the physical therapist and spent an hour and a half being assessed. Upon leaving his office, his mandate was clear.

“You cannot walk barefoot. You must wear good shoes with support at all times. You cannot exercise yet.”

His assessment: plantar fascitis and adductor tendonitis. Yikes. It appeared that a recent vacation frolicking on the beach and walking miles upon miles on sand had exacerbated a growing problem with my incredibly flat feet.

When I mentioned yoga to the PT, he smiled and then gently said, “You’re too flexible. This is a problem. Yoga is out of the question right now.”

And I knew what he meant. I’m that yoga student who can bend and flex my way deeply into the different asanas. Now with his declaration that my L4 and L5 were strained, I cannot twist my body.

I went home and cried.

So much for yoga, I thought. But then I picked myself back up and decided to focus my energies on healing. I began an icing and stretching regimen, seeking to be a model student so as to move on and back into regular activity.But this reminded me of something true
and good:

All things begin with baby steps.

So while I might not be able to contort my body into the poses that make me feel nimble and limber like my pre-adolescent self, I could listen to my body and on good days take a walk during lunch.

It’s remarkable that sometimes we really do need a bad situation to help us be thankful for the things we take for granted. Like walking. I began to prize the opportunities to walk to the copy machine as sitting still felt uncomfortable. I began finding myself wanting to walk and not take the bus. Today I didn’t feel the dull pain of late. Today I walked a mile and afterwards still felt okay.

One foot in front of the other. That’s all it takes to set off in the direction of your goal.


~annelies

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Annelies

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Posted in Healthy Living Tips, Minding the Store | 5 Comments »

Overcome the fear of not accomplishing your goals

Friday, January 28th, 2011

Accomplishing goals and I have a love-hate relationship. You see, I love accomplishing goals. Few things are more satisfying than writing down an objective, putting my mind to it, and then just absolutely killing it! Hopefully we’ve all had a chance to experience that in one way or another.

Unfortunately there’s a dark side of goal setting. It’s the side that nobody likes to talk about. It’s the fear of “what if I don’t make it?” I believe that a lot of us avoid setting goals in the first place because we’re not mentally ready to deal with the possibility of defeat. I know I’ve passed up many an opportunity for self-improvement simply because I didn’t want to have to deal with the possibility of falling short.

Today I’m here to talk you back from the edge and get you in the right mindset for moving forward. Being stagnant is not your friend and it never will be. Progress will provide you with an endless supply of awesome.

So what if you don’t accomplish your goal?

What if you don’t lose those 20 pounds, or finish training for your marathon, or learn to cook like Rachael Ray?

Are you going to be worse off than you were before you tried?

I’m the first one to admit that coming up short can be frustrating. I also know that being able to run 6 miles without stopping is a lot more fun than getting winded walking to the fridge for another Pepsi.

Some Things Are Out of Our Control

Last fall I had grand aspirations of running a half marathon. I was mentally ready to do it. I had never run more than 4 miles before that but I was particularly pumped because I was going to be able to raise funds for an organization that benefits autism research. Considering my son has autism it was just the boost I needed to really focus my efforts.

I started my training and no more than 3 or 4 weeks into it I got hit by the injury bug. An unidentified (then) sickness that had me light headed every time I set out to run. At first it really got me down. I had a hard time dealing with it for a few months, but then I realized something important. I realized that even though I never made it to 13.1 miles, I still made it to 6 and that was a personal best for me.

The truth is that there are going to be things in life that blindside us and may temporarily keep us from getting to the top of that mountain, but the possibility of those things happening can’t keep us from getting started in the first place.

We’re Too Familiar with Ourselves

If you’re like me you know what your strengths and your weaknesses are. At times I’m daunted by goal setting because my goals are to improve the areas where I lack the most.

One way I’ve found to work around talking myself out of goal setting because I lack confidence in an area, is to focus on my strengths and how they can potentially help in the goal achievement process.

I know that one of my biggest weaknesses is procrastination (who’s with me?). I also know that as far as technology goes, I have some real gifts. It sounds simple, but every time I set a goal related to getting things done on time, I use my geeky tools to help me focus on my goal.

I recently had a goal of having a daily planning meeting for 3 areas of my life. I wanted to re-evaluate on a daily basis what I needed to get done for my family, for my business, and for myself. Every day I set an alarm on my phone and setup an automatic email to remind myself to have this meeting. It was simple but every time I got the reminders I would stop what I was doing and out loud I would say “time to get my plan ready!” Now if I miss a day of the meeting I feel weird for the rest of the day. It’s kind of like when you leave the house and you think you left the stove on. Recognizing how my strengths could support an area where I wasn’t as strong really ended up paying off with my daily planning sessions.

There’s Nothing to Be Afraid Of.

For a parting thought I’d like to leave you with the wise words of Tracy Jordan from 30 Rock – “Live every week like it’s Shark Week!” Or maybe you’ll do better with Robin Williams and his inspiring message of “Carpe Diem!” Whichever phrase resonates with you the best is fine, just know that the fear of coming up short on your goals is common for all of us. Also know that there’s nothing to be afraid of.

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Posted in Healthy Living Tips, The Company You Keep | 6 Comments »

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