The ABC's of Health and Wellness: "C"

The letter of the day is 'C'. How cool is that???

Consistency - A lot of attention is placed on diet, rest and exercise when people talk about what it takes to get in shape (and rightfully so!). However, in order for these things to have an opportunity to impact your body positively, they need to be given time to work their magic. There are no quick fixes in this game (regardless of what you may hear from advertisers looking to push the next "magic pill"). Instead, consistency with regard to the way you eat, sleep and train must be employed in order to see the results that you aspire to achieving.

Think for a moment about how long it took you to get to where you are today - whether that's overweight, underweight, or in shape...These things take time! "Rome wasn't built in a day". Rather, many days of hard work were put into constructing the city. Much the same is required for the development of the body. Straying from one's diet or training regimen is OK from time to time if you ask me (I even encourage taking occasional breaks to recharge and refocus), but you need to stay steadfast and determined in your approach, consistent in your efforts and realistic about the fact that it WILL take time. That being said, once you have finally gotten to where you are going it will be all the more rewarding when you get there (and remembering all the time and effort it took in doing so will be added motivation to keep working hard).



The ABC's of Health and Wellness: "B"

Today's lesson is about the letter 'B' - What a wonderful letter indeed!

Balance - Moderation and maintaining balance is essential to all aspects of life, one's efforts pertaining to health and wellness not withstanding. Creating healthy habits is a good thing - Creating "healthy" obsessions is not. Obsessing about one's weight or muscular development can, in extreme cases, ultimately manifest themselves in very ugly ways such as through the development of eating disorders and through the abuse of steroids (to give a couple examples). In other words: One's efforts to live a healthier lifestyle can be sabotaged by obsessing over the means through which they are trying to improve their life.

If you want to eat the occasional cookie - EAT IT! If your body is telling you that a day off from the gym is warranted (and likely well-deserved) - TAKE IT! Do not let health and wellness efforts negatively impact other aspects of your life (family, friends, career, etc.). Manage the lifestyle, don't let it manage you - Maintain a balance.

Miss the entry for the letter 'A' or need a refresher? Feel free to review The ABC's of Health and Wellness: "A".

The ABC's of Health and Wellness: "A"

This is the first post of a segment that I will call The ABC's of Health and Wellness. Pretty simple concept and one that, I would be willing to bet, you are already familiar with. Each post will be centered around a health, wellness, or nutrition related word or phrase that begins with the letter of the alphabet that is is due up in the A to Z order. Thereafter, each subsequent post will pertain to a word or phrase that begins with the next letter in the alphabet. Get it? Got it? Good! Class is now in session...

The letter of the day is 'A'.

Attitude - Defined by dictionary.com as the "manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendence or orientation, especially of the mind". I want you to read that definition again and pay special attention to the last four words in the passage "especially of the mind". Attitude is all about the mind.

It's no secret that getting in shape and living a healthy lifestyle requires having a positive attitude. There WILL be times when you want to get off of the treadmill rather than finish the last 10 minutes or your walk or run. There WILL be times that you get frustrated because the fat is not peeling away at the rate you were hoping that it would. There WILL be times you want to give up. Just accept that these are givens, understand that this journey is a marathon (not a sprint) and make the conscious decision to have a positive attitude. Do these things and your mind will be your ally...Better that than your foe.